Anna Kramer | “Bad Vibes”
In honor of the Shaky Knees Festival this weekend, we offer you our very first music festival-themed Soundtrack, featuring three of the few, the proud and the local acts tapped to the lineup of the annual mega indie rock smorgasbord. They’ll be in good company with other ATL acts NRCSSST, Gringo Star and Manchester Orchestra. And then, of course, you’ve got the big names like The Lumineers, Suki Waterhouse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tenacious D, Hozier, Father John Misty and many more. So, even if you didn’t get tickets before they sold out or couldn’t afford the $269 three-day sticker price to begin with, you can enjoy your own private concert here.
We begin with singer/songwriter Anna Kramer, who has this new(ish) single from her forthcoming album, I Am So Happy You’re Here, which drops in June. “Bad Vibes,” featuring her band Easy Now, gives us more of the rock ‘n’ roll than the country she has spent the last 20 years alternatingly blending and pulling apart.
Her versatile voice can conjure up the pensive soulfulness of Aimee Mann or the feisty brass of June Carter Cash. Influenced as a young student of the electric strings by legends Keith Richards and the late George Harrison, she’s performed solo and with other groups like Nikki & the Phantom Callers. And she has played on the same stage as musicians as diverse as Wanda Jackson, Fleet Foxes and Tommy Ramone. You can see her around town, too, at joints like The Earl or Star Bar. Her Shaky Knees set will be on Sunday at 11:45 a.m.
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Trash Panda | “Atlanta Girls”
Formed in 2015 out of an ozone layer of multi-instrumentalist, cool-cat, psychedelic bravado, Trash Panda was the brainchild of frontman Patrick Taylor, who grew up in Augusta and has been attached to multiple music projects over the years, including Lazuli Vane.
He expanded this particular group to three in 2016, just a year before hitting the airwaves with this song. It’s ostensibly an ode to Atlanta nightlife, with specific attention to the ladies, but with a darker edge that becomes more evident as the song progresses. It was featured on their 2018 album The Starclimber. Interestingly, one of Taylor’s biggest influences included the Flaming Lips, who will perform on the same day as Trash Panda. Here’s hoping they get a chance to meet.
Although the band hit pause for a few years, going their separate ways to focus on other projects, they’ve reunited and are now poised to release their second full-length album later this year in conjunction with the new tour. They will play Shaky Knees on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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Futurebirds | “Serial Bowls”
These ‘birds of a feather have been flocking together for more than 13 years, starting in 2009 when founding bassist Brannen Miles and singer/guitarists Carter King, Daniel Womack and Thomas Johnson were all college students at the University of Georgia. Later on, the Athens-based outfit added pedal steel player Kiffy Myers, keyboardist Spencer Thomas and drummer Tom Myers.
Back in 2020, Womack reflected in Rolling Stone about being on the road all these years and what it feels like to be in your 30s and making this your full-time job. “In any band, you’re always looking at . . . these benchmarks to see if what you’re doing is right or if you’re on the right path. But most of those benchmarks are set by the industry itself. We just decided to ‘let go’ of being so concerned about ‘making it.’ We just need to ask ourselves, ‘Are the songs evolving? Are the shows fun? Do we still love doing this?’ And the answer is ‘yes’ to all of those questions.”
And so we give you one of Futurebirds’ earliest video endeavors. Take note of how the guitar licks, handheld video quality and easy-going camaraderie almost make this feel like the intro for Kids in the Hall. Which is pure music festival vibes if ever there were. Their set at Shaky Knees will be on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
