Shinjak’s Listening Lounge

Why It’s Mr. K And The Famous Of Course!

April 15th, 2008


Originality is a hot commodity in the music industry today. Indie music attempts to define it. Jam bands create it on the spot. Pop music steals it, regurgitates it and sells it for their own. So when our senses experience something truly original, we immediately try to relate it to the familiar.

Mr. K and the Famous are a group of guys from everywhere that just so happen to call Durham, NC home. There sound has been described as “mystical -surf”, and “Manchester style blues”. But this writer prefers to make his own pigeon holes. They have the tight precise jams and dime-tight changes of Umphrey’s McGee, the seamless entering and exiting of that deep groove reminiscent of early Widespread Panic, and the earthy bluesy get-down-and-boogey funkiness of Canned Heat (quite a leap eh?).

Originality indeed.

Needless to say if you are a fan of any of the aforementioned bands (or even if you aren’t), my promise to you is this: You are going to love Mr. K and the Famous.

The band consists of Mr. K himself, Mike Kalna, providing the melodic vehicle via lead vocals and guitar. Tyler Harrington lays down the funk with his trusty bass guitar. James Wynn rounds out the rhythm section, blazing a trail with his tight-as-hell drumming. The occasional soulful backup singers help give street cred to the bands bluesy sound.

With a self produced album under their belts, and a faithful following in the Durham area, Mr. K and the Famous have achieved moderate local success. But the size of their talent can’t be contained in the confines of the Triangle Area for long.

This is where you, the faithful Lounge Listener, can do your part to help a local band out. Tell your friends about Mr. K and share an mp3 with them. Then go to your favorite dive and tell them you request, no, demand to see this band! Then drop by your local hip indie record store (online sales coming soon) and buy their album.

Any of you promoter types with connections (and I know you’re out there) head to the band’s webpage and drop them a line. Tell them the Lounge sent ya.

Here are some samples of the band live:

Mr. K And The Famous - Hearteaters

Mr. K And The Famous - Ode To An Old Wall

Mr. K And The Famous - Hibou

Because I couldn’t decide on which live tracks to feature here, here is the whole live album in streaming audio:

Alive In A Dime Museum (Streaming Audio)

Here are some tracks from the album Junktion:

Mr. K And The Famous - Wedding Dress Town

Mr. K And The Famous - Junk Man’s Itch

Mr. K And The Famous - Blind Man On The Bus

webapge
myspace

PS Guy+Darth Vader Mask+Prom Dress=Greatest album cover ever!

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Filed under: North Carolina Music, live, mp3 | Comment (0)

Bucktown Kickback Back On The Road

April 2nd, 2008

Bucktown Kickback will kick off their Spring/Summer tour with a show at Knoxville’s Preservation Pub on April 11th and at the Purple Onion in Saluda on April 12th. Here’s the latest BTKB news:

Bucktown Kickback is more than ready to get back on the road. The band took the month of March off to recoup from a hectic tour schedule which saw Bucktown playing more dates in two months than it once did in a year. With last September’s release of Lost In Your Own Hometown (Lower 40 Records, USA), Bucktown has established itself as a tight touring ensemble garnering critical praise from reviewers and radio programmers and wowing fans as close as Knoxville and as far away as Australia.

 

“We’re enjoying the downtime with family and friends.” says Adam Dudding, Bucktown’s leader, from his home in Nashville, “We’re working on new material and trying to earn some extra cash to help out at the gas pump.”

 

Upcoming summer events for Bucktown Kickback include The Blue Ridge BBQ Festival in Tryon NC and the Black Swamp Arts Festival in Ohio. Then there’s the granddaddy of them all, Floydfest in Virginia, where Bucktown will be part of the Emerging Artists Series at the festival.

 

“There’s such wonderful talent on the bill for these shows and being even just a little part of it will be so much fun. ” Dudding says. “It’s something I really hope we get to do a lot more of in the future. We have such a blast playing at clubs and have been doing it for years. We’ve really been enjoying the reception we’ve received from our new friends at some very cool clubs in the towns we’ve been traveling to lately. Working festivals into the schedule is something we’re really excited about!”

When Dudding is not on the road with Bucktown, he is home in Nashville creating new material with a group of co-writers and friends.

 

“Together we’re working on writing intelligent country hits for artists that are serious about recording quality songs.” says Dudding. “And we probably have more than two albums worth of unreleased Bucktown material ready to go as well as the half dozen or so songs I’m currently in the middle of.

I feel fortunate to have met some other wonderfully talented people here in Nashville.”

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