ELECTRO-POP INDIE | TOMBOI
w/ Southern Femisphere and DJ Lanatron
Thurs. Feb. 26
9 p.m.
$5
Tin Roof
TOMBOI may be a new band, but the members met six years ago kicking around the Jacksonville music scene. Alex E. (beat maker and vocalist), Paige McMullen (guitarist), and Summer Wood (drummer) kept crossing paths with various other projects before deciding to unite as TOMBOI, an electro-indie band with a heart for ’90s beats and dance-pop. McMullen admits her guitar tones are heavily inspired by bands like The Smiths and The Cure, while Wood is influenced by Hot Chip, Hercules & Love Affair, and Disclosure. The trio’s most recent single “Lobos” will be released again in March with four remixes by friends and fellow musicians Datadiamond, Sea Cycles, Prom Date, and DJ Wellfedboy. Written by Alex E., the track speaks to her vulnerabilities as a woman. “I was imagining this perception of a woman being that of a deer in an open field,” she explains. “My imagination was painting this picture of deer exposing themselves in an open field to potential predators lurking on the edges of the woods in the shadows, for the sake of food and survival. As I worked out the lyrics, I think it started to mold into more of a warning for all in general, that things and people are not always as they seem.” TOMBOI will also release their debut EP in March. —Kelly Rae Smith THURSDAY
SOUTHERN-GOTH COUNTRY | Dead Soldiers
w/ Mackie Boles & Jordan Igoe
Thurs. Feb. 26
9 p.m.
$5
The Royal American
Dead Soldiers — Ben Aviotti (guitar, banjo), Clay Qualls (bass, mandolin), Krista Wroten (violin, keys), Nathan Raab (guitar, bass, keys, mandolin), Paul Gilliam (drums), and Michael Jasud (guitar) — formed in Memphis, Tenn., a city that’s had a big impact on their Southern-goth, alt-country sound. Jasud used to listen to Elvis on the way to school every day before discovering Johnny Cash, Stax Records (and its artists Otis Redding and Carla Thomas), and then Royal Records’ Al Green. Apart from the Tennessee greats, most of the members grew up listening to everything from Gangsta Black to Tom Waits, giving their music a misfit kind of feel. “I think all of us kind of disregard specific genres by just trying to capture something unique with every individual song,” Jasud says. Dead Soldiers are currently preparing a follow-up to 2013’s All the Things You Lose, which they’ll release later this year. Jasud says, “The title track from that EP, High Anxiety, is about having debilitating anxiety, which is kind of where most of our songs come from, really.” —Kelly Rae Smith THURSDAY
HONKY TONK ‘N’ ROLL | Banditos
w/ Roan Stepp, Big Yen, She Returns From War, and Great Yankee
Wed. Feb. 25
6 p.m.
$5 donation
Awendaw Green
w/ Whiskey Diablo
Sun. Mar. 1
9 p.m.
$5
The Royal American
Like a Nashville version of our own Royal Tinfoil, Banditos’ boy-girl lead vocalists take charge with kazoos, powerful vocals, and rowdy, honky-tonkin’ rock ‘n’ roll. From the barroom sway of “The Breeze” to the rockabilly “Still Sober (After All These Beers),” you’re likely to hear it all from blues to bluegrass. That’s because they’re a well-rounded bunch. “We grew up listening to records ranging from The Drifters to Glen Campbell, Ray Stevens, Black Sabbath, and Isaac Hayes,” says vocalist Corey Parsons. “We’re also products of the ’90s and can go down the rabbit hole that will lead us from the Alan Jackson-Dwight Yoakom era of country to the days when Nirvana ruled the world.” Banditos released The Breeze last year, but the songs were written back when the members all lived in Birmingham, Ala. Now residents of Music City, the band is set to release a new collection this May. Banditos’ self-titled, debut LP will continue down the same path of songs you’ll want to sip whiskey to, like the would-be love song “Can’t Get Away.” Written by vocalist/banjoist Steve Pierce, the track was supposed to help Pierce make amends with his then-girlfriend. “As things tend to go, she thought I was all about either touring too much or wasn’t really paying attention to her, so I thought maybe I’ll write a song for her and maybe that’ll make things better,” Pierce explains. “I thought it was a really sweet song, but apparently it didn’t work out like that, so I always think that’s pretty funny that she still managed to find something wrong with it.” —J. Chapa WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY
HOP-HOP | Logic
w/ DJ Rhetorik and Michael Christmas
Fri. Feb. 27
8 p.m.
$18/adv., $20/door
Music Farm
Hip-hop artist Logic, a.k.a Young Sinatra, came up from Gaithersburg, Md., wielding a classic tale of hard work and self-reliance before releasing his debut album Under Pressure on Def Jam Records in 2014. From 2010 to 2013, Logic released one mix tape a year, a move that enabled the rapper to establish a huge audience online. Although he’s come a long way since those early days, Logic still writes for those who have been behind him since the beginning. “This for me was fun. I created this song just to perform live. For me, this was for the day-one fans,” Logic says on the commentary tracks for Under Pressure (released exclusively on Spotify). “This was like our celebration. We had been at it way before the fame. This is for me and for the people who know what hard work means.” Logic’s style earns him comparisons to artists like Chance the Rapper and Mac Miller, while his vocal style is reminiscent of Drake. —J. Chapa FRIDAY
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