The Shrine – Space Steppin to the Orange Peel on September 6th

The Shrine

The Shrine (left to right) drummer Jeff Murphy, guitarist/vocalist Josh Landau & bassist Courtland Murphy

Don’t attempt to categorize or bucket Venice, California trio The Shrine into one genre or another as their sound sonically traverses across metal, punk, psychedelia, hardcore, thrash and just straight forward hard hitting rock n roll at times. The band has even personally coined the term, “psychedelic violence” to describe the beautiful chaos that is The Shrine.

Comprised of of lead singer and guitar player Josh Landau, bassist Court Murphy and drummer Jeff Murray The Shrine, formed in 2008, have released three studio efforts to date, 2012’s Primitive Blast, their sophomore effort 2014’s Bless Off and last year’s Rare Breed, which just may be one of the most underrated albums of the last decade.

The Shrine have already had quite the summer playing to thousands across the pond at festivals such as Download in England and Hellfest in France where they shared the same bill with rock heavyweights and royalty such as Black Sabbath, Anthrax and Rammstein.

This upcoming Tuesday September 6th The Shrine will be parking the van outside the Orange Peel’s doors to play alongside Portland, Oregon stoner-prog outfit Danava and headliners, U.K. psych rockers Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats.

There’s quite a bit of retro embedded deep within The Shrine’s DNA.  Listening to their music it’s not surprising at all to learn that the southern California based rockers cite 70’s heroes such as Thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath as influences.

Although the band pays some homage to these more classic rock sounds The Shrine certainly aren’t afraid to incorporate more punk based elements into their music as echoes of Black Fag, Bad Brains and Minor Threat also seem to permeate throughout their recordings.

“I grew up on Black Flag and you can just follow that backwards a bit to bands like Black Sabbath, Hendrix MC5, The Stooges and even 70’s hard rock like Budgie and Thin Lizzy”, said lead singer and guitarist Josh Landau while explaining what helped shaped him early on as a musician.

Rare Breed, The Shrine’s first major studio release (Century Media), was produced by one of the legends in the recording industry, Dave Jerden.   Jerden has worked with everyone from the Rolling Stones to Frank Zappa while also being the man behind the board for such iconic 90’s era records from the likes Alice in Chains, Jane’s Addiction, Social Distortion and the Offspring.

“One of our records was spinning at this guitar shop near our place and Dave Jerden was in the store and he asked our buddy that worked there about us.  We ended up meeting him and he said that he wanted to do your next record and asked if he could come over to our house,” discussed Landau as he explained how the band came to be signed to Century Media as well as how they first came into contact with producer Dave Jerden.

I could imagine working with a producer of Jerden’s ilk and recording history that The Shrine may have been intimidated about working with him but this turned out to not be the case at all.

“All the previous stuff we had actually recorded before we had done in our garage ourselves where I produced it.   It (Rare Breed) was definitely more of a serious production than we had ever done before.  He (Jerden) didn’t really tweak the songs at all but the way the record is mixed those were his choices, his sound and everyone was happy with how it all ended up coming together.”

When I sit back and listen to “Rare Breed” the record almost comes alive as if it’s a living and breathing soundtrack to a 1970’s New York City gang war I’d like to somehow and try to get in on.  If there’s a band that’s literally meant to score a remake of the 1979 cult classic The Warriors, it has to be The Shrine.

“That’s kind of where our inspiration is coming from, from like the 70s where every song had a different kind of color to it and the albums all had kind of one main story tying them together,” explained Landau while laughing a bit.

Playing the European festival circuit has to be a rush for any band as who couldn’t imagine being stoked to play in front of tens of thousands of screaming crazies, however, The Shrine strikes me as a band that would probably get more of a kick playing a gas station bathroom or a friend’s house party.

“It definitely changes our approach.  You almost have to pretend you’re 12-years- old playing in front of your bedroom mirror again because the audience seems so far away,” said Landau as he touched on the topic of playing to much larger audiences than The Shrine has typically been accustomed to recently.

