Posts by Jason Gonulsen

Inspiration was key during the 90-minute set, which featured many of Ryan’s songs from a wealthy back catalogue, including “Sweetie” and the crowd favorites “Irrelevant” and “Guilty.” Even though it was a small group of people who got to experience a gifted artist in his prime, there wasn’t any struggle with what Ryan was trying to communicate: that we’re all in this together, and that the battle may never result in a victory.

It’s a perfect time to celebrate 15 years of Bottle Rockets songs, which is exactly what they did at St. Louis’ Duck Room at Blueberry Hill, the first of 15 anniversary shows they will be playing this year.

Mostly recorded live, Albertine is the soaring declaration of a young woman’s passion and life experiences that are magically told in songs like “C.S. Lewis Song” and the beautiful “Hymn,” which closes the album.   It’s about time the world – outside of New Zealand and Australia – opens its ears to enjoy the promising real talents of Brooke Fraser

Quirky like Regina Spektor and intoxicating like Tori Amos, Rachael Sage successfully uses her songwriting and piano skills to win you over on tunes like the opening “Vertigo” and the beautiful title track, where she sings, “Silence is sweeter than doubt.” There’s no doubting Rachael Sage on Chandelier, only the beauty of discovery and feeling content.

Playing to a sold out room that remained attentive and fun from the opening “Via Chicago” to the closing “The Late Greats,” Tweedy and his band mates were firing shots and killing moving targets all night long.

Last week I read in an interview where singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards said she used to listen to music on the bus to school and wonder what others were thinking. Feeling so moved by what she was listening to, she “couldn’t understand how people weren’t as affected as [she] was.” Edwards went on to talk about the real music bug you eventually get when “you start discovering music on your own and not music that friends are telling you about.”

This one’s for her, whatever the hell her name was,” Steve Earle said with a laugh, before he broke into “Now She’s Gone,” off 1996’s I Feel Alright.  It was that kind of night for Earle—a chance to look back, but not dwell on any kind of regret. 

Everything Margo Timmins does is with pure elegance. The way she glides on stage, after the rest of her band has taken their places. The way she tells stories in between songs. The way she finds a pair of eyes in the audience and sings to them. They way she sips her tea and admires her flowers. The way she smiles while singing words her brother wrote.

Catching up with Glen Phillips, ex-member of Toad the Wet Sprocket, might surprise you with what he has to offer on his new EP, The Secrets of the New Explorers. He and friend John Askew decided to record six songs about a random subject that actually meant something to both of them: space travel.  The result is a nice collection of songs, all with a “back to the future” feel to them.  I can’t tell if it’s a sound that Phillips will continue to pursue, but the EP’s standout, “Solar Flare,” was worth the effort. Travel on.

You might not know it, but you probably already love The Weepies. It might have been that commercial for Old Navy, or that episode of Grey’s Anatomy, but you’ve probably mouthed the words, “That’s a good song” after hearing one of their simple, catchy tunes.

Somehow, every word that David Ford sings feels so personal that it hurts me to listen. I need 30-second breaks in between tracks. Lucinda Williams does this to me. So does Matthew Ryan. I try to relate, but I end up going numb, only because I have no idea of the pain they speak of in their songs. Somehow, every word that David Ford sings feels so personal that it hurts me to listen. I need 30-second breaks in between tracks. Lucinda Williams does this to me. So does Matthew Ryan. I try to relate, but I end up going numb, only because I have no idea of the pain they speak of in their songs. Somehow, every word that David Ford sings feels so personal that it hurts me to listen. I need 30-second breaks in between tracks. Lucinda Williams does this to me. So does Matthew Ryan. I try to relate, but I end up going numb, only because I have no idea of the pain they speak of in their songs.

The price is steep, for the secrets we don’t keep,” sings Matthew Ryan on “Meet Me By the River,” just one of the stellar tracks off his new album, Matthew Ryan Vs. The Silver State (MRVSS). Ryan doesn’t keep many secrets on the 11 tracks that make up the brilliant piece of work—he lays it out for the listener, warts and all. And it’s quite a journey.

Haydn, who’s played with Herbie Hancock, and shared the stage with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, soloing to “Kashmir,” has combined all of her dazzling talents on Places.

British singer-songwriter David Ford’s last album, I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I’ve Caused, was so inspiring that Neil Young’s longtime manager, Eliot Roberts, asked for two copies—one for him, and one for Neil.

Five albums into her career as a singer-songwriter, Allison Moorer wasn’t sure what to do when number six came-a-callin’. The final decision—an attempt at a cover album, one that focused solely on female singer-songwriters. The result is Mockingbird, which is pure magic.

April carries on the momentum of Ghosts of the Great Highway, leading off with the ambitious nine-minute gem, “Lost Verses,” which ranks with one of the best songs that Mark Kozelek has written.

It’s the simple things that make a Greencards’ show special: gratifying harmonies, stunning solos, and clear vocals. All were on display for this two-set performance on songs like “The Ghost of Who We Were,” “Life’s a Freeway,” “Who Knows,” and “Here You Are.”

Produced by Malcom Burn (Patti Smith, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan), Boy for You works well because it never really lets go of its bouncy pace.  Not an introspective songwriter, Williamson sings about what is around her — an observant voice that declares: “you look like someone I should love” on the beautiful “Someone.”  Williamson, with her buoyant energy, sure sounds like someone a lot of people will love for years to come.

On occasion, some of my friends will ask why I listen to such “depressing music,” and I’ve always found that curious. Sure, I see their point, a lot of the stuff I enjoy features subject matter that is dark and gloomy—but, in my opinion, there is a unique kind of hope buried deep within slow, sad songs. I love them.

In late 2006, Lost Highway Records dropped Tift Merritt.  Her final album with the label, Tambourine, garnered a Grammy nomination and general high praise, but it left Merritt as an independent musician. Clueless by the decision and tapped of her energy, Merritt, who had been living in Paris at the time, still felt one thing to be true: her songs that would eventually become her third album, Another Country, would win out.