I’m impressed by what Craig “Dodge” Lile of My Old Kentucky Blog is building in Indianapolis at the moment. What started simply as a music blog back in 2004 is fast becoming a growing group of companies that support indie music and indie musicians around the nation.
Dodge’s most recent off-blog foray is Roaring Colonel Records, an Indianapolis label about to release its first full length—Black Teeth & Golden Tongues, the debut album from San Francisco-via-Indianapolis trio Burnt Ones.
Metromix Indianapolis asked Dodge, “Why start your own label amid the several labels already in Indianapolis? What makes RCR unique?”
Dodge: Right?! What am I thinking!? (Laughs.) No, well, I obviously believe I bring something new to the table. MOKB’s influence and status in the national/global online indie music community has me already working hard each and every day to influence and share new music.
This is just another form of that, but it offers a band real financial support to make their goals come fruition.
I get 300-plus emails each day from labels, bands and PR firms. It isn’t rocket-science — the PR side, I mean. The label side is VERY challenging, a little scary…but I love a challenge…at least until it bankrupts me!
Anyway, I see what they do every day…the good and the mistakes. I have a load of contacts and relationships in the industry. I believe I can do this. I want to try it.
From the looks of it, Dodge tries lots of things and it seems to be working well for him. He writes a popular blog, appears on Sirius Satellite radio’s Left of Center show (every Tuesday at 12pm EST), promotes concerts via MOKB Presents (The National is up next) and he captures video sessions with artists on Laundomatinee. Clearly, the new record label is a natural part of the overall outfit. Like work boots with overalls and a trucker’s hat.
Our friend Evil Vince was in the hizouse over the holiday weekend and he recommended two artists we’d never heard of—Appleton, Wisconsin singer-songwriter Cory Chisel and L.A. power trio The Entrance Band.
Evil knows his shit. Have a look and a listen…
It’s hard for me to say which band I prefer. I love the throwback nature of an awesome power trio and The Entrance Band is one of the better power trios I’ve heard in some time. Yet, the soup of roots, blues, gospel and Americana coming from Chisel and his Wandering Sons is highly intoxicating, as well.
Jim Lauderdale’s new album, Patchwork River, comes out May 11 and I can’t wait (which is why I just pre-ordered the physical disc from Amazon).
Lauderdale is one of my favorite artists, so I’m excited for any new material he puts out, but this album is another collaboration with Robert Hunter, which ups the ante considerably.
Lauderdale and Hunter teamed up before. In 1999, they worked with mountain music legend Dr. Ralph Stanley on I Feel Like Singing Today, and again on Lauderdale’s magical release Headed For the Hills from 2004.
According to The Tennessean, the two men admire one another’s work and are willing to talk about it.
“He paints pictures that have never been seen. I can’t believe that I ever got to meet him, much less work with him,” Lauderdale said of Hunter.
“He’s a world-class genius,” Hunter said about Lauderdale. “If you don’t like country with a humble jolt of human soul, leave him alone.”
“She makes a person want to close their eyes and just bask in a star-filled night” – Daytrotter.com
In my previous post about the greatness of Daytrotter, I couldn’t help but notice that several of the artists hail from Portland, Oregon. Laura Gibson, for instance.
I recently came to the conclusion that Daytrotter is far and away the best music site on the Web. It may be the best site on the Web, but I digress…
Daytrotter is the best because they provide a daily handful of live tracks from artists who veer off I-80 to record an epic “Session” at Daytrotter’s Rock Island, IL studio. The tracks are raw, unscripted performances from the road that are totally unique to that moment and only available through Daytrotter.
Did I mention that I freaking love Daytrotter? All the tracks they provide are totally unique and they’re free. If discovering new music is something you enjoy, Daytrotter and you may have a beautiful future together.
Here’s a band that I’ve heard of before, but their Daytrotter Session led me to learn more.
