The vulnerability found in Emily Keener’s music traces back to a distinctly Midwest upbringing, characterized by the canopied forests that surrounded her home. It’s here Keener pensively grappled with the rigid qualities of rustbelt spiritualism. And where she experienced the literal and figurative isolation as a homeschooled country-dweller.
On her new album – I Do Not Have To Be Good, she subtly sheds her Americana roots and embraces atmospheric moody indie folk, equally tender and powerful as it unfolds. Taking almost complete creative control throughout the recording process, the only fingerprint is Keener’s own. This is her; raw, exposed, very honest in her emotional depth.
When Delta Rae first took flight in North Carolina roughly a decade ago, it was a folky four-piece centered around the hair-raising harmonies and songwriting of the Hölljes siblings—Ian (guitar, vocals), Eric (piano, guitar, vocals), and Brittany (vocals)—and their longtime friend, Liz Hopkins (vocals). As the band’s sound began to evolve, so did its lineup, and the following year, they added Mike McKee (drums) and Grant Emerson (bass) to help flesh out their singular mix of Gothic American roots and gospel-tinged country…
On the strength of an early EP, the band landed a major label deal for their full-length debut, Carry The Fire, which came out to rave reviews in 2012, with Rolling Stone calling it a “unique blend of blue-eyed soul and Americana rock” and NPR hailing the “bluesy roar” of its “modern folklore.” The music racked up more than 30 million streams on Spotify, landed the band in the studio with Lindsey Buckingham, and helped earn them performances on The Tonight Show and Conan alongside festival slots at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and more. In 2015, they followed it up with After It All, a similarly acclaimed sophomore album that debuted at #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.
By the time the band moved to Nashville and signed to powerhouse label Big Machine in 2017, they seemed poised for superstardom, but instead, Delta Rae found themselves in limbo, unable to record the music they felt most passionate about. Rather than give up, the band struck out on their own, leaving their contract and launching a Kickstarter in hopes of raising the $30,000 they needed to fund the record themselves. Within hours, they’d blown through their goal, and by the time the dust had settled, they’d shattered all previous records, raising nearly a half-million dollars from supporters to become the most-funded indie band in the platform’s history.
The Light marks Delta Rae’s first full-length independent release as well as the start of a bold new chapter that will include an upcoming companion album (The Dark), an immersive theater production, a live record, and more.
To be plain, without the support of the hundreds of wonderful independent retailers around the country and world, there would be no pressing plants.
Records stores, big and small, have supported us, and our customers large and small, from the beginning by stocking records and informing their customer base about our operation and wonderful stable of artists. These proud purveyors are facing a challenge many small businesses are currently facing: how to keep the doors open in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The answer for many is to move an online/mail order model temporarily in order to get through the current storm. So, if you’re thinking about buying a record online (and you’re not buying it from the artist directly), consider purchasing it from a wonderful independent retailer. Check out this list put together by our buds at Colemine Records. Keep it independent!
Founded by Daptone Records’ own Bosco Mann after building a new recording studio in his hometown of Riverside, California, Penrose Records will showcase the most exciting acts emerging on the blossoming SoCal souldies scene today. For its inaugural release, the label offers up five singles by five exciting new artists: Thee Sacred Souls from San Diego; Jason Joshua from Miami; East L.A. mainstays Thee Sinseers, and The Altons; and Altadena veterans, Los Yesterdays.
All five 45s + digital compilation will be available April 10th.
What better way to christen Daptone’s fledgling imprint Penrose Records than with “Can I Call You Rose?,” a sumptuous and serendipitously titled mid-tempo premier by San Diego’s blossoming young soul serenaders, Thee Sacred Souls. Stepping off the stage after their very first club date, Josh, Sal, and Alex were tugged aside by producer Bosco Mann whose seasoned ears had been tickled by their set. Backs were patted, hands were shook, and three days later heads were bobbing in Mann’s Riverside studio, as the Souls laid their first notes to tape.
As one of the most popular groups on today’s So-Cal soul scene, Thee Sinseers need little introduction. Their performance of “Seems Like” live at the Recordium went viral to the tune of over a million views, making them thee in-demand group for souldies parties up and down the coast. When asked what song they wanted to cut for their Penrose session, singer, songwriter, and man-who-can-play-any-instrument, Joey Quiñones didn’t hesitate to answer, “We need a proper recording of that song.” And so it was done. In the candle-lit studio, the band delivered unto us a starkly intimate rendition, stripping the tune down to its underthings, and laying bare Joe Q’s euphonious exhortations.
Since exploding onto the scene with his debut 45, “Rosegold” and it’s anthemic follow-up, “I Don’t Care,” Jason Joshua has built a dedicated following for his distinctive latin-soul sound and his notoriously titillating live performances. Following a string of homegrown Miami recordings with the Beholders on his own Mango Hill Records, Jason hopped the plane to Riverside to gather the Penrose Scholars for a session with his friend Bosco Mann, where he was eager to prove that just like a record, there’s more than one side to a man.
Though Bryan Ponce and Adriana Flores share the stage with Joey Q as part of the East LA souldies outfit Thee Sinseers, they really step into the spotlight with The Altons, a group they themselves founded along with drummer Caitlin Moss and bassist Gabriel Maldonado . On this their debut single on Penrose, Bryan sings the lead with a smoky-sweet falsetto that bends tenderly from growl to howl and back again. The group takes a turn through a classic Miracles-style mid-tempo groove on the A-side, leaving you helplessly addicted to their sweet eponymous refrain, When you go that’s when you’ll know… Watch the video for “When You Go (That’s When You’ll Know)”.
Los Yesterdays originated in an Altadena garage when Gabriel Rowland teamed up with his old friend Victor Benavides. Rowland, a long time drummer and eccentric creator of multitudinous soulful things, took charge of recording as well as playing all the instruments, while Benavides wrote and cut vocals. The project pretty much stayed in their garage for a few years until a mutual connection brought them to the attention of Tom Brenneck and Gabe Roth, who both dug the songs and offered to join in on guitar and bass respectively so that the duo might be able to perform their music live. The four soon found a handful of gigs behind them and a Penrose recording date in front of them.
KAINA’s Next to the Sun was one of the VMP team’s favorite releases in 2019, as we loved the album’s dedications to KAINA’s native Chicago, and her family and the communities that raised her. Dripping in bright production and buoyed by her brighter voice, Next to the Sun is an album about soldiering on despite it all, and remembering to love who you are and where you came from.
For a limited time, you can obtain the Vinyl Me Please version of this album (pressed at Gotta Groove) on opaque blue vinyl.
Whiskey Basterds’ debut album Redemption on Main St., is now available! Written over the course of three years in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and Ojai, CA, it was produced by Ken Eros and April Theriault, recorded and mixed at Eros Creative and Sound, and mastered by Eric Boulanger at The Bakery.
If this 1972 record for the Paula label was the sum total of Dallas, Texas soul man Bobby Patterson’s career output, then he’d still be reckoned a cult figure among R&B fans. In fact, it’s so good that the fact that he went on to cut five other albums and produce artists ranging from Fontella Bass to Chuck Jackson to Little Johnny Taylor almost seems besides the point.
This is a stone soul masterpiece, full of grit and groove, with a breathtaking stylistic breadth stretching from funky soul (“If You Took a Survey”; “How Do You Spell Love”) to romantic soul balladery (“I Get My Groove from You”) to James Brown-style workouts (“Make Sure You Can Handle It”) to socially-conscious, wah wah-drenched commentary (“The Whole Funky World Is a Ghetto”) and all points in between. But what really makes this record mind-blowing is that Patterson wrote all but one song (the one he didn’t write, “Right On Jody,” is an answer song to Johnnie Taylor’s big hit “Jody’s Got Your Girl and Gone”). Every soul searcher needs this one!
The Wood Brothers have announced the release of a new studio album ‘Kingdom In My Mind’ due January 24 via Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers. The 11-song collection represents a reckoning of sