MP3: The Low Anthem – Charlie Darwin

The Avett Brothers and Low Anthem are playing at Memorial Auditorium in Athens on Wednesday (2/24), a show co-presented by Ohio University Performing Arts and Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville. The Low Anthem played a great show last August at the Summit; in a preview, Ben described them well, saying, “I think it’s a better descriptor to focus more on the ‘lore’ that is implied with folk. The songs are intimate and poetic stories, full of history and conjuring a sense of place.”

I’m of the mind that Rick Rubin made the Avetts sound so silky smooth on the brothers’ new record (I and Love and You) that their roots-punk attitude just disappeared, being replaced by a glut of ballads with schmaltzy piano and drippy strings. But… that’s not a complaint you’ll ever heard about the band’s live show. The bros still bring it on stage.

We’ve got a pair to tickets to give away to this show. Send an e-mail to contestdonewaiting@gmail.com with the subject AVETT ANTHEM. A winner will be chosen on Tuesday night. You can also buy tickets here ($25).

MP3: April Smith and the Great Picture Show – Colors

Langhorne Slim (“Say Yes” video above) comes back to town Saturday with Brooklyn’s country-cabaret up-and-comers April Smith and the Great Picture Show. Check out their infectious singalong “Colors” above.

We’re giving away a pair of tickets for Saturday’s show at the Summit, along with a copy of April Smith’s new album, Songs for a Sinking Ship, out Feb. 23. Send an e-mail to contestdonewaiting@gmail.com with the subject APRIL LANGHORNE, and be sure to include your address so we know where to send the CD. A winner will be chosen on Friday. You can also buy tickets here ($8).

MP3: Vetiver – Everyday

We’ve mentioned the Ohio Winter Folk Festival a few times in the past couple weeks. With Sub Pop’s Vetiver and Columbus bands like the Black Swans, Super Desserts and Moon High, plus Athens’ Adam Torres (ex-Southeast Engine), it promises to be a pretty great show. Before Saturday’s show at the historic Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio, there’s also a Music Swap Meet and DIY Art Fair (1 pm).

We’ve got a pair to tickets to give away, too. Send an e-mail to contestdonewaiting@gmail.com with the subject WINTER FOLK FESTIVAL. A winner will be chosen on Friday. You can also buy tickets here ($12 in advance, $15 at the door).

Deets:
Ohio Winter Folk Festival
Saturday, Jan. 16 @ 6pm
Stuart’s Opera House I Nelsonville, Ohio

MP3: Kurt Vile – Hunchback
MP3: Kurt Vile – Overnite Religion

Out of all the shows we’ve worked on with BenCo over the past few months, I’m most excited about this one. I can’t see how “Philly’s constant hitmaker” won’t end up in my top 10 of 2010. What’s great about Kurt Vile is how he makes the blending of noisy psychedelia and Neil Young-ish folk-rock sound so natural. I’m excited to see how that unfolds live, and to watch his musicianship in person. (As Vile told me in October, “I’ve been involved in playing music way more than just being a lo-fi punk or something.”)

We’ve got a pair to tickets to give away, of course. Send an e-mail to contestdonewaiting@gmail.com with the subject KURT VILE. A winner will be chosen on 12/29.

One other Columbus-related tidbit: Kurt Vile is a Psychedelic Horseshit fanboy. He sang their praises in that same October interview, saying they were his favorite band at SXSW in 2008, and adding, “They really mean it, they’re confident. Something about it, you just watch them, and it’s like, ‘Wow, this sounds, like, insane.’ But you just look at his face and you know he means every word.”

Should be a good way to wrap up the 2009 Donewaiting.com Presents series.

As we mentioned previously, Donewaiting.com and BenCo are presenting Sloan at Skully’s on 11/29. ( Fellow Canadians Magneta Lane open.)

And we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away. To enter the contest, send a blank e-mail to contestdonewaiting@gmail.com with the subject SLOAN. Winners will be randomly chosen next Friday. You can also purchase tickets here.

Don’t forget to download that new single, “Take it Upon Yourself,” at Sloanmusic.com.

