Apr/100
Event : Melanaster w/Rio Bravo 05.15.10
Saturday, May 15th 2010 The Melanaster Band will join Wilmington-based progressive rockers Rio Bravo for an intimate show at Asheville’s Hookah Bar.
Rio Bravo is a virile quartet of young rockers that recalls Radiohead, Band of Horses and Muse. They’re embarking on an East Coast tour, and this will be their first show in Asheville. We’re happy to be sharing the stage with them! More at the band’s MySpace page.
Essential info : The Hookah Bar at 38 N French Broad St, 9PM | $6.
Rio Bravo – “Tear Me Up” (Live)
“ Rio Bravo is a four piece indie rock and roll group hailing from Wilmington, NC. This local rock sensation is tearing up the scene and gaining new fans with every show. RIO BRAVO is poised to take over the world… Whether it is touring the US, benefits for TOMS shoes, Invisible Children, or packing out downtown bars and club, this band it definitely leaving it’s mark. Tracks like “So Young” and “Honesty” display the quartet’s diverse musical range and artistic scope. Fans of Rio Bravo will also go on and on about how amazing the band is live, and about their amazing stage presence in any venue. In Short, Rio Bravo puts on a real live rock show that should not be missed! Make sure you catch RIO this Spring on their East Coast Tour! “Mar/100
MountainX Feature on Asheville’s Electronic Music Scene
Last week, The MountainX ran a cover feature called “The Body Electric,” focused on Asheville’s burgeoning electronic music scene. The articles cover Asheville’s place in the world of electronic music (The Body Electric), the subgenres and styles of DJing (DJ Heroics) and the critical role of promoters and venues in growing the scene (Predicting the Weather).
Featured performers and interviewees include: Sonmi Suite, Panther God, Telepath, Cleofus Williams, Brett Rock, DJ Bowie, and Marley Carroll, in addition to promoters and artist collectives like Under One Beat and Low Frequency Ops.
Here’s an excerpt:
”
At first glance it might seem that Asheville is stacked in favor of roots music, what with a guitarist on every corner and an Americana band in every bar. But there’s also much to suggest Asheville as an electronica hot bed, despite that scene’s apparent underground status.Exhibit A: Asheville is where Robert Moog — pioneer of electronic music and inventor of the Moog synthesizer — worked as a research professor of music at UNCA, based his electronic musical instruments manufacturing company and lived out his final years.
Exhibit B: Asheville has (perhaps in spite of itself) embraced live band-electronica fusion acts like Telepath (since moved on to Philadelphia) and electronic music/arts festivals like Trinumeral.
Exhibit C: Take a walk around downtown and check out the posters affixed to power poles and displayed in shop windows. Every other one is for a DJ show. Same thing with Facebook events. Many electronic artists eschew conventional publicity methods in favor of new media. Not seeing many electronica shows? Go online.
Exhibit D: Even the rootsiest of venues is booking electronic acts. The Rocket Club is home to a free weekly Super Dance Party (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.), with DJs Crick Nice and Adam Strange (GFE) and DJ Mark Davis (who has been spinning underground dance music in Asheville since the ’80s). Mo Daddy’s welcomes its first-ever hip-hop show with local artist Foul Mouth Jerk, PyInfamous from Crystal Springs, Miss., and Charlotte’s One Big Love on Friday, March 5. The Grey Eagle hosts Baltimore duo Beach House on Friday, April 30.
But even with new developments — and nearly everyone seems to agree the local electronic scene has grown exponentially in the past few years — electronic music isn’t a new phenomenon. Its roots reach back to ’70s-era disco, dating the genre older than not just its current practitioners, but many of their parents.
Fueling Asheville’s newfound fondness for electronica is certainly the live band/electronic fusion — anything from the live instruments-meets-computers of The Nova Echo to live sequencing of engineered loops and beats as performed by Freepeoples Frequency. But more than sonic accessibility, it’s technical accessibility that brings new fans to the multifaceted genre. Music makers no longer need to be piano or guitar virtuosos — computer proficiency and a desire to create are the instruments of this under-represented but increasingly available art form.
Want to know more about local electronic music? Read on … “
Jan/101
Event : Melanaster at the Rocket Club in Asheville
On Friday, January 22nd, Melanaster will rock Asheville’s Rocket Club with Open Windows and Do It To Julia. Show starts at 9PM with Julia, $7. Facebook Event.
This is a fantastic bill, and made more special by the fact that we’ll also be celebrating:
• JAG and Gabe’s birthday
and
• Lydia’s going-away party
Join us on the west side to defrost, have a drink, and tell the people you love them. Map.
Dec/090
Video : Highway Hearts [Music Video]
Marley Carroll – Highway Hearts [Music Video] from Marley Carroll on Vimeo.
Video for “Highway Hearts,” lead single from the album Melanaster.
Footage source is “Journey Through a Day” (1967) produced by Dale Johnson. Public domain, Prelinger archives.
Music ©2007-2010 Melanaster Records.
Oct/090
Marley Carroll, Mr. Invisible, Good Earth Project Selected For What.CD Compilation
The final track listing has been released for this year’s What.CD artist compilation. Among the 100 artists that submitted tracks for consideration, Marley Carroll, Mr. Invisible, and The Good Earth Project (a collaborative NC hip-hop effort featuring members of Mr. I, Ike Turnah, Mr. Mattic and others) were selected for inclusion in the twenty-one track compilation.
This is a fantastic opportunity for NC musicians to be spotlighted in a huge online community, and proof of the excellent quality of music emerging from the region. We should all be proud!
The blog will be taking a hiatus until early next week. We’ll see you soon!
Sep/090
Last Chance To Download Melanaster For Free
As part of the transition into the new phase of the Melanaster project, I am retracting the free download of the album more than year after it was made available online.
Here’s your last chance to download the album for free (well, at least officially):







