Let's Independent! & Now Blog This 2.0 = Cheap And Fun

There are two shows within the next week what I’d like to call your attention to as being particularly noteworthy, though I've got to admit I’m sort of helping out with both...

The first is out next Let's Independent! event at Boardner's of Hollywood, which is next Tuesday aka August 28th. It's FREE, the doors are at 8:30, it's 21+, the folks who attend are always great, and we've got three fantastic local acts.

The Amateurs - This paper called The LA Times wrote about our headliner, "[the L.A. quartet] can't quite decide what they want to be, except good. Their first album nods to classic rock, folky '70s radio fare, modern indie titans and maybe even prog rock band or two, if they used strings. Whether you hear a lot of Wilco or a little Fleetwood Mac, Fairport Convention or the Band, it's the emotional range that makes Amateurs' an impressive debut... It's folk-rock that doesn't need to resort to gimmickry or conscious deconstruction."

One Trick Pony - Are too pretty to call experimental and too unconventional to just be marked as pop. I dare you to try listening to One Trick Pony's Box Song only one time. It's one of the most beautiful and most addictive tracks I've heard all year.

The Lonely Years - The first band of the evening are a fairly new indie folk group ... a heart-breaking hidden gem who we're running an interview with on Friday. Joe Napolitano from the amazing Le Switch also drums for The Lonely Years and their slide guitarist kills me.

You can hear tracks from all three bands right here.

The other show you should go to is … tonight! It’s the second Now Blog This! event at The Scene in Glendale.

If you remember the last one, the folks at The Scene had asked Little Radio, You Set The Scene, Rock Insider, and RFSL each to pick one band to play -- The Pity Party, The Clean Prophets, The Valley Arena, and The Western States Motel, respectively -- and the venerable Kevin Bronson and Sea Level Sylvia DJed.

Tonight’s show will feature The Deadly Syndrome (presented by Passion of the Weiss), Le Switch (presented by Aquarium Drunkard), Aushua (presented by The LA Times Buzz Bands blog), and Phoenix and The Turtle (presented by LA Underground). And DJ duties will be handled by Jax from Rock Insider and myself. And it's just $5.

The Deadly Syndrome and Le Switch are among my favorite live acts in town, so I'm sure it's going to be a fantastic night.

Hope to see you all out at both shows.