Blake Rainey has been recognized by The Atlanta Journal Constitution, music magazines Flagpole and Stomp & Stammer, and Creative Loafing as one of Georgia’s finest songwriters. His solo material consists of heart-on-the-sleeve folk, country and scrappy-smart rock in the vein of Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and Paul Westerberg.
The latest album by Blake Rainey and his Demons — Helicopter Rose — is available for pre-order now through his Southern Lovers Recording Co. imprint.
With over 45 million plays on Pandora, troubadour and award-winning songwriter, Forest Sun, enlivens audiences around the globe with his wealth of songs and stories, all sung and told in a laid-back California style. Sun’s soulful music draws on a deep well of Americana. His new album, Walk Through Walls, is available for pre-order now.
King Of The Tramps is an original roots-rock group, based in Auburn, IA, whose sound calls upon influences from modern roots rock, rhythm and blues, rock and southern, country rock. Their sound has been described as “Whiskey Gospel”. The band has released three albums of original music, Good People in 2011, Wicked Mountain in 2013, and Joyful Noise in 2014.
The King Of The Tramps live show is a foot stompin’, hand clappin’ rock and roll gospel party, with plenty of crowd participation. The band is comprised of Todd Partridge on Guitar and vocals, Justin Snyder on Guitar and Mandolin, Adam Audlehelm on Keys, Ryan Aum on Drums and Ryan McAlister on Bass.
With Cumplir con el Diablo, the 4th album from the group, the tramps show that their “Whiskey Gospel” sound has more energy than ever, and their stories ring as true and hard as life on the road. The record features 9 songs and one bonus track. Cumplir con el Diablo is about the general themes of being mired in the overwhelming personal quagmires and external hypocrisies’ that pull us all down on a daily basis. Translated, the album title means “Meet the Devil”, it is intended in the universal sense, as in “The devil is in the details”, or “Having a devil of a time”.
Eyck composed these six Fantasias specifically for the 12” vinyl LP format, a practice reminiscent of early-60s Nonesuch releases. All performances were recorded in full takes with no editing. American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) tracked Eyck’s scores first, and then Eyck overdubbed her deft, fluid, single-take improvisations—thus the fitting title Fantasias. The result is an organic virtuosity that leads the listener through a wide range of sonic environments across the six pieces.
Eyck’s striking theremin performances on Fantasias showcase her dead-aim intonation, her command of microtonality, her fluid melodicism, and—perhaps most importantly—her utter lack of self-consciousness as an improvisor. This latter quality is no accident, as Eyck has practiced improvisation for years, and has even studied techniques typically aimed at athletes for entering flow-states and shutting down critical inner dialogue.
Pre-order now from Butterscotch Records.
Pop guitarist Sadler Vaden‘s Self Titled (and self-released) album is a follow up to his 2012 album Radio Road, on which he played all instruments. Following stints with Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit and Drivin n Cryin, this new album employs producer Paul Ebersold and guitarist Audley Freed.
The latest from Los Angeles synthesis figurehead M. Geddes Gengras consolidates his entire arsenal of techniques and compositional tricks into a four-sided opus of immersive sound worship. Recorded and assembled across six years and far-flung geographies (California, Connecticut, The Netherlands), Interior Architecture was imagined as an “impossible object,” simultaneously stark and lush, sprawling and concise, analog and digital. Gengras’ array of processing modules allow for a near-infinite complexity of texture and movement: tones rise and morph and recede, inscrutable chords float in space, elements integrate and then refuse resolution.
Long-time associate Seth Kasselman guests on clarinet throughout Side C but otherwise “Architecture” is, as per usual, a solitary affair – the rogue alchemist alone at his mainframe, the laboratory thick with smoke. His is an ambiguous and experiential form of tactile psychedelia, electronic rorschach tests for the 21st century. Gengras’ own assessment is suitably consuming: “At its best it should feel like sinking into really warm quicksand or dying of hypothermia.”
Pre-Order Rachael Yamagata’s new album Tightrope Walker now! Also, the Tightrope Walker North American Tour starts on 9.19, and you can grab tickets now as well!
Courtney Granger lives in Lafayette, Lousiana. A master fiddler and extraordinarily talented singer, Courtney hails from the Balfa family lineage, which is evident in his powerful vocals and heavily Balfa-influenced fiddling. While for the past 8 years Courtney has been playing and touring full time with Cajun groups the Pine Leaf Boys and Balfa Toujours, Courtney has always had a deep affinity for and knowledge of classic country music. Featuring a master group of musicians and production by the renowned Dirk Powell, the long-awaited Beneath Still Waters is Courtney’s solo country debut.
Live On Lacquer preserves music in a way that is timeless and genuine. Much like the way records were made in the mid-20th century, these songs are captured live and cut in real-time onto lacquer discs with our 1940’s Scully vinyl lathe. Once cut, the lacquer masters are immediately sent off for plating and pressing. Each song is recorded in one take with no editing, allowing for the truest expression of the artist’s performance to be captured. The recording method used here is 100% analog and retains a level of humanity and imperfection often lost in modern digital productions.
The following equipment was used to make this record:
Microphones – Lawson 251, Royer 121, Coles 4038 (pair)
Preamps – Neve 1073
Compression – Empirical Labs EL8, Smart Research C2, FCS P3SME, Maselec MLA-3
Equalization – Squarewave Industries Net EQ and Stereo Width Control
Lathe – 1940’s Scully vinyl lathe with Westrex 3D-II Stereo cutter head and 1700 cutting amplifier
Record Press – Hamilton M-225 BX
A limited quantity is available for preorder now!
Sea of Noise, the second full-length album by St. Paul and the Broken Bones, marks a quantum leap in sound and style for the high-voltage Birmingham, Alabama-based band.
Produced by Paul Butler and recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium, the group’s sophomore effort features an expanded eight-piece lineup of the widely praised soul-based rock unit. Longtime members Paul Janeway (lead vocals), Jesse Phillips (bass, guitar), Browan Lollar (guitars), Andrew Lee (drums), Al Gamble (keyboards), and Allen Branstetter (trumpet) are joined by Jason Mingledorff (saxophone, clarinet, flute), and Chad Fisher (trombone).
Sea of Noise is a successor to the Broken Bones’ 2013 debut album Half the City, which introduced the group’s blazing mating of ‘60s soul fire – daubed with latter-day influences like Sly Stone, David Bowie, and Prince — to Janeway’s impassioned singing and writing. The new album witnesses a deepening and broadening of the unit’s musical reach and lyrical concerns.
Read more, and be sure to grab the the record available at indie stores everywhere (and beyond) September 7!
