I don’t know if you realized it but these are not your typical, obvious SXSW reccommendations. You could go to a hundred other sites for safe, easy choices of who to see at SXSW. These however are a bit out of the way.
Drew Smith’s Lonely Choir is an Austin based band that doesn’t sound anything like this Texas city. His hyper, catchy, hook laden pop is sugary on the surface but as you’ll hear in “Bank Ain’t Got The Loan” it’s got substance in its center. This is a new song that may show up on one of two records planned for 2010. Check him out late night at Momo’s on Saturday, March 20 at 1:00 AM.
What little press there has been about the americana band The Overmoutain Men has focused on the fact that Avett Brothers member Bob Crawford is a part of this group. The theme of the record is loosely based on a number of historical figures and stories. However for my money it’s really the presence of David Childers that excites me. While his music is hard to find and often hard to pin down, it is always full of emotion whether it’s his solo records or his work with the band David Childers and The Modern Day Don Juans. He’s a notorious character and a very talented singer songwriter and the unofficial poet laureate of North Carolina. I’m not sure if all of these historical based songs suit his talent but a number certainly do.
If you are interested in more about David Childers check out his back catalog and I encourage you to watch the 37 minute video below. It would do more than any university music appreciation class to explain roots music and its appeal. Get the debut record “Glorious Day” from the band here.
What is it about drinking and country music. If songs aren’t about trucking than they are invariably about drinking. And more importantly why do I like these songs? Me, a guy who has to stop drinking soon after the first one. I wrote about the Austin based band (duo) The Texas Sapphires back in 2006 here. There new record is called As He Wanders… and is out on April 6. You can order it here now.
“How Did I Get So Sloppy Drunk When I Was Drinking Neat” is the drunkenest song on the new record. Enjoy and treat this as a cautionary tale for the weekend ahead.
I made a pact with myself about 4 years ago never to post major label schlock on Songs:Illinois. One reason for my boycott is that on the whole major label releases equate to overproduced, lowest common denominator crap. The second reason is that the majors aren’t thrilled with music blog coverage and I’m not that keen on having my site summarily deleted.
But I couldn’t resist with this new record by Isaac Russell due out in 2010 on Columbia/Sony. Isaac is a Provo, Ut based singer songwriter who has recently been on tour with Pete Yorn, as well as recording with Dennis Herring (The Hives, Elvis Costello, Counting Crows). I’m not sure how he got all these big breaks, but I’m willing to guess at least part of the reason is his hard work, his songwriting ability, and his velvety vocals. “House of Cards” is from that forthcoming, as yet untitled, major label debut. Catch Isaac Russell in Austin at SXSW on Wednesday, March 17 at 8:00 PM at the The Ale House.
Mostly we (bloggers) are writing about the known. Usually we’re writing about a band or artist that we are familiar with in some way or another. Sometimes the person has been in another band that we’re familair with or the producer is a known commodity or there are guest stars we can sink our proverbial teeth into. We rarely write blind. Today is one of those days. Somehow in my travels around the web I encountered the angelic voice of Nell Robinson and her new record Loango.
“Butch” is one of the few Nell Robinson originals on the new record and it fits in so well alongside the beautiful cover renditions that it’s as if it’s a classic itself. Nell is planning a tour this summer so sign up for her emails here so you can be alerted to her upcoming performances. The new record is for sale at Nell’s website here or through CD Baby here.
Day 2 of this throwback Californian cosmic americana thing (Whispering Pines led off the series yesterday) is represented by the band The Ravenna Colt. The back story is that this is the band from ex My Morning Jacket member Johnny Quaid. He left the band in 2004 and moved west to California. As a result the band’s new record Slight Spell has a bit of that California vibe.
Hold on to your hats or your bootstraps or something. We’ll be having an interruption of regular blogging service and particularly SXSW coverage to bring you two days of Band/Dead/Stones inspired hippie rock. First up is Whispering Pines. And it’s not like you haven’t heard it before. But you can always expand the genre. And in this case this LA based band adds boozy blues harmonica, Muscle Shoals soul, and West coast stoner rock to their take on Band-era rock `n’ roll.
At times the band’s new record Family Tree is derivative and you could probably get close to the same experience from slapping on Big Pink. But I like these guys and this debut record is a keeper. Pick it up through CD Baby here.
This is the start of a bunch of SXSW Preview posts that I will do over the next month. The bulk of these are going to be of official showcases but you’ll hopefully get a chance to see more of these bands around town at the day parties. I’ll also be talking about some of these unofficial day parties in the next few weeks.
I’ve written about Steve Poltzsomanytimesthat I am out of pithy openers. The guy’s pretty great. Loved him with The Rugburns. Dude’s basically responsible for Jewel. And now as a solo act he is writing clever song after clever hummable song. The new record is produced by Joel Plaskett which is reason enough for me to be excited. “Dreamhouse” is the title track. It’s available here.
Catch Steve Poltz Thursday, March 18 at 12:00 AM at the 18th Floor at Hilton Garden Inn.
