• Folk,  Indie

    Valerie June’s Two Hearts

    Here’s one that’s impossible not to like: Valerie June.  I didn’t get introduced until a PBS Newshour mini-feature on her just a few weeks ago. It piqued my interest and sent me on my way to her latest album, The Order of Time, which I’ve had on steady rotation since. A rootsy, bluesy, gospel, old-timey infused ride – and the main attraction: her unique voice.

    Take a listen to my favorite: “Two Hearts” (joining the lexicon of other revered “Two Hearts” tunes along with Bruce Springsteen, Chris Isaak and the Jayhawks)..

  • Folk

    Fred Eaglesmith – “Betty”

    One thing I’ve quickly found about Canadian singer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith is that he has a hell of a lot of great songs. As I skip around his catalog on Spotify (sorry Rdio, you ain’t stocked on your Fred), I’m constantly floored by another knockout tune. The latest to catch my ear is “Betty,” from Fred’s latest album 6 Volts.

    It’s not only the hard luck story of Fred’s lady, who has skipped town with Fred’s gun, leaving him to wonder what it is she’s running from: “Is it the money / Is it the drugs / Is it somebody that you used to love”; but it’s also the bad ass rhythm and cadence of his vocal delivery. It just sounds so…COOL (for lack of a better word).

    Fred. He’s bad ass.

    Buy 6 Volts on Amazon.

  • Folk

    Bruce’s Opener in Berlin: “When I Leave Berlin”

    This Boss guy sure knows how to endear himself to a crowd, doesn’t he? Last night in Berlin, Bruce kicked off the show with “When I Leave Berlin” by British folk artist Wizz Jones. I’ll admit to knowing next to shizz about Wizz, but turns out he’s one of the most revered, influential folk artists to come out of the UK. “When I Leave Berlin” was the title track of his fourth album released in 1973.

    Not sure how the song got on to Bruce’s radar. It’s likely that he’s a Wizz fan, or maybe just as likely he Googled “songs about berlin” a few days before the gig? Who knows? Bruce does, actually.

    But at any rate, watching this video earlier today was the first time I’d knowingly heard the tune. And the warm, heartfelt spirit that emanates from Bruce to the Berlin crowd was enough to put a smile on my face and a mist in my eyes. Maybe it’s the combined macht of my Bruce fandom and my German heritage, but it sure is a beautiful thing to behold…

  • Folk

    Recap: My 2011 Newport Folk Festival

    The last couple of weeks has been a whirlwind of activity for me and my family. It was our first vacation out East as a family – stops in Boston and NYC, and our first visit not only to the great state of Rhode Island, but to the storied Newport Folk Festival.

    Staying in town at the Newport Harbor Hotel, right on the water, made for an ideal location. Especially since it’s located right across the street from the Newport Blues Cafe, where Deer Tick & Friends entertained all weekend.

    On Saturday, we took the water taxi across the harbor to Fort Adams State Park, where the festival is held. On Sunday, we unwisely chose to drive our rental car. Yeah, not recommended if you don’t like sitting in a parking lot for an hour.

    At any rate, the festival itself was a blast for all of us. The only down side was that I missed a lot of acts I would have loved to see, but there were conflicts with other artists. So sadly, I I completely missed Elvis Costello (who brought along the Imposters), Emmylou Harris, the Cave Singers, Mavis Staples, Trampled by Turtles (speedgrass!), among a few others.

    But what I did catch made up for it. Here are some of my top moments from my first, and not to be my last, Newport Folk Festival:

    M. Ward | A lot of people would question my sanity for attending the Newport Folk Festival, and missing Emmylou Harris’s closing set. But it had to be done, because M. Ward was stacked up against her, playing inside the Fort Adams Quad. Matt Ward roped me in a few years ago when I heard Post-War, and when he came out on stage alone with his guitar, and – after an instrumental warm up – launched into Post-War’s “Eyes on the Prize”, I knew I’d made the right decision. The first 30 minutes or so of M.’s set was very intimate, and about as downtempo as it can go. “Poison Cup”, a slowed down version of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, “Sad, Sad Song”… and one of the highlights of his set, a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Story of an Artist” – a song I was not familiar with, but was absolutely moved by, especially with M.’s flourishes on piano. Dawes joined in for the last few songs of the set, including spirited versions of “Never Had Nobody Like You” and “Roll Over Beethoven”. There’s something very zen and calming about M. Ward. It was a great set.

