Gophila

Because this weekend, they’re gonna be.

As part of some crazy promotion/out of the goodness of their ink-crazed hearts, Sailor Jerry (116-118 S. 13th St., 215-531-6380‎) is holding two free events this Friday and Sunday: a show by the A.K.A.s before they leave for the Vans Warped Tour, and a free-of-charge tattoo day at Philadelphia Eddie’s Tattoo (904 Arch St., 215-440-9997).

I don’t have any tattoos, and the reason being is that every time I look back on who I was a year ago, I think, “What a fool … I definitely wouldn’t trust that person to get a tattoo I’d like for the rest of my life.” But this free business is pretty tempting. Are any of you tattoo virgins going to do the deed this weekend?

UPDATE: There is a catch — the tattoo has to be of the band’s logo. That’s kinda lame … but still, it’s free, so kinda cool. More info the band’s MySpace.

A.K.A.s show Fri., June 12, 7 p.m., free, 116-118 S. 13th St., 215-531-6380, sailorjerry.com; Tattoo Day Sun., June 14, noon-8 p.m., Philadelphia Eddie’s Tattoo, 904 Arch St., 215-440-9997, philadelphiaeddiestattoo.com.

When I Clogged the sad news that longtime World Café Live booker Karl Mullen was leaving his post for a myriad of reasons (health being the primary one), I mentioned too that the rumor going right-round was that WCL honcho Hal Real was going to nab either Laura Wilson (a one-time Upstairs at WCL booker) or Bill Taylor (WCL in Delaware) for the Philly job.

As of Thursday, June 4, Wilson returned from L.A. to take over the position of booker to both floors of WCL. “She handled most of the Upstairs bookings, but also partnered with Karl there and on Downstairs bookings, as well,” said Real. “She knows us, knows Philly and the regional scene and knows national agents, many managers and everything. All good.” Congrats.

myspace.com/bestfest

This Saturday, June 6, West Philly’s Clark Park will be transformed into an open-air concert venue and vender’s paradise as part the fifth annual Best Fest.

Between 1 and 7 p.m., more than a dozen bands — from the drone-y U.S. Girls to the often scream-y Magnet City Kids and the children-y Paul Green School of Rock — will be playing to what will probably be a crowd of mostly West Philly kids. The event is being sponsored by The Green Line Café, The Marvelous (a record store mear 40th and Locust) and Sherman Arts, a West Philly-based community art collective.

The Roots Picnic this ain’t, but it’s free, so quit complaining.

bluecollardistro.com

RELATED: That’s Decent: Madman Diplo moves into a mausoleum and starts a charity.

(h/t Adam Riff)

In this week’s issue, Pat Rapa ran down a lot of the bigger music events going on this weekend but that ain’t all. The Philadelphia Sessions — a new nonprofit benefiting Philadelphia musicians and music education — will hold its first annual Benefit in a Brewery Concert on Sunday.

The event is meant to raise funds for a summit on music education to explore how every child in the city can grow up with music education — think of it as Philly’s own Save the Music foundation. Bands slated to perform include locals the Real Feel, the Levee Drivers, Bruce Torres, the Parsnip Revolt, Dave Vegas, Mister King and the Dialects. Not to mention the Clowns and Dee Day Dub will commute from their native Switzerland. Along with the tunes, there will be free samples of Yards, provided by the host venue.

Sun., June 7, 1-9 p..m, Tickets $25, Yard Brewing Co., 901 N. Delaware Ave., thephiladelphiasession.org.

Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

A lesser known fact about Grant Hart, the drummer and songwriter for Hüsker Dü: He created nearly all of the band’s visual artwork, including the bit above. Long estranged from the occasionally dysfunctional hardcore group, Hart has dabbled in both other bands and solo work since, and is currently exploring the latter.

His music appeals the fans of Hüsker Dü’s lighter, more pop-driven pieces, and he’s rather multitalented: In addition to creating art and music, he writes and reads poetry. Though he usually compartmentalizes the three talents, perhaps we can convince him to be interdisciplinary tonight — if we tell him he’s better than Greg Norton?

