WV Sound Blog - WVLIVING.COM

12/26/12

The Ultimatums Rock Into the New Year

The Ultimatums front man Michael Stewart knows how to work a crowd of all ages with his electrifying stage presence and down-to-earth charisma. “Our audience is truly all over the board. We’ve played clubs, bars, dive bars, municipal Fourth of July celebrations, and have had a great response from old and young. My lyrics can be kind of spicy sometimes, but the older crowd gets excited to see a horn band simply because you don’t see that anymore locally,” Michael says. A nine-piece band with a fierce horn section, the Ultimatums formed in 2006 and play a blend of dirty soul/R&B originals and covers such as “Chelsea Hotel” by Leonard Cohen and Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” They’ve been working...

Posted at 06:13 AM Comments

12/19/12

MHS Marching Band Heads to Rose Bowl Parade

Keith Reed is short of breath when he answers the phone. “It’s been a hell of day,” he says. As director of the Morgantown High School marching band, he’s been busy, but a slight chuckle follows his opening remark, suggesting that, under the stress, he’s excited. On January 1, 2013, the MHS Mohigans will participate in the 124th Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. They will be only the third high school marching band from West Virginia to participate in the Tournament of Roses, and Keith says he and his students couldn’t feel more honored. “It’s a big thing for us to uphold. With the other representations of West Virginia on TV, I want to leave a lasting impression that’s positive.” It’s been a long...

Posted at 06:31 AM Comments

12/12/12

The Family Business is Jazz

Nathan Wilson hesitates when asked what life would be like for his family without music. “I’d rather not dwell on the question,” he says. “Music gives us a rallying point.” As one-third of the Jenny Wilson Jazz Trio, Nathan, the stepfather and double bassist in the group, brought the band together years ago. Along with wife, Jenny, and son Evan (as well as the occasional company of stepdaughter, Ava), this small jazz act excels in Morgantown. The group’s website boasts a busy performance schedule, and they also take their show on the road with performances in places like Pittsburgh and even Maine. Nathan first learned to play jazz in Morgantown by studying jazz records and practicing alone in his living room. His self-taught...

Posted at 05:43 AM Comments

12/05/12

Soft Rock Renegade Archives a Decade of West Virginia Music

For West Virginia music-lovers, the blog Soft Rock Renegade (SRR) makes a great online resource. Founded and maintained by Marshall alumnus Mike Andrick, SRR offers free downloads of hundreds of recordings from a variety of West Virginian musicians and acts as a historical archive of material that is mostly unknown. The blog started in 2009 as a way for Mike to share his own collection of CDs and tapes acquired in his youth. The Bridgeport native says that it was around the age of 14 that he started to attend local music shows. He soon found himself as a proactive member of the state’s growing music scene, and began photographing bands and building websites. Of the music on the SRR blog, Mike says he makes his choices by posting what he believes people should...

Posted at 05:08 AM Comments

11/28/12

John Morgan Expresses Himself as Juna

Though he’s written songs most of his life, John Morgan’s kept most of them to himself. The 31-year-old Gauley Bridge native sums up his 20s as being a “very difficult time,” and while he’s always been a prolific music maker, he’s also pretty private. “I was a horrible singer,” John says. “Afraid of my own voice and not a natural at all.” Graduating from West Virginia University gave John the necessary spark to speak out, and after a long road trip to Oregon and some time in development, John’s debut record, Yesno, came out in 2009. Financially, he describes the experience as a disaster, but for his art, it was necessary, pushing him through the creative process and showing him why he should do it in the first...

Posted at 05:05 AM Comments: 1

11/21/12

New Music in West Virginia

West Virginians are adventurous. From our outdoor excursions to our diversity in the arts, we take pride in who we are. This holiday season, why not step outside the box when it comes to music, too? In the winter issue of WV LIVING, our staff chose five new CDs from musicians around the state who we think you should give a listen. If there's a music lover in your life, any of these CDs would make great gifts. 1. Southeast Engine, Canaanville 2. Sasha Colette & The Magnolias, Ridin' Away 3. Holly Spears, Heartache to Hope 4. The Demon Beat, Less is Less 5. Todd Burge, Building Characters Read more about each of the band's in the winter issue of WV LIVING, on shelves now.

Posted at 10:01 AM Comments

11/14/12

Farnsworth Keeps it Classic

In the rented out space of a 100-year-old building, Chris Vance and Jason Reese practice three times a week. Little preparation goes into these sessions; they know to run through the usual songs, but they strive for spontaneity. “It’s how it used to be done,” says Chris. “We like to throw it back to the garage band days of the ’60s and ’70s.” They practice until they tire, feeding each other notes and riffs, but always celebrate a session’s end the same—with beer and listening to their favorite records. Out of Charleston, West Virginia, Farnsworth is a two-piece rock band with a sound that packs a lively rhythm and a traditional rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic. Riffs, blues chords, and fuzz define them, and while they are...

