There is nothing more American than Synth Rock, Apple Pie and the melting pot which is Art Bar.  It is a little known fact that Blake Arambula loves apple pie.  He has even been known to slip a slice of cheese on top when no one is looking.

Our founding fathers were all fans of music and if they had IPods in the late 1700’s they would definitely have the latest EP from This Machine Is Me.  It was only 233 years ago that 4 men left from Columbia, only a block from where Art Bar is now, to declare our independence.  They put their John Hancock right there beside, well Herbie Hancocks’.  When the young Edward Rutledge took the old horse and carriage up to Washington he introduced the old timers Thomas Heyward Jr., Thomas Lynch Jr. and Arthur Middleton to the new music of the 70’s, the 1770’s.  It is quite funny because the music he introduced to them wasn’t that much different than a stripped down version of The Reason Your Listening, Drew Jacobs, Ruby Blue and the Isnauts and The Lights, Fluorescent.  They were all songs, hip for their time, they had melodies, a song structure and were built of some sort of call and refrain.  Since the ride was too bumpy for their wind up record player, the group of trailblazers stuck to sing alongs.  The legend is they sang Models and Bottles over 100 times on the trip.

The Restoration was replaced on this show by Ruby Blue and The Isnauts.  An adventurous band featuring some of the same members as The Restoration.  Think indie rock with a female singer like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  They too will be in costume as The Restoration always is.

I hope this Independence Day goes better than the movie did.  Those aliens were trouble.

Blake really does love apple pie and Edward Rutledge was young when he signed the Declaration of independence, but after that not much of this is true.

Tags: this machine is me

For the past two weeks I have been out on the road with my band The Fire Tonight.  While we only had one SC date in the whole bunch, David and I agree that Southeastern coverage effects our lovely little music scene here.  So, without further delay I present “The Best, Worst and Most Surprising of the Southeast.”

The Worst Law

Tennessee is one messed up place.  If you are a touring band with any members under 21 then take note, they will not be able to play any bar that allows smoking.  Yes, you read that correctly.  It makes no sense, and our 3 piece set sure was awful.

The Best Bar Owner

Those of you who live in or visit Greenville, SC know that the local music scene is not exactly vibrant.  The Handlebar is a great venue, but it is tough going elsewhere.  If you live there, or are in a band, you should make it a priority to stop by The Real Gypsy and meet Scott.  The club is spacious and the sound certainly capable, but what makes it worth your time is the owner.  Scott has played music, knows music, and if he likes a band he is going to go out of the way to help them out.  You can’t beat that.

The Worst Experience

While having our brakes fail was not much fun, the worst experience(s) were when it was obvious the local bands did not do their part to promote a show.  I realize that not all bands are trying to “make it big” but if you play in your hometown and no one comes out to see you play then you either need to figure out how to promote yourself or quit.  Harsh, but true.  Nothing makes a scene look worse than bands that don’t promote effectively or at all.

The Most Surprisingly Accurate Venue Website

Take a look at the website for The Juggling Gypsy.  I think you can get buzzed just by looking at it.

The Most Disgusting Bathroom

The Tremont Music Hall.  I left a part of myself there.

The Best Columbia Related Moment

Angelo Gianni from Treadmill Trackstar came to our show in Asheville.  I must admit, the  13 year old Treadmill fan inside of me squealed a little.  He told me all kinds of secrets about their new album, but mainly that they are working to finish up cello and vocals.

The Worst Columbia Related Moment

Hanging out with David.

Check out our first post ever a year ago!

When I started this website a year ago, I don’t think I realistically expected it to be where it is today.  After running the website for a couple of months hits were staying steady between 25-50 a day and I was really trying to figure out if it was worth it.  I started the website in late June, because I needed something to do.  Work was slow and I felt like I needed to get more involved in a promising music scene where I thought artists weren’t getting the exposure that they deserved.  What I didn’t imagine was the amount of time it would take up in my life.  Last October/November I was working 50-60 hour weeks at my day job.  Finding time for Scene SC was getting harder than I ever imagined it would be.  It seemed like every time I would be close to thinking about letting the website fade away, something would happen to make me realize people were paying attention.

