Video: LIVE! from Trekky House II: Phil Cook & His Feat

We continue our LIVE! From Trekky House video series today with a performance by Phil Cook & His Feat. Phil chose to take advantage of his one-man-band size and play in the upstairs bathroom of Trekky House. The magic, reflective reverb of the washroom was a perfect setting for Phil's tender rendition of "Ballad of a Hungry Mother", a song from his new album Hungry Mother Blues. You can order the album now from the Trekky Records Online Store.

MP3: Phil Cook & His Feat - Ballad Of A Hungry Mother [from the Hungry Mother Blues LP]

Butterflies Announce June NC Dates

Butterflies have announced a string of dates next month across the fair state of North Carolina! Make sure to stay tuned for some really exciting Butterflies developments, including more Summer dates!

Butterflies' latest album Residual Child is available now in the Online Store. Also make sure to check out the new Westfalia cassette, featuring new music by Josh, Joe Norkus (Embarrassing Fruits), and Robert Britt.

06-03 Winston Salem, NC - The Garage*
06-04 Chapel Hill, NC - The Cave*
06-17 Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theater*
06-24 Carrboro, NC - Jesse's#

*with Jon Lindsay
#with Birds and Arrows

Phil Cook performs with Bon Iver on Jimmy Fallon

Last night, Phil Cook accompanied his dear friend and former bandmate Justin Vernon for Bon Iver's performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Phil played piano for a medley of covers, including Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" and "Nick of Time", as well as Donny Hathaway's "A Song For You". You can watch the video above. Phil Cook & His Feat's new album is out now and you can order it right here.

Trekky Records welcomes Brice Randall Bickford!

We are thrilled to officially welcome Brice Randall Bickford to the Trekky Records family! Bickfords's new self-titled record will be released on June 14, 2011 in our signature 3-part package, featuring a vinyl record, CD and MP3 download, plus a beautiful hand-numbered jacket adorned with gold foil.

We've been friends and fans of Brice Randall Bickford for years, hanging on every word of every song on every album he's released as The Strugglers. We couldn't be more excited to release this gorgeous album and welcome BRB to the fold.

It’s been a decade since Brice Randall Bickford began performing under the name “The Strugglers”. In this time, he has released five albums, toured the world, and earned a reputation as a master of subtle, narrative songwriting. Bickford's dense, poetic lyrics imbue his compositions with an enduring vitality, rewarding the listener with additional layers of meaning upon each successive listen. Now 32, he has cast off “The Strugglers” moniker and recorded his most focused and nuanced full length to date. Collaborating closely with acclaimed producer Scott Solter (The Mountain Goats, Spoon, John Vanderslice), Bickford created a lush and detailed sonic landscape for his painstakingly crafted lines to inhabit. The bare-bones Americana sound of The Strugglers is traded for the crisp, studio driven production style of late 70’s pop-folk, heightening the emotion and coloring the mood of each composition.



1. Kindling
2. Working Woman/Lazy Demons
3. The Lamberth Annex
4. Danville
5. Clay Divorcée
6. Into Our Covers
7. Songstress
8. Every Time They Tagged You
9. Up Against The Hem
10. On The Caesura Of Paying Attention

MP3: Brice Randall Bickford - Songstress [from the Brice Randall Bickford LP]

Phil Cook & His Feat's Hungry Mother Blues out today!

Phil Cook & His Feat's new album, Hungry Mother Blues, is out today! You can order your copy from the Trekky Records Online Store, or if you live in the Triangle, you can pick it up at CD Alley, Bull City Records, All Day Records or Schoolkids. Only $12 for our signature 3-part package, which includes an LP, CD and MP3 download.


Order now!

MP3: Phil Cook & His Feat - Ballad Of A Hungry Mother [from the Hungry Mother Blues LP]

Video: Phil Cook & His Feat - "Alberta" @ All Day Records

Phil Cook & His Feat played an intimate in-store performance yesterday at All Day Records in Carrboro, NC, in celebration of his new Hungry Mother Blues LP, which comes out tomorrow on Trekky Records. Here he plays a beautiful dobro rendition of "Alberta" a traditional song popularized by Bob Dylan. Stay tuned for more exciting Phil Cook & His Feat news!

