FOR FANS OF MUSIC & THOSE WHO MAKE IT Issue 10 • FREE • athensblur.com THESE UNITED STATES • MAD WHISKEY GRIN • BLITZEN TRAPPER • THE DELFIELDS • MEIKO • JANELLE MONAE • TRANCES ARC • DODD FERRELLE • CRACKER & MORE!!! ZERO 7 Acclaimed electronic duo gets haunted on album number four TORTOISE Inspiration be damned — Tortoise soldiers on WHEN You’rE HOT Bradley Cooper’s sizzling Hollywood ride HEART LIFE AT THE SPEED IN haND OF TWEET The latest social media After an eight-year absence, an outlet is changing the music industry, for energized Circulatory System better or for worse returns with a new album VENUE VENTURES Four clubs lead the way into a changing face of Athens music spots YOU WANTED COLUMNS? YOU GOt ‘eM>> SIGN UP AT www.gamey.com/print ENTER CODE: NEWS65 *New members only. Free trial valid in the 50 United States only, and cannot be combined with any other offer. Limit one per household. First-time customers only. Internet access and valid payment method required to redeem offer. GameFly will begin to bill your payment method for the plan selected at sign-up at the completion of the free trial unless you cancel prior to the end of the free trial. Plan prices subject to change. Please visit www.gamey.com/terms for complete Terms of Use. Free Trial Offer expires 12/31/2010. (44) After an eight-year absence, an energized Circulatory System returns with a new HEART album. by Ed Morales IN HAND photos by Jason Thrasher (40) (48) Acclaimed electronic duo Zero 7 gets “haunted” The latest social making album number media outlet is four. changing the music by Natalie B. David industry, for at better or for worse. by Natalie B. David Seeing Ghosts LIFE the SPEED of tweet (42) Inspiration be damned — Tortoise soldiers on. by Matt Fink Four clubs lead the Ignoring the Hare venue way into a changing face of music spots in Athens. ventures by Alec Wooden (73) Bradley Cooper tries to explain his sizzling ride (48) through Hollywood. by DeMarco Williams When You’reHOT... ATHENS BLUR MAGAZINE 3 music 13 COLUMNS EDITOR’S PLAYLIST: 7 Ten Tunes Worth Noting THE FIRST WORD: 9 A Hard Thing to Know PARTING THOUGHTS: 78 Ten people you meet in Athens,Ga. WORTH A THOUSAND: 80 Who says you need words? 11 27 17 SPOTLIGHTS These United States 11 Tyrone Jackson 12 14 Mad Whiskey Grin 13 Blake Shelton 14 Blitzen Trapper 17 Dodd Ferrelle 18 Meiko 20 The Delfields 23 Trances Arc 24 Janelle Monae 27 ALSO: EAR CANDY: 28 Album Reviews THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY 32 UPCOMING CD RELEASES 35 TOUR DIARY: 37 23 20 On the road with Cracker MUSICIAN’S CORNER 63 MUSICIAN’S GEAR GUIDE 63 18 Gear up for fall tours GUEST COLUMN: 67 “Music Means Business” by Bruce Burch 28 REGIONAL REPORT: 68 Birmingham, Ala. 37 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT MOVIE PREVIEWS: Worth your money? 71 UPCOMING DVD RELEASES 75 concerT SHOTS 76 THE MONTH IN PHOTOS 71 76 75 ATHENS BLUR MAGAZINE 5 B LUR FROM THE EDITOR DEAR READERS , The Athens Blur Magazine I’ve got a new favorite writer these days, and it’s funny — he’s not a feature P.O. Box 7117 writer for Spin, an acclaimed critic for The Guardian or a hipster blogging ma- chine at Pitchfork Media. He’s the genius behind nuggets of wisdom like: Athens, Ga 30604 “I HEARD ROY CLARK SING WHEN I WAS YOUNG IT REMINDED ME THAT Main Office(706) 353-7799 I HAD ANY MORE YESTERDAYS THAN TOMORROW’S” or this: Sales(706) 207-9091 “EVERY BODY DESERVES A VACATION BUT IT SHOULD FROM SOME THING I HAVE NOTHING TO VACATION FROM BUT I AM TAKING A VACATION ANY Executive Editor HOW.” Alec Wooden or my personal favorite: [email protected] “AMERICA WOULD BE BETTER OF TODAY IF THEY HAD RETAINED THE Director of Sales ITALIAN WORK ETHIC GEE I’M PREACHING NOW I BETTER QUIT” Stephen Simmons [email protected] My favorite new writer is my 98-year-old great uncle, Lawrence Marro, writing to an adoring fan base via his favorite new social medium — e-mail Account Executives (heard of it?). Jen Allen It strikes me how appropriate the timing of these letters, as in this issue we [email protected] present an in-depth look at Twitter, the latest social networking craze, and its Zach Greco effect on the music industry. [email protected] Adrienne Klein Obviously, Uncle Lawrence’s emails aren’t related to Twitter — or music, for [email protected] that matter — but I’m still in awe of the full circle blanket of the digital age. Cole Taylor Here is a man who has lived about 1/6th of his life in the company of the in- [email protected] ternet, relaying stories (many 80 years old or more) to his