The Warm Up with Tristen

We’ve been a huge fan of Tristen since we saw her play Bonnaroo last year, and so we were thrilled when we heard she was playing in Memphis at The Hi-tone with the Memphis Dawls and La Guerre.

We spent the afternoon recording songs and touring the Stax Museum of American Soul. Then we sent the band off  to have dinner at the Bar-B-Q Shop while we put the show together (that’s where we send all the bands that have a craving for Memphis barbecue!). And while we would love to sit here and write about how amazing a songwriter and performer she is, we’re gonna let you listen to the show and decide for yourself. Afterall, we have to get to a show. Tristen goes on at 10:30 – Hope to see you there!

Tristen is about to embark on a 3 week tour – see her in a town near you and look for her new album, Cave, in the fall!

With her warm, guileless vocals and earnest, evocative songwriting, Tristen has emerged as a truly individual talent, bridging genres and emotions to create a distinctive sound all her own. The Nashville-based songstress’ American Myth debut, Charlatans At The Garden Gate, is an ambitious and impassioned collection of finely honed modern pop, rich with exquisite arrangements and a remarkably intuitive lyrical approach. Weaving classic country, traditional rock ‘n’ roll, and reflective singer/songwriter balladry, songs such as the elegiac “Baby Drugs” and the spectral folk-tinged “Battle of the Gods” display an exceptional new artist opening herself to the world through heartfelt melodies and glorious hooks.

The Warm Up with La Guerre

Katlyn Conroy is known to many as a member of indie-rock band Cowboy Indian Bear, but when that band isn’t touring, she fills her time working on her solo project La Guerre

Named after a vocal piece she sang in high school which is French for “The War,” Conroy recently released a three song EP that is a prelude to a full length album that is due to come out in the fall. We fell in love with her voice when she played for us this afternoon at Ardent Studios. We were not surprised when we heard that she was just nominated for a 2012 Pitch Music Award for Female Singer/Songwriter!

Take a listen to the show to see what we mean and then come down to The Hi-Tone and hear her incredible voice live! Show starts at 8PM~

The truth about honesty is it can be uncomfortable. But when this discomfort is embraced, when it is exposed and a spotlight is shown upon it, it can turn into something else entirely; even something considered beautiful. That’s what Katlyn Conroy has set as her mission throughout her years writing and playing music, dating back to when she was 11. Music, and all of art for that matter, is no stranger to sad tales of loss and regret, but Conroy manages to bring a childlike gaze to it, backing her honest words with light-hearted music of keyboards, percussion and other sounds. Can a kazoo accompany the notion of being pulled down with no chance of release? Can kitchen pans beat upon with drumsticks work as a backdrop for a song about feeling foolish? Conroy thinks so, and that’s what she plans to continue to do under her new name, La Guerre.

After years leading bands or in supporting roles, such as Cowboy Indian Bear, Another Holiday, Katlyn Conroy & The Wild &Wooly, One More Cheerful Action and The Ultraviolets, Conroy felt ready for anew identity. Named after a vocal piece she sang in high school, La Guerre — French for “the war”— embodies the themes she’s always brought to her music, but with a fresh sense of longing and desire behind it. La Guerre, which draws upon varied influences, such as Miranda July, Conor Obsert and Jason Lytle, utilizes a rotating cast of musicians, but one thing is always front and center: as long as the truth is uncomfortable, Conroy will show it can also be beautiful.

The Warm Up with Star & Micey Vol 2

This has been a big week for our friends in Star & Micey.

On Wednesday, they were named the #1 band in Tennessee to “See Now” by Paste Magazine, so today we invited them to hang out with us and record three unreleased songs for your listening pleasure. They’ll be playing the Overton Square Block Party this afternoon at 6:30 before they hit the road to go back on tour. If you’re on the east coast, they’ll be heading your way soon – so keep a look out. You can even sign up for a reminder on their brand new website.

Take a listen to the show to get details on their upcoming EP and their secret plans to dig up the bones of Hank Williams.

It was a dark night, like many before it in Memphis, Tennessee. Joshua Andrew Cosby walked home from rehearsal with his guitar, case-less, slung over his back. A local homeless man flagged him down, not for money but for a story. He explained to Cosby how he had written a song about his ex-wife Micey. There, on that dimly lit street occurred an exchange, two men playing each other songs of heartbreak and the ultimate sacrifice. Upon parting ways, this man revealed his name to be Star. That name became the fixture for one of Memphis’ most inventive bands: Star & Micey. Its core members are listed as two brothers without the same last name, Geoff Smith and Joshua Cosby. It was merely coincidence that Cosby later met Nick Redmond at a local pub and began a relationship based on music and above all, brotherhood.

Star & Micey’s self titled debut album features a revolving door of fantastic musicians including Luther Dickinson (The Black Crowes, North Mississippi Allstars), Jody Stephens (Big Star) and Rick Steff (Cat Power, Lucero), just to name a few. However, when the sun sets, it is Cosby, Smith, and Redmond that work relentlessly night after night. Hopefully, the music they make can transcend material possessions, and exhibit something that is always tangible between these three troubadours; that thing is love.

The Warm Up with The Memphis Dawls Vol 2

It’s no secret that The Memphis Dawls are one of our favorite bands, so of course, we were really excited to get them back on the show and see what the latest news is since they were our guests last September.

In addition to their debut EP ending up being listed as New & Noteworthy on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter Page and opening for Jack White back in the spring, they’ve been keeping busy with appearances on BalconyTV Nashville, Lindsay Street Hall Presents and Oxford’s Music in the Hall. Yesterday they were listed as #7 on Paste Magazine‘s 12 Tennessee Bands You Should Listen To Now! and on September 22nd they’ll be opening for one of their heroes, Emmylou Harris, at The Levitt Shell.

If you haven’t seen the band live, you’ll have two chances in Memphis this weekend. The Memphis Dawls will be playing a free show tomorrow afternoon 4PM at The Overton Square Block Party with Star & Micey, and then they’ll open for the amazing Tristen on Sunday at The Hi-Tone. If you want to be able to say that you saw them before they were huge, now’s your chance…

And be sure to take a listen to the show to hear TWO brand new songs…

Holly Cole, Jana Misener & Krista Wroten began creating music together in high school. Although the surroundings were less than romantic, their sound was powerful even then. The three rejoined after roaming the country for college and other bands. The girls took some cues from artists like Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt. Folk and classic country provide a foundation while the heavy string laden R&B songs from Otis Redding to Minnie Riperton make up the walls and roof. Including Jonathan McLaren on vibraphone and drums and Nahshon Benford on trumpet and euphonium allowed the band to explore more territory. A typical show can take a listener from a warm morning in the arms of a lover to a cold night alone lost in a desert and, thankfully, back again. 

They all take inspiration from outside influences: Cole with a degree in sculpture and Misener and Wroten involvement with several film soundtracks. The band continues to play across the country and their sound continues to grow bigger and more graceful than it’s humble beginnings.

The Warm Up with Ra Ra Riot

We fell in love with Ra Ra Riot‘s The Orchard last year, so we were really excited that they stopped by Ardent Studios this afternoon to record a few songs for us before their big Halloween show tonight at The Hi-tone Cafe with Delicate Steve and Yellow Ostrich. Of course, we tried to play it cool while we hung out with them this afternoon at Stax – you know, like it was no big deal.

The band seemed to have a good time playing three stripped down versions of “Oh, La,” “The Orchard,” and “Too Dramatic.” Then we sent them on their way back to the Hi-Tone with Jody Stephens in tow to help them carry their equipment. That’s how we do it in Memphis.

Happy Halloween and enjoy the show!

Ra Ra Riot formed in January 2006, playing at houses and venues around the Syracuse University campus. They recorded a demo in February 2006. The band started to attract attention due to their energetic live shows, enough to gain an appearance at the CMJ Music Marathon, fewer than six months after their formation. Following this appearance, their live show received the first of several favorable reviews from SPIN.com, who called them “one of the best young bands we’ve heard in a really long time.”

They went on to open for Art Brut and Bow Wow Wow in New York City, toured the UK twice on their own, then returned, opening for the Editors (footage of which can be found on Crackle); they also toured North America supporting Tokyo Police Club. Their first solo headlining tour of the U.S. was completed in 2007, and in early 2008, they embarked on a second. The band was also invited to play the Iceland Airwaves Festival, in Reykjavík, Iceland. They have recorded three sessions on the national online radio station WOXY and three for the acclaimedDaytrotter sessions at Futureappletree studio 1 in Rock Island, Illinois.

Chris Milam Stops by Ardent Studios to Play The Warm Up

The Warm Up Podcast at Ardent StudiosChris Milam doesn’t like Kickstarter – too passive he says. So instead, he has decided to stage his very own fundraiser to raise money to record a new album. He’ll be playing from 4 until 10pm TODAY in front of the I Love Memphis Mural in Cooper-Young. If you are a fan of TVD, you might have already come to know Chris Milam from his excellent Another Cup of Coffee series of interviews with all sorts of Memphis music mavens. If you are not reading his blog or following on Twitter – you are missing out!

He’s been working on some new songs, so if you’re a local to Memphis, go give him some love tonight. He told us to tell you to bring beer.

Check out our podcast to hear some outstanding live tunes! Then download the The Warm Up at Ardent Studios with Chris Milam  podcast! It’s a free Memphis music download from us to you!