Lost in the Trees tour West Coast

Lost in the Trees are hitting the Left Coast this Spring, with fresh copies of the newly reissued Time Taunts Me LP packed neatly in the van. You can order the 3-part package (Red LP, CD & MP3) now from us, or pick it up at one of the West Coast shows below:

04-19 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
04-20 San Diego, CA - The Loft at UCSD
04-22 San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
04-24 Portland, OR - Music Millennium
04-24 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
04-26 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
04-27 Vancouver, BC - Media Club
05-13 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle

MP3: Lost in the Trees - Tall Trees [from the Time Taunts Me LP]

Video: Lost in the Trees - "This Dead Bird Is Beautiful" (New Song)

Lost in the Trees recently did a Violitionist Session in Denton, TX, sharing a new, unreleased song called "This Dead Bird Is Beautiful", a haunting composition from Lost in the Trees new album, currently being recorded in North Carolina. Watch above.

The Return Of Westfalia

Before Butterflies and Embarrassing Fruits, there was Westfalia. Started as a side project from their other high school band, Westfalia was a beautiful mess of clever lyrics and guileless experimentation that in some ways may only be possible when you are a teenager, growing up and learning what music can be. Westfalia was one of the chief reasons the Trekky Records was created, when we saw the raw genius of our high school mates and wanted to make sure it was documented and distributed. Now, nearly 10 years later, members Josh Kimbrough, Joe Norkus and Bobby Britt are reforming, playing a reunion show and releasing a 2 song cassette tape. We were surprised to hear the news, but then again, its part of the reputation of Westfalia to expect the unexpected.

Sleep Talking / Worth The Wait will be released tomorrow, April 19. The cassette tapes are hand-numbered and feature two new Westfalia songs, one composed by Josh Kimbrough of Butterflies and one by Joe Norkus of Embarrassing Fruits. You can order one now from the Trekky Records Online Store, or pick one up in NC record stores tomorrow. The songs will also be available for download.



The band will be playing a single reunion show tonight in Carrboro, NC, at Johnny's, where the new tapes will also be available. For a intimate look into the process of the reformation and the creation of the new songs, scope this Trekky Records produced video experience:



And you can stream the songs here:

New Butterflies Song On Blue Indian Complilation

The Blue Indian, a Georgia Music Blog that periodically releases exclusive online compilations, recently asked Butterflies to contribute an unreleased song for their next comp, and the boys obliged. The compilations have featured artists like Karl Blau and LAKE and are completely free to download. "Bleak Was The Breeze" is Butterflies' retelling of the myth of Deadalus and Icarus and it was recorded in The Owl Room, Trekky Records' in-house recording studio. You can stream and download the song right now for free. Enjoy!

Trekky Records welcomes Phil Cook & His Feat!

We are thrilled to officially welcome Phil Cook & His Feat to the Trekky Records family! Phil's new record Hungry Mother Blues will be released on May 10, 2011 in our signature 3-part package, featuring a vinyl record, CD and MP3 download.

We met Phil Cook five years ago, when our house band Auxiliary House played a show with Phil's band Megafaun. We became fast friends from the very beginning, sharing an ecstatic love for the experience of music. Over the years, we've collaborated in many ways, but since Megafaun already has an amazing home at Hometapes, we never were able to work together directly. When Phil started recording and performing as Phil Cook & His Feat, both parties saw the opportunity to collaborate. Phil asked us to release his new record, Hungry Mother Blues and we replied with a breathless "yes".

Hungry Mother Blues was recorded in a single day, during a rare North Carolina ice storm, in the back room of Phil's house. Its a beautiful, completly intrumental album that showcases what Phil does best: playing unbelievably complex songs with so much soul that they sound effortless. The vinyl record will be pressed at 45RPM for maximum sound quality, and the record jacket features original art from Catherine Edgerton of Midtown Dickens. We're offering a free download of "Ballad Of A Hungry Mother" to tide you over until the May 10 release date. Album cover and tracklisting below!



1. Frazee, Minnesota
2. Waiting 'Round The Oven Buns
3. Juniper
4. Lament and Lullaby (For The Sloane Sisters)
5. Sparrowander
6. Ballad Of A Hungry Mother
7. The Last Steam Engine Train
8. The Jensens

MP3: Phil Cook & His Feat - Ballad Of A Hungry Mother [from the Hungry Mother Blues LP]

Carolina Jubilee returns for SXSW 2011!

