Singer/songwriter Tokyo Rosenthal has a decent-sized following around his hometown of Chapel Hill, but that's nothing compared to his profile across the pond in Ireland. In fact, he's set to receive an honor as part of The Gathering Clare on Friday, in a ceremony in the Irish town of Killaloe -- where he is held in very high regard thanks to "Killaloe," a song on his current album "Tokyo's Fifth."

"Killaloe" features instrumental contributions from Chatham County Line fiddler John Teer (who knows a thing or two about popularity in far-away places) and dB's co-leader Chris Stamey. Rosenthal's aunt and uncle lived in Killaloe 30-some years ago, and the song is a remembrance of his visits there. It's the seventh track listed here, if you'd like to take a listen.

Here's some vintage Tarheelia, from the long-gone days when R.E.M. seemed too avant garde for mainstream consumption -- a couple of performance clips from Winston-Salem native sons the dB's, playing circa 1980 at New York City's Peppermint Lounge. "Soul Kiss" is an original, while "Tomorrow Never Knows" is indeed the "Rubber Soul"-era Beatles classic.

It's pretty raw, but a fascinating glimpse into history. And if you've not kept up with what the dB's co-leaders are up to nowadays, check here for a story from a few months back.

Unless you were frequenting New York City's alternative-music nightclubs at the dawn of the 1980s, you've probably never heard of the Cosmopolitans. And that's a real shame, because they were an amazingly fun little tangent of the new-wave era. "Wild Moose Party," "(How to Keep Your) Husband Happy" and their other Cosmpolitans chestnuts were lighter than air, evoking a smart-aleck punk-rock take on the girl-group era. And they also knew how to put on A Show, with costume changes and ace choreography.

While they were very much a New York phenomenon, the Cosmopolitans' one commercially released single did get airplay in some unexpected places. Glen Tig, who is now a psychotherapist who splits time between Carrboro and Vancouver, was a fan and friend of the Cosmopolitans. He remembers hearing "Husband Happy" on the BBC in London in early 1982.

"I remember being mesmerized by Laurie Anderson's hit 'O Superman,' which was No. 2 on the British charts at the time," Tig recalls. "And suddenly the tranquility was broken by the Cosmopolitans! I think it was probably the contrast of the two, Laurie's mystical tranquility followed by [the Cosmopolitans'] hilarious irreverence. That memory has stuck with me for 27 years. I loved it and still do."

Alas, the Cosmopolitans broke up later that same year and have not been heard from since. But they're back together for a reunion show that plays Cat's Cradle on Saturday, with fellow underground Tar Heel pop legends Don Dixon and Mitch Easter also on the bill. For much more on the reunion, check the feature in Sunday's paper. 

Nowadays, Chapel Hill underground-pop icon Chris Stamey is probably better-known as a producer than a performer. But it would be wonderful if that changed with "Here and Now" -- his new album with longtime collaborative partner Peter Holsapple, and a terrific record (although not everyone agrees). "Here and Now" closes with an ode to the agonies and joys of working in a recording studio, "Tape Op Blues," which describes what it feels like to stand at a microphone and try to sing with everyone watching.

"I like to get the singing done during the initial recording, when possible, then shape everything around that," Stamey says. "Often records start with the instruments one by one. The singing is done only at the very end, after weeks or months of work, when everyone is exhausted by the process, and waiting for the singer to make it all work somehow at the last minute -- and discovering, sadly, that all that work was done at a tempo or in a key that really makes it hard to sing. And the rest of the band is often crowded into the control room, impatient and inattentive. The singer sees lips moving but only hears bits of the conversation when the talk-back button is held down. It's easy for paranoia to set in. I try to avoid this scenario, but it is one that is familiar to me."

For more talk from both Stamey and Holsapple about "Here and Now," see the interview in Friday's paper; and for more about Stamey's production methodology, check this feature from 2004. Then go see their show at Cat's Cradle on Saturday.

More than two years after the regrouped dB's played a series of reunion shows, there's still no sign of a new dB's album. But here's the next best thing -- an official release date for the new album by dB's co-leaders Peter Holsapple/Chris Stamey, titled "hERE aND nOW," which is due out June 9 on Bar/None Records. It's a sequel of sorts to the duo's previous album, 1991's stellar "Mavericks" (which has one of my favorite songs ever). And it feels like this album has been in the works for decades.

"It does seem like we've been working on this forever," Holsapple says. "But it's only been a few years, although it has been through a lot of different areas to get to where it is now -- finished, mastered, with a cover -- all those things people do with records. Now we'll see if it sells, which is something else people do with records. Although I'm not so sure about that nowadays."

Guests on the album include the other two dB's, Gene Holder and Will Rigby; Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster; Chatham County Line's Greg Readling; and, most intriguingly, Durham resident Branford Marsalis, who contributes saxophone to two songs. There should be a live show around the time of the album's release, probably at Cat's Cradle. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: That Cradle show is on the schedule now for June 27.

Between the dB's and Continental Drifters, Durham resident Peter Holsapple has long been one of my favorite songwriters. And he's moving up in the ranks of my favorite writers about music, too, thanks to his regular contributions to the New York Times' "Measure for Measure" blog. Holsapple's latest entry offers a fascinating look at the evolution and sadly unrequited fate of what should have been a massive breakthrough hit for the dB's in the mid-1980s, "Love Is For Lovers" (a song I still remember with immense fondness). The package also includes a sample of Holsapple's original demo version of "Lovers," sung by his then-girlfriend.

So this week's James Taylor tour won't be the only get-out-the-vote shows happening here this election season. Coming to UNC-Chapel Hill's Graham Terrace (adjacent to Morehead Planetarium on campus) is a Nov. 1 lineup that offers up a superb slice of local music:

The dB's
Superchunk acoustic (which might be a first)
Ivan Rosebud
Megafaun
I Was Totally Destroying It
Bowerbirds
Greg Humphreys
Regina Hexaphone
Portastatic

It gets going at the rather non-rock-'n'-roll time of 9 a.m., and it's free -- they're even throwing in coffee and doughnuts.

UPDATE: Billy Bragg, who is playing in Durham that night, has been added to the lineup.