Sunday, January 25, 2015

Maynard and the Musties - Fall On In

Maynard and the Musties

Like the Brooklyn melting pot they are from, on Maynard and the Musties 2nd full length 'Fall On In' you’re going to hear lots of world-wide influences on the sound. Bits of military marches, the odd klezmer riff here and there, a bossanova bit. Likewise they stretch the traditional definition of a rock & roll band with strings, wind instruments, etc. This is the groups fourth album and the second produced by Eric “Roscoe” Ambel.

Joe Maynard (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Mo Botton (lead guitar), Dikko Faust (trombone), Naa Koshie Mills (fiddle), Jonathan Gregg (pedal steel), Eric Ambel (lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals), Mike Randall (lead guitar), Chet Hartin (bass, keyboards, accordion), Pierre Scoffoni (drums).

Friday, January 23, 2015

FIRST WATCH/LISTEN> David Strange "Cocaine" Video and self-titled debut EP STREAM


How could I not like this? Have you been paying attention? David Strange was a session musician who was privately writing music until Charlotte Kemp Muhl heard his delightfully bent, psychedelic songs and asked to become his producer. Charlotte also sings back-up vocals and plays drums on the recordings, and directed four of the five videos that accompany the EP. Before he was writing songs with Charlotte and recording his debut EP at Yoko Ono’s home studio, David spent time as a sideman playing in Courtney Love's band.

David Strange teams up with Entertainment Weekly for the release of the his new video "Cocaine" - taken from his self-titled debut EP - available today via iTunes or Amazon. The cinematic clip for David Strange's stripped-down electric guitar ballad, was directed by Charlotte Kemp Muhl from The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger. David also shared the "Cocaine" (SoundCloud) single today, a track that WILD described as, "…a sharp, striking example of Strange’s musical prowess that shows why he’s about to be in demand in his own right."





In a world of his own creation, David Strange is all of his lives at once: an electric guitar champion dancing alone in his first Motel 6; a kid building fires bare-handed at midnight with his brothers in the woods upstate; a guitarist on tour with Courtney Love; a kid swapping opera on cassette tape for church-sale vinyl and The Lonely Bull. David Strange thinks reality is inherently psychedelic; David Strange knows that when the future is unclear, the only way forward is inside you, through your own sacrificial wilderness.

After he played a few for Charlotte Kemp Muhl, he found himself at Yoko Ono’s home studio, in a haven that Charlotte and Sean Lennon had built themselves, slowly, like a secret bird’s nest hidden deep in the woods. It was something crazy to have 24-hour access to. He and Charlotte started stretching their sessions past 30 hours straight. They played all the instruments themselves; she arranged and produced everything, singing radiant vocals in the back. David will tell anyone he owes the making of this record to Charlotte. He calls it something out of nothing and explains the record’s production like this: he’d go out at dawn into a dark forest and come back with a wild boar over his shoulder, and it was Charlotte, always, who carved it and made it a feast.

"The David Strange EP is an acid lullaby, jukebox music from the future underground. Each track has a strong sense of itself; a thick narrative rope of surreal American fable and admonition runs through the center of every miniature world, surrounded by an ecosystem that’s alternately electric and dissonant, manic and devoted.
The songs crackle with life and immediacy; the lyrics suffuse the body before clicking into shape in the mind, and they linger. In one track the heady chorus materializes a series of archetypal images: “Dance with me and feed me cake / Tonight there won’t be no mistakes / Bring me on a downtown train / Call me by my Christian name” — and then David and Charlotte pause on the landing of the melody’s staircase, then jump off towards the song’s title — “Cocaine.” That one’s a low, narcotic well — hips swinging, neon blues, an electric guitar wailing synesthetic existence in the dark. “Mean World,” which starts the EP, rolls along like Cream: it’s a trucker in the early morning, a crowd of thousands swaying under a dusty summer sky. “Vitamin Pills” jangles in technicolor, the Doors-iest of the bunch, a series of instinctive hooks addled by an Alice in Wonderland dementia. “Aztec Corn” is a deliciously straightforward, riff-flooded psych-rock jam whose bottom drops out unexpectedly, turning the song into a slow-motion daydream. And at the end of the EP is “Lion Tattoo,” a folksy, haunting Neutral Milk Hotel lullaby in three-four. Play this EP so David Strange can be in a million places at once. Play it tomorrow so it can live in the future, full of ahistorical desire. The psychic texture of these tracks in combination — a deep, jagged, enchanted sense of potentiality — is catching; let it catch you. The David Strange EP is an acid lullaby, jukebox music from the future underground. Each track has a strong sense of itself; a thick narrative rope of surreal American fable and admonition runs through the center of every miniature world, surrounded by an ecosystem that’s alternately electric and dissonant, manic and devoted. The songs crackle with life and immediacy; the lyrics suffuse the body before clicking into shape in the mind, and they linger. In one track the heady chorus materializes a series of archetypal images: “Dance with me and feed me cake / Tonight there won’t be no mistakes / Bring me on a downtown train / Call me by my Christian name” — and then David and Charlotte pause on the landing of the melody’s staircase, then jump off towards the song’s title — “Cocaine.”