kin, many of whom have lived at least half (and in most cases, more) of their lives in the splendid Advertising Interns company of instant communication. Elaine Emma Kelch I may never have heard these stories without this phenomenon of which Twitter is now the major player. Technological advancements that once seemed Design so far out of reach — so futuristic — are now commonplace and, in the coolest Colin Dunlop, Lauren Mullins, twist of all, can actually be a link to our past when used properly. Carlye Norton, Alec Wooden But gee...I’m preaching now. I better quit. Editorial Interns Marie Baginski, Kristen Callihan, Jessica Enjoy, Cole, Lauren Moot, Sarah Saltzman Contributing Editors Matt Conner, Jon Ross Alec Wooden Contributing Writers Executive Editor Nicole Black, Melissa Coker, Matt Conner, Amanda Cuda, Natalie David, Matt Fink, Ed Morales, Phil Pyle, Jon Ross, Ingrid Sibley, DeMarco Williams EDITOR’S PLAYLIST Contributing Photographers OLD OR NEW, THE SONGS I CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THIS MONTH Alyssa De Hayes, Stefen Eberhard, Wes Elkin, Justin Evans, Sandra Gallardo, Alex Gibbs, Will “Awake” “These Are My Twisted Words” Gravlee, Daniel Peiken, Jason Thrasher The Color Turning Radiohead For general comments and inquiries: “I and Love and You” “Getting By” [email protected] The Avett Brothers Tim Fite For advertising opportunities: “Pyramids” “Even The Good Wood Gone” [email protected] The Inner Banks Why? The Athens Blur Magazine issue 10, copyright©2009 By The Athens Blur Magazine, INC. The Athens Blur Magazine is an eight issue/year music and variety publication, proud to be “Mirrors Don’t Lie But People Do” “Yer So Bad” based in the “Classic City” of Athens, Ga. All rights reserved. No The Goodfight The Flying Change part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part in any way by any means unless written permission is received from the publisher. Published monthly except for each summer issue in the United States of America and distributed free of charge (limit one copy per reader, each subsequent copy is distributed at a charge of $4.95). Postmaster send address changes to The ON THE COVER: Circulatory System, photo by Jason Thrasher of Thrasher Photography. Athens Blur Magazine, P.O. Box 7117 Athens, Ga. 30604 ATHENS BLUR MAGAZINE 7 B LUR MUSIC THE FIRST WORD A HARD THING TO KNOW HOW MUCH TECHNOLOGY SHOULD WE taKE WITH OUR MUSIC? At a certain point, maybe it was just after Here’s what is bad: in the new box set of the first of our knuckle-dragging ancestors performances from Woodstock, several of began tagging the inside of the family cave, the cuts have been re-recorded and spruced humans started using objects to make music. up. In 1969, with all the rain and drugs, You figure we’d been singing and clapping Carlos Santana’s guitar was out of tune. So since the start of it all. Eventually, though, the producers of the anniversary package some hairy brute wanted to clap louder than had him re-record some of his parts. Give the brute next to him, so he started banging me a break. The whole Woodstock deal, what a pair of sticks together. Voila—instruments keeps people churning out books, movies and the introduction of technology into and articles about it, is the innocence of it music. all. It may have been a mess, but it was an And then came Les Paul. Before he died honest mess. Would Carlos of 1969 approve on August 13 at the age of 94, his sonic and of Carlos of 2009 fudging the record? Not electronic curiosities brought us multi-track likely. recording, all sorts of effects like delay and But people change. And technology echo, and, of course, the solid-body electric allows them to change what they did. Two guitar. He played like a hummingbird — sides to that coin: one of the things that quick, light, softly aggressive, beautiful. But makes music so poignant an art form is it was his behind-the-scenes tinkering for Ned Rauch how malleable, how whimsical and how which he’ll be best remembered. In no one fleeting it is. “Our love is like our music,” else were technology and music so thoroughly “Records are cool, tapes Mick Jagger sang. “It’s here and then it’s — and productively — entwined. gone.” Why not monkey with recordings It’s a hard thing to know, how much are funny, eight tracks are of the past? At the same time, performing technology to take with your music. I know music with instruments and voices requires I think it’s weird to see a guy with a laptop weird and CDs, having spent a level of candor that other forms of art don’t on stage.