One Song

Saturday night. Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The Opera House. Ms. Angela Perley and her Howlin’ Moons will be coming to town, ready for blow your face off your face. We recently caught up with Ms. Perley for a Q&A that we’ll publish later this week. For now, check out what she had to say about her single “Athens,” which also won first place recently in the 2014 International Songwriting Contest. Heavy praise, right? Click the play button above these words and you’ll see why.

Here’s what she had to say:

I wrote the song a couple years after I moved away from Athens (Ohio). I feel like I really grew as a person in Athens and have so many memories there, so it is a very bittersweet song to me. It’s a very personal song and it started out as a solo fingerpicking number. I played it at a late night house party in Columbus that Chris and Billy were at and I shared it with them and they liked it.

I never thought “Athens” would work as a full band song but Chris and Billy kept bringing it up. So about a month later, we tried to play the song at a band practice. We ended up arranging it, keeping the solo version in mind for the beginning and last verses, and it worked. When we took it into the studio, it got more aggressive and that is when we came up with the idea to extend it and include the instrumental reprise we put at the end of the album (and which we play back to back in the live version).

So, as we like to say, there you have it. Again, she’ll be performing at The Opera House in Shepherdstown Saturday night. The fun kicks off at 9 p.m. You’ll be there to check out the live version, right?

This weekend, Old Indian will be releasing the vinyl version of “Mumble,” their first full-length album. They will commemorate as much with a show at The Faux School with Heavy Lights, Time Columns and Wish List. We caught up with the band recently to talk about the record, the show, and this, one of the most interesting songs on “Mumble,” “Too Old To Be Cool.” The following is what lead singer Cory Springirth explained when we asked what went into it:

It came about just “society watching.” It’s about people who struggle with getting older. They combat it by trying to hold on to or keep up with trends, friends or some hip lifestyle for the sake of notoriety. Maybe even trying to hold on to their younger past self.  I think musicians and entertainers often struggle with this more so, though we all do at some point in our life because everyone wants some type of approval from a person or people to a certain degree, no matter what they say.

We all go about different ways to get it — sometimes healthy ways, sometimes not so much.  So in the long run, am I seeking the approval from the right person/people in my life? I guess it’s sort of a self-awareness song for myself, too. Did I get too serious just now? Haha.

Oh, Frederick Playlist is a safe zone, Cory. No need to worry! Remember, friends: The festivities kick off this Saturday at 8 p.m. Five bucks gets you in the door. It will be a First Saturday. The excitement, of course, is building.

It’s been a few months, but we’d like to welcome back the feature that’s storming the nation: One Song. This time around, we have Kenny Tompkins from indie-pop duo New God explaining what went into his band’s single “Summer Girl.” Take it away, Kenny:

After our first record came out, a lot of writers compared our sound to the Beach Boys and me to Brian Wilson. I thought it was interesting because I love the Beach Boys but wasn’t really into them while I was working on the record and certainly didn’t intend to show that influence. I wondered what it would be like if I did just go for it and make a song with the Beach Boys as my guiding light. “Summer Girl” came from that thought. I especially tried to include little bits of melancholy and ennui because that is my favorite thing about Brian Wilson songs. That is why the chorus says, “It don’t mean anything.” It also continues a trend where I use intentionally use incorrect grammar as a nod to my redneck upbringing. Look for it in other New God songs.

So, there you have it. The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson. And awesomeness. Dig what you hear? You can catch New God – along with Philly group Seagulls – at Cafe Nola on Saturday night. The festivities will kick off around 10 p.m., so don’t be square, friends. Be there.

Hey, so, what are you doing the night after Halloween? You know – the day you shuffle through the candy (and hangover) you earned the night before? The day that single-handedly reminds you that winter is closer than you thought, now that November is in full gear? You know what we’re talking about, right? Right. Well, here’s an option: You could go check out Big Hoax and Skribe at Cafe Nola for a measly three bucks. We’ll have a Q&A with the former’s Luke Alexander later this week, but for now, here’s the mind behind Big Hoax’s description of his band’s song “War Boar:”

While writing  “War Boar,” I really wanted to create something I could find solace in. The American economy was and still is being rebuilt, and it is undoubtedly a contributor to why many people in my millennial generation, including myself, are struggling. I write a lot of music that sends a message – I preach to myself in my lyrics quite often. People hear these messages and it creates community. “War Boar” is a celebration song, an inspiration to keep going, despite the struggle. It fires people up, especially when performed live.

