Deborah Henrinksson : Traces to follow

This time, with Deborah Henrinksson, we’re going to change our horizon. She is a Sweden based folk singer with a deep Celtic hint in her, sometimes popish, songs. Thus, Traces, her latest and forth record, is a special piece. Strongly ethereal and infused with Celtic / Irish spirits, Deborah opens up a foggy mysterious place.

Like fairy tales, the ground and trees seem to carry a message and we feel surrounded by magical sounds which are like spells on us. Using piano, soft acoustic guitars in harmony with celtic pipes and drums, Deborah Henriksson is the narrator of a big mystical fascinating book. She talks mainly about love but in a smart way, elusively, like if she wasn’t truly doing it. She mostly pictures it with natural elements like snow, water, stars… Almost like if she were painting, subtly adding small touches of tenderness and emotion in our landscape.

Her voice is flying among this beautiful country, evocating some mermaid, faeric tunes. It might be strongly influenced by the Irish side of the music but we can enjoy a fantasy-like atmosphere all along the record. I invite you to listen to the amazing song “Fly” that is just one example, but quite representative, of the overall spirit of this record. "Trains", by the way, is also an other interesting song, more folkish and lightier. A good choice since it's been placed on the opening of the record. The catchy melody works perfectly well as an introduction for a work which is much deeper.

Then, if you enjoy getting lost in music, diving in a dream, you should follow the traces Deborah Henriksson has set for you. It’s gonna be a trip you’ll easily be obsessed with.

The fantastic Neverland of Mackenzie Shivers

It happens sometimes. You hear a record and you dive in fantasy in a few seconds. The music is so powerful it leads you to your own dreams and let be honest, it feels great.

Mackenzie Shivers by Emily Lambert

Mackenzie Shivers, a singer-pianist-songwriter from New York City got the precious talent to do such a thing. In twelve songs from her record Neverland, she guides us in a dreamland. According to her powerful and evocative melodies, she transforms our reality into a big bed made out of a cloud where we happily lay down, close our eyes, and enjoy the moment.

The reason of this magic ? It’s actually pretty hard to tell. Maybe it’s the talent Mackenzie got to play piano, a result of a successful classical music scholarship, or maybe it’s just her wonderful, reassuring, voice. But it would be far from complete without mentioning the strong part played by the upright bass which builds a round and smooth atmosphere along with the participation of subtle and well used drums.

Mackenzie Shivers explained to PopMatters that “home” and “coping with loss” are the main themes of this record. We can feel some kind of a cocoon in her music that match perfectly with the chosen subjects and it makes those common themes quite specials in the way we feel them under the skin. Like Peter Pan’s world, this Shiver’s Neverland is a faeric place to let your mind wander.

Thus, open your ears and you’ll be welcomed in Neverland, a warm, comfortable and precious place for any heart, lonely or wounded, to cure. But if you’re not in this case, don’t be afraid and let you be embraced anyway.

Take a look at her website : http://mackenzieshivers.com/

The amazing story of Doug Seegers

There’s a lot of different reasons to love a record. On top of everything, there's the quality of the music by itself. But a good story is always something that can change our way of looking at an artist and/or feel his music. Especially if it’s a good-ending Hollywood-style one. And that’s exactly what it is about now.

Let me introduce you to Mr Doug Seegers. Coming from New York, then gone to Austin, TX, this man was discovered by the musician Aaron Espe unexpectedly in 2012. The encounter was made on the street, down on the ground. Doug Seegers was playing on the floor like a lot of homeless/jobless guys in the world because that was his case too. The only difference is that not every street musician got his talent. A powerful thing thats was able to blow up Aaron’s mind at the first chord. Immediatly the street wanderer grabbed his phone and capture the moment on video. “Going Down To The River”, that was the title of the song which was available on YouTube a few hours later in a video called "Who is Doug Seegers?".

We'd like to imagine it was the starting point of a huge success but not exactly. At least, not at this time. The real twist came with a Swedish TV show run by two musicians : Jill Jonson and Magnus Carlson. They were in the USA to talk about American music and they also met Doug in the streets. Jill and Magnus felt in love for this lonesome guy playing such a soulful music. The magic of the moment is something inexplicable. As it is for the storming success of this Sweden show when it came to speak about Doug Seegers.

