DANIELLE HOWLE CD Release & GREG HUMPHREYS of Hobex
FRIDAY JUNE 12 @ 8PM

Danielle Howle is a powerful frontwoman whose vivid yet off-kilter musical stories weave a sweet sensibility and bare honesty into her work. Her solo performances are breathtaking, with captivating vocals; she is oft-compared to Nina Simone - and Flannery O'Connor! A comedian between songs, her prattles are filled with insight, inquiry, and wonder that speak of true romanticism. Howle's polished yet spontaneous hilarity creates a singular experience on the music scene.

The New York Times calls her "an extraordinary mind, a southern storyteller with a gorgeous sense of melody that should be pouring out of stereos everywhere. She is one to be treasured."

Over the last few years, Danielle has opened for Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, Edwin McCain, and Hayes Carll, and has toured with the late Elliott Smith, Indigo Girls, Throwing Muses, Ani DiFranco, and Hootie & the Blowfish guitarist Mark Bryan. In 2005, she recorded with Bryan and released an excellent collection of songs titled Thank You, Mark. Howle has released a total of seven studio albums across a variety of record labels — Sub Pop, Kill Rock Stars, Daemon, Simple Machines, and Southern.

Her forthcoming, independent effort is titled The Swamp Sessions. Danielle's new cd was recorded in an all-solar powered house in the lowcountry swamps of the Francis Marion Nat'l Forest.

photo by Stacy Petersen

For the past dozen years, Greg Humphreys has been familiar to local audiences as leader of the band Hobex, a sunny funk-pop soul band. But "Trunk Songs" (www.greghumphreys.net), Humphreys' first solo album, is nothing like what you'd expect.

Where Hobex is perfect cookout music, "Trunk Songs" sounds more like what you'd hear at a campfire in a rustic setting. In contrast to Hobex's upbeat party music, "Trunk Songs" is quiet, folksy and mostly plaintive.

"This is kind of back to the roots of how I ended up playing music," Humphreys says. "My dad was a folkie, always playing music while I was growing up in Winston. This album is kind of a continuation of stuff he was doing -- which I rebelled against in high school, of course, with a total garage-rock band.

"But this is stripped down to bare song and voice," he adds. "Doing a literal solo album is something I've always meant to do. But I just never got around to it before. So I'm glad I finally did. I guess you could say I'm 'seasoned' as a player and writer and singer. Maybe it's a good thing I waited."

- David Menconi, Staff Writer - The News & Observer

GOGOPILOT & LA TOOL & DIE
SATURDAY JUNE 13 @ 10:30PM

gogoPilot is an indie rock/pop outfit from Charlotte, NC. The band formed in 2003, as a mostly acoustic ensemble featuring pretty, melodic songs, eclectic instrumentation such as violin, cello, accordion and lap steel, and the standard bass, guitar and drums. Original influences included a diverse collection of artists, ranging from the Beatles, Burt Bacharach and the Zombies, to modern acts such as Wilco, Guided By Voices and Those Bastard Souls. gogoPilot also mixed post-punk influences like early Echo and The Bunnymen and Lloyd Cole and the Commotions with the political leanings of the Clash thrown in for good measure.

gogoPilot is the brain-child of singer/songwriter/guitarist Jeffrey Williams, whose past projects have included Lodestar, Iodine and Cellophane. Though band members have fluctuated in past years, 2005’s six song “maxie-e.p.”, Armageddon Lullabies, was primarily recorded with the help of guitarist and sidekick Chris Ravenscroft, drummer Chad Wilson and bassist Chris Lonnon. Other musicians appearing on the record include Rodney Lanier (on lap steel, accordion and guitar), Ben Kennedy (on cello and violin), Vance Carlisle (on piano), Reeve Coobs (on vocal harmonies) and Chris Walldorf (on percussion).

In mid-2006, gogoPilot shifted artistic directions. Williams’ songwriting drifted back to the familiar terrain of his former band, Lodestar. The band’s power pop/indie rock/Americana sound has thrust the band into the spotlight as one of Charlotte’s more popular and influential original acts. Currently, the band's sound is moving in the direction of established indie acts such as Wilco, Josh Rouse and Pedro The Lion, while staying true to the roots of time-honored acts such as Elvis Costello, The Police, The Jam, The Who, The Beatles and the Clash. As always, strong songwriting is the focus and Williams is still penning often-challenging songs that show no fear of subject matter that some writers consider tough to handle: divorce, alcoholism, right-wing fundamentalism, the Iraq war and salvation, just to name a few.

Williams’ gift for cloaking sometimes gritty subject matter in delicate and beautiful melodies is a rare find. Never maudlin, the end result for the listener is cathartic and uplifting. Released in September of 2007, the band's second studio album, Manana mon Frere (Tomorrow, my Brother) was recorded in Williams’ home studio (Wasteland).