As long as you will continue to support the shows, I plan on bringing the best new artists from all over the world that I can find and also increase my efforts to getting bigger acts and from more diverse genres. Thank you for five years of tremendous support! — Steve Hall Steve Hall has become one of the most sought after music promoters in the Augusta area, and is responsible for much of the growth he’s seen in the area’s live music scene. Family Chemistry I watched Augusta band Sibling String open Rock Fore! Dough during Master’s Week and grinned the whole time. Jacob Beltz and the guys owned their moment with an inspiring set of original tunes that left many in attendance suitably impressed. Their music deftly combines styles in a way that I predict could open them up to a broad demographic of music lovers. Folksy and soulful with a taste for the slow burn coupled with occasional bursts of bombast. That’s what they achieve with confident, beautiful songwriting by
Beltz and a unique sonic footprint unusual for a rock band (double bass, violin, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and drums). In addition to a scheduled appearance at yet another highprofile show (aside from RFD, the band also appeared at last year’s 12 Bands of Christmas) with BanjoB-Que in late May, they have scheduled appearances at Tipsey McStumbles in Aiken on April 21, The Blue Horse on April 22 and The Playground on April 23. They also hold court most Wednesdays at Joe’s Underground. After this upcoming spate of shows, the band will be slowing down their tour of Augusta to focus on a full-length recording. If the results contain half the musical magic of their live performance this past Masters Week, it will be very special indeed. — Brian Allen Brian Allen has been a staple behind the skins since 1987 in bands including Neato Torpedo, Debt of Nature, Turtleneck, Hellblinki Sextet, 48 Volt and American Skin, just to name a few.
The end of the Avetts… as I know them, at least Amy Christian I fell hard for the Avett Brothers back in 2006. It was love at first listen when I happen to come across their song “Talk on Indolence,” which was included in a music magazine’s compilation CD. Not normally a bluegrass fan, I had ignored a friend’s recommendation but popped the CD in when I recognized their name. What I heard was unlike anything I had experienced before. The Avetts are to bluegrass what the Pogues were to Irish music, which is to say just a little bit mixed in with a whole lot of other stuff and a punkreminiscent attitude. So I changed my mind about attending a local show that was coming up and, again, it was love at first sight. It helped that I was in the front row, witnessing the numerous broken banjo strings, the guitar throwing, the banshee wails and the writhing around on the ground that
Friday afternoon at 5, we'll take caller number 99. If you know the Stadium Tour star....you win the trip! Hotel, airfare and KICKS 99 tickets to the show!
Listen to KICKS 99 (99.5) four times a day for your Stadium Tour Star Clues. 7:20AM, 10:20AM, 2:20PM & 4:20PM.
42 METRO SPIRIT 4.14.11
made up an adrenaline-drenched Avett Brothers bar show. That was it for me. I was in the first stages of a love affair — you know what I mean. When you almost become obsessed with anything and everything that has to do with your beloved. I listened to them constantly, sought out nearby shows, read everything in every magazine I could find. It’s been a great five years filled with lots of good memories. The two times my daughter got to meet Scott Avett, one of which is memorialized in a picture of the three of us giving thumbs up to the camera with ridiculously goofy grins on our faces. The times I interviewed members of the band, everyone but Seth. I still have the tiny cassette tape with the recording of my hour-long conversation with Scott for a story I did about them before their Imperial Theatre show in 2007. I still take it out and look at it from time to time,
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