Archive for the ‘Artists’ Category

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Tift Merritt – “See You On The Moon” (Fantasy, June 1)

Friday, April 30th, 2010

It’s been a couple of years since I wrote about Tift Merritt. And it’s been a couple years since her great record Another Country. I’m sure things have changed in her life, and there is a new producer (Tucker Martine) and apparently the world is spinning of its axes. Still not much has changed with Tift’s beautiful voice, soulful delivery, painfully acute songwriting and her general musical direction. That’s a good thing.

The new record See You On The Moon is out on June 1. Until that date Tift Merritt is streaming one new song per week on her website. You can also pre-order the record from her here.

All The Reasons We Don’t Have To Fight

P.S. Usually I feel like I’ve got to conjole and twist arms to get my point across or to convince you the reader that the artist of the day is worth your time. But come on…this is Tift Merritt we’re talking about. Pre-order the new record already. You know you want to!

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Adam Carroll and Michael O’Connor Redux – Revisiting the Texas Record of the Year

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

I went a little overboard in my first post about this record back in January. But now with hindsight and many more listens I agree with everything I said in that post. Hard Times by Adam Carroll and Michael O’Connor is a quintessential Texas americana record. It stands up there with the best of the bunch. There are equal parts humor, sadness, and resignation on this record which deals with hard times in the Gulf Coast region of Texas.

“Billy Gibbons Beard” is one of the funny yet finely wrought songs on this record. Here’s a couple of lyrics”

“In the gulf coast honky-tonks they sweep the eyeballs off the floor”

“I wound on the bottle just like mom and dad had feared with a bar tab twice as long as Billy Gibbons beard”

“There’s a dusty Heisman Trophy sitting on the shelf. There’s a long gone run down hero in there talking to himself about the days he used to run that ball. There’s a band playing in the bar called Billy Gibbons Beard”

Buy the whole record here via Lone Star Music.

Billy Gibbons Beard

Bonus:

Bernadine

Adam and Michael performing Adam’s song “Errol’s Song”

Posted in Adam Carroll, Americana | Comments Off

Chris Coole Redux – “Old Dog” (riyl Old Yeller)

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

All the artists profiled this week have been reviewed on Songs:Illinois in the recent past. But I didn’t want those original posts to be one and done deals. These are just a few of the singer songwriters which I’ve discovered through writing Songs:Illinois that I won’t quickly forget. So I got approval from each one to post an additional song in the hopes hearing them will make a few more converts.

Chris Coole is a Toronto based artist who excels at banjo and just recently released his debut record Old Dog. When I first wrote about Chris’ record I linked to his song “Hell To Pay”, but I mentioned my love of the title track “Old Dog”. Well here’s that track (for all you dog lovers).

As I told Chris when I explained this post to him, I recently loaned out his record to a friend and am now practically in withdrawal since it’s gone “missing”. You can pick up your own copy here through Elderly Instruments.

Old Dog

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Corin Raymond Redux

Monday, April 19th, 2010

I’ve been trying to convince and conjole people in the industry that Corin Raymond’s song “There Will Always Be A Small Time” is the best song about the travails of country music since “Crazy Heart” by Ryan Bingham. It’s the title track from his summer 2009 release. Since I love that song so much I revisited this gorgeous record and want to share one more song from it with you.

“Blue Mermaid Dress” again deals a little with the power of song and the creative process. It’s a topic I’ve loved in song since I first heard Greg Brown’s “Poet Game”.

These two songs are just a drop in the bucket when it comes to this record when heard in its entirety. Buy the whole thing here at CD Baby and keep that Record Store Day 2010 glow alive in your heart by supporting this completely independent artist..

Blue Mermaid Dress

Bonus

There Will Always Be A Small Time

“Blue Mermaid Dress” perfromed at the Tunesmiths Room – Memphis Folk Alliance

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{MP3} New song from Built Like Alaska from the comp “Portraits: 32 Singers, 32 Songs”

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Why is it that it’s your favorite bands that are always the least prolific, yet bands like Nickelback can crank out crappy record after crappy record year in and year out?

A new song from the band Built Like Alaska got me thinking this very question. Variations on this question include: why do the best bands inevitably wind up on labels that promptly go out of business, why are the best bands so much less well known than dance music remix crap, and why do the best bands always split up?

