The 8th annual Crossroads Music Fest kicks off this Friday, September 7 with a pre-party at Crossroads KC at Grinder’s! The show will include performances from The Good Foot, The Grisly Hand, and a special reunion show from The Supernauts. Tickets are $10 in advance and $13 on the day of the show.

The fest continues on Saturday, September 8 at Czar, The Brick and Midwestern Musical Co. Performances from The Hearts of Darkness, Starhaven Rounders, My Brothers & Sisters, Dead Voices, The Hillary Watts Riot, Dim Peepers, Appropriate Grammar, John Velghe & The Prodigal Sons, Cherokee Rock Rifle, Makuza, Victor & Penny, Mikal Shapiro, Rural Grit All-Stars, Thom Hoskins, The Atlantic and Kasey Rausch. A full schedule can be found at the link here. Saturday tickets are $15 in advance and $18 on the day of the show. Tickets for both days are $20 in advance. Each venue also has its own cover if you don’t have a festival pass. More info here.

The fest also includes a Legal Bootcamp for Musicians on Saturday, September 8 at Czar from 12:00-5:00 pm presented by the Kansas City Volunteer Lawyers & Accountants for the Arts. More info can be found at the link here. Admission is $10 if you are attending CMF.

Crossroads Music Fest is presented by Spice of Life Productions and co-sponsored by the Midwest Music Foundation (who also makes The Deli KC possible!). If you’re interested in volunteering for CMF, please contact rhonda@midwestmusicfound.org.

–Michelle Bacon

Share this story on Facebook

You can check out The Dead Girls‘ exclusive live in-studio Daytrotter session at the link here! The session was released today and is now available for download or streaming.

The Dead Girls are working on their next full-length album Fade In/Fade Out, which should be released later this year, and features four of the tracks in this session.

Finally, check out our story below, featuring drummer Eric Melin. He talks a little more about the upcoming album, which he calls their most mature work to date. And, well, you’ll just have to read the rest to find out. Do it!

–Michelle Bacon

Share this story on Facebook  

This week, we put drumming madman Eric Melin in the hot seat. The Dead Girls‘ drummer talks to us about his rock-n-roll-all-night approach to the skins, his passion for air guitar, and his life as a movie critic. Catch the beat right here!

On The Beat is typically brought to you by Sergio Moreno, but has been overtaken this week by drummer and The Deli – Kansas City editor-in-chief Michelle Bacon. This weekly interview features some of the many talented drummers in the area.

Share this story on Facebook

(Photo by Todd Zimmer)

The Quivers are one of the hardest working bands in Kansas City. Having only been together for over a year, they’ve released 2 EPs with plans for a full-length next year. They bring high energy to their live shows and a Motown flavor that most original bands in Kansas City lack. Our editor Michelle got to sit down with The Quivers while they were getting ready to release their latest EP Gots To Have It! and got to listen to their answers to Zach’s questions in this week’s Artists on Trial. Find out what secrets we were able to uncover below.

The Deli: Gun to your head, 1 sentence to describe your music. What is it?

The Quivers: Take my wallet, take my watch…please don’t kill me.

The Deli: Tell us about your latest release or upcoming shows. What can we expect?

The Quivers: We have just released out second EP, Gots To Have It!. (See our review of the album here!) We’ll also be headlining Greaserama on Sunday, September 2. There is this show that we are excited to go see, The Deli’s Music Showcase on November 9. We aren’t playing, but we’ll be there.

The Deli: What does "supporting local music" mean to you?

The Quivers: We live it. We love it. We love all our friends’ bands.

The Deli: Who are your favorite "local" musicians right now?

The Quivers: We love all our friends’ bands and Big Joe Turner.

The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on?

The Quivers: Thee Oh Sees, Tom Jones, Public Enemy, My Life With the Thrill Kill Cult.

The Deli: Would you rather spend the rest of your life on stage or in the recording studio?

The Quivers: Yes.

The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting up there and why?

The Quivers: Abe Haddad, Terra Peal, Bernie Dugan, and Todd Grantham. Because we are THE FUCKING QUIVERS!

The Deli: All right, give us the rundown. Where all on this big crazy web can you be found?

The Quivers: www.facebook.com/thequiversband
www.reverbnation.com/thequiverskc
www.cdbaby.com/Artist/TheQuivers1
itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-quivers/id338441795

The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for The Deli audience?

The Quivers: When eating onion rings, don’t settle for something that came off the back of a Sysco truck.

