With an authoritative, “Lovers sing the praises! Haters go blog somewhere about it, again,” Tir Na Nog’s Chris Tamplin announced that the second edition of Raleigh Undercover will be held at the Downtown Raleigh Irish pub from Jan. 7 through 10.

For those who may have missed the 2009 event, Raleigh Undercover is basically The Great Cover Up — which was formerly held at Kings Barcade — re-branded as Raleigh Undercover and moved to Tir Na Nog. The move didn’t come without controversy as a handful of The Great Cover Up’s long-time fans found the move disrespectful.

However with the change in venue also came a change in name, and Tamplin says the inaugural event at Tir Na Nog was a “massive success” despite the controversy.

“We raised over $7,000 last year for The Beehive Collective,” Tamplin said. “I really hope we can pull those numbers off again this year. With it being on a Thursday through Saturday, with a possible Sunday, I am feeling good about it.”

While 2009’s proceeds from Raleigh Undercover benefited The Beehive Collective, the 2010 event will benefit bipolar awareness and other local charities.

“We are definitely doing something for bipolar awareness since I have lost a couple of friends in the past year due to this illness,” Tamplin explained. “I will probably do more than one charity this year due to the needs of so many not being met because of the economy. We are probably going to do at least two charities, if not one for each night.”

Admission to each day of the event is $5, and Tamplin promises “at least five bands per night.”

Some of the shenanigans 2009’s acts got in to were The T’s taking on Bryan Adams, Valient Thorr covering Funkadelic, Embarrassing Fruits playing Pavement, Bright Young Things covering Oasis, The Whalewatchers taking on INXS, Left Outlet playing Queen and I Was Totally Destroying It tackling My Bloody Valentine.

Each year, various members of the Trekky Collective come together as a 25+ member Christmas supergroup known as The Trekky Yuletide Orchestra and invite a bunch of their friends to play a Holiday show to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

“Christmas Like No Other” by The Trekky Yuletide Orchestra

Now in its fourth year, the 2009 edition of Christmas at the Cradle will take place Dec. 15 and feature performances from a solo Dexter Romweber, Stuart McLamb and Missy Thangs of The Love Language, Des Ark, Whatever Brains, Organos, Veelee, Birds and Arrows, Mount Weather, and of course the Yuletide Orchestra. Hosting the jubilant evening is Billy Sugarfix, and festivities are set to begin at 7:30 p.m. at Cat’s Cradle.

“We think we have the best bill we’ve ever had and can’t wait to see how these excellent bands interpret Christmas tunes,” Trekky’s Will Hackney explains. “As always, we’ll have The Trekky Yuletide Orchestra, our 25+ member Christmas super-group, as well as free snacks and drinks, a charity raffle with prizes from wonderful local businesses, classic holiday films, and a visit from the Bearded One himself, Santa Claus.”

Tickets for the show are $8 in advance or $10 at the door; all proceeds benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

I realize how ridiculous that sounds, but Luego is going the Radiohead route and offering their new album as pay-what-you-want download.

What that means is you can grab a lossless digital copy of Taped-together Stories for a whopping zero dollars, or you can pass along as much as you feel the album is worth.

While it’s certainly of note that the legendary Peter Holsapple is a member of the outfit — as is the always excellent Jeff Crawford — the real reason you should toss a few bucks Luego’s way is the album is flat out phenomenal.

I can’t really say I’ve heard many bad albums coming out of the Triangle this year, but Taped-together Stories really is among my top-10 local releases of 2009.

“Held Up” by Luego

For the uninitiated, frontman Patrick Phelan possesses a certain charm and pop sensibility rivaling Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. This especially rings true in the tracks “Held Up,” “Attaboy” and “When I Lie.”

Coming up the band has a couple of local dates before Phelan heads overseas for a solo European tour. Luego will perform at Slim’s Downtown in Raleigh on Nov. 19, followed by a gig at Duke Coffeehouse on Nov. 20. On Jan. 7, the band will stop in for a performance right here on Sessions at Studio B.

Before this week’s edition of Local Beer, Local Band, Tir Na Nog will play host to the Have A Holly Raleigh KIDSmas release party.

The show is set to begin at 7 p.m. and run up until 10 when WKNC takes over with its weekly Local Beer, Local Band.

From the album’s stellar 12-band lineup, five acts will serve as the entertainment at the release party — including The Desmonds, Anthony Neff, The Proclivities, Jubal Creech and Big Bang Boom.

