Archive for the ‘Folk Rock’ Category

**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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“Your Ghost Fits My Skin” from Silver Darling (Crossbill Records, October)

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

I was going to take the day off from posting today. The weather’s great in Chicago if you like 90+ degrees. And I thought I’d get out and enjoy it. But thanks to Crossbill Records I’ve got to stay in and blog about Silver Darling. Crossbill Records is a great, small California label with a roster that is growing. The label is headed by Michael Leahy who you also may know as host of the Cool As Folk radio show on KDVS. I’ve written about their artist Matt Bauer and now they’ve sent me new music from the Davis based trio Silver Darling. This is an advance preview as the record doesn’t come out til October and even if you did want to buy it now you wouldn’t be able to. I’ll remind you about this release once you can pre-order it though.

Although Crossbill usually focuses on some strain of folk music, Silver Darling are a slight stretch for them. They play a ramshackle, very loose, folk rock with influences from The Band to The Mountain Goats. It’s some of my favorite kind of music. Listen to “Roof and the Seed” from the forthcoming debut LP Your Ghost Fits My Skin.

Roof and the Seed

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The Moondoggies – “Don’t Be a Stranger” (Hardly Art, August 19)(plus something I neglected from Tim O’Brien)

Monday, July 14th, 2008

What should we say about something that sounds so like the past that it almost seems out of place in the modern day? The Moondoggies got me thinking such a thing with their Band meets Grateful Dead sound on their debut record for the feisty little label Hardly Art (The Duchess and The Duke, Le Loup). The record is pleasant enough (ie my wife didn’t ask me to change it `til the guitar jam halfway through track 3), but it really does conjure up images of Woodstock, the 60’s, and little pink houses.

Still “`Ol Blackbird” from Don’t Be A Stranger literally jumps out of the speakers and its mix of heavy guitars, Bo Diddlyesque rhythms, blues riffs, and soulful organ make it a joy to listen to.

`Ol Blackbird

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I wrote about Tim O’Brien’s record Chameleon a while back and linked to a weird remix by Danny Barnes of his song “Hoss Race” here. It’s been a long time, but finally here’s the original. You can buy Chameleon here.

Hoss Race

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“Brandy Alexander” by Ron Sexsmith (co-written by Feist)(Yep Roc, July 8)

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

I’ve been writing about Canadian singer songwriter Ron Sexsmith since I started this blog. He, along with Rufus Wainwright and Josh Rouse (and what the heck – Josh Ritter), is at the very pinnacle of his songwriting prowess and his music (which is a mix of folk, rock, soul and pop) has reached its zenith.

I wrote about and linked to a song off of Ron’s new record back on May 21st and now I’m back with the much ballyhoed song “Brandy Alexander” co-written by Feist and inspired by a story of John Lennon and Harry Nilsson getting kicked out of the LA Troubadour. This song is taken from the July 8th release Exit Strategy of the Soul which can be pre-ordered signed here.

Brandy Alexander

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