The first person to say the words that I needed to hear to keep the website going was Mike Rogers of All Get Out in Charlotte, September 5th of last year.  In August I wrote a post about how there is a good and bad side to the music scene in South Carolina and about how some people out there are trying to take advantage of bands.  The post was really harsh, so I pulled it down within in an hour of posting it.  Mike told me that night that he really liked that post and that he reads the website daily.  He even showed it to me on his Google Reader.  At that point I decided to stop worrying about how many hits I was getting a day.  If one or only a handful of people are reading the site and it means something to them, I decided that it was worth it to keep going.

So let’s look at the numbers.

• July 2008 we had 291 unique hits to the site.
• June 2009 we had 3,873 unique visitors to the site.
• About 80% of our hits come from our home-base of Columbia.  We are working on changing that.
• We currently offer over 100 videos of bands including full sets.
• According to my bank account there has been over $3,000 invested in this site including video equipment, hosting fees, banners, getting into shows etc.
• The most hits we ever got in a day was 871
• Our most commented story was The Dino-Mech Vs. Blake Lewis Saga.  The Free-Times broke this.
• 5 of our favorite bands have broken up.
• 885 Twitter Followers
• 338 Posts
• 1,826 Comments
• 1 Full Time Scene SC’er and 4 Part Timers
• Over 200 shows attended.
• We’ve hooked up at least 2 couples
• Made Countless Friends
• Created 1 Music Community

I am going to attempt to make a list of people to Thank that really helped me with this website and it being where it is today.  I know I’ll leave someone important out.

Adam Fogle (Palmetto Scoop)  The site wouldn’t exist without him, My sister Meredith Stringer for editing every post on the website and going to more shows than me, Bentz Kirby, Pat Wall (The Free Times), Our Staff Stephen Russ, Bakari Lebby, Sarah Kobos.  My brother Jeffrey for investing in me and my parents for supporting me.  Our fans from the get go Kevin Morrissey, BK Kennedy, Will Armstrong, Steven Niedringhaus, Seth Birkes and Ben Dimond.  Homemade Genius and Ian!

Specific Bands that have really reached out to us including Marry a Thief, All Get Out, The Fire Tonight, This Machine Is Me, Kill Anties, The Decade,  The Reverie, The Restoration

These people Erich Skelton, Colin Brown, Brandon Kean, Brandon Wilks, Jeffrey McMicken, Nathan Hussey, Grayson Venters,  Mel Washington, Mike Rogers, Chad Rochester,Marcy Bozek WUSC, Otis Taylor at The State, Randy Borawski at WXRY, Austin Crane, Nate Puza, Ashleigh Lancaster, Will Flourance, Daniel Machado, Cayla Fralick, Blake Arambula, Nick Bays, Michael Crawford, Kevin Oliver

Tags: All Get Out, Homemade Genius, Kill Anties, Marry a Thief, The Decade, The Fire Tonight, The Restoration

Cover Painting, Julianne in Vain, by Scott Avett. Oil On Canvas 2009

North Carolina’s favorite sons The Avett Brothers are offering a free download of their new single and title track to their new album “I and Love and You” at Spinner.com.

The albums official release date isn’t until September 29th, but the band will be sharing bits and pieces of the album up until the release date.

Their current US tour includes dates in Augusta, 2 Nights in Myrtle Beach, Charleston and  Charlotte.  Tickets will sell fast and then sell out and then you will have to sell a kidney to see them.

Official Track Listing
1. I and Love and You
2. January Wedding
3. Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise
4. And it Spread
5. The Perfect Space
6. Ten Thousand Words
7. Kick Drum Heart
8. Laundry Room
9. Ill with Want
10. Tin Man
11. Slight Figure of Speech
12. It Goes On and On
13. Incomplete and Insecure

Tags: The Avett Brothers

Photos Courtesy of SKobos

Downtown Columbia took a big step forward Saturday night with the official addition of The White Mule.  Tucked underground across the street from the Columbia Museum of Art and beside the Free Times headquarters, The White Mule has an ambiance unlike any other venue in Columbia.

