Austin Chronicle – earache! “Attendance Records”

Here’s an article in Austin Chronicle about this nonprofit we worked with recently.

(http://www.austinchronicle.com/blogs/music/2012-05-11/attendance-records/)

Attendance RecordsAttendance Records

BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN, 3:55PM, FRI. MAY. 11
Having heard about her high school program Attendance Records, I’ve been anxious to talk with Jenna Carrens. This semester, she worked with a class at Anderson High on all aspects of producing and releasing an album. From lyric writing exercises to screen printing lessons, these students’ efforts culminate May 17 with an CD release at Mohawk.

“I started Attendance Records because of the budget cuts at schools,” explains Carrens. “Arts programs are always the first to go. I’ve worked with non-profit organizations for years, so I have a lot of experience with programs like this.
“I come to the school and teach this totally free class with [high school teacher] Matt Earhart. I designed the entire curriculum. Kids do everything, even make album art, and we do a lot of creative writing.”
The program is run entirely on donations, which are taken through Austin Creative Alliance, so the Mohawk CD release will double as a fundraiser. While kids did the bulk of the work, they enlisted the help of professional musicians to actually write the music. Local bands Mother Falcon and the Sour Notes led workshops with the kids.
The performance may be a party, but the work isn’t done yet. All the students will be at the show, and each will have a specific job. The venue will have several stations with student-led workshops for attendees. One station will have a creative writing workshop, while another houses a record player for on-the-spot song reviews. The kids not at stations will be selling merch and taking photos, and some will even be getting up onstage themselves. There’s also students screen-printing shirts on site. If you bring your own t-shirt, you can get it printed for free!
It may all seem like fun and games, but the program teaches valuable lessons about the music industry and beyond. Kids learn the nuts and bolts of DIY artistry, while also getting lessons about the intersection of creativity and responsibility.
“Most of the kids I worked with will be the first in their families to go to college,” points out Carrens. “Students didn’t have to have prior experience to be involved in the class. Everyone is included if they’re interested in being a part of the program.”
While Carrens can only teach one class a semester, she’s got dreams of expanding the program to as many schools as she can in AISD. With fundraising efforts like the Mohawk show, she’ll be able to reach more kids.
“I’m really excited for the show,” she says. “For the kids, hearing the album, hearing their work come to life, it was a magical moment. Hearing the bands play the songs live will be the final touch.”
The Attendance Records benefit/CD release party features Mother Falcon, P-Tek, the Sour Notes, Lizzie Buckley, Guns of Navarone, Matt Hines of the Eastern Sea, Whiskey Shivers, Shakey Graves, and Hello Caller. For more information, visit the Facebook event.

Austin American Statesman – Tonight’s picks: The Sour Notes at the ND

By Peter Mongillo | Monday, April 30, 2012, 06:18 AM
(http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2012/04/30/tonights_picks_the_sour_notes.html)

The Sour Notes at the ND. The Sour Notes, one of Austin’s hardest-working indie rock bands, perform as part of Laurie Gallardo’s regular Good Music Club series, which tapes performances by Austin bands to be posted online. With Lonesome Heroes, Frank Smith and the Dalles. Free. 7 p.m. 501 N. I-35 Frontage Road www.ndvenue.com

Also playing: Leo Rondeau, John Evans at the Hole in the Wall; Seedy Seeds, Winter Sounds at Skinny’s Ballroom; Johnny Nicholas at the Saxon Pub.

Dax Riggs & The Sour Notes played Red 7 (pics)

We played with Dax Riggs (Acid Bath) & Nazi Gold (Dead Space, Fleshlights, Shearwater) at the newly renovated Red 7 and the awesome Tim Griffin of Brooklyn Vegan took pics.

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(http://www.brooklynvegan.com/austin/2012/04/dax_riggs_the_s.html)
photos by @griffinshot – Tim Griffin
On Saturday, 4/21 (which was also Record Store Day), Dax Riggs, who recently got a shout out by Shooter Jennings, performed at Red 7 with The Sour Notes (who you can catch again at ND Studios on 4/30) and Nazi Gold.

Pictures of Dax, who may or may not be planning an Acid Bath reunion, and The Sour Notes below…

The Sour Notes @ Red7 - 4/21/2012

My SXSW – Jared Paul Boulanger (The Sour Notes)

http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2012-03-16/my-sxsw-by-jared-paul-boulanger/

The band I’m in (Austin’s Sour Notes) found out we were officially showcasing at South by Southwest a few weeks ago. We’re a band that plays rock music for people who might not use that term. Prior to getting into this year’s Festival, we preemptively booked nine shows between March 10-17 to try and get some exposure. All after working our 40-hour-a-week day jobs.

My first day of SXSW was spent shooting a mysterious album-cover photo with Rubberneck photographer Renate Winter on the lakeshores of Windy Point in the rain. Later that day, the Sour Notes played at a three-day party our friends Zac and Sam of Zorch put together called Escapes. Zorch throws this party every year and is one of the hardest working bands I know. What it gives back to the community is more than just music!

On day two, we got the chance to open for Wavves, Japandroids, and Beach Fossils at the Mohawk with a slew of local mind-blowing Austin acts including Grape St., the Young, and Sleep Over. Tuesday was the last day of SXSW Interactive. Whoa! The Interactives party harder than the rest of the Festival.

