Darlingside

Folk-rock? Roots-rock? The gentlemen of Darlingside weren’t too sure about either of those monikers as it relates to their music, and so they became the Northeast’s top “string-rock” outfit. Call it whatever you want, but we took notice of this band after they placed at #1 in the OurStage Rock channel twice, with an additional five Top 10s, four Top 40s, an Editor’s Pick, and a two-week appearance in the Best of the Best Top 20.

But what finally made Darlingside a lasting favorite was stumbling upon a video performance of their song “Blow The House Down,” recorded live back in 2010. “String-rock” starts to make more and more sense, as these guys clearly aren’t just a folky act leaning more heavily on the bluegrass side of things. The strings they employ have a more classical tint to them. The tension created between that proper school of music and their otherwise loose – and indeed rootsy – melodic vibe.

And we’re suckers for frontman-bassists. Especially with that Rickenbacker. So please check out Darlingside, our Artist of the Week.

Click here to donate and download a great playlist to help victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

OurStage is grateful to be an international hub for musicians and music fans, who are looking to share and connect with something new. But we also have a soft spot for our hometown of Boston, MA, one of the world’s most vibrant music communities. Like the rest of the world, that community was shocked on Monday to learn of, and in many cases to see firsthand, the horrifying disturbance of one of our biggest and best days – Patriot’s Day and the yearly running of the celebrated Boston Marathon.

As readers probably know, there are many victims today, and as a city and a nation, we are reeling. But as many have already pointed out, if someone was hoping to terrify us, they failed. Within moments of the blasts, average people became heroic, rushing to aid the victims, running toward the danger. Runners continued past the finish line to give blood, locals opened their homes to visiting marathon participants with nowhere to go, restaurants and bars sheltered all comers, and police and medical personnel performed at the highest level.

And the rest of us, like you, just want to know what else we can do. Well, what we do is music. Of the many memes that have made the rounds of social media in the last several days, one quote spoke brilliantly to us: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more devotedly than ever before.” – Leonard Bernstein.

In that spirit, our friends at the popular Boston-centric music blog Allston Pudding worked quickly to compile a fantastic playlist of local music that could be offered for download to benefit the victims of the bombing. They put out a call for submissions, and the response was overwhelming, and they finally cut it off when they reached 130 tracks. So now, you can donate anywhere from $1 or more to get 130 tracks of eclectic, quality independent music, knowing that 100% of your donation is going to The One Fund Boston. Download it RIGHT HERE.

A new start-up company is striving to meet the fast-growing appreciation for vinyl with an affordable but high-fidelity turntable.

Over a quarter century ago, record players and the accompanying 12” vinyl discs were packed up in the attic, left to collect dust, and eventually sold at tag sales for a few bucks. But within the past few years, there has been resurgence in the demand for more vinyl among listeners. In 2011, vinyl sales rose nearly 40% from the previous year. Interestingly enough, the past 6 years prior to 2011 marked a steady decline in vinyl sales each year. In 2012, that number climbed nearly an additional 18% from 2011.

Continue reading ‘Back From the Dead: The Revival of Vinyl’

The Black Rabbits

This week’s OurStage Pro Artist of the Week is Asheville North Carolina’s The Black Rabbits. The band made waves in 2010 after their debut EP cracked the CMJ Top 100, garnering some serious press and catching the attention of the great Stan Lynch, producer and drummer, formerly of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Lynch produced their first LP, Hypno Switch. The band’s rather varied take on rootsy-to-modern rock and roll is always catchy, moody, and compelling. Shades of The Strokes slip in via singer Jetson Black, while the musical canvas ranges from slick, driving, classic guitar rock to spare acoustic breakdowns. And everyone can dig a little guy-girl vocal interaction, no?

With a lot of road work under their belt and a new LP in the works (tentatively titled Requiem For A Princess), The Black Rabbits are poised for a breakout 2013. Listen to “Hypno Switch” below:

Hello OurStage!

This is Tour Manager James checking in from the Orlando, FL date of Van’s Warped Tour 2012. For the last month, I have been riding aboard the OurStage.com tour bus with Larry G(ee) and his band, as well as a few stage hands, and thought it might be a nice change of pace to shed some light on my day-to-day life here on the world’s largest traveling music festival.

Every morning, I rise around 7:00am and check with our driver (Jens) to learn about our arrival  time and whatever information he is able to offer about the venue. We arrive and I wake up Larry so he and I can begin promoting the day’s performance. We stroll the venue, setup merch, locate stages, promote on social networks, drink coffee, and sweat the equivalent of roughly two gallons of water before getting the day’s set times at 10am. Once that happens, the grounds become a rampage of managers and promo kids doing their best to get the word out about their act’s time. It’s hectic, it’s crazy, it’s Warped before gates.

Once the gates open, the real day can finally begin. The band and I regroup from our morning promotion then set off to promote within the gates until (and usually after) the performance. When Larry has somewhere to be, something gig-related to do, or when the band is in need, I’m there. When they perform, I’m there both as manager and photographer. On the rare occasion the day allows for me to have some time to explore the grounds, I do my best to catch as many sets as possible (most of which I’ve shared on the OS Warped Tumblr) and, if at all possible, shower.

Evening brings a cooler temperature, but our efforts never end before dark. I assist Larry and his band as needed, begin packing up our belongings, and do my best to catch a glimpse of the sunset before diving into some editing work on the day’s photos. It’s tiring, and most of the time you want to sleep for days on end, but the night Warped Tour crew BBQ keeps us up and lifts even the lowest spirits. It’s one of those rare moments when everyone from main stage to catering is really together, and not one has passed that’s let us down.

After all this, Larry, his band, the crew, and I return to the bus and exchange stories before bed. It’s a long, long day, but one you’re always excited to begin again in the morning.