A second Holly Raleigh show is planned for Nov. 21 at Marbles Kids Museum with Sandbox and Mommie after the Raleigh Christmas Parade.

The album will be available for sale at the shows with all proceeds benefiting the Community Music School. It will also be available at various businesses throughout the Triangle.

Via Triangle Music: Bowerbirds perform ‘Tiny Desk’ set for NPR

Via New Raleigh: Love Language In Rhythm video

A very strange tie exists in the Triangle music scene, and that is Baltimore’s electro-pop scene. From Dan Deacon’s frequent trek’s to Chapel Hill, to Durham-based 307 Knox Records releasing a Dan Deacon/Future Islands split 7″, and even Greenville’s Future Islands relocating its homebase to the Charm City.

Another, lesser-known tie? Future Islands bassist William Cashion sits in with Lonnie Walker’s Brian Corum and Annuals‘ Zack Oden in the enigmatic Felix the Drum Machine, while Jackpot deejay Brian Shaw takes lead vocals.

Word now comes that the Greenville expats have signed on with Thrill Jockey Records, who will support the release of the band’s forthcoming sophomore LP. Prior to the album’s release, Future Islands is working with NYC art collective Free Danger to release a limited 12″ vinyl.

“Little Drummer (Jones Remix)” by Future Islands

Post Office Wave Chapel is a four-track vinyl limited to 500 copies that is set to see the light of day via Free Danger on Dec. 17; while the Future Islands’ full-length, In Evening Air, will be released through Thrill Jockey in spring 2010.

As always, Future Islands will pay the Triangle a visit quite frequently on its up-coming tour; including a performance Nov. 21 at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, Nov. 27 at The Berkeley Cafe in Raleigh and then back to Chapel Hill with a show at The Cave on Dec. 4.

Cashion’s has a gig coming up with Felix the Drum Machine on Nov. 26 at Slim’s Downtown with Triangle newcomers NAPS.

Despite the wind, rain and cold, about 600 people packed into a tent erected on North Street in Downtown Raleigh to watch Durham-based R&B crew The Foreign Exchange take on Chapel Hill’s The Love Language in a battle of the bands.

With The Foreign Exchange on one end of the tent and The Love Language on the other, the two bands battled through four rounds; including a covers round, a takeover round, a clash round and finally a wild card event.

For the first round, each band performed their own unique cover of Prince’s “Take Me With U” from the classic album Purple Rain. The face-off resulted in an early lead for The Love Language as they won over the audience and earned one point.

The second round had each band playing their original tunes with the other band having to finish the second half of the song on cue while finishing it in their own style. This round ended in a tie and The Love Language holding a 3-2 lead over The Foreign Exchange.

VIDEO:
The Love Language takes on “Daykeeper”
The Foreign Exchange takes on “Lalita”

That lead didn’t last long with The Foreign Exchange besting the indie-pop band in The Clash round, bringing the score to 5-3 as the R&B group successfully adapted their songs to three different genres — bossa nova, reggae and disco.

For the Wild Card, each band invited a secret musician to join them on stage to be a part of their performance. The Foreign Exchange selected trumpet player Stan Graham. However it was Motor Skills emcee and Gross Ghost frontman Mike Dillon who helped The Love Language claim another victory.

VIDEO:
The Love Language feat. Mike Dillon

The victory wasn’t quite enough to bring The Love Language back to the top as The Foreign Exchange took top honors with a final score of 5-4.

“It feels dope. It feels great to win,” The Foreign Exchange frontman Phonte said. “Some of the styles we did today we’re probably going to end up doing in our shows.”

Hopefully the Red Bull folks were pleased with the bands, audience and support of local music so we can see more of the Soundclash events come to the City of Oaks. Maybe Colossus vs. Kooley High, I Was Totally Destroying It vs. The Beast (sister vs. brother), or Lonnie Walker vs. Blount Harvey.

Lambchop’s much-talked-about performance at the XX Merge Music Festival in July will receive the digital treatment next week through Merge Records.

“To help celebrate Merge’s 20th Anniversary the band showed up in one of their largest lineups in recent memory — 11-strong, including multiple guitars, keyboards, piano and a horn section,” Merge’s Christina Rentz wrote in a press release.

The Durham-based label will release Lambchop — Live at XX Merge through its online store as a digital download as well as a limited-run CD. Orders through the Merge Store also include a download of the concert film in either high definition ($12.99) or standard definition ($9.99).

