The tour wraps up at The Depot in York, PA, on the 6th of July with Rocky Votolato also performing; information on the show can be found here.  For the full tour dates, click here. Below, watch mewithoutYou’s video for “February, 1878″ and Auctioneer’s recent session for Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through series.

Shaking Through: Auctioneer from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

In conjunction with Philly Tech Week, WXPN and Little Giant Media present The Intersection of Music and Technology at Underground Arts.  The free event will feature live performances by Lushlife (pictured), Khari Mateen and POW POW (Chris Powell of Man Man), DJ sets by DJ PHSH and Making Time’s Dave Pianka and a panel discussion / Q&A with Questlove and XPN’s Bruce Warren.  More information for free 21+ event can be found here.  Below, watch Lushlife’s video for “Magnolia.”

At World Cafe Live, it’s An Evening with Kaki King.  The guitar virtuoso has embarked on a retrospective tour, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the release of her debut album Everybody Loves You.  Recently, King released Glow, an instrumental record on which she collaborated with string quartet ETHEL.  Tickets and information for tonight’s all-ages show can be found here.  Below, watch her video for “Glow” and revisit her set at the 2012 XPoNential Music Festival via Archive.org here.

Buried Beds headline Kung Fu Necktie tonight with support from Auctioneer and Great American Canyon Band.  Bridging the gap between their most recent release Small Stories and an upcoming as-yet untitled release, local indie pop band Buried Beds have been detailing their recording experience with video clips and updates, including this one in which the members filmed a “huge drums” session.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show can be found here.  Below, watch Auctioneer’s Shaking Through episode.

Shaking Through: Auctioneer from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

PhilaMOCA is hosting an interesting event tonight, as local art-rockers Auctioneer will be live scoring two local film artists. First, Jesse Gorham-Engaard will be displaying samples from Peter Campus’ Double Vision, and then Chris Thomas will be providing improvised kaleidoscopic visuals – both projects being scored by Auctioneer. It’s a pretty rare showing of local skills in collaboration, and the opening act Heyward Howkins is just one more reason not to miss out. Howkins plays an eccentric yet earnest blend of indie, soul, folk, and rock, and is currently working on the follow-up to last years expansive The Hale & Hearty. This is the last installment of the Philly Area Music Showcase’s Tuesday Tune-Outs; the all-ages show begins at 7:30 p.m., admission is $7. Below, watch Auctioneer’s Shaking Through session.

Grammy Award-winning Country Music icons Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have reunited for the first time since 1975, and will be playing at the Academy of Music tonight along with the Richard Thompson Electric Trio. The show is part of a three week tour of the east coast, as well as visits to Chicago, Toronto, and St. Louis. Harris and Crowell are supporting their new record, Old Yellow Moon, which was released at the end of February. Tickets and information on the show can be found at the WXPN Concert Calendar. Below, watch a video of Crowell and Harris performing at the Public Radio Rocks SXSW Showcase.

You’ve seen Nikki’s byline here on The Key somewhat regularly; she also an editor for JUMP Philly, and runs her own music blog, Philadelphia Area Music Showcase, which is curating this month at the ‘MOCA. I’m pleased to welcome Nikki to this space (as an interviewee, rather than an interviewer) to tell us what’s in store. All events are at PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th Street), start at 7:30pm and are $5.

From Nikki:

Coming into the whole Tuesday Tune-Out, I had two goals. One, I wanted to make sure I highlighted bands that weren’t playing out as much, but should – bands that people should know about and be able to hear. And two, I wanted to make sure every single night was compact. If you’re going, you’re going because you like this specific sound, and you’re not going to be let down by either of these bands.

Tuesday 3/5
Edison and Air is Human with film footage TBD

I thought it would be cool to get an instrumental band in the mix to have the video as well as this background music. If you’re more into what’s playing, or if you’re more into the band, you can switch back and forth. So with Air is Human, a two piece that does sci-fi instrumentals and ambient pieces, I think it’s going to be a good combination. And with Edison, I was looking for a band that would compliment the ambient, but also who had lyrics and vocals, because I figured an entire night of instrumentals would get droney. My friend Colin Kerrigan of Out of Town Films recommended Edison [Michael James Murray of Out of Town Fims plays guitar in the band - ed.], so I listened to them, and I liked their music as well. It’s going to be a stripped down set for them, but they’re going to put together a montage that they’re going to perform to. And we’re going back and forth about screening a movie afterwards or just playing a set of videos of past shows or atmospheric stuff.