That one’s a low, narcotic well — hips swinging, neon blues, an electric guitar wailing synesthetic existence in the dark. “Mean World,” which starts the EP, rolls along like Cream: it’s a trucker in the early morning, a crowd of thousands swaying under a dusty summer sky. “Vitamin Pills” jangles in technicolor, the Doors-iest of the bunch, a series of instinctive hooks addled by an Alice in Wonderland dementia. “Aztec Corn” is a deliciously straightforward, riff-flooded psych-rock jam whose bottom drops out unexpectedly, turning the song into a slow-motion daydream. And at the end of the EP is “Lion Tattoo,” a folksy, haunting Neutral Milk Hotel lullaby in three-four."

Play this EP so David Strange can be in a million places at once. Play it tomorrow so it can live in the future, full of ahistorical desire. The psychic texture of these tracks in combination — a deep, jagged, enchanted sense of potentiality — is catching; let it catch you.

TRACKLIST
Mean World
Vitamin Pills
Aztec Corn
Cocaine
Lion Tattoo

LISTEN> first single "Victoria." from Tamara Williamson's upcoming solo album - Sister Mother Daughter Wife


'Sister Mother Daughter Wife' will be Tamara Williamson's first album in four years and eighth full length as a solo artist.
Each song in the collection is a story about a different women with their own unique story to tell.
The album that I have undertaken is about women survivors from around the world. Each song is written about a specific person who has overcome a situation that has compromised her rights as a human being. In August this year, after listening to a documentary on Victoria Montenegro, I sat down and wrote the first song on this recording. Victoria Montenegro was a disappeared child taken at birth by the Argentine military and raised as someone else. At the age of 21 she discovered the truth. All proceeds from this recording with go to Amnesty International.
The second song is dedicated to Anuradha Koirala.
Anuradha Koirala has created a foundation in Nepal that provides a safe haven for victims of sex slavery, domestic violence, child labour and child prostitution. One of her greatest hopes is that we can embrace victims of sex trafficking and treat every girl as if she were our own daughter. Her words inspired this song. I have chosen a number of stories of women who have undergone injustice and are fighting back in the hope of changing the conditions from which their hardships arose.
During the last three months I have researched and written six such songs. I hope that by lending these women my voice I will be giving them another avenue to bring awareness to their cause.

Listen to the beautifly haunting story of' 'Victoria'
At the age of twenty Victoria found out that the parents who had raised her were not her family, and had been responsible for her abduction as a baby. After many years of searching Victoria found that her father had been a victim of the “death flight’s” where thousands of young Argentinian citizen’s were thrown alive from planes into the Atlantic Ocean. Her mothers body has never been recovered.
All the money from the digital sale of this recording will go to Amnesty International.


Tamara Williamson has been a mainstay in the Toronto music scene since the early 90’s.
Foregoing a career in Opera, Tamara’s musical sensibilities began to blossom in a series of small,
independent bands she formed in London before relocating to Toronto in 1991. In 1993 her band
Mrs. Torrance and was signed with the major label BMG Canada. They released two full-length
albums and an EP before disbanding in 1998 the band toured extensively, supporting the likes of
Jewel and Oasis. Tamara sang with the Rheostatics on many occasions including Maple Leaf Garden's opening for the Tragically Hip. In 2000 Tamara produced and released her first solo recording “Nightmare on Queen Street” The song Rope from this record was in rotation on Much Music and Tamara was featured on “The New Music” television program. Since then Tamara has produced album’s for other artist such as Rachel Smith and Barzin, she has fronted a trip-hop band called Microbunny and toured playing guitar and singing with King Cobb Stealie. Over the years Tamara has written and recorded seven more alums released in Canada and Europe. She has been a guest on "les femmes s'en mĂȘlent"” tour in France twice with Feist and Shannon Wright and been recorded for the Black session’s on French commercial radio. Tamara was dubbed the “God Mother of Indie” by Eye magazine in 2002 and In 1999 NOW Magazine voted Tamara Williamson fourth best concert of the year just after Bjork and before GreenDay.

Jesse Harris & The Gypsy Sparrows - Midnight Still

Jesse Harris (lead vocals and guitar) along with music veteran Jeff Perkins (lead guitar), Sean "Knuckles" DeCourcy (vocals, percussion and harmonica) and Noah Richards (bass)

Jesse Harris & the Gypsy Sparrows, an Americana/Roots band from Kansas City latest release “Midnight Still”, their second studio album has an easy, effortless vibe unique in the Americana/Roots scene. Pulling from a variety of genres they play a combination of bluegrass, Texas Country and Outlaw finger pickin' ear vittles. Their sound is uniquely their own, exceptional musicianship and thickly layered compositions. It's a fireside boot stompin' singalong. New Album Midnight Still on iTunes








Big Daddy Love - This Time Around

Jenny L. Viars/Dancing Lemur Photography
Big Daddy Love is, from left: Brian Swenk (banjo), Joseph Recchio (guitar, vocals), Scott Moss (vocals, guitar), Ashley Sutton (bass) and Scotty Lewis (drums).

Big Daddy Love has been around in one incarnation or another since 2009, touring the bar and venue circuit and creeping steadily into festival line ups across the nation. The band recently signed with Blue Mountain Artists in Charlotte and with Micah Davidson and Hugh Southard in their corner, Big Daddy Love expects to conquer the bigger festival and tour markets in 2015.
The new record, This Time Around, features Scott Moss (guitar and vocals) and Scotty Lewis (drums), the newest members of Big Daddy Love.
“Scott and Scotty joined us in 2012, “ says Swenk. “We had already locked into our style and sound by then, but them coming on board really kicked everything into a higher gear and gave us an extra “punch” in our sound.”
Big Daddy Love refers to its intoxicating musical mixture as Appalachian Rock, a sort of catch all phrase to describe its spirited foray into every style imaginable. There’s a blush of bluegrass, a smattering of soul and then there’s the high lonesome whine of an Allmanesque slide guitar. Big Daddy Love has a bold, intrepid spirit woven through their tunes; it’s a mish mash of styles that fits them perfectly. Moss said the band wanted to showcase their varying styles and the talent of each member on this new release.
“We wanted it to be a cross-section … wanted it to sound like an album and not just a collection of songs, As a band, we’re probably at the point where we need to be putting out an album every 18 months or so,” Moss said. 
“I think we’ve all had experiences where bringing different styles together comes easily or it just doesn’t flow,” admits banjo player Brian Swenk. “Fortunately, for this group of guys it comes very easily.  We could feel it in the very beginning and it’s one of the biggest reasons we’ve been able to go as far as we have with our sound.” 



Jan 23 Big Daddy Love @ Hill Country BBQ Washington DC
Jan 24 Big Daddy Love @ The Willow Tree w/Red Dirt Revelators and Band of Opportunity Johnson City, TN
Feb 20 Big Daddy Love @ Pisgah Brewing Black Mountain, NC
Feb 21 Big Daddy Love @ The Double Door Inn Charlotte, NC
Feb 27 Big Daddy Love @ The Fat Frogg Elon, NC
Feb 28 Big Daddy Love @ The Camel Richmond, VA
Mar 21 Big Daddy Love @ Brackett Cedar Park, Lawndale, NC
Mar 27 Big Daddy Love @ Blue Bourbon Jacks High Point, NC

The Pine Hill Haints - The Magik Sounds of the Pine Hill Haints


The Pine Hill Haints create "Alabama Ghost Music," a genre that they consider to be dead in the modern world. Mixing elements of folk, rockabilly, bluegrass and just a hint of punk, their shadowy narratives conjure up images of the haunted South with twangy guitars and sing-along melodies. The band's new album, The Magik Sounds of the Pine Hill Haints, on Olympia-based label K, and you can now stream it in full via The Bluegrass Situation. The album is available in all physical formats via K's webstore

A group of troubadours and kindred spirits, The Haints strive to capture a living pulse-- and often an underlying darkness-- with their storytelling lyrics and fervent instrumentation. While Magik Sounds is more fast-paced and pop-driven than the band's previous releases, it still exudes a mysterious, smoky vibe with tales of late nights in small-town diners, cowboy gunfights, and lonely cross-country travels.

The Magik Sounds of the Pine Hill Haints Track Listing: 
1. Ms Pacman
2. Galaxy Buffalo
3. Rattle Them Bones
4. Villian Vs. The Kid
5. Shattered Waltz
6. Blow
7. Can I Have Your Board When You Are
    Dead?
8. Total Zero
9. Coffin Black
10. Dead Ringer
11. Lady Bug
12. Scarlett Fever
13. What Am I Gonna Do But Wait Right
      Here
14. 7 on a Pair Of Dice

Thursday, January 22, 2015

The Full Set Twang Darkly NPR Tiny Desk Concert Submission

 
One of the highlights at last year's Couch By Couchwest for me was, Twang Darkly, thier psych/folk electric chromatic dulcimer from Michael Futreal. It is fresh and invigorating and other worldly. On thier recent NPR Tiny Desk Concert submission Twang Darkly also uses the electric slide gourd, ukulele for a wild twang treat.

Twang Darkly's Tiny Desk Concert
Get My Gourd - Mountian Fever - Under Many Moons - The Sea Rovers


Thier recent concept album Martian Archaeology DVD is now Available (includes album download)
It is a visual excursion to Mars with Sun Ra as tour guide. Very well put together with monolith photos inposed with Mars and space. Inspired by years of the years of speculation and stories about Mars that preceded NASA's Mariner 4 and Viking missions to the Red Planet. 



Martian Archaeology Soundtrack


Paul Saint John NEW EP Panic Merchants


Hot on the heels of his Debut LP - Eleventeen, released in August 2013 to critical acclaim. In fact Eleventeen made it onto Popa's Tunes Top 10 Albums of 2013 !! Scottish Singer/Songwriter Paul Saint John 2nd album Panic Merchant finds our prolific songster exploring appalachia and combining with his Scottish folk roots for a great folksy record. Availble on Amazon, iTunes and CDBaby

PT: How long ago did you move from the UK and what prompted the move, how do you like philly, music scene, cheese steaks, pretzels, scrapple etc.
PSJ: I moved here in 2000 after meeting my bride in San Francisco in December 1999, I didn't play the guitar from 1997 until 2012 until I tore my knee, then I had the time to sit down and recuperate and I picked up my guitar again. I Love Philly, Big fan of The Eagles,Cheesesteaks, Scrapple, Yeungling etc

PT: The song Front Street mentions all the great streets in philly, are there any philly parks you find remind you of home?
PSJ: Front Street does mention making your way down Broad, South, till Front, I have been going to Fairmount Park since I came here, particularly around Valley Green.

PT: The harmonic is more prominent on Panic Merchants then on eleventeen and adds a homespun folk with a touch of appalachia to the scotish roots of your songwriting, is america rubbing off on you? 
PSJ: I started playing the harmonica back in March for a show at the Tin Angel for the Philadelphia Folk Society, I'd always played it somewhat but now I cant imagine writing a song without it.
There is a banjitar on this record that I just played as an overdub, I don't play anything else really.
America has rubbed off on me, I view myself as a Philly guy, though clearly I will always be Scottish first.

PT:  The title of the ep Panic Merchants sounds like if would be a continuation on some of the political themes on eleventeen, though they are not. what does the title mean?
PSJ: Panic Merchant is just a term that is used in everyday slang by people in Scotland and possibly further. Meaning - someone who gets flustered easy, can't take pressure, someone who gets overexcited about a situation and tends to hit the panic button in their head, a bit like Tony Romo  in the playoffs haha.
Its a term I've always liked as it puts two separate words together to great effect.


PT:  How do you go about your writing process?
PSJ: My writing process consists of playing chords/riffs until I hear something I like, I then put words to it, if I get words that I like, finishing the songs tends to happen really quickly.

PT: Who is Cecily? 
PSJ: Cecily !  Lets just say it is possible ( not confirming this ) that I must have been watching the weather on 6ABC when I came up with the song, then I changed the girls name several times but I didn't like anything better than Cecily.
PT: Any shows coming up, tour in the future?
PSJ: My main aim is to get Cecily, or If The Morning Comes, onto the radio which is already happening. I wanted to do a stripped down acoustic EP that would highlight my Live performances and maybe would endear me to a few Folk festivals etc , I am working with my producer Mark Robinson on a single ( The Great North Road ) for early 2015 that will have a much fuller sound.
My hopes for 2015 are more showcases, more festival slots, more airplay, and  maybe a song on a tv show or movie. 

Panic Merchant 
Track List:
Back In Aberdeen
Front Street
Cecily, There's Gonna Be A Rainstorm
If The Morning Comes


The Quick & Easy Boys - Follow Us Overboard



The Quick & Easy Boys - Follow Us Overboard

On their fourth full-length, Portland, Oregon-based psychedelic rock/melodic-pop outfit The Quick & Easy Boys make a record you can shake your hips and move your feet to, all courtesy of Los Lobos keyboardist/horn player and producer Steve Berlin. Berlin recorded Follow Us Overboard at Modest Mouse mastermind Isaac Brock's private studio, where Modest Mouse has been recording their next record for the past two years; The Quick & Easy Boys the first outside band to record there.

Comprised of vocalist/bassist Sean Badders, guitarist/vocalist Jimmy Russell, and newcomer Casey Anthony on drums, The Quick & Easy Boys set out to make a record that sounds like "The Beach Boys meets The BeeGees meets The Flaming Lips" and feel they nailed it on Follow Us Overboard's fifteen songs.

"We gave Steve Berlin forty demo tracks that ranged from home demos done by Sean and I (some of which made it on the album), recordings of us practicing/improvising, and songs that we had previously worked out together," recalls Russell. "Steve whittled the list down to his favorite eighteen and we cut a few, and ended up with fifteen."

"A major factor in this album was the inclusion of Steve Berlin as producer," quickly confirms Badders. "In the past, the albums were produced by us and our engineers - and we love how those came out -but this was the first time we really let an outsider really shape what was happening, and honestly it made a lot of things way easier."

The title of the album comes for Berlin, who told the band a few times in the studio to "Follow Us Overboard" when adding a few extra vocal layers and guitar parts, and the name stuck.

But, as Badders states, it album sums up the album pretty well, as well as their approach to creating and playing music together.

"For this album we really went back to our roots and just said f**k it, lets just make the best album we can regardless of what the songs are or how it might be perceived," he says. "I joke that its like the first album we did, only fifty times better due to increased musicianship, songwriting, and the help of Steve Berlin producing. Along with the songs we did with Steve, we have five or six songs I composed by myself on a multitrack program on my iPad that we ended up using on the album, kind of like in an interlude sense like on great hip-hop albums we grew up listening to in the 90s, minus the comedic skits."
He pauses for a minute and continues, "We really wanted to make this a weird, psychedelic rock album that was consistent throughout, but also slightly off in a good way. We really spared no expense as far as keyboards, horns, backing vocals, or anything else."
"With Steve Berlin as the producer there was an attitude of exploration that allowed all members of the band to contribute their musical voice completely," furthers Russell. "In the process of recording we were not stifled by any thoughts of adding too much and thus we incorporated many vocal, guitar, keys, horns, and aux percussion that were contributed by some very talented friends, as well as ourselves."

