News

GROWNASS DEALS. Today you can finally pick up new music from Shouting Matches (GROWNASS MAN - $12 CD, $23 vinyl). And today only – Tuesday, April 16 – at The Local Store (205 N Dewey Street, EC), purchasing the album in the shop will get you 10% off any discs from the band’s other projects (Bon Iver, Peter Wolf Crier, Laarks, Megafaun, Phil Cook, etc.). This album has been a long time coming for local Shouting Matches fans. Enjoy yourself.

On Saturday, April 12, Shouting Matches played the massive Coachella Music Festival (Indio, California). Shouting Matches is Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Megafaun's Phil Cook and Laarks/Peter Wolf Crier’s Brian Moen. Until this show, the blues rock band had never played outside the Chippewa Valley. Check out their entire Coachella set, in three parts:

There have been rumblings for some time now about a return of the Chippewa Valley’s own Shouting Matches. That time has come.

The blues-rock project, which involves Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Megafaun's Phil Cook and Laarks/Peter Wolf Crier’s Brian Moen, has existed only in fleeting one-off shows and a mysterious EP that has floated around the area (and the Internet) have a new record coming out on April 16 called GROWNASS MAN.

We don’t know much about the album, except that it was recorded over the last year in Vernon’s Fall Creek studio and that it’s being released on the Middle West label – which we assume is connected to the local management company of the same name that manages all of Vernon’s various projects.

The Shouting Matches have also announced a few shows outside the Chippewa Valley, including one at Coachella Music Festival in California on April 12 and 19.

While the band’s handful of performances over the years have consisted of Vernon and Moen, the latest version of the act is going back to its roots – original (though short-lived) member Phil Cook has rejoined the project. All three have a distinct musical history together from now-defunct local acts DeYarmond Edison and Amateur Love.

The band’s last appearance was a wild, raucous show in 2010 at Volume One’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Kickball Classic. Check out a video from that show below and check back for more information on GROWNASS MAN as it’s available. Once released, The Local Store will have it on both CD and vinyl.

UPDATED (4-8-13): The record is available now to stream on NPR Music's website. GROWNASS MAN isn't quite as raucous as the band's previous efforts, with a little more blues-y, less rock-y vibe, even verging at times on a Nashville country sound. AND! You can get it on iTunes as of April 9.

picard is releasing their debut album titled “#1” and have started a Kickstarter to help fund the project. picard started as a solo “project” by Jason Ulwelling in February 2012. I place the word project in quotations because it wasn’t started with the intention of starting a band or even selling albums. It began as Ulwelling’s search for his own personal love of music. As he began to share this experience with others, musicians and friends Mike Donaldson, Eric Giardina, and Brad Hanson jumped on board with this approach to creating music. For each of them, it became very emotional as they explored what happens when they just let the music go how it will and “create itself” as Ulwelling explains it. When asked “What is picard?” Donaldson responded by saying “[picard is a] bunch of like minded individuals with an actual work ethic and can all play their instruments and are creative and can write. Picard is amazing in that respect.” Hanson meanwhile couldn’t help but laugh when he was asked the same question. He answered by saying, “It’s an accident that turned into a damn good blessing.” Check out their Kickstarter for more information, interviews, and a preview song. Funding ends April 28.

Above: Rockstars

Dwarfcraft Devices, everyone’s favorite effects pedal company based out of Eau Claire, has been making a name for itself in the musical equipment industry. Their various distortion pedals are for sale in music shops both local and national, as well as through big-name online retailers like Musician’s Friend and Pro Guitar Shop. Recently, the company has been getting a lot of love from one musician in particular: Weezer bassist Scott Shriner. Check out the video below, in which Shriner demos four different fuzz pedals, including Dwarfcraft’s Baby Thunda.  Starting about a minute into the clip, Shriner gushes about the cutting edge the Baby Thunda gives him, and why it’s become one of his favorite pedals. Cue the video up to 3:20 for complete sonic proof of the Baby Thunda’s destructive capabilities.