Indy In-Tune

Show #173: The Pit and the Core

I think I'm probably one of the few people who went through and read all about setting up custom friend lists and the so-called "smart lists" (which are anything BUT) inside my Facebook account.  Mostly this is just to separate people whose posts I want to read, from people that just post endless felioreligiopolitical tirades, from people I don't actually know in real life whose personal drama I'm not terribly interested in.  It also allows me leave groups out of certain posts about personal drama of my own that I know they don't want to read.  See how courteous I am?  By the way, if you're a fan of Indy In-Tune, and you don't actually know me, then certainly I will accept your friend requests, but there really isn't going to be anything you want to read on my personal timeline.  It all goes over to the Indy In-Tune Facebook page.  Now, having already grouped my collective followers into one or more groups by professional contacts, old friends, clients, relatives, inner circle, out of town friends, etc. it recently occurred to me that the largest of these groups by far is one called "music scene," which accounts for 620 out of 730 of you.  So, yes, it seems almost 85% of the people I know are musicians.  So, I suppose it should be such a surprise to me when a couple of them pair up, even though it is.

The Pit and the Core is what, just a few years ago, I would have considered a very unlikely union between roots rocker Megan Hopkins and progressive blugrass/jam-band master Dave Vogt.  It's not that I didn't think they wouldn't hit it off (we've all hung out at the same Wednesday open mic for years) or that the music wouldn't mesh (Dave is like tofu and will fill in anywhere he is needed), it just never dawned on me to even picture something like that.  I'll tell you though, it works.  While Megan has an infamous voice and undisputed songwriting ability, she will admit that having only played for just over a year, her guitar stylings are still very basic.  Dave, while commanding a very unique and flashy instrumental style, is very a very eclectic player who commands a very loyal, but not very mainstream, following of fans.  Combined, they are able to compliment each other extremely well by playing to the strengths and around the weaknesses of the two distinct parts.  I look forward to seeing where this project goes.

Links Referenced in the Show:

• The Pit and the Core can be found here: Facebook | Twitter.
• Megan Hopkins can be found here: Facebook | Twitter | Reverbnation | SoundCloud.
  
• Dave Vogt can be found here: Facebook | SoundCloud | YouTube.
  
• All of the music for this episode was recorded live on the air in the studio and is presented in their original raw format, just they way they aired.  Apologies for the quirks and foibles inherent with live mixing in the same room without isolation.
  
• Co-hosting on this episode are Brandon/Benjamin Cannon of Shine Indy.
  
• The two technically met when Megan played our Monday Night Live show during Game 6 of the 2013 Stanley Cup Finals, but were both regulars at Kolo Bell's (now Nick Wengler's) open stage at Claude and Annie's in Fishers.
• Megan's first gig was two hours of acapella singing at the Raceway Pub in Claremont.
• Local music writer, and occasional editrix of the Indy In-Tune blog, Amy Foxworthy was our call-in listener.
• Dave played for a time with one of our favorite bands, Angel and the Preacher.

Darrin Snider is the OCD music nerd responsible for creating Indy In-Tune. By day he's a cloud engineer and business analyst, but he still hopes to someday be an overnight freeform disc jockey married to the local weathergirl who happens to be a former eastern-European supermodel.