I’ve been looking forward to a new record from Built Like Alaska for years. The only thing that satiates my hunger for new music from these Northern Californian fuzzy rock stalwarts is something new from bands like Radar Bros, Shaky Hands, Mercury Rev, or select songs from The Flaming Lips.

Anyway “Red Eye” is just one song from a 2 disc compilation called Portraits: 32 Singers, 32 Songs. There are a bunch of other great artists on the comp and they all have in common playing an independent promoter’s series called “Off The Air” in Modesto, California. For this record each artist was told to record one new song and to keep it on the quiet side. Thus the restraint shown on the Built Like Alaska track. When and if there is a new BLA record I hope this song is on there and I hope they crank it up midway thru.

Lots more info about Portraits: 32 Singers, 32 Songs here.

Red Eye

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Southern Tenant Folk Union

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Who wants to hear what it sounds like to combine Scottish folk with bluegrass? I do! I do! The band is called Southern Tenant Folk Union and the new record is The New Farming Scene.

South Ysthie

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Patrick Park – “Come What Will” (Apil 10, Badman Recording Comapny)

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Patrick Park is a solid singer-songwriter with a slight folky bent. He’s more polished than the typical Songs:Illinois fair. He also has a great voice which is also not always the case on here. I tend to gravitate toward singer-songwriters who focus more on the song than the singing. Exceptions include folks like Rufus Wainwright, Josh Rouse and Ron Sexsmith. Add Patrick Park to that list.

His new record came out April 10 and is titled Come What Will. You can buy it here.

You’ll Get Over

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My Bubba & Mi – “How It’s Done In Italy”

Monday, April 12th, 2010

I honestly didn’t think I’d get my folksy fix this week from a band based out of Denmark who recorded their debut record in Italy and sing in English. But not only did I get my daily fix I think I found the best free download of the year (except for that Jonathan Burks’ record). A couple other blogs have written about this record by My Bubba & Mi but it’s far from a groundswell. The new record is called How It’s Done In Italy. And the band is made up of three beautiful women who play all the instruments (banjo, dulcimer, guitar, stand up bass, etc) and wrote the bulk of the songs on the record.

I picked one of their originals to share with you – the catchy, old timey song “Steamengeene”. The free download of the record is here, the limited edition cd and 10″ vinyl is here.

Steamengeene

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Otis Gibbs – “Joe Hill’s Ashes”

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Theoretically I’m on top of the music scene. Even so, some great things slip through my fingers. With the demise of indie labels an artist has to do everything right and even then he may still have trouble getting word out about a new record. For example you wouldn’t know it by reading music blogs or even the standard Americana press outlets but Otis Gibbs has a new record out. It’s called Joe Hill’s Ashes, it’s amazing, and for now is available through Bandcamp or directly through Otis here.

Ninebullets really did the record justice with his review here. I can’t say it any better than that.

The Ballad of Johnny Crooked Tree

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Martha Tilston – “Lucy And The Wolves” (April 26)

Monday, April 5th, 2010

I was convinced I wouldn’t write about anything today and half convinced I wouldn’t write about music again period. That was until I learned of the new record from Martha Tilston. I have written about her brand of English folk here and here. She’s got an amazing voice that is put to great use on her songs of love, nature, and the English countryside.

Here’s her song “Rockpools” from the new record Lucy And The Wolves.

Rockpools

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Mark Erelli – “Little Vigils” (Signature Sounds, April)

Friday, March 26th, 2010

This song from Mark Erelli’s new record Little Vigils is not really representative of the sound or the style of the record. But that’s the case with just about every song on the record. There’s no one sound or style that can sum up Little Vigils. On Little Vigils Mark is content to use different textures and tempos to convey different emotions on a wide range of songs. Whether it’s the delicate twang of “August” or the deathly folk sounds of “Hemlock Grove” this record can simply not be pinned down. Mark Erelli has made a record that is suitable for multiple listens and new discoveries (and new favorite songs) on each listen.

