With the release of his 2013 full-length debut effort to critical acclaim, Ghosts In The Attic, Austin, TX-based indie folk singer/songwriter Reed Turner exploded on to the national map. As a result of the attention on the album, Turner wound […]
Tag: alt country
New Video: Check Out the Sci-Fi, Country-Western Video for La Sera’s “High Notes”
Initially begun as a solo side project from her time with Vivian Girls and All Saints Day, Katy Goodman’s current musical project La Sera developed a national profile with the release of three critically applauded albums — the project’s self-titled debut, Sees […]
Comprised of multi-instrumentalists Rashie Rosenfarb, Matt Francis and Dan Avant, the Virginia Beach, VA-based trio Feral Conservatives have developed a reputation for a sound that balances anthemic pop/arena rock-leaning songwriting with lush, old-time folk arrangements and instrumentation. It shouldn’t be terribly surprising that the band’s sound has been compared favorably to the likes of 90s alt rock acts like Velocity Girl, The Cranberries and Cocteau Twins. Interestingly enough, in true DIY fashion, the members of the Virginia Beach, VA-based trio released a series of self-released EPs, purchased a $15 distortion pedal and then toured the East Coast in a station wagon before they signed to Richmond, VA-based label EggHunt Records last year.
Here’s To Almost, the band’s full-length debut is slated for a January 22 release, and the album’s second single “Wait For Me” possesses earnest and enormously anthemic, power ballad hooks that pair power chord rock with folk instrumentation that will likely further cement the band’s reputation for crafting rousing and heartfelt pop/indie rock that feels and sounds as though it could have been released in 1992. As the band’s frontwoman Rashie Rosenfarb explains “Wait For Me’ delves into growing up with this unrealistic idea of what love is suppose to look like presented by movies and TV and realizing it’s flawed — and then navigating through that.” The song manages such youthful earnest passion with the adult realization that love is confusing, complex and messy — and that it actually requires both work and acceptance of one’s positive qualities and their flaws.
The band will be on a short tour to support the new effort. Check out the tour dates below.
Tour dates:
Jan 23rd @ Velvet Lounge , D.C.
Jan 24th @ Bourbon and Branch, Philadelphia, PA
Jan 30th @ FM Restaurant, Norfolk, VA
Currently comprised of Willy Vlautin (vocals, acoustic guitar and electric guitar), Dave Harding (bass, backing vocals), Sean Oldham (drums, percussion, vibes and backing vocals). Dan Eccles (guitar) and Paul Brainard (pedal steel, piano, vibes, acoustic guitar, trumpet and backing vocals), the Portland, OR-based alt country quintet Richmond Fontaine can trace its origins back to 1994 when the founding duo of Vlautin and Harding met at Portland Meadows Racetrack and pored over the racing form and talked about music. Bonding over their mutual love of Husker Du, Willie Nelson, X, The Blasters and The Replacements, the duo decided to write and play music together. After expanding to a quartet, Richmond Fontaine developed a reputation for a sound that meshed elements of rock, country, punk and folk and paired them with Vlautin’s narrative-based songwriting (which has interestingly enough have been compared favorably to the short stories of Raymond Carver and Larry Brown). And as a result, the band has been praised by a number of nationally recognized and internationally recognized outlets including Uncut, Q Magazine, Mojo, The Independent, The Sun and others.
Interestingly, over the past 8 years or so Richmond Fontaine’s Willy Vlautin has also developed a reputation as a critically acclaimed novelist. His debut novel The Motel Life won a Silver Pen Award from the state of Nevada and landed on the The Washington Post‘s Top 25 Books of 2007 — and it was later adapted into the critically acclaimed movie, The Motel Life which starred Emile Hirsch, Stephen Dorff, Dakota Fanning and Kris Kristofferson. Northline, Vlautin’s second novel was published in 2008 and was a San Francisco Chronicle Top Ten Bestseller. His third novel, Lean on Pete was published in 2010 and won the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and was Hot Press’ book of the year. And his last novel, The Free was published two years ago. Along with nine full-length albums, an instrumental soundtrack for Northline, two live albums and an EP, Vlautin and company have been incredibly (and exhaustingly) prolific.
After a three year hiatus from recording, the members of Richmond Fontaine returned to the studio with their long-time producer John Askew to write and then record their forthcoming tenth full-length effort, You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To, which is slated for a March 18 release through Fluff and Gravy Records across North America and Decor Records across Europe. The album’s first single “Wake Up Ray,” is a jangling bit of alt country that tells a story with such exquisite narrative details that it creates a very real, lived in world in which the song’s characters wake up every day to a life and a house that they hate and yet feels largely inescapable — all while reminiscing over the time that’s passed and a love that’s long been over. And although wistful and mournful over the things that can’t be, there’s an acceptance of things being impermanent and a quiet joy in once knowing those things.