Live at XX Merge is set to be released digitally Nov. 17 with the physical copies scheduled to be shipped Nov. 24.

Word of mouth from those who attended XX Merge shows that Lambchop’s July 24 performance at Cat’s Cradle was the highlight of the music festival.

“Lambchop performing live is always a powerful proposition, but on this night they started quietly with ‘I Will Drive Slowly’ from their first album and accelerated from there, each song seemingly faster and more intensely played than the last, building to a furious finale of ‘Up With People’ and an epic ‘Give It,’” Rentz explained. “By the end of their set, everyone in the packed Cats Cradle — band and audience both — was levitating a few inches off the ground.”

For those who want to catch Lambchop in person, Kurt Wagner and crew will perform at Duke’s Reynolds Industries Theatre in Durham with Alejandro Escovedo. Unfortunately it looks like it’s sold out, but Craigslist is always a viable option.

Deejay, producer and all-around colossal turntablist RJD2 will bring his up-coming tour to the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro on Jan. 10.

Tickets for the show are on sale through eTix for $15 in advance or $17 the day of the show.

RJD2 burst onto the DJ scene with the release of his 2002 album Deadringer, and followed its release with the release of the EP The Horror. Since 2003, RJD2 released two largely commercial LPs — 2004’s Since We Last Spoke and 2007’s The Third Hand.

“Ghostwriter” by RJD2

His next affair, The Colossus, is expected on Jan. 19, 2010 after being pushed back from a 2009 release and will see the light of day through RJD2’s own RJ’s Electrical Connections label.

The album will feature a cast of contributors including Kenna, Heather Fortune, Aaron Livingston, The Catalyst, Illogic, NP and Durham’s own Phonte Coleman. Coleman is set to appear on the track “The Shining Path.”

For a guy who quit the music business, Triangle expat Ryan Adams sure has turned out a lot of material in the past few months.

Just last week, he shipped out the now sold out pink 7″ featuring “Oblivion” on the A-side and “People Need Sunshine” on the flip. Now it turns out he’s releasing yet another single — this time an instrumental track.

Unlike the previous digital singles Adams released through PAX.AM, the ever-prolific songwriter released “Fortress of the Spider Gods” as a free stream. The track is available at Adams’ Soundcloud page along with various demos, as well as at his homepage.

“Fortress of the Spider Gods” by Ryan Adams

As we reported in July, Sessions at Studio B alums Cool Ethan were seeking a new singer after frontman Bart Hipp decided to depart from the band, citing personal reasons.

“Recently, Bart decided to part ways with Cool Ethan for personal reasons,” the band wrote. “There are no hard feelings, and we wish him the best in whatever he ends up doing in the future.”

What resulted was a search for a new singer to fill Bart’s shoes. The remaining members opened the door to anyone and everyone who thought they had the pipes to carry the band.

“All ages, guys and girls, and all styles are welcome. You don’t have to sound like Bart — we’re really up for listening to anything.”

Stepping in was vocalist Nora Onufer, which also led to the band finding a new name as Gossip Grows On Trees.

“With the loss of our old singer and the addition of Nora on vocals, we have decided to change our name and release new music,” the band writes. “We really hope you like the direction we are headed in!”

For now, the band’s relaunched the Cool Ethan MySpace, started new Twitter and Facebook accounts, and released a new take on the track “Hollywood,” which was previously released on Cool Ethan’s debut EP. Also, you can check out Nora on vox at Hot Topic in Greenville for the song “Relapse.”

D-Town Brass – “Devil’s Mustache Ride”

Veelee – “Pasture”

Schooner – “Feel Better”

Lonnie Walker – “Summertime”

Videos courtesy of YouTube user The88broughtback

It’s no surprise if you’ve never heard of Felix the Drum Machine. After all, they don’t have a MySpace page and they’ve played once since 2000. Some may say Felix is as elusive as Jandek — sans 61 self-released albums.

To that effect, here is a quick initiation: Felix is a band formed of members of Lonnie Walker, Future Islands and Annuals while they were still in high school. To say the least, they were a band ahead of their indie electronica time as they combined elements of drum loops, live instruments and brooding vocals.

Back is September, that little high school experiment reemerged with a performance at The Brewery alongside the aforementioned Lonnie Walker and Future Islands. Prior to two months ago, the last time the four members performed together, they were in their late teens. Now in their late 20s, Felix still likes to goof around but still plays engaging party tunes.

Add in another band starring members of Lonnie Walker and Annuals, and you have a Thanksgiving show with the makings of an epic evening.

