Hey, it’s Tuesday! You know what that means? Free music on the creek (assuming and hoping the weather holds up, of course). Tonight’s free music? It’s the only kids act of the summer – Danny Weinkauf and his Red Pants Band. Thus, in order to get you familiar with said Danny Weinkauf and his Red Pants Band, check out this video of “No School Today.” The fun starts at 7 p.m. Some of us will be there, kidz-boppin it up for all to see. Come say hello!
July 2015
So … Saturday, August 8. What do you have going on? Something fun? Something neat? A whole bunch of summer heat? 200 East Patrick St. is going to be hippin’ and hoppin’ all day long and we thought we should tell you about it. For consistency’s sake, let’s work backwards.
At 8 p.m. that night (doors at 7), we have a hell of a treat for you. Kabob-O-Taj will take the stage. Then Time Columns will take the stage. And then, amazingly, Giraffes? Giraffes! will turn the volume to 11 and blow your skulls to smithereens. OK. Well, maybe it’s not that dramatic. But you get it. Not familiar with any of the bands? Check out our latest playlist on the right on this page. It features both Time Columns and Giraffes? Giraffes!. We’ll have the Flying Dog beer. We’ll have the candy machine. And, of course, we’ll have the amazing art. Tickets will run you 10 bucks.
But that’s not all. Earlier in the day, we’ll be revisiting our announcement some months back about a Battle Of The Bands. That’s right. If you remember, The Frederick News-Post has been polling its readers to see who some of the most popular bands in Frederick are. We recently took the top 10 vote-getters and reached out to each one to see if they’d be willing to play. Five of them agreed. Those five will be:
- Special Delivery
- Sticktime
- Freddie Long
- The Few
- Hard Swimmin’ Fish
Each band will play a set outside as part of a battle. The audience can vote. Prizes and details on how to vote will be announced in the coming weeks. The event will also feature other area businesses selling their “best of the best” products. For instance, if everyone voted, saying Bushwaller’s has the best chicken wings in town, Bushwaller’s would (hopefully) be there, selling the best chicken wings in town. Got it? Good. That part of the day will be free, which is pretty much the best price in the world. The music is set to kick off around 1 p.m.
We’ll be back in the coming weeks to reveal some more details for both events as well as give away tickets to the concert that evening. For now, though, we wanted to check in and see if you could hang. We’ll call it a save the date post. It’s set to be a pretty amazing day of music in downtown Frederick, friends. You might not want to sit this one out.
Let’s start the week with a shot from Saturday’s Flying Dog concert featuring Surfer Blood, Sun Club and People’s Blues Of Richmond. The people you see here? That’s Surfer Blood. We gave away about 48,138 tickets to 200 East shows coming up, so that was super fun. That’s what introducing The Wheel O’ Playlist will do. Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by to say hello. There’s only one more of these left for this summer. Can you believe it’s almost August? Photo by Sam Yu.
So. It’s Thursday. Already. And that means another Weekend Playlist. This time around, we have a whole ton of things going on in and around Frederick that ought to cool you off as the summer sun shines down on our balding heads. First and foremost, Surfer Blood, Sun Club and People’s Blues Of Richmond will be bringing their indie/garage/awesome-rock to Flying Dog Brewery Saturday night. We’ll be there, giving away tickets, beer koozies and, most likely, kisses. We’ll also be introducing some bands and enjoying the fabulousness that is Flying Dog beer (shouts to Sarah Chek and Dan Velez for winning free tickets!). Also notable this weekend (and as we announced on stage last Saturday at the Seaknuckle show at 200 E. Patrick St.): Tomorrow is Nelson Mandela Day and there’s going to be a concert in the park commemorating as much. A ton of great local talent will be on display, including, though not limited to, Old Indian, Seaknuckle and Katie Powderly. Also, as a bonus: Sister Sledge! The lead singer from Squirrel Nut Zippers (remember them?!) will be in Shepherdstown tomorrow night and doesn’t that just sound like 10 tons of great! Guys In Thin Ties will be Alive-in at Five-in through Carroll Creek tonight. There is the usual slate of open mics scheduled to go down this evening, with the added fun at Beans In The Belfry for the once-a-month event hosted by Tomy “One M” Wright (writing that still never gets old). Israel Creek Duo will make an appearance at JoJo’s for a rare Thursday night treat tonight as well. The positive reggae vibes from FeelFree (mon!) will splash themselves all up over Cafe Nola tomorrow night. And then, of course, there is Monkey Clap, which kind of sounds like either a disease or a really fun night. We hope to see you over on Flying Dog’s frown lawn Saturday night. We’ll have a nice little announcement next week regarding some fun stuff happening downtown, so you’ll want to meet us back here, same place, same time, right? Let’s hope so. Happy Middle-Of-July, friends. It’s a beautiful day.