You had me at Will Johnson. Will Johnson from Centromatic has produced the new record from Houston native Austin Collins. Wrong Control comes out March 2 and from the songs I’ve heard and from the video below the record is full of buzzing guitars and pulsing drums. On record Austin Collins has a full band sound that brings me back to the robust sounds of early Replacements and Uncle Tupelo. High praise indeed but I really like these songs and the wall of sound that encompasses them.
The band Big Smith from Springfield, Mo. had some nice high resolution pictures available for the press to use. But it’s this shot that gives you that “a picture is worth a thousand words” take on the band and it’s working class roots. I don’t know if Big Smith is one of these guys in the picture (they’re all pretty big as far as I can tell!) or if it’s just used for the collective. They are rather a large band at 6 members.
I’ve been a fan of the band in the past and always like their stuff. Word is the new record rocks a little harder than previous releases. On the song “Brady And Duncan” you can hear just that heightened level of urgency. The new record is called Roots, Shoots and Wings and is available here through MayApple Records. It’s a good `un.
Catch the band at their record release party at Off Broadway in St. Louis on Feb 20.
I like Josh Rouse, Josh Ritter, Ron Sexsmith, Brett Dennen, Mason Jennings, Tom Brousseau, etc., etc., etc. Something about this group of guys with their unusual delivery, solid songwriting, and indie folk tendencies appeals to me. Sean Hayes deserves to be in that group, but I’m not sure if he is yet. His new record is due out March 16 and is titled Run Wolves Run. Perhaps with this release he’ll enter this upper stratosphere of singer-songwriters.
He does some unusual things with both of these songs off of Run Wolves Run. On “Garden” he uses an odd assortment of percussion, bass and guitar (including a slow searing electric lead). On “When We Fall In” the instrumentation is simple enough but this time he adds a slightly unusual call and response section. Point is Sean Hayes is willing to take risks with his music. Take a risk yourself and pre-order the new record here (there’s a cool option to get the vinyl, a download code and a free ep).
I’m a big Pokey LaFarge fan. I declared his last record one of the best of the year, I hosted a house concert for him in Chicago and I have sung his praises as much as possible. He’d kind of be a lovable loser character if it weren’t for the fact that he tours relentlessly (and successfully). His songs often poke fun at himself and the situations he finds himself in. There’s a fair amount of lovers’ angst and just downright bluesy songs. But Pokey’s presentation, both lyrically and musically, usually finds at least a shred of humor and life in even the most difficult situations.
Pokey’s new record is with a group called the South City Three and is titled Riverboat Soul. You’ll be missing out on some of the best mix of roots, bluegrass, folk and old timey music from this (or any) side of the Mississippi if you pass on this one. Buy it here from Amazon or here for a little cheaper from Free Dirt Records.
I love my fake music blogging job. Writing about such great music day in and day out is inspirational. It really is.
I somehow stumbled upon Walter Spencer and his new record A Sunday Night Roast a couple of weeks ago. It took some work to get this up on the site so I hope you like it.
Walter’s from LA, but his music would be more comfortable in the Appalachian Mountains, or Baton Rouge, or Austin. He plays an odd mix of americana, bluegrass, honky tonk and hippy folk. If this wasn’t recorded in a shack up in the mountains it certainly should have been. I’m not sure of the story behind “Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap” but this tale of contraband soap that gets an Orange County man arrested is pretty classic (esp with lyrics like: “was it crack cocaine or heroin or a little bitty bag of dope? nope he had a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap” and “it makes my balls tingle, but it don’t get me high”).
I don’t know if this kid from England just emailed me or if he did a huge blast to every music blogger in town. For selfish reasons I hope I’m the only one, but for his sake I hope he at least hit up all the A-list music blogs. How does a kid like this just appear fully formed, with videos, songs, artwork and beautiful songs (did I say that yet)?
I’m going to give partial credit to the British school system and the rest to endless nights listening to Nick Drake, Felt, Bon Iver, and probably a fair amount of The Smiths.
The songs i’ve put online are 7 of over 100 written since i was in pink converse and wearing headphones at the dinner table (about 16).
The fact that people can hear them is terrifying.
The fact that the people they’re about might hear them is mortifying.
I cannot play stairway to heaven. I struggle with bar chords. My songs are unashamed self indulgence and my only defense is that i didn’t think they would ever be heard.
They were recorded in my bedroom mainly, and occasionally in friendly studios, with help when needed from talented friends and family members.
I started charging for illustration in order to afford studio time. And got carried away.
My plan in the coming months is to release a limited edition cd in case anyone wants one, which would be madness.
I hereby promise not to blog about meals i’ve eaten, cool things ive bought or hilarious videos containing cats. I’m not entirely sure what that leaves to blog about but we’ll have to see.
i think that’ll do for now.
This is the song that struck me first and heaviest (although “Nests” below is steadily gaining ground with every listen).
Will Kimbrough is known as a modern day musical renaissance man. He has produced, played with, written songs with and performed with all the A-listers in the americana scene and a few that are outside of that scene (namely his work with Jimmy Buffet). I’ve been into his stuff since he first surfaced as leader of Will and the Bushmen. I love his work with the band Daddy and his solo records have been consistently great.