Matthew and the Arrogant Sea opened for Midlake at Wonder Ballroom in Portland last night. I entered the room a Midlake fan, but unexpectedly walked out a Matthew and the Arrogant Sea fan.
Darryl Smyers of Dallas Observer calls the band’s songs “lush and intricate one minute, lo-fi and ragged the next.” That sounds about right. The article also notes comparisons to The Beach Boys and Fleet Foxes, but from the selection of songs we saw last night, the comparison I drew was one between lead singer Jacob Gray’s vocal style and that of Colin Meloy of The Decemberists.
I appreciate that Gray came out in a sport coat prepared to do his thing, but shed it in the process. At first, I was thinking who is this professor of rock, but through his songs and a funny dance he did, he revealed himself and ultimately that’s what I love to see in an artist. Matthew and the Arrogant Sea only played 38 minutes–the length of an E.P. I’m ready to see what they do with a 90-minute set. For those attending SXSW this month, check ’em out.
Midlake is a band we’ve been wanting to see for some time. Their 2006 release on Bella Union, The Trials of Van Occupanther, is a favorite. Like The Decemberists (again), Midlake takes listeners on a sonic journey. Their songs are passages in an epic. When listening to these bands you just sail away on their music. I guess I was expecting to do that last night. I wanted to taste the salted sea coming over the bow of the Midlake vessel, but I didn’t exactly. There were moments, but generally it wasn’t a brisk outing.
Barton Carroll’s fourth solo effort, Together You and I, was released January 19th on Skybucket Records. The album is full of compelling lyrics and interesting melodies. It’s Americana, but rich and dark, like an espresso stout to the rest of the genre’s amber ale.
A North Carolina native (and former member of Crooked Fingers) who now lives in Seattle, Carroll’s songs are structured in the folk traditions he grew up with, but he trades in standard instrumentation for the west coast horn sound of Craig Flory, and the production of jazz bassist Matt Weiner. He also sings his first duets with Seattle singer Anna Lisa Notter.
His guitar work isn’t necessarily extraordinary, but it builds cascading walls of sound that wrap around you, creating a nice little room where the songs dance amid filtered light and images of longing. His stories aren’t afraid to back off and let the instruments go for a spell. His voice cracks now and then the way skin cracks on a well-worked pair of hands. Honest is the best word for it.
Barton Carroll is the kind of songwriter that gets taken for granted. In a modestly fragile tenor, he relates real stories instead of impressionistic poetry or woe-is-me folk confessions, full of acute observations and complex emotional developments. It’s literary in the sense that he has a strong grasp of character and voice, not in the sense that he favors big words or clever turns of phrase. Carroll may never be called innovative, but he can’t be called showy either, which places him in the school of troubadours like Freedy Johnston and John Hiatt, who have a similar folksy bent and a shared itch to try on new perspectives.
After giving Carroll’s new album a listen, I’m impressed with how patient he is as an artist. It seems like he’s coming from another time, and that’s a particularly nice feeling in today’s rush-to-discover-this-and-do-that world.
Court Yard Hounds are Emily Robison and Martie Maguire from the Dixie Chicks. Their debut album is available for pre-order at this time. With a pre-order, you will be able to download four album tracks immediately and receive special access to tickets for the band’s theater shows this spring.
Grant-Lee Phillips took the Mississippi Studios stage last night, alone, just a man, his guitar and a head full of stories. Except for a few unconscious talkers in the back, the capacity audience hung on Phillips’ every note and every word.
Phillips appeared very comfortable on stage. He’s clearly a seasoned performer, but there’s something else. There’s a vibrant, hopeful message in his brand of lyrical narrative and six string delivery.
NPR says “Phillips knows how to radiate hope in quotable, genuinely inspirational ways that steer clear of mawkishness.”
In a music world full of hipper than thou attitude, Phillips is like a strong, nutrient-rich wind coming in off the Pacific. iTunes names his 2009 release Little Moon the year’s Best Singer/Songwriter Album, according to American Songwriter.
