Vinyl records have become an obsession for Parker Macy. The 27-year-old singer-songwriter, known locally for his solo blues music as well as his time spent on guitar in heavy rock band Pistolero, has collected records for as long as he can remember.
A few years ago he began setting up stands in the Seed People’s Market, part of the Camp in Costa Mesa, to sell off some of his finds. So when the opportunity arose last February to rent an official spot inside the Lab across the street, Macy and his friend Bob Rodman jumped at the chance to open their own record shop.
Working out of his new location – a stationary, modified trailer just outside of Urban Outfitters – is a dream come true for Macy, who, after a trip to Portland to visit family, grew fond of the idea of running his own business via an unusual establishment.
“Back there they had a grilled cheese shop in a school bus and like bars set up in old prisons,” he recalls.
The submissions for the 2013 OC Music Awards showcase series, best music video, best youth and the people’s choice award are now open online at ocmusicawards.com.
Submissions for the showcase series will remain open through Monday, Oct. 1. Best Music Video and Best Youth submissions will be open through Thursday, Nov. 1. The people’s choice submissions will be taken through Friday, Feb. 15.
Local folk artist Micah Brown’s latest album “The Isle of Her” debuted today on iTunes. Brown will be celebrating with an official album release party at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana on Saturday, Sept. 1.
More at the Constellation Room: Youngblood Hawke, Aug. 30; The Album Leaf, Aug. 31; Micah Brown, Sept. 1; Pawnshop Kings, Sept. 3; The Fresh & Onlys, Sept. 5.
Photos by Jenny Montes de Oca, for OrangeCounty.com
KROQ 106.7 FM’s ROQ N’ Surf summer concert series returns to the District at Tustin Legacy this weekend with free shows Aug. 25 and 26 from 1-4 p.m. Sinizen, Badfish and Headshine performs on Saturday and We Are/She Is, Fellow Bohemian and Italian Japanese take the stage on Sunday.
More from KROQ’s ROQ N’ Surf Summer Concert Series:
OrangeCounty.com and the OC Music Awards caught up with Dirty J and Duddy B of the Dirty Heads during the bands sound check at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on July 27 to chat about the new album, Cabin By the Sea, and the current tour with Matisyahu.
The Dirty Heads return to the area with Matisyahu with a show at City National Grove of Anaheim at 8 p.m. Sept. 20. Tickets are on sale now. $39.50-$49.50.
Check out our video chat with the Dirty Heads in the player below.
The Orange County-based sextet releases its new full-length album, “Candy Coated Fury,” on Tuesday, July 31, but celebrated early with a slew of Southern California gigs which included City National Grove of Anaheim on Saturday.
Fresh off the plane after a performance at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, Sameer Gadhia and Jacob Tilley of Young the Giant sat down for an interview with us backstage at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa Sunday afternoon. The show marks the Irvine-based quintet’s largest headlining show to date – nearly 10,000. As Gadhia pointed out during our chat, just a few years ago, when they were known as the Jakes, YTG was performing in small local clubs like Detroit Bar, Hogue Barmichaels and Chain Reaction.
“I’m really excited for it,” he says, speaking slowly and admitting that he’s tired and a little jet lagged. “Just even looking and envisioning it, right now it’s completely empty but imagining it being filled up with all the people that have been seeing us perform since we were the Jakes … I think it’s going to keep us going.”
The last time we checked in with YTG, the band was living in a four-story home in the hills of Los Angeles in December while in the beginning stages of writing songs for its sophomore album which is now due out on Roadrunner Records by spring 2013, Gadhia says. Since then the band has been touring non-stop, but got a quick break from the road to set up at friend and Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger’s Malibu pad for a few weeks to once again dive into songwriting.
Tilley says the band really got the ball rolling while in Malibu and that even though they had been writing through the whole touring process, it was good to have some time to actually focus.
“We’ve just been practicing the new songs in sound check and keeping it going,” he says. “We’re not letting it fall stagnant I guess.”
With the U.S. dates coming to an end with the Pacific gig and only a few festival shows in Canada on the books for the rest of 2012, Gadhia says the band will spend the rest of the year in the studio working on the new album.
Though they came together in 2004 as teenagers just wanting to play music for fun, Tilley says that the band has grown substantially in the last couple of years.
“We’ve become a lot more comfortable with our instruments and we’ve been exposed to other bands and watching live performances so we’ve learned a lot about space, texture and tonality of things,” he says. “I think the songwriting on the (new) album may stay pretty true to where we were on the last one, but in terms of the sonic spectrum and what we’re more capable of doing now as players, it’s going to step it up quite a bit. I’ve never played the guitar this much in my life. We’re all kind of coming into our own at this point and I feel like we’re becoming a lot more creative.”
Check out more with Young the Giant in our video interview in the player below:
Local acts Allensworth, Micah Brown, Echo Echo, Chris Williams and Nate Westerfeld all took the stage at House of Blues Anaheim on Saturday night for an evening filled with a mix of rock, jazz and a little bit of soul.
During the summer of 2010, local rock outfit Echo Echo was riding high while recording its full-length debut, Fall Like You’re Flying, at L.A.’s Henson Recording Studios.
They had decamped there with noted producer and engineer Alex Gibson, best known for assisting artists like David Lee Roth, Sting and Damien Rice, and also got to work with English musician and producer Rupert Hine, who has collaborated with everyone from Tina Turner and Stevie Nicks to the Fixx and Rush.
The actual recording process was a great learning experience, vocalist Steve Carson said in a recent phone interview. Echo Echo was able to fund the bigger-budget recording thanks to a couple of local investors – or what Carson jokingly refers to as a little armed robbery and extortion.
“The biggest bonus to having that budget was that it allowed us to work with Alex and Rupert, and that was just mind-blowing, but it wouldn’t have happened without some money,” he explains. “Just being able to work with a producer of Alex’s level of talent, and recording at Henson – it was all an amazing experience.
Vinyl records have become an obsession for Parker Macy. The 27-year-old singer-songwriter, known locally for his solo blues music as well as his time spent on guitar in heavy rock band Pistolero, has collected records for as long as he can remember.