At the moment I am loving the nostalgic rock `n’ roll of “Basement Days” but check in with me tomorrow and I might be on to the anti-religion screed of “Kingdom Come” or perhaps it’ll be the bluegrassy goodness of “Mother of Mysteries”. Either way for now I’m loving the song “Basement Days” which is a look back at the teenage “lets-form-a-band” eagerness and naivety that is usually lost by ones early twenties. The beauty of the song is how it pegs that feeling of awe and wonderment that is usually left behind as we grow up. Ironically the song with it’s chorus of “can’t get back to those basement days” is not completely autobiographical as Mark Erelli has never lost that sense of wonder and the idea that the power of a song is unequaled. I highly recommend this record.

Buy Little Vigils here or here now.

Basement Days

P.S. I’m off for my family’s spring break so I won’t be posting for a week or so. See you soon…

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Posted in Alt-country, Americana, Folk, Folk Rock, Mark Erelli | Comments Off

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – “Buried Behind The Barn” (Alternative Tentacles, March)

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

I should have a slew of posts about Slim Cessna’s Auto Club in the archives of Songs:Illinois. But somehow I have failed to write about this band from Denver. Their mix of folk, country, bluegrass and punk is a perfect fit for Songs:Illinois. The band’s new record is called Buried Behind The Barn and it’s an 8 song CD of lost songs that appeared briefly in 2004 as a limited edition cdr.

Buy Buried Behind The Barn here.

Jackson

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Ponderosa

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

SXSW Wrapup:

1. Cold. Yes, Texas was frigid the last couple of days.
2. Good food. Pizza, migas (for breakfast from Gueros) and cupcakes from that trailer on Congress.
3. Music (Carolina Chocolate Drops, Whitey Morgan and the 78′s, Skybox, Ha Ha Tonka, Waco Brothers, and all my favorite singer/songwriters (Danny Schmidt, Matt The Electrician, Adam Carroll, Lee Barber etc etc etc)

One of the unexpected highlights of SXSW for me was band opening up for John Hiatt at the New West party. Ponderosa is newly signed to New West Records and their brand of Stonesy southern rock played well in the hot Texas sun of Day 1 of the fest. The band has a 10 song (!) EP out called Moonlight Revival. Some of these songs may appear on the band’s debut. I like these two below. “Old Gin Road” shows the band’s soul rock side while “Little Runaway” slows it down a bit for a more contemplative, slow burn sound.

Old Gin Road

Little Runaway

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SXSW Preview – Adam Carroll – “Live At Flipnotics”

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

I’ve written a bunch about Adam Carroll. I’ve covered his solo records (here), a duo record with Michael O’Connor (here) and now a live from Flipnotics Cafe record.

To quote myself here’s what I originally wrote about the song “Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffler” when it first appeared on Adam’s record Old Town Rock N Roll:

The song is about a loner who roams the land getting into and out of trouble, both mortal and of the soul. With lines like “drivin’ down the west coast highway”, “songs out the window was all he had to lose” (can’t you just picture the songs floating out the window?), “cuttin’ heads on the chitlin’ circuit”, and “snorting cocaine off a buck knife” Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffler is as timeless as the Oklahoma dust bowl and the howling winds of West Texas.

I think that pretty much nails it, except to say that this live record features production and playing by Scrappy Jud Newcomb and along with the older songs Adam throws in a couple of new ones. If you are an Adam Carroll completist like myself you’ll want to buy this one (here). Catch Adam Carroll at Flipnotics on 9pm on Friday night and then stay for friend and Austin legend Beaver Nelson (or go a little early to see Scrappy Jud Newcomb).

Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffle

Adam Carroll with Scrappy Jud Newcomb

Posted in Adam Carroll, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, SXSW, Texas, Uncategorized | Comments Off

**SXSW Preview** Rebecca Loebe – “Mystery Prize”

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

I used to be a pretty serious Rilo Kiley fan. But I really had no use for the actual band. I guess I was really a just Jenny Lewis fan at heart. I feel like Rebecca Loebe’s new record has some of the best parts of Jenny Lewis mixed with the whimsical folk music I’m drawn to. Rebecca Loebe has a new record that just came out called Mystery Prize. It’s already charting on Americana charts which may not be the best place for her music, but really what else is there for someone with a guitar and a song to sing.

You can buy the new record here. I’ve been listening to it on repeat for the last couple of days and really suggest that you do.