He’s back in 2010 with a new record called Wings. There are a couple references to angels and miracles on the record. But this one that describes the three women in his life as three angels is especially nice. Pre-order Wings now through Village Records here.
Tim Barry’s last record was arguably one of the best records of 2008/09. It’s simple honesty in both its music and lyrics made it a staple here at casa Songs:Illinois. I expect the same from the new record. It’s titled 28th and Stonewall and is due out this week on Suburban Home.
Ninebullets.net has been all over this record with weekly updates, videos, and podcasts but as far as I can tell this is the first post with an mp3 from the new record. Still for all things Tim Barry check out Ninebullets. “Thing of the Past” is just what you’d expect from Barry; its got his bitter anti-consumption, populist angst, as well as his coarse blue collar persona. I love it.
I’ve been away for a couple days. Had a nice little long weekend. I saw my parents, welcomed a new born baby into the world, and met up with some old friends. We’re friends too, right? If I play you this song and tell you not to make a big fuss about it you won’t right? The reason is that I asked this band’s management if I could share one song from their new record with you a while back and they said no. I’m going to anyway.
I hate to go against their grand marketing strategy but the thing is you won’t really hear about this record any other way and it’s not like this song is going to surge up the iTunes singles chart anytime soon. I really don’t think posting one song will detract from sales. In fact I think quite the opposite. With a band like this the whole record is the thing, not just a measly little single. So I’m going against their wishes and hope not to be found out. In the meantime it’d be great if you were to buy the record and prove their shortsightedness wrong. You’ll buy the whole thing right?
Let me tell you a tiny bit about the band first. South Memphis String Band is a supergroup of sorts which contains Luther Dickinson from North Mississippi All Stars, Jimbo Mathus from Squirrel Nut Zippers, and the great modern bluesman Alvin Youngblood Hart. These guys (and others I’ve written about here, here, here, and here) are attempting to preserve and revive the great jugband/stringband traditions of the deep south. This is a tradition that predates blues and jazz and is as American as apple pie. These subgenres are in danger of falling by the wayside so it’s heartening to see a bunch of young guys pick up the mantle.
Home Sweet Home is the debut album from the South Memphis String Band and is available here through Cd Baby.
And remember this time you didn’t hear it here first!
No one (except Rawkblog) is writing about the new Idaho Falls record. I don’t know if that will change in the next couple of days with a press release announcing the new album or if there will be a sudden change of heart wherein music bloggers start to look outside of their email inboxes and P4k’s “forkcast” for music recommendations. Either way this is a record that should be heard.
First off I (and others) have miscast this band as some sort of modern day Gram Parsons with a twist. But the band is more agile and experimental than that (Idaho Falls contains sidemen from Black Eyed Peas, Mojave 3, Hope Sandoval, Cake and the Brian Jonestown Massacre) and on the new record they explore perfectly twisted pop more so than twangy indie country. I love the sound but then again I’m Dan Byrk’s biggest fan and this reminds me a bit of his piano based indie pop. The Spark comes out Jan. 26 (I couldn’t find a buy link but contact leader Raymond Richards (redredrocket@gmail.com) to purchase the record).
Paul Cebar (as well as friend and collaborator Willy Porter) have led “go to” bands that play Chicago during the summer festival season. Both guys are able to appeal to the various cliques that attend these rites of summer. Paul Cebar does it by having a tight band that is able to play any style of music at the drop of a hat. Paul is known for having a good time and creating music that helps others do the same. So for that reason and others this acoustic outing is a departure. For me it’s a a nice bonus.
The new record was recorded without overdubs and completely acoustic. This allows you to hear what really happened in the studio as well as hearing every nuance of both Paul’s acoustic guitar playing and his vocals.
One Little Light On is available at Cd Baby now here.
I had an “a ha” moment this morning. A ha! This is why I have a music blog! A ha! This is what music should sound like! And simply, a ha!
Sam Doores is a New Orleans based folk singer who grew up singing gospel at church, was converted to folk after seeing Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, and then took the course of many young artists by exploring the music of Dylan, Gutherie, et al. Seeing that he is presently in New Orleans it’s no surprise that a bit of jazz and afrobeat have crept into his music. Sam Doores doesn’t have a proper debut record out as far as I can tell. These songs are lofi samples off an early demo ep. As you can hear he’s onto something special; I hope to hear more from Sam in the months to come.
Catch Sam Doores at Circle Bar in New Orleans on Jan 15 or at the annual Folk Alliance shindig in Feb. in Memphis.
Glad you found me at my new url. Songs:Illinois is committed to writing about music that is under-appreciated and unique. I've found that the music I write about shares a couple of traits. And they are: lyrical integrity, musically diverse, and written/performed by compelling characters.
Most songs found here are free and legal and have been provided by either the artist or label. If for some reason you'd like to have a song removed, please email me at cbonnell (at) gmail.com.