I’ll be writing another entry next week highlighting my favorite moments of this tour, but for now, here are a few of my favorite images thus far:

The Constellations

Patent Pending

Mirk

Larry g(EE)

Avion Roe

More like this:

• OS @ Warped Series: This Week On Warped Tour — Week 1
• OS @ Warped Series: This Week On Warped Tour — Week 2
• Send Us Your Best Warped Tour Photo And You Could Win Free Concert Tickets!

It’s time now for the next installment of Songs of The Revolution, our new series in which we throw free downloads around like we’re made of free downloads. Simply put, we catch some of our favorite artists as they come to town and record an exclusive session with them. As a nice little bonus, you can watch and listen to video recordings of the sessions before you download the tracks.

Now, if you’ve been following OurStage lately, you know that we’re big fans of New York-based artist Mieka Pauley. So much so that we just invited her to perform at our showcase for this year’s New Music Seminar and to join our newly-established Artist Advisory Board. And just to show that we can’t get enough Mieka, we grabbed her recently on her way to Cambridge’s Lizard Lounge, where she was having a release party for her new record, The Science Of Making Choices, and asked her to perform a few songs for us. Two of those songs, “Marked Man” and “Wreck,” are from the new record, while “We’re All Gonna Die” is a favorite from a 2009 EP. Check out these fantastic exclusive performances to see what all the buzz is about.

DO IT NOW.

It’s officially summer, which means it’s time to roll down the windows and crank up the tunes. For this month’s Editor Picks, we’ve got an eclectic mix of singer-songwriters, indie rock bands and rappers that’s sure to please, no matter what you’re into. Check out our track descriptions below, then head over to the OurStage Facebook page to download the mix for free, or check out 8tracks to listen to it along with our past Editor Picks playlists.

The Local Strangers “All Along” — Sleepy acoustic guitar and soft vocals make this the perfect song to listen to as you nap in the hammock or relax by the ocean.

Goodnight Argent “Battlegrounds” — Haunting piano chords with an industrial touch give this track a One Republic-esque vibe.

Xavier & Ophelia “I’m Alright” — A swinging beat, hand claps and smooth vocals adorn this indie pop gem.

The Energy Commission “There Goes My” — We love the quirky quality of this song and the sultry vocals from frontwoman Danielle Cales.

The Midnight Show “All The Water” — Fan of The Hush Sound? You’ll love The Midnight Show. ‘Nuff said.

The Love Me Nots “The End of the Line” — What would summer be without Friday night yard parties? Add this track to your next party playlist!

The Design “Burn” — We can’t get enough of Kat’s powerful, raspy vocals. Look out, Melissa Etheridge!

Jitta On The Track “Cassette Tape” — No summer would be complete without a feel-good hip-hop track. Our man Jitta goes hard over this low-key beat.

In the autumn of 2011, we test-launched a new feature on OurStage, called Songs of the Revolution. This exclusive series of recording sessions features both up-and-coming and time-tested artists as they roll through our neck of the woods here in Boston. We capture them on audio and video performing stripped-down versions of their songs and we offer to you, our friends and community members, downloads of the tracks.

Well, we had great fun and success doing it and so we decided to ramp it up for 2012, with a newly redesigned page and some brand new sessions coming at you.

We’re kicking it off with The Dear Hunter, a self described “progressive rock band consisting of singer/writer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Casey Crescenzo and drummer Nick Crescenzo.” Casey stopped in to The Moontower Studio in the midst of a nationwide tour and played three songs for us. Please enjoy the streaming video and then download the audio tracks.

While you’re at the Songs of the Revolution page, check out some of our previous sessions, with Never Shout Never, Tim Rogers from You Am I, Tim Blane, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper, and The Hollow Sound. Lots more coming up…

CHECK IT OUT.

Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown Perform at OurStage's NMS Showcase in NYC

If you’ve looked at the Billboard Rock Charts lately you may be wondering what’s happening to the state of the genre. With chart-toppers like Grouplove, fun., and M83, it feels like the industry is in need of a good ole rock revival. Enter Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown. The Nashville quartet have made it their mission to perserve all that is holy with rock ‘n’ roll and are converting followers one live performance at a time.

Last week the audience of the East Village haunt Arelene’s Grocery were treated to an electrifying performance by Tyler Bryant (vox, guitar), Graham Whitford (rythymn guitar), Caleb Crosby (drums), and Gabe Anderson (filling in on bass). The band was in town for a few days to attend the premiere of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Slayer (Bryant played guitar on the film’s score), to attend OurStage’s Artist Advisory Board meeting, and to showcase at the New Music Seminar. Check out their performance of “Kick The Habit” live at Arlene’s:

It’s getting a little colder, so we drummed up some new tunes for you to warm up to. Feel free to sit down next to the fire, download these songs for free, and enjoy them alongside a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate.

Katey Laurel – “Two Birds”

You’ll love this if you want: an even-lighter Kelly Clarkson

To The Sea – “Conquer The North”

You’ll love this if you want: something to give you a fighting spirit and need a tune to shout along with

Please Do Not Fight – “Silence My Skin”

You’ll love this if you want: a thinking man’s New Found Glory

The NowhereNauts – “Try to Light My Fuse”

You’ll love this if you want: a punchy indie rock group with catchy guitar riffs

The Lost Colors – “Say OK”

You’ll love this if you want: heavy-handed soulful pop punk with a touch of Paramore

The Nearly Deads – “Fact and Friction”

You’ll love this if you want: powerful female vocals coupled with heart-wrenching alt-rock

Gabriel the Marine – “On and On”

You’ll love this if you want: a Ra Ra Riot/pop punk love child

Roses and Pirates – “Finding Fires”

You’ll love this if you want: a charming folk sound that has a bit of a kick to it