THURSDAY
Who: Alive @ Five Featuring Guys In Thin Ties
Where: Carroll Creek
When: 5 p.m.
Who: Monocacy Jazz Quartet
Where: Ayse Meze Lounge
When: 5 p.m.
Who: Open Mic hosted by Tomy Wright
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 7 p.m.
Who: Jazz Jam
Where: The Main Cup
When: 7 p.m.
Who: Open Mic Night
Where: The Blue Sky Bar And Grill
When: 8 p.m.
Who: Open Mic
Where: Bushwallers
When: Sign-up begins at 9 p.m.; play begins at 10 p.m.
Who: Israel Creek Duo
Where: JoJo’s Tap House
When: 8 p.m.
FRIDAY
Who: Mitch Morrill
Where: Ayse Meze Lounge
When: 5 p.m.
Who: Virginia Clemm, The Averist, The New Reign, Burn n’ Bleed
Where: Cafe 611
When: 7 p.m.
Who: Jimi Cupino Project
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 7 p.m.
Who: Lost Highway Honky Tonk Band
Where: Cactus Flats
When: 8:30 p.m.
Who: C-9
Where: The Main Cup
When: 8:30 p.m.
Who: The Nightcrawlers Band
Where: Hard Times Cafe
When: 9 p.m.
Who: As If
Where: Champion Billiards
When: 9 p.m.
Who: No Better Than U
Where: The Blue Sky Bar And Grill
When: 9 p.m.
Who: Dan McGuire Band
Where: Bushwallers
When: 10 p.m.
Who: FeelFree
Where: Cafe Nola
When: 9:30 p.m.
Who: Tom Maxwell From Squirrel Nut Zippers
Where: The Opera House, Shepherdstown
When: 9 p.m.
Who: Sister Sledge’s Kathy Sledge, Rashid Lanie, Sharon Katz and the Peace Train, Cheick Hamala Diabate, Katie Powderly & the Unconditional Lovers, Old Indian, Seaknuckle
Where: Baker Park
When: 4 p.m.
SATURDAY
Who: Surfer Blood, Sun Club, People’s Blues Of Richmond
Where: Flying Dog Brewery
When: 6 p.m.
Who: Brian Christopher, DeWayne Alston
Where: Cafe 611
When: 8 p.m.
Who: Don Annonio
Where: Beans In The Belfry
When: 7 p.m.
Who: Jah Works
Where: Champion Billiards
When: 8 p.m.
Who: Deluxe
Where: The Furnace Bar And Grill
When: 8 p.m.
Who: Hard Swimmin’ Fish
Where: The Main Cup
When: 8:30 p.m.
Who: Liz Springer
Where: Hard Times Cafe
When: 9 p.m.
Who: Steel Rose
Where: The Blue Sky Bar And Grill
When: 9 p.m.
Who: Broken Rocker
Where: Bushwallers
When: 10 p.m.
Who: Monkey Clap
Where: Olde Towne Tavern
When: 10 p.m.
Who: Laney Jones & The Spirits
Where: Cafe Nola
When: 9:30 p.m.
Who: Cavern, B&O Railroad, BailJack, Faith In Jane
Where: Guido’s Speakeasy
When: 8 p.m.
Who: Mind’s Eye, Foghound, King Bison, Rhin
Where: The Jefferson Patriotic Club
When: 8 p.m.
