WUNC Music will broadcast live from the City Plaza Stage during the 10th Annual Hopscotch Music Festival September 5-7 in downtown Raleigh. Hopscotch is one of this region’s most important modern music festivals and this year features a broad and adventurous lineup. There will be more than 140 bands playing over three days. The complete schedule is here.
WUNC Music is broadcasting live from Hopscotch on Thursday and Friday nights and all day Saturday afternoon at wuncmusic.org. Our live coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, the coverage begins at 2 p.m. Here’s a preview of the broadcast:
THURSDAY
5:30 p.m. - The Nude Party all met as students in Boone, North Carolina. After a couple years of gigging around the area, they piled into a van, hit the road, and haven’t looked back since. Their rowdy brand of rock and roll will remind you of 70’s era Stones.
6:30 p.m. - Snail Mail is the breakout indie rock project of singer/songwriter Lindsey Jordan. She was invited to play NPR’s Tiny Desk soon after graduating from high school. She had the office at NPR Music nodding along to her aggressively sleepy sound.
7:45 p.m. – Kurt Vile is a remarkable songwriter who’s been releasing music under his own name since leaving the band The War on Drugs a decade ago. His rich, lo-fi sound will fit perfectly with our late summer humidity.
9:45 p.m. – Sleater-Kinney came together towards of the end of the riot grrl movement nearly 25 years ago in the Pacific Northwest. The band is fronted by singers and guitarists Carrie Brownstein (of Portlandia fame) and Corin Tucker (formerly of Heavens to Betsy) and are still making incredibly vital, relevant and noisy indie rock.
FRIDAY
5:50 p.m. – Tyler Ramsey has been writing songs, making music, and raising his family in Asheville since leaving the group Band of Horses. He writes thoughtful, dense songs that are driven by his intricate guitar work.
7:00 p.m. - There’s a huge hole in the Hopscotch schedule on Friday night left by the unexpected death of singer/songwriter David Berman. He’s perhaps best known for his hugely influential work with the group Silver Jews. Berman’s new band Purple Mountains was scheduled to headline the evening. Hopscotch organizers are working on a way to celebrate Berman’s life and work during this slot. He was 52 when he died earlier this month.
8:40 p.m. – Jenny Lewis is a child actress turned remarkable songwriter. As a kid, she appeared in movies like Troop Beverly Hills. As an adult she’s done music fulltime, first with the indie rock band Rilo Kiley and more recently under her own name. Her chillingly confident song “Wasted Youth” was a big hit on WUNC Music.
SATURDAY
2:30 p.m. – Indigo de Souza open an afternoon that was curated by Durham’s Little Brother. The legendary hip hop is not only reuniting for this year’s festival but they also helped curate the stage on Saturday. It’s one of 10 artist curated stages at the festival this year. Indigo de Souza is an Asheville based garage rock band.
3:30 p.m. - Kooley High is a hip hop collective from Raleigh. They all went to NC State and have been working to build the local hip hop community. Their first album Eastern Standard Time was release to critical acclaim.
4:30 p.m. – Lute is a Charlotte rapper that burst on to the hip hop scene as a part of the collective Forever FC. He’s been out on his own since that group disbanded and now records for J Cole’s Dreamville Records.
6:00 p.m. – Raphael Saadiq is bringing his full band to Hopscotch this year. Formerly of the group Tony! Toni! Tone!, Saadiq is a contemporary master of old school R & B. It’s gonna be a smooth sound for sunset that shouldn’t be missed.
7:15 p.m. – Little Brother’s reunion show is the highlight of the night. Little Brother is arguably the most important hip hop group group to come out of North Carolina. 9th Wonder, Phonte and Big Pooh have all been off doing their own thing for the decade since they disbanded. They’re reuniting for this show which will surely be epic with The Justice League and The Butter Team filling the stage with love and energy.
Thursday and Friday’s live coverage from Hopscotch on wuncmusic.org will be hosted by WUNC Program Director David Brower who will be joined by Durham singer/songwriter Kamara Thomas. On Saturday, WUNC’s Eric Hodge will host with Kamaya Truitt-Martin from our Youth Reporting Squad.