The White Mule still has the same feel as Jammin Java, the venue that once occupied their current space, but they have livened it up with a snazzy menu and the addition of alcohol.  The exposed brick walls and rafters in the ceiling do a good job of absorbing the sound so it is not too loud.  Saturday night there was a full band on stage and the sound was perfect for the room.  The stage is not very big, but it gets the job done.  There is built in seating on both sides of the room making it a comfortable place to sit down and have a drink and still be able to check out the bands.  Beside the stage there is a door leading outside to a patio area perfect for enjoying a nice Columbia day or night.  They have included water cooling misters outside to help beat the Columbia heat.

Travis Maynard and Dave Britt have done a really good job with the new venue and I am looking forward to seeing it thrive in the revitalized downtown area.  They have a couple of shows listed now including a Singer Songwriter night Monday July 13th that we will be very supportive of here at Scene SC.

Tags: The White Mule

WEEK 2

We are ending week number two.  And we’re all ready for a day off.  But, this tour has been incredibly rewarding.  We parted ways with O’Brother for two days as they went to be with our good friends, Dignan, in McAllen and San Antonio, TX for their album release.

Tags: All Get Out

After releasing one of the best albums to come out of South Carolina this year, The Dirt and The Flood are taking a break. They aren’t ready to call it a break up, but a pause to pursue other opportunities in life. This is still a big break in direction from their previous plans of moving to Nashville and pursuing a career in music.

Here is their blog on Myspace and here is a link to a more in depth series of events from Knox.

So over the past six months we have been gearing up to move to Nashville together.  Three weeks ago those plans came to a halt.  The story, for those of you who would like to read it is posted on www.radiusgreenville.org under the stories section and is called “mercy, prayer, and confirmation”.

Tags: The Dirt and The Flood

Summer Tour ‘09: Wrightsville Beach Visit from The Fire Tonight on Vimeo.

The Fire Tonight are currently playing the last 2 dates of their summer tour, but out on the road they found time to record us some hot, steamy, sexy videos.  For the week in racy news, this video fits right up there with the Sanford emails.  Watch this in the privacy of your own room and don’t enjoy this too much.

Tags: The Fire Tonight

Continuing with the Athen’s theme of the day, I came across this interview with Aquarium Drunkard blogger Justin Gage this morning in Flagpole.  If you aren’t familiar with Aquarium Drunkard they are based out of Los Angeles and host a Sirius/XM radio show.  The blog tends to focus on southern bands and artist introducing them to a national audience.  They are also linked to Autumn Tone Records and will be hosting a stage at this years AthFest.  In the interview Justin talks about his involvement in the music scene while he was at UGA and how Aquarium Drunkard got its’ start.

Aquarium Drunkard has been featured as one of the best music blogs in Rolling Stone, Yahoo! Music Picks and LA.com.

Aquarium Drunkard Returns to Athens to Host Awesome AthFest Showcase

A Blog About a Blogger

Aquarium Drunkard and Team Clermont are presenting Liz Durrett, Circulatory System and Modern Skirts at Nuçi’S Space on Friday, June 26 as part of AthFest.

FP: When you were a student at UGA, were you into the local music scene?

AthFest kicked off in Athens last night with the Flagpole Music Awards. The 3 day festival has become more comparable to SXSW every year with additions of stages sponsored by record labels, blogs such as the Aquarium Drunkard and promoters.  In addition to the 173 bands that are playing, this year’s Athfest will feature films, a music seminar, a kids area and their usual compilation CD.

Here are the winners of the Flagpole Music Awards

Tags: Athens

Your Free Times Music Crawl Applications are due in 26 hours! Apply now.  Come by The Copy Shop and I will help you with your press kit if you need it.  I really want you to apply to play.  Let’s make this the best one ever, so I can go and bask in the awesomeness of South Carolina music.

