Some of North Carolina’s best were recognized last night by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as this year’s list of Grammy nominees were announced.

Last year, British folk-rock band Mumford & Sons made an auspicious debut in front of an international audience as they performed with Bob Dylan and North Carolina’s own The Avett Brothers.

This year, however, Mumford & Sons joins Kanye West, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and fun. with six nominations each. And The Avett Brothers scored a nomination for their album “The Carpenter” in the category Best Americana Album.

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In a letter to fans, friends and family, The Love Language frontman Stuart McLamb put his heart on a platter and promised that his long-awaited third album should arrive this spring.

“This has been a long time coming, and though it feels strange to put it all out here, I feel there is much explaining to do on my part as to what is going on with The Love Language,” McLamb wrote Tuesday.

McLamb explained that he set out to record the album in February at the band’s rehearsal space in Raleigh. There, he tracked the bulk of the LP with BJ Burton before hitting the road again, including SXSW in Austin.

“It was one of the best — if not the best — times I’ve ever had creating music in my entire life,” McLamb recalled. “A full throttle, ever momentous race to our self-imposed finish line of March 1.”

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Coming out behind a din of synths from keyboardist Alex Fischel and a wash of reverb on vocalist Britt Daniel, Divine Fits kicked off a refreshing set at Lincoln Theatre with “Neopolitans” from their debut LP, A Thing Called Divine Fits.

Just as the album was the world’s introduction to this indie rock mash up, the show was Raleigh’s introduction to the live incarnation of the band.

There were no independently released EPs, CD-R demos or playing in empty nightclubs for Divine Fits. From its incarnation, the band was destined for success with Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner and New Bomb Truckers’ Sam Brown serving as masterminds behind the project.

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CARY, N.C. – Obama and Romney aren’t the only ones crisscrossing the nation hoping to drum up support during the final weeks before Election Day. With the race for the White House just two weeks away, more celebrities – particularly musicians – are being vocal about the importance of people getting out to vote.

Friday afternoon, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals stopped by President Obama’s Organizing for America field office in Cary. The rock band was in town for a performance later in the evening at Koka Booth Amphitheatre.

Potter and her band performed a brief acoustic set for volunteers to boost morale and encourage voters to get out to the polls early.

Click here to read more about why Grace Potter was encouraging voters to hit the polls, as well as watch a video of the band performing “Paris (Ooh la la).”

At the first Cat’s Cradle-presented show since the venue’s rebranding, The Ritz again felt youthful and alive as Passion Pit impressed a sold-out crowd.

Before jumping into Passion Pit, I must point out that the transformation of The Ritz is remarkable. The venue looked and sounded great; if there was a complaint to be had, the stage is a bit too low, sometimes making it difficult to fully see the band from the floor — but that’s just splitting hairs.

The Ritz was also a perfect venue for Passion Pit’s brand of New England electropop that’s become so popular “with kids these days.” In front of a crowd of 2,500, the band danced through a set comprised of songs from their two full lengths and one EP.

Click here to read more and view a complete gallery of photos from the show.

I like Stars. I sort of discovered them tangentially via Broken Social Scene. But since 2004′s “Set Yourself on Fire,” I’ve considered myself a modest fan who has purchased each of their subsequent full lengths.

I also assumed that most folks who were aware of Stars experienced a similar moment of discovery. That being said, I didn’t think there were any huge Stars fans, just folks who appreciated their music and musicianship.

Boy was I wrong.

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