If they’re not too busy eating onion rings, The Quivers will be headlining Greaserama on Sunday, September 2 at 7:00 pm at Boulevard Drive-in Theatre. They’ll also be playing at Davey’s Uptown on Friday, September 14 with Deco Auto and Urges from Elsewhere (Minneapolis).  

–Zach Hodson

Zach is a lifetime Kansas City resident who plays multiple instruments and sings in Dolls on Fire and Drew Black and Dirty Electric, as well as contributing to many other Kansas City music, art, and comedy projects.  He is very fond of edamame, treats his cat Wiley better than he treats himself, and doesn’t want to see pictures of your newborn child (seriously, it looks like a potato).

Share this story on Facebook 

(Photo by Todd Zimmer)

Editor’s note and correction: Shelf Life is the second album release from The Hearts of Darkness. The band’s first album, a self-titled LP, was released in 2010 and available at Bandcamp.

"Welcome to the Middle of the Map!
Kansas City, to be exact!
I’m Les Izmore, and I’ve brought some friends along!
They go by …

THE HEARTS OF DARKNESS!"

The opening cadence of the very first song, the title track to The Hearts of Darkness’ new album Shelf Life, is not an introduction.  It is not a gentle request for your attention.  What it is … (deep breath) … is one of Kansas City’s most bombastic frontmen throwing down the gauntlet and defying you to turn your attention away from the forty-five-minute barrage of music and lyrics that comprise the first full-length effort of a band whose reputation as a live act without peer has been growing since its inception in 2008. Their progression has followed the standard blueprint of sought-after success: play gigs, become known for their live shows, record an EP, play more gigs, get asked to play high-profile slots in such big-ticket events as Farm Aid and Kanrocksas, release a bonafide album. Two years in the making, Shelf Life brings together the beat of West Africa, the spirit of New Orleans, the funk of James Brown, the rhythm of Fela Kuti, and the soul of Count Basie.  There’s also no shortage of KC pride here; HoD makes it very clear that they are raising the hometown flag high throughout the record.

Not bad for a group that bandleader Bob Asher describes as a "side project" when they came together nearly 5 years ago.  He says that most of the musicians (anywhere between 12 and 19 on a given night) had little to no experience playing in a band, so the Hearts of Darkness sound was carefully cultivated along the way.  The result is a collective that is amazingly tight in spite of its sometimes sprawling stage presence – and a presence they are, with Izmore and a formidable trio of dynamic, compelling ladies providing the lyrics to music that demands movement from the listener. While the rhythm is almost always on full-speed-ahead mode, the messages aren’t always simply about having fun and dancing the night away, as witnessed by such tracks as "Standing on the Corner" and "Got to Hustle."  Chad Meise at The Cooler Studio does yeoman work in capturing the energy of a live performance, but vinyl and plastic can only do so much, so attending HoD’s CD release party (emphasis on "party," as The Good Foot will be laying down the soul groove sounds as well) is highly recommended.

What’s next for The Hearts of Darkness?  According to Asher, some well-deserved down time, as the band will be cutting back on performances for the rest of the year and gearing up for 2013, with new songs at the ready. The target to kick back into full swing is around Mardi Gras time – and what better event for such an unstoppable musical force to flex its muscles? Shelf Life will either be the start of a new sonic addiction or the latest dose of an already-ingrained habit.  As Les and the ladies ask in "Numeration," how far will they go before they stop?

Here’s hoping we don’t find out where the “stop” is for a long, long time.

The Hearts of Darkness will be releasing Shelf Life at a special release party this Saturday, August 25 at Knuckleheads Saloon at 8:00 pm. They’ll be accompanied by special guests The Good Foot.

–Michael Byars

Michael is the host of The Mailbox, a weekly podcast that offers new music, concert info and news about the Kansas City area and more. In his spare time you might find him looking for some good live music, particularly at a certain bar that has lots of records.

Share this story on Facebook 

Check out this new video from Thee Water MoccaSins, "Fumbling Toward the Abyss" from their album From The Rivers of Missouri and the Banks of Fear. This is the first of eight videos released by the band. They’ll also be performing tonight at The Riot Room with special guests Be/Non and Olivetti Letter.

Share this story on Facebook 

We have drummer, bassist, solo artist, emcee, reverend, and jack of all trades Amy Farrand in the hot seat this week. She tells us about her longstanding drumming career in this city, along with her penchant for toy drum kits. Catch the beat right here!

