LISTEN: “Half Drunk” by Buckstone

Have a sip of Charleston band Buckstone’s kick-out-the-jams twangy country music, by way of their song “Half Drunk” from their recently released CD “Six Pack in a Paper Sack.” Then, have a bigger drink when they perform at the “Wolfstock” music fest this Saturday, Aug. 16 at Appalachian Power Park, where they share the stage with the likes of Darryl Worley, John Anderson, The Davisson Brothers Band, The Lost Trailers and others acts. The music starts at noon at the event presented by local radio station 96.1, The Wolf. Tickets cost $25 through Ticketmaster by calling 342-5757 or visit www.ticketmaster.com. Read the rest of this entry »

LISTEN: “Lava Lamp” by Andy Park

Let’s get the easy jokes out of the way from the get-go. Andy Park has earned some exposure as a finalist in the Avalonfest Song Writing Contest, a contest sponsored by the “clothing optional” Avalon resort in Paw Paw, W.Va. All right, now we can move one. Park is one of four national finalists who’ll compete at the resort this Friday, Aug. 8. (Avalon officials note that most musical acts who to play at the resort perform with their clothes on). “I look at it this way,” says Park in an e-mail. “If I can handle playing in front of a crowd of naked people, I should be able to get through anything.” Read the rest of this entry »

Photo of Charleston, W.Va. by Douglas Imbrogno. Click to enlarge.
LISTEN: “Little Bitty City”

As FestivALL Charleston approaches, here is an appropriate “Song of the Day” (or “Song of the Festival”). It’s a tune about Charleston called “Little Bitty City,” by “Mountain Stage” guitarist and W.Va. Music Hall of Fame founder (and gazz contributor) Michael Lipton.

Mark Ferrell, who works in Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s office, came up with the title late one night and it took Lipton several years to build a song around it. Says Lipton: “Lately, I’ve been really loving Charleston and I wanted to write a (hopefully) fun song about it.” The song features Charlie T on lead vocals, Lipton on guitar, Jupie Little on drums, Ted Harrison on bass and Don Dixon on guitar solo, keyboard and trombone, with backing vocals by Lipton, Little and Bill Kimmons.

Here are the lyrics: Read the rest of this entry »

SONG: “I’d Rather Be Your Number 3″ by Rebecca Kimmons from the Bare Bones CD “Put Your Loving Arms Around Me.” Photo by K.D. Lett
LISTEN

Fans of the Missing Persons Soup Kitchen Gospel Quartet a cappela group need to know only two words: Bare Bones. That’s the new monicker for one of the region’s leading vocal trios, featuring Becky and Bill Kimmons and Mark Davis. The group hosts a CD release concert 8 p.m. Sunday, May 25 at W.Va. State Capitol Center Theater, 123 Summers St., to launch the new record, “Put Your Loving Arms Around Me.”

It’s a love buffet with “songs about God’s love, sprained love, mother’s love, love that has weathered years of marriage, love refused, disappointed live, disastrous love, recovering love and yearning, hopeful love.” Opening acts are Dock Cutlip and Kate Long and tickets are $10, with youth 17 and under free. For tickets, visit the website below or call 345-0924.

ONLINE: www.barebonesare.us
RELATED VIDEO: Watch are Bones sing an a cappela tune on a recent “Mountain Stage”

LISTEN: “Louisiana” by The Coal Men”
WEBSITE: www.thecoalmen.com

The Coal Men come to the Empty Glass on May 3. They will also be featured on the next “Radio Free Charleston” music and animation Web show, due out next week online. Here’s an advance taste of the group’s alt-country and roots rock sound, “Louisiana.” Also, a few months back, Rudy Panucci reviewed the latest Coal Men CD “Beauty Is a Moment,” which he described as “a huge slice of Americana Pie ,” and a band that “manages to epitomize the best of Southern Rock without sinking to a redneck stereotype. This is sophisticated rock-tinged pop with a genuine regional flavor.” Here’s the full review.

LISTEN: “The Stripper” by Bob Malone
WEBSITE: www.bobmalone.com

Multi-threat piano player and whole-lotta-fun performing songwriter Bob Malone delivers a Woody Hawley Series show on Saturday, April 19, at the Clay Center’s Walker Theater, out back of Charleston’s culture palace. “The Stripper” is a nice sample of Malone’s style, a song about a guy who believes “the stripper likes me” and. maybe even more incorrectly that “Kenny G plays jazz.”

IF YOU GO: Click here for show details.

LISTEN: “My Lost and Found” by Todd Burge

Todd Burge on the “Song of the Day”:
The lyric for “My Lost and Found,” the title track of my latest CD, was mostly inspired while watching the dream sequence in “The Big Lebowski.“ If you’ve watched this Coen Brother’s movie, you might remember the scene where Lebowski was kicked out of a cab because he couldn’t take listening to the Eagles: “Not the F’n Eagles man, I’ve had a bad day.” I was sick while watching, a bit medicated, nodding off. When I awoke, I had this idea about what you might find if you became lost in my attic. You can practically find a whole life lost up there, but if you come on downstairs, it’ll all stay up.

More about Burge’s music:
Over the last decade, Todd Burge has played everything from alternative rock to bluegrass, performing over 150 shows per year in venues as diverse as CBGB’s and the Kennedy Center. Read the rest of this entry »

LISTEN: “Don’t Make An Easy Thing Hard (Theme from Red Helmet)” by Jon Wikstrom

Our new Song of the Day is “Don’t Make An Easy Thing Hard (Theme from Red Helmet)” by singer-songwriter Jon Wikstrom, a West Virginia native who now calls Baltimore home. The song was inspired by the new book, “Red Helmet” by West Virginia native and best-selling author Homer Hickam, who will will sign copies of the novel 6 p.m., Saturday, March 1 at Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St., in an event at which Wikstrom will perform this and other songs. Read the rest of this entry »

LISTEN: “Brandon Jacob” by Chuck Biel

Charleston-based musician, composer and music educator Chuck Biel is one of the most prolific band leaders in the region. His many groups have spanned multiple genres, from high-intensity avante-garde outfits to his current blues-boogie-hard rock group Underdog Blues Revue (next gig: Fri., March 28 at the Blue Parrot) and the forthcoming jazz fusion group Punk Jazz (catch them Thurs., March 6 at the Empty Glass). He recently self-released an instrumental CD, which has some of the last recorded sounds of the young saxophonist Derick Kirk, who died last year. Biel performs all other instruments, including all fretted instruments, a midi guitar, percussion, harmonica, a swarmandel and more. We’ll let him introduce the first cut from the CD, titled “Brandon Jacob.” You can order the CD off his website at chuckbiel.com

CHUCK BIEL ON “The Courage of My Convictions”:

“I think every musician/composer eventually realizes that the good stuff comes from outside, random occurrences. Like when John Lennon heard his daughter say “Look, daddy, Lucy in the sky with diamonds…” Ping! Read the rest of this entry »

LISTEN: “Ghosts of Cabell County” by ‘85 Flood

Singer and guitarist Aaron Hawley of the West Virginia band ‘85 Flood talks about the song “Ghosts of Cabell County” from the group’s new CD “Toolshed Shangri-La,” to be released Friday, Feb. 22, in a show at 123 Pleasant St., Morgantown, on a bill that also features The Emergency.
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HAWLEY: “‘Ghosts of Cabell County’ is a song that was written late one night while I was staring out my back window at pine trees in the dark. Read the rest of this entry »