NEWS
THOSE DARLINS ADD MAJOR APPEAL TO R 'N B 'N BBQ Thu, Jul 8 2010
by Pete Bland
Columbia Daily Tribune, June 17, 2010
The Roots ’N Blues ’N BBQ Festival, which we haven’t visited in this space in a while, just got a gigantic injection of youth, sass and sex appeal by adding Those Darlins to the docket.
The indie pop-rockabilly swing trio of Kelley, Jessi and Nikki Darlin hail from South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia, respectively, but it’s the college town of Murfreesboro, Tenn. — home of The Features — where Those Darlins came together.
Although the attention didn’t start flooding in immediately after their breakthrough New York live premiere at Southpaw in the summer of 2008, the YouTube video of catchy “I’m a bit crazy” single “Wild One” from that performance became a slow-simmering success.
By the time a tour with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and South by Southwest wrapped up the next March, Those Darlins were on their way to becoming everybody’s darlings.
Their self-titled debut followed that summer, and another, bigger splash was made at SXSW this year.
This summer and fall — behind an endorsement from recently turned “True Blood” vampire Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll) on her vlog, babyvamp-jessica.com — Those Darlins and drummer Linwood Regensburg — aka “Sheriff Lin” — will hit the regional, club and festival circuits, eventually landing in downtown Columbia for R ’N B ’N BBQ, which is slated for Oct. 1 and 2.
Even among a lineup that features the likes of the Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band, the Del McCoury Band, Dan Tyminski, The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, Rhonda Vincent, Shemekia Copeland and many more, Those Darlins and Brazilian garage/soul/funk-rockers Garotas Suecas stand out, bringing the festival a bit of an edge, a quality it definitely lacked in previous incarnations.
After two years of offering free admission, Roots ’N Blues began charging in its third season, albeit at a more-than-reasonable rate that it will keep in effect in 2010. Day passes will still go for $10 in advance and $15 the day of the show, and weekend passes are $15/$25. VIP Whole Hog passes are $100 for Oct. 1, $150 for Oct. 2 or $195 for both.
Passes will go on sale July 1 at The Blue Note and online through etix.com.