ART CENTER RADIO.

Earlier this week, one of my favorite LA bands left on tour.  The Parson Red Heads will be gone for the next six weeks bringing their rad tunes to all the open ears on the west side of the US.  The Parsons sound like a band from 30 years ago that has been transplanted into the future.  I could spend the next few lines explaining how the Parsons sound and why you should care, or you could just watch this video.

Fans of bands like Fleet Foxes and Blitzen Trapper would probably enjoy the tunes of the Parson Red Heads.  Be sure to check them out on tour right now.  They are in Austin tonight, so if you live anywhere in Texas go watch them.  A full list of tour dates and more music can be found at their MySpace.

Seriously, go see this band.

Seriously.

“While we don’t quite fit in with L.A.’s noise scene or the singer-songwriter crew that hangs out at the Hotel Cafe,” says vocalist/guitarist Joey Siara, “we've found a nice little niche for bands like us in L.A—just a bunch of friendly people who prefer to hang out, drink cheap beer, and listen to Big Star records on a Saturday night.”
Joey and his 23-year-old little brother Andy—also a singer/guitarist—formed The Henry Clay People in 2005.  Since then the band has developed a reputation for spreading their unpretentious slacker guitar rock though out greater Los Angeles and beyond.  "I think we played close to 200 shows in 2007-2008 and most of those were just local to southern California. 2009 was nice though because we really got to hit the road for most of the year and see if the tunes held up outside our little bubble."         

Somewhere on the Golden Coast bottles that boundless live energy in 11 airtight tracks and 34 filler-free minutes. Listening closely, it’s easy to see how all of this started, how a revolving door of “crappy punk bands” led the Siara brothers to form The Henry Clay People in the first place. Two buzz-building albums (2006’s Blacklist the Kid With the Red Moustache and 2008’s For Cheap or For Free) and several lineup shifts later, they’re still keeping things simple.  Recorded mostly at The Ship Studios in Eagle Rock, CA by Earlimart frontman Aaron Espinoza, he encouraged the band to ditch the headphones, take it easy on overdubs, drink more beer, and record live in the same room to tape.  The idea was to get as close as possible to the essence of the live show.

Summer Tour With Silversun Pickups

July 23rd - Columbia, MO - Mojo's  (SOLO SHOW)
July 24th - St Louis, MO - Live on the Fair St Louis
July 26th - Denver, CO - The Fillmore Auditorium
July 27th - Salt Lake City, UT - The Rail
July 29th - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
July 30th - Spokane WA - Knitting Factory
July 31 - Seattle, WA - The Paramount Theatre
Aug 2nd - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
Aug 3rd - Oakland, CA - Fox Theatre
Aug 6th - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
Aug 7th - San Diego, CA - Soma
Oct 10th - Austin City Limits

With sold out shows in Austin, Tulsa, Kansas City and Nashville, the Pixies announce that they are adding more concerts to their 2010 U.S. "Doolittle Tour."  

A second show in Nashville on September 11, a second Austin show confirmed for September 21, as well as stops in Charlotte, NC (September 9) and Asheville, NC (September 12), are now part of the "Doollittle Tour" itinerary.  Tickets for all of these added shows are now on sale (see below for details).

The 2010 U.S. "Doolittle Tour" extends the 20th anniversary celebration of the release of the band's classic 1989 album, Doolittle, as the Pixies - Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and David Lovering - will perform the album, start-to-finish, as well as its related B-sides:  "Weird at My School," "Dancing the Mantra Ray," and "Bailey's Walk," among them. Doolittle, the band's third album and the first to chart on Billboard's album charts, includes classics such as "Debaser," "Wave of Mutilation," "Here Comes Your Man," "Hey," and "Gouge Away."

An imaginative cinematic production has been created for the "Doolittle Tour."  Designed by long-time Pixies lighting designer Myles Mangino and designer Paul Normandale, the set features four huge, undulating, eyeball-like spheres flown just below the lighting rig and are part of the concert's light show.  Filmmakers Judy Jacobs, Tom Winkler, Brent Felix and Melinda Tupling were brought on board to create 11 films especially for the production.  The films are projected onto a massive backdrop video screen to accompany 12 of the 21 songs that comprise the show.

Confirmed dates for the Pixies' 2010 U.S. Doolittle Tour are as follows:

SEPTEMBER
 7    Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, PA*
 9    Ovens Auditorium, Charlotte, NC*
10    Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN*
11    Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN*
12    Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville, NC*
13    Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA*
17    Uptown Theatre, Kansas City, MO
18    Brady Theatre, Tulsa, OK**
19    Verizon Theatre, Dallas, TX*
20    Verizon Wireless Theatre, Houston, TX
21    Austin Music Hall, Austin, TX***
22    Austin Music Hall, Austin, TX***
24    Mesa Amphitheatre, Mesa, AZ (tix sold through the venue)
25    The Joint, Las Vegas, NV*
26    RIMAC Arena, San Diego, CA*

* Tickets sold through Ticketmaster
** Tickets sold through Protix
*** Tickets sold through Frontgate

FYF FEST is happening for the second year in a row at the Los Angeles Historic State Park in downtown LA on September 4th, 2010. 

In its seventh year, 24 year-old Sean Carlson has taken the festival he started when he was 18 years old out of the multiple venues in Echo Park, where it started, and turned it into an outdoor, three stage event, mirroring its successful sister festival "Mess With Texas", which takes place in Austin every year during SXSW. Sean has been booking the festival with the help of Keith Morris, frontman of Off!, The Circle Jerks and Black Flag, since its third year and now with the additional help of a handful of friends they have been able to put together the largest truly independent music festival to take place in Los Angeles.

The 2010 Lineup includes: 

THE RAPTURE, PANDA BEAR, !!!, UNBROKEN, THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, DEAD MAN'S BONES,SLEEP, TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS, MAN MAN, ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI, DELOREAN, COLD CAVE, 7SECONDS, THEE OH SEES, WASHED OUT, DAVILA 666, SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS, AA BONDY,
THE BLOW, BEST COAST, TITUS ANDRONICUS, WAVVES, THE SOFT PACK, ABE VIGODA, WARPAINT,
OFF!, VETIVER, CEREMONY, BIG FREEDIA, SCREAMING FEMALES, MAGIC KIDS, THE GROWLERS, LOWER DENS, LET'S WRESTLE, CULTS AND MORE!

FYF FEST, for the first time ever, has teamed up with a presenting partner, Altamont Apparel. A huge thanks goes out to them for helping to make this event happen.

But that is only one piece of the puzzle. FYF Fest could not happen without the continued support from INCASE, SESAC, Royal Elastics, Sailor Jerry, and the California State Park Rangers.

Early bird tickets are on sale until Thurs. at midnight at $20 here
If you wait 'til Friday, advance tickets will be $25 and VIP tickets will be available at $65.

Today, the lineup for the 2010 Treasure Island Music Festival was announced.  Headlined by LCD Soundsystem and Belle and Sebastian, this year's fest promises to be just as good as last year.  Support acts include Broken Social Scene, !!!, Deadmau5, The National, and She & Him.  Two day passes for the event go on sale tomorrow for $99, and single day tickets will be released this Friday.  For full lineup and more information, check the poster below.