NAPS — featuring LW’s Brian Corum, Annuals’  Zack Oden, Daniel Michael and Nathan Price — will once again take the stage at Slim’s Downtown on Nov. 26; this time joined by Felix the Drum Machine — featuring Jackpot deejay Brian Shaw and Future Islands’ William Cashion.

Corum and Oden will play double duty on guitar and drums, respectively, in both bands.

Felix’s last show was billed as a one-time reunion — obviously that didn’t happen, so we’ll see where The Machine will take them. As for NAPS … just let their newly released EP speak for itself, and check out photos from their Oct. 20 performance at Slim’s.

Two of the Triangle’s most in-demand bands will square off in a battle of the bands sponsored by Red Bull on Nov. 12 at the Hibernian Restaurant & Pub in Raleigh.

Red Bull Sounclash will bring The Foreign Exchange’s R&B melodies together with The Love Language’s lo-fi indie pop in a unique opportunity to see these two bands share the stage.

“Lalita” by The Love Language

“I think it’s brilliant! I couldn’t have thought of a better motley group,” Missy Thangs of The Love Language  said in a release. “I just want to have fun and don’t want to be too competitive and get to know some really cool talented people. I don’t know another time I’ll get to run into these cats.”

The event will be hosted by 102 Jamz deejay Kyle Santillian and feature a soundtrack provided by Public Enemy’s DJ Lord.

“Daykeeper” by The Foreign Exchange

The two bands will compete in four events: The Cover, The Takeover, The Clash and The Wild Card. The ultimate winner will be decided by the audience.

For The Cover round, each band will perform the same cover song; while during The Takeover round, one band will begin playing an original song and the other band will have to finish the second half in their own style. The Clash round has each band playing their songs in tune with DJ Lord’s spinning, and the final round allows the band on stage to welcome a special musical guest to join its performance.

Red Bull Soundclash is a free 18-and-up event with gates scheduled to open at 7 p.m. at the intersection of North Street and Glenwood Avenue next to Hibernian Restaurant & Pub.

Chapel Hill-based Fin Fang Foom will celebrate the release of its first new LP in six years at Local 506 along side Maple Stave and Ben Davis & The Jetts.

Monomyth is set to be released Nov. 24 through Lovitt Records with the album release show planned for Nov. 14.

“Magnetic North” by Fin Fang Foom

“Monomyth sums up all the travails the band has weathered to this point — not literally, but emotionally,” a press release explains. “It’s a brooding yet hopeful work that finds Fin Fang Foom humbled but unbowed.”

The album comes after the death of drummer Peter Enriquez and the near-death of guitarist Michael Triplet following a bout with spinal meningitis in 2004. It was through these two experiences the band overcame the odds of breaking up, and instead crafted a record that pays homage to the human condition.

“That, to me, is a hero’s journey,” frontman Eddie Sanchez explains of Triplet’s fight against the often-fatal disease. “From life to death and back.”

In addition to Fin Fang Foom’s Nov. 14 show at Local 506, the band will perform at The Pinhook in Durham on Dec. 18 with Gray Young and Free Electric State.

The Foreign Exchange’s Zo! released a covers EP today that features appearances from Durham’s Phonte, Darien Brockington and Carlitta Durand.

“Working on this record has been a labor of love for everybody involved, and we hope it serves as a teaser for Zo’s upcoming full-length SunStorm, dropping next summer on FE Music,” Phonte writes.

…just visiting too also features guest vocals from Sy Smith and The Foreign Exchange’s Yahzarah. The album includes covers of Stevie Wonder, The Jones Girls, Prince, Don Blackman, Bobby Caldwell, Quincy Jones and The Isley Brothers.

The album is being offered as a free download through The Foreign Exchange Web site and includes a “digital pdf booklet complete with all the album credits, information on the album’s vocalists and contributors, as well as information on the originals.”

Back in January, Annuals guitarist and Sunfold frontman Kenny Florence mentioned that Sunfold was gearing up to release a series of EPs that would work around a common concept.

Ten months later, the first of those EPs is ready to be unleashed through Terpsikhore Records. The Harmonia Macrocosmica, Pt. 1 will be released some time in November and features artwork by Florence.

“Levels” by Sunfold

The four-track EP is anchored by the track “Levels,” which was previously streamed on the band’s MySpace page, and  the Hear Here cut “Weeping Wall.”

