Crib Notes

A LOCAL LEGEND: the Dexter Romweber duo (photo by Camellia Morton)

The third and final day of Bubbapalooza ‘08 features some of the finest acts to grace this year’s festival. Bands on the bill include. Rocket 350, the Psychodevilles, the Dexter Romweber Duo, Anna Kramer & The Lost Cause, Jimmy & The Teasers, Billie Joe Winghead, El Capitan & The Scallywags and the Georgia Fireflies.

None of these acts are to be missed, but this critics pics for the must see performances of the entire weekend are Anna Kramer & the Loast Cause, and of course former Flat Duo Jets main man Dexter Romweber fronting a new duo. Kramer & the Cause have just returned from a West coast tour and are sharper than ever. Romweber is straight-up a local legend. Yeah he lives in North Carloina, but he honed his chops in the golden age of Athens, GA… He’s a local. What are you gonna do?

It’s $15 at the door and the music starts at 8 p.m. For more information click here.

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There’s a hefty buzz surrounding this year’s Bubbapalooza at The Star Bar over Memorial Day weekend (May 22-24) . Local musicians across the board are singing praises of the club’s booking agent, Bryan Malone, for helping steer the festival back in the direction that it was originally intended to go when founder Gregory Dean Smalley originally hatched the idea.

This year marks the 12^th installment of Bubbapalooza and Creative Loafing contributing music writer James Kelley has lifted a self-imposed six-year exile to play the festival with his band Slim Chance and the Convicts, and he couldn’t be happier about it.

Chad Radford: You give Bubbapalooza your stamp of approval this year?

James Kelley: Yes, I sure do. This year’s lineup is moving back in the direction of where Bubbapalooza originally started, and that was to feature alternative country, country rock, roots music and Americana. The last 4 or 5 years there have been only one or two country bands on the bill for the whole weekend. It had just moved toward hard rock, punk and psychobilly, but this year it’s returning to what it used to be.

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ON A STEEL HORSE THEY RIDE: Morning State (photo courtesy The Musebox)

Morning State is preparing for the release its debut full-length, titled You Know People I Know People. To offer a free sneak peak at the CD, the group has released two new songs on the internet, titled “Never So Strange” and “Oh Yeah.”

Click here to listen to “Never So Strange.”

Click here to listen to “Oh Yeah.”

You Know People I Know People hits the streets on Tuesday, May 6th. To celebrate the band will host album release parties in Athens on May 6^th at Caledonia Lounge, and in Atlanta on Thursday, May 15^th at The Earl.

Morning State On Tour:
04/23 Birmingham, AL The Nick
04/24 Athens, GA Farm 225
04/25 Chattanooga, TN JJ’s Bohemia
04/26 Atlanta, GA Star Bar
04/28 Charleston, SC Tin Roof
04/30 Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern
05/05 Atlanta, GA The Earl*
05/06 Athens, GA Caledonia Lounge (CD Release Party)*
05/10 New York, NY Mercury Lounge*
05/15 Atlanta, GA Star Bar (Big Trouble In Little 5 / CD Release Party) w/ Casper and The Cookies
*w/ XYZ Affair and JukeBox the Ghost

For more information look online at www.morningstate.com

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Believe it or not, I listen to local rock music other than the Black Lips and Deerhunter. One band that impressed me recently is Trances Arc, who nearly stole the show when it opened at the Whigs/Jason Isbell concert last Saturday, Oct. 20. The group’s recordings fall into the pop-rock category, but it plays hard and fast in concert, and gives a performance that can hardly be categorized as soft.

Today, Oct.26, the Trances Arc crew celebrates the release of a new disc, XOXOX, with a party at the Star Bar. Dubbed “Interstellar Masquerade,” the Halloween-themed costume party features guests such as Blake Dalton from Crossover Movement Arts, Three Dog Stevens and DJ Benji the Blender (aka Ben H. Allen of Gnarls Barkley/Constellations fame). But the evening’s MC, Whigs manager Josh Rifkind, will be worth the price of admission alone. Have you seen him tell jokes during his yearly Open Mic Madness? Dude is a laff riot.

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