For the second show in Flying Dog’s Summer Sessions concert series, the brewery is hosting three bands: People’s Blues Of Richmond, Sun Club and Surfer Blood. We spoke with members of each of the bands — the first two via email and the headliner via phone — over the past couple weeks to talk about their upcoming trip to Frederick, what’s in store for Saturday’s show and, of course, what they think of Flying Dog beer. As always, we’ll be at Flying Dog this Saturday, supporting the fine people at Flying Dog and these fine bands (notice the brand new playlist on the right) by giving away koozies, setting up a table, and giving away tickets. Come say hi. Today, we speak with John Paul Pitts of Surfer Blood.
Congratulations on the latest record, “1000 Palms.” You wrote it without a record deal in hand? I didn’t know that. Is that true?
That is true. For the record before this, we were on a major label, which is a deal we signed pretty soon after our first record came out. And we went through that whole major label process, which is the opposite of everything we had done up until that point. Our label sank lots and lots of money into that record, and it didn’t really sell as well as they were thinking, so they dropped us. In December 2013, a few days before Christmas. It didn’t really come as much of a surprise to us. So, we decided we were going to get together and just record the first 10 songs we came up with to keep it really simple and pure. We figured it would be better to just make a record ourselves and see what happened afterward.
How did that influence the writing? Did it have a positive impact on the creation of the album?
I think it did, yeah. I think it’s always better when you don’t have lots and lots of people weighing in on the creative process. We made our first record before anyone even knew who our band was, so we thought it would be good to do something like that again.
I’ve been catching up on your music videos all day, and I’m interested to know your opinion on music videos these days. You guys have some really good ones, and the thing about that is, there’s no real MTV, no real mainstream outlet for music videos anymore. What kind of importance do you think those type of promotional tools have in today’s musical climate?
That’s a good question. I feel like the days of the big single and the big video are kind of behind us. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing because when I sit down and write a song, I never say to myself, “This is going to be the big single, this is going to be the only song that anyone ever knows off this record.” That’s never been my mentality. And I’ve always thought that music videos should be a low-pressure situation that’s just fun for everyone. We’ve made one music video with a decent budget and it turned out really good, but putting that kind of pressure on a situation isn’t … I mean, considering how it’s not 20 years ago, at the very least, it should be just something that’s very enjoyable and feels good.
You guys broke out in 2009 and 2010. You did CMJ in 2009 and 2010 at South By Southwest. Another change in the past five to 10 years is in those music discovery festivals like South By Southwest. I know a lot of people have become annoyed at how corporate those events have become — do you agree with that? Do you think those kinds of outlets and festivals and events have the same kind of impact they once did?
I don’t really know. I’m not an A&R person, and I can’t imagine what it would be like to be an A&R person, but it does seem like every year there has to be a breakout band at South By Southwest and CMJ. Like, “Who are we going to pick this year to be the one.” That being said, I can never say thank you enough to both of those. We went to CMJ in 2009, and people were starting to figure out who we were, but by the time we left, we were on the front page of the arts section in the New York Times. That was pretty much the biggest thing that ever happened to me at that point. We still go and play South By Southwest, but we usually only play three or four shows for our fans who are there. I don’t know what it’s like in 2015, being the band playing 12, 13 shows, in the way we were trying to get someone to pay attention to you.
You guys opened for the Pixies and I read that there’s an interesting story about how you guys got on that tour. Can you tell that story?
I like to think that this is the story. It’s never been confirmed, but we’ve never been shy about the fact that we’re a big fan of that band and they’ve been a big influence on us. We did a cover of their song “Gigantic” for an Internet-type session for The AV Club and when that came out, we had just submitted to be support on a tour with them. Pretty soon after the video came out, we found out that we got the tour, that we were going to do it. So, I like to think that maybe that sort of pushed it over the edge.
That’s gotta be like a dream come true.
Yeah. Yeah, it was a dream come true in a lot of ways. Getting to watch that set every night. Just the honor of opening for them. I watched that set every night and never got tired of it.
Now, you guys are coming here to play at Flying Dog Brewery, so I have to ask if you’ve ever tried Flying Dog beer.
I have.
Do you have a favorite?
The only one I’ve ever tried is Raging Bitch, and I remember really liking it.
I also saw that the night before the show here, you’re going to be at Dogfish. So, not to put you on the spot, but is there one you like more than the other?