Last year was epically radtastic.  I got to see All Get Out, Daniel Machado, The Reverie, Freaking Venice is Sinking, The Decade,This Machine Is Me , Marry a Thief! and did I say Venice is Sinking?

Quote from my review of last years Music Crawl.

Attention bands: if you are good it should be a requirement that you play Music Crawl.  It doesn’t do anyone in the music scene any good when you have a big band and you just sit at home or attend and don’t play.

Here are some videos from last years music crawl

Tags: Free Times

By now we have all heard about Mark Sanford’s exotic love affair in Argentina.  Our Appalachian mix-tape just doesn’t hold up anymore, so we have a new one for our hopeless romantic cheating Governor.

Kicking off the Mix-tape

The Oak Ridge Boys-Tryin to Love Two Women

“One has got my money, the other has got my heart”

Santana-Maria Maria

Stevie Wonder-Part Time Lover

Madonna-Take A Bow

Ray Charles-I Got a Woman

Sinead O’Connor-Nothing Compares to You

Michael Bolton-How am I Supposed to Live Without You

Tracy Chapman-Fast Car

Chris Isaak-Wicked Game

Atlantic Starr -Secret Lovers

Beyonce-Irreplaceable

AND OF COURSE

Madonna-Don’t Cry For Me Argentina

Just as Steven Fiore supported Ghosts of the Great Highway on their CD release, Phil Windsor will supported Steven Fiore on his EP release this Friday.

House shows across America are becoming more and more popular.  CDBaby’s DIY podcast dedicated an entire episode to it.  Dave Bazan has taken it to another level, selling out an entire tour of house shows.  Hannah Miller and Dylan Sneed are currently looking for a house show.  And Bentz Kirby has them down to an art.

For an artist looking to make a personal connection and showcase their music this really is a perfect venue to do it.

Steven Fiore-Full Set from Scene SC on Vimeo.

If you have heard any of Steven Fiore’s new songs you’ll realize how lucky you are to be seeing him in a room filled with close friends and fans.  From what I have heard, the songs are hits and could be sold to many artists looking for a single.  I prefer Steven’s voice to any country artist singing “You Can Always Come Home.”

Supporting Steven Friday night will be Jordan Burke, Ben Cantrell and Phil Windsor.  Entry will be $5 and S Fiore’s new EP will be on sale for $7.

Tags: Ghosts of the Great Highway, Hannah Miller, Steven Fiore

UPDATE

Sanford was off traveling in Argentina, with a motorcycle and a diary. Just for the record we think this entire situation got blown way out of proportion. What it really did was give all of South Carolina’s politcal bloggers something to talk about…spew their crap about.  Before that they were making up stories about Facebook and Twitter.

Our Governor has disappeared! Is he off writing? Is he off hiking? Is he off hiking n00dz? Who cares?! With our technology and our inside sources on the Appalachian Trail, we obtained an exclusive copy of Mark Sanford’s Ultimate Ipod Playlist.

Miley Cyrus The Climb

Where would Mark Sanford be today if it wasn’t for Miley Cyrus?

Lynryd Skynryd “Freebird”

Mark kicked off his road trip driving up 26 with the windows down with “Freebird” about to blow his tweeters.  He sang every note to the solo.  What was racing through his mind at this time?  He knew that no one had listened to him for the last 7 years so why would they start in the next 5 days?

Chicago “I Don’t Want Your Money”

Oh the Irony!  Obama->Chicago->I  Don’t Want Your Money->Mark Sanford to Obama->I’ll tell you where you can put that 700 Billion.

Soulja Boy “Kiss Me Thru Tha Phone.”

While driving to Atlanta, Mark Sanford kicked up the bass in his Jet Black SLED Tahoe with the new hit song from Soulja Boy.  People close to Sanford knew any time they wanted to reach Mark they could have called him at (678) 999-8212.

Johnny Paycheck- “Take This Job and Shove”

Many people know that Mark likes to make up his own lyrics to replace the real lyrics in songs.  For example

Take This Job and Shove It

Up Andre’s Ass

Drivin’ and Cryin’ “Straight To Hell”

Sanford timed out his playlist so that as he was pulling into Atlanta he was listening to one of the city’s best bands.  Because just like Kevn Kinney, Mark grew up just west of the tracks.