One of the most existing moments for the band was using Modest Mouse's guitars and amps in their studio, which Isaac Brock personally OK'd.

"We couldn't have asked for a better environment," says Badders. "Isaac was kind enough to let us use all Modest Mouse's basses and guitars and pedals and whatever. It really was the most ideal situation for us."
He continues, "We haven't recorded in Portland in a few years, so it was nice to be in our home town and have friends and people stop by the studio. Isaac dropped by to say hello, and we even had Galactic, a New Orleans funk band, stop by before their gig at the Crystal Ballroom, so it really was just a great place to be and hangout."

Often commended for a mixture of sounds and styles, especially on their debut, Bad Decisions with Good People, the band's next two records - Red Light Rabbit and Make It Easy - were spent trying to fine-tune and refine their sound, focusing on a "sound" they were going for. Which was great rock with a pop appeal, but with Make It Easy they felt they took it a bit too far and got too clinical with their approach, losing the rawness and weirdness that has been their charm (and is prevalent live).

However, with Follow Us Overboard they didn't want to do that, so they set aside any pre-conceived notions of how the songs should be or any ideas of how things should turn out, and let Steve Berlin guide the ship.

One of the things Steve Berlin found in their demos was iPad recordings done by Badders that ranged from just vocal and guitar with tin whistle to over-produced lo-fi synth-pop with a variety of instruments. Deciding instead of having the band cut them all, he felt they worked better as they were initially recorded and the band agreed, including them directly on the album.

"We also each took on more musical responsibilities," recalls Badders on the making of the record. "With the iPad tracks included, I ended up singing lead on thirteen of the fifteen songs, so that was so much fun for me to really go for it and do the lead singer thing. I also did a majority of all the back-up and harmony vocals on this album, so vocally I really stepped my game up and took the load upon myself and I feel like I rose to the challenge. I got to channel my full Harry Nilsson and showcase my chops."
"Having said that," he says, "Jimmy and I also took on a wider range of instruments. I played guitar, bass, flute, percussion, keyboards, and synth, while Jimmy did all the lead guitar as well as keyboards, pianos, bass, and vocals as well. We really got to be free to try new things."

The result is a record that Russell says is different than their last albums in many ways.

"The lyrics, groove, arrangements, instrumentation, and dynamics are present in every song. All together the songs are a dynamic, psychedelic journey that embodies the attitude of Follow Us Overboard. I'm pretty sure none of us envisioned using demo tracks as part of the completed record, yet they turned out to be some of my favorite parts and added to the dynamic psychedelic journey of the whole record immensely."

Following up on Russell's thoughts on the completed record, Badders smiles and says, "We joked prior to the recording that the album would be the Beach Boys meets the BeeGees meets the Flaming Lips. We lost a lot of the disco BeeGees part, but I think it still holds to our original statement. When dealing with a band, nothing is ever exactly like you originally hear it because everyone has their own style and stamp they put on the track. For instance, the lead guitar melody in 'Die' is slightly different than what I came up with on my demo, but Jimmy's take on it ended up better than what I initially did."

Now, with the record coming out in October, the band is gearing up to tour the nation, sleep on fans' floors, and make beer-soaked music patrons dance and sweat to the music as everyone in attendance follows The Quick & Easy Boys overboard.


Hoochie Coochie Men - EP Big Blue Tree


Founded in 2012 at Lafayette College, Easton Pa's Hoochie Coochie Men are well seasoned for such a short stint together, they started playing blues which eventually evolved into a sound incorporating a blend of blues, folk and rock.The band has recently gained steam after finishing a 40-show summer tour of the northeast, including a stop at Jazz Up July in Stamford, CT where they directly opened for the legendary B.B. King. The 8-time Grammy winning composer, Paul Winter has said their sound is a “fresh and inspiring take on American roots music". They have also shared the stage with national acts such as Badfish, Pete Francis of Dispatch, Matt Costa and Toy Soldiers.

The Hoochie Coochie Men have recently been featured on various outlets like Vents Magazine, Paper Blog, and This is Book’s Music. HearHear Music applauded the band’s last cover-mashup of Etta James and John Lennon “I’d Rather Go Blind Don’t Let Me Down” saying that the song “manages to build upon both without sacrificing what made both songs classics in their own right. This is what keeps me writing about music, listening to music, dreaming about music.”



Track List

1. Big Blue Tree
2. Here I Remain
3. I'd Rather Go Blind/Don't Let Me Down
4. Living Alone
5. Things I Know
6. That Midnight Train









FIRST LISTEN> Hooka Hey - Untamed from Upcoming Sophomore EP

De Saint Quentin

(Austin, TX) Offering up “fast and fuzzy guitars and a catchy bass lines," eclectic blues/rock band Hooka Hey releases the title track  from their forthcoming sophomore EP, Untamed, due out 2/10/15.

