Here's the skinny on the CD release show for Nick Dittmeier's "Extra Better" solo EP. It's a great lineup with Johnny Berry and Fifth on the Floor opening the show. Just $5 gets you in, so be at the Monkey Wrench next Friday night.
You'll likely already know Nick from his time as singer/songwriter/guitarist for Slithering Beast, who put out three great alt-country albums over the past few years. If you don't, now is a good time to get acquainted because Nick is picking up right where he left off with Slithering Beast. Check out the track below off the new album.
It's shaping up to be a good year for Kentucky music. Houndmouth is opening the Iroquois Amphitheater summer concert season and having a New Albanian beer named after them. Fifth on the Floor has a new album out and is rubbing elbows with some pretty big names. And Shadwick Wilde's new band, Quiet Hollers, is doing its part by putting out a great new album with a release show at Headliners on May 18th. I first heard Shadwick on his solo release from a couple years back. I liked that album and still catch myself humming a couple of the songs off of it. That said, I think this album is a big leap for Shadwick. The production sounds better and the band really fills out the sound on this one. You can buy it right now on Itunes, Amazon, and CD Baby.
Great news for a rainy bluegrass day: Slithering Beast's new EP Delicious can be downloaded for free from their Bandcamp from now until the official release date of March 5th. After that you'll be able to get your physical copies from CD Baby and the band. You'll probably agree with me after listening that this little album has some of the best Slithering Beast songs to date (I'm looking at you "Fool Out of You"). It seems the pedal steel is not nearly as prominent on Delicious, with more focus given to the electric guitar hooks and even some horns. That's not a complaint, just an observation. Give it a listen for free this week and if you are inclined pick up the older albums (I highly recommend these as well) from the Slithering Beast store. Looks like they have a sale on T-shirts right now too at $5 each. You can't beat that. Also, they'll be doing a free in store show on the release date (March 5th) at Ear X-tacy, so come out and get the album in person if you can.
Yardsale has resurfaced from their indefinite hiatus long enough to record an album, Hit It and Quit It, and release it as pay-what-you-want on their bandcamp. The album was recorded in one day five hours over last summer when the band could get together and has no overdubs, so it's basically a live album without the drunk dude requesting "Freebird" every other song. I personally think the band sounds much better here than on the live EP Yardsale This Week from a couple years back. There's plenty of interesting stuff to check out on the album. A Yardbirds cover, a The Band cover, and some older Yardsale stuff too. So if you are a fan, drop a few bucks in the electronic tip jar and enjoy.
Being a somewhat recent transplant to the Louisville area I have missed a lot of good local acts from years past. Such was the case with longtime Louisville favorites Bodeco until one fan sent me an email urging me to get on the ball and check them out. I have since done so and I'm glad I did. Bodeco, fronted by guitarist/vocalist Rick Feather, plays a dirty sort of blues with a lot of rockabilly guitar flavor thrown in and capped with sandpaper-rough vocals. They have a handful of albums that have been released over the last twenty years, but their latest effort is the Soul Boost EP from 2009, from which I've featured a killer track below. Coincidentally, you can also catch Bodeco live at Headliner's along with Hambone and Johnny Berry later this month.
Check out a couple videos I saw posted over on the Slithering Beast Facebook page. They come from this past weekend's New Year's Eve show at the Third Street Dive. Looks like a couple new songs from the upcoming Delicious EP. There are also a few other Slithering Beast videos to check out on their Youtube channel. They have an acoustic show this Saturday night at Common Grounds in Lexington, so if you are looking for something to do, check them out.
Just a quick note to let you know that local favorite's Bodeco will be playing a free in store show at Ear X-tacy this Saturday, December 18th. Show starts at 8 pm.
This is the first in what will be a series of In My Basement Room Primer posts: a handful of my favorite tracks from what an artist that I consider absolutely essential. The idea is that those of you not familiar with a Primer artist will have the chance to hear some of their better tracks and ultimately become a fan.
To start off the series, I could think of no artist better suited than Chris Knight. With seven albums released to date, Chris has not recorded a single bad song, where most artists with that size back catalog will have at least one complete dud of an album. Chris is consistent: he may make you wait two or three years between albums, but it is worth it. He's the best songwriter I've heard, with only Prine, Springsteen, and Dylan giving him a run for his money. But Chris's songs resonate more with me than those more prominent writers. His songs are about regular folks, usually down on their luck or in the wrong place at the wrong time. Card cheats, truck drivers, and pool hall townies (you get the idea) mixed in with murders, affairs, and child abuse.
I've selected six tracks for this first Primer. If you like Chris Knight (and if you are reading this blog chances are you will), go see him when he comes through your town and pick up his albums here.
"William" (from Chris Knight)
"Hard Edges" (from The Trailer Tapes)
"A Train Not Running" (from The Jealous Kind)
"Down the River" (from A Pretty Good Guy)
"Run From Your Memory" (from Chris Knight)
"It Ain't Easy Being Me" (from Trailer II)
This is a really good read on Chris from about ten years ago courtesy of No Depression.
And here is a great video from the musicfog.com folks of Chris doing "North Dakota."
Anchor in the Valley is the first album from west Kentuckian Kelsey Waldon. On the whole it is definitely a country album, but there is something thankfully unique in the combination of Kelsey's songwriting (she wrote all ten tracks), the beautiful vocals, and the steel guitar driven instrumentation. You can pick up the album for $5 on bandcamp or Amazon and Itunes if you prefer. Kelsey is finishing up a new EP to be released this coming spring and will feature another outstanding backing band.