Trekky Records is headed to Austin! That's right, its the annual South By Southwest Music Festival, an overstimulating Summer Camp fever-dream that we music types look forward to all year. This year we'll be reprising our very special SXSW day party, a celebration of the music of North Carolina called Carolina Jubilee. The party is also presented by The Independent's Hopscotch Music Festival, which many are already affectionately calling "South By Southeast". Hopscotch will return this September to Raleigh, NC to showcase more great music from The Old North State.

The lineup for this year's Carolina Jubilee is a mix of some of the most exciting bands from NC, as well as some of our comrades who have strong roots to the area. The event will be free to everyone, no SXSW cred needed. And for those who can't make the journey to Austin, we've partnered with the good folks at Lapcast TV to broadcast the event live on the internet, as well as most smartphones, so you can join us from anywhere in the world!

Also, just to sweeten the deal, we'll have some free beer for folks to wet their whistles while they watch. The party is co-sponsored by an amazing alliance of NC record labels, including Holidays For Quince, 307 Knox and Churchkey. Details below:

Trekky Records and Hopscotch present
CAROLINA JUBILEE
Friday, March 18. 1PM-6PM.
Gallery Black Lagoon. 4301 Guadalupe St. Austin, TX.
Free to all!

Lost in the Trees
Phil Cook and His Feat
Midtown Dickens
Daniel Hart
Hi Ho Silver Oh

Stay tuned for SXSW schedules for all Trekky Records artists, and see you in Austin!

Lost in the Trees Announce West Coast Dates

Lost in the Trees have been quite the road warriors over the past year in support of their acclaimed album, All Alone in an Empty House. Our favorite folk orchestra is headed back out on the road to support Empty House, as well as the brand new Time Taunts Me LP+CD+MP3. You can order both albums now from the Trekky Online Store, or pick them up from the band on their upcoming West Coast tour. Also, stay tuned for SXSW appearances and more! Dates below:

03-11 Denton, TX - 35 Conferette Music Festival
03-21 Hot Springs, AR - Low Key
04-02 Lynchburg, VA - The Dell
04-19 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo
04-20 La Jolla, CA - The Loft at UCSD
04-22 San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
04-24 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge
04-26 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
04-27 Vancouver, BC - Media Club

Embarrassing Fruits announce East Coast tour + stream entire new album!

Embarrassing Fruits are excited to embark on an East Coast journey this Spring, bringing Frontier Justice to every town they pass through. In celebration, we're now offerring a full stream of Fruits' latest album, for a limited time. Take a listen to the whole document, and if you like it, you can order the LP+CD+MP3 package straight from us.

In other Fruits news, the band has a brand new song, "Come Home", featured on DiggUp Tapes' new Cassingles Vol. 1 compilation. You can stream the song here and order the split cassingle from DiggUp Tapes.

Tour dates:

02-11 Raleigh, NC - Kings Barcade
03-09 Charlottesville, VA - Tea Bazaar
03-10 Richmond, VA - Gallery5
03-11 Baltimore, MD - The Windup
03-19 Greensboro, NC - Legitimate Business
03-23 Chapel Hill, NC - Nightlight

New Embarrassing Fruits song on tape compilation

Embarrassing Fruits have been busy spreading the gospel of Frontier Justice across the land, now with new member Thomas Costello on board, holding down bass duties. The band now has a fresh new song for you to hear, a part of DiggUp Tapes' very special Cassingles Vol. 1 compilation boxset. DiggUp Tapes is a group of dedicated cassette documentarians in Raleigh, NC, committed to archiving some of the brilliant music coming out of the Triangle area of North Carolina. Cassingles Vol. 1 will be released as a multi-colored, six-tape box set, featuring one band on each side of tape. The compilation features some of NC's most exciting music makers, including Veelee, Lonnie Walker, Yardwork and Whatever Brains.

Fruits' contribution, "Come Home", is the band's most spacious effort to date, a laid back Southern rock anthem. You can stream the song now, and also come to see them play it live at the Cassingles Vol. 1 release party, February 11 at Kings Barcade in Raleigh.

Also, you can order Fruits' new album Frontier Justice now from the Trekky Records Online Store.