SEQUOYAH
07/06/2012
Visulite Theatre (16+ (Must have ID) - Under 16 with Parent Only)
Doors Open: 8:00 - Headliner Begins: 9:45
Sequoyah (or Sequoyah Prep School) formed in 2003 and have been writing and touring the US for years now. Based out of Charleston SC, the band is known for their friendly blend of musical genres and spirited live shows. Sequoyah is currently promoting their most recent album Spells which was released in 2011.
(ALBUM REVIEW : Sequoyah-Spells 2011 | By David Stringer |SC SCENE)
It seems as if Sequoyah has finally come into their own as a band. Spells is the album that they have been waiting to make for the better part of the last decade.
After all the hype and the touring from the “make or break” album which was Ghost Town, where do you go? You get your friend Ryan Zimmerman who only has an upside to his recording/producing career, you trash those Tennessee sessions, you go back to the farm in the heart of South Carolina and you record the album that you want to record. Then you blow the dust off all that recording in a studio in your adopted hometown of Charleston.
In a lot of ways this album sounds like a farewell and a big middle finger to record labels and everything that was the process of Ghost Town. They open up the album with “Witch of the South” which sheds any clean image that they might have created over the years and throw it out the window. When Osborne sings “When he kisses your breast” in the chorus I can only imagine that their younger female fans will have fits, but he goes on to sing about being drunk and high. This is where Sequoyah fans will either be like “hell yeah” or say “About Rain and Holy City are the best songs ever, they really messed up on this album.”
But seriously, who cares? This album is who they are. What else should we expect? “Spells” is a glimpse inside the band that hit the road, gave it a shot and lived the life that you would expect 5 guys in a rock band to live. This is their coming of age album culminating the last 4 years of being a band, struggling with faith, relationships, friendships and sound-wise it’s influenced only by what they want.
Spells is a gritty, bluesy album at times and at others it’s what you would have expected of the next Sequoyah Prep School album. Some of these songs were road tested, most of them weren’t on the regular set list. Either Sequoyah thought the songs weren’t ready, the fans might not like them or they were looking forward to the shock value. I like to think it was a little of each.
THE JOY OF PAINTING
Start Time: 8:30
The Joy of Painting is a garage-pop quintet from Nashville, Tennessee. Like the television show to which the band owes its namesake, their sound has been described as "accidentally grandiose and bursting with color and energy."
Their debut EP, Asterisk, was recorded live to tape using vintage instruments and microphones. The result was a brisk 23 minutes of infectious melodic hooks, gritty guitars, vibrant vocal harmonies and heavy grooves reminiscent of something Elvis Costello and The Clash might have come up with after watching old Saturday morning cartoons.
Weezer-esque confessional songwriting bleeds through all seven tracks, ranging from the fervent post-punk energy of "Old Love" and "No Bones" to more delicate numbers like "The Bird" and "From the News".
The Joy of Painting is currently writing, recording, performing, eating too much pizza, making dumb jokes and having entirely too much fun.
Press Highlights
"Accidentally grandiose and bursting with color and energy." -Murfreesboro Pulse
“[Exhibits] the same kind of keen pop craftsmanship as say, Vampire Weekend--if Vampire Weekend actually rocked--this is the kind of diamond-in-the-rough indie EP that works equally well on both a solo car ride, or at a summer party.” - The Inside Mag
"I hear a lot of Weezer in this record...it is certainly some catchy pop, but it also has the fuel of post-punk." -No Country for New Nashville
