Tuesday's Wailers show cancelled

The Wailers concert scheduled for Amos' Southend Tuesday, November 29, has been cancelled. According to the band's website Wednesday's show in Richmond and Friday's show at The Music Farm in Charleston, SC are still on.

Refunds will be given at point of purchase.

Chili Peppers kick off 2012 with run of Carolina dates

The Red Hot Chili Peppers announced a handful of US tour dates for 2012 today. Among those are four Carolina shows including January 25 at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, which launches the band's "I'm With You" World Tour. The veteran funk-rockers follow that date with shows in Raleigh January 27, Columbia January 28, and Greensboro January 31. Dates in Atlanta and Memphis are also part of this jaunt which kicks off the Grammy winning band's 2012 North American tour.

The group is currently in Europe touring behind its latest album "I'm With You." The upcoming US tour marks its first full-scale US tour since 2007 and will be its first time at the Arena without former lead guitarist John Frusciante (who I thought was such an integral part of its live show). Frusciante left the group in 2009 and was replaced by Josh Klinghoffer. Klinghoffer was in the band Ataxia with Frusciante and toured with the Chili Peppers as an additional guitarist toward the end of its "Stadium Arcadium" tour.

Special guest Santigold, who last hit Charlotte opening for the Beastie Boys and Sheryl Crow at Amos' Southend during the 2008 Get Out and Vote tour, will open the show. Tickets go on sale Saturday, December 3. More dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

This week's hot concerts

You Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band/Simplified

8:30 p.m. Friday, November 25, Neighborhood Theatre, 511 E. 36^th St. $12. 704-358-9298.

Two of the most popular local acts from Asheville and Charlotte, respectively, come together to help fans work off holiday calories with `70’s-inspired jam-funk and laid back sunny modern rock grooves.

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500 Miles to Memphis

8 p.m. Saturday, November 26, Tremont, 400 W. Tremont Ave. $8. 704-343-9494.

The punky country or country punk combo plays music at the intersection of the Smiths and Drive By Truckers. The bill includes a healthy support lineup featuring locals Pullman Strike, Evelynn Rose, and My Captain, covering bluesy rock, country, and post-punk.

Mac Miller

8 p.m. Sunday, November 27, Fillmore, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd. Sold Out. www.livenation.com

Pittsburgh’s answer to Eminem lite, the up and coming emcee is more good time party starter than angry rabble rouser whose Asher Roth-meets-Eminemesque rhymes strike a chord with the MTVU audience.

Puscifer

8 p.m. Sunday, November 27, Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd. $34.40-$60.55. www.ticketmaster.com

Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle) enlists a cast of musicians, including UK opening act Carina Round (who reminds me of a cross between PJ Harvey and Led Zeppelin), to help realize his multimedia vision of dark humor and music that straddles moody electronics and biting heaviness.

Anthony Hamilton

8 p.m. Wednesday, November 30, Fillmore, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd. $58-$69.50. www.livenation.com

Two weeks prior to the December 13 release of his new album “Back to Love” (which is full of mid-tempo soul and R&B throwbacks), the Grammy winning soul man/showman treats a hometown crowd to a post-holiday set.

Secret Hospital

9 p.m. Wednesday, November 30, Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St. $5. 704-333-9799.

This Charlotte trio’s jerky garage rock is punctuated with talky demonstrative vocals (think David Byrne-meets-Jello Biafra), angular rhythms, and raw surf-punk guitar. With Joint Damage and Great Architect.

The Joy Formidable/Middle Class Rut

7 p.m. Thursday, December 1, Amos’ Southend, 1423 S. Tryon St. $13-$15. www.etix.com

A favorite among peers like Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus and Dave Grohl (who invited it to open for Foo Fighters recently), the Welsh trio headlines the WEND Not So Acoustic Xmas warm up show with an infectious combination of walls of fuzz, hooks, and sweet soaring female vocals.

Ari Hest

10:30 p.m. Thursday, December 1, Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. $12-$14. 704-376-3737.

With a deep, masculine voice that hovers above adult pop songs, this singer-songwriter returns to the Muse on the heels of his recent live album. If you miss him Thursday, he’s also at Winthrop University’s DiGiorgio Campus Center The Edge in Rock Hill on Friday at 8 p.m.

Two NC-based projects put fresh spin on holiday music

Thanksgiving, and with it Black Friday, kicks off the holiday season which means holiday music. I’ve never been a huge fan of hearing celebrities do the same Christmas songs over and over – ones we’ve heard a million times that have been done better before. But two new holiday albums with North Carolina ties offer fresh takes and add new or lesser known material to the realm of holiday music.