    Delta Spirit [Full set on NPR] | Having discovered Delta Spirit’s music early this year, and going cuckoo for their latest release, History From Below, their set at Newport was my #1 must see of the weekend. Matt Vasquez and the band did not disappoint. Only 4 of the 13 songs in the set actually came from their latest album. Half a dozen came from their first release, Ode To Sunshine, and the rest were new tunes. The band has been recording their third full length this summer in a Woodstock, NY church. The live tunes from ‘Ode’ were great for me – I haven’t spent near enough time with the album, and the songs were great live. In particular, “Trashcan” and the set finale, “People Turn Around”, the anthemic chorus having the whole crowd singing along. What a great band.

    Pete Seeger in the Lego ® Duplo KidZone tent | With my wife and two young daughters in tow, we quickly discovered the shaded comfort and entertainment of the Lego Duplo KidZone tent (ideally placed next to the Magic Hat Beer Pier!). Among the arts & crafts & Legos was a small stage for short performances for the kids while the main stage was between acts. The primary act “in residence”, if you will, over the weekend was Elizabeth Mitchell & You Are My Flower. They welcomed such guests as The Low Anthem, Freelance Whales, and the PS22 Chorus from Staten Island. But we were also treated both days to the legendary Pete Seeger – 92 years old and still going… It was a privilege to sit front & center with my kids and listen to stories and songs from a folk icon like Pete. Among other tunes, we were treated to “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain”. I captured some of it…

    Middle Brother [Full set on NPR] & Dawes | As the clock ticked on Sunday afternoon, it was time to uproot the family from the KidZone tent and make our way within the walls of the Quad to catch Middle Brother’s set. For the uninitiated, Middle Brother is made up Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), John McCauley (Deer Tick), and Matt Vasquez (Delta Spirit). Their debut record, Middle Brother, was released earlier this year. I’ve gotta say, I hadn’t spun the album too many times up to this weekend, but after hearing the songs live (with Dawes as the backing band – these boys are busy), I’ve gained a newfound appreciation for the album. The set was loose, wild and fun – no surprise with this cast of characters. My favorites: “Portland”, sung by McCauley (a Replacements cover), “Blood & Guts” sung by Goldsmith, and “Middle Brother” with special guest Jonny Corndawg. The emotional peak came between Middle Brother and M. Ward’s sets, when Dawes performed a couple of their own tunes (since they were backing both acts, there was no equipment change needed). The song was “When My Time Comes”, from their first record North Hills. With McCauley and Vasquez joining into sing, and the knowledgable crowd eating it all up, singing along at full tilt, it was truly a moving moment – a highlight of the weekend.

    The Felice Brothers [Full set on NPR] | This band from the Catskills definitely has their own unique thing going. And with their latest album, Celebration, Florida, they’ve really taken off into another realm, with a really creative bend of folk and electronic sounds. So it was cool to see them live on the main stage. The opener, “Murder by Mistletoe”, set a perfect tone. Mellow, mysterious, and featuring the vocals of singer Ian Felice – a voice that probably gets compared most to Bob Dylan, but has another edge to it as well.

    Carolina Chocolate Drops [Full set on NPR] | I got up nice and close for this set on the main stage. The CCD’s are an old time string band keeping traditional African American music alive – we’re talking 19th and early 20th century African-American music. Bringing that 21st century flair is a new member, beatboxer Adam Matta. He teamed up with singer Rhiannon Giddens for a scatting / beatboxing exhibition they called “diddlybox”. It was cool to hear that interspersed among the old time jug n’ banjo tunes like “Baby Ain’t Sweet” and “No Man’s Mama”. Rhiannon has a beautiful, powerful voice, and the other main Chocolate Drop Dom Flemons is a character, interjecting lots of humor into his performance. Cool stuff.

    PS22 Chorus | I have to mention my kids’ favorite. PS22 Chorus is made up of 20-30 5th graders from a Staten Island school. They sing contemporary hits, with a few of the boys and girls taking lead and really belting out some impressive vocals. Our family favorite was their version of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”. Not only did PS22 play the Harbor Stage, but they also made it over to the KidZone tent where my kids sat front and center and watched them perform, including “Rolling in the Deep” – a song that firmly implanted itself in our brains all weekend.

