Local legend Bruce Piephoff pulled together an all-star ensemble for his DMP performance last February (sweet Jesus, it’s been that long?). With Renee Mendoza (Filthybird) on vocals, Scott Walker, Landon Walker & Jennie Walker Brunner on bass, cello and violin (Walker Family Band) and David “Driveway” Moore on harmonica (ETI & The Goodbye House), Bruce led the audience through a memorable set of narratives steeped in southern tales — stories of inequality and of politics and with bits of love splashed here and there.

Please enjoy this beautifully shot slice of that down home pie.

And remember, Bruce’s live album is currently available on Amie Street for only $1.82.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS

Director: Harvey K. Robinson
Editor: Zach Hadgraft
Camera: Mark Wagoner, Alex Maness, Blake Faucette
Gaffer: Jonathan Faw
Grips: Matty Sheets, Barry Staples
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon and Cesar Oviedo

If you listen to Morgan McPherson’s lyrics carefully, you’ll discover that the young lady knows where she’s been. With self-described influences ranging from Tori Amos to Bush to Beethoven to Aerosmith, Morgan now seems to be in the process of finding her own sound… and having a bit of fun along the way.

Just like it should be.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Michael McQueen
Camera: Michael McQueen
Camera: Jeremy Hyler
Camera: Mark Steinberg
Sound: Danny Bayer and Don Ravon

You can check out Morgan’s entire DMP set on Last.fm or support a local musician by picking up the album over at Amie Street.

What else can be said about Mr. Rozzi? As a long-time staple on the Greensboro hip hop scene, Rozzi constantly brings the energy, no matter the show or the circumstances. On this fine evening last March, he rolled into The Green Burro with a posse full of performers, including the lovely and talented Vanessa Ferguson, the R&B dynamo Jeremy Johnson and L in Japanese on the 1’s and 2’s.

Killer.

And give Ioannis Batsios some dap for the creative rendering of the video. Way above and beyond…

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Ioannis Batsios
Camera: Ioannis Batsios, Matt Williams, David Bradley
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon

When I heard Kristen’s sound for the very first time — as the background music to her own interview in Harvey’s Kitchen — I couldn’t get it out of my head for weeks. In a very, very good way.

After watching this video, I’ll bet the same will be true for you.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Michael McQueen
Camera: Michael McQueen
Camera: Jeremy Hyler
Camera: Mark Steinberg
Sound: Danny Bayer and Don Ravon

You can check out Kristen’s entire DMP set on Last.fm or support a local musician by picking up the album over at Amie Street.

Fans of these bands know that they have only two things in common — they’re big in numbers (Israel Darling flexes from Jacob Darden performing solo to a full seven piece act) and they rock.

And that’s enough for me.

Israel Darling’s Appalachian style with Darden’s ponderings on religion and daily life in his songwriting may contrast heavily with The Brand New Life’s dedication to bringing the funk and groove to the party with their big band brass and rhythm section, but hey, that’s what makes the show unique.

DMP will have Don Ravon recording the event, Stephen Charles and Kyle Rhines shooting stills and a film crew headed up by Michael “Mangler” McQueen.

If you’d like to help promote the show, grab the above poster for your Facebook profile picture. If you’re a huge fan (and saint), feel free to grab the large version to print for posting in your dorm, neighborhood, back shed, etc.

Gracias.

When our music director, Don Ravon, booked Randy Furches to participate in our singer/songwriter night last June, I knew very little about his sound. The most I could find about him online was an interesting article the New York Times ran, delving into the subject matter of his song, Poor Ellen Smith — a tune about a distant relative of over a hundred years gone by, Peter DeGraff, who happened to be the last man (legally) hanged in North Carolina.

As it turns out, Randy’s sound is much more of a cross between pop artist and crooner than alternative acoustic. IMO, his vocal delivery is reminiscent of Tom Jones engaged in a footrace with Richard Cheese, and hell, I like Richard Cheese! Collaborations like the one above with local MC King-Kev-O exemplifies Randy’s inclination to toss the genre box aside when making his music.

Aside from all the marketing mumbo jumbo that drives the music “industry” these days, isn’t that what it’s all about?

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Michael McQueen
Camera: Michael McQueen
Camera: Jeremy Hyler
Camera: Mark Steinberg
Sound: Danny Bayer and Don Ravon

You can check out Randy’s entire live set on Last.fm or support a local musician by picking up the album over at Amie Street.

Sometimes, when the band you’ve booked begins to play you instantly know the evening is going to be special. Other times, it happens when you get yelled at by everyone involved.

The Filthybird show, by all accounts, was special.

I had to run back to HQ as the sound check got underway and made it back to the show just prior to Renee starting up. As I heard her last warmup on the keys and vocals, I jumped out of my seat in the packed house and yelled over to Don to turn down the reverb.

NO!!! came from every direction on stage.

Trust your crew was the lesson I learned that night.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Blake Faucette
Camera: Andy Coon, Blake Faucette, Sean Coon
Sound: Don Ravon

The live album is available at Amie Street, with all proceeds going to the Filthybird crew.

Imagine this:

Everything in the world can be broken down into three nouns. Negativity, positivity, and neutrality.

Now imagine looking up and seeing an atomic bomb being dropped straight onto your brain. Now imagine that, while most atomic bombs are composed of negativity, this one is of a very unique composition. Imagine that this bomb is composed of pure positivity.

Now imagine that this bomb is actually the imprint left on you by one, Clement Mallory, aka Universal Mathematics.

Photo by Kevin Belton

An infinite number of varying descriptions could be used to characterize a performance by this man. Perhaps one in several thousand would even begin to come close to completely accurate.

