Lonnie Walker: These Times, Old Times

"Yes, I do love 80's music," I said in defense of my rhetorical "Why would anyone listen to Mix 101.5?" Further explaining, "How does anyone have time for 80's music when there is so much tremendous music being made right now, tremendous music which takes considerable effort to seek out and absorb?" My right hand now wielding case-in-point Lonnie Walker These Times, Old Times which is the most recent album of the band whose song "Ships" has seen me beat a steady path to their myspace profile since I stumbled upon them a year ago while setting up one of my many nearly forgotten and rarely used on-line profiles. My debate opponent reported, "Who is Lonnie Walker, I have never heard of him." To which I bantered back, "I rest my case and its not a him, it's a them and they are going to be the next big thing."

Having been a close follower a good year now, These Times, Old Times was met with established expectations. Relief swept over my brow and a grin grew on my face as the first few songs confirmed why I am into this band. In These Times, Old Times, Lonnie Walker's strong and easy Appalachia inspired roots rock turns the unique into the desired. From start to finish, front man Brian Corum struts and swaggers a confident southern twang across a meticulously hip Indy folk album. With a flare for dramatic swells and anthemic truths, this is a story teller album spoken with the urgency and conviction of a thousand choked back emotions. From the sweetly secure stayed-too-long satire of "Wider Than White" to the ice hard tears shed from a vividly graphic "Back Home Inside with You", this album hastily steps to a personal level. Like hearing a plea of heartache over a long distance phone line, listening and relating are natural impulses, binding endearment is a natural reaction.

Harnessing the energy of modern Indy rock and delivered with the southern comfort of Appalachian born folk, these are country boys who grew up on a diet of rock and roll and their music is cooking somewhere in between. Like the galloping "Compass Comforts" would suggest and the polarizing coal miners daughter southern drawl of Cara Beth Satalino heard on "Crochet" will confirm, Lonnie Walker's unique vibe is more than just another flavor of Indy rock but rather cleverly adapted home grown country music reasserting itself with sharper teeth and thicker hide among a surging population of alternative music. You can take the boys out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boys and the coming-of-age lessons and manifested realizations that are unearthed through this album are the essence of barbed wire and dirt roads.

The new buzz word among industry types who classify and generalize as a means to market is "replay power" which denotes a song's single worthiness based on how likely it is to be listened to and then directly listened to again. The replay power found in the antagonizing hooks and picture frame descriptions of the single worthy "Ships" is wearing grooves in to my CD, but I have a new term to offer the suits; "scribble power," which is madly pressing the reverse search button on a track in attempt to memorize the lyrics. The brilliantly stark and eye widening impact of "Pendulum's Chest" will be the first ever track to earn this description.

The official album release for These Times, Old Times is Saturday May 30, 2009 with a School Kids in-store at 5:00 PM and a release party later that night at Ahpeele Warehouse, 400 Capital Blvd which is Raleigh's newest aspiring multi purpose community venue. I'm scribbling with purpose and barring any 80's songs that suddenly arrest me and captivate my attention I'll know all the words by Saturday. --Carrboro Ninja

MyNC's "Sessions At Studio B" hosted Lonnie Walker recently. The 32 minute performance covers a handful of songs from the album and a few interview questions from the MyNC staffers. Click the MyNC icon left to view.

These Times, Old Times CD release poster

These Times, Old Times album art images

liner notes

trippy art under the cd

trippy art on the backcover

next to a pencil for reference

next to a cow bell, again for reference

Gandalf the White

Show Review: Gross Ghost, Whatever Brains, Holy Shit

The Pour House, Raleigh
May 9, 2009

Instead of my DNA ingrained route through the Glenwood South gauntlet I opted for a new and unproven route to The Pour House last Saturday night. My route varied with a left on Peace Street, down a couple of blocks and took a right, got somewhat lost and then took a left when it felt right and bam, popped out right next to it, which more calculatingly was actually three blocks away but I found a sweet parking spot and it was an insanely gorgeous night for a walk so I slammed the shifter into park and took off on foot to complete the journey.

Entering the dark, dark ally leading to The Pour House front door I heard someone from behind me say my name. Fully intending to get arrested again, I was both relieved and elated to turn around and see Stu McLamb who was canvassing the premises looking for his drummer Tom. Seeing an opportunity I offered to get on the sticks for their set should Tom disappear AND WE BOTH HAD A CHUCKLE. See how you read it louder in your head if I type in caps? My friends showed up shortly there after and during the hustling and bustling energy of a pre-show party we entertained ourselves with witty remarks and by chatting up The Love Language band members and band member's girl friends.

A couple of beers later, opening act Gross Ghost did a three second long sound check and then began to rip and tear. As the first few bars of their high gain opener verved up the room I addressed my friends at the back of the room, "that's pretty good." Unsheathing my camera we moved up to the stage to get a closer listen, something was to be witnessed there. Gross Ghost front man Mike Dillon, champion of recent great Spader (PS look for Spader dates this summer, apparently the pieces have re-collected themselves) was bringing a substantial presence to the stage. Having never heard these guys before recorded or live, my "genre" and "sounds-like" stereotyping mechanisms were off line and I had to revert to manual listening and rapid fire picture taking. Surprisingly British sounding, unmistakably garage and fleetingly melodic, Gross Ghost is the missing link between punk and indie. Dillon's heavy raspish voice flies long and longingly just above the cloud ceiling of an electric storm fueled by a stomp-boxed bass, snarling Danelectro six string and a thundering back-to-basics drum set complete with a kick, snare, AND a floor tom. Chatting with Dillon after the show I learned that Saturday was only the bands fourth show and I do believe they are on to something here.