From the first broadcast, Swedish people run to their computers looking for the guy playing “Going Down To The River”. And here comes the crossroad. What do you think all those guys watched on YouTube? Yes, you’re right, Aaron’s video. From this moment Doug Seegers became quite famous on the web. Sweden was fond of Doug and America started to consider him.

That’s was the proper time to start a music career. The swedish label LionHeart, which also got Jill Johnson and Magnus Carlson in its catalog, decided not to miss the train and quickly signed Doug Seegers. And here we are, since May 2014, you can buy the awesome record obviously called Going Down To The River and understand why so many people have been seduce by his music. To explain it in a few words, I could say it’s all about simplicity, honesty and truth. Nothing too complex, just essential music and a great talent to drive it. It goes up and down in your spine instantly. A great record, no more, no less.

Baskery : Energy comes from wilderness

Good music comes from everywhere. Thus, I lead you to Sweden this time, with a band called Baskery. A sister trio with an impressive style : a rock’n’roll feeling put into an acoustic string band. Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondesson are skilled with a lot of instruments but their best assets are guitar, upright bass and percussions.

With that kind of tools we would imagine a bluegrass band or an old-time music crew. But, it’s way different. This acoustic sound doesn’t mean a girlish and springful music, maybe a bit boring. Actually, "energy" is probably the main word that comes to me when I think about Baskery.

Their music is rich and hard to define. You can call it the way you like : Banjo-Punk, Folk-Rock, traditional kickin’ music or whatever. The only thing that matters is how good it is. Between the nervosity of those girls, an electric guitar mixed with a rockin' banjo, and a melodic touch half from the acoustic sound and half from their hearts, they easily capture our brains. To speak frankly, I doubt we would struggle anyway. Their close voice harmonies also add a bit of a charming touch and softness over the global work.

Their third album is called Little Wild Life. They obviously picked the good name, because there’s wilderness in their voices, their music and their conviction to play. Like nature, it's strong, powerful, and captivating by the only force of its true beauty. It’s like looking at a storm and say to yourself : “wow, that’s impressive”. It might scare you but you can’t turn your eyes from its majesty. In the same way, Baskery is stunning and that’s what we like. They push us away from our comfort zone. This kind of music can always be renewed and that’s what we expected.

A new generation brings its own rules. They are no better nor baddest. They are necessary. Music is still living like a torrent and the raging sound you’re hearing is what is all about. The flow is strong and we’re up to follow it gracefully and joyfully.

Ollie Vee : the retro style heartbeat

These days, we’ve seen a lot of new bands and artists awesomely talented who produced a lot of good work, even from their very first albums. In this category, let me introduce you to a new 50’s retro band called Ollie Vee. Four gifted guys with a fantastic debut album : “Lonesome Girl”.

From the first listening, the very first note, they captivated my ears and my heart. I must say that the beginning song is also the better one. Which, of course, helped a lot to put me in a good mood for what was up to come. Called “Ruby Red” this magical, simple but nevertheless, powerful song got everything in itself that makes the Ollie Vee’s sound : a soul and a spirit. Something that most people feels it’s vanishing with time in the music business. They certainly need to hear this.

Ollie Vee is on a bridge between here and the past. They walk somewhere where music is king and queen, the alpha and the omega. In their world, it’s all about the atmosphere. Not totally retro, a bit dusty, we feel like in an old road movie we used to watch and love. We enter in an “out of age” diner late at night. There’s no customer inside, the waitress is sweeping the floor and a band is still playing almost for themselves. That how we could describe this strange and moving feeling we got under our skin when we listen to this band.

With Adam Perzia on drums, Jesse Adamson et Johnny Vassos on guitars and Howard Linscott on double bass they know how to be rockin’ in a Chris Isaak style. Between Rockabilly and Honky-Tonk it’s the perfect mix served by a precise and skilled touch. The voice of Jesse got this little twangy style which you can find also on guitars with a lot of old school reverb.

If you are like me, a bit suspicious about retro bands who are often a bit fake, you will enjoy Ollie Vee. They are true because they don’t try to do retro. They just so deeply inspired by those oldies songs and artists, it’s now part of themselves and, obviously, part of their sound. As soon as you listen to this record you’ll be instantly fond of it. 

Check out their website at : http://ollievee.com