Raised on American rock music and drawing on contemporary rock acts including Queens of The Stone Age, Jack White as well as legendary artists such as Led Zeppelin and The Who,  founding member Hugo de Saint Quentin displays "a reverence here for the kind of serious rockin’ out that leaves you sweaty, grimy and wanting more.” (KUTX)  After living in NYC for two years in the early 2000’s and finding his way through several bands, de Saint Quentin moved back to Paris where Hooka Hey was born and received extensive airplay on the national radio station Radio Nova, which landed them gigs with international artists like Built To Spill, Ted Leo and Miles Kane, not to mention The Black Keys in Paris in 2012. Now,  de Saint Quentin calls Austin home and feels genuinely connected to the vivid music scene. Untamed is Hooka Hey’s first release in three years since the acclaimed debut EP, Little Things (2011).

De Saint Quentin strives to inspire other bands the way that American rock bands have inspired Hooka Hey. This is only the beginning for Hooka Hey and "Nasty" is the perfect jump start to their "rough rock n’ roll with style” (Legacy Magazine).

Track List
Untamed

1. Nasty
2. Untamed
3. Wrong Moves
4. Fever
5. Headin' for the Texas Border

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Bandicoots FREE NEW Single Just After Dark


This is some sexy dangerous sounds from Indie Rockers from Hamilton, Ontario The Bandicoots share first Single "Just After Dark" off thier upcoming NEW EP for free.
The EP was produced by Michael Keire (The Dirty Nil, Wildlife), and mastered by Brian Lucey (The Black Keys, The Arctic Monkeys).




Sharon Van Etten NEW Single I Don’t Want To Let You Down


2014 saw the always reliable Sharon Van Etten released Are We There, undoubtedly one of the year’s best records. She hasn’t slowed down her output in any way, starting the new year off with the delightful new single, “I Don’t Want To Let You Down,” which she debuted on The Ellen DeGeneres Show last week.
The track is available to stream below (and purchase here). 

LISTEN: The Highway NEW Single All You Do



The Highways do psych voodoo hoodoo on NEW Single 'All I Do'
(New York, NY) Psych-tinged soul rock band The Highway releases their new single “All You Do” from their forthcoming sophomore album Enter to Exit, due out April 14, 2015. The Highway “much as the name suggests, isn't content to idle in one place,” (The Deli Magazine) and has been performing continuously throughout 2014, including a successful winter residency at Brooklyn’s Spike Hill.

The Highway came into being nearly a decade ago. Daniel Tortoledo (vocals/bass), Ted MacInnes (drums/backing vocals), Adam Douglass (guitar/backing vocals) and Griffin McMahon (keys/backing vocals) connected over shared influences and the nostalgia for classic psychedelic bands like The Doors and The Band, soulful artists such as James Brown, and experimental contemporaries, including Beck and The Flaming Lips.  In September 2010, The Highway released their first album, Forest People, and after a month-long winter tour of the US, the quartet returned home with the basis for their sophomore album. In June 2013, they laid down their new tracks at a Converse-sponsored studio in NYC to record their upcoming album Enter to Exit.

Having performed at a myriad of notable venues, including Cameo Gallery, Pianos, and Rockwood Music Hall in New York, along with shows across the nation, the single and new album demonstrate The Highway’s “modern psych rock that couples vintage rock sensibilities with skilled musicianship...reminiscent of the classic rock standards we've come to accept as the definition of 'good.’” (The Weekly Dig) Stay tuned for more from The Highway, as they continue their journey with “All You Do” and show dates surrounding the release of Enter the Exit.

Listen> 


Track List
Enter to Exit:

All You Do
Circles
Too Bright
 Dear Daisy
Lose Control
Now's The Time
Black and White
Fascinating Plane

Levi Parham - NEW EP Avalon Drive


"With a raspy soulful voice and a delta blues finger-picking style, Southeast Oklahoma native Levi Parham conjures the image of a hard traveled bluesman. There’s no denying Parham’s clear southern roots, his songwriting steeped in delta blues, country, folk, soul and gospel; his formative years spent absorbing vinyl trunks full of Muddy Waters, The Band, Van Morrison, Woody Guthrie and Townes Van Zandt. Parham’s debut album An Okie Opera was released in May, 2013, catching the attention of Currentland Magazine, which named it one of the top Red Dirt Albums of the year alongside Samantha Crain, The Red Dirt Rangers, and Jason Boland, as well as garnering accolades from Flagstaff Live Magazine. The release earned Parham - who has shared stages with Blues Traveler, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, and Junior Brown - a spot at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.