Tuesday 3/12
Amanda X and Point Breeze with a screening of Half-Cocked

I like some harder punk, but for the most part you have to have something catchy in you that’s going to reach me. And the first time I heard South Philly’s Point Breeze, it was like this is a great band that’s easy to listen to. And Amanda X, they’re another cool new punk band; two Cats and a Tiffany who play power jams with Corin Tucker-style vocals. We’ve actually announced the film we’re screening for this one: Half-Cocked. It’s a black and white movie that was shot on 16 mm film, and its basically about a young twentysomething that lives in a punk flophouse. She wants to move, she doesn’t know what she’s doing with her life, so she steals her brother’s band’s van and makes a fake band with her friends so they can stay on the road. It’s cool, beautiful, and has some funny characters. And it fits! They’re both DIY Punk Bands, and this is a total DIY punk movie!

Tuesday 3/19
Cruiser and Younger Me with a film screening TBA

Originally I wanted it to be beach themed, I wanted this to be my summer show. Cruiser does hazy, warm-body, summer morning music, and Younger Me is eccentric, multi-instrumental bop-pop. But Cruiser is going to be playing to found footage that Andy States from the band put together, and they may play a movie afterwards, that’s still up in the air.

Tuesday 3/26
Auctioneer and Heyward Howkins with a video installation

Shaking Through: Auctioneer from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

Craig is the first person I asked; I actually met him with the interview I did for The Key. I loved Auctioneer‘s music from the start, knew he was working on a new album. He’s been playing out a lot, and has been in the studio every single day from like 10 to 10 or something. As far as I know, the album should be coming out in the next two or three months. And with Heyward Howkins they’re both autumnal, they got the same vibe. And Heyward, I love how all of his lyrics are so visual, he tells such a good story with all his songs.

Craig’s inspiration with the movie was the Nightlands set that Bands in the Backyard did. He siad I don’t want to do just a movie, I want to do something super interesting and creative and off the wall. And I was like “I trust you completely.” He’s enlisted two local filmmakers, Jesse Engaard and Chris Thomas, and they’re going to do a multi-projection installation, six of Jesse’ short videos at once with Chris doing live video mixing.

Broad Indications from Jesse Gorham-Engaard on Vimeo.

Divers

Chipocrite is the performer for tonight’s Tuesday Tune-Out at PhilaMOCA, curated by 8static.  An exuberant fan of The Big Lebowski, Chipocrite will be performing a Dude-themed set of electronic, video game-based tracks followed by a screening of the movie.  Admission for the all-ages show is a suggested $5 donation at the door.  More information can be found here.  Below, watch Chipocrite perform at MAG Fest 11.

XPN welcomes the 2013 Northern Liberties Winter Music Fest at The Fire with a Van Morrison Tribute show tonight.  The event features a cavalcade of local singer-songwriters and rootsy bands including Reverend TJ McGlinchey, John Francis and special guest Ben Arnold, all honoring the Belfast Cowboy’s discography with old favorites from Astral Weeks, Veedon Fleece and more.  Tickets and information for the 21+ can be found here.  Below, watch a video of Van the Man performing “Tupelo Honey,” which The Fire claims you will definitely hear tonight.

Ross Bellenoit heads out to Puck Live with Auctioneer tonight.  Bellenoit is a local musician with a long list of collaborative partners, including Birdie Busch, Ben Arnold and Sun Airway.  His most recent solo record was 2012′s Home Songs, Volume 3, the third part of an EP trilogy released over the course of last year.  The multi-instrumentalist will be joined by Philly’s Auctioneer, the experiemental pop project of Craig Hendrix that began in 2011. Auctioneer participated in Weathervane Music’s Shaking Through series last year, recording the sonic mosaic “Our Future Faces.”  Check out the full episode here, and watch Ross Bellenoit’s video for “Besides” below.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show in Doylestown can be found here.

Philadelphia’s Leather play Kung Fu Necktie tonight.  The hardcore quartet have been slowly spilling details for their upcoming album, hinting at twenty minutes of music and artwork by a local photographer.  What we also know is that the record is going to be a heavy-hitting punch of rock, based on the tracks uploaded to the band’s YouTube account.  Stream “Zek” from 2011 below.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Antwon and Heathen Reign can be found here.

Noise rockers Dope Body have a free show at The Depot in York, PA tonight.  The Baltimore outfit are touring behind 2012′s Natural History LP, an effort that showed growth from the Drag City signees and somehow managed to walk a line between headbanging thrash rock and colorful bursts of angular (and at times dance-able) math rock.  Tonight they share the stage with Roomrunner and Peals at the 21+ up show – more information can be found here.  Below, stream “Twice the Life” from Natural History.

Phoenixville indie blues rock band Riley Road return to World Cafe Live at The Queen tonight.  After taking first place at the Beta Hi Fi Emerging Music Festival in Philadelphia this past summer, the local trio has continued to work on their already-impressive, classic rock-influenced foundation that was started when the band members met at Phoenixville’s Rock and Roll After School program.  Tonight Riley Road will be joined by Wilmington Beta Hi Fi winners and local favorites The Districts.  Tickets and information can be found here.  Stream Riley Road’s new single “Better Man” below.