You know, Embarrassing Fruits‘ frontman Joe Norkus is a very generous guy. And for Halloween — or a couple days after Halloween — he’s provided the invaluable gift of music.

Norkus is offering Hollerin’ Haints as a free download through Sufficient Records. Also available are his albums Digital Hiss,  Livin’ in the Wrong Times and Covers.

And if you missed the Fruits’ performance on Sessions at Studio B, head over to the video’s landing page to check it out.

It seems like a lot of people have issues with Lincoln Theatre. I’ve personally never had a problem with the venue. I mean, The National performed there, which — you know — was awesome.

But things may get a little sloppy with Jägerbombs at the downtown club the next time Breakfast Club comes through.

Growing Up Southern via New Raleigh reports that Lincoln Theatre will introduce liquor to its bar; and by doing so, the venue will require a membership to go to shows. Apparently you can just sign up for the newsletter to score a membership — I’m still awaiting that confirmation.

This won’t be too different from the format at Local 506, just be sure to go ahead and sign up to avoid any ridiculous “Non Member” lines.

Halloween is just four days away, which means it’s time for Christmas music!

Wait, what?

Bob Dylan — unfortunately — seems to think so. And after listening to clips on Amazon.com and fighting the urge to cut off my ears, I’ve finally rehabilitated and am stoked to hear some quality tunes.

It only seems fitting that a band with the secular season in its name be the one to provide me with the first of my holiday indulgence.

Studio B alums The Winter Sounds sent word that they have a track featured on the XO Publicity holiday comp this year. To their credit, they also released an equally catchy Christmas tune on last year’s comp.

“The Anthem Is A Gift” by The Winter Sounds

Meanwhile, frontman Patrick Keenan mentioned a program the band is involved in to gather some funds to records The Winter Sounds‘ new album.

“Kickstarter is a fundraising tool that we are using to raise money to fund our next record,” Keenan explained. “The beauty of Kickstarter is the way in which people can donate or pledge.”

Each donation or pledge is reward with something different depending on the amount contributed.

“[W]e’ve got everything from handmade scarves; a handmade, handwritten book of lyrics of all our recorded music; T-shirts; hoodies; signed tour posters; etc … all the way up to having us write a song for someone!” Keenan said. “Mostly Kickstarter acts as a pre-order giving us a chance to offer up our future record in exchange for the funds to record it.”

When the band initially launched the program in September, the goal was set at $3,000. With 47 days to go, The Winter Sounds has raised more than $4,000; and the more money they can earn, the better the finished product will ultimately be.

After The Infamous Sugar was forced to cancel its performance tonight at Berkeley Cafe, the apologetically rock ‘n’ roll bill was reduced to a three band lineup with a surprise “supergroup.”

However, now comes word that NAPS will take the stage along side Colossus, A Rooster For The Masses and The T’s. The aforementioned “supergroup” has, unfortunately, also canceled

This evening’s showcase is presented by the folks at New Raleigh, and doors are set to open at 9 p.m. with the show scheduled to start at 10. Admission is $7.

Tonight’s performance will be NAPS’ second appearance during this year’s Cherry Bounce Festival, and third for Lonnie Walker’s Brian Corum. Previously, NAPS opened Music.MyNC’s showcase at Slim’s Downtown on Tuesday, while Corum headlined a night of acoustic music and magic at Raleigh Times on Monday.

NAPS features Corum on guitar and effects, Annuals‘ Zack Oden on drums, Nathan Price on bass, and Daniel Michael on guitar and vox. If you haven’t heard them yet, check out some tunes on MySpace, and download their recently released EP of home demos.

Could we hope for an all Brian Corum Cherry Bounce? Let’s rally for Lonnie Walker to be added somewhere on the bill and Felix the Drum Machine just before Man Man.

Grammy Award-winning prog rockers The Mars Volta have canceled tonight’s performance at Disco Rodeo in Raleigh, Live Nation reports.

Refunds will be available at the point of purchase beginning Oct. 26; tickets purchased online or by phone will be refunded automatically.

At this point, no information is available as to why the band canceled tonight’s show.

Memphis-based Jay Reatard will hit up Local 506 in Chapel Hill with a new band in tote on Dec. 1.

Enlisting the help of Anders Thode and Jacob Elving of Danish punk band Cola Freaks, Reatard will hit the road in the U.S. after returning from Europe on Nov. 21.

“Wounded” by Jay Reatard

The new line up comes after the public breakup of Reatard’s former band via Twitter.

