Savannahâ€s The Casket Girls get rave review in Washington Post for debut album “Sleepwalking”

And here’s the latest (the magic of embedding!), which you can view on flickr simply by clicking on it:

That’s 8″ x 10″ and hand embroidered on silk.

Pretty awesome. The use of the medium sure conjures images of mourning samplers from the Victorian era and before.

Click here for more on The Casket Girls and on Schaff’s new book at Graveface Records.

The Casket Girls:

Quick spins: The Casket Girls†‘Sleepwalking†is creepy-cool music

From the review:

If the ghost girl twins from “The Shining” ever formed a band, it might sound just like the Casket Girls, a two-girls-and-a-guy combo pairing Savannah, Ga., musicians Elsa and Phaedra Greene with Ryan Graveface (yes, thatâ€s really his name), the guitarist for rock experimentalists Black Moth Super Rainbow.

The Casket Girls†November debut, “Sleepwalking,” is a creepy cool — emphasis on creepy — conflation of old-timey front-porch folk and droney synths. The Greene sisters spend most of it singing shoegazer ballads in flat, sing-song harmonies. Everything is slowed down for maximum goosebump factor; many tracks arenâ€t so much sung as recited like horror-flick nursery rhymes. Add in a genteel fascination with the afterworld, and youâ€ve got the best album released this year by folks who are possibly undead .

Ryan Graveface is of course the driving force behind the label Graveface Records and two retail stores (the 2nd is opening soon inside Civvies on Broughton) named Graveface Records & Curiosities.

I posted some pictures from the pre-Halloween Graveface Fest, and I’ll add a few pics to this post of The Casket Girls performing unplugged at Marc by Marc Jacobs on Broughton Street.

But first a couple of videos:

And some pics:

In conjunction with illustrator and album artist William Schaff’s book-signing of From Black Sheep Boys to Bill Collectors, Triathalon and The Casket Girls performed short, relatively quiet sets at Marc by Marc Jacobs on Broughton Street late Thursday afternoon.

The event also served as a great promotion for Graveface Fest on Saturday, October 27th, featuring Black Moth Super Rainbow, CUSSES, and lots of other bands.

The performances — and a raffle of some pretty cool stuff — brought a steady stream of folks into the store, which is wonderfully spacious and airy, with great light and great views out onto Broughton and Montgomery streets.

Triathalon was up first, and they decided to perform in drag. Really bad drag, as you can see in the photos. Their surf rock sound worked just fine in their stripped down, quiet delivery.

The Casket Girls are part of Graveface Fest on Saturday — Ryan Graveface can be seen in the pics below playing keys. Twins Phaedra & Elsa Greene are the lead singers. Click here for more on The Casket Girls.

Out of the ordinary events like this seem to put everyone in a good mood. It set a perfect stage for my evening, which included a long outdoor dinner at Trader Louie’s and a great show at The Sparetime with Heyrocco and Deep Search (photos to come).

In the photos below, you can see Mangue Banzima at work with four guys on the sidewalk — he’s the photographer and blogger for Qui Style in Savannah, which captures fashion on the street.

The festival gets rolling in a big way on Saturday, October 27, with Silver Linings Playbook at Trustees Theater at 7:30 p.m., and then a slew of films on Sunday at both Trustees and the Lucas. Highlights include Hairspray at 2:30, Flight with Denzel Washington at 7, and Violet & Daisy at 9:30, followed by a Q&A with director Geoffrey Fletcher and actor James Gandolfini. (The film clocks in at just over two hours, so that’s going to be a pretty late night.)

And it’s Halloween weekend.

The 31st isn’t until Wednesday of next week, but parties abound — Halloween is a big deal in Savannah.

There will be plenty of costumed folks wandering downtown, especially on Congress Street near where The Jinx hosts the reappearance of psychedelic rockers GAM and the annual blood wrestling. It’s always a decadent time. Click here for more.

And there’s plenty more music on Saturday with Savannah’s first Graveface Fest, featuring Black Moth Super Rainbow, CUSSES, and a slew of other acts.

Click here for my post with clips of all the Graveface Fest performers. Savannah Morning News has coverage here and Connect Savannah here.

I honestly don’t know which acts I’ll end up catching on Saturday night, but I’m planning to start my music weekend on Thursday evening with in-store acoustic sets by up-and-coming Savannah bands Triathalon and The Casket Girls at Marc Jacobs on Broughton Street during the book signing for illustrator and album artist William Schaff‘s new book From Black Sheep Boys to Bill Collectors. That 5-7 p.m. event has been organized by Graveface Fest and will be the last chance to buy discounted tickets for Saturday.

There’s also tons of good music around town on Friday, but I’ll likely end up at Les Racquet at Live Wire Music Hall. Click here for pics and clips.

Sunday also features not one but two food festivals. I will definitely have lunch at the 24th annual Shalom Y’all Jewish Food Festival, so I’m not sure if I’ll make it to Daffin Park for the Savannah Food Day Festival. (Temple Mickve Israel has had the Jewish food fest on that Sunday for many years, so I hope that next year the organizers of the newer Food Day will find an alternate weekend — or at least an alternate day.)

I could go on and on about all the other events lined up for the weekend.

Just a note to those hoping to launch new ventures on the weekend closest to Halloween and to those hoping to get exhaustive press coverage even though they’re up against a huge array of other offerings: there are 51 other weekends during the year that you might want to consider.

There’s a Facebook event page here but the rest of this is from the Facebook event invitation Graveface Fest 2012:

Graveface & No Control present…the 2012 Graveface Fest!!!

Buy tix here: http://www.graveface.com/graveface-fest.html

3rd Graveface Halloween Bash – 1st in Savannah @ Southern Pine Company (616 E 35th St, 31402) from 2pm until 1am

Featuring (tentative schedule):
– Dreamend (2pm)
– The Winter Sounds (2:50pm)
– Deep Search (3:35pm)
– Kid Syc @ brandywine (4:20pm)
– The Stargazer Lilies (5:05pm)
– The Marshmallow Ghosts (5:50pm)
– The Casket Girls (6:10pm)
– DOSH (6:50pm)
– CUSSES (7:35pm)
– David Liebe Hart (of Tim & Eric) doing an all puppet performance (8:20pm)
– Creepoid (9pm)
– Black Moth Super Rainbow (9:45pm)
– DJ Employee Ray’s Halloween Set (10:45pm in blackbox)
– TOBACCO’s DJ set (11:20pm in blackbox)

+ William Schaff making/selling masks, the debut of The Slowdive Speakeasy (mobile), a Graveface Records & Curiosities pop up shop, the screening of 3 horror films, food vendors, skate ramp, an extreme costume contest with some killer prizes etc…

This event benefits AWOL and GATOR BALL ACADEMY!
http://www.awolinc.org/

Woody’s Skatepark will be setting up a sweet half pipe!!

Black Moth Super Rainbow:

The Casket Girls:

CUSSES:

Creepoid:

The Winter Sounds:

Deep Search:

DOSH:

The Marshmallow Ghosts:

Dreamend:

KidSyc@Brandywine:

David Liebe Hart:

The Stargazer Lilies: