Spring Forward

In

BY HARRIS WHELESS music@indyweek.com

some of the best of Terrell’s career.

JOSEPH TERRELL: GOOD FOR NOTHING HOWL | HHH1/2

Sleepy Cat Records | Friday, May 5

GOOD FOR NOTHING HOWL RELEASE SHOW AT STEEL STRING BREWERY’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Saturday, May 20 | Pluck Farm, Mebane | steelstringbrewery.com/10-year-anniversary

Good for Nothing Howl, the first solo album from Mipso’s Joseph Terrell, takes its concept from the imprecise boundary between human language and sound, articulated meaning and an animalistic cry.

The album, as its pastoral imagery would suggest, was born in the spring. As Terrell, now based in Durham, explains, he had been moving around, crashing with friends, briefly quitting writing and playing altogether. But the onset of spring in 2021 inspired him to establish a daily writing routine: each morning he would drag a chair under a tree in the yard and “spend the morning outside with a guitar.” The album unfolds as one’s thoughts might in such circumstances: stray images wrap themselves in associative frills and vague memories, and half-registered sentiments congeal. Confessional yet enigmatic, the lyrics are

Eleven years after Mipso formed in Chapel Hill, Terrell is the group’s latest member to put out a solo record (Wood Robinson released Wood Robinson’s New Formal in 2017 and Libby Rodenbough released Spectacle of Love in 2020). Good for Nothing Howl is a natural continuation of the group’s indie-Americana sound. The album finds Mipso’s guitarist and primary songwriter back in the studio with a host of collaborators, joining isolated strains of bright finger-style guitar and string washes with arrangements by producer Chris Boerner (Hiss Golden Messenger) and the boisterous rhythm section of Matt McCaughan (Bon Iver) and Cameron Ralston (Bonny Light Horseman, Bedouine).

The album leans heavily on accented production: underscoring verses with strings and choruses with harmonies (Chessa Rich, Skylar Gudasz, Tift Merritt), supplying inter-verse string fills, dwelling in the recordings’ exacting polish. These overdubs, which set and embellish the mood, enhance the odd mysticism of Terrell’s lyrics. This dynamic is on display in the blending of object and personhood in “Cast Iron Kettle”: “I was a cast iron kettle in the pouring rain … I was a repeat back seat sleeping pill.” Or the fractured perspective of “Howl”: “The radio doesn’t have to notice the snowing / And never have I criticized a train out of tune / How come I was whistling but stopped as soon as you walked in the room?”

In these new songs, Terrell reaches a more mature lyrical style than in his previous work: the extended metaphors of Mipso’s Terrell-penned songs (“My broken heart, every injured ventricle, every aching atrium,” from “Red Eye to Raleigh”) reach a darker, more pointed absurdism that, at its best, revels in associative jumps, in personal ambivalence, and in the volatility of expression. W

Music

Andrew Duhon $20. Wed, May 3, 7:30 p.m. Magnetic Sound Studios, Durham.

Bonies / My Sister Maura / Daytona $10+. Wed, May 3, 8 p.m. The Fruit, Durham.

Seven Lions: Beyond the Veil–The Journey III Tour $45+. Wed, May 3, 7 p.m. The Ritz, Raleigh.

Yaeji $25. Wed, May 3, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert with the North Carolina Symphony $85+. May 4-6, various times. Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

Attila $25. Thurs, May 4, 7:30 p.m. Local 506, Chapel Hill.

Erie Choir / Lud $10. Thurs, May 4, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Grateful Dub: Reggae-Infused Tribute to The Grateful Dead $15+. Thurs, May 4, 8 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

Live Jazz with Marc Puricelli and Friends Thurs, May 4, 7 p.m. Imbibe, Chapel Hill.

Punk and Drag Night $10. Thurs, May 4, 8 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Larry Q Draughn: Tribute to Woody Shaw $25. Fri, May 5, 8 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

Mamis & the Papis and Party

Illegal Present: Moodboard $5. Fri, May 5, 10 p.m. Rubies on Five Points, Durham.

NiiTO $12. Fri, May 5, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Carrboro.

Palmyra / Dissimilar South $25. Fri, May 5, 6:30 p.m. Down Yonder Farm, Hillsborough.

Pert Near Sandstone / The Way Down Wanderers $17. Fri, May 5, 8:30 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

Puma Blue $25. Fri, May 5, 8 p.m. Motorco Music Hall, Durham.

Sadie Rock and the Mad Ryans $10. Fri, May 5, 8 p.m. Local 506, Chapel Hill.

Sorry Papi Tour: The All Girl Party $33+. Fri, May 5, 9 p.m. The Ritz, Raleigh.

The Turkey Buzzards / James Davy $10. Fri, May 5, 7 p.m. Rubies on Five Points, Durham.

Big City Lights $5. Sat, May 6, 10 p.m. Rubies on Five Points, Durham.

Susto $18. Sat, May 6, 8 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

Will Wildfire $10. Sat, May 6, 9:30 p.m. The Pinhook, Durham.

Yacht Rock Revue: Reverse Sunset Tour $25+. Sat, May 6, 7 p.m. The Ritz, Raleigh.

Ana Popovic $25. Sun, May 7, 8 p.m. Lincoln Theatre, Raleigh.

Heartless Bastards

$25. Sun, May 7, 8 p.m. Motorco Music Hall, Durham.

Michael Feinberg Quartet $25. Sun, May 7, 8 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

S. C. Gwynne: His Majesty’s Airship Wed, May 3, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Simon Winchester: Knowing What We Know Wed, May 3, 7 p.m. Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh.

Eric Muller: Lawyer, Jailer, Ally, Foe Thurs, May 4, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Carmen Cauthen: Historic Black Neighborhoods of Raleigh Sat, May 6, 2 p.m. NCMA, Raleigh.

Louise and Anne Jordan: Sunny the Sideloader Sat, May 6, 2:30 p.m. Oberlin Regional Library, Raleigh.

Patti Callahan

Henry: The Secret Book of Flora Lea Sat, May 6, 7 p.m. Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh.

W. Fitzhugh

Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle $25. Sat, May 6, 7:30 p.m. Motorco Music Hall, Durham.

The Defacto Experience: Producer Showcase Sat, May 6, 9 p.m. Durty Bull Brewing Company, Durham.

Destroyer (Solo) SOLD OUT. Sat, May 6, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle Back Room, Durham.

Go-Go a Gojo: A World House Music Dance Party $30. Sat, May 6, 8 p.m. Gojo by Goorsha, Durham.

Mdou Moctar $20. Sat, May 6, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

Michael Hawkins and the Brotherhood $25. Sat, May 6, 8 p.m. Sharp Nine Gallery, Durham.

Six Sundays in Spring: Big Bang Boom Sun, May 7, 5:30 p.m. E. Carroll Joyner Park, Wake Forest.

Spring Concert: Voices in the Light Sun, May 7, 3 p.m. Baldwin Auditorium, Durham.

Morgan Wade: Crossing State Lines Acoustic Tour $28+. Mon, May 8, 8 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Hoodoo Gurus

$29. Tues, May 9, 8 p.m. Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro.

Jeremy “Bean” Clemons Jazz Trio

$8. Tues, May 9, 9 p.m. Kingfisher, Durham.

Keb’ Mo’ $47+. Tues, May 9, 8 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Destiny Hemphill: Motherworld: A Devotional for the Alter-Life Fri, May 5, 6 p.m. perfect lovers, Durham.

Brundage: New History of the American South Tues, May 9, 5:30 p.m. Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Screen

Crooklyn, Presented in Conjunction with Special Exhibition Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design $7. Thurs, May 4, 11 a.m. NCMA, Raleigh.

Star Wars: A New Hope $6. Thurs, May 4, 7 p.m. The Cary Theater, Cary.

First Friday Market and Movie Night: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Fri, May 5, 5 p.m. Moore Square, Raleigh.

Planet of the Vampires and Danger: Diabolik $10. Fri, May 5, 7 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham. Home Is Distant Shores Film Festival $19. Sat, May 6, 1 p.m. The Cary Theater, Cary.

The Color Purple $90+. Apr. 22–May 7, various times. Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical $35+. May 3-14, various times. DPAC, Durham.

We Choose the Moon $20. May 4-6, 7 p.m. Mettlesome Theater, Durham.

Art

Gallery Talk: Jessica Womack Thurs, May 4, 6 p.m. The Nasher, Durham.

Opening Reception: Orange County Artists Guild Spring Art Show Fri, May 5, 6 p.m. Eno Arts Mill Gallery, Hillsborough.

Art-Making Workshop with Caroline Kern Sun, May 7, 3 p.m. LEVEL, Chapel Hill.

Stage

Burlesque Wars: A New Thong, a Star Wars Tribute by Nerd-Vana Burlesque $10+. Thurs, May 4, 7:30 p.m. Ruby Deluxe, Raleigh.

The Monti StorySLAM: Jedi vs. Sith $12. Thurs, May 4, 7:30 p.m. Motorco Music Hall, Durham.

Big Red Dance Project 2023 like to plan ahead? like to ahead?

Spring Concert $12. May 5-7, various times. Durham Arts Council, Durham.

The Golden Gals Live: An AwardWinning Live Parody Show $94+. Fri, May 5, 8 p.m. Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

Ryan Hamilton $27+. Fri, May 5, 5 p.m. The Carolina Theatre, Durham.

Switchyard Theatre Company: The Tempest $20. May 6-7, various times. Raleigh-Cary JCC, Raleigh.

$20. May 11-14, various times. Durham Central Park, Durham.

The ComedyWorx Show Matinee $9. Sat, May 6, 4 p.m. ComedyWorx, Raleigh.

Thresh & Hold: Marlanda Dekine and Brittany Green Sat, May 6, 2 p.m. The Nasher, Durham.

Kevin James: The Irregardless Tour $110+. Sun, May 7, 7 p.m. Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, Raleigh.

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© Puzzles by Pappocom

this week’s puzzle level:

There is really only one rule to Sudoku: Fill in the game board so that the numbers 1 through 9 occur exactly once in each row, column, and 3x3 box. The numbers can appear in any order and diagonals are not considered. Your initial game board will consist of several numbers that are already placed. Those numbers cannot be changed. Your goal is to fill in the empty squares following the simple rule above.