Triple A "Non-Commvention"

There’s a little corner of the radio world called “triple A” music - it covers a lot of the stuff we at Paste like.  On the radio dial, that world is usually on public or non-commercial stations - often NPR-affiliated.  So these radio stations gather once a year to hear new music and discuss what's going on in the industry and sometimes we join them to eavesdrop on their annual “Non-Commvention” hosted by our friends at WXPN 88.5 in Philadelphia. It's a great chance to check out the bands showcasing for all these program directors. 

It’s only day one at 4:45 in the afternoon and we’ve already seen four pretty damn good acts play.  And they all play 5-6 song sets which works perfectly for my short-attention-span-addled brain.  First off, over a lovely lunch served up at WXPN’s companion World Café Live venue was The Watson Twins.  Their new record, Fire Songs, comes out June 24 and the girls brought it pretty good.  You might remember them backing up Jenny Lewis the past couple years.  Old school going from backup singers to headliners!

Next was raucous Philly folkster Phil Roy.  Here’s a guy with Passion with a capital P singing songs from his record The Great Longing.  Next up, taping for David Dye’s excellent nationally syndicated show World Café was a banging live set from Jackie Greene - whose huge vocals and gutsy guitar moves wowed us all.  He’s been hanging out with Phil Lesh and I’m not sure what that did to a guy who I thought to be fairly mellow but if you like big hooks with big vocals, Jackie might be your guy.  His band is crackerjack and I'll definitely be checking out his new record Giving Up the Ghost.  Back to back with Jackie in another World Café taping is the buzzy and well-named Wild Sweet Orange from Birmingham, Alabama.  They are a brand new band, at least to me.  But I had to go so not much to say but here's their MySpace page.