Rebecca plays three shows next week at SXSW. Here’s her schedule (not to sway you or anything but I’ll be at the first one at Flipnotics – also appearing – Danny Schmidt, Matt The Electician, Devon Sproule, and Raina Rose):

Thursday, March 18, 2010, 6pm, Trevor & Dru’s Strange Brew SXSW Songwriter Explosion @ Flipnotics Coffeespace

Friday, March 19, 2010, 4pm, Red Gorilla Music Fest! @ Cuba Libre – Main Stage

Saturday, March 20, 2010 Acoustic Afternoon at Once Over Coffee Bar @ Once Over

Sunday, March 21, 2010 Freddy Powers SXSW Pickin’ Party 2010 @ La Hacienda RV Resort

Mystery Prize

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Raina Rose – “When May Came” (February, Constant Clip Records)

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

This morning I almost wrote about new records by Matt Harlan and Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers but in both cases other blogs beat me to the punch and did a good job sharing their music (here and here). So instead I will mention the new record by Raina Rose called When May Came.

When May Came was recorded in Raina’s living room mostly live and mixed by singer songwriter Jonathan Byrd. It has the immediacy of a record recorded live as well as the energy. “Sun Comes Back” is a perfect song for this rainy Chicago morning despite being a tale of a broken relationship. Any song with sun in the title picks me up just a little and I know the actual sun can’t be far from returning.

Raina Rose’s new record is out now on a little record label called Constant Clip Records created by singer-songerwriter and Songs:Illinois favorite Elam Blackman. Raina also has some shows coming up with the great Aj Roach so check her schedule for more info. You can purchase When May Came here.

Sun Comes Back

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**SXSW Preview** Tom Freund

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

In some quarters Tom Freund is better known for the company he keeps than for the solo music he makes. Tom has been a friend and bandmate of Ben Harper for the last 2 decades. He is also a great stand up bass player and you can hear him playing with Brett Dennen, Graham Parker, and even Mandy Moore. However I’ve always loved his breezy California folk(rock).

He has a new EP called Fit To Screen and multiple appearances at SXSW. The song below is from that new EP. Catch his official showcase on Thursday, March 18 at 1:00 AM St David’s Bethell Hall.

Ghost In This Town

Bonus tracks:

Copper Moon (Live with Ben Harper)
Can’t Cry Hard Enough (as featured in “One Tree Hill”)
North American Long Weekend

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**SXSW Preview** Serious Sam Barrett

Monday, March 8th, 2010

I’m not going to lie to you. I’d never really heard of Sam Barrett. Saw the name around a bit lately though. I guess I could read his bio and then relay it to you but really you could just do that for yourself.

While this song is fairly rough, I think it’s probably a good representation of the combination of acoustic blues, American folk, and traditional British folk that characterizes Sam’s sound. His delivery is much like that of The Tallest Man On Earth. I think I’d venture out to see Serious Sam Barrett.

Catch Serious Sam Barrett’s official showcase on Wednesday, March 17 at 8:20 PM at The Velveeta Room otherwise I imagine you’ll find him at the pub.

Lay a White Rose

“Lay A White Rose” video

Serious Sam Barrett – Lay A White Rose from James Rhodes on Vimeo.

Posted in British Folk, Serious Sam Barrett | Comments Off

**SXSW Preview** (and Honky-Tonk Friday!) with Whitey Morgan and the 78′s

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Not sure what the gossip is over at Bloodshot Records. But if I had to guess from the lineup of their SXSW parties I’d say that there may be some talk of signing Whitey Morgan and the 78′s. Whitey Morgan is the only non-Bloodshot group playing both of their parties at SXSW. I for one say go for it! Despite their excellent roster and being synonymous with insurgent country I think a band that combines the best of classic honky-tonk with rebel rock would be a welcome addition.

The Bloodshot Records official showcase is Saturday, March 20 at 10:00 PM Red Eyed Fly, but also check out the Bloodshot party the day before at the Yard Dog Gallery (free a to get in and free beer).

Another Round

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**SXSW Preview** David Francey

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Here’s something simple and beautiful from Canadian (by way of Scotland) folk singer David Francey. I’ve loved everything I’ve heard from David so I look forward to hearing more of his music on Saturday, March 20 at 10:00 PM at Stephen F’s Bar.

The Waking Hour

Bonus tracks:

Ashtubula
Ballad of Browser Macrae

“Skating Rink” video

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