May 22, 2013 | 4:45 PM | By

Watch Tin Bird Choir perform WXPN’s lunchtime buskers’ series at The Porch at 30th Street Station

TinBirdChoirThe Chester County-based folk group Tin Bird Choir performed in a stripped down two-piece configuration for this weeks’ installment of the WXPN lunchtime buskers’ series at The Porch at 30th Street Station. The band mixes poppy harmonies with the acoustic troubadour tradition, and is releasing its Kickstarter-funded second record next month. The band’s CD release party will be June 15th at Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville. Watch a video of them performing below, and be on the lookout for next week’s installment of the series featuring The Districts.

Tin Bird Choir busking at The Porch at 30th Street Station from WXPN FM on Vimeo.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Photos + Videos, Events, The Porch at 30th Street Station, Tin Bird Choir
May 22, 2013 | 4:27 PM | By

Contest: Win a pair of tickets to see Patty Griffin at The Kimmel Center on June 6th

PattyGrammy-winning and critically revered American folk performer Patty Griffin makes a Philadelphia appearance next month, headlining Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center. Griffin is on tour in support of her seventh record, American Kid, released this month on New West Records, and this week we’re giving away a pair of tickets to the show on Wednesday the 6th of June. Just leave a comment below with your favorite Patty Griffin song and we’ll announce a winner next Thursday afternoon the 30th.

Ground rules: you have to leave your first and last name in the comments, and you have to enter an email where we can contact you if you win (the e-mail will not be made public). Below, watch Griffin performing “Wild Old Dog” at The Living Room in New York last month.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Patty Griffin
May 22, 2013 | 3:57 PM | By

Listen to Grande Marshall’s Daytrotter session

This tasty new set tripped down the Daytrotter wire today; backed by a DJ and a handy cache of moody, evocative beats, up-and-coming Philly rapper Grande Marshall released a session that’s available as streaming and downloadable audio for members. He recorded five songs – “Anslinger’s Revenge,” “95′s,” “Boathouse,” “Lupin III” and “Thuggis Shidd Pt. II” – at Good Danny’s in Austin.

Daytrotter honcho Sean Moeller described Marshall as a young man who “had to adjust to an impartial real world that’s been littered with hardship and disappointment:”

When he raps, you hear this in every line. You hear that the struggle is still fresh and he’s being strong about it, but there are plenty of parts to the story that are tender and will always be tender.” Heavy stuff, but important and meaningful stuff. … Grande Marshall songs are about staying afloat when everyone’s so quick to tie blocks of cement to everyone else’s ankles, just to watch them sink. It’s the kill or be killed mentality that Grande Marshall talks about – that grand and selfish notion that it’s either me or it’s you going down – and it’s incredible how few winners there are when that game’s played. Grande Marshall will win.

Download Grande Marshall’s Daytrotter Session here. For more, check out some of Grande Marshall’s appearances in the Key archives here.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Recordings, Daytrotter, GrandeMarshall
May 22, 2013 | 2:50 PM | By

Listen to a new Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros song, “Better Days” (playing XPoNential Music Festival in July)

Photo by Joseph Schell Photography https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joseph-Schell-Photography/106691849363906

Photo by Joseph Schell Photography https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joseph-Schell-Photography/106691849363906

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros release their new self-titled album on Tuesday, July 23rd, several days before they play the XPoNential Music Festival the weekend of July 26-28 at Wiggins Park. Tickets are on sale here. Below, listen to the close to funky orchestral singalong, “Better Days.”

FILED UNDER: Artists, Events, Recordings, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, XPoNential Music Festival 2013
May 22, 2013 | 2:42 PM | By

The Key Studio Sessions: Market East

The guys of Market East clearly have a thing for the warmer months of the year. There was “Marielle,” the rhapsody over cherry red lips and beach afternoons that opens their debut EP (check it out performed for Out of Town Films here). There are the languid, easygoing arrangements and breezy Brian Wilson-style vocal harmonies that pepper their songs. And now their is Children of Summer, their new EP and a sonic step forward for the trio of Kurt Cain-Walther (vocals), Max Perla (vocals, drums) and Vincent John (vocals, guitar). The EP gets its official release next month and celebrates on June 8th at MilkBoy with a stacked lineup; Joey Sweeney and the Long Hair Arkestra, Night Panther, Mohican and Former Belle. Last week, while the Non-COMMvention was raging at WXPN HQ, we took the Key Studio Sessions on location to Studio A in South Philly to record a few live tracks with Market East. Two of the performances you hear below are new tracks from the forthcoming EP – you’ll recognize “Evergreen” from our premiere the other week – and one is a cover that needs no introduction. Listen to the tunes below, and get the details on Market East’s album release show here.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Downloads, Events, Recordings, Market East, Milkboy, The Key Studio Sessions
May 22, 2013 | 2:02 PM | By

Watch Philly rapper Taylor Dunn flow in various center city locales in “Water”

Screen shot 2013-05-22 at 1.51.08 PMLate last year, Philly rapper Taylor Dunn released his latest mixtape, On the Contrary; this week, we got a music video for the single “Water.” In sweeping camera shots around various recognizable (and sometimes not-so-recognizable) center city locales, Dunn – who is a LaSalle basketball player in another life – delivers his free associative, lively rhymes over a punchy beat, owning his hometown and celebrating its grandeur as quickly as its scuffs. Check out the video below and look for a cameo from Key contributor Dan Brightcliffe (aka beatmaker Philth Spector), and find out more about Taylor Dunn at his Twitter.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, Taylor Dunn
May 22, 2013 | 1:32 PM | By

Watch DRGN King perform “Holy Ghost” for Out of Town Films (playing the XPoNential Music Festival in July)

Screen shot 2013-05-22 at 1.24.25 PMWe’re very excited to have Philadelphia’s DRGN King on the lineup for this year’s XPoNential Music Festival. Their Paragraph Nights LP, released on Bar / None Records earlier this year, is stylish and catchy, and they put on one heck of a live show – something nicely captured by the Out of Town Films crew with their most recent video. The filmmakers explain it like so:

Two weeks ago, we invited local Philly band DRGN King to come play at Girard Hall after their show at Kung Fu Necktie. The plan was to have them play acoustically and to have a few people over to watch the performance. Well, things didn’t go exactly as planned and for the better. The acoustic set turned into a full on electric set and the few people turned into many people. So basically it was a mini-show.

The police were lurking outside since it was midnight on a Thursday and DRGN King were playing pretty loudly. They only had time for two songs. One of which was “Holy Ghost”, a song apparently about looking like Jesus.

Check out the video below. For more DRGN King goodness, check out their recent Brighton Sound Session, or download their Key Studio Session from 2011. The XPoNential Music Festival happens from July 26 to July 28 at Wiggins Park in Camden, NJ.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, DRGN King, XPoNential Music Festival