We haven’t felt this sort of quirky down-home, jazz-infused Americana blues since, well, our grandpapas frequented 1920s red-velour smoking lounges. In "Beautiful Once" you imagine William F. Gibbs floating from guitar to piano effortlessly, throwing instruments in the air and catching them with bravado, while still stirring his martini. In his album "My Fellow Sophisticates" (to be released in June), the Alabama native proves he's undoubtedly talented- in the way he’d probably still figure out how to churn out music if his palms were tied behind his back. He describes his guitar as his “gateway drug to songwriting, arranging, singing, and exploring music” with long fingernails and non-standard tuning. Keep an eye on this maverick…..his music is a precious drug.
SOUNDS LIKE: Jeff Buckley, M. Ward, Ferraby Lionheart
DOWNLOAD: William F. Gibbs - Beautiful Once
William F. Gibbs @ Myspace
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If this is what evolves in the backwoods of Wisconsin, I’ll take the next greyhound. The Wildbirds craft rough, wind-blistered, and dusty rock and roll. In “Shake Shake”, lead singer Nicholas Stuart commands attention, screeching, “Now all I ask is skin and soul,” with a voice like Mick Jagger with 10 added years of Marlboro Reds abuse. You remain intent till the end when it erupts with country blues electric jamming. Meanwhile, the on-the-porch-drinking-whiskey love song “Susanna” is simply strummed and vocally croaked.
SOUNDS LIKE: Lynard Skynard, The Band, The Whigs, Alberta Cross
STREAM: The Wildbirds - Shake Shake
STREAM: The Wildbirds - Susanna
The Wildbirds @ Myspace
The Wildbirds' Website
Back in March of 2008 we played a live performance on the ChuckP / Dead Air show on INDIE 103.1 out of Los Angeles, Ca.
We are featuring a song we played live called "Jeremiah" on our myspace:
www.myspace.com/thegrizzlyowls
Hear The Grizzly Owls stripped down to vocals, Dobro, and acoustic guitar. We were joined by special guest, Raymond Richards (Idaho Falls, Mojave 3) on acoustic guitar.
Hope you all like it,
The Grizzly Owls
Back in March of 2008 we played a live performance on the ChuckP / Dead Air show on INDIE 103.1 out of Los Angeles, Ca.
We are featuring a song we played live called "Jeremiah" on our myspace:
www.myspace.com/thegrizzlyowls
Hear The Grizzly Owls stripped down to vocals, Dobro, and acoustic guitar. We were joined by special guest, Raymond Richards (Idaho Falls, Mojave 3) on acoustic guitar.
Hope you all like it,
The Grizzly Owls
These United States are trying to 'reinvent folk' (*according to NPR*) and perhaps highlight DC really is south of the mason dixon line.... But while the other tracks stick reveal more southern-tinged folk rock, the track 'First Sight' weighs heavy in on the pop scale. Begining with the same sort of ambient synth progression ala Postal Service, it then launches into a catchy reverie about love. Lead singer, Jesse Elliot reminiscences about being "deafened by trust" and "the logistics of lust."
Check em out yourself if you're in NY, tonight at the Cake Shop and tomorrow at Brooklyn's Union Hall w/ David Dondero
Download: These United States- First Sight
These United States @ Myspace
These United States Website
Leave it to Europeans to teach us just how gripping and transcendent Americana rock can be. The London-based Alberta Cross, made up of Swedish Petter Ericson Stakee and Terry Wolfers, craft folk rock songs- golden and sun-lit, lazy and aching. In "Lucy Rider," when singer Stakee's voice wails "Why do she always lose what she loves?," his voice has the same emotional gravitas as Kurt Cobain during his acoustic solos- pained and passionate. But this ain't grunge rock. These are the type of ballads birthed by weathered cowboys over an oak-burning fire, embraced by The Allman Brothers and The Band.....and now reinvigorated by Alberta Cross.
