A true hidden gem in the LA singer/songwriter scene, Gaby Moreno is beginning to make her presence felt with her unique, soulful, and sultry sound. Since bravely venturing out from her homeland of Guatemala at an incredibly young age, she’s promptly made an impact by being the first Latin artist to win the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and releasing her debut full length album, Still the Unknown.
Gaby scrapped together the following clip exclusively for the Hidden Track:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmkYCM_mYRA
Gaby sounds off below on her impressive Guatemalan roots, unique musical style, and what we can expect from her next…
Jack Spilberg: I found it interesting that you learned to speak English by listening to soul and blues musicians like BB King, Robert Johnson and Nina Simone. Do you still listen to these kinds of musicians?
Gaby Moreno: Oh absolutely, I’m stuck in those old soul jazz and blues records. Every time I listen to them I find something new that inspires me. My favorite Nina Simone record is her very first one, titled “Little Girl Blue”. It’s hard to believe how young she was when she recorded it. What a voice!
READ ON for more of Jack’s exclusive interview with Gaby Moreno…
We’d like to welcome yet another new member to our ever-growing Hidden Track staff, Jack Spilberg. Jack’s a longtime contributor to Glide’s main site where he’s written about Lyrics Born, Brett Dennen and Jack Johnson among others. Enough with the prelims, here’s Jack’s first column…
As a part of last summer’s Jack Johnson’s Sleep Through the Static Tour, a series of really slick-looking, limited edition concert posters were drawn up by select artists. According to Johnson’s site, the posters were printed up in numbered editions of only 300, and sold during the concert stops. You were lucky if you happened to score one of them during the tour, as they are not available for sale anywhere else right now. A full set of signed posters will supposedly be auctioned off sometime soon- check back on the site for a chance to place a bid.
It is not surprising that many of the artists involved with this concert poster art project are tied to the surf scene. While many of the designs have an organic, surfer-art vibe, there is a nice mix or urban and underground artists who give the poster series a more eclectic vibe.
Here’s a look at 12 of the 15 posters in the full set and links to the artists’ sites…
Chivo: http://www.mybrowncoat.com/
READ ON for more Sleep Through The Static tour posters…
Outside Lands boasted what was quite possibly the most impressive lineup for a summer music fest this year. Lyrics Born faced some heavy competition for attendee attention as he was scheduled right up against The Black Keys and Beck. Those within earshot though were irresistibly drawn in by his charismatic rhyme style and infectious groovesthat the Lyrics Born band has become well known for.
At the tail end of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, up and coming acoustic singer/songwriter Brett Dennen made an appearance at the festival’s Music Café. The audience was almost completely silent as the baby-faced musician delivered an engaging performance packed with intellectual, yet still catchy lyrics and beautifully smooth melodies.
Quannum Record's Honeycut opened for DJ Krush at Club Mighty, a San Franciscan after-hours Mecca, for a special pre-Halloween appearance. Krush has been touring the US supporting a new and highly acclaimed live DVD release, and gracing fans with rare appearances across the country.
DJ Shadow announced a completely impromptu concert a few weeks back for a hometown audience in San Francisco at the legendary Fillmore Theater. The show quickly sold out; partly due to the fact that Shadow has only performed in the Bay area three times since his latest album (The Outsider) was released last fall.
With way too many questionable tracks between the truly magical gems, Mos Def’s True Magic falls a bit short of his more impressive works like Black Star or Black on Both Sides.
Formerly a high profile skateboarding professional of the eighties and nineties, Tommy Guerrero continues to transition his notoriously smooth style, creativity, and technical ability from the pavement to the studio as he settles deeper into his newfound career as an increasingly respected solo artist. On From the Soil to the Soul, he pushes his unique, jazzy, guitar-driven sound into a mature new realm.
Toss out all your expectations of what a DJ Shadow album should sound like, as this latest effort is like nothing he has come through with before. With a mix of songs from all ends of the musical spectrum; including hardcore rap, blues guitar, psychedelic folk, Coldplay-tinged ballads, and experimental atmospheric soundscapes, this schizophrenic collage of an album is overwhelmingly eclectic to say the least.
Most who attend Lollapalloza opt to not take risks and b-line back and forth to the main stages to check out the headliners: Death Cab for Cutie, Thievery Corporation, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Gnarls Barkley. While that strategy is all good and fine, you end up missing some phenomenal acts throwing it down on the smaller side stages. For the masses that inevitably missed some of these up-and-coming acts, we will provide a down and dirty breakdown for you here.