“Band quit! F*** them! They are boring rich kids who can’t play for ahit [sic] anyways … Say hello to your ugly and boring wifes opps I mean lifes guys suck it,” Reatard Tweeted Oct. 6.

“So who wants to see just how terrible it is to play in my band,” Reatard followed 16 hours later. “I mean it’s so so hard I promise it’s the worst “

Ticket information for the show is not yet available.

Teenage country music superstar Taylor Swift is set to continue her Fearless tour in 2010, and she plans to bring the show to the RBC Center in Raleigh on May 1.

Joining Swift is Albemarle’s own Kellie Pickler and Wilmington’s Gloriana.

“I’m so excited to take the Fearless tour back out on the road again in 2010!” Taylor said in a release. “This year’s tour has been so much fun and even more unforgettable than I ever imagined. The fans have been so amazing, and I’m thrilled to play in new cities and see even more of my fans on the 2010 Fearless tour!”

And more than likely, Taylor made those remarks exactly like that — exclamation points and all. She may have even dotted the exclamation points with little hearts or smiley faces.

Tickets for the show go on sale Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. through the RBC Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone and online.

Considering the RBC Center’s capacity is about a third of the number of people who attended the U2 concert, there shouldn’t be nearly as many parking and traffic issues. However, keep in mind that almost everyone shows up and leaves a concert at the same time as opposed to athletic events when people trickle in and out.

Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you. Ima let you finish, but U2 had one of the worst traffic nightmares of all time.

On a side note, while Taylor Swift is booking in Raleigh, Kanye is canceling in Greensboro.

The Moody Blues is coming to the Durham Performing Arts Center on March 24 during its 2010 Tour.

“This great new event adds to the DPAC legacy of presenting legendary classic rock,” Bob Klaus, general manager of DPAC, said in a release. “With Jackson Browne, the Steve Miller Band, Steely Dan and others already gracing our stage, The Moody Blues is a next step in our mission to host the greatest rock bands in the world on the big stage at DPAC.”

Tickets for the show go on-sale Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. through the DPAC box office, by phone, online, and all Ticketmaster outlets and retailers. Ticket prices range from $38.50 to $69.50.

The Moody Blues’ most recent studio release was 2003’s December, which was a collection of Christmas tunes performed by the influential prog rock band. In 2008, the band also released a live album and DVD of their performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival.

Wu-Tang’s own Raekwon will be at Schoolkids Records on Hillsborough Street this Thursday, Oct. 22 from 5 until 7 p.m.

He’ll be in store to sign copies of his recently released album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II.

I know the corner of the poster says “October 21,” but the signing is actually the 22nd.

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II is Raekwon’s fourth solo album and was released Sept. 8 though EMI.

Dave Rawlings Machine is set to return to the Triangle in support of the band’s up-coming debut album, A Friend of a Friend.

The band — which features Dave Rawlings, Gillian Welch and members of Old Crow Medicine Show — will perform at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro Nov. 30. Tickets go on sale “soon” for $20.

Dave Rawlings Machine will release A Friend of a Friend Nov. 17 through Acony Records; and follow its release with a tour of the East Coast and into the heartland. The album is Rawlings’ first solo release and features seven tunes penned by Rawlings and two covers — Jesse Fuller’s “The Monkey and the Engineer” and a Conor Oberst/Neil Young medley.

“I had a few older songs that I had written with other artists that I wanted to record myself,” Rawlings explained. “Then the last year or so Gillian and I spent a good deal of time in Los Angeles, hanging out with a new group of musicians and songwriters.  This inspired a number of songs that seemed to complete the picture.  So we started recording.  It was as much of a surprise to me as it was to anybody.”

Rawlings also recorded his own version of Raleigh ex-pat Ryan Adams’ “To Be Young,” which Rawlings co-wrote with Adams for his Heartbreaker album.

Dave Rawlings Machine previously performed in the Triangle at Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre on Aug. 10 as part of Old Crow Medicine Show’s The Big Surprise Tour.

Raleigh’s own Annuals will headline First Night Raleigh just before the clock strikes midnight and the city celebrate the beginning of a new decade.

Artsplosure officially announced on Friday that the six-piece will perform on the main stage at 10:30 p.m. followed by “the annual Acorn Drop and fireworks at midnight.”

Admission buttons will be available beginning Dec. 1 for $9 at area Harris Teeters, “as well as other local outlets.” beginning December 1. Children five and under can get in for free, and buttons will be available at the event for children ages 6 to 12 for $10 and $12 for adults.