The Independent Weekly’s words+ on music
Big news from California and for Carolina today: Local orchestral indie band has signed to Lost in the Trees for a re-recorded take on last year’s All Alone in an Empty House. We’ll bring you an interview with the band about the deal tomorrow, and look for the full story in Wednesday’s print edition of the Independent Weekly.
[Editor's Note: Chapel Hill band Lost in the Trees headed north last week for a short tour that took them to the annual college music festival, CMJ, in New York and to a backyard photo studio in Freehold, N.J. While on the road, the band chronicled its adventures and misadventures for this five-part tour journey. Lost in the Trees plays tonight at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Gerrard Hall at 8 p.m. The $5 show is free for UNC students.]
Lost in the Trees, backstage in Boston
Lost in the Trees No. 4: New York to Boston
We usually all sleep in the same place, but New York is always the place where we separate and scatter: No one has space for 11 people to sleep in New York, and everyone has different friends there that they’d like to see. So we re-assembled at The Living Room, the venue we played the night before. Compared to the bustling carnival of the previous night (Pianos and Cake Shop, two other CMJ venues, are right next door), Ludlow St. was dead quiet—really nice, but also eerie, since our introduction to the place was so chaotic and loud. We shared stories of how our nights went: Martin and Drew had a long, rainy journey to Brooklyn at 3 in the morning; Will, Ari and Gini all stayed in a tiny dormitory at The New School. Continue reading »
[Editor's Note: Chapel Hill band Lost in the Trees headed north last week for a short tour that took them to the annual college music festival, CMJ, in New York and to a backyard photo studio in Freehold, N.J. While on the road, the band chronicled its adventures and misadventures for this five-part tour journey. Lost in the Trees plays tonight at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Gerrard Hall at 8 p.m. The $5 show is free for UNC students.]
Lost in the Trees' Mark Daumen, left, and Tour Manager Martin Anderson, right, laugh before the road.
Lost in the Trees No. 1: North Carolina to Charlottesville, Va.
We assembled (as we do every tour) at Trekky House for our pre-tour meeting, led by our dear Tour Manager, Martin Anderson. As usual, everyone was about an hour late. Will had to race to Raleigh to get his cornet mouthpiece unstuck at Marsh Woodwinds. Drew had to get a last minute repair to the tuning peg on his cello. Everyone else was throwing everything that we might need on our trip into one of two vans.
Even though we have toured with a ton of musicians for a while, we always forget just how much stuff goes with a crew of 11 people—instruments, bags, pillows, jackets, food, cameras, skateboards, merch, books… Continue reading »
The Belleville Outfit and Casey Driessen
When it comes to music festivals, I’m a dabbler. Barring a few must-see acts, I tend to wander from stage to stage to try to catch bits of as many bands as possible, hoping to stumble across a surprise or two. At many festivals, that approach can be exhausting, making it easy to spend more time rushing off to see the next band than being able to get a true feel for the performers.
But thanks to generous set lengths and the close proximity of stages and tents, Shakori Hills is a sampler’s paradise. During my 13 hours at the festival, I was able to catch parts of 22 acts with enough time to actually relax and enjoy the music. I even managed a couple of cat naps. Hit the jump for minute-by-minute impressions.
Continue reading »
Birds in a van.
Last night, two locals—Bowerbirds and Lost in the Trees—shared a four-band bill at Manhattan’s Mercury Lounge. Throughout the evening, a trickle of excited correspondence from members of both bands announced that a special guest had come to watch Bowerbirds’ set: Neutral Milk Hotel leader/ de facto hermit/ “Salinger of indie rock” Jeff Mangum. There’s, of course, little to report about the appearance besides just that—no collaborations, no serious hangouts. Mangum just watched and, between songs, held his beer between his teeth to clap. Maybe he’ll come down to Chapel Hill later this year?
On the news tip, though, Dead Oceans will release Bowerbirds’ second LP, Upper Air, Tuesday, July 7. (And, just to get it right, I co-released Bowerbirds’ first album on this here label.) The Birds will likely offer some of those songs up (”Northern Lights,” please) at a homecoming show at Local 506 Friday, May 8, before heading to Europe for a festivals-and-clubs tour later in the month. New in the Lost in the Trees world: Billions, one of the most esteemed booking agencies in the land, recently acquired the band, and they seem to have piqued some national label interest of late.
If you’re hoping to see a band tonight in these parts, your choices are pretty, well, choice: Aside from traveling acts playing the usual suspects (Mogwai and The Twilight Sad @ Cat’s Cradle; Napalm Death @ Volume 11; Starfucker and DJs @ Local 506), five strong local bills put the tunes in unusual places: Continue reading »
Bombadil, Benji Hughes, Lost in the Trees
Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh
Friday, April 10
Bombadil (Har Hum)
After spending many of the last few years on tour, Durham’s Bombadil took some time off from the road in early 2009 to rest and record Tarpits and Canyonlands, the successor to last year’s wildly imaginative A Buzz, A Buzz. The album’s due July 7 on Ramseur Records. The band’s show Friday at Lincoln Theatre was its first of the new year and one it had planned and promoted for months. It’s unfortunate, then, that the group’s work and anticipation was somewhat spoiled by untimely circumstances. Continue reading »
Double Barrel Benefit Night One: Bowerbirds, Lost in the Trees
The Pour House, Raleigh
Friday, Feb. 6, 2009
A couple songs into his band’s headlining set at The Pour House Friday, Bowerbirds’ Phil Moore said, “This is what we call a party.” A few cheers followed. “Just continue to party,” he said. “Maybe in a more subdued way,” Moore’s bandmate, Beth Tacular, pleaded from across the stage.
The vibe was happy for the first night of WKNC’s sixth-annual Double Barrel Benefit, but people seemed more interested in hanging out than hearing Bowerbirds. Constant conversation filled the air, delicate vocal harmonies and guitar picking struggling versus the storm. It made for quite the contrast with the set the band played through an actual rainstorm in Duke Gardens this past summer. Continue reading »