    David Wax Museum [Full set on NPR] | This was one of the pleasant surprises of the festival for me. DWM combine American and Mexican folk music, with guitars, a horn section, violin, and even a young dancer in a traditional Mexican dress performing a zapateado – basically on top of a mic’ed box, tapping the percussion with her feet. Lots of latin rhythms, and a very fun, high energy performance to take in.

    It was the first sellout in the history of the festival, 10,000 people strong. Walking around, I sensed not only a very easygoing, friendly vibe, but also the sense that I was surrounded by avid music lovers like myself. I sure do love being among the like-minded – those who live & breathe every note of the music they listen to.

    Newport was an A+ experience, one I hope to repeat some year soon.

    —–

    NPR Music, God bless it, has most of the weekend’s performances available for streaming right here.

  • Folk,  Ick's Pick

    Ick’s Pick: Greg Brown’s ‘Freak Flag’

    I’ve been completely floored – I mean profoundly impacted – by Greg Brown’s Freak Flag.

    From the first notes of “Someday House” to the last delicate notes of “Tenderhearted Child”, the album flows with beauty and wisdom and grace, all delivered in Greg’s low-low-lowdown baritone. He’s always been one of a kind, this folk singing troubadour from southeast Iowa. Now in his early 60’s, he’s managed to take a look at the world around him and write some of the most heartfelt and genuine songs around. Whether it’s singing of love for a woman (“Lovinest One”), love for a child (in the deeply moving album closer, “Tenderhearted Child”), trepidation about where our country is headed (“I Don’t Know Anybody In This Town”, “Mercy Mercy Mercy”), or looking at religion and man’s thirst for something more on the other side (the gorgeous “Let the Mystery Be”)  – he does so with the utmost humor and humility.

    There are memorable moments – both musically and lyrically – all over this album; really well written words, shuffles, chord changes, etc. that make me smile, nod my head, and in the case of “Tenderhearted Child”, even tear up. If you’re a dad, and you can listen to these lyrics without misting up, then something’s wrong…

    I wish that we could leave you
    A world that knows no war
    where of all God’s children
    would never suffer any harm

    May you not give in to bitterness
    May your heart stay undefiled
    May your love never fail you
    Tenderhearted child

    Tenderhearted child
    I will always be your dad
    even when you leave home
    call me when you’re sad

    Okay, maybe it’s not difficult to tap into the strong emotions a father feels for a child, but this song really digs in deep.

    Those deep family bonds are evident in “Freak Flag”, the title track, as well…

    Well my dad preached a message of love
    I heard him say on the day he passed on above
    He said “Use what you got son
    to raise a hopeful cry”.

    Dad I heard what you had to say
    I try to hold to it every day
    I’m your boy
    I’m gonna let my freak flag fly

    The song also touches on coming of age during Vietnam, and love of country (“I’m an American, I’m gonna let my freak flag fly”), and goes on to raise the flag “for every soul gettin beat down” and “for every child who sees the light and turns around”.

    All this may seem like some deep, serious stuff. But Greg delivers it all in such a fresh, inspiring roots and folk sound;  great hooks, wonderful melodies, and a sense of humor that brings a smile to your face.

    I’m only scratching the surface here. I haven’t even touched on the opening songs, “Someday House” and “Where Are You Going When You’re Gone”, the latter which features one of the catchiest grooves and cadences I’ve heard in sometime. The guitar work is fun, twangy, and funky – right along with the lyrics.

    This album is an adventure. I feel like these great songs are coming from someone who’s been around the block – someone who knows; who makes you pause, take notice, and appreciate what’s around you. Greg Brown is some kind of Shaman of the Corn Fields.

    Simply put, the songs on Freak Flag make me Happy. I can’t recommend it enough.

    Buy Freak Flag on Amazon

    Visit Greg Brown’s Official Site.

  • Folk,  Live,  Local

    The Railroad Revival Tour [with a stop in Chandler, AZ]

    I haven’t been this unabashedly giddy about an upcoming show in quite some time. News of the Railroad Revival Tour swept across the web Monday morning like a Japanese bullet train (train reference, pow!). It’s a short, exclusive train tour featuring three great bands: Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show.

