Erie Choir and Cheyenne @ The Reservoir - 6 March 2008 (pics, video)

Erie Choir (above) and Cheyenne both played excellent sets last night at The Reservoir in Chapel Hill. The show had the relaxed feeling of a practice as the two bands treated those of us in attendance to really solid, straightforward, small-club American rock and roll. Cheap beer, well above average sound, a wide-open layout - an all around nice venue (I remember it as Go Studios). It was great to see familiar faces and hear songs I already know and love on our first night on the road. More pictures, as well as live video, after the jump.

Erie Choir

Watch:
"Lullaby for Jon Grives" by Erie Choir live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures of Erie Choir from this show (and others) HERE

Visit Erie Choir on MySpace.

Cheyenne

Watch:
"Big Weather" by Cheyenne live (from this show) on YouTube | download QT

See more pictures of Cheyenne from this show (and others)HERE

Visit Cheyenne on MySpace.

Erie Choir @ Lit Lounge - 28 April 2007

The photos above are of Erie Choir playing a show @ Lit Lounge this past Saturday night.

Listen:
"Favorite Fotos"
"Lullaby For John Grives"

Visit Erie Choir on MySpace

See more pictures from this show HERE.

Erie Choir playing NYC tomorrow night @ Lit Lounge

One of my favorite bands (Erie Choir) from back home is coming to New York this weekend and playing Lit Lounge tomorrow night.

You may remember Erie Choir from the EAR FARM Holiday Show in Raleigh this past December, or this might be the first you've even heard of the band. Either way, you'll want to check them out Saturday night.

Listen:
"Favorite Fotos"
"Lullaby For John Grives"
"Trunion Pike"

Visit Erie Choir on MySpace

See Erie Choir live tomorrow night - 8pm @ Lit Lounge w/ Hammer No More The Fingers, Please Dept and Containers.

EAR FARM Presents... Taigaa, Scott Phillips, Schooner, Erie Choir @ Bickett Gallery in Raleigh - 27 December 2006

This post is a week overdue. Usually I'm very good about getting these post-show posts up right away but this time I needed to take some time to simply enjoy New Year's Eve/Day. The delay was by no means a reflection of how things went.

Back story - when I was back home in Raleigh for the holidays I figured, hey, what better way to celebrate being home with friends than with an EAR FARM Presents... show? It was perfect, in fact, and I was really happy to see so many of my Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill friends at Bickett Gallery on the 27th of December for a holiday party that was full of awesome live music, many drinks, and fine works of art.

The audio for all of these performances was recorded, and I plan to make that available at some point in the future, but for right now I'm just going to post links to some pictures I took and a live video of each band performing a song. A note about the videos - they were taken with a digital camera. Like, as in, a still camera. The microphone limits itself quite a bit (especially for the two bands with drummers) so the sound you're going to hear is not at all what things actually sounded like. It sounded better.

Erie Choir
Erie Choir played first and featured a trimmed down, two person lineup. Having heard their songs before the show I was prepared to enjoy the set but I wasn't really ready to like their songs as much as I did. The songs, the melodies, the vibe, the performance - everything - was excellent. I highly recommend checking out this band in whatever way you can.

Listen:
"Favorite Fotos"

Watch:
Erie Choir live @ Bickett Gallery - 27 December 2006 (quicktime link)

View more pictures from this show of Erie Choir HERE.
Read a previous EF post about Erie Choir HERE.

Schooner
Schooner is a band I've been familiar with for nearly the entire 1.25 year history of EAR FARM. I got to see them once before at Lit Lounge here in the city and the show at Bickett Gallery was the complete opposite. That's a good thing. Not that they were bad, in any way, the first time I saw them, but Lit Lounge just isn't the sweetest of venues. It sucks. Schooner, however, does not. They rocked the art gallery in a mellow countrified fashion and showed that they've grown a bit as a band since I last saw them live. Their sound is more focused, their energy more unified, and their songs...as fantastic as ever. The Rocky P. tour EP they gave me has been on heavy iPod rotation the past week and you can look forward to seeing them live here in NYC soon. I promise, I'm working on it. (by the way, my camera mic had the toughest time with Schooner's sound, given how many different things it was trying to pick up all at once)

Listen:
"Normal Day"

Watch:
Schooner live @ Bickett Gallery - 27 December 2006 (quicktime link)

View more pictures from this show of Schooner HERE.
Read a previous EF post about Schooner HERE.

