johndurhammusic

[johndurhammusic]

Local Green

Local Green has its roots in two separately concocted, but very similar, ideas. The first was an effort by Dr. LuvBeatz and Wes Treadway to keep making music amidst the temporary slowdown of their ‘home’ band. The second, the slow realization of a long held hope to build a musical community that could collectively help each other weather the winds of a cold and chaotic world. From that came Local Green, an organization, collective, and idea that has as many definitions as it does members.

It has become a loose knit community of local musicians, visual artists, great cooks, artisan jewelers, and people who love and support the art currently being created in the area. In the past year we’ve thrown our first festival (LionzFest at Quest in June), thrown an intimate lawn-concert featuring artists from Charleston and Asheville alongside our hometown troubadour Doug Jones, started a podcast series, and formed the Local Green Family Band. The podcasts serve as a slowly accumulating audio encyclopedia of the Local Green family. The Family Band exists as something of a musical spillway that allow many of the 30+ family members to play various gigs together and just have fun playing music. From Downtown Alive (in April), to our semi-regular Dance Parties, to our bi-monthly gig at Aloft, we’re regularly joining forces to jam on a wish-list of silly pop songs.

While the most publicly active branch of the local green tree may be the cover-heavy Family Band, the real core of the group is original output. Paradoxically, I’m most interested in playing covers with people who also write great originals. The vast majority of people you’ll see onstage at a Local Green show are very talented songwriters (even if you do happen to see them playing some 80s song you’re embarrassed to admit you like), which allows us to be unabashed about our cover-song choices.

The next big event produced by Local Green will put a spotlight on some great local songwriters. Add the Swamp Rabbit Music Fest to your calendar for September 10th. We’re joining forces with the ever awesome team behind the Swamp Rabbit Inn to host a daylong party full of music, food trucks, and great, local vendors. This time around we’re putting a real focus on the singer-songwriters active in the upstate by hosting 11 great artists at one of Swamp Rabbit’s ‘satellite’ properties near Furman.

Mark Dye (of The Work), Baby Kudzu & The Business (AVL),  The LOZ Band (acoustic), Doug Jones, Angela Easterling, Leslie Smith, Kelly Jo, Rush Morgen, Darby Wilcox, Vilai Harrington, and Lerm/Kyle (of Four14) are all scheduled to take the stage/front porch throughout the day. We’ll have more info and clips from the players in the next month’s issue of Fete, but, suffice to say, that lineup represents a solid slice of the upstate songwriters.

To avoid putting to a fine of a point on it, I often say that each person has their own Local Green. Meaning, everyone likely has a group of people that is precious and powerful to them, but unknown the world at large. A band they think should be famous, chef that should have his own restaurant, or painter who should be a household name. But we know how long of a journey it will require for those goals to be realized. Local Green is an attempt by one group of artists/supporters to build a system that will allow us to find success on our own terms while keeping our sanity intact (a sometimes dubious prospect for the artistic types).

Upcoming Local Green shows:  8/6/16 – Dance Party 3 – Gottrocks | 9/10/16 – Swamp Rabbit Music Fest

https://www.facebook.com/localgreenmusic/ https://soundcloud.com/local-green (podcasts) https://www.facebook.com/events/574025606112732/ (Swamp Rabbit Music Fest)

[johndurhammusic]

Build-A-Band

On April 1, 2015 John Durham Music will present a great showfeaturing dozens of local artists at Independent Public Alehouse (Greenville, SC). I'm calling it "build a band" and it will feature 36 local musicians arranged into six groups, each playing 25 minutes worth of music. The original idea was born of a backstage conversation this past fall with members of the local music community. As we discussed the depth of the local scene I made an offhand comment that it would be interesting if bands, like professional athletic teams, freely traded players year-to-year. After an unfortunately cutthroat detour, I resolved to find a "painless" way to add some spontaneity to the already established local acts. I eventually settled upon the idea of drawing bands from a hat.

I soon realized that while this idea was wholly unique from my perspective similar things have been done in the recent past and on a local level. I presume there is some seven syllable German word for an idea that one thinks is unique, and is conjured in a vacuum, but actually has historical precedents that I should probably learn. On February 24, 2015 I met with some ensemble members at independent public alehouse to draw the bands. After a few last-minute additions I had arranged 36 local musicians into six awesome lineups. The show will benefit the Greenville Humane Society. I am thankful for their enthusiasm and look forward to raising money for such a worthy group. I am incredibly grateful for all of the participating musicians. While there are clearly dozens of great upstate musicians who are not involved in this project, every musician who is involved in this project is a great talent. Many of the upstate's best bands will be represented (either in part or in whole) throughout the night. Show starts between 7:30 and 8p, depending on the crowd, and there's an $8 cover charge at the door. 100% of money raised at the door goes to the Humane Society.

[johndurhammusic]

'Fire Love' by The LOZ Band! Super excited to be playing with this band.

https://www.reverbnation.com/thelionzofzion

[johndurhammusic]

On February 6th John Durham Music will be presenting a celebration of the music of Bob Marley on day of his birth. I’ll be joined by 4/5 of the Lionz of Zion (J. Forbus, W. Treadway, “Hootie”, and Dr. Luv Beatz), Neil Alexander, Josh Bowers, Russ Moore, and others. We’re playing the first set of the night and then Sun Dried Vibes will take the stage to rock the rest of the night. Get there early to catch a short, but powerful set of Marley songs.

(Image by Drew Miller)

[johndurhammusic]

My cover of the Doctor Who theme song.

[johndurhammusic]

'Friend of My Own' - Zach Dixon/Milli Fungus - 12.31.13 w/ John Durham

Milli let me join them for a couple of tunes at their recent New Year's Eve show at Gottrocks. Very grateful for the opportunity to rock with those fellows.

[johndurhammusic]

'Long Ride Home (Overture)>Flight of the Nazgul'

From the 2012 edition of the Firetag's birthday bash.

[johndurhammusic]

Playing guitar, keyboards, and bass at various points with Milli Fungus. Always a pleasure to share the stage with those guys.