256: A gathering of old and new

Triangle musician and producer Jeff Crawford knows a thing or two about the local music community.

As a member of more than a few local bands and music director of The Gathering Church in Durham, he has found a way to intertwine his work at the church with the work of fellow musicians from around the region.

Every Sunday, Crawford and the congregation of The Gathering Church meet in the gymnasium of Creekside Elementary School in Durham. Since 2009, he has been the church's music director, a role that allows him to often employ the help of local musicians with church's music needs.When Crawford wanted to create an album of reworked hymns, he turned to the same community.

That's how Hymns of The Gathering Church came to fruition. A compilation of reworked traditional hymns, the album will be celebrated at a release show on Jan. 27 at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.

“From the beginning, I wanted to make a record,” Crawford said. “We did a Christmas EP and we had a lot of people come sing.”

Hymns of The Gathering Church transforms traditional hymns such as “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” “Leaning On The Everlasting Arms” as well as the Doxology and renders them as upbeat and energetic folk songs. Drawing from the local talent pool, the album features contributions from Megafaun's Phil Cook, Mount Moriah's Heather McEntire, Ryan Gustafson, The Old Ceremony's Mark Simonsen, Josh Moore and folk duo Mandolin Orange, in addition to others.

The album was recorded at Crawford's own Arbor Ridge Studios over the course of several sessions that began last summer. Simonsen and Crawford produced the album, working on and off when they found the time.

“We got some songs in mind and some people in mind and tried to match the lead singers,” Crawford said. “We just tried to plug them in where we thought they fit the best.”

Many of the hymns that were chosen are commonly sung at church, however several musicians also brought their own ideas for hymns, such as “Fifty Miles of Elbow Room,” written in 1930 by F.W. McGhee and sung by Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz of Mandolin Orange and Josh Moore.

Hymns of The Gathering Church will be played in full Friday at the ArtsCenter. The show starts at 8 p.m. with opening band Near Blind James and Harmonica Bob, featuring church volunteer James Shoe. According to the album's website, Crawford will also be performing on Feb. 4 at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh, as part of WKNC's Double Barrel Benefit Day Party.

While a portion of the funds from the release show will go the church's music budget, allowing Crawford and company to record more of these albums, the show is also a simple gathering of congregation and community members, and a unique presentation of hymns that seek to reach out.

“The main objective is to share this music with those people who haven't heard it,” Crawford said. “And hopefully, to revisit the songs and make them fresh.”

Tickets are available at the door for $10 or in advance online. For more information about Hymns of The Gathering Church and to hear the album, visit http://music.allgather.org. To learn more about The Gathering Church and its mission visit http://www.allgather.org.

Quick hits: Spring releases to be excited about

Spring is always an exciting time for upcoming music releases, and this year it looks like there are several new local albums to get excited about. Although this list is very brief, it will be the first in a series of "quick hits," in which I hope to introduce some of the new songs that are on my playlist. The three artists in this post will be releasing albums in the next few months and I am genuinely excited for all of these albums. Additionally, all of these artists have performed an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, so naturally I'm hooked to their music. Go ahead and give them a listen!

Tuck the Darkness In by Bowerbirds

In the Yard by Bowerbirds


Bowerbirds are one of my favorite local gems. The group is primarily a duo comprised of Beth Tacular and Phil Moore and their music is simply captivating. This track, "Tuck the Darkness," will be on the new album, The Clearing set to be released Mar. 6. They also play the Cat's Cradle on Mar. 17. And for those fans of Bon Iver, several songs on this album were recorded in the band's Wisconsin studio. What more do you need to know?

Bowerbirds' NPR Tiny Desk


Red by Lost In The Trees

Lost in the Trees have defined orchestral/chamber folk and have made the genre its own. This local band will be releasing A Church That Fits Our Needs on Mar. 20 and judging from this beautiful first track, the album is going to be quite a work of art. Ari Picker, singer/songwriter for the band has used music to tell an incredibly personal and painful story and this album will be the next installment in the healing process (for background on Picker's inspiration and experiences, read this from the Independent Weekly). Based on the band's other stunning work (including this Tiny Desk) A Church That Fits Our Needs will most certainly please.