Chris Milam has more stories than songs. Of course, he’s not running short on those, either. And for every city, every stage , every hotel desk clerk he flirts with to get a few extra free muffins for the long drive back to Memphis, every pang of homesick or moment of road weary, there’ll be another song. And at least a dozen more stories.

But the one thing that remains the same through all of them, the one central character and unwavering motif, is the music. And like the stories of so much good music, this one starts in Memphis.

A lefty, Chris taught himself to play guitar by watching his brother, memorizing the shapes of his hands in different chords and flipping them upside down. Not long after, in high school, he started crafting songs. But it was in college that Chris did what maybe we’re all supposed to do in those four years: reach some level of self-actualization. Left entirely to his own devices, the only thing he wanted to do was write and play music. “I found myself telling people I was going to law school,” he says. “I’d told people that since the sixth grade, for some reaosn. I took the LSAT. I was looking at schools. And at some point everyone around me was like, ‘Who are you kidding? You’re not gonna do that.’ They were right.”

The Warm Up is music podcast recorded at Ardent Studios. We are thrilled to offer this podcast recorded live in Memphis, Tn as a free music download. You can also subscribe to this podcast via Itunes. We keep the music downloads for this podcast free by generous support from our sponsors. Please visit their sites and purchase their products in order to keep this podcast ad-free.

Stuyvesant on The Warm Up at Ardent Studios

The Warm Up Podcast at Ardent Studios

Stuyvesant brought their tight, power riffs to Memphis today and we had the pleasure of hanging out with them. The band is made up of east coast veteran musicians that are used to playing loud, but when Stuyvesant dropped by this afternoon we asked them to play a stripped down set for us before they tear the roof off of The Buccaneer tonight with Burning Sands and Harlan T. Bobo’s new rock outfit the Fuzz.

We chatted about the digital age, vinyl records and the marriage of art and music. The guys were super nice and we’re really looking forward to their show TONIGHT!

Check out our podcast to hear some outstanding live tunes from the band! Then download the The Warm Up at Ardent Studios with  Stuyvesant  podcast! It’s a free Memphis music download from us to you!

Stuyvesant with Jody Stephens

Listeners familiar with the ‘90s Hoboken scene will remember singer/guitarist Ralph Malanga from the band Footstone and singer/guitarist Sean Adams and bassist Brian Musikoff from the Jersey City-based Friends, Romans, Countrymen. At the advent of the 2000s, these indie rock veterans teamed up with drummer Pete Martinez (formerly of the Coffin Daggers) as Stuyvesant, and picked up where they left off with their respective former groups, continuing the pursuit of perfect power riffage, rousing choruses, and impassioned vocals. As on their 2008 debut, Stuyvesant succeed at keeping things tight, upbeat, and driving throughout. Fret Sounds (Dromedary Records, 2011) opens with “Clyde,” a frenetic ode to an adolescent friendship fostered over arcade games and Big Gulps, followed by “Johnny Tinnitus,” a moving paean to a friend who’s passed on, and the legacy of strength left behind. Sweetness and crunch prevail on “Let’s Talk Topography,” where the exasperated lead vocal spars with bursts of rhythm guitar to create a curt kiss-off to those who surf the shallows and deal in deception. “Bullfrog,” “Neato,” “St. Cloud” (spotlighting Martinez’s drum prowess), and a cover of Lemonheads‘ “Ever” continue in the pop-punk mode, but the potential sameness is mitigated by some key mood-shifting songs. “Duly Noted,” while still an uptempo number, has richer textures and a dynamic arrangement that layers ringing guitar harmonics and keyboards over Musikoff’s fluid basslines. Musikoff is similarly featured on the instrumental “Bish. (Dub),” which is — as the title suggests — an off-the-wall indie rock take on dubstep. “Cimarron, NM,” a quiet exercise for clean electric guitar and two intertwined vocals, ends the album on a meditative note, pondering those mysteries of life, love, and yearning that don’t disappear with age. Fret Sounds may not be a wildly ambitious outing, but, to paraphrase a memorable line from “Johnny Tinnitus,” the able musicians in Stuyvesant “do the best they can, where they are, with what they have.” And what they have is pretty damn cool.

The Warm Up is music podcast recorded at Ardent Studios. We are thrilled to offer this podcast recorded live in Memphis, Tn as a free music download. You can also subscribe to this podcast via Itunes. We keep the music downloads for this podcast free by generous support from our sponsors. Please visit their sites and purchase their products in order to keep this podcast ad-free. 

Generationals Stop in Memphis to Record The Warm Up

The Warm Up Podcast at Ardent Studios

We were so excited to hang with Generationals today and have the opportunity to record them at Ardent Studios in Memphis.

