In the world of roots music, you must be excellent to stand out in a crowded field of talent. Enter Pharis and Jason Romero and the title track of their latest (February 2013) long-player, Long Gone Out West Blues. The two-part vocal harmonies here are excellent as is the guitar work. There’s a touch of country here, but mostly it’s a folk-roots focus and it does not commit the cardinal sin of country (for me)-it isn’t twangy. Sometimes…
Read MoreLet’s be clear: I love the addition of string instruments to otherwise pop, rock or folk tunes. There is more depth, more mystery and that is particularly true of Murder By Death and No Oath, No Spell from the September 2012 long-player Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon. In this stripped down performance featuring only band mates Adam Turla (guitar) and Sarah Balliet (cello) you get a taste of that richness, sans Matt Armstrong (bass), Dagan Thogerson (percussion) and multi-instrumentalist Scott Brackett….
Read MoreSinger-songwriter Ian Britt has very diverse tastes in music-from Eminem to Enya. That’s a wide divide which is not only diverse and interesting, but not unlike my own very diverse musical tastes. Still, Ian Britt keeps close to the folk-pop vein in his own musical endeavors. Case in point is the two-song (as of this writing) EP Understood (April 2013), where Crazy comes from. There is blistering emotion, anger and loss in the lyrics, but the song itself is beautifully introspective. Why the…
Read MoreSinger-songwriter Brion Riborn has a strong vocal presence on his latest long-player, Don’t look back, Never Look Back (December 2012) and knows his way around a catchy melody. Most of the songs here are mid-tempo pop tunes-though some are a bit faster and there are a hand full of ballads too. It makes for a nice listening variety. The video Get Back Up (Halleluja) is a single written specifically for the movie Annabelle and Bear back in 2010. You can find…
Read MoreSo here it is again: One of those rare instrumental only posts, this time from guitar virtuoso Mike Dawes. Mike performs magic on the guitar, summoning up high-tones, rhythms, chords and fingerstyle almost in the same breath. If it had been done in multiple takes, then it might have nearly been a rondo, but in this context it’s simply amazing instrument craft. All of that is readily evident on The Impossible which appears on Mike’s debut long-player, What Just Happened? (April 2013). Besides…
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