Concord-based Ramseur Records released “My Favorite Gifts” today. The collection was curated by Ramseur and the Avett Brothers’ Bob Crawford and features many names from the Avett/Ramseur family including David and Jessica Lea Mayfield, Jim Avett, Paleface, and Overmountain Men, as well as the Avetts themselves. Some, like Mark Crozer, Overmountain Men’s David Childers, and the Avett patriarch play original songs, while Paleface takes on the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.” David Mayfield does a John Hartford tune, while his sister puts her own spin on Roger Miller’s “Little Toy Trains.” 

Proceeds from the disc benefit The Vickie Honeycutt Foundation. Honeycutt was a school teacher who died in March 2010. The charity helps give financial support to teachers and educators that are battling cancer. Crawford, who is taking a break from the band, posted a message about the project here. (On a side note many Avetts' fans know Crawford's young daughter Hallie is being treated for cancer. Contributions to the Rally 4 Hallie fundraiser can be made here).

Elsewhere, Laurelyn Dossett of the folk duo Polecat Creek and the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens joined Mike Compton (Elvis Costello’s Sugarcanes, John Hartford), Joe Newberry, and Jason Sypher at an NC mountain house in August to record “The Gathering,” a string band take on seasonal music that’s unlike any commercial holiday music you’ve heard this century.

Dossett has gained national attention for her song “Anna Lee,” which Levon Helm covered on his Grammy award winning “Dirt Farmer” album. “The Gathering,” which was released November 1, centers around a six song-cycle that she originally wrote for the North Carolina Symphony. The album also features obscure material unearthed by the participants. To learn more about the making of "The Gathering" click here.

Buying local on Black Friday? One local record store compares prices

The pastime of flipping through the bins at your local record store has given way to downloading for a lot of people, but even those that purchase physical cds and records often have a tendency to shop online. A tweet from Lunchbox Records caught my eye Monday night.

The owner of the independent Central Avenue shop, which specializes in vinyl, did a price comparison between releases at his store and Amazon.com and the results are pretty interesting. Read the list here.

Q&A with singer-songwriter Charlene Kaye; opening for StarKid Saturday

Singer-songwriter Charlene Kaye is both opening for Team StarKid Saturday, November 19, and playing guitar in the YouTube sensation’s live band. Kaye gained attention for her work with her friend and StarKid co-founder Darren Criss of “Glee.” Their duets, “Dress and Tie” (above) and “Skin and Bones,” have received a few 100,000 hits on YouTube. The tour, which serves as a greatest hits of StarKid's musicals, finds her reunited with some of her former University of Michigan classmates. I recently spoke to Kaye who talked about her upcoming album and how the all female Guns n’ Roses tribute band she joined helped prepare her for shredding on the StarKid stage.

Were you involved at all with the StarKid productions in college?
No. I was doing my music and I was always aware of everything they were doing because I was friends with Darren and because he brought me to the musicals. He was my portal to that world. I met everyone through him. We all kept in touch. I moved to New York and the "Potter” musicals blew up. Then I got this phone call from Dylan (Saunders of Starkid) who asked if I was interested in joining the tour. We were suppose to be in the studio all of November, but there was no way we could say no to this. My producer, Tomek Miernowski, who is also my bass player – he’s in the StarKid band too. So the two of us are doing two sets a night. It’s pretty grueling. We’re playing three hours straight. My fingers are getting a workout like they’ve never had before.

Did you have a background in musical theater before this?

Absolutely. My parents are musical theater junkies. I think that’s why I love Rufus Wainwright so much. There’s a certain nostalgia in me for the first albums I’d listen to driving to school – “Evita” and “West Side Story.”

Starkid also pulls you out of the front person role.

It is one of my first sideman gigs. I’ve only been a front woman. Before I went on this tour I was approached to be in an all female Guns n’ Roses tribute band calls Guns n’ Hoses. I’m going to be Slash. I’ve been practicing my shredding. I have to kill the part. Everybody in the band is a front woman. We’re working hard to make sure we walk the walk. That’s been consuming a lot of my time. I was recording from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. everyday and practicing with my band from 8 to 11 and then after that I would practice Starkid. I had to learn 22 songs for this set. And then I would practice Guns n’ Roses.

Has it been a good exercise?

It’s making me more conscious as a guitarist and a musician. In actuality it prepared me for the Starkid set. My technique has improved.

How deep are you into making the next record?

Everything is almost all recorded and when we get back in December we’ll be finishing it up.

What’s it going to be like?

It’s different from my first stuff. My first album I recorded when I was a junior and senior in college. It was my first ever recorded effort. I used acoustic guitars, live drums, banjo, glockenspiel… very indie folk, Andrew Bird and Sufjan Stevens transparently-inspired as a result of the amazing folk culture that Ann Arbor is known and what I listened to a lot when I was starting to write music. I had an acoustic guitar attached to my body at the time. People have called it chamber pop to orchestral folk.