Tue., June 2, 8 p.m., $10, Johnny Brenda’s, Frankford & Girard aves., 215-739-9684, johnnybrendas.com.

PHOTO BY SARAH McKAY

Actually the much-loved indie label — current home to Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, New Pornographers, etc. — didn’t just sign Philly’s own Kurt Vile. They gave him a “worldwide, multi-album pact.” And publicly declared their love for him:

…we’re REALLY pleased to announce — perhaps more than ever before in label history — an addition to the label roster we currently consider to be one of the more important figures in American music circa 2009.

Vile’s first Matador release, Childish Prodigy comes out this fall.

See also:

• Kurt Vile on myspace.
• The Testostertunes blog (some KV news).
• Kurt Vile’s appearance on Jon Solomon’s radio show on WPRB.

Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Nothing Golden Stays

The folks over at WXPN are billing this event as our very own SXSW. I don’t know about that — however, it does seem to have a fairly cool line-up, which includes The Avett Brothers, Rhett Miller and the ever-dreamy Pete Yorn (whose loveliness is pictured above). The event kicked off today, and will be continuing through Saturday. Also, there will be workshops on marketing, fundraising and basically keeping radio’s ass alive, and Sean Hoots from Hoots & Hellmouth spoke this morning about the relationship between artists and radio — check out more from that on the Web site.

Thu.-Sat., May 28-30, various times (this evening’s acts start at 9:45 p.m.), $75-$100, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, xpn.org/music-artist/noncomm-2009.

Surely you remember hometown hero Justin Guarini, he of the corkscrewed hair and subpar voice of the first season of American Idol, not to mention From Justin to Kelly? Homey’s career is just getting started. From the Greater Philadelphia Film Office’s casting call site:

Let’s also discuss how one of the only places I could find that embeddable clip was on the website for the Spike television network… Via Vulture

It’s been a rough 2009 for World Cafe Live’s Karl Mullen. He’s been In Ireland, away from his Philly booking gig, dealing with the quickly degenerating health, then passing of his father. At the funeral of his dad, Karl fell ill, only to arrive home to find himself diagnosed with a life-threatening intestinal condition that’ll require him to get part of his colon removed.

Though recovering for the last month, as of Tuesday morning, Mullen – he’s booked WCL since its start – will be leaving WCL. There are health reasons to consider, certainly. We’ll tell you more about the situation as the day progresses after speaking with WCL honcho Hal Real. We’re heard rumors, before speaking with Mullen, that either Laura Wilson (a former Upstairs WCL booker) or Bill Taylor (who is taking care of WCL on Delaware) will take over in West Philly. Stay tuned.

Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Brothers Four

Did you know the word “hootenanny” was basically an early-2oth century term for “whatchamacallit?” Yep. From there it changed into slang for “party,” and then at some point become synonymous with a bunch of people playing old-timey music on acoustic guitars. Every month, Walking Fish hosts a version of latter. Feel free to bring your own banjos, fiddles and gee-tars to join in on the bluegrass tunes, or just watch and listen.

Wed., May 27, 7-10 p.m., free, Walking Fish Theatre, 2509 Frankford Ave., 215-427-WALK, walkingfishtheatre.com.

If critics want to look for something that Screaming Females have brought to the table, they’ve certainly made shredding cool again. If you go see them live, you will be completely bewildered by Marissa Paternoster’s no-nonsense, fuck-all approach to guitar slaying. The band’s sound exerts the energy of proto-punks like The Stooges, but with breaks and melodies more akin to The Pixies. Do not miss this band tonight. Watch the video after the jump and read M.J. Fine’s music pick if you need further convincing.

Fri., May 22, 9 p.m., $5-$10, Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., myspace.com/dangerdangergallery

(more…)

Don’t know what to do tonight? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

Check out Robert Hazard, the Philly musician and songwriter who sadly passed away last summer, discussing his biggest penned hit, Cyndi’s Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” From George Manney’s upcoming documentary PhillyPop Music, The Lost Pioneers. More clips from the doc on YouTube.

PREVIOUSLY:The Roots: Why Robert Hazard is riding an entirely new wave.