Lost in the Trees' NPR Tiny Desk

Sharon Van Etten - Serpents by theartistree.fm

Finally, I've included a track from Sharon Van Etten, one of my favorite singer/songwriters. Although she isn't local, Brooklynite Van Etten is quite good friends with North Carolina outfit Megafaun and that's more than enough of a connection for me. Her debut album, Because I Was In Love and its follow-up, epic, are incredible soul-bearing works of art and I am very excited for her next release. The album comes out on Feb. 7 and she will be at the Cat's Cradle on Feb. 12 and I highly recommend you make it to the show. Whether it is her sincere voice, her bare-bones approach to songs or the message her lyrics convey, it is safe to say that SVE always grabs a hold of me.

Sharon Van Etten's NPR Tiny Desk

Why journalists should utilize Tumblr

Tumblr should be a part of every journalist's routine.

Of course while doing my daily scroll through my own Tumblr dashboard I found this particularly relevant post on markcoatney's Tumblr — a Reuters article describing the importance of Tumblr for journalists that explains why they should jump on board with this form of versatile social media.

As an avid Tumblr user, I can attest to it's innovation, particularly for journalists and news organizations. I follow several NPR Tumblrs (Fresh Air, NPR Music), the LA Times as well as various mainstream and amateur freelancers, bloggers and journalists (here are some good ones to check out, Soup and The Political Notebook). I find that many of these blogs utilize the multimedia aspect to the fullest, and in particular the "reblog" function, something the article mentioned as one of the most viral features of Tumblr. Although individuals who are reblogging aren't necessarily producing original content, they are significantly contributing to spreading news and information (as the article mentions, "it acts as a natural amplifier").

So if you're interested in jumping on Tumblr and exploring how other journalism outlets use it, NPR compiled a list of other public media Tumblrs worth looking at. It's the next big thing.

Check these out

As an amateur entertainment blogger, I tend to frequent blogs that align with my interests, whether it's from film and music to the latest pop culture. I've listed five blogs I find especially interesting or helpful, either for finding new ideas for posts, imitating blog styles or simply for reading enjoyment. These are some examples of the sites that I use to keep myself up to date on my music and film interests on a daily and weekly basis.

NPR blogs: All Songs Considered Blog + Monkey See Blog

Recently I've (re)discovered my love for all things NPR, and especially its music and film blogs. I'm quite obsessed with Tiny Desk Concerts, a popular element of All Songs Considered and for me, the blog is a great example of engaging conversation regarding current songs, albums and music videos. However, they also often delve into some artists from music history, which is a topic I find myself passionate about as well. While NPR has its critics, I find it a great website that doesn't just align with my musical interests, but also presents interesting ideas for further discussion.

Stereogum

Stereogum is one of my favorite music-related news sites and features content that I'm particularly drawn to--album previews, interviews, concert updates, etc. For music lovers (particularly of the so-called "indie" persuasion), Stereogum is a succinct site that is easy to use and is always updating. Usually, I find music news via its Twitter feed. Overall, Stereogum is quite useful in finding a large portion of my music news and up-and-coming artists.

Death + Taxes

I originally discovered this 0nline magazine through Ned Hepburn (see last entry) and have found it to be a very easy read and a great place to start for music, political and entertainment news. The layout is clean-cut much like the writing and they are up-to-date on many of the ongoing issues. While the magazine may boast slight subjectivity (it's more of a question these days of who doesn't), the content is informative and exactly the sort of material I would be reading about. Although posts are slower on the weekends, this is a blog style that I hope to include in my posts here.

Thought Catalog

Thought Catalog is my newfound obsession. This blog is a essentially a group blog that features sometimes witty, sometimes sentimental, sometimes serious but always thoughtful posts regarding personal experiences, the latest in pop culture or DIY projects. I've found some posts I can really relate to and in a lot of ways, the stylings of this blog are how I want some of my posts to look like. I also love the fact that anyone can try his or her hand at blogging--while there are mostly regular freelance contributors, the blog boasts a submission page and welcomes thoughts from anyone and everyone.

Ned Hepburn on Tumblr

I'll be the first to admit that this personal/slightly professional blog of freelancer Ned Hepburn is sometimes a bit of a train wreck. But although there might be mildly inappropriate posts or just incoherent brain musings, I find real value in the music reviews, news links and opinion pieces he writes--he's writing ability is most certainly honed. He also has a collection of all of his clips, which has in turn allowed me to find new websites to follow (like Death + Taxes). Additionally, he has traveled extensively and always has stories to produce from these experiences. I think I am most drawn to the rawness of his life that just so happens to be told in a journalistic fashion.

Who are you?