XPN welcomes Tommy Conwell to The Blockley tonight.  Conwell was a focal point of the 80s rock scene in Philadelphia when he fronted The Young Rumblers.  The leather-clad heartthrobs reunited this past holiday season for their third annual post-Thanksgiving concert, but not before Conwell stopped in for a Key Studio Session where he recorded an acoustic set including Young Rumblers’ hit “I’m Not Your Man.”  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Jeffrey Gaines can be found here.  Below, watch the original video for “I’m Not Your Man” and stream / download the acoustic Key Studio Session version (along with three other tracks) here.

Photo by Dominic Digiorno | twitter.com/digs1975

Explore the roots of The Roots with a 1996 audio documentary and vintage photos [link]

Philadelphia art-pop act Auctioneer premiered a new song called “Swim” [link]

We review the major label debut from Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill, Dreams and Nightmares [link]

Philly thrashers Ruby the Hatchet is streaming its entire new album from Bandcamp [link]

Twang out with indie-country guy Daniel Romano and his song “Middle Child” [link]

Remembering the late Terry Callier with performances from World Cafe [link]

Get details on The Lumineers return to Philadelphia in February [link]

Download Memory Tapes‘ second Halloween minimix, Walk Me Home 2 [link]

Philly Americana rockers The Bailey Hounds put a piano-ballad spin on Danzig’s “Mother” [link]

Dan Matz of Windsor for the Derby mixed classic rock and drone rock in an eclectic playlist [link]

Punk supergroup OFF! are rocking out First Unitarian Church tonight. The brainchild of Black Flag’s Keith Morris, Burning Brides frontman Dimitri Coats, Redd Kross bassist Steven Shane McDonald, and Hot Snakes drummer Mario Rubalcaba, OFF! just released their self-titled sophomore album in May. The show tonight begins at 8; more ticket information can be found here. Below, watch the brand new video for “Wrong” featuring Jack Black.

Philly/Brooklyn experimental folk-pop collective Cuddle Magic will perform with Jesse Sparhawk at Tin Angel tonight. Cuddle Magic’s latest album, Info Nympho, dropped in March. The band also just announced plans to tour and release a 7″ split with The Daredevil Christopher Wright, expected to be available on October 23rd. Paste Magazine premiered Cuddle Magic’s new track “Rabbit Time,” which you can listen to here. Tickets for their 21+ show tonight are available here. Below, check out “Moby Dickless” from Info Nympho. 

Local alt rock group Auctioneer is playing at Kung Fu Necktie tonight. The band was featured in this month’s episode of Shaking Through, and we interviewed frontman Craig Hendrix earlier this week. Tickets for the 21+ show can be found here.  The band’s self-titled EP came out last October and can be downloaded for free below.

XPN Welcomes the We Juke Up In Here Film Screening being held at The African American Museum in Philadelphia tonight as part of the Mississippi Blues Project. Filmmakers Jeff Konkel and Roger Stolle present a documentary focusing on the surviving juke bar scene throughout Mississippi, featuring legendary musicians such as Elmo Williams and Hezekiah Early. Doors open for this free event at 7:00; the film will begin at 7:30. Register here for entry. Below, check out the trailer for We Juke Up In Here.  

Photo by Eric Ashleigh | showtographe.com

Interview: Talking wood nymphs and a show at Ortlieb’s with Brooklyn’s Savoir Adore. [link]

Hear a new song from Nothing, sign up to be in their Key Studio Sessions audience. [link]

Interview: Craig Hendrix of Philly’s Auctioneer on songwriting and Shaking Through. [link]

Lehigh Valley jazz-psych duo XVSK stop by to record a Key Studio Session. [link]

Photos of a spellbinding night at Union Transfer with Beach House. [link]

Breaking down the numbers of WXPN’s 885 Songs that Rock countdown. [link]

Watch a jangling new music video from Low Cut Connie, filmed at the North Star Bar. [link]

Get a taste of the new record from Freeway with his Freedom of Speech mixtape. [link]

Listen to The Dead Milkmen recorded live on WXPN…25 years ago. [link]

Download a free mixtape from Black Dub’s Trixie Whitley. [link]

Watch Rap City, the WHYY documentary on Philly’s hip-hop scene circa 1988. [link]

Couldn’t make it to Austin City Limits? Neil Young and Crazy Horse‘s entire set is streaming. [link]

Also in Austin, Philly sons The War on Drugs played a killer “Arms Like Boulders.” [link]

Jack White dances and beatboxes in his music video for “I’m Shakin’.” [link]

Actiioneer | Photo by Peter English

As seasons change so does the soundtrack, and Auctioneer’s low-lit guitar riffs, cavernous vocals and daze-dream drums are a blistering replacement for the surf rock sounds of summer. Today we’re in the studio with frontman Craig Hendrix (who has played with Aderbat, Mammals of Paradise, Birdie Busch, John Francis and more),  and we’re talking about the birth of his four-piece art-rock outfit, its October Shaking Through episode and the sophomore album we’ll be wrapping our mittens around come winter.