On The Beat is typically brought to you by Sergio Moreno, but has been overtaken this week by drummer and The Deli – Kansas City editor-in-chief Michelle Bacon. This weekly interview features some of the many talented drummers in the area.

Share this story on Facebook

(Photo by Jessica Keller)

The Prolific has released the first single from its upcoming album Social Movement. "Take Me Down (Lucy)" showcases the four-piece group’s talent and dedication to a solid studio recording (mixed by Chris Cosgrove), with a pleasantly surprising horn section that propels the song forward. Jesse Thompson puts her soulful vocal pipes on display, accompanied by three musicians who have a clear awareness of one another’s abilities: Joshua Veach, Walt Powell and Stephanie Williams have collaborated  in other projects since 2005. Veach’s crunchy guitar riffs provide an abrasive but complementary counterpoint to Powell’s smooth, jazzy bass lines and Williams’ tight, compelling beats.

We look forward to hearing more from The Prolific when its album drops in late September or October.

–Michelle Bacon

Michelle Bacon is the editor-in-chief of The Deli Magazine – Kansas City and she likes bacon.

Share this story on Facebook

As a rule, I very much dislike covers. I do not like playing them, I do not like listening to them, I often irrationally feel somewhat slighted when I find out a song that I really enjoy is actually a cover. Despite my rational brain, I just have a personal distaste for hearing someone butcher another person’s art by half-ass learning it just to get a huge round of "woos" when it comes around to chorus that everyone knows.

Now, before you get all twisted, I also know there are many, many exceptions to this. I know how pop music works. I understand the game. I really do. I actually have a long-standing conspiracy theory that the pop music industry is just some elaborate Wizard of Oz-esque hoax. Just one tired old mindless robot of a man hunched over in a room with no windows cranking out the next "Call Me Maybe" or "Starships."  But, I’ll save that for another blog post.

Regardless, when a cover is pulled off correctly, it accentuates and elevates the original piece of music. It tips its hat to the original spirit while bringing in a new and exciting flavor. I suppose I can even make myself admit that covers can be an art unto themselves.

For a recent compilation by our friends over at Kill Your TV, James Christos and Wurm & the Madness surely reinforce that. The track is called "Revolt (Off the Wall)."  Originally performed by James Christos (James D’ Conqueror) featuring Ava Bella, it is 3 minutes and 35 seconds of high-energy, sub-busting, dance-infused hip-hop. Christos’ precise and cutting verses lay a solid groundwork upon which Bella fiercely drives the hook with a soulful, sassy and scalding vocal that jumps off the track. It is lively, fun and accessible, even for a whiter-than-white-bread boy like me. I will freely admit I don’t often listen to a lot of hip-hop, but I would if it all sounded as good as this.

So, along comes Wurm & the Madness. They describe themselves as an art rap outfit. Philosophical and/or indie hip-hop would be another good descriptor. Revolt is a pretty straight forward party song, so I was certainly intrigued to hear what they would do with this track.

Driven by a verby and textured acoustic guitar, their take on the song wanders towards the Portishead or Soul Coughing direction. However, it’s not all folk and mirrors, as the track is accompanied by a most definite electronic percussion element and what I’m guessing is a distorted bass. Wurm’s verses drip with piss and vinegar, gradually building an aura of distress and tension. Kitten, the female half of Wurm & the Madness, handles more vocally than just hook duties and is often paired with Wurm’s half-spoken/half-sung vocals to great spooky effect.

The duo manages to transform the party song into a slow anxious stumble down a dimly-lit hallway, the masked killer certain to prey from the shadows at any moment. Occasionally the hook comes around to provide a strip of light to see by, but then quickly back into the dark and psychological. Wurm & the Madness’s version is the Saw trap that the original song got put into.

Both versions of "Revolt (Off the Wall)" are phenomenal in their own right. Even beyond that, both of these artists are certainly worth checking out. Christos may be one of the hardest working music people in this town.

In addition, Kill Your TV KC has a whole compilation of covers in the works. Locals covering locals. Keep your ears open as that gets updated. I hope all the efforts that come out of it are as good as these.

