UPDATE: We apologize for having to postpone Pinkney Hall’s Free Reed Festival. Last Friday, Kenny Joe was too sick to preside over the Free Reed Festival, or any festival, for that matter. We’ve reshcueduled it for this Friday, March 22. The next few editions of Pinkney Hall (9-10 a.m. Fridays) will have the following themes:

March 22 — The Pinkney Hall Free Reed Festival, featuring accordions, harmonicas, bandoneóns, harmoniums and perhaps other less-respected free reed instruments.

March 29 – On Good Friday, we usually play tunes involving crucifixion. We’ve run out of crucifixion songs, so on Good Friday, you will hear “automation” while we are in New York City scouring the city for new sounds so we don’t have to keep playing the same records over and over.

April 5 — On the first Friday in April, we feature songs by artists born in April.

April 12 — Are there enough good songs about murders out there for a show? Sure there are!

April 19 —  We will feature music from the English folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s.

Requests that fit these themes can be made prior to the shows by email to wrctpinkney@gmail.com or during the show to the WRCT request line (412-621-9728).

As the stage was being set up and a cello and an accordion came onto the scene, I knew I was going to love Murder by Death. I wasn’t wrong, as they opened with a rousing song about “Kentucky Bourbon,” that got the audience jumping and clapping. Throughout the entire show they delivered an energetic performance that utilized their diverse instrumentation in a unique way. Plucked cello lines harmonized with subtle accordion and keys to create the backdrop for energetic acoustic guitar strumming, bass and drums. One unique feature of Murder by Death’s live shows is that they prefaced a lot of their songs with the story behind them. “I Came Around,” one of the band’s newer releases, recounted the story of “going to the funeral of an asshole just to spite him, only to later find out that you were wrong about him.” Instrumentally sound with a strong storytelling heritage, Murder by Death delivered an honest and sincere performance of good old american folk music.

Post by Kyle Henson. His DJ show “The Roots of Pop” airs Sundays at 6 p.m.

One would not expect that a girl as small and cute as the Joy Formidable’s Rhiannon Bryan would be able to rock as hard as she did last night at the Say Media Party at the Speakeasy. I don’t know exactly what I was expecting from the Joy Formidable, but they delivered one of the tightest, most intense performances I’ve ever seen. Song after song seemed to die down and come to a close, only to be revived in a flurry of cymbals and catchy guitar melodies that got the audience more amped than any that I’ve seen. What impressed me the most about the Joy Formidable wasn’t the energy they exuded or that both the bassist and guitarist boldly pounded on the drum kit’s cymbals with their fists; the unbelievable chemistry between the three members of the Joy Formidable was simply inspiring to see. They were all perfectly in sync with each other, they fed off of each other’s energy and they were having a great time not just performing, but performing with each other. After opening with a slew of loud, harder songs, they gave themselves and the audience a much-needed break with a sweet acoustic track called, “Silent Treatment.” After the song ended, they brought the energy right back with a rousing drum fill that later joined the bass and electric guitar to created the deafening, energetic symphony of distortion that we had become accustomed to.The Joy Formidable are great performers and anyone at SXSW should definitely go check out one of their live shows. They don’t disappoint.

Post by Kyle Henson. His DJ show “The Roots of Pop” airs Sundays at 6 p.m.