As of 5 minutes ago I’ve also added Hayward Williams as the opener. I’ve tried to get him to play before but never could put it together. This time the stars aligned so he’s going to open the show up. Hayward’s debut record, Another Sailors Dream, was produced by the great Peter Mulvey. Critics have called that record “fantastic”, “a masterpiece” and “the first major score for 2007″.

Hit me up here (cbonnell @ gmail.com) for an invite and directions.

Problems With Hemingway

Rachel Ries and Anais Mitchell

Waiting to Fall

—–

Speaking of house concerts: one of our most memorable (and shortest) was by singer songwriter Joe Pug. At the time he was a relatively unknown commodity so we gave him a shot at a doing a couple songs opening for Michael Fracasso. Now he’s practically a made man and I wish he would have just played and played.

My Old Kentucky Blog has a new video series called Laundro Matinee and this week he’s featured on it (along with a noisy cricket). Here’s two unreleased songs plus a video of Joe doing his signature song “Hymn 101″ from his new EP.

Not So Sure

Bury Me Far From My Uniform

Joe Pug - Hymn 101 from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

One of the big events in the Songs:Illinois family is our the trip to the circus in 4 days. I know it’s 4 days away since my sons have been counting down since day twenty. If I played them this song they wouldn’t get it. They don’t see that the circus is also a sad, nearly tragic place. Even the best ones are constantly under attack from animal rights groups, the performers live the lives of gypsy’s, and it’s a commercial rat-trap with worthless toys and gadgets for sale around every corner (they love that part).

I wrote about Rachel Harrington’s new record City of Refuge in September and I’m still struck by the song “Housewife’s Lament” and now I’m awed by this one too. Rachel Harrington’s song “Under The Big Top” uses the high wire act as a metaphor for life and just hopes that someone will be there to catch her when she falls. You can order City Of Refuge here.

Under The Big Top

It’s shocking that when I do a search on Elbo.ws for an artist that I’ve written about in the past and discover that I’m still the only one to have profiled the band. Jonathan Byrd is one such artist. He’s a known commodity in the Americana world but apparently that doesn’t translate well into the blog world. His most recent record delved into his southern roots and is titled The Law And The Lonesome. Jonathan describes it thusly:

“The ghost of Townes Van Zandt meets Hank Williams on the high plains. Several early listeners have told me that if “No Country For Old Men” had a soundtrack, it would be The Law and the Lonesome.”

I can’t describe it any better, but I can share a track off of it. Buy it now on CDBaby here (in fact if you want to read more about Jonathan Byrd’s tortured life and his slow and steady ascent to the top of the sing/songwriter circuit click on the link above).

“Houston Window Blues” is one of his more traditional numbers; it’s not as thoughtful as some the other songs on the record but it’s a bunch of fun.

Houston Window Blues

P.S. Austin singer/songwriter Matt The Electrician performs tonight in Chicago at the Horseshoe on Lincoln. I can vouch that Matt does a great live set.

Half Magic

I’m obviously a feverish proponent of mp3’s. In fact in all the years I’ve been doing this blog I have rarely linked to anything but. Sometimes though it’s the music that counts and not the format. The two founders of one of my favorite groups of all time have announced the release date, track listing, and details on their first record together since the band’s demise in 1995. Below is a stream of the first track.

To hear Mark Olson and Gary Louris of Jayhawks fame sing together again is a special treat. In the whole history of rock I firmly believe their vocal harmonies stand up against anyone else. From the few songs that you can listen to on various streaming services and the song below it seems that Chris Robinson’s production is spot on and the harmonies, along with the dual guitar interplay, are still intact. Check out the first track from the new record on New West Ready For The Flood below.

Pre-order here.

Bakelite 78 is performing tonight (last night…oops) at Fitzgeralds along with Black Bear Combo and Jimbo Mathus (from Squirrel Nut Zippers fame). I’ve written about Chicago’s Bakelite 78 in the past and am happy to update you on the status of their new record. It’s called Delta Disc and it was recorded in Como, Mississippi by Jimbo himself with funding from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs. The band is surely one of the few to incorporate styles as diverse as blues, swing, cabaret, dixieland and country.

