Last week we welcomed alt-country band June Star to March’s installment of our microshow series. Andrew Grimm stripped it down a bit to acoustic guitar (frontman Andrew Grimm), pedal steel (David Hadley), electric guitar (Burke Sampson), and piano (Michael Ward). There were some unusual picks, including two unreleased tracks a Joe Doe cover, and one request from Grimm’s former roommate for a song that has probably never been performed in public.

Technical info: Vox: AKG 414, Acoustic Guitar: SM81, Electric Guitar: EV 308, Pedal Steel: Sennheiser 421.

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Ed Neenan along with Mia Regalado, like Dean and Britta, front local rock band E. Joseph & The Phantom Heart. One of the hardest working bands in Baltimore, they played a microshow with us this week. Spacey (the newest member of the Phantom Heart) played the keys and Dave Daniel guested on drums and toys. The show represented a culmination of Ed’s older material and brought in his new kinder, gentler pop-ish songs from his forthcoming album, due out early next year, “Corazón. Fuego. Ceniza”.

Technical info: Ed Vocals: U87 (1176), Mia Vocals: C12 clone (LA-2A), Keys: EV408, Bass: 421, Kick: Beta 52, Snare: AT 3060, OH: Oktava 012, Acoustic guitar: SM81.

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Dustin Wong’s performance at the August 12th microshow was one of the most engaging we’ve seen. Known primarily for his role in Ponytail, he’s been gaining momentum as a solo artist and Thursday’s set was a testament to his massive skills as a composer and guitarist. His solo music is a study in patterns and signal theory. His methodology is formulaic, almost mathematical, but the result is anything but expected. He builds each song or sequence by layering simple melodies and rhythms, adding one layer, looping it through his corral of pedals, then adding another. He repeats and tweaks until it reaches a swaying, hypnotic, yet thoroughly musical, cacophony. Then he abruptly stops and immediately enters into a new, suddenly quiet and uncluttered, layer. Before you realize he’s ended one song, he’s off into a new sequence.

The approach itself isn’t entirely novel. His real genius lies in his ability to edit, to pick through a seemingly infinite combination of variables, and to write and combine numerous songlets without ever sounding redundant or trite. His music draws at times from Philip Glass and Raymond Scott and hints at subtle Japanese Gagaku themes in the layering. Download the tracks from the show and we think you’ll be amazed as we were that all this came from one dude and a guitar.

Techincal info: U87/SM57 on front cab (1176), Sennheiser 441 on rear, AT PZMs for room.

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What’s not to love about Weekends? Two super nice guys. Awesome music. No egos. Luscious distortion. And a good time always.

Brendan and Adam from Weekends came in a week or so ago for their microshow. They have a pretty stripped down raw sound to begin with, however somehow they achieved and even more stripped down sound. Only equipped with acoustic guitars, a keyboard, floor tom and some percussion, they still put down an awesome show, gave us some new songs and covered a song from Baltimore’s Romantic States.

Be on the look out for their next LP on Baltimore’s Friends Records.

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Mr. Moccasin came in last week for a microshow. They stripped down to a four-piece. Hanna on vocals, Jared on guitar/vocals, Chris on guitar/stylophone and Christiana on drums/vocals.

The band totally brought it. And brought something a little different than their typical live show including a stylophone and a few new tracks fresh off their killer music making machine. An awesome time was had by all. Highlights include Black On Black, Himalayan Marmalade and Ari Schenck’s Ah Well.

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It’s taken me a few days to digest last week’s microshow with Yeveto. Despite Amy’s “bregnancy prain”, Russell’s 64k memory and Ben’s proposed digital drum kit, Yeveto put on a stellar show. Spinal Tap was known for their “punctuality” – Yeveto should be known for being the most well-rehearsed. And in the best way possible, between arrangement, setup and performance. I can’t thank them enough for being such a well-oiled machine. Oh and playing incredibly moving instrumental experimental film music! Thanks!

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