Show Review: Justin Robinson and The Mary Annettes

The Pinhook, Durham
April 27, 2010

To Spring forth, such as with spontaneity ...is such apt homonymy for the weather outside right now. This past Tuesday night joined a growing number of recent nights whose stay-in-and-rest plans were upended by the draw of beautiful weather and the need to be out in it. Possibilities now dancing, it felt like a Pinhook night, as have many lately. A quick look at The Pinhook's event calendar confirmed the destination. Justin Roberts and The Mary Annettes were anchoring a show with singer song-writers Bess Rogers and Lelia Broussard opening. I recalled the shimmer of sequence and violin strings from the Humble Tripe album release at Duke Coffeehouse last December where Justin Robinson and the Mary Annettes set the room up for inventive expression as the opening act and I was eager to see them in the the same element as a headliner.

Stepping across the edge of downtown Durham I absorbed through The Pinhook's front room crowd in my accustomed manner but emerging into the stage room everything was wildly different. A remodeled The Pinhook positioned a commanding stage at the opposite end of the room where Lelia Broussard was now stomping and spinning her ready-for-radio acoustic romps. A couple high fives into the crowd later I found my new favorite spot to stand at The Pinhook and treated myself to some shutter crack while the highly photogenic Lelia grinned and winked her way through a pop savvy set.

The crowd was multiplying at the this point and soon I realized that the universal Spring time spontaneity that drove me from my living room likely wasn't the same drive that was filling The Pinhook on a Tuesday night. Rather, Justin Robinson and The Mary Annettes upon only a fifth public performance are gaining followers quickly and judging from the cheers and ovation abruptly after song outtros, these are minions who are following closely.

So too should they, there are many dynamics to take note of within this music. Their graceful and elegant classical instrument adorned stage presence, the tension and depth of a violin's bow stretching across its strings, a banjo picking apart a forlorn chord progression...there is so much instrumental texture in a Justin Robinson and The Mary Annettes performance that light from a camera flash can barely penetrate to the back walls. Polishing these textures are imaginative and dramatic lyrics that wisp the songs off the stage and stand them right next to you. "Born of the earth but I'm bound to the Sea" crooned over tumultuous and yearning violin on "Bonfire" is heart ache laced up with allure which exemplifies their style. A Justin Robinson and The Mary Annettes show is worth springing for...spontaneously or otherwise. --Carrboro Ninja


Justin Robinson and The Mary Annettes


Lelia Broussard





Bess Rogers (left) performs with Lelia Bussard.


faces in the crowd

Colin and z-man destroystering it

New and promising Durham singer songwriter Anna Rose Beck who will be performing at Broad street Cafe in Durham Thursday May 6.

In Case You Missed It - Vol. 1

The Light Pines
The Pour House, Raleigh
April 15, 2010

So fortunate my mental objections were overruled by the thoughts of too many "in-nights" in my Virginia-border Walden. Last Thursday night the The Pour House featured an irresistible lineup. Sandwiched in the middle of it was the somewhat recently-emerged Light Pines. Having recorded material much earlier and before making sweet, sonic whoopie with the Love Language for a spell, the Light Pines really didn't begin playing shows until the end of last year. I first saw them at the Drug Horse show in December and later at the Double Barrel Benefit. So I was not duped in the slightest when the Light Pines attempted to pull us in to a false sense of serenity with the tranquil "Come With Us." That only ropes you in for the eruption of "Black Swans" (personal favorite) and explosion of "Healers." They closed with the perfect "Climbing Towards You."

The term "drum and bass" gives me a headache, but Thursday night was better than "Mellow Mushroom-eatin', Lookie what I got at Redbox, awkwardly tense but you know it's gonna happen anyway, first-time with the new one" sex. The drums and bass are provided by real and raw musicians that absolutely ruined any chances of anyone being my second favorite band. I mention drum and bass because that's what you hear most prominently in the sound. And what a fresh sound it is. If you picked up the Drug Horse One EP (which features "Climbing Towards You"), then you've been exposed to some of the areas better bands. Just remember: you haven't truly experienced the Light Pines until you have SEEEEEN the Light Pines. I'm down for any shows that don't involve me missing work or life-saving surgery.

Their indie street cred already established from their work with The Capulets, The Love Language, and Max Indian, Josh Pope's Light Pines are likely a handful of shows like last night from being my new favorite band. It was that good. Someone sign them quick. We need a proper album and some lyrics that we can sing back as the sonic funk groove damages our hearing beyond all repair. I'm looking forward to yelling at the kids that I don't have yet who haven't even done anything wrong just because I saw every single Light Pines show I could as close to the stage as possible.