Peter, Paul and Mary “Leaving on a Jet Plane”

To get his thoughts in line, Mark included several versions of “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” but his Oh Soooo Favorite version by Peter, Paul and Mary topped the play count.

Hootie and The Blowfish Gravity of the Situation

And what would a road trip be without some tunes from some homegrown bands?  What does Darius even say before he sings “The Gravity of the Situation.”

Hootie and The Blowfish “Running From an Angel”

He always said they wrote this song about Jenny.

Cravin Melon

We all know that Mark Sanford was a Melonhead back in the day.  He must have spent one too many nights at the Windjammer.  This is where he kicked the tunage up another notch with songs such as

“The Great Procrastinator”

“Simple Man”

“Running”

“Come Undone”

“Save Me”

Thank you to @MeredithString @WmLeverette @simontarr @Banksyae @ClaytonBozard @caseyboyle @ShanajTill @TimRyanCW @bryboiblue @GQBound @SimpsonMorgan @kathrinebrock

Tags: Cravin Melon, Hootie and the Blowfish

Magnetic Flowers at NBT from pxsoul on Vimeo.

I’ll tell ya where we’ll go. Someplace warm. A place where the beer flows like wine. And beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talkin’ bout a little place called…The Elbow Room.

Enticed by good music and a $2 cover I made my first trips to The Elbow Room last Thursday and Friday nights.  I’ve written about the new venue a couple of times, but haven’t really taken the time to go check it out yet.  I decided to give them a little time to settle in before I passed judgment on them.  And for the record I have no affiliation with The Elbow Room.

The Atmosphere

As it is right now The Elbow Room is a nice mix of a bar and venue.  There is plenty of standing room in front of the stage as in a traditional venue, but also plenty of seating around the bar to find a place to sit down and have a conversation.  In the back by the pool tables you can talk over the bands if music is not your thing.  Because the cover is usually only $2, you can afford to take a chance on hearing some new bands that you might have not heard before.  If the low cover and music doesn’t draw you in, then maybe the drink specials will.  For the past 10 years I’ve been in Columbia, the cost of everything has gone up except the price for a drink in 5 Points.  The Elbow Room has $1 PBR draft and plenty of other cheap drink specials to get you tipsy without breaking the bank.

The sound system is fine.  It isn’t top of the line, but it gets the job done.  I’m not sure that the everyday listener could even tell a difference from the system that Sudworks had in there.  I felt like they could have used a couple of more lights on stage, but who really cares about that.

Overall The Elbow Room is an enjoyable place for live music.  The bathrooms are cleaner than most, there is a long bar so it isn’t too hard to get a drink,  there is plenty of “elbow room” so you aren’t too packed in and the open air feel with the garage and windows open makes it a pretty good place to watch some bands.  There was a big crowd both nights I went making the venue really come to life.  Let’s see if they can sustain this.

Josh Roberts and the Hinges

Last week I talked about how they should move 5 Points After 5 to another venue if the weather wasn’t cooperating.  I doubt it was because of anything I said, but last week they moved the band from the fountain to The Elbow Room.  This worked out great because when I got to the venue there were about 100 people of all ages outside and a packed house inside.  The weather had cleared up and made for nice night.  Josh Roberts put on two blistering sets filled with guitar solos and plenty of rocking out.  Some of the artists said that the new Elbow Room had the same energy as the original.  I wish I could truly verify this.

Magnetic Flowers

The Magnetic Flowers are just what every Friday night needs.  After a week in the office everyone needs to get out, live a little and unlax.  From their opening notes, The Magnetic Flowers had the crowd hooked into their musical journey, taking everyone from a dreamy drunk with “Widescreen Version” to a screamalong version of Weezer’s “El Scorcho” with 10 people on stage.  Watch out for their CD Release July 25th at Art Bar.  We’ll be sure to remind you a couple of times in the future.

Tags: Josh Roberts and the Hinges, The Magnetic Flowers