Updated:Awesome Line Up at Music Crawl

2008 FREE TIMES MUSIC CRAWL :: ABOUT OUR ARTISTS

Art Bar (Outdoors)
Venice is Sinking (1 a.m.-until)
With its impressive male-female harmonies and dense, meandering melodies, Athens’ Venice is Sinking creates lush, engaging and beautiful dream-pop. Uniquely soft and charming, but with a dark undercurrent akin to Low or Mojave 3, Venice is Sinking is one of Athens’ finest post-millennial exports.

Magnetic Flowers (11:30 p.m.-12:15 a.m.)
Country-fried indie rock is the name of the game for these youngsters, who can tackle Bright Eyes-style alt-country as adeptly as they can psych-pop akin to the famed Elephant Six collective.

Marry a Thief (10-10:45 p.m.)
Who says there aren’t any earnest songwriters anymore? The brainchild of Columbia singer-songwriter Eric Skelton, Marry a Thief combines slick pop hooks with somber indie-rock sentiments, recalling latter-day Death Cab for Cutie.

Daniel Machado (9-9:30 p.m.)
Daniel Machado know just how to pen pitch-perfect power-pop gems. His latest record, Themes in American Friction, is chock full of such toe-tapping, easily hummable songs, cementing Machado as one of Columbia’s finest young tunesmiths.

The Decade (8-8:30 p.m.)
The Decade’s adherence to the tried-and-true formula of one part churning guitars, one part memorable hooks and a heaping helping of earnest vocals brings them to the crest of the Capital City’s burgeoning pop-punk wave.

All Get Out (7-7:30 p.m.)
The Charleston quartet is signed to Atlanta-based label Favorite Gentlemen Recordings, and with good reason: Much like labelmates Manchester Orchestra, All Get Out plays simple music with no agenda, mixing contagious melodies, perfect harmonies, smart lyrics and an enthusiastic performance ethic.

Art Bar (Indoors)
Death Becomes Even the Maiden (12:15-1 a.m.)
features former members of post-punkers From Safety to Where, arthouse proggers Bolt and indie-scuzzies Haunted Bulldozer. This power trio streamlines the influences of all three into an immediate and arresting brand of indie grunge that’s reminiscent of Unwound and Nirvana.

This Machine is Me (10:45-11:30 p.m.)
Powered by Jayna Doyle’s powerhouse vocals, This Machine is Me crafts a slick, dance-rock attack not unlike The Killers, crossing playfully back and forth between hard-driving rock and gorgeous, emotional pop.

The Reverie (9:30-10 p.m.)
The Reverie is a rock band, pure and simple, and the Columbia quartet plays its left-of-center rock – strengthened by dramatic, Jeff Buckley-esque vocals – with unsurprising aplomb.

Cassangles (8:30-9 p.m.)
Cassangles are a lot like Superman: Drummer Logan Goldstein is faster than a speeding bullet, Bob Boatwright’s basslines are more powerful than a steaming locomotive and Joshua McCormick’s spiraling guitarlines are able to leap buildings in a single bound. This is truly instrumental rock of the highest order.

The Rise of Science (7:30-8 p.m.)
Relying on organic blend of vocal harmonies, prog guitars and drums, cinematic strings and intertwined piano, Atlanta quintet The Rise of Science is, indeed, a band on the rise.

Flying Saucer
Josh Roberts & the Hinges (12:45 a.m.-until)
One-half of the songwriting dynamo of Captain Easy, Josh Roberts shakes loose the good vibrations of his former band and ups the twang factor with his new one, the Hinges. Expect raw, raucous barnburners and thick, Southern rock ‘n’ roll.

Hot Lava Monster (11:45 p.m.-12:30 a.m.)
With the scorching guitar work of Mike Schaming and the dynamic presence of vocalist Patrick Baxley, Hot Lava Monster’s sound is every bit as big as their name suggests. Influenced by giants like Led Zeppelin, their brand of molten rock ‘n’ roll is exhilarating and engaging.

Danielle Howle (10:45-11:30 p.m.)
A nationally revered and recognized songwriter, Danielle Howle has performed with Bob Dylan, Ani DiFranco, Elliott Smith, Steve Earle and the Indigo Girls. Her music tends to call upon folk and rock influences, but, by and large, the story within each song ultimately dictates how it will sound.