Posted at 06:03 AM Comments

11/08/12

Finding a Love for Bluegrass

Luke Shamblin had to learn bluegrass. It’s a genre of music with a long-standing tradition, and to involve yourself with it is to pick up on something larger, more rooted, than you. The songs reach back into our collective past, and the instruments outlive the players. For Luke, the process of learning bluegrass has unfolded across more than a decade. Luke, an Elkview native, was given his first taste of the genre by his grandfather, Bob Summers, a musician known for his fiddle playing and involvement in gospel quartets. Bob passed away in October 2001, but left 15-year-old Luke his prized fiddle and a newfound love in music. Luke went on to attend Glenville State College to study political science and history, but he also walked away with a two-year degree in...

Posted at 09:24 AM Comments

10/31/12

Good Sport is on the Rise

There’s a hazy bounce to the opening track of Good Sport’s debut EP And Now We Are Talking. A song titled “Going Steady,” it slowly builds with an intentionally lagged a capella until a moment when the voices fade, and the song’s core, synth-driven rhythm arrives and assumes control. The tired, hypnotic vocals linger, dragging along with a hushed pull to cement the track’s identity as a pop song high on cough syrup. It’s this song that’s most memorable, but it works to the EPs’ advantage—providing a clear image and a nice sample of the lazy, fatigued pop music Good Sport wants to make. And those adjectives mean no malice. While based in Pittsburgh, the members of Good Sport come from a wide and varied collection of...

Posted at 05:20 AM Comments

10/24/12

Clarksburg Musician Wins ReverbNation Competition

Clarksburg’s Lydia Simons, of The Amorous, recently won first place in the Christian Division of ReverbNation’s International Unsigned Only 2012 music competition. ReverbNation is home to more than two million artists, labels, managers, and vendors. It attracts musicians from all over the world, with more than 30 million hits to reverbnation.com every month. Unsigned Only is a great opportunity for artists who haven’t signed a major label contract, and the competition is designed specifically for independent artists. The competition aims to find the most talented band or solo artist who desperately needs to be discovered, and Lydia was exactly what that contest was looking for. On August 29, 2012, with more than 7,000 entries worldwide, ReverbNation...

