Let’s skip the small talk and dig into the music, because there’s a lot of good stuff happening in the 717 this month!
DON’T MISS
The Head And The Heart, 8/26, HU Presents Summer Series, Riverfront Park
In the fall of 2011, a very cool friend of mine, who is responsible for much of my early music discovery, invited me to a small music festival at the Ukie Club in Philly, and last-minute tickets were about $12. The lineup? An incredible snapshot of time in indie music—Thao & the Get Down Stay Down, Jukebox the Ghost, Good Old War, and an amazing folksy band called The Head And The Heart that absolutely blew me away. My friend threw the band’s song, “Rivers and Roads,” on a CD mix for me and I was hooked. This Seattle folk rock outfit has been a mainstay on the indie scene for the better part of the last 12 years and has seen peaks and valleys of stellar successes and criticism. While they’ve taken on a much more polished sound in recent releases, including 2022’s LP “Every Shade of Blue,” I can vouch for the band’s live performance skills.
GET ON YOUR FEET
CupcakKe, 8/24, XL Live
Rapper CupcakKe writes what are possibly the funniest lyrics I’ve ever heard. CupcakKe mostly, if not entirely, raps about sex with euphemisms and comparisons that are second to none. At 26 years old, she’s had an impressive rapping career for 13 years and nearly retired from music altogether in 2019 after concerns that her music was “corrupting youth,” but emerged from her hiatus 40 days later with new music. While none of her music is appropriate to print on the pages of this magazine, this show is likely going to be a great time. For a slightly more accessible intro to her music, check out the track “Squidward Nose.”
GROOVIN’
Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel, 8/18, H*MAC
Duane Betts is an astounding talent in his own right for his phenomenal guitar playing and singing in the Allman Betts Band, of which he is a co-founding member, not to mention the years he spent playing on tour with his father, Dickey Betts & The Great Southern. This time around, he’s putting forth his first solo effort, “Wild & Precious Life,” released in July via Royal Potato Family Records. I’d plan to arrive to this show early to catch opening act Cordovas, too. I’ve been especially digging their song “High Feeling.”
FOR CONSIDERATION
Windborne, 8/12, Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
As seen on #FolkTok (that’s the folk music section of TikTok, for those of you scratching your heads,) an insanely talented vocal group called Windborne will perform at the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg as part of Susquehanna Folk Music Society’s 2023 Susquehanna Folk Weekend. The quartet, comprised of Jeremy Gordon-Carter, Lynn Rowan, Lauren Breunig and Will Rowan, released a beautiful album in 2022 called “Recollections|Revolutions.”
Honorable Mentions
- Outlaw Music Festival, 8/4, Hersheypark Stadium
- The Smithereens w/Marshall Crenshaw, 8/4, The Englewood
- Pantera, 8/5, Hersheypark Stadium
- Beres Hammond, 8/9, H*MAC
- The Chicks, 8/10, Hersheypark Stadium
- Splintered Sunlight, 8/11, XL Live
- Guns N’Roses, 8/11, Hersheypark Stadium
- Shakey Graves, 8/16, XL Live
- Samantha Fish, 8/17, XL Live
- Southern Rockfest: A Brothers Revival, 8/19, H*MAC
- Black Flag, 8/21, XL Live
- Quinn Sullivan, 8/25, H*MAC
- RalphReal & The Family Jam, 8/27, West Shore Theatre
- Rival Sons, 8/29, XL Live
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