Guest VJ Fred Knittel previews his Tuesday Tune-Out series (kicks off at PhilaMOCA tonight)

Tonight begins the August edition of PhilaMOCA‘s music-and-film series, Tuesday Tune-Out, with Fred Knittel curating the program for the next four weeks.

Fred is near and dear to our hearts in the XPN universe – he hosts the Sunday afternoon folk music showcase Folkadelphia on XPN2, runs its corresponding studio sessions and curates a concert series around the city. Over the past year, Folkadelphia Presents has featured emerging artists Saintseneca, 200 Years, Spirit and Dust and more. He’s also a massive film buff, and we asked him to put together a guest VJ post previewing the musicians and some of the films he’ll showcase for the next four weeks. All events are at PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th Street), start at 7:30pm and are $5.

From Fred:
I have always enjoyed attending concerts that incorporate different kinds of media or crowd involvement, so I strive to make the concerts I put on through Folkadelphia more than just music. Live music interspersed with interviews was the format for the Folkadelphia Concert Series and live radio sessions on xpn2 often are a part of recent concerts, so the chance to combine elements of local folksy music with a film screening was really appealing to me. Thanks to Eric Bressler (of PhilaMOCA and Cinedelphia) for the opportunity!

Here are a few videos to pique your interest for the August run of Tuesday Tune-Out curated by Folkadelphia at PhilaMOCA:

Tuesday 8/7:
Brandon Morsberger and Don Black (AVolcano/Ghiant) with an ’80s skateboard classic…

Packed My Bags from Brian Troy on Vimeo.

Brandon and Don performed together early on during my Folkadelphia radio show on XPN2 and literally cracked me up the entire time. Besides being amazing musicians, they are two of the funniest people and their stage chemistry borders on romantic comedy level. I recall during our hang-out on the air, we discussed working on an event that would combine music, comedy, and radio. Hopefully this Tune-Out series will get us on that path…I can’t think of anything funnier than folk music. Check out some tunes and banter from that session here.

I can’t really get into what movie we might be screening, but I can tell you that it’s an 80’s skateboard classic starring Christian Slater and this may or may not be the trailer:

We’ll also be screening the film Mystery Science Theater 3000 style! By the way, here is Don Black starring alongside a pig during this Geico commercial campaign:
Geico commercial

Tuesday 8/14:
Gretchen Lohse (of Yellow Humphrey) with The Beast Pageant

Gretchen was the first artist to agree to this series and she wasted no time telling me she wanted to screen The Beast Pageant, directed by Albert Birney and Jon Moses. I don’t want to make bold, unfounded claims here, but I’m pretty sure this movie has yet to have a Philly screening despite having serious Philly ties (Gretchen will discuss more at the event, but one thing that is obvious and Philly related is that Nick Krill of The Spinto Band recorded the movie music). In any case, I get some major Eraserhead vibes from this one, which is quite welcome at PhilaMOCA.

The Beast Pageant – Trailer from Albert Birney on Vimeo.

I love Gretchen and her band Yellow Humphrey, so I’m glad she’s able to perform in this series. We also have a long history as Yellow Humphrey also appeared on Folkadelphia radio back in the day (here‘s tweet proof!) in June 2011. She also wrote me a kind-of theme song for my radio show! If you haven’t heard Yellow Humphrey, stop by their Bandcamp page.

Tuesday 8/21
Hezekiah Jones with a film screening

Raph Cutrufello of Hezekiah Jones was another person who jumped at the opportunity to combine a set of music with a film screening. Hezekiah Jones is no stranger to the juxtaposition of film and music; they wrote their Shaking Through series song “Borrowed Heart” to a scene from Bride of Frankenstein. Check out the whole session here. I want to use this space to thank Raph for letting me use his band and music as a guinea pig for concert ideas that I have, first with the Folkadelphia Concert Series and now with the Tuesday Tune-Out Series

Tuesday 8/28
Emily Arin with a film screening

SKIPSTER | EMILY ARIN PT. 1 from SKIPSTER on Vimeo.

Emily Arin is not originally from Philadelphia, nor did college or a job bring her out here. Instead it was her positive musical experience recording her debut record Patch of Land, with Jon Low and Brian McTear at Miner Street Recordings and with Greg Weeks (of the Espers) at his Hexham Head Studio, that compelled her to make a change from her upstate New York home. Emily and I quickly became friends after she appeared on my radio show for a session, and since then we’ve often enjoyed participating in late night amateur critiques of films over a beer or two. Emily is as much of a film freak as me, so I can’t wait reveal what she chooses for the series! You’ll have to attend to find out!

Here are the Facebook events for each Tuesday:
Brandon Morsberger and Don Black
Gretchen Lohse
Hezekiah Jones
Emily Arin