Parham’s follow-up, 6-song EP Avalon Drive, available, vinyl and download. The release was produced by Nathan James Dohse and mixed by Nicholas Frampton (of The River Monks, Field Division, Pageant) and mastered by Brooks Edwards at Peachtree Studio in Nashville, TN. On lead single “Never Coming Home To Me,” Megan Palmer joins Parham with buoyant backing vocals and fiddle ". Parham says of the song:
I had almost forgotten about “Never Coming Home To Me.” I wrote it about 7 years ago when my daughter's mother and I separated. We hadn't been together long, were never married, and separated not long after my daughter was born. I had sort of locked it away and forgotten about it. When I started working with [producer Nathan James] Dohse, I started making demos of a bunch of different songs to see what stuck. Nathan immediately brought "Never Coming Home To Me" out of the pile. I think he saw its potential, and we started breathing new life into it. When we got into the studio, it was like I was learning the song for the first time. Megan Palmer was gracious enough to lend her voice and fiddle talents to a few tracks on the record, including this one, even though we recorded the day after she got off the plane from Alaska from a tour with Tim Easton. I'm sure she was very tired and jet-lagged, but she came anyway.  A whole group of great talented people helped put this album together, and being a solo performer for the past year, it was such a blast to create music with awesome musicians.
Free Single  Never Coming Home To Me


Tuesday, January 20, 2015

MUST SEE> Banditos LIVE Audio Tree Session

Members: Timothy Steven Corey Parsons - Vocals, Guitar Stephen Alan Pierce II - Vocals, Banjo Mary Beth Richardson - Vocals, Tambourine Randy Taylor Wade - Percussion Jeffery Daniel Vines - Bass Jeffery David Salter - Electric Guitar, Lap Steel

This band just popped up on me close to a year ago, I don't recall how, but dang it was love at first sound. They've recently signed to Bloodshot Records, as they put it...
we saw Nashville-via-Birmingham, AL group Banditos at one of those fly-by-night, hole-in-the-wall bars that sprout like skunkweed on Sixth Street in Austin, TX during the height of SXSW crazy. The only other patrons were Bud Light-swilling bros watching a blowout college basketball game; the sound system at this place was a painful mix of all treble and reverb; and the noises oozing out of the PA during another band's set were not unlike the distorted echoes of the soundtrack to Suspiria (and not in a good way). We wish we were kidding." 
Then the six-piece Banditos took the stage, and even though they themselves were a little intimidating - all hair, denim, and stoic determination - the sounds they managed to conjure from two overworked speakers were fresh, raw, and spectacular. We were instantly blown away and are now thrilled to announce Banditos have signed with Bloodshot Records and will release a new album sometime in early 2015.
With the rugged power of a flashy Super Chief locomotive, the Banditos bodaciously appropriate elements of '60s blues-fused acid rock, ZZ Top's jangly boogie, the Drive-By Truckers' yawp, the populist choogle of CCR, Slim Harpo's hip shake baby groove, gut bucket Fat Possum hill country mojo and the Georgia Motherfucking Satellites. From backwoods bluegrass, to slinky nods to Muscle Shoals soul and unexpected bits of doo-wop sweetness, the Banditos recall many, but sound like no one but themselves.
Since then I've been hoping to see a live show, they have about a half a dozen videos up but this is by far the best I've see. This is a band to watch, they got it laid down at the top of thier game with a long way to go.

Session Tracklisting
1 Still Sober (After All of These Beers)
2 Waitin'
3 Ain't it Hard
4 Golden Grease
5 Old Ways

Monday, January 19, 2015

First Listen> A New Sun Voyager Song "Be Here Now" off the upcoming 5-song EP

If you haven't been spending the last few months on the dark side of the moon you've already heard the singles God Is Dead and Gypsy Hill from NY psychsters Sun Voyager upcoming EP release. Here's another treat, have a listen to this new one, the jangly, dark and brooding 'Be Here Now" 



If you missed thier split on King Pizza Records with label mates Greasy Hearts get on it...

Smooth, rockin' soulful, funky grooves from LA's Moon Roof

Members: Jake Brougham: Guitar and lead vocals Tyler Nuffer: Lead guitar and vocals Ethan Tucker: Bass guitar and vocals Slam McAdam: Drums

Smooth, rockin' soulful, funky grooves from LA's Moon Roof this'll get your toes dancing in your shoes and blood pumping through your veins. Hat tip to Steel Toed Slippers for recommending.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

The Dead Volts - We Are Already Dead

Members: Mark Folkrod Pete Robbins Patrick Hayes Keith Kurczewski

Four-time CXCWers and crowd favorites The Dead Volts  are rockin' it hard on this kick arse new album We Are Already Dead.  It's like the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios session The Rolling Stones never completed.
From San Luis Obispo the band bills itself as "the band that opens for that band you like"
The album can now be streamed and downloaded for free. It’s a “pay what you want” model so throw in a few bucks if you want to but you absolutely are welcome to enter in “0” and just enjoy the album!

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Listen> Fort Lean share two new songs from upcoming debut LP Quiet Day

Jake Aron, Zach Fried, Keenan Mitchell, Will Runge, Sam Ubl

Following the release of two initial EPs Brooklyn's Fort Lean share two new songs from long awaited debut album, Quiet Day, due out this spring via Ooh La La Records. 





Science! first full length, Alcoves and Alleyways



Long time faves of the blog, the new album finds these virtuosos at the top of thier game with a slew of great new songs.
Award winning Seattle duo Science! (Jim Elenteny/Justin Stang) are starting 2015 off with a brand new album - Alcoves and Alleyways - set to be released digitally on 20 January 2015. The 11 track album is Science!'s first full length work and is the culmination of three years of writing and recording.

