Discovery Time #2

Hello folks, it's time to discover new music!

In this second issue of Discovery Time we're going to talk about songwriting. You know it, a good song is about good melodies and fine writing. Americana, folk, country are good examples of how important a great storyteller is.

So, I'm glad to introduce you to Rachel Garlin, Buford Pope and the latest (and awesome) work of the Americana awards winner Lucinda Williams.

Playlist :

Artist	Song
Rachel Garlin	Gwendolyn Said
Rachel Garlin	Dear Friend
Buford Pope	I Think I Belong To You
Buford Pope	At The End Of The Week
Lucinda Williams	The Ghost Of Highway 20
Lucinda Williams	Can’t Close The Door On Love

Discovery Time #1

The American Music Route podcasts continue with the first issue of Discovery Time. This format is dedicated to discover artists and records and obviously listen to their music.

In Discovery Time #1 we'll talk about Jeanne Jolly, Matt Woods and Jeremy Pinnell.

Discovery Time #1 by Jay on Mixcloud

The Playlist :

Artist	Title
Jeanne Jolly	Matches And Gasoline
Jeanne Jolly	The Dreamer
Matt Woods	Snow Drivin'
Matt Woods	Sawdust and Gasoline
Jeremy Pinnell	Rodeo
Jeremy Pinnell	Outlaw Life

Bonus

If you liked Matt Woods' music, here's a good news for you. You can download "Sawdust and Gasoline" for free ! It's just a click away : http://www.mattwoodsmusic.com/free-song-download/

The Blend #1

Here we start with the first of our new podcast formats, starting with The Blend. It's a show made for good music regardless of its style. From Country to Folk-Rock, it's time to take a break and enjoy good songs.

The Blend #1 by Jay on Mixcloud

For the craters diggers, here is the playlist :

Artist	Title
Dolly Parton	Drives Me Crazy
Casey Weston	Play It Again
Larkin Poe	"Don't"
Toby Keith	I Like Girls That Drink Beer
Blackberry Smoke	Holding All the Roses
The Kentucky Headhunters with Johnnie Johnson	Party In Heaven
Luke Pruitt	Stronger Than Before
Delta Spirit	Money Saves
Jim Lauderdale	Alligator Alley
Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time with Terri Clark	Cure For The Common Heartache
Hardin Burns	Get Back Home
Amanda Rheaume	Strongest Heart
Pugwash	Fall Down
Good Lovelies	Watching TV
Marcia Ball	Human Kindness
Sarah Gayle Meech	Somebody's Gonna Cry
Whitehorse	Dear Irony

Delta Spirit : a Rock-Americana blend

Americana and Rock lovers, here’s a band you should know about and will love for sure. Originally coming from the San Diego’s area but relocated in Brooklyn, NY in 2012, I want to introduce you to Delta Spirit. This band makes an amazing powerful blend of Folk, Country and Rock, subtly infused with electro-pop hints. As a result, their music is strongly catchy.

Delta Spirit is Matthew Vasquez (Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Drums), Kelly Winrich (Piano, Keyboards, Guitar, Drums, Vocals), William McLaren (Guitar, Vocals), Jonathan Jameson (Bass, Vocals), Brandon Young (Drums). Those guys have got a ten years career with Delta Spirit (except for McLaren who’s been part of the adventure since 2011) and it still continues with their latest album released in 2014 : Call Into The Wide.

But, even if it is a good record, it ain’t the one I want to focus on right now. Let’s stop in 2012 when they left the West Coast for Brooklyn. That year a new album of their own was released and like a molting, they start anew with this self-titled brand new CD. It is the Delta Spirit that caught our attention.

As soon as you start listening to it, it’ll never let you go away, always renewing your interest with eleven superb songs from quiet ambient harmonies to nervous and electric powerful moments. You loose yourself in their music from start to end, unable to miss any part. Is it the definition of a great album ? Maybe. At least we could agree with them when they say : “We found the sound that we've been looking for, that we've been growing into.” This record has the sound of maturity. Even though is something we did read and hear a lot about any artist’s work at some point, and frankly most of the time it’s a pointless expression, it’s got real meaning here.

Delta Spirit, the band and the album are truly one in this work. We strongly feel that unity. Something very clear is happening in the sound, the melodies, the vocals, the energy, the lyrics… Something like it was meant to be this way. When we listen to tracks like “Home” or “Yamaha”, we are drowning in some kind of an obvious awake dream with melodies looping like a mantra. But on the other hand, this record is made of a wide range of compositions, all really complex. Actually, the previous examples are more like pauses in a way more energetic work. Due to their ability to mix music genres, they can connect different atmospheres in one song, getting guitar distortions and keyboards to work together and then shifting the emotions. Everything is moving in this record. Like it’s said in “California”, an anthem to trip, you must move for yourself and not for anyone else. 

So, this record is a road trip. It’s a way to open your mind, to free it. Don't be shy, scream, run, jump, dream, and most importantly, enjoy the moment.

Their official website : deltaspirit.net

Sister Speak : Love as an anthem

In the rise of violence from many places in the world last week, a bit of peace, and amongst everything, love, is the thing I do think we need the most. Such simplicity in emotions and truth coming from the inside of ourselves is the material Folk, Americana and Country artists use to mold their worlds and, by doing so, reshape our by the way we feel it.

This time I’d introduce you to a young band from San Diego called Sister Speak. Lead by the Canadian singer and songwriter Sherri Anne, this quintet provides us a lovely Americana in its debut-album : Rise Up For Love. An anthem we would gladly follow with this work as an argument.