First, here is one of my favorite songs from Anchor in the Valley.
Next, here is a really nice video of "Mississippi Ride", another great song on the album.
"Ballad for Modern Times Pt 2" another good one from the album.
This last one is an audio Youtube of a Neil Young cover, "Don't Let it Bring You Down." Maybe this is the Neil Young cover that will be on the upcoming EP. No video, but be sure you check it out; it's good.
I stumbled across these videos of State Champion today so I'll share with you. It appears to be from the Stale Champagne record release show at Ear X-tacy earlier this year, before the store moved to it's new location, which was the first time I caught them live as well. Watch all four parts and it's like you were there man! Did I mention that Stale Champagne is one of my favorite albums of this year? Thanks to whoever shot these and put them up.
Check the lineup and schedule here. Take note of Hambone at 1:30 on the south stage.
Cropped Out Fest
Friday, October 1 through Sunday, October 3
American Turners Club
3125 Upper River Road, Louisville
$18 day tickets, $30 weekend
Check out a bunch of lineup, schedule, and ticket info posted over at The Decibel Tolls. State Champion plays on Sunday if you can only make it one day.
Clark Paterson, a Nashville based singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Sandusky, MI and spend most of his college years and early 20's in Chicago, just released his first EP, "Songs for Another America". Clark draws on his experiences with love ("Rather Regret It"), rural life ("God's Country"), deciding to play hooky from work ("Good Afternoon") and paints pictures of the strange ("Abandoned Boat in the Woods"). An excellent first EP that was helped by the excellent backing musicians (including members of Lambchop and Chris Scruggs) and the production work of Mark Nevers. The songs are catchy, well-written and if this is a glimpse of work to come, Clark's best work is still yet in front of him. Definitely worth picking up and rocking out to in your truck.
For music previews, pictures and tour dates, check out Clark's website here (with links to social networking).
I discovered this album through Reviewshine, and it is one of only a handful that I've received that way that didn't suck. Shadwick Wilde was raised in a San Francisco but is now based in Louisville. He's just self-released Unforgivable Things, an album of songs concerning heartache and sadness (more or less). No happy melodies here. There's a lonesome fiddle here and a sparse, somber electric guitar fill there, but the primary focus of the album is the lyric. "Wearing Thin" is the confession of a man on the edge of giving up, and "Motorcycle Song" is about the guy that can't get that one girl.
The first comparison that came to mind when I heard Unforgivable Things was Lucero. Careful though, because I'm talking The Attic Tapes brand Lucero, not rock and roll brand Lucero. That said, this could be Shadwick's Attic Tapes, a group of songs that have a vulnerable identity when first recorded that is great, but may also grow into rock and roll excellence somewhere down the road.
Shadwick is playing a ton of shows in Louisville now so you should check him out if you can. He has an Ear X-Tacy show coming up too. Buy Unforgivable Thingshere, or get it from Itunes.
Also, for you local people, I noticed in the liner notes that Nick Hamstra (Hambone) played electric guitar on the album. So check it out if you dig Hambone too.
Here's a great chance to catch local favorites State Champion. Their latest album is one of my favorites of the year so far. They will be playing with a couple other bands I've heard good things about, Spider Bags and Titus Andronicus. It all goes down at Skull Alley next Wednesday, 4/21. Tickets $10, doors at 8pm.
Not exactly a new album, but since I didn't have a blog when it was new I figure it's fair to mention it now. Steel Hearts is the latest release (Spring 2009) by Murfreesboro, TN outfit The Only Sons. I've posted my favorite track off the album below, but you can download the whole album for free from the band's website. If you are the type of listener who needs to label a band as country or rock or this or that you may have a hard time with this album. It has country songs, and it has rock songs. Not country-rock, not alt-country, but pure Rock-n-Roll Songs that stand in the hallway smoking cigarettes and whistling at Country Song's girl as she walks by. That's not to say that the country songs aren't good, but the electric guitar in the rock numbers just do it better for me. The best thing about a free album is usually the price, but that isn't the case with Steel Hearts. It's a very solid album with a handful of very good songs that are growers, and three or four that are becoming favorites. The album was released on Sophomore Lounge, home of Slithering Beast and State Champion. The Only Sons are playing February 13th with Slithering Beast at Third Street Dive in Louisville.
Really looking forward to this show. State Champion has their new album Stale Champagne that was released this week. Slithering Beast is retiring some older songs. Should be a good show at the Zeppelin Cafe.
Two great bands are playing next Friday (Jan. 29th) at the Zeppelin Cafe in Louisville. Slithering Beast and State Champion. Both have been featured here. I'll post more details next week or you can take a little bit of initiative and check their sites yourself. I actually have a lot of local concerts on the agenda over the next two months and I'll share those as well. Til then, here is a video I pulled from the Beast's myspace.
Clark Paterson, a Nashville based singer-songwriter who was born and raised in Sandusky, MI and spend most of his college years and early 20's in Chicago, just released his first EP, "Songs for Another America". Clark draws on his experiences with love ("Rather Regret It"), rural life ("God's Country"), deciding to play hooky from work ("Good Afternoon") and paints pictures of the strange ("Abandoned Boat in the Woods"). An excellent first EP that was helped by the excellent backing musicians (including members of Lambchop and Chris Scruggs) and the production work of Mark Nevers. The songs are catchy, well-written and if this is a glimpse of work to come, Clark's best work is still yet in front of him. Definitely worth picking up and rocking out to in your truck.