(Laughs.) Oh, I’m not going to say. I’m going to plead the fifth on that one. But this will be fun. It’s always exciting because people who make beer are usually really passionate about it and are usually not shy about talking your ear off about it. And of all the things in the world to listen to someone talk about, that’s one of the … to me, that’s really cool and interesting.
Let’s start off this Thursday with Surfer Blood’s official clip for “I Can’t Explain.” We’ll have a Q&A with them later today, but for now, know that they will be headlining Flying Dog’s second Summer Sessions concert series show on Saturday when they take the stage with Sun Club and People’s Blues Of Richmond. We’ll be there, shaking hands, giving away koozies and introducing bands. Won’t you join us?
For the second show in Flying Dog’s Summer Sessions concert series, the brewery is hosting three bands: People’s Blues Of Richmond, Sun Club and Surfer Blood. We spoke with members of each of the bands — the first two via email and the headliner via phone — over the past couple weeks to talk about their upcoming trip to Frederick, what’s in store for Saturday’s show and, of course, what they think of Flying Dog beer. We’ll be rolling out the interviews, one a day, for the rest of the week. As always, we’ll be at Flying Dog this Saturday, supporting the fine people at Flying Dog and these fine bands (notice the brand new playlist on the right) by giving away koozies, setting up a table, and giving away tickets. Come say hi. Today, we speak with Sun Club.
You guys are from Baltimore. Do you ever occasionally come up this way to play (Frederick and Hagerstown)? What’s your perception of the Western Maryland music scene and Frederick, specifically, as a music town? How about Baltimore? How do you see that city as a music town?
We’ve never played Western Maryland but are psyched. It’s like a different world!! We did a film festival a few years in Frederick and dig the Pop Shop. Baltimore is sick as hell. Love seeing shows and playing shows here – positive energy.
What’s your favorite Flying Dog beer and why?
The pale ale and Raging Bitch. We crossed paths with those beers many of times, yum. The art is awesome, too.
You guys played SXSW this year. How was that experience? I’ve covered it before and the consensus for a lot of people I talked to is that it’s a drag to play it because of how corporate and crowded it’s become. What’s your take on that?
It totally varies. We’ve been there three times and there’s been a ton of super terrible times, but also been a few cool times. We have met so many good people there, so in the end, it has been positive.
What are some of your career’s favorite, most accomplished memories so far?
The amount of free beer we’ve all consumed – and going to Europe this past May, haha.
Who were some of your biggest influences and why?
Summer time, the forest, biking at night and fun times influence our music a lot.
You guys get out on the road a bit. Where are some of your favorite places to play and why?
Pontiac, Michigan. Lots a great stuff out there.
Through all your travels so far, can you give us some names of some musicians/artists who we might not already know of, who we should keep an eye on?
Sherman Whips, Slendermen, Vundabar, Little Leaguer.
And finally, what can we expect from your set at Flying Dog?
Madness!!!!!!
Ohhh, Jon looks so at peace, doesn’t he!? Check out this shot from Saturday and reminisce on why you should head out and get a copy of Seaknuckle’s “Get Over It.” If we could see the dude smile like that to himself all the time, our hearts would be warmer than a microwave oven on high! Happy Wednesday, friends. Happy Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Cassandra Mullinix. For more of her photos, visit https://www.facebook.com/bucketofrock.
For the second show in Flying Dog’s Summer Sessions concert series, the brewery is hosting three bands: People’s Blues Of Richmond, Sun Club and Surfer Blood. We spoke with members of each of the bands — the first two via email and the headliner via phone — over the past couple weeks to talk about their upcoming trip to Frederick, what’s in store for Saturday’s show and, of course, what they think of Flying Dog beer. We’ll be rolling out the interviews, one a day, for the rest of the week. As always, we’ll be at Flying Dog this Saturday, supporting the fine people at Flying Dog and these fine bands (notice the brand new playlist on the right) by giving away koozies, setting up a table, and giving away tickets. Come say hi. First up today is Matthew Volkes, the bassist for People’s Blues Of Richmond.
You guys are from Richmond. Do you ever occasionally come up this way to play? If so, what’s your perception of the music scene? And what’s the scene like over in Richmond?