Sunshone Still (9:45-10:30 p.m.)
When he isn’t running a Columbia restaurant, Chris Smith is tending to his labor of love, Sunshone Still. His dusty Americana recalls the sounds of Damien Rice, Richard Buckner, Jay Farrar and Damien Jurado – all of whom are extremely respected and revered in their genre.

The Daylight Hours (8:45-9:30 p.m.)
More akin to singer-songwriter pop than his previous band’s epic emotional hardcore, The Daylight Hours is the perfect vehicle for David Adedokun’s crisp, tuneful tenor and his complex, literate songwriting. Gentle acoustic strumming is fleshed out with pristine electric-guitar melodies and laconic drumming, with Adedokun’s voice is wisely at the forefront.

Headliners
Luna Halo (12:20 a.m.-until)
Luna Halo comes Rick Rubin-approved: The Nashville quartet calls Columbia imprint American Recordings, the label owned and run by the rock magnate. Luna Halo’s sound is tight and dynamic, like any modern rock band worth its salt should be.

Run Run Run (11:20-12:05 p.m.)
Los Angeles’ Run Run Run is one of the leading lights of a West Coast psychedelic rock revival: The band’s blend of shoegazer pop and grunge favors bold and immediate hooks, alternately dreamy and disillusioned.

Testing Ground (10:20-11:05 p.m.)
Testing Ground deals in melodic, angst-ridden punk-rock anthems, recalling the best of Columbia rock legends Stretch Arm Strong.

The Starseed Project (9:20-10:05 p.m.)
The Starseed Project are replanting big rock roots with a contemporary façade by going back to the basics of loud guitars, booming bass and drums and a soaring vocalist.

Blynd Sight (8:20-9:05 p.m.)
Charleston hard-rock band Blindsyght’s falls into the modern metal genre while avoiding most of the category’s clichés.

Mellow Mushroom
The Papa String Band (11:30 p.m.-until)
Ever since the late Jerry Garcia began incorporating bluegrass into his Grateful Dead and solo projects, bluegrass and jam music have shared a unique musical bond that has inspired generations of followers to incorporate both genres into their music. Papa String Band is of that school.

The Private Life of David Reed (10:30-11:15 p.m.)
Though his band Closer, hit the skids early in 2008, David Reed has successfully struck out for himself, utilizing his knack for thick pop-rock hooks and intelligent lyrics.

Nick Pagliari (9:30-10:15 p.m.)
Nick Pagliari’s got the twang of Nashville in his voice and the spirit of Memphis in his soul. It’s a combination that makes his songs indelible snapshots of life – ringing portraits of love, ambition, dreams, connections and the rest of what matters.

The Choir Quit (8:30-9:15 p.m.)
The Choir Quit plays charming, whimsical indie -folk that recalls the best of Beat Happening, Beck and The Moldy Peaches, all infused with titanic doses of effervescent sunshine. You will be smiling. We promise.

Wet Willie’s
Analog Moon (12:15 a.m.-until)
Taking a classic spin on jam-rock, this band would have sounded right at home during the ’60s at the Fillmore Auditorium.

Leslie (11:15-12 a.m.)
Leslie is named after the old-school Leslie rotary speaker cabinet, and the Charleston trio’s powerful, swaggering rock is equally retro, combines The Who, Humble Pie and T. Rex into a grand, raucous, hedonistic musical mixtape. Instead of inspiring nostalgia, though, Leslie demands fist-pumping devotion.

The Fossil Record (10:15 p.m.-11 p.m.)
The best bands thrive on songs that buck convention and defy easy categorization. Such a band is The Fossil Record, a Columbia quartet that thrives on the work of Chris Compton, a veteran of the local music scene and one of its best songwriters.

The Friendly Confines (9:15-10 p.m.)
Singer-songwriter Rob Lindsey’s laid-back acoustic tunes take a completely new life in The Friendly Confines, screaming like a runaway locomotive, threatening to careen off the tracks but never failing to deliver with a sound somewhere between Steve Earle and Tom Waits.

Will Erickson (8:15-9 p.m.)
The sound of Will Erickson is a combination of a percussive strumming, reggae, folk, a taste of funk and a little hint of Southern rock all wrapped into an acoustic performance.