As the 2013 Savannah Stopover grows ever closer, we continue with our profiles of some of the major bands and artists set to perform during the third annual downtown celebration of indie music (March 7-9).
The big opening-night concert features Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore and his "new" band, Chelsea Light Moving.
Follow these links to check out this week's big stories (you can also hear the music and watch the artists' videos):
Chelsea Light Moving: http://newmedia.connectsavannah.com/news/article/108316/
The Last Bison: http://newmedia.connectsavannah.com/news/article/108326/
Ben Sollee: http://newmedia.connectsavannah.com/news/article/108318/
See the entire schedule at http://www.savannahstopover.com
Young Buffalo
At 6 p.m. Saturday, March 9 at Hang Fire
One of the highlights of the first Savannah Stopover, in 2011, Young Buffalo returns this year with an incredibly strong EP jammed with sharp, pop-tinged rock ‘n' roll - this is a band that piledrives and plants hooks virtually simultaneously.
On that first visit, there were three young Buffs. This time around, it's just Jim Barrett and Ben Yarbrough, switching off on guitars and basses, plus a touring drummer and keyboard guy.
Longtime buds from Oxford, Miss., Barrett and Yarbrough have been singing and playing together since their middle school days.
Barrett admits that straddling the fence between hard rock and harmony comes naturally to him. "My mom's records included a lot of Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel and musicals," he tells us. "So from an early age I was drawn more to stuff that's easy on the ears. By high school I started listening to Led Zeppelin and a bunch of harder shit. Once me and Ben started playing, we were really big into Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth.
"So it's a little bit of both of those worlds - really easy on ya, and catchy, and the opposite side, getting a little noisy once in a while."
We invite you to listen to "Upstairs," from the band's self-titled EP. Don't take our word for it. This is a creative duo.
See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2c7m8dDKXc
Young Buffalo's live show tends to me a bit more ... well, ragged than the records.
"Depending on the kind of show, and the sound I guess, sometimes it's like straining to get over the ruckus," Barrett laughs. "Sometimes it works; sometimes Ben and I mesh well. And sometimes you can't hear anything, and you ask somebody after the show and they say ‘Well, you were a little shaky on a couple of those.'"
And that's a good thing, spontaneity and all. A cornerstone of live rock ‘n' roll performance.
Cheyenne Mize
At 6 p.m. Saturday, March 9 and B&D Burgers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH7sdSSv6Vc
NPR chose Mize as one of their "Ten Discoveries at SXSW 2011," just a week after she'd made her Savannah debut at the inaugural Stopover (she was here last year, too). The Kentucky singer/songwriter (yes, she's a friend of Ben Sollee's, and a frequent collaborator) has a dreamy, almost otherwordly soprano, which she ladles over a wash of reverb-drenched electric and acoustic guitar.Lately, she's been working with a band.
She is a master of quiet and surprising dynamics.
"Maybe it's just a combination of my influences and things, but I think space is a very important part of music," she told us in 2011. "I am classically trained on violin, and even in big classical symphonies you can have a hundred people onstage and still, the silent moments can be the most powerful. I guess that's not a conscious thing that I do in my music."
Mize will release her third full-length album in the spring.
You Won't
At 10 p.m. Thursday, March 7 at B&D Burgers
Yes, you will — fall for Josh Arnoudse and Raky Sastri, the Massachusetts duo the New York Times called a “Notable Act” at the 2012 CMJ.
With piano, guitar, drums (and the occasional harmonica and musical saw) these guys concoct a mesmerizing blend of folkie pop music that will stay in your head long after the final notes have reverberated into the air.
As you can see, the guys have a healthy respect for the unorthodox, and a solid sense of humor (check out their full–length, the appropriately–titled Skeptic Goodbye, and its accompanying videos, at http://www.youwontmusic.com
Or start here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMs_Rd7LEkI