The record release party is tonight (oops…sorry but it was last night!)

Buy it here.

Darkness On The Delta
Scotch

Bonus track from Jim Mathus

The Stranger

If you’re a fan of Songs:Illinois then you are a fan of William Elliott Whitmore. You must be. No discussion. Not optional.

Thankfully, he’s also about to be discovered by the great unwashed masses. His upcoming record, Animals In the Dark, is on the indie juggernaut known as Anti- Records and is already one of the most exciting releases of early 2009. While it’s too early to draw any conclusions about new directions/sound; it’s clear Whitmore is back with his trademark sound, but with a slightly more political message, especially on “Old Devils”.

Expect the production values to be a little better on this upcoming release, but it’s really amazing what William Elliott Whitmore can do with just a banjo and his whiskey and cigarette ravaged voice. Here’s “Old Devils” off of the new record Animals In The Dark.

Old Devils

I’ve got a love hate relationship with music blogs that simply take all the incoming mp3 links of the week and add them without comment at the end of a post. For one thing, music linked to without any context seems purposeless. Secondly, I think the role of the music blogger is to give some guidance and attempt to create a curatorial atmosphere. So I was a little bummed when I did a search and found links to a few new songs from the Colorado based experimental indie folk outfit PEE PEE already on a popular blog. However the lack of context allows me to at least add to that post.

This band plays a genre they’ve coined called “pure porch-core”. They have just released their debut full length titled Castile Jackine is Vooded at Broonus Mousin: Volume 1 (don’t ask!). They pall around with members of gypsy punkers DeVotChKa and 1920’s swing-folk experimentalists Paperbird (not as bad as palling around with terrorists, I guess). I’m pretty sure the song below is an epic-length orchestral folk ballad about a getting a new cat.

Buy the new record here.

I Hope My New House Feels Welcoming To You

Bonus songs from Paper Bird

Livin Lucky
Blue Sparks

It makes complete sense to me that last year’s punks will be this year’s protest singers. The medium might be radically different but the message is often the same. Punk music is raw and angry and lyrically simple due to the age and makeup of the band members but these young punks grow up and want to express themselves more completely. Good resent examples are AA Bondy, the Nightwatchmen (Tom Morello of Rage and Audioslave), Eddie Vedder and now Tim Barry formerly of Avail.

Tim lives in “Red State” Virginia so on the new record you get a mix of political and social messages. Songs explore the views of the military fighting in Iraq to the scourge of Oxycotin on the rural population. Tim Barry is making as many strong political statements on this record than any I’ve heard lately. If this is the next generation of folk singer then bring it on. The new record is called Manchester and was released on Nov. 4. You can buy it here.

Tacoma

The minute I heard the title of the new record and saw that Kevin McGrother was an unrepentant indie popster I was intrigued. Living In An Enid Blyton World sounds like the best of British indie pop from the 80’s. Think Max Eider, The Housemartins, Jazz Butcher, Blue Aeroplanes, etc.

“Summer Starts on Sunday” has all the elements of a perfect indie pop song. It’s got slightly melancholy sound that is a perfect match for Kevin’s laconic vocals. The indie pop themes of simple love conquering all, the beauty of nature and the glories of summer are all present. This record deserves to be blogged about on each and every English music blog, indie pop blog, webzine and fanzine.

Buy it here.

Summer Starts On Sunday

I had no idea that when I started this week it would turn into a feature on the small Michigan college town of Ann Arbor. Frontier Ruckus was the start of it all, followed by yesterdays post on Charlene Kaye. And unless something comes up at the last second Anna Ash & The Family Tree will be the last (unless you have any Ann Arbor band recommendations).

There’s a Mason Jennings album called Use Your Voice. I love the record, but I love the sentiment in the title more. If you’re a singer sing. If you’re not, then what are you doing in this racket. Anna Ashe can sing. Now, maybe her voice is slightly unusual, but she does so many interesting things with it in the course of just one song, that I for one, was entranced.

The new record is called Hello Friend (from bird above). Order it now from Cd Baby here.

Ann Marie (or a whispered lover overheard at the foot of the mountain)
The Birds Don’t Care