The band is only a few dates into their current tour with Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and Danava with the former being known for having a fairly hard core and die hard fan base.  I was curious as to whether or not the audiences at their recent shows had embraced The Shrine.

Landau answered, “It’s been good.  People are stoked and they come out and buy our records and we kind of get the same positive response no matter what.  People seem to be digging what we’re doing whether it’s us opening up for Uncle Acid on this tour or with other bands like the tour we did with Clutch.”

The show this Tuesday September 6th at the Orange Peel is one that will reward audience members for showing up early as The Shrine will be the first band to hit the stage followed by Danava and then headliners Uncle Acid and Deadbeats.   Door are at 7:00 PM with the show starting at 8:00 PM.  Ticket prices are $18 in advance, $22 day of show.

Orange Peel Ticket Link:

http://www.etix.com/ticket/p/7917124/uncle-acid-the-deadbeats-asheville-the-orange-peel?partner_id=240#_ga=1.100841540.415122814.1464844511

Do you think you’d like some Black Sabbath meets Thin Lizzy meets Motörhead meets Kyuss meets Black Flag inspired tunes? If so check these songs out off of Rare Breed from The Shrine:  “Space Steppin” / “Dusted and Busted”

The Shrine Links:

https://www.facebook.com/theshrinefuzz/

http://theshrinefuzz.tumblr.com/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rare-breed/id1042278929?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D

Masterminds Movie, Filmed In Asheville, Shows On September 30th

Masterminds Movie Filmed In Asheville

Many of you remember last year, when the Masterminds movie (originally titled Loomis Fargo) was being filmed all around the Asheville and WNC area. Zach Galifianakis (who replaced Jim Carrey in this film), Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, and several others were seen all around town experiencing what Asheville has to offer. Now the time has come for the film to be released on September 30, 2016 and we are all ready for a good laugh. The film is actually based on the true story of the 1997 Loomis Fargo Robbery in Charlotte North Carolina, where $17.3 Million Dollars, 24 people were arrested for direct and indirect involvement, and 95% of the money was recovered.

Watch the Mastermind Movie Trailer Here:

Asheville DJ & Karaoke

Asheville DJ & Karaoke

Lots of folks are planning parties and celebrations throughout the Asheville and WNC area. A great and dependable DJ is sometimes hard to find. We have known DJ Cory Short and Get Vocal Entertainment for many years, seen their team in action at lots of events, and know they are able to produce a great musical experience for any type of crowd. If you are having a wedding or special event; contact them and see what they have to offer.

One To Attend – Houndmouth – Orange Peel – Saturday March 5, 2016

DSC_0859_ttloni

Houndmouth: Zak Appleby, Katie Toupin, Matt Myers & Shane Cody

“Kentuckiana” quartet Houndmouth, who are set to play the Orange Peel this Saturday March 5th, have achieved quite a bit of buzz and stardom over what most would consider a short period of time as the band technically only became active back n 2011.

Despite the fact that Houndmouth are now regulars on the summer music festival circuit, are Rough Trade label mates with other rising stars such as Alabama Shakes and are capable of selling out shows as headliners themselves, it wasn’t all that long ago when the band were still regularly playing to 30 and 40 people at any given live show.

So what exactly was the catalyst that helped launch this roots, rock, pop, folk, alt-country, Americana, etc. foursome into stardom?   If you’ve ever listened to either of Houndmouth’s studio efforts, 2013’s From the Hills Below the City or last year’s Little Neon Limelight the shortest answer is talent.

Although this may be a gross simplification regarding Houndmouth’s ascendancy the fact remains Matt Myers (vocals/guitar), Katie Toupin (keyboards/vocals), Zak Appelby (bass/vocals) and Shane Cody are all superlative musicians, vocalists and song writers that effortlessly weave sonic tales of heartache, alcohol and drug abuse, love and loss that binds the listener to their music instantly.