Annie Clark really likes to have pictures taken of her face. She also released her second full-length this year, Actor, under the St. Vincent moniker. With it, she has sufficiently distanced herself from being just another graduate of Sufjan’s touring ensemble.

What I remember most from the last time St. Vincent played the Wex is Clark’s guitar prowess. The girl can shred. If you would like to see said shredding, we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to St. Vincent’s Wexner Center show with Andrew Bird at the Southern Theatre. To enter the contest, send a blank e-mail to contest@donewaiting.com with the subject ST VINCENT. Winners will be randomly chosen on Friday, Oct. 16. You can also purchase tickets here.

UPDATE: According to the Wexner Center: “There are no tickets currently available for the show. Be sure to follow us on twitter, @wexarts, for updates on any tickets that may be released as the show approaches.” More reason to enter the contest…

mp3: St. Vincent – The Stranger

Another upcoming show at Stuart’s Opera House that’s worth mentioning: Jolie Holland (above) will play the historic theater on Saturday, 10/17. You’re probably familiar with Holland’s jazzy folk, but opener Matt Bauer is a folkie who’s not as well-known but would be worth the drive to Nelsonville on his own. The Black Swans labelmate came to Columbus last October in support of The Island Moved in the Storm, a haunting, stirring album of gently plucked guitar and banjo. Yes, the dude has a big beard and sings in a whisper, but writing him off as just another Iron & Wine would be a mistake.

We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away for this show. To enter the contest, send a blank e-mail to contest@donewaiting.com with the subject JOLIE HOLLAND. Winners will be randomly chosen on Oct. 16. You can also purchase tickets here.

mp3: Jolie Holland – Mexico City

mp3: Matt Bauer – Don’t Let Me Out

Bauer’s video for “As She Came Out of the Water” after the jump.

This should be a great one. Blitzen Trapper’s Furr (Sub Pop) was one of my favorites from last year, and the Portland band has a new EP, Black River Killer, out on Oct. 6 (eponymous mp3 below). Songwriter Eric Earley says here that the EP is completely separate from Blitzen Trapper’s upcoming album. A snippet:

So there’s been alot of questioning about the songs on the BRK EP, thought i’d do some explaining… Silver Moon is near four years old, recorded around three times in differing formats, Preacher’s has about the same timeframe, Black Rock and Shoulder are older dating back to the old house on 69th and Long where garmonbozia was recorded in ‘02 and ‘03 roughly. Big Black Bird was originally an instrumental track recorded at the 69th house for the soundtrack to a film we made entitled Who is Manfred Milner? or something like that, it ran during the final credits, the complete soundtrack i’ve never released, around the time of Furr or previous I recorded the version you now hear adding lyrics and other notable soundz… The BRKiller EP is in no way a linear follow up to Furr and is in no way exemplary of the new record which I’m working on and of which i’ve only spoken of in a few interviews and that mostly inaccurate and amusingly misleading.

That’d be a good show by itself, but Merge Records’ Wye Oak is on this Donewaiting/BenCo bill, too. I’ll let Chip tell you more about them soon…

We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away for this show, too. To enter, send a blank e-mail with the subject title BLITZEN OAK to contest@donewaiting.com. A winner will be randomly chosen on Oct. 12. And, of course, you can always purchase tickets in advance.

mp3: Blitzen Trapper – Black River Killer

“Black River Killer” video after the jump. It’s worth a watch.

Pearl Jam’s Backspacer was released this week through Target, iTunes, and various indie stores. It’s no secret that they’re one of my favorite bands, and I’ve been loving the new record.

To celebrate the release, we’re giving away one copy of the album on 180-gram vinyl. Enter to win by emailing contest@donewaiting.com with the e-mail subject of PEARL JAM. In the body of the email, include your mailing address. Winner will be chosen Sunday.

Japandroids

We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away for this show, too. To enter, send a blank e-mail with the subject title JAPANDROIDS to contest@donewaiting.com. A winner will be randomly chosen on Sept. 20. And, of course, you can always purchase tickets in advance.

mp3: Japandroids – Young Hearts Spark Fire

mp3: Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band – Cheer for Fate