With the release of his 2013 full-length debut effort to critical acclaim, Ghosts In The Attic, Austin, TX-based indie folk singer/songwriter Reed Turner exploded on to the national map. As a result of the attention on the album, Turner wound up sharing stages with an impressive list of acclaimed artists including Gary Clark, Jr., Mark Broussard, Will Hoge and Jessica Lea Mayfield, among many others — and the album wound up on several “Best Of” lists that year.
After a year of solitude marked by health issues, Turner turned his backyard shed into a makeshift workspace and studio, compelled to create rather than wallow. Along with his backing band, Turner and company wrote and recorded material that would wind up comprising his forthcoming Native Tongue EP live to tape on an old Studer A827, much like how they did during the Sun Records days.
As you’ll hear on Native Tongue‘s first single and EP opening track “I Got Love” possesses a bluesy, shuffling stomp and swing reminiscent of Johnny Cash, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf — in particular I think of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues,” and “Get Rhythm,” Howlin’ Wolf’s “Poor Boy (The London Sessions version),” Muddy Waters’ “Mean Ol’ Frisco Blues,” and Bo Diddley‘s “Who Do You Love” (although George Thorogood‘s version is infinitely better). And much like those songs, it feels as though it could have been recorded around that period, as it possesses the looseness of a band playing at a dirty whiskey bar or an old fashioned honky tonk. But interestingly enough the song balances an old-timey sweetness beneath the stomp and braggadocio; it’s the sort of song you’d can picture couples line dancing, swing dancing or blues dancing late into the night.
Originally begun as a solo side project from her time with Vivian Girls and All Saints Day, Katy Goodman’s current musical project La Sera has developed a national profile with three critically applauded albums, her self titled debut, Sees the Light and Hour of the Dawn, which were released through Hardly Art Records. Goodman’s last album, 2014’s Hour of the Dawn was very much a punk-inspired album; however, with the release of “High Notes,” the first single from her forthcoming album, Music For Listening To Music To reveals an artist, who has gone through both personal and artistic transitions. Sonically and structurally, the song reveals that Goodman has returned to an elegant and solid simplicity — it pairs the sort of shimmering guitar chords of The Smiths and the propulsive, old-school chugging rhythm of Johnny Cash (in particular, think of “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Jackson” and countless others) with Goodman’s wistfully ethereal coos. And interestingly enough La Sera has added personnel to flesh out the project’s sound — Goodman’s guitarist, cowriter and husband Todd Wisenbaker, who is probably best known as a member of Listening To Music To‘s producer Ryan Adams‘ backing band.
Of course, “High Notes” makes a vital connection between punk, post-punk and renegade country that countless others have done before while possessing a sneering, real life irony that many of us have faced before — after a breakup, taking the high road not because you actually believe that it’s the best thing but for appearances and because you want to get the last word. It’s probably the most honest and heartfelt sentiment I’ve come across in quite some time.
Live Footage: Brandi Carlile’s “The Things I Regret” Live at Red Rocks Amphitheater
Ravensdale, WA-born and Seattle, WA-based singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile can trace the origins of her music career to her childhood — when she was 8 she performed Johnny Cash‘s “Tennessee Flat Top Box” with her mother […]
New Video: The Humanistic Video for Drunken Prayer’s “Hand of God”
If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of years, you may recall that I’ve written quite a bit about Morgan Christopher Geer, who performs both solo and with a band as Drunken Prayer. […]
New Video: Ruby Boots’ “Wrap Me In A Fever” Channels Neko Case and Others
Singer/songwriter Bex Chilcott, best known in her native Australia under the moniker of Ruby Boots has led quite a life. When she was 16. Chilcott left Perth and worked her way up the desolate Western […]
New Audio: The Subtly Old-Timey Country of Blackheart Honeymoon’s “Mountains Speak”
Currently comprised of Ian Prebo (vocals, acoustic guitar), Wesley Amundsen (bass) Steve Andrea (guitar) Adrienne Marie Pollock (vocals, keys) Dusty Hayes (drums, vocals), the Seattle, WA-based quintet, Blackheart Honeymoon can trace their origins to when founding members […]
Daughn Gibson’s sophomore effort, Me Moan was arguably one of the more interesting releases of 2013 as the moody, brooding material aired ambient and swirling electronics, scratchy old guitar-based Americana and folk samples and some […]
The Dallas, TX-based quartet Dead Flowers have developed a reputation both locally and regionally for a boozy, blues rock sound that also possesses elements of punk rock in a way that arguably owes a debt […]
Nashville, TN-based singer/songwriter Brandy Zdan has had quite an interesting career – she was a co-founder of the Canadian Roots/Americana duo Twilight Hotel. After that act split up, Zdan was recruited to be a member […]
Chicago has been the home of a rather prominent garage rock scene, a scene that includes dear friends White Mystery, My Gold Mask and countless others. Miles Lee, an alt-country, folk-rock, blues-rock artist who records […]
For close to a decade, the Chicago, IL-based The Steepwater Band have quietly developed a reputation as a heavy, blues band, continuing that city’s great tradition for blues and rock. And interestingly, 2015 will mark […]