Alcoves and Alleyways is an album that mixes the soaring virtuosic guitar of multi-instrumentalist and producer Jim Elenteny with the daring political and social justice lyrics of Justin Stang's heartbreak and loss. With heavy blues, rock, reggae and jam influences, the album follows a blistering tour schedule over two years and 200 shows across the United States and aims to put the music world on notice: The guitar is alive and well in the Pacific Northwest.
UPDATE: Starting today, our first full length studio album is available for digital purchase viaiTunesAmazonCD Baby, and Bandcamp!

Justin Stang: Vocals, Guitar / Jim Elenteny: Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals and Don Dieterich: Drums 


Their music has been featured in High Times Magazine and on PBS television's Roadtrip NationKING 5 TV- Seattle's Evening Magazine, New Day Northwest, The Bob Rivers Show - (95.7 KJR FM Seattle)The Marty Riemer Show and Couch By Couchwest.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

NEW Single from Lara Hope and the Ark-Tones, I'm The One - plus Tour Dates

 Matt Theknife Goldpaw, Chris Heitzman, Lara Hope and David J Tetreault.

The amazing NY State songstress Lara Hope having released an excellent full length album 'Luck Maker' in June with her rockabilly band The Ark-Tones and heading out on tour to support it, found time to drop a new swooner 'I'm The One'. With a voice as big as her personality Popa's fallen in love with Lara since first hearing her. Make the scene at one of thier shows and you'll surely have a rockin' time daddy-o.

Released 01 January 2015 
Recorded by Tod Levine at Magnetic North Recording Studio, West Saugerties, NY.


Thu Jan 8
Jailbreak Brewing Company
Laurel, MD | 6:00PM 
Fri Jan 9
Pancho & Luigis
Norfolk, VA | 8:00PM 
Sat Jan 10
Elvisfest! 
Chapel Hill, NC | 7:00PM 
Sun Jan 11
Evening Muse
Charlotte, NC | 9:00PM 
Tue Jan 13
WDVX Blue Plate Special
Knoxville, TN | 12:00PM 
Tue Jan 13
Preservation Pub
Knoxville, TN | 3:00PM 
Wed Jan 14
The Soul Bar
Augusta, GA | 9:00PM 
Thu Jan 15
Suck Bang Blow
Murrells Inlet, SC | 7:00PM 
Fri Jan 16
The Sparrow
North Charleston, SC | 9:00PM 
Sat Jan 17
The Windjammer
Isle of Palms, SC | 8:00PM 
Sun Jan 18
Blowin' Smoke Cantina
Savannah, GA | 1:00PM 
Mon Jan 19
Burro Bar
Jacksonville, FL | 9:00PM 
Tue Jan 20
Tir na nOg Irish Pub
Daytona Beach, FL | 9:00PM 
Wed Jan 21
Uncle Lou's
Orlando, FL | 9:00PM 
Thu Jan 22
VINTAGE TAP
Delray Beach, FL | 9:00PM 
Fri Jan 23
Propaganda
Lake Worth, FL | 8:00PM 
Sat Jan 24
THE KREEPY TIKI
Fort Lauderdale, FL | 12:00PM 
Tue Jan 27
Lorelei cabana bar
Islamorada, FL | 5:00PM 
Thu Jan 29
Rackem Billiards
Cape Coral, FL | 9:00PM 
Fri Jan 30
Cock & Bull
Sarasota, FL | 9:00PM 
Sat Jan 31
1982 Bar
Gainesville, FL | 9:00PM 
Mon Feb 2
Bird's Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack
Tallahassee, FL | 8:00PM 
Tue Feb 3
World Famous Celtic Irish Pub
Pascagoula, MS | 9:00PM 
Wed Feb 4
Hi Ho Lounge
New Orleans, LA | 9:00PM 
Thu Feb 5
Checkpoint Charlie
New Orleans, LA | 7:00PM 
Fri Feb 6
The Wild Salmon
Lafayette, LA | 9:00PM 
Sat Feb 7
Shoeshine Charlie's Big Top
Houston, TX | 10:00PM 
Sun Feb 8
Gypsy Lounge
Austin, TX | 8:00PM 
Mon Feb 9
Sweetwater
Austin, TX | 9:00PM 
Tue Feb 10
Blackheart Bar
Austin, TX | 9:00PM 
Wed Feb 11
The Twilite Lounge
Dallas, TX | 9:00PM 
Thu Feb 12
The Trial Bar
Monroe, LA | 9:00PM 
Fri Feb 13
The Hi-Fry
Huntsville, AL | 9:00PM 
Sat Feb 14
The Brew and Cue
Chattanooga, TN | 9:00PM 
Mon Feb 16
Sleepy Owl Brewery
Kingsport, TN | 9:00PM 
Tue Feb 17
Mangia
Lynchburg, VA | 8:00PM 
Wed Feb 18
Susquehanna Ale House 22
Harrisburg, PA | 8:00PM 
Wed Feb 18
Susquehanna Ale House
Harrisburg, PA | 8:00PM 
Thu Feb 19
Rt 66 Smokehouse
New York, NY | 9:00PM 
Thu Feb 19
Route 66 Smokehouse
New York, NY | 9:00PM 


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...