I'm Elizabeth, 20-years-old and a junior at UNC double majoring in journalism with a concentration in reporting and global studies with a concentration in international politics in Latin America. Oh and I also have a Hispanic Studies minor. That's a mouthful, but I'm not what I would consider an overachiever — I'm just burgeoning with a variety of passions.

I was born in Durham, NC, but have considered Raleigh my hometown since the age of three. With my return to Chapel Hill for college (I was also baptized here back in the day), I can successfully call the entirety of the Triangle my home.

So how did the journalism start? I pinpoint the 7th grade as the year when I started having serious considerations about writing, all thanks to a successful poetry project and my father's encouragement. Once in high school, I joined our newspaper and became editor my senior year, however, it wasn't a huge production by any means--just a way to get my feet wet. Generally speaking, I find that I'm very drawn towards writing as my favorite method of expression. I am intrigued by storytelling and I love to encapsulate a person through the power of words.

Last spring, I spent the semester in Sevilla, Spain, honing my Spanish, exploring Europe, and keeping schoolwork a very low priority. My semester abroad has only made me crave travel even more and I can't wait for the next opportunity to go abroad. I love learning about people and their stories (hence the journalism) and I've found that my travel experiences have yielded some of the most wonderful ones yet.

Here at UNC, I've been writing for Diversions with the DTH for my third year. I've immersed myself in the local music scene and keep finding out so much about the talent that surrounds the Triangle. It's been a fantastic experience, and although I don't necessarily want to make music journalism a career, I would consider it something I plan to dabble in for a while.

As a journalism and global studies double major and a Spanish minor, I'm working on figuring out how to combine all of these academic pursuits into a suitable career. When people ask me what I want to do, the best answer I have now is “something with international journalism.”

Whether that be for a journalism publication or a communication department at an NGO, I do know that I want to be abroad and I want to be involved in people's lives. But ideally, I won't launch into a career immediately post-undergrad. I'm leaning towards joining the Peace Corps or a similar organization, or maybe teaching English abroad for a few years. Also, I am still not sure if I want to go to graduate school, and I don't really want to talk about it.

Why blog?

As I mentioned in my first post, this blog will be a more focused version of my everyday entertainment musings. To provide this structure, I intend to write a post a least once a week (hopefully more often) that might relate the latest film, music, show, etc. to my collegiate observations. I'll reflect the title of this blog by utilizing a variety of storytelling methods that work to demonstrate my focus. Presently, as a 20-year-old still trying to find her place, adopting the mentality of whatever works (and being flexible, creative) has become a way of life.

Instead of simply reporting on my latest findings in these genres, I want to attempt to demonstrate their relevance to “the big picture” as I see it. Some of my ideas for posts include weekly play lists, film critiques, recommendations or artists to be on the lookout for.

There also might be the occasional video or photo slide show. I'm interested in alternative means of storytelling and hope to link this blog with the presence I've already established on other sites like Twitter and Tumblr. Blogging continues to be dynamic and I want to continue to explore and even utilize its creativity and changes.

Ultimately, my goal is to expose YOU, the audience of my friends, peers in JOMC 256 and other like-minded 20-somethings, to some of my favorite entertainment and perhaps spark new interests (and maybe some dialogue).

The necessary first post

Welcome to another blog from yours truly. As I embark on the spring semester of my junior year at UNC (I can't believe it either), I will be using this space (as a more focused extension of my already up and running personal Tumblr) to provide you with the latest musings surrounding my present interests.

You might be (or might not be) familiar with "Cuentos de la americana en España," my study abroad blog, and now a year after I first left for Spain, Whatever Works is ready to be the next chapter.

So what does this blog exactly entail? For starters, it is in conjunction with my JOMC 256 Feature Writing class, but I'm picturing it will include some news roundup, a dash of journalism-related things, a little bit of Mad Men obsessing and a whole lot of music. Of course there are bound to be other topics as well, but my hope is this blog will provide an introduction to the current entertainment I find myself enjoying.

Now to the title, Whatever Works. It primarily comes from a Woody Allen film of the same name--I happen to be a Woody Allen aficionado (go see his latest film, "Midnight in Paris," you WON'T regret it). However, I also feel that it is an accurate description of what my college life has become. Sleeping in the library during finals? whatever works. Ignoring that 200 page reading to go out with your friends? whatever works. And keeping a collection of rambling thoughts in a blog-like fashion? whatever works.

Here's to a semester of blog commitment.