Exciting News

The good people at The L Magazine have asked yours truly to curate a showcase for The Northside Festival this year. The Whatever blog/Northside showcase will be a night time showcase that will take place on 6/18 at The Red Star Bar in Greenpoint Brooklyn. Once the line up is finalized I will post all the details on the blog. I feel very honored to have been asked to curate a showcase at Northside!

And if you New Yorkers or people who will be in New York in June haven't done so already you need to get your passes for Northside. The Northside festival goes from June 16th to June 19th and it goes on at various venues across the Williamsburg/Greenpoint area. A pass to Northside allows you to see lots of really rad music and cool indie films over the course of those three days. Well worth the money! To get your badge click on the Northside Festival link above.

It's a Deer Tick Friday...

The other night I had a dream about John McCauley from Deer Tick. In that dream I was in the deserts of Nevada at night and when I looked up at the sky I saw all the stars in the sky and then when I looked back down John McCauley was standing right next to me. It was very The Little Princesque perhaps John McCauley's sudden apperance in my dream meant that he is some type of rock and roll sage.

Happy June...

Today is the first day of June and on this day the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper in 1967 and CNN signed onto the air on this very date in 1980.

 Enjoy a little live Neckbeard Telecaster.



 And here is the late great Warren Zevon playing one of my very favorite songs "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" live.

Delicate Steve at Brooklyn Bowl

This weekend was quite a busy one for me it included a day trip to Philly today and a trip to the Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday night for The Deli Magazine's B.E.A.F (aka Best of Emerging Artists Festival) Fest. On the bill Saturday night where Headless Horseman, Delicate Steve and ArpLine. I came too late for Headless Horseman and ArpLine's sets but arrived just in time to hear Delicate Steve. Delicate Steve's music for all of you who haven't heard it can best be described as psychedelic jazz infused instrumental soul. Usually when I think of jazz/psychedelic/soul instrumental bands I think oh no this band is going to be an annoying jam band with a guitarist who does a 25 minute guitar solo using the same two chords..surprisingly Delicate Steve isn't that type of a band.

Delicate Steve played an enjoyable tight set on Saturday night that got yours truly and the rest of the crowd going.

White Birds

I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend.

This week I was sad to learn that one of my very favorite Philly bands Drink Up Buttercup are no longer, but at the same time I was happy to learn former Drink Up Buttercup members Jim Harvey, Farzad Houshiarnejad and Mike Cammarata have created a new band called White Birds and they have released a gorgeous track called "Hondora", to take a listen click here. I look forward to hearing more music from White Birds and seeing them play live. And of course once more White Birds music is released I will post it here as well tour dates.

And on a side note last week there where devastating storms in the Mid Western and Southern parts of the US including a deadly tornado in Joplin Missouri that destroyed most of the city and left many residents of Joplin homeless. One of the places that was totally destroyed in the Joplin tornado was an apartment complex called Hampshire Terrace which housed 100 low income families in the area and was built and run by the Royal Heights Methodist Church of  Joplin. The Royal Heights UMC has set up a fund to help the residents of Hampshire Terrace pay for all utilities and other expenses in their new housing. All the money donated goes directly to the residents of Hampshire Terrace to donate click here.

Other charities helping folks affected by these devastating storms include UMCOR and The American Red Cross...donate what you can help your brothers and sisters out!