Other songs on the Kill Your TV KC Cover Up Series currently include:

• "Go Down, Baldwin City, KS" by Ddean Cassidy, covered by The Dirty Fingers
• "Ghost Movie.Octopus Girl" by The Black Bullet Promise, covered by The Swing
• "#4" by Kitten Tits, covered by Merriweather
• "Freak Out" by The Quivers, covered by Vitae and The Pale Horse
• "Rushmore" by Merriweather, covered by Kitten Tits

–-Zach Hodson

Zach is a lifetime Kansas City resident who plays multiple instruments and sings in Dolls on Fire and Drew Black and Dirty Electric, as well as contributing to many other Kansas City music, art, and comedy projects.  He is very fond of edamame, treats his cat Wiley better than he treats himself, and doesn’t want to see pictures of your newborn child (seriously, it looks like a potato).

Share this story on Facebook

 

(Photo by Todd Zimmer)

Thee Water MoccaSins are one of the most well-known, yet most elusive bands in Kansas City. While frontman Billy Smith is now making his mark in New York, the other members of the group (Steven Tulipana, Wade Williamson and John Berusch) remain busy with a host of other projects. This week, we get a rare chance to sit down and talk with the group and find out a little more.

The Deli: Gun to your head: One sentence to describe your music. What is it?

Thee Water MoccaSins: We call it Psychedelic Electronic Fractal Pop. It is music that was made with a sense of urgency with an overall goal of keeping all things casual. Not only musically but internally as a band member. Easy Breezy.

The Deli: Let’s talk about your latest release or upcoming shows. What can we expect?

TWM: We have a show coming up on Thursday, August 23 at The Riot Room with Be/Non and Olivetti Letter.

The Deli: What does "supporting local music" mean to you?

TWM: The members of our band have spent most of our lives creating, participating and nurturing the local music scene by being booking agents, club owners, studio producers, haunted house builders, back patters and bartenders. All vital cogs in the local music machine. We take great pride in how the local music community represents itself.

The Deli: Who are your favorite "local" musicians right now?

TWM: We like bands that like are more exploratory in the live setting. Expo ’70, Be/Non, Ad Astra Arkestra, Gemini Revolution, Surroundher, Conquerors, Soft Reeds.

The Deli: Who are your favorite not-so-local musicians right now?

TWM: Digging bands like Tame Impala, Django Django, Tinarwen, Caetano Veloso.

The Deli: What is your ultimate fantasy concert bill to play on?

TWM: Queen with Einstürzende Neubauten, Stone Roses, My Bloody Valentine & The Residents.

The Deli: Would you rather spend the rest of your life on stage or in the recording studio?

TWM: Each one has a personal satisfaction. In the studio you get that instant song playback that gives you chills when the mix is perfect. I love to push the boundaries of what the studio can offer. It always helps when the producer/engineer is willing and able to help us experiment with sounds and non-traditional ideas when tracking songs. Chris Cosgrove really helped guide this record. And so far we have all been lucky with working with great producers and engineers. Thee Water MoccaSins could easily maintain and flourish within the settings of only a studio. Live: We love to play these songs live. We get to open the songs up a bit more like how we originally wrote them. Feeding off each other and being able to reach a psychic level of playing is about the highest mental plateau that humans can reach. And we push to open a communal bliss between us and the audience when we play live by adding an intense light show and percussive audience participation during some numbers. It is our attempt to say that All Are Welcome here.

The Deli: A music-themed Mount Rushmore. What four faces are you putting there and why?

TWM: Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Mark Mothersbaugh. Wise Man, Protector, Lover, Human Dissent.

The Deli: All right, give us the rundown. Where all on this big crazy web can you be found?

TWM: www.theewatermoccaSins.com. You can download or listen to our full record. It sounds a bit silly when you just stream it due to some songs being strung together. Just buy it.

The Deli: Always go out on a high note. Any last words of wisdom for The Deli audience?

TWM: We would like to thank everyone for their continual support. Support your locals. Never bite the hand that feeds you. Please be good to each other. Start Now.

Thee Water MoccaSins will be bringing their psychedelic electronic fractal pop to blow away The Riot Room this Thursday, August 23 with special guests Be/Non and Olivetti Letter. Since they rarely play live shows, this is your chance to see them. Prepare to be impressed.

–-Zach Hodson

Zach is a lifetime Kansas City resident who plays multiple instruments and sings in Dolls on Fire and Drew Black and Dirty Electric, as well as contributing to many other Kansas City music, art, and comedy projects.  He is very fond of edamame, treats his cat Wiley better than he treats himself, and doesn’t want to see pictures of your newborn child (seriously, it looks like a potato).