Scott Phillips
Scott Phillips, please come and play every single EAR FARM Presents... show ever. Okay, maybe I don't really have a realistic impression of Scott's original music (given that he played an accordion busking set made up entirely of cover songs) but how can it be anything but spectacular? Let me put it to you this way, at one point he played these songs in succession: "I Won't Share You", "But Not Tonight", and "The Saturday Boy". Yes, again, that's The Smiths, Depeche Mode, and Billy Bragg... back to back to back. And "But Not Tonight"?! That's only like my favorite Depeche Mode song. Is there any quicker way to my musical heart? Not unless a Poison song was worked in there somewhere. Scott will definitely be coming up to NYC for some shows, I'll let you know when that happens.

Watch:
Scott Phillips live @ Bickett Gallery - 27 December 2006 (quicktime link)

View more pictures from this show of Scott Phillips HERE.

Taigaa
Taigaa was the odd band out in this lineup in a few ways. One, they're from Brooklyn, not NC. Two, their sound is much more experimental and not as rooted in rock/country/folk as the others. Yet somehow they fit perfectly as the closers of the show. I'm guessing they stretched the tastes of some of the audience members a little bit, with their wide open sense of adventure and performance, and I'm guessing the audience enjoyed this. It was very evident actually. Taigaa explodes and implodes, loves and hates, dances and sleeps, all within the span of one song. In a sense, they're the perfect art gallery band given their minimalist exploration of the artistic side of things musical. I most definitely recommend checking them out.

Listen:
"Ennui Ennui Catastrophe"

Watch:
Taigaa live @ Bickett Gallery - 27 December 2006 (quicktime link)

View more pictures from this show of Taigaa HERE.
Read a previous EF post about Taigaa HERE.

***See Taigga live TONIGHT at Cakeshop***

Again, I'd really like to thank all of the bands who played. Thanks to Bickett Gallery for hosting such an excellent night and thanks a million to everyone who came out to the show. It was a blast and I definitely plan to do more EAR FARM sponsored shows in the Raleigh area in the future.

(as usual, the flyer for this show was designed by Destroy Space)

Erie Choir

In setting up tonight's EAR FARM Presents... show I asked Tripp from Schooner for a little help selecting the bands for the bill. The first one he mentioned was Erie Choir, a band I'd not heard of before and am now extremely excited to see live.

From what I can tell, Erie Choir is the work of Eric Roehrig and a revolving cast of musician friends. I can say 'friends' with a bit of confidence as, well, it comes across in the songs. There's this particular comfortable warmth in Erie Choir's music that feels like home and sounds like memories. You're thinking, "Greeting card sap begone!", but honestly I'm just getting started. After I see them at Bickett Gallery I might come back here and write sappy sonnets or something so you may as well stick with what I've got for you right now.

The songs I've been able to check out vary from country infused pop-rock (check out the song "Picture Equals Proof" on their MySpace page) to detached intelli-pop along the lines of the work of Stephin Merritt ("Pan Pan Where Did You Go?", also on MySpace). At each turn Erie Choir lets the listener peer through a different window of inspiration: the song "Trunion Pike" comes across as the work of a singer songwriter who can deftly work hushed campfire songs about loneliness without sounding derivative while "Lullaby For John Grives" finds Erie Choir moving towards Tom Petty and Tears for Fears territory (believe it or not) with a touch of those smart backing vocals we all love so much. The real standout of the songs I've posted though is "Favorite Fotos". In this song Erie Choir reaches a level of textured maturity that belies the number of profile views the band has had on their MySpace page and sets the course for the song to help the band reach a broader audience via television, film, or simple word of mouth.

Oh, and supposedly they sometimes do a kick ass Prince cover.

Listen:
"Favorite Fotos"
"Lullaby For John Grives"
"Trunion Pike"

Visit Erie Choir on MySpace

Come see Erie Choir (and other swell bands) TONIGHT at the EAR FARM Presents... show @ Bickett Gallery.