And there you have it. You can hear “War Boar” live, in color, and in full effect (with a ton of other songs, of course) on Saturday night when Big Hoax takes the Cafe Nola stage. Because you can’t eat mini-Snickers all day, you know.

Welp. Fredericksburg, Virginia’s Karen Jonas is going to bring songs from her record-of-the-year-candidate “Oklahoma Lottery” to Cafe Nola on Thursday night. Some of us will be there. For some of us, it will be a very late night. And for some of us, it will totally be worth it. In anticipation of that performance, we caught up with the singer for a quick Q&A. That will be coming down the pipe later this week.

For now, though, check out the description she gave of perhaps the most haunting song off “Oklahoma Lottery,” “Thinkin’ Of You Again:”

“Thinking of You Again” seems to have grabbed the attention of a lot of folks. Wanna know the real story? I was thinking of a guy I had dated and wondering why we weren’t still together. It’s about as real as they come, except that I’ve never been to Paris.

Which is a shame, because Paris is lovely! Anyway, there you have it. Four sentences and out. Quick and concise – what’s not to love about that? Click play on the video above if you want to have a listen, or, if you are so inclined, click play on our current Playlist, which you can find to the right of these words. She’ll be taking the Cafe Nola stage at 9:30 p.m. Thursday and if you miss it, you’ll regret it.

Don’t lie: You’ve been missin’ our One Song feature. Well, good news: It’s back. And it’s back featuring Ann Arbor, Michigan, outfit The Appleseed Collective, who will be performing at Cafe Nola on Sunday. We’ll have a Q&A with them later this week, but for now, check out the above video featuring a performance of their song “Madly Crazy Darlin.'” Then, if you’re feeling a little curious, read about how it came to be, as told from Andrew Brown, the group’s guitarist:

That song really did just sort of bubble out of the ether. I wrote it over the span of about 30 minutes and we have been playing it as a band since the beginning. We really have let that song grow into what it is today. We sometimes allow songs to develop in that way and other times, we workshop them to create more complex arrangements. There is a youthful energy that is present in “Madly Crazy Darlin” that still exists in our newer material, but has clearly grown and matured into something new. 

You can catch The Appleseed Collective at Cafe Nola at 9:30 p.m. Sunday night. It will be a great way to start a great week filled with music here in Frederick, culminating Thursday night at the Weinberg when Grammy-winner Gregory Porter takes the stage (notice our new Playlist to the right). For more on The Appleseed Collective, click here. Don’t forget to check back tomorrow, when we’ll unveil a brand new feature that’s been in the works for some time now. We promise: It will be worth your time.

A few weeks ago, the fine young men in local rock outfit Twin Radio released “The Coast Of Indigo.” As they were readying the release, they reached out to us here at Frederick Playlist to let us know everything we needed to know about what was going down. And because we were unable to make it to their record-release shindig, we thought it might be a good idea to check in with the lads to see if we could get any insight on what went into the making of the album, now that it’s out.

Luckily for us, Corey Highland, the band’s singer and principal songwriter, offered up this explanation for the first track on their latest album, “Still Burning.” And luckily for all you Twin Radio die-hard fans out there (and we know there are many of you!), we are in the sharing mood. Thus, behold the meaning behind Twin Radio’s “Still Burning”:

I wrote “Still Burning” after I had injured my back. I was lost in an emotional decline and when the injury happened, it took a large portion of my confidence away, leaving me in bed for hours and sometimes entire days at a time. It took some time for me to come to and make the best of what I had. It was then that my passion for music grew even higher. The song describes this rekindled dream as a fire that is still burning more than the fires of the wicked, and it implies the image of breathing in fire and exhaling flame as a metaphor for the act of expressing emotion and reaction to strange and trying events through my singing. All in all, it is a piece that both describes and hopes to challenge the depression that I struggle against day to day.

Want to hear more? Check out the band’s Facebook page here and preview (as well as buy) “The Coast Of Indigo” here. Also, keep an eye out for the dudes as they continue to pop up in and around Frederick, promoting their latest record with a few shows here and there. And if all else fails, send them cases of potato chips. Because, really: Who doesn’t like potato chips?!