Whatever Brains picked up the middle slot on the set list and pulled the crowd to the stage like a tractor beam. I stepped back to the bar for a refill and somehow didn't make my way back to my same spot but it was kind of What Ever Brains to turn the amps up to 11 to make sure I could still hear it. Indeed there is a sonic achievement in two electric guitars both grinding the same chords as opposed to the overly typical lead/rhythm arrangements.

Personal diary entry 462, day 782 re; The Love Language. Note: If it shakes, they are shaking it. The Love Language took the stage last and made good use of the energy created by the openers by channeling it through tambourines, maracas, and various other shaky things to create the signature sleigh bell chatter which glues the seven piece shake rattle and roll group together. When a style is this unique and the resulting sound is this wonderful, genres are born. Among the songs the crowd knows by heart, we are hearing glimpses of what I believe will surpass their current self titled album in numbers of souls captivated and glory in the public eye. “Brittany's Back” and “Blue Angel” alone are my two most mentally replayed Love Language songs and neither have been recorded outside bootleg-ville. If these lend a suggestion for how important the next album will be, the work that is being done right now is just building blocks. The band with the hammers, the fans with the nails, and the venues with the lumber, a stage is being constructed that the world will look upon very soon. Its exciting times to be a Love Language fan.

Visit their myspace profiles;
The Love Language:
Gross Ghost
Whatever Brains

Love Language Frontman Stu McLamb on MyNC's "Sessions At Studio B"

More Images from Saturday Night:

The Love Language

Junis!


Tom


Kate and Josh


Jordan




fans in the stands

left, Justin Williams of the superb Twelve Thousand Armies whom you will be hearing from shortly as they are now Carrboro residents, top right is Mike Dillon of Gross Ghost and Spader.

Gross Ghost

Mike Dillon


William Acklen


Thomas Womack


Gross Ghost

The Kingsbury Manx at Milltown

Carrboro
May 3, 2009

This is the first of a series of blog entries dedicated to local restaurants who feature live original music not as a purpose for being, but from a love of culture, community, and surroundings.

Among the tossing pbr waves of the Carrboro Sea, Milltown is an island with a pouring fountain of micro-brewed culture. The taps of this fountain display an uncountably eclectic array of brews from around the world, over half of which I have never heard of and half again of those I cannot pronounce. Reading the beer menu is nearly as fun as the first sip of a beer foreign to both your taste buds as well as the ground you are standing on. With bottles of Johnnie Walker black and red labels, Glenfiddich, and a 12 year The Glenlivet behind the bar, it shows that who ever painstakingly scribed descriptions for each of the micro brews on the menu is also just as discriminatingly enthusiastic with their scotch.

The attention to detail doesn't stop with the refreshments in any way either because the gourmet inspired food fare is a welcomed adventure into creativity. Milltown's menu reads like a travel magazine crossed with a book of metaphors written by Bob Dillon. I'll think about what I'm going to order the whole way there and then spend an inordinate amount of time reading the menu just because the descriptions are so entertaining.

Since it's grand opening May 10, 2006 (oooh, three-year birthday party this Sunday?) Milltown has been my destination for pre-partying Cat's Cradle shows. Positioned just across the street, their patio provides a perfect vantage point for sipping brew while watching a two-block long snake of vintage clothes and pocketed hands coil and crawl its way into the mouse hole entrance of a sold out cradle show.

This past Sunday however Mother Nature allowed a surprise stay of execution and held a heavy sky at bay just long enough to give the Milltown patio its own draw, a magical afternoon set of uplifting folk-pop music from the acoustic-guitar-in-triplicate The Kingsbury Manx. Like the influential acoustic roots rock of the 1970's super bands al la Crosby Stills & Nash, The Kingsbury Manx romances delicately harmonized acoustic ballads and three-way vocal combinations to create addictively powerful songs like "Harness and Wheel" which hooks with both melody and lyrical quality. The soothing properties of persistent favorites "Well Whatever" and "Walk on Water" along with a cold micro brew was my coupon for redeeming a small portion of a long weekend that was mostly lost to work.

Sunday was also Carrboro day which was described by my friend as "people walking around Carrboro" which begs the question, what day isn't Carrboro day? Well this particular Carrboro day crowd walked their way around town a couple of times and then straight to Milltown to sip from the well and absorb the patio. My hat is off to Milltown for embracing the local culture and promoting the same live original music that defines Carrboro and my napkin is on with respect to their fantastically inspired menu and beer list. Keep a close eye on Milltown concerts on the patio, being there is being part of everything that is great about Carrboro.



Visit The Kingsbury Manx on myspace:

More Manx pics










Milltown


ninja still art




Carrboro Day Friends