On day three, our DIY music collective, No Play Music, hosted a 33-band minifest at Cheer Up Charlie’s called All Tamara’s Parties. It was out of control. Out of control meaning not capable of being governed, guided, or restrained. The lineup consisted of some of our favorite local acts (Bobby Jealousy, Dana Falconberry) and Atlanta’s Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun. Tamara, owner of Charlie’s, is an artist who values artistic integrity and freedom of expression.

Have you heard of the package-free/zero-waste grocery store opening up on Manor Road? It’s called In.gredients and the people who run it are ab-fab! The Sour Notes visited the future site of the In.gredients storefront to perform a song from our upcoming album. We drank some fine cider, recorded the song live on video, and made some new friends.

This brings us to Thursday. After a long day of helping other people load gear at work, the Sour Notes went to East Avenue Lounge for Deadbird Records’ the Big Knife Party. Before the show, I read an Australian blog review of my stage antics from an earlier SXSW show this week saying I “gyrated myself through a highly energetic and entertaining set.” I’m pretty sure I’m now postshow sweaty enough to say I topped it. Lately, I’ve been having more fun than ever playing live music, letting my emotions run wild and my limbs dangle whichever way the rhythm carries them.

It’s now 4:30am Friday morning – day six! I still haven’t gone to sleep from the night before, and I have to be up in a few hours for work. I also have to finish writing this, plus I’m still drinking beer for some reason. Our official SXSW showcase is tonight at B.D. Riley’s with the dB’s. We’re playing three more times after that ….

The Sour Notes help top Saturday’s Tombs Tradition bill at the Scottish Rite Theatre (207 W. 18th)

Seryn (2pm) Les Rav (3) Mother Falcon (4) The Silent Comedy (5) Agent Ribbons (6) The Colts (7) The Diamond Center (8) Hellfire Social (9) Family Wagon (10) The Sour Notes (11) The Silver Chords (12mid)

RSVP for free entry: www.do512.com/event/761308

- Austin Chronicle

Zorch’s Hardest Hustlers SXSW Playlist

http://www.thrillist.com/music/austin/zorchs-hardest-hustlers-sxsw-playlist_live-music_downloads-streaming_playlists_events

Over 4000 bands are about to descend on our fair city like tallboy-clutching locusts. Because it’s hard to tell whose indie cred extends further than their jorts, we enlisted local duo Zorch — whose 2012 SXCV includes booking over 200 acts and playing 20 shows — to identify the bands hustling hard enough to make Rick Ross proud. Here are their names, a choice track, and why they must be respected.

Listen to Zorch’s Hardest Hustlers SXSW Playlist right here

Quiet Hooves: “Bigg Boy”
The “madmen kings of Athens” have teamed with Zorch and Reverse X Rays under their Party Party Partners banner for Escapes, a non-sponsored, six-day fest running up to four stages concurrently for 12hrs at a time, with bites supplied by a grilled-cheese-making Foreman — a trough to which you will be making a big, fat comeback.

Sour Notes: “Last Looks”
The “kindest, gentlest creatures on the list”, they make the cut for conceiving All Tamara’s Parties at Cheer Up Charlies, mounting nine shows themselves, and coming up with excuses creative enough to help 3/4 of the band ditch their day-jobs at Rock ‘N Roll Rentals.

Cartright: “A Jass Song”
Between throwing two massive parties, releasing their second-annual Austin band compilation through their label Pau Wau, and splitting time with side project American Sharks, the Cartright dudes have a right to stand as tall as that guy who played center for the Bulls who wasn’t a foreign white dude.

Hume: “Grip”
The last time these minimal psych rockers were in town Zorch booked them for three shows in one day; they also received Zorch’s “Most Persistent Emailer Award”, dethroning an already dethroned Nigerian prince.

Butcher Bear: “Goodbye Sunshine”
The (iN)sect Records head is going Gilligan — captaining a 4hr boat party of Town Lake featuring a plethora of national electronic producers — as well as helming an official showcase, all while wearing a bright-red, hot-as-ballz bear suit.

Doldrums: “I’m Home Sick Sittin Up Here In My Satellite”
Making the drive down from Toronto with two percussionists in tow for his 8+ shows, Doldrums is beefing up his usual one-man-band setup of samplers, projectors, manipulated vocals, and effects pedals — so he must’ve gotten tired of just giving mani-peds?

Boyfrndz: “And So it Goes…”
Not to be confused with two other local acts who share the same moniker (although alternately spelled), Boyfrndz are releasing a vinyl EP next week as well as curating 30 bands to play at their houses, which prominently feature a Slip ‘N Slide, cuz there ain’t no Ry Cooder like a seductively dressed Ry Cooder.

DD/MM/YYYY: “Infinity Skull Cube”
They’re not playing this year, but these Canadian art-rockers earned honorable mention for holding the unofficial SXSW record of 23 shows in one week before breaking up to start the band Absolutely Free, presumably because they were tired of being tied down to a mere five shows a day.

Read more: http://www.thrillist.com/node/2508319#ixzz1qqTBmOt0

- Thrillist