By the way: I'm new and like the stranger from the morning after a one night stand. You don't have to like me I'm here and must be dealt with quickly. Franklin Street Fighting Man reporting for duty. --Franklin Street Fighting Man

more The Light Pines images

SHow Review: Where the Buffalo Roamed, Finn Riggins, Kellie Ann Grubbs

Nightlight, Chapel Hill
April 13, 2010

Where the Buffalo Roamed serves as example for why genre is meaningless in Chapel Hill, a town built upon originality and artistic expression. This three piece rock outfit sings the songs they have in their head and play the instruments they have in their hands without concern for what either are expected to sound like and there is no need for categorizing to enjoy it. True only to the picture in their mind and intent upon expressing it on stage, a war painted Where the Buffalo Roamed turned Nightlight’s stage into a theater Tuesday night. Demonstrating their emotions and feelings with razor sharp lyrics and the biggest ruckus that their two guitars and a set of drums could achieve, they transmitted a ragged collection of life experiences. I found a warm and ardent persistence in Corbie's longingly spun story telling which focuses in on distressed characters that traverse epic sad-but-true story lines. Written across the heavy weighted pages of grinding and reverberating guitar strokes are deeply earnest and passionate narrations of the American experience. Within their heart-to-heart sincerity Where the Buffalo Roamed casts a forgiving eye to star crossed lovers and burn outs alike. Theirs’ isn't to convey beliefs or defend ideas, but just to capture a singular emotion in time and describe it...good or bad, happy or sad.

Taking the stage for their agitated and animated set, they found an already primal and motivated pace left by their opener Finn Riggins, another three piece rock outfit who requires no genre sparring in order to enjoy. Idaho based Finn Riggins whose tour brought them to town Tuesday earned a few followers on the way through. Their synthish keyboard pop sound mashed up with thick cut guitar riffs matched perfectly with The Nightlight's zeal for experimental rock and left me with the thought that they could make their home in Chapel Hill easy as pie. Ironic that the t-shirt they had on the merch stand had mountain peaks on it, their music follows the same pattern. Layers upon layers of broad fronts hazed by smoky keyboard runs and textured drum fills give way to numerous unique vocal peaks poking through from any one of the three microphones arranged next to Cameron Bouiss' a-typical drum racks, Eric Gilbert's keyboard farm, or lead singer and guitar player Lisa Simpson. Listen to "Wake" on their myspace for an audible on this description, there is a lot going on in a Finn Riggin's arrangement and its just plain fun to listen to.

Chapel Hill singer/songstress Kellie Ann Grubbs opened the night with a powerful solo performance. Kelly demonstrated a strong, ranging, yet controlled vocal and quite unlike most soloists...subtly attracted attention without demanding it. Her songs were delicate in stature but profound in delivery and filled the room with a calm and tranquil composure. Kellie Ann Grubbs' performance was as far apart in arrangement from WTBR as could be perceived but they both shared a very high quality similarity; through the originality and sincerity of their song writing, the subject of their music is conveyed to their audience along with a glimpse of who they are and what they were feeling when they put pen to paper. --Carrboro Ninja

Where the Buffalo Roamed






Finn Riggins



Kellie Ann Grubbs

Album Review: Drughorse One

Drughorse One pretty much just shattered the mold for what we have come to expect from musician collective compilation releases. Comps are often an enjoyable one-listen jaunt as you put a sound to a name for a band you haven't experienced before and possibly wouldn't have had they not been on a disc with a group you were already down with. Drughorse One attacks this model from all directions starting with the notion that multiple bands on a release is a comp, which this one isn't. It is true that MAX Indian, Ryan Gustafson, and The Light Pines compiled a pair of songs each for this disc but make no mistake these tracks have been matched and mastered as an album and it flows as good as any you're about to hear this summer.

Drughorse One sets off with the long awaited first physical hold-it-in-your-hand-and-look-at-it release for The Light Pines, "White Forest". A deft mix of stretchy melody enforcing synth and patient yet aggressive guitar, "White Forest" is a perfect flagship for a band whose coming of age has been as varied as the emotions this track invokes. Both Light Pines tracks on Drughorse One impress and deliver, lending as much to the anticipation of what is to come for Light Pines as much as they lend to the over-all tone of this album.

Continuing with a theme of long awaits, Drughorse One offers up two of the first new tracks from the dojo of MAX Indian which we've seen in what feels like an eternity. Within these two tracks, MAX Indian builds upon their legacy of engaging hooks and hit songs with the courage to experiment and the ability expound. "Never and Always" undeniably comes from the MAX Indian universe possessing their thumb print smooth sultry melodies over Southern rock rhythms yet the boys have intrigued it up with something different, a low key and sinister organ has moved in and become fast friends with slap-strumming guitar grooves and slow rolling back beats. The experimenting becomes even more profound and entertaining on their second track "Dark of Night" and together combine for the something new that invites you to fall for their sound all over again.

With a couple of tracks that seem like they could have come out in the golden age of classic rock, Ryan Gustafson is the cement that makes this collection of tracks an album. I love that I can somehow get a nostalgia fix about places I've never been to and things I've never seen just by listening to "Heaven". There is a vintage 60's fuzz that reminds me of the feeling I get every time I watch a Woodstock documentary or see a hazy clip of a classic rock era band drenched in the sunlight of a festival stage. Both of Ryan Gustafson's tracks maintain a good soothing retro vibe but its the song crafting that finishes the time and place feel. The images and moods captured in the versus are a relatable experience in any decade.

Standing as both a sample of three must-see acts and as an album with its own virtues, Drughorse One has as much relevance to the current indy music culture in Chapel Hill as it has power to stay spinning in your CD deck. All hail the energy that the Drughorse Collective is building up. I've had this album for less than two weeks and I'm already looking forward to Drughorse Two? --Carrboro Ninja