We heard they were analog enthusiasts so we were kind of stoked to show off all of the killer gear we have access to in the studio. We talked about lyrics versus music, analog recording and music history in both Memphis and New Orleans. Then the band played three awesome stripped down, alternative versions of some fantastic tunes. We just hope Generationals liked us as much as we liked them!

Check out our podcast to hear some outstanding live tunes from the band! Then download the The Warm Up at Ardent Studios with Generationals podcast! It’s a free Memphis music download from us to you!

Generationals are an American indie rock duo formed in New Orleans, Louisiana. The duo, consisting of Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer, released their debut album, Con Law, in July 2009. An EP, Trust, followed in November 2010. Their second full-length album, Actor-Caster was released on March 29, 2011.

The Warm Up is music podcast recorded at Ardent Studios. We are thrilled to offer this podcast recorded live in Memphis, Tn as a free music download. You can also subscribe to this podcast via Itunes. We keep the music downloads for this podcast free by generous support from our sponsors. Please visit their sites and purchase their products in order to keep this podcast ad-free.

Check out our Podcast with White Denim

The Warm Up Podcast at Ardent Studios

We’ve been fans of White Denim since we saw them play at SXSW way back in 2007. They blew everyone, including us, away and we’ve been hoping to talk them into coming to Ardent Studios to record a podcast ever since!

Fortunately, they are playing their very first gig in Memphis tonight at The Hi-Tone. The band was gracious enough to stop by Ardent Studios this afternoon to do something they have never done before: play stripped down alternative versions of some of our favorite songs from White Denim’s brand new album D (they also let us in on why they named it that!)

Check out our podcast to hear some outstanding live tunes from the band! Then download the The Warm Up at Ardent Studios with White Denim podcast! It’s a free Memphis music download from us to you!

The spastic indie rock trio White Denim hails from Austin, TX, where bandmates Josh Block (drums), Steve Terebecki (bass), and James Petralli (guitars, vocals) first set up shop in 2005. All three members were veterans of the Austin scene; Block and Petralli had previously played together in the alt-rock band Parque Torche, while Terebecki was a member of Peach Train. Drawing from a number of punk and garage rock influences, the group fashioned a hard-hitting sound with crunchy guitar riffs and frantic energy. Let’s Talk About It, a 7″ EP that was also released via iTunes, marked the White Denim’s studio debut in 2007. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide

The Warm Up is music podcast recorded at Ardent Studios. We are thrilled to offer this podcast recorded live in Memphis, Tn as a free music download. You can also subscribe to this podcast via Itunes. We keep the music downloads for this podcast free by generous support from our sponsors. Please visit their sites and purchase their products in order to keep this podcast ad-free.

Miwa Gemini Drops by Ardent Studios to Record The Warm Up Podcast

The Warm Up Podcast at Ardent StudiosMiwa Gemini is one of our favorite finds of the last few weeks. She just released a  her beautiful new album Fantastic Lies of Grizzly Rose. And so, of course, we were delighted when we found out that she’d be playing at The Buccaneer Lounge in Memphis with another local chanteuse Amy Lavere TONIGHT!

We became even more excited when Miwa Gemini agreed to stop by Ardent Studios to share a few songs with us. She’ll be touring all summer long so be sure to take a listen to this very intimate acoustic set recorded exclusively for TVD.

Check out our podcast to hear some outstanding live tunes from this outstanding folk songstress! Then download the The Warm Up at Ardent Studios with Miwa Gemini  podcast! It’s a free Memphis music download from us to you!

 Miwa Gemini met Grizzly Rose while traveling alone in the desert among the Joshua Trees. Grizzly Rose is intimidating, she is a mystery, some even suspect she’s a murderer; but to Miwa Gemini, it’s her combination of fearlessness, flourish and breezy glamour that make Grizzly Rose a worthy focus for her latest album, The Fantastic Lies of Grizzly Rose (Rock Park Records). 

Miwa Gemini, who combines a classical music education as a child in Japan with a creative aesthetic she developed studying art and living in New York City, embodies all of Grizzly Rose’s qualities. Her repertoire combines folk-infused lullabies with balmy nocturnes and the melancholy of a dust-bowl carnival.

It was not Miwa’s intention to make her third album to be a “concept” album at all, much less about stories of Grizzly Rose. But as the recording process progressed, it has become clearer (or louder) to Miwa that Grizzly Rose indeed has lots to share.

The Warm Up is music podcast recorded at Ardent Studios. We are thrilled to offer this podcast recorded live in Memphis, Tn as a free music download. You can also subscribe to this podcast via Itunes. We keep the music downloads for this podcast free by generous support from our sponsors. Please visit their sites and purchase their products in order to keep this podcast ad-free.