We keep our eyes peeled for new tour dates announcements each week and compile them on Tuesdays for this handy column… As live music junkies we get really excited when
With my turn in the Friday Mix Tape rotation serendipitously coinciding with me dropping my Top 6 Of The First 6 list yesterday, it seemed only appropriate that I use
With the first six months of 2011 beginning to feel like a distant memory, I figured it was time to continue a tradition by taking a look at my favorite six albums of the first half of the year for the Top 6 Of The First 6…
6) The Head And The Heart – The Head And The Heart
I’ll admit it, I had it in my mind that I wasn’t going to like The Head And The Heart’s self-titled debut, solely based on Bob Boilen of All Songs Considered fame not really being into it. It wasn’t until I caught the band’s exuberant performance of Lost In My Mind on Conan that I was finally ready to embrace the band’s brand of folk-pop, which doesn’t fall too far from the Blind Pilot tree. The Seattle-based act’s album is full of extremely likeable songs that immediately get stuck in your head, bouncy rhythms and lush three-part harmonies that are anchored by lead singer Josiah Johnson and beautifully accompanied by on the high end by Jonathan Russell and Charity Rose Thielen’s sultry, smoky vocals.
READ ON for the rest of Jeff’s Top 6 Of The First 6…
With LA based outfit Dawes about to release their second album, Nothing is Wrong on June 7th I was able to catch up with bassist Wylie Gelber while the band was in Georgia supporting Brett Dennen on a national swing.
When Taylor Goldsmith rips into a staccato-laced solo toward the end of “Fire Away” on Dawes’ second LP, Nothing is Wrong, the band emphatically declares their expansion. With more time to write and more attention focused on their efforts this time around, Dawes manages to honor their modern Laurel Canyon country folk by adding moments of increased muscle and bright new flourishes of their striking harmonies inside a wider palette of sound.
Dawes were mighty impressive opening up for Brett Dennen at Higher Ground, so much so that the headliner must’ve been more than a little intimidated at the prospect of following them on stage.
Drawing heavily from their forthcoming album, Nothing Is Wrong, Dawes wowed the room, getting people shaking and pumping their fists and even inspiring a sing-a-long during the set-closing “When My Time Comes”, no easy feat as Cradle patrons are usually a bit sedate in showing their enthusiasm.
We keep our eyes peeled for new tour dates announcements each week and compile them on Tuesdays for this handy column… Since releasing their debut album North Hills in 2009,
If the average music festival is a 26.2 mile marathon, then SXSW is a 140-mile Iron Man challenge. Waking up on day four, our skin was burnt, our ankles were swollen, and our ears were bleeding. But just when it seemed like all hope was lost and we’d spend the day sleeping – one brave, grown-ass man poured a red bull into his coffee, gave a stern look across the kitchen table and said the following words:
“…Tighten. The Fuck. Up.”
And just like that we were off for the final day of SXSW.
[Kanye and friends took over SXSW 2011 with a late night concert]
Our first stop was the MOG party for TV on the Radio and Big Boi. TV’s set at Mohawk was basically the same thing we saw of their set the day before at Stubbs. But to see them in a venue like the open-air, multi-level, very limited capacity Mohawk added a great deal of excitement. The energy was fluid throughout the venue, and the band’s huge sound was even more encapsulated than usual.
There was about an hour break between TV on the Radio and Big Boi, and Yuck played the indoor stage at Mohawk. Despite their hype, we decided to hold our place to see Daddy Fat Sax in action. When he came on, he and MC Black Owned C-Bone led the excited crowd in a splattering of old school Outkast tracks and newer stuff from his own solo recordings. As the late afternoon sun started to fade, the onstage dance party kept energy and spirits high.
READ ON for more on Day 4 at SXSW from Three Grown Men…
Nearly a year after making their public debut at SXSW, under the moniker MG&V, the busy tour schedules of John McCauley (Deer Tick), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and Matt Vasquez (Delta