When I made the move to New York, I don’t want to say that was the biggest catalyst, but I started listening to different music. Hip-hop and I’d go to electronic show. I fell in love with pop music again the way I loved it in seventh grade when I listened to the Backstreet Boys and NSync and appreciated a good hook. I still pay attention to arrangements. I appreciate really intricate orchestrations. I love Rufus Wainwright. I try to incorporate that, but I’ve also got like Robyn and (Norweigian musician) Jarle Bernhoft.

Did your band have a hand in transforming the sound?
My drummer Dave Scalia played a big role in the metamorphosis of the new songs. He’s an incredible drum programmer. He’s got beats for days. The sounds he’s made color the record in a distinct way. His personality and talent is going to be all over that. It’s hard to describe pop music because it’s such an umbrella. Thanks to him and the experiences I’ve had and the artists I’ve been exposed to since my move to the city there’s an edgier quality…something rhythmic and hooky, and more carefree about it but also deeply felt. I hope it’s nothing like anyone has heard before. It’s nothing like anything I’ve made before.

Also my philosophy behind the new album, which is called “Animal Love” - in my mind it is loosely a concept album about the way humans process the emotion of love and how its related to our biological instincts and how we’re equipped when its lost. It applies to romantic love and a lust for life. The songs were written a lot quicker than first album where everything was premeditated and edited. This came back to a guttural feel, to create a hook and a melody that drives the song and the lyrics that propel it forward. The process was a lot quicker and I did a lot less editing. I think the title applies to that as well. Its’ a very raw, creative process. I didn’t want to be too intellectual this time. I wanted to have it be more of a release than rumination.

Will you be playing the new material during your set?

We'll be playing most of the new songs on the tour.

This week's hot concerts

Manchester Orchestra

8 p.m. Friday, November 18, Amos’ Southend, 1423 S. Tryon St. $15-$18. www.etix.com

The Southern indie-rock combo nears the end of the tour behind its grand and provokingly open album “Simple Math” (which beams with rich orchestrations and vulnerable, soul searching themes) before taking next year off from the road.

Joe Bonamassa

8 p.m. Friday, November 18, Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd. $61.35-$83.45. www.ticketmaster.com

A former child prodigy whose guitar playing extends beyond the blues community (Slash called him his “new favorite guitar player” on Twitter). He’s moved out of the clubs and on to “Guitar Hero;” a top contender for modern blues “great.”

Beth McKee

10 p.m. Friday, November 18, Double Door, 1218 Charlottetown Ave. $8. 704-376-1446.

This New Orleans blues singer (a former member of Cajun/country act Evangeline) previews her upcoming album, “Next to Nowhere” (scheduled for a February 2012 release). The piano and accordion maven touches on Cajun, gospel, Americana, and swamp blues with the vocal strength of a rootsy `70s era singer-songwriter.

David Bazan

8 p.m. Saturday, November 19, Evening Muse, 3227 N. Davidson St. $12-$14. 704-376-3737.

The voice and creative mind behind defunct indie band Pedro the Lion returned to the rock band format on his well-received second full-length, “Strange Negotiations,” which takes a small step away from his crisis of faith period while still ruminating on heavy, intimate ideas.

The Knux

8 p.m. Saturday, November 19, Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Rd. $8-$12. www.etix.com

Not since Outkast has a hip-hop duo mixed hip-hop, rock, electronica, dance, and pop so seamlessly as to escape categorization. The L.A.-by-way-of-New Orleans duo knock out another versatile, genre-defying album with “Eraser” - one of 2011’s best releases.

Josh Ritter

8 p.m. Saturday, November 19, McGlohon Theatre, 345 N. College St. $20-$25. 704-372-1000.

The critically acclaimed songwriter turned novelist who has drawn comparisons to Dylan and Springsteen is usually backed by a crack rock band, but goes it alone for an acoustic solo performance where he’ll test new material.

Obituary/Denial Fiend

7:30 p.m. Sunday, November 20, Tremont, 400 W. Tremont Ave. $17-$20. www.etix.com

The Floridian death metal outfit surpasses the 20-year mark without straying from its heavy riff roots. Denial Fiend boasts influential, underground hardcore/metal act the Accused’s Blaine Cook as its vocalist.

The Airborne Toxic Event

8 p.m. Wednesday, November 23, Fillmore, 1000 NC Music Factory Blvd. $24. www.livenation.com

This L.A. indie outfit combines the drama of a small string section (think the instrumentation of Arcade Fire) with the melancholy of an Irish folk singer-songwriter and the darkness of Interpol.