The Key: First, can you give me some background on Auctioneer?

Craig Hendrix: Auctioneer started performing a little over a year ago, but I’ve been playing with Todd Erk [bass] since high school. Our high school band was called Tub, it was a pretty bad jam band. Todd Schied [drums] and I played in Aderbat together, which turned into Mammal of Paradise. I think it’s mostly because of Doylestown that we all knew each other and saw each other play. Jesse Moore [keys/ vocals] I met in 2008. He used to work at Rocket Cat Cafe and one day he was playing some music from his high school band and I heard his voice, it was amazing.

TK: What made you decide to move to Philly from Doylestown?

CH: I went to school in Boston and I lived in New York for a while. I moved back to Doylestown kind of waiting for a place like this where I could have a studio in my house and be able to play music where I lived and also to be more involved in a music scene and an arts culture. Doylestown is great but it’s limited.

TK: What was your first thought when you were approached to do this month’s Shaking Through episode?

CH: I was pumped because Miner Street is an amazing studio and we had carte blanche pretty much for this tune. The song (called “Future Faces”) is a larger scale piece, kind of like a production number, so I was excited that we had the facility to do it.

Shaking Through: Auctioneer from Weathervane Music on Vimeo.

TK: Your lyrics sound like they come from specific experiences, could you describe your songwriting process?

CH: Sometimes I’ll sketch out an entire arrangement before I even know what the chorus is going to be or what the song is going to be about. In the past, the stuff on the EP, it’s not really personal with a few exceptions. I like fiction and I like writing characters into songs. The new record we’re working on is base more on actual experiences.

TK: Tell me about the new record.

CH: It’s going to be a little more rock than the EP, this one could be a little more amped up. In playing shows for a year that’s the stuff we’ve been playing more often, it just makes for a better show. Most of the songs have been written in the last year and a half so they’ve been written based on experiences I’ve had living here or influenced by experiences or people I’ve known through living here.

TK: So you’re taking your experience playing live and the audience reaction and working it into a record?

CH: Yeah, when we finish this record and when we go out to play behind it the songs that people are going to know are going be good live. It’s important to us that we’re not just a good live band or just a good recording band. Some bands are amazing recorded and they kind of just fall flat on stage and vice versa. Some bands that you see live you go nuts to and then you listen to the record and you can’t freak out in the same way. We want to be both.

Auctioneer plays Kung Fu Necktie, 1250 North Front Street, Friday October 19, with Believers and Romantic States. The 21+ show begins at 7:30 p.m. and admission is $10, more information at the venue’s website.

The Left Banke has been called one of the originators of baroque pop music. They had their first major hit with “Walk Away Renee” in 1966, only a year after they had been playing together. Their vocal harmonies, classical arrangements, and use of various instruments account for their worthy performances. Check them out tonight at World Cafe Live downstairs at 8 p.m. Tickets are $28 plus processing fees.

Tommy Conwell, better known for his days as the frontman of the Philadelphia band, Tommy Conwell & The Young Rumblers, plays tonight at Haddon Lake Park. This concert is free for all ages and starts at 7:30 p.m. Get directions and more information here.

Finally, country rock legend and singer/songwriter Willie Nelson is playing at the TD Bank Arts Center in Sewell, New Jersey. He will be joined by his son Patrick and other members of the family. They played at our annual Non-Comm earlier this May, you can listen to that performance here. (via the XPN media player). Tickets to tonight’s performance range from $29-59; the show takes off at 7:30 p.m.

The music portion of the day-long festival – which will also showcase local arts, crafts, and food vendors – takes place on the stage of the Piazza at Schmidt‘s, and is presented in conjunction with the Philadelphia Folksong Society. The initial lineup announced today includes:

Man Man
The Great Unknown
The Spinning Leaves
Blayer Pointdujour & The Rockers Galore
Auctioneer
Chris Kasper
The Kalob Griffin Band
The Doublewides
KC Jones
Norman Taylor
Mikey Jr.
DJ Matt Beck

Watch our Key Studio Video session with Blayer PointduJour and the Rockers Galore below.

Key Studio Sessions #2 – Blayer PointduJour & Rockers Galore from WXPN FM on Vimeo.