Share this story on Facebook

(Photo by Todd Zimmer)

Life can be an asshole sometimes. It is without balance and as unstable as a drunken college girl with daddy issues. We’ve all been there. Everyone knows that girl. The date is going fine. She’s enjoying her dinner and talking about her cats when suddenly and without warning she’s crying about needing a hug. Her makeup streaks and the cheerleader you brought to Applebee’s suddenly looks like Alice Cooper. Out of nowhere life and everything that exists within it takes a 90-degree turn and the relaxing evening you had planned melts into a shitmess. By the end of the night there is no room or need to question why cheerqueen’s dad never returned.

But what does this have to do with music you ask? Aren’t you reviewing The Architects?

Okay, okay. I’m getting there.

Much like the above scenario, music can be a fickle, fickle bitch.Take watching a show for example. On any given night, fans are making a 20-dollar commitment on a 50/50 bet. Generally speaking, catching a good show is nothing more than a coin flip. Any band, even ones commonly known for owning the stage could have an off night without warning. Because guitars sometimes untune, members sometimes get drunk, venues hire underqualified sound guys, and people have bad days, there is no getting around the fact that sometimes good bands are going to let you down. There is no exception to this rule.

Except that somehow The Architects DO seem to be the exception to that rule.

Plagued by sickness and nausea, Kansas City’s punk poets pushed through their return to the recordBar, pressing out one of the most full tilt takes on music that 2012 has presented to me. Drenched in sweat by the third cut, the brothers Phillips and guitarist Keenan Nichols put in more cardio on stage than most people do in a lifetime. Twitching, jerking and slamming around the room, every note becomes a point of exclamation. Not only are the guys not fucking around, they’re going to make damn sure you know that they know what they’re doing. Night in and night out, their blue-collar, punch-the-clock approach to their craft can be felt as fluently as the stand in front of you. They not only intend to bring the rock, they intend to slap you in the face with it.

Unlike all other measures of life however, that aggression is a commendable quality in music. Take, for example, the way the band approaches headcount. Lesser bands might raise a stink about playing a three-quarters full recordBar after adding tours with My Chemical Romance and Flogging Molly. However on this night, a casual observer would assume the band was playing Shea Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd. As every night is their Super Bowl, your cover charge is taken care of before the end of the first song. There is no room for disappointment, musically or visually.

Combining the pure elements of punk with their obvious 1990s influences, the diversity of the band is rather amazing. This isn’t your average three-chord punk band. With sounds dating back to their time as The Gadjits, elements of calendar days long gone bleed out of their set lists. Twitching from influences by The Clash to particles of a rockabilly sound to a “Banditos”-like The Refreshments sound, anyone who has liked music in the last 15 years can find something familiar about the band. Furthermore, even if you were born after the fall of flannel, watching the band flex its musical muscle is unquestionably for everyone. As Brandon leans from the mic and howls his message with sweat dripping down across his nose, it is impossible not to be touched a little by the passion of the group. But if that isn’t enough for you to be convinced, I’ve formed a small list to leave you. You can read it below:

The totally unbiased list of reasons why you should love The Architects:

1. No one in Kansas City drums harder than Adam Phillips.
2. The band not only still writes guitar solos, Keenan Nichols owns them.
3. Zach’s bass lines, combined with Adam’s drums, will make you shake your ass.
4. They’re the hardest working band in Kansas City.
5. Chances are they were making music when you were learning to color. They know more about music than you do.
6. It is better than dating a girl with daddy issues.

And with that, I’ve gone full circle.

For more photos from this show taken by the amazing Todd Zimmer, follow the link here.

 –Joshua Hammond

After stints drumming for both The Afternoons and Jenny Carr and the Waiting List in the Lawrence/Kansas City music scene, Joshua Hammond found his footing as a music journalist, launching the national publication Popwreckoning. After running the show as Editor in Chief for 6 years, Hammond stepped away from the reigns to freelance for other publications like Under The Gun Review and High Voltage Magazine. This shift allowed the adequate amount of time for him to write passionately, allow the Kansas City Royals to break his heart on a daily basis and spoon his cats just enough that they don’t shred his vinyl.

Share this story on Facebook 

It’s great to know why musicians do what they do. Why they write songs about heartache or joy. What kind of emotion they’re trying to express. Who they most look up to. That’s the magic of what they do. But then there’s the science of it. How do they make the most raw or sensual sounds come out of their instruments?

For this week’s edition of Grinding Gears, we catch up with keyboardist Nick Combs of The Latenight Callers. He’s a madman on the keys, and a recovering drummer. 

Read our interview at the link here!

–Michelle Bacon

Share this story on Facebook