That’s not to say the band doesn’t have a sense of humor as even though most of Houndmouth’s music tends to play to darker themes they have a light hearted side that they’re not afraid to display both on record as well as on the lighted stage.

I had the fortune of seeing Houndmouth perform live for the first time toward the beginning of their touring career when by chance I caught the band opening up for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals in February of 2013 at the Rams Head in Baltimore Maryland.

By the end of their performance, which concluded with a cover of The Band’s “I Shall Be Released” which saw all four band members switching instruments, I was immediately convinced they were going to move onto to do great things.

It’s interesting that Houndmouth chose to cover a Band song because right or wrong it’s the band they are most often and somewhat unfairly compared to. Don’t get me wrong there are some similarities regarding the two outfits’ music particularly as it pertains to their four-part harmonies.

However, I think it would be a grievous miscalculation to pigeon hole Houndmouth as sounding like any one particular band or playing within any specific genre because the reality is Houndmouth’s sound encompasses a multitude of genres and their musical palate traverses across a wide variety of soundscapes.

Following my initial indoctrination into the Houndmouth universe I decided to make it a point to see the perform in seven different states and once even up in Canada throughout the course of 2013 and 2014.

Whether it was at IOTA in Arlington, VA, Signal Kitchen in Burlington, VT, the Sons of Herman Hall in Dallas, Texas or the Port City Music Hall in Portland, Maine Houndmouth always impressed with the force of their live performance, how genuine they came across on stage and their ability to immediately connect with a crowd of strangers.

Another big takeaway from every live Houndmouth show I’ve ever barred witness to was just how much damn fun the band was having whether there was one person in the audience or two hundred.  This feeling of joy always managed to bleed itself into whatever size audience the band was playing to making each and every performance feel unique and warmly intimate.

Back in 2013 I was speaking with Cody after one of the band’s performances and I mentioned to him that I was in town for business but that when I saw that they were playing in the city I spent two-hundred dollars to change my flight back home to catch their show.  Upon hearing this Cody turned to me and said, “man that’s the coolest thing anyone has ever said to me about our band.”

A lot has changed for Houndmouth since then as much hipper things than talking to me in a dimly light club at two in the morning have come the band’s way including their being mentioned on nearly every buzz worthy music list you can shake a stick at, guest appearances on Letterman and Conan as well as their playing the likes of both Bonnaroo and Forecastle.   I’m okay with this because I’ve never really been all that cool anyway and that fact is Houndmouth has earned this type of praise and success.

Come see and hear for yourself as Houndmouth along with Justin Paul Lewis take to the Orange Peel’s stage this Saturday March 5th starting at 9:00 PM.

Who:           Houmdmouth plus Justin Paul Lewis

When:        Saturday March 5, 2015 / 9:00 PM

Where:      The Orange Peel / 101 Biltmore Avenue Asheville, NC

Cost:          $18 advance / $20 day of show

Links:

http://houndmouth.com

https://www.facebook.com/Houndmouth/

https://www.youtube.com/user/Houndmouth

Umphrey’s McGee TAUK – Explore Asheville Arena – Photo Recap

AskAsheville was on hand for Umphrey’s McGee second night of the their Asheville residency over at the ExploreAsheville Arena. Your faithful AskAVL music editor shot night one for LiveMusicDaily. You can find these photos at the link below:

http://livemusicdaily.com/2016/02/22/umphreys-mcgee-live-in-asheville-nc-february-19-2016-photo-recap/

AskAsheville however is fortunate enough to have several great photographers that cover events and we’re sure glad Carol Spagnuola was at the ready to capture these great images from the second night of Umphrey’s McGee along with TAUK on February 20th, Enjoy!

You can find more of Carol’s photography at the link below as well as photos she captures at the Orange Peel that you can find on the Orange Peel’s Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/carolspagsphotography/

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