Gray Ghosts @ The Open Door Sessions on 3/13/09

My new favorite SD band, Gray Ghosts, came down and played for about an hour last Friday for the Open Door Sessions. I want to thank everyone who came down and the band for embracing my weird awkward friendship. You guys are the best. Here is the 8 minute and 25 second video that we at X1FM produced (well Christian produced):



This week we have amazing prog-rock band Children of Nova coming in. Check out their stuff here: www.myspace.com/childrenofnova

Team Abraham @ The Casbah on 3/6/09

So Friday night after a very successful/awesome Open Door Session @ X1FM with Hotel St. George I rolled on down to the Casbah to see my good buddy Abraham Nunez in his poppy/rock outfit Team Abraham. It also happened to be his new 10" release. It also happened to feature a pretty solid lineup of local SD acts with, Evan Way of the Parson Redheads, Lights On, and Gray Ghosts. Hit the jump for the full review!





Unfortunately my stomach trumped my timing cause I had to stop for some Lucha Libre before I arrived so I actually missed Evan Way. But arrived just in time for a band that I haven't had the pleasure of seeing yet, but had heard a lot about. Lights On add a very cool post-punk type sound to an otherwise boring Nu-Wave blast that gets you definitely bobbing your head. Simple love songs seemed like it was the theme of the set (at least from what I could make out. The speaker level seemed a bit loud, even for the Casbah). Definitely a solid set that was topped off with an amazing last song that was beautiful, epic, and loud. Just wish I knew what it was called. You can catch them this Friday somewhere in Flagstaff, and their next San Diego date will be on March 28th at the Office with Hotel St. George




Gray Ghosts is a relatively new band here in SD with only about 5 shows under their belts but are gonna hit us full force this year. I had seen them a couple months back at the Soda Bar and instantly fell in love. So I booked them for my weekly local showcase at X1FM titled The Open Door Sessions (www.myspace.com/opendoorsessions) which they will play this coming Friday. The only band I can reference when describing Gray Ghosts is The Shins. But is only because Dustins vocals reminisce James Mercer. But their overall sound is very catchy, fun, and also reminds me of the movie That Thing You Do with Tom Hanks. That 60's pop type sound puts a smile on your face, but also with the addition of a violin and flute adds some very cool technical music. Like I said earlier you can catch them down at X1FM for the Open Door Sessions on March 13th starting at 7 PM, or watch it live at www.x1fm.com at the same time.




Around 11:30 PM Team Abraham took the stage. Never having seen him nor heard too much of his music I wasn't expecting the 4 other people who took the stage with him, but I was excited when they did. I had already purchased a 1 of 50 one of a kind records that he was releasing that night and was one of the many who was sharing their custom art with others when he got to the mic. Aside from a couple electric mishaps (that were happening all night) early in the set, everything was perfect. Abraham and his team played about 10 songs featuring ones off the record (driven by the mystery... i see) and them some. All the essentials were on the stage plus, keyes, harmonica, and a banjo. Some other added excitement was the crazed fans of Abraham, including one pink bra wearing woman, and a greenish blue wearing boxer man who tossed their garments on stage to show their support. Team Abraham are definitely a very cool, sleek, and fun band to listen to while sharing a nice drink with some friends. ALOT of friends at that. Their live show is more entertaining than your typical acoustic rock type band so make sure you go out and support them. They don't have another San Diego date announced yet but they will be traveling to Austin for SXSW along with the other 100 bands from SD leaving. So make sure you keep checking the myspace page (www.myspace.com/abrahamnunez) for the next SD date.




Disclaimer: I suck at taking pictures.

Casbah Tuesday: Don't Miss Ryan Bingham

Tuesday night there's a show at the Casbah that I highly recommend checking out. It was a late addition to the anniversary month shows but is no less worthy. The show features four performances all worthy of checking out. The show will likely start at 9 pm so don't be late.

Gray Ghosts will be performing their second show ever, and features members of Kite Flying Society, The Ex-Friends and more. Also on the slate, Swim Party is performing and we know how much SD:DialedIn loves and supports those guys. Pyles can't stop talking about The New Archaic- he said they're all young and under 20, and apparently the guitarist is amazing and tours with The Adolescents. Rounding out the bill is Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses, a Lost Highway artist.

From the press release:

Ryan Bingham is an American alt-country singer and songwriter. Raised in rural Texas, where years of hardscrabble ranch work and competitions on the rodeo circuit would eventually surface in the dusty riffs of his country-styled debut, Mescalito. Living alone since his mid-teens, Bingham shuttled back and forth between Southwestern border towns and relatives' homes, often sleeping in his truck after nightly rodeo gigs. It was during those treks that he began entertaining friends with the guitar, an instrument he'd learned at the age of 17 from a mariachi neighbor. You can hear the inspiration of Bob Dylan, Marshall Tucker, and Bob Willis in Ryan's music.

You know I'll be there, hope to see you there, too.

News Nuggets

Since I was accused of using someone else's title with my news segments, here's what you get. I haven't done newsworthy items in a bit, but I thought I'd go back to my roots and share some info that I've heard in the past couple weeks.

1. Jon Jameson of Delta Spirit was thrown in jail! You can read all about it on his MySpace blog here.

I personally love his summary:

Morals of the story... don't take pills from my mom, stay on the I-10 when driving through Texas, not everyone with an 'assualt with a deadly weapon' charge is a bad guy, never enter Hudspeth County if possible, if you do have prescription pills keep the prescription with them, former Marine Texas State Troopers love Rage, cover all Obama propaganda when entering Texas and if you still end up in jail laugh at all the inside jokes.

2. The Muslims are changing their name? According to their MySpace Page and bulletins, the band will now be called "The Soft Pack".

Working on new material and firing on all cylinders, we feel strong about this one. It's a new chapter in our lives and hopefully yours.
Stay tuned to The Soft Pack page, as we will be posting new videos, music, and junk in the coming weeks. We are pumped.

(Thanks to Crystal for the head's up.)

3. The Paddle Boat have an EP that you can listen to on their MySpace page:

All four songs from our debut EP are now up on our page! The first two songs ("B-Side of a Life" & "Everything") will be released through Single Screen Records on a 7" 45rpm vinyl. A digital download of all four songs will come with the 7". It will also be available through iTunes for those who don't have record players and just want the digital version.

4. Gray Ghosts are here. A new band featuring Dustin & Kelly of Kite Flying Society, Frank of Down With Leo, Kevin of Ex-Friends, Matt of the Bloody Hollies, and Melanie on vocals and flute (though I don't know if she was in a band before). Their first show will be in January at Soda Bar. Here's from their bio:

Gray Ghosts is a six-piece indie pop band out of San Diego. Combining elements of rock, folk, pop, bubblegum and doo-wop. Gray Ghosts strive to emulate the fine songwriting craftsmanship of a bygone era while infusing it with a fiercely modern pop quirkiness all their own.

Gray Ghosts is knee deep in recording their debut EP, a 6 song affair featuring soaring harmonies, boy/girl vocals, warm storytelling, handclaps -- basically, the works.

Check them out on MySpace.

5. Last night was the final night of The Turf Supper Club before Tim, Sam and the othere pack it up and move to La Mesa to open Riviera Supper Club and Turquoise Room
(7777 University Ave) opening this month.