We try and come up as often as we can. The music scene is great there and we had a blast playing there last time. Richmond’s music scene is blowing up right now. Every night of the week you can catch amazing free music and cheap drinks. There are a ton of great bands in Richmond and we’re lucky to be a part of the scene.
What’s your favorite Flying Dog beer and why?
In-Heat Wheat, because the name is clever. All the other beers, too. They just make really good beer.
You guys have been compared to the Black Keys, Jack White and Led Zeppelin. What’s it feel like to be in the same breath as those kinds of heavy names? Were any of those artists, artists you inspired to be?
We’re honored to be compared to all of those bands. We listen to a ton of Zeppelin and used to play “How Many More Times” into “Communication Breakdown” into “Whole Lotta Love” back into “Communication Breakdown.” A lot of different artists inspire us and I will say those three are some of our favorites. It’s wild — week to week, I’ll find myself listening to a different band obsessively. One week, it’s Cake and the next, it’s the Black Keys.
What are some of your career’s favorite, most accomplished memories so far?
We’ve had an amazing career so far and I really feel like it has just started. One of our top experiences was getting to record with Mark Neill, producer of the Black Keys album “Brothers” — one of our favorite bands and favorite albums. He also recorded J Roddy Walston’s album, “Essential Tremors,” and Dan Auerbach’s solo album, “Keep It Hid.” Other top experiences include playing the main stage at Lockn’ Festival, three sets at Electric Forest, and playing at SXSW. The whole experience of being in a van, riding around the country with your best friends and playing rock n roll is the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. We’ve worked really hard to get where we are right now, but we have had a lot of help from a lot of people and we are really just happy to be where we’re at and playing music.
Who were some of your biggest influences and why?
The Strokes, Modest Mouse and Black Keys are all straight up rock ‘n’ roll bands with amazing lyrics. They’re raw and not afraid to be themselves. All the bands we like are what we call honest music. People that make honest music put everything they have into it. You can hear it when they belt out a lyric or strike a chord. Primus, Felice Brothers, Against Me, Gogol Bordello, Bob Marley and Snarky Puppy all play very different music, but all of these artists live or lived to play, entertain, create art and make music.
You guys get out on the road a bit. Where are some of your favorite places to play and why?
We just went to Chicago for our first time and played the Taste of Randolph festival, which was amazing. Dinosaur Jr., Lettuce, Dandy Warhols, and a ton of other amazing acts played. It was crazy and we had a couple days off, which we normally don’t have. So, we went to the aquarium, Millennium Park, Navy Pier and rode the Ferris wheel at sunset. Chicago has a lot to offer. Tampa seems like a home away from home — they have a great scene going on down there. WMNF is their local radio station and they’re awesome! We always tune in when we’re close to Tampa. We have a blast everywhere we go and there are too many places to mention. I suggest you jump in the car and join us in the PBR Rock and Roll Circus.
Through all your travels so far, can you give us some names of some musicians/artists who we might not already know of, who we should keep an eye on?
There are a lot of awesome bands out there to check out. I’ll name three. The Lawsuits are a band from Philly, kind of Americana rock n roll. They’re really awesome. The Mutts are from Chicago they’re like Tom Waits meets prog rock keys, bass and drums. They tear the roof off the house. Last but not least, some new but very good friends of ours from Charleston, South Carolina — Stop Light Observations. They’re like the Doors meets Modest Mouse. Great band. Awesome guys. Fun to party with.
And finally, what can we expect from your set at Flying Dog?
Rock ‘n’ roll mayhem!
Oh, is there a treat for everyone in town tonight. The Hello Strangers, one of our favorite duos in all the land, are going to perform for free – free! – as part of the Levitt Amp summer concert series downtown at 7 p.m. The only thing left to decide is if we’ll have to move it inside (like we did for Mary Ann Redmond a few weeks ago), or if we can keep it on the creek. Check back through the day on our Twitter and Facebook pages to get a confirmation one way or the other. Either way, you really, really ought to take advantage of this opportunity before they’re playing to thousands on a consistent basis – and for a price tag far more expensive than “free.” Above is their video for “Runaway.” Can’t wait for tonight.