In this week's paper, Doug Davis gets pretty gaga over Austin's Ume, whose spastic, churning blend of punk and thrash has been earning the band all sorts of accolades of late, thanks in no small part to the contributions of magnetic frontwoman and bona fide guitar heroine Lauren Langner Larson, who Davis spoke with for his piece. Writes Davis:
Guitar shredding used to a males-only club. But Lauren Langner Larson, the blonde pixie guitarist and vocalist of the Austin alt-rock trio Ume (pronounced ooo-may) is working hard to change that. And while she's joined by equally gifted female artists these days (Marnie Stern and Orianthi come to mind) in gender-diversifying the club, Larson is also training an army of insurgents that may have a wider and more lasting impact on this male bastion. Continue reading...Davis goes on to detail Langner Larson's work with female-oriented youth rock camps and her work with Guitar Center to make the equipment chain more open to dealing with young women. Impressive stuff, for sure -- and that's before getting into the greatness that is Ume's music.
And you can get a first-hand glimpse of that sound when the Granada hosts an especially heavy bill this evening featuring Ume and DFW's own earblasters, This Will Destroy You and The Boom Boom Box. And, thanks to the fine folks at that venue, we've got two free pairs of tickets to dole out to DC9 readers. Want a pair? Jump and find out how to win...
Want the tickets? Just be among the first to email me, starting right now, with the words "This Will Destroy My Eardrums" in the subject line, and you're in. Good luck!
Update: Contest is over. Congrats to our winners.