    And for once, an exclusive tour that includes the Phoenix area as one of its few stops – and it’s Chandler, for cryin’ out loud, right in my own back yard…

    For a week in late April, the three bands will travel in vintage rail cars pulled by two locomotives across the southwest U.S.A. – from Oakland to New Orleans. Chandler Arizona’s big day is Saturday, April 23rd, as the train pulls into the Arizona Railway Museum for a show. Thanks to some pre-sale luck this morning, I was able to grab my tickets. I am pumped!

    Can’t wait to finally see Old Crow Medicine Show…
    Looking forward to checking out Mumford & Sons (need to dig into their album a little more).
    And this’ll be my third time seeing Edward and his Magnetic Zeros (I’ll also see them a week after at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival).

    Tickets for all stops go on sale Wednesday, March 9th at 11am CT / 9am PT. According to Railroad Revival Tour’s Facebook page, the Chandler museum stop will have a show capacity of 8,000 people.
    For me, it’s a can’t miss experience.

    Railroad Revival Tour: Web Site | Facebook | Twitter

    Old Crow Medicine Show – “I Hear Them All”

    Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros – “Home”

    Mumford & Sons – “Timshel”

  • Folk

    My Dove, My Lamb

    Today, I developed a case of the blahs. Without good reason, really. I’m blessed. Family, work, health…all great, no complaints. But sometimes, even when all’s well, that crap feeling can creep in and take hold. I think they call it part of living.

    So tonight I decided to seek out some soul soothing music. Something to take me to that cathartic, introspective place that only good music can. I found it in Phosphorescent with their 2007 album Pride.

    I found it particularly in the nine minute and twenty-five second “My Dove, My Lamb”. Seven of the most gorgeous and touching verses put to song. I don’t particularly like linking to those shitty, dime-a-dozen lyrics sites, but you really should listen to this song and read the lyrics. Breathtaking, really…

    So even in these cities where she’s haunting me
    Even when my weariness is wanting me
    Even when my wickednesses want to breathe
    Even in these dirty clubs counting 1-2-3
    I will keep a singing til I no more can
    My dove my dove my lamb

    The whole album has a very spiritual quality to it – lots of harmonies, lots of reverb, and best of all, singer Matthew Houck’s voice – delicate but resolute. Definitely not a record you’d pull out and play for your friends on a Saturday night. Rather, I find it’s more of a companion record – one that a listener can form an individual bond with.

    Love this band, and love this tune…

    PhosphorescentMy Dove, My Lamb (mp3) – from Pride

    [audio:mydove.mp3]

    Phosphoresccent’s Official Site

  • Folk

    John Prine and Jim James: “All The Best” on Letterman

    I did a double take earlier this week when I noticed the music guests scheduled for Wednesday’s Letterman: John Prine with Yim Yames (Jim James) of My Morning Jacket. Much to my surprise, the song they sang is one of my all-time Prine favorites, “All The Best”, which was actually the song that turned me on to John Prine back in my college years. The song was included on the soundtrack for Falling From Grace, a 1992 movie directed by and starring John Mellencamp and written by Larry McMurtry (Prine also appears in the film). “All The Best” was also featured on Prine’s standout 1991 album, The Missing Years, which became one of my most treasured albums.

    The duo were out to promote what looks to be a stellar John Prine tribute record called Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs Of John Prine. Other artists covering Prine on the album include Bon Iver, Justin Townes Earle, Conor Oberst, Drive-By Truckers, Avett Brothers and Deer Tick. If this isn’t worthy of a pre-order, I don’t know what is.

    As for the performance itself, well, how can you go wrong? John and Jim trade verses, then share the last one. The low burn of John Prine’s voice coupled with Jim James’ higher register voice makes for one beautiful performance.

    PRE-ORDER

    Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs Of John Prine (out June 22)

    BUY

    The Missing Years

  • Folk,  Indie,  Irish

    New Music From The Guggenheim Grotto, “Wisdom”

    The Guggenheim Grotto
    Having seen the band a handful of times in the last month, I’ve heard the track “Wisdom” as many times in it’s raw form. The tune — which comes from the band’s forthcoming record, Master of the Universe — is partly inspired by the long hours the band has logged crossing the country in support of their brilliant Happy the Man. There is currently no date set for the release of the record, though I’d expect it would be sometime in June. Stay tuned!

    You can purchase “Wisdom” here.

    The band is also doing a residency every Wednesday in June at The Bowery Electric, NYC, and every Thursday at the Tin Angel in Philly.