By Brian Tucker

Occasionally I find myself talking to people around town and the subject of music, local or otherwise, will come up. Sometimes the person or persons will be aware I write about music for the paper, generally they don’t. I don’t offer that up, mostly because it keeps the conversation between music fans and because my opinion is no better than anyone else’s. That fact that it ends up in print is a genuine bonus. 

But in all honesty it’s frustrating me when someone says (or posts) some comment about how the local music scene is lame, or that “no one ever plays here.” The latter always blows my mind. In addition to the conclusion that these individuals are misinformed, I’ll offer a few facts like naming bands that have played locally big and small or a local album that might interest them.

This type of misinformation can come from all walks of like, from someone in the business of finance or a college professor or the average citizen. For a small town Wilmington has an impressive music history. But those comments are easily wiped from the universe when I encounter a lawyer who asks me to email when a cool band is coming through or I’m talking to somebody at a party from California who knows about Reggie’s 42^nd Street Tavern.

So Saturday afternoon it was nice to be standing in Gravity Records and have the above blow through my mind for a split second. I was waiting to pick up the new Museum Mouth album from the Self Aware Records people who were in town dropping off copies. On the turntable in the store The Carvers’ new album Surf and Stomp Combo was spinning, sending the store back fifty years as the hardwood floors creaked and the front door let in warm air.

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Returning home my girlfriend put another new local release in my hand – the split album cassette of Deadly Lo-Fi and Sidewalk Babes called Try Our Delicious Half Chicken. That was three new releases in one day from local acts. (Museum Mouth is available Tuesday, The Carvers is out now, the Sidewalk Babes/Deadly Lo-Fi cassette is available online and will be locally soon).

Two weeks ago The Phantom Playboys released an album. MindsOne before that. Sumerlin has a new album called Runaways that can be found at Best Buy.  Before that were five other local releases.

And over the summer there’s more albums coming out – White Tiger and the Bed of Roses has a new one, Mac and Juice Quartet is shooting for July last I heard, Pretend Surprise has one out late June, Deep Ecology has a release show in late July, and more is expected from A Bottle Volcanic, D&D Sluggers, Emma Nelson, Damona Waits, Bootleg Dynasty and probably more I’ve let slip away.…

So for anyone that reads this and cares about local music (and the truth), you’re surrounded by it.

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