JJ Grey & MOFRO is probably one of the most kickass southern bands that you may have never heard of. Blending the classic southern rock & roll and the blues with a soul/funk/R&B sound, these Jacksonville, FL natives have been a welcome sound in the live music scene for the past decade. With four great albums under their belt (two billed as MOFRO and two billed as JJ Grey & MOFRO), fans and critics have been eagerly awaiting the band’s fifth album, ‘Georgia Warhorse’, which hits the proverbial shelves on August 24th.
Photo Credit: Darren Jacknisky
Joined by Toots Hibbert of Toots & the Maytals and Derek Trucks on two tracks on ‘Georgia Warhorse’ on Alligator Records, JJ Grey & MOFRO recorded their new eleven track album in a studio full of vintage equipment in near the Georgia state line in Jacksonville, FL. I’m not sure how they were able to get the time to record with their exhausting touring across the nation with appearances at many of the biggest music festivals during the summer.
I caught an early listen of “The Sweetest Thing”, the new single from ‘Georgia Warhorse’ featuring a duet with Toots Hibbert, and it did not disappoint. The track has a funky horn line paired with vocals by Grey and Hibbert in addition to rustic guitar riffs and the classic swamp rhythm that has put JJ Grey & MOFRO in constant rotation on my iPod. Make sure you pick up a copy of ‘Georgia Warhorse’ on 8/24 but, in the mean time, go ahead and get their discography: (’Blackwater’ (2001), ‘Lochaloosa’ (2004), ‘Country Ghetto’ (2007), & ‘Orange Blossoms’ (2008) plus a vinyl-only version of their hits called ‘The Choice Cuts’). All four albums are perfect for summertime driving or just kicking it outside on a nice day.
JJ Grey & Mofro will be playing at The Pour House in Raleigh on July 21st with Amelia’s Mechanic opening for them (a very talented band out of Greensboro, NC that you should check out). You should definitely mark this show on your calendar and buy a ticket because you won’t be able to see JJ Grey & MOFRO in this intimate of a live music setting for long. If you are not in North Carolina, check out their tour schedule on Facebook to find out where they are playing near you.
Check out the music video of the title track off of their album ‘Orange Blossoms’ below:
Here is another video for “On Fire” off of their ‘Orange Blossoms’ album:
Nick and the Babes will be performing at the Berkeley Cafe on Friday, June 11th, in Raleigh. Zach Terry of The Whiskey Smugglers and Cat Albanese will play supporting acts so it should be one helluva evening of live music.
Nick and the Babes are Americana to the core. You can hear a lot of Ryan Adams, Wilco and The Avett Brothers (they played with Jim Avett a few weeks ago) in their music and they combine honest songwriting, pedal steel, rock guitars and a love for headbands to create a sound all their own. If you like some good alt-country and are looking to get nice on a Friday night with some good music, make your way down the Berkeley Cafe can check out Nick and the Babes.
Though their band name might have fooled you, there isn’t one female in the band:
Nick Bailey – vocals/guitar Graham Bailey – drum kit/vocals Rob Wank – keys/vocals Dail Reed – bass John Speight – pedal steel/guitar
Here is a video of Nick and the Babes playing “Punch You In The Face” last year at The Pour House:
If you can’t make the show tomorrow night, catch them playing with Holy Ghost Tent Revival next Thursday (June 17th) at The Pour House. The show starts at 9 p.m.
Title stolen from Unsilent, video snagged from Jalopnik. It’s what you would expect, although maybe the fact that the dude was drunk and at an airport makes this a little bit less of a “good idea” and more of a “dangerous, deadly hazard.”
So, as mentioned before, it seemed utterly impossible that Jeebus could bless the world enough to actually end up with quality footage of the Wrightsville Beach streaker who got tased this weekend.
Obviously, that wasn’t too much to ask (there are multiple videos popping up on Youtube now). And it seemed, too, that the story couldn’t get any better after that.
Well, we assumed too quickly again. Turns out that Matt Pick, the Wrightville Beach Streaker, who’s superbly awesome mugshot you see above, is an ECU football player.
His profile is here, where he claims that he’s an “affable student-athlete who possesses a sense of humor that might be unrivaled.” That seems fair enough, too — apparently everyone enjoyed the stunt right up to the part where Pick’s junk was dragged across the pavement. Click the links above to check out the video. Mini-update: As pointed out by our good friend “The Salamander,” (another must-watch video) Pick isn’t on the current ECU roster. That doesn’t stop us from laughing maniacally at it though.
I was down in Wrightsville Beach this past weekend and heard tale of a streaker who went flying down Lumina (in between Jerry Allen’s/Lagerheads, heading towards Wings). I also heard that he got tased (bro). Which meant that sooner or later, said tasing — if it happened — would end up on YouTube. Well, looks like it happened.
Word on the street is that he went skidding across the pavement on his junk, which would in fact appear to be the case. Keep watching for the cop who threatens to arrest my brother’s friend who was taping this.
And here he is “Cryp-walking” (?) for the crowd while wrapped in tin foil and being led to the police car. Dude is my new hero:
The gentlemen over at Bros Icing Bros are onto something (most likely a buttload of money from some Smirnoff PR rep, but that’s just my own conspiracy theory) big: making bros hit one knee and pound shitty, flavored beer. But it’s not just limited to Bros, bro. It also includes gangster rap bros, like Coolio [...]
Stamos makes a fantastic point: the smugness of ABC26 news anchor Michael Hill when he asks the above question is 100% gold. And while I don’t want to offer any advice that would prevent this from happening in the future, it’s probably worth noting that if you’re a male anchor and your co-worker is tossing [...]
Photo Credit: Darren Jacknisky