As you might expect, the compositions are made of guitars, both acoustic and electric, but not only. I should mention the beautiful rhythmic work by Lisa Viegas that embossed every part of the ten tracks subtly changing the feeling and power of the stories. Like an heartbeat full of passion or an errant soul drown in sorrow it seems to be the real core of the composition. On an other hand, interesting instruments are beautifully used to carve the sound in something quite haunting. Then, keyboards and organs are the key of the ghostly spirit of “Mirrors I”. Likewise, special percussion as cajon can hold our hand to lead us to another, sometimes unexpected, landscape.

Sherri Anne & Lisa Viegas

But despite those technical points, Sister Speak’s music is a matter of feelings. There’s so many moments that irradiate by their beauty. A ballad such as “Say You Will” is just like falling in love. An increasing force that catches you from the the very start and let you hung up in the air, floating, dreaming. A state of mind in which every feeling, every subtle emotion is almost tangible. This screaming demand becomes an heart-to-heart connection. Like it says : “I can feel you, I can hear you”. It seems to be the simplest but the most obvious definition of love.

This album is very well-titled. It’s an optimistic vision of love, that you’ll find in it. It’s a sunshine, a magnificent dawn. It's a piece of beauty rising even from sorrows and tears, a freedom song rather than a regretful drama (”Goodby My Lover”). The message is quite simple : as long as you keep on walking on the long path we call life you’ll be able to find hope. And so, yes, I do feel joyful, stronger, full of hope and passion after listening to Sister Speak.

Benjamin Folke Thomas : Americana quintessential

Since we were talking about Sweden in the last review, let’s continue this time. Here is Benjamin Folke Thomas who’s based in London for five years by now. The perfect city to launch a music career considering it might be the European music city capital.

Even if he didn’t succeed at the first try like in his dreams (he thought he "would be famous by the time [he] was 21" like he says in the CD booklet), Benjamin’s Americana Folk-inspired music worth to be listened. The label “Bucketfull of Brains” understood this point in 2010 when they released the first EP of Folke Thomas. After touring a lot in 2012 and increasing considerably his fanbase, Benjamin released with his label his first true album : Too Close To Here.

This wonderful record has been re-released in 2014 by Bucketfull of Brains/Proper Music, a proof of its good quality. Soulful, true, deep, there is a lot of adjectives available to describe the music from this record. You can enjoy the natural and simple writing skill sung with an almost naked voice only covered by subtle raspiness on it.

It’s this kind of folkishness that change the scale of Folke Thomas’ music. Even when electric guitars and drums came in line we do keep some acoustic feelings which are still floating in the air. So, we easily loose ourselves in the music but, on the other hand, keep focused on the voice and words.

Realistic, moving by the ability to draw stories rather than just telling about it, the songs from this album find their way to our heart, almost bypassing our brains. And if there’s a music genre where feelings and words should obviously work together is Blues. Thus, when Benjamin Folke Thomas goes on this side of his music with songs like “Ok Blues” we realize how well he understood the essence of the music he plays. With simple words he talks about simple feelings we all had and by this way, turns his music into a universal language. Composition itself tells almost everything. Classic, like the one you would like to find in any bar. Sometimes it twangs just enough to start moving your hips or tapping your foot and other times it’s made of beautiful and moving arpeggios.

Americana is definitely the right word to define the music of Too Close To Here. It’s a perfect mix of Folk and Blues into a bunch of songs made to be listen anywhere, anytime. Some tunes to keep in mind and to enjoy all day long.

An amazing band : The California Honeydrops

What a big and strong shock for my ears it was, when I heard The California Honeydrops for the first time ! I like sometimes to put a CD in my player without looking, or deep-looking, at the label. This way, I'm not distracted by any picture, text, or story I might read before. And sometimes, I must admit it, it's just mechanical. Thus, I wasn't really focused on this CD at the first time. It was just one of the big CD pile I had to listen to. But what a catch it was.

From the first note I heard I couldn't let it go. I was really captivated by this amazing mix of Soul and Rhythm & Blues, so soulful and with an expressive joy.

Coming from Oakland and lead by Warsaw-born singer Lech Wierzynski, The California Honeydrops know how to catch us. Their music is between Americana, Soul and Blues with influences from Louis Armstrong to Sam Cooke. Lead by the trumpets you can't help yourself from dancing. Even this little head shaking you got right now is a proof of it. Going straight to the heart of those musics, they got the perfect feeling.

Like You Mean It is the third record of the band. From the first song, "Here Comes Love", everything that you may find in the CD is wonderfully exposed here. The piano is here for the melody as much as for the rhythmic part. The trumpets and this cool whistled melody are here to punctuate the all stuff. This craziness and musical joy seems to be spontaneous, almost imperfect but it's obviously a strong work, perfectly mastered.

We also have a great Gospel part, with "Just Another Day" where the voices and the organ show how The California Honeydrops are skilled to make their music to shine. They totally control the musical expression and we never feel like we're listening to an imitation.

All along the record, we got this lousy-cool feeling that is so pleasant. Blues becomes gold with songs like "Baby Boy's Blues". You're diving in a comfortable sweetness, closing your eyes and following the flow. It's like walking on a cloud and laying down on the floor. Actually I could talk about any song like that. Every track is at the same time, a new place, a new feeling but it's always logical in the overall work. It's not a patchwork of different music styles well done but all mixed up on a CD. It's more like a cool concert where you feel deeply connected to the music, forgetting where you are, with whom or when.

This is true Blues, true Soul, true Gospel, and so. Everything is made and played with the heart. They make the American Black Music alive with the most beautiful tribute to his masters. A great record you will play again and again for a while.