Posted at 06:26 AM Comments: 2

	12/26/12 The Ultimatums Rock Into the New Year The Ultimatums front man Michael Stewart knows how to work a crowd of all ages with his electrifying stage presence and down-to-earth charisma. “Our audience is truly all over the board. We’ve played clubs, bars, dive bars, municipal Fourth of July celebrations, and have had a great response from old and young. My lyrics can be kind of spicy sometimes, but the older crowd gets excited to see a horn band simply because you don’t see that anymore locally,” Michael says. A nine-piece band with a fierce horn section, the Ultimatums formed in 2006 and play a blend of dirty soul/R&B originals and covers such as “Chelsea Hotel” by Leonard Cohen and Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” They’ve been working... Posted at 06:13 AM Comments
	12/19/12 MHS Marching Band Heads to Rose Bowl Parade Keith Reed is short of breath when he answers the phone. “It’s been a hell of day,” he says. As director of the Morgantown High School marching band, he’s been busy, but a slight chuckle follows his opening remark, suggesting that, under the stress, he’s excited. On January 1, 2013, the MHS Mohigans will participate in the 124th Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. They will be only the third high school marching band from West Virginia to participate in the Tournament of Roses, and Keith says he and his students couldn’t feel more honored. “It’s a big thing for us to uphold. With the other representations of West Virginia on TV, I want to leave a lasting impression that’s positive.” It’s been a long... Posted at 06:31 AM Comments
	12/12/12 The Family Business is Jazz Nathan Wilson hesitates when asked what life would be like for his family without music. “I’d rather not dwell on the question,” he says. “Music gives us a rallying point.” As one-third of the Jenny Wilson Jazz Trio, Nathan, the stepfather and double bassist in the group, brought the band together years ago. Along with wife, Jenny, and son Evan (as well as the occasional company of stepdaughter, Ava), this small jazz act excels in Morgantown. The group’s website boasts a busy performance schedule, and they also take their show on the road with performances in places like Pittsburgh and even Maine. Nathan first learned to play jazz in Morgantown by studying jazz records and practicing alone in his living room. His self-taught... Posted at 05:43 AM Comments
	12/05/12 Soft Rock Renegade Archives a Decade of West Virginia Music For West Virginia music-lovers, the blog Soft Rock Renegade (SRR) makes a great online resource. Founded and maintained by Marshall alumnus Mike Andrick, SRR offers free downloads of hundreds of recordings from a variety of West Virginian musicians and acts as a historical archive of material that is mostly unknown. The blog started in 2009 as a way for Mike to share his own collection of CDs and tapes acquired in his youth. The Bridgeport native says that it was around the age of 14 that he started to attend local music shows. He soon found himself as a proactive member of the state’s growing music scene, and began photographing bands and building websites. Of the music on the SRR blog, Mike says he makes his choices by posting what he believes people should... Posted at 05:08 AM Comments
	11/28/12 John Morgan Expresses Himself as Juna Though he’s written songs most of his life, John Morgan’s kept most of them to himself. The 31-year-old Gauley Bridge native sums up his 20s as being a “very difficult time,” and while he’s always been a prolific music maker, he’s also pretty private. “I was a horrible singer,” John says. “Afraid of my own voice and not a natural at all.” Graduating from West Virginia University gave John the necessary spark to speak out, and after a long road trip to Oregon and some time in development, John’s debut record, Yesno, came out in 2009. Financially, he describes the experience as a disaster, but for his art, it was necessary, pushing him through the creative process and showing him why he should do it in the first... Posted at 05:05 AM Comments: 1
	11/21/12 New Music in West Virginia West Virginians are adventurous. From our outdoor excursions to our diversity in the arts, we take pride in who we are. This holiday season, why not step outside the box when it comes to music, too? In the winter issue of WV LIVING, our staff chose five new CDs from musicians around the state who we think you should give a listen. If there's a music lover in your life, any of these CDs would make great gifts. 1. Southeast Engine, Canaanville 2. Sasha Colette & The Magnolias, Ridin' Away 3. Holly Spears, Heartache to Hope 4. The Demon Beat, Less is Less 5. Todd Burge, Building Characters Read more about each of the band's in the winter issue of WV LIVING, on shelves now. Posted at 10:01 AM Comments
	11/14/12 Farnsworth Keeps it Classic In the rented out space of a 100-year-old building, Chris Vance and Jason Reese practice three times a week. Little preparation goes into these sessions; they know to run through the usual songs, but they strive for spontaneity. “It’s how it used to be done,” says Chris. “We like to throw it back to the garage band days of the ’60s and ’70s.” They practice until they tire, feeding each other notes and riffs, but always celebrate a session’s end the same—with beer and listening to their favorite records. Out of Charleston, West Virginia, Farnsworth is a two-piece rock band with a sound that packs a lively rhythm and a traditional rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic. Riffs, blues chords, and fuzz define them, and while they are... Posted at 06:03 AM Comments
	11/08/12 Finding a Love for Bluegrass Luke Shamblin had to learn bluegrass. It’s a genre of music with a long-standing tradition, and to involve yourself with it is to pick up on something larger, more rooted, than you. The songs reach back into our collective past, and the instruments outlive the players. For Luke, the process of learning bluegrass has unfolded across more than a decade. Luke, an Elkview native, was given his first taste of the genre by his grandfather, Bob Summers, a musician known for his fiddle playing and involvement in gospel quartets. Bob passed away in October 2001, but left 15-year-old Luke his prized fiddle and a newfound love in music. Luke went on to attend Glenville State College to study political science and history, but he also walked away with a two-year degree in... Posted at 09:24 AM Comments
	10/31/12 Good Sport is on the Rise There’s a hazy bounce to the opening track of Good Sport’s debut EP And Now We Are Talking. A song titled “Going Steady,” it slowly builds with an intentionally lagged a capella until a moment when the voices fade, and the song’s core, synth-driven rhythm arrives and assumes control. The tired, hypnotic vocals linger, dragging along with a hushed pull to cement the track’s identity as a pop song high on cough syrup. It’s this song that’s most memorable, but it works to the EPs’ advantage—providing a clear image and a nice sample of the lazy, fatigued pop music Good Sport wants to make. And those adjectives mean no malice. While based in Pittsburgh, the members of Good Sport come from a wide and varied collection of... Posted at 05:20 AM Comments
	10/24/12 Clarksburg Musician Wins ReverbNation Competition Clarksburg’s Lydia Simons, of The Amorous, recently won first place in the Christian Division of ReverbNation’s International Unsigned Only 2012 music competition. ReverbNation is home to more than two million artists, labels, managers, and vendors. It attracts musicians from all over the world, with more than 30 million hits to reverbnation.com every month. Unsigned Only is a great opportunity for artists who haven’t signed a major label contract, and the competition is designed specifically for independent artists. The competition aims to find the most talented band or solo artist who desperately needs to be discovered, and Lydia was exactly what that contest was looking for. On August 29, 2012, with more than 7,000 entries worldwide, ReverbNation... Posted at 06:26 AM Comments: 2

WV Sound

Keeping a beat in the Mountain State