MUSIC VIDEO CREDITS
Editor: Ioannis Batsios
Camera: Ioannis Batsios, Matt Williams, David Bradley
Sound: Danny Bayer, Don Ravon

Universal Mathematics is more than music, more than poetry, and more than performance. It is a full-blown inspirational experience. When Clement Mallory picks up the microphone, you are intrigued. When he performs, you are entranced. When he puts down the microphone, you are left feeling better about yourself and about life in general. While Mallory seems to identify more as a poet than a musician, and while a good half of his DMP set is spoken word, his performance is less poetry reading and more interactive motivational theater. He makes smiling your only option.

Photo by Kevin Belton

The message throughout this distinct and almost unclassifiable performance is one of love and appreciation. Backed by the immaculate DJ skills of L in Japanese, Clement Mallory seems almost unaware of his audience much of the time. It is almost as if the words flowing from his mouth come forth from a deep well of honesty and compassion. His words seem inspired from his personal experiences, yet, the selflessness of his delivery leaves one with the impression that, more than self-expression, this performance is designed to help us, to make us feel better about who we are. A good example of this can be found in the track, My Love, wherein he states:

Loving you increases my love for me, so I’m going to love you more ’cause I have to love myself.

He seems to do what he does strictly out of a genuine desire to make us all feel happier and more comfortable about who we are.

Photo by Kevin Belton

During the tenure of the performance, Mallory deals with issues ranging from creation, self-reflection, acceptance of our fellow human beings, the importance of teaching ourselves and our children, and the very nature of existence.

In the track, Who am I?, he asks:

Being human, am I characterized differently from any other human being? Do we not all have one head, two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth, one neck, two shoulders, two arms, two hands, one chest, one stomach, one gender, defined with private section, two legs and feet?

The answer to the title of this piece comes near the end of the track, right before a moment of too-perfect-to-have-been-planned feedback where he boldly states:

I am God.

It’s a concept piece full of imagery so heavy that it seems to overwhelm even the PA. This track is definitely a highlight of the set.

Photo by Ioannis Batsios

Placing Universal Mathematics into a musical category is a nearly impossible task.

Clement Mallory is a writer, an MC, a teacher, an outlandish angel. His performance is poetry, it’s hip-hop, it’s motivational speech, it’s emotional release, it’s nearly theatrical in it’s execution. His message is uplifting, it’s inspiring, it’s fun, it’s… dare I say… universal. This man puts on a performance that is more than a performance. It is an intricate spiderweb of imagery and sound that leaves one with a feeling of happiness and well-being.

For the love of love, check out Universal Mathematics at c37words.

Recording Engineer: Don Ravon
Mixing Engineers: Dan Bayer, Don Ravon
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Kevin Belton

You can also listen to the live album on last.fm.

Don and I made the trek out to Durham with Elizabeth yesterday to be interviewed on WUNC’s The State of Things. I had pushed for a group interview — so many people have made this project a reality that quite honestly, my voice matters much less than theirs — but Laura Leslie was sitting in for Frank Stasio, who had prior knowledge of the project whereas this was all new to her, so it was deemed best to keep it relatively simple.

That meant Prez and Andy had to stay home, and Liz had to sit in the hallway and do her best to take a few shots for posterity.

The interview happened, and Laura was extremely warm and gracious and overall it went well. I flubbed the end, as unbeknownst to me, the engineer behind me began a countdown to armageddon that Laura needed to react to, but otherwise I think we represented ourselves alright.

We’re in the midst of making a number of changes two years deep into this venture — in particular, leaning towards documenting paid shows only. What we’re unsure of is how such a shift in direction will impact the community building / participation aspect of the project and whether or not that in and of itself will effect our happiness with the direction of DMP.

At least we have the power to reform our wayward direction if we so choose.

Here’s the interview:
[Click through to the post to listen to audio]

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In June of 2009, the dotmatrix project hit another milestone.  It was our first opportunity to feature three performances in a single evening.  We were pleased to showcase three singer/songwriters all local to Greensboro, NC.

Randy Furches is a high-spirited, high energy person and performer.  He kicked off the evening with a short set that showed off his love for all varieties of music.  There was some Blues, some Folk, and a little bit of Hip-Hop.  He brought along with him two musicians to accompany him during his set.  Hank Johnson provided some extra flavor on guitar and on mandolin.  King-Kev-O helped Randy finish his set off, bringing his own lyricism to the stage on “Cryogenics.”

ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer, Jerrod Smith
Mixing Engineers: Dan Bayer, Cesar Oviedo
Mastering Engineers: Cesar Oviedo
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Elizabeth Lemon

Morgan McPherson is a talented young performer who I believe has a long and prosperous career ahead of her.  For this evening, she was accompanied by Ron May on bass and Strother Bullins on drums.  The magic these guys brought to the stage can also be found on Morgan’s EP, Destiny Save Me, which was recently recorded in Nashville.  It should be available soon.  You can check out her myspace for more information on that.

ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer, Jerrod Smith
Mixing Engineers: Dan Bayer
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Doug Klesch

Kristen Leigh has done quite a bit of traveling as well, going as far as the West coast, to produce her music.  Fortunately, for us, she still calls Greensboro home.  When she’s not performing purely solo, Ueli Schweizer joins her on violin, as he did for us this evening.  Sara Dickson, Kristen’s friend and tutor on piano, also accompanied the talented songwriter during the performance.

ALBUM CREDITS
Recording Engineers: Don Ravon, Dan Bayer, Jerrod Smith
Mixing Engineers: Don Ravon
Cover Design: Sean Coon
Cover Photograph: Matty Sheets