In the video above Phillips calls Little Moon his best work yet. I’m already a big fan of Virginia Creeper and Mobilize. Now, after last night’s show, I’m ready to indulge in a batch of new songs from this American craftsman.
“You had bluegrass and you had rock, and in that respect there wasn’t much happening. You had the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and others with drums and stuff, but they were more country. We took it to a different place. We played with a lot more abandon.” -Drew Emmitt
Leftover Salmon first played together in 1989. To celebrate their 20th anniversary last fall, LOS teamed up with Jambase to deliver a special four-part feature on the band’s history and a free two-CD album that includes rare live tracks from 1991 through 2009.
Selecting, mastering and organizing the material fell largely on the shoulders of Leftover Salmon manger John Joy, who along with band archivist Chad Staehly and Eric Abramson, who did the Leftover Salmon Years In Your Ears DVD, narrowed it down from hundreds – if not thousands – of songs to bring this live compilation to life.
Track Listing for the Double CD Length Download “Celebrating 20 Years”
1. Blister in the Sun – 05/04/1991 McCabe’s Boulder, CO
2. Just Before The Evening – 05/04/1991 McCabe’s Boulder, CO
3. Whiskey Before Breakfast/Over The Waterfall – 05/04/1991 McCabe’s – Boulder, CO
4. Who Stole My Monkey – 05/25/1991 Stage Stop – Rollinsville, CO
5. Mystery – 10/02/1993 – Fox Theater – Boulder, CO
6. Weights – 10/02/1993 – Fox Theater – Boulder, CO
7. Dance On Your Head – 10/19/1994 Music Farm – Charleston, SC
8. Head Bag – 10/19/1994 Music Farm – Charleston, SC
9. Hot Burrito Breakdown – 08/07/1995 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
10. River’s Rising – 07/14/1996 Great American Music Festival – Winter Park, CO
11. Funky Mountain Fogdown (with Pete Sears) – 04/14/1997 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA
12. Up On The Hill Where We Do The Boogie – 02/16/1998 JR’s Dickson Street Ball Room – Fayetteville, AR
13. Little Maggie – 02/22/1998 Tipitina’s – New Orleans, LA
14. Mama Look a Boo Boo (with Karl Denson) – 04/22/1999 Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO
15. Ooh Las Vegas (with Trey Anastasio) – 09/20/1999 Rialto Theater – Tucson, AZ
16. Nobody’s Fault But Mine (with John Bell, Jeff Austin, Pete Sears and John Cowan) – 09/09/2000 Planet Salmon – Lyons, CO
17. Austin Five (Mark Vann Original, Never Released) – 03/26/2001 The Canopy – Urbana, IL
18. Teen Angst (with David Lowery) – 09/24 & 09/25/2002 David Lowery’s Studio – Richmond, VA
19. Dark Hollow (with Del McCoury) – 11/09/2002 The NorVa – Norfolk, VA
20. Rocky Road Blues (with Mike Gordon) – 12/04/2002 Higher Ground – Winooski, VT
21. Ain’t No Use (with David Grisman) – 01/29/2003 McNear’s Mystic Theatre – Petaluma, CA
22. Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow (with Sam Bush and Ross Martin) – 02/20/2003 Fox Theater – Boulder, CO
23. Breakin Thru – 12/31/2004 Fox Theater – Boulder, CO
24. Catfish John (with Michael Wooten) – 12/31/2004 Fox Theater – Boulder, CO
25. Valley Of The Full Moon – 07/28/2007 Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
26. Ask The Fish – 07/28/2007 Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO
27. Vampire Blues – 10/31/2008 Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO
28. Rise Up, Wake and Bake – 07/03/2009 High Sierra Music Festival – Quincy, CA
This is a ruthless collection of live tunes from LOS. Polyethnic Cajun Slamgrass brings joy to people’s lives. To experience this goodness, head over to Jambase and get your download on.