Stream: Alberta Cross- Lucy Rider
Alberta Cross @ Myspace
Our homies Dirty on Purpose are releasing a brand new, exclusive track from their RCRD LBL EP Dead Volcanoes today, entitled “The Thing About Getaways”. Even more so than their previous singles, this track is straight up urban Americana, with guitars almost cribbed from the Bruce Springsteen Book of Awesome. With Joe Jurewicz holding down the ‘90s-nostalgia vocals, “The Thing About Getaways” is DOP’s indie-poppiest song yet, possessing that guitar jangle reminiscent of the Wedding Present or Felt, only raised on the hard pavement of NYC. There’s a reason why this band is one of the best in the city right now, and have been for the past five years: there’s a core of sincerity here, a level of songwriting concocted from the age-old formula of guitar + sitting alone in bedroom writing = heart-wrenching indie-folk.
Download: Dirty on Purpose - The Thing About Getaways
Download the rest of Dead Volcanoes here:
Download: Dirty on Purpose - Leaving
Download: Dirty on Purpose - Hard To Tell You
Photo courtesy of Abbey Braden for Punk Photo
So it’s the Sunday after SXSW, we’re more exhausted than we’ve possibly ever been, and we’ve still managed to miss our new favorite band, the Felice Brothers, at every single one of their festival performances so far. Our last chance to see them in the balmy Texan weather is at some event called “the Barn Dance”, which we naively assume is some sort of secret, Todd P-style venue out on the residential outskirts of South Austin. Little did we know, one $20 cab ride later (we were driven to the premises by a charming gentleman named Charles E. Lusty, seriously this is writing itself), it turns out the Barn Dance is literally a barn, with people dancing in it, located in a back yard owned by what appears to be a million awesome hippies. We’d be straight-up lying if we said we didn’t stick out like sore thumbs, but after about four Keystone Ices, mi casa es tu casa, and we were more than excited to share some chips and queso with these amazing old dudes and watch the Felice Brothers take the stage.
In a way we’re kind of glad we missed all of the Felice Brothers' SXSW showcases because this intimate setting was obviously their element: all these local people line-dancing and going totally crazy, and no, they didn’t hear about Felice through MySpace or Pitchfork or Vice or whoever, they were just there to get considerably wasted and dance along to really good music by some young kids from upstate New York (did we mention we walked in on a weed deal between a guy with a white pony tail and his friend in a Pink Floyd T-Shirt?). The Brothers were grinning ear to ear the entire time, and as drummer/vocalist Simone stated before the first song, “All those fancy bastards are on planes out of here, so let’s have a party with some real Austin folk”. When the band ripped into “Whisky In My Whiskey”, we don’t think we’ve ever experienced a less convoluted and more real musical instant in our entire lives. These guys are the real deal, and no amount of stuffy industry showcases will ever change that.
In case you missed our run of Felice MP3s the other week, check them out below, and next time they randomly play a barn in the middle of nowhere, please, please, please go.
Download: The Felice Brothers - Frankie's Gun!
Download: The Felice Brothers - San Antonio's Burning
Download: The Felice Brothers - Tip Your Way
This year SXSW this year, we noticed a tenacious Americana folk/bluegrass/roots revival- the type invented on American porches while smoking cigarettes and drinking sweet tea. A washboard is usually involved as an instrument. You wouldn't be surprised to see chickens running around at the band members' feet. Harbingers of the movement? The vibrant, gritty Felice Brothers, The Butchers and the Builders, Phonograph, Dr. Dog, etc....check it out here.
For more click here.
Drug Rug are one of our favorite new bands who make retro country-blues with a hint of drunken rock flair added for posterity. We caught them a while ago totally randomly at Mercury Lounge. They played a Dios cover and we were like, are you serious? This is the jam! This is a demo called “Walden”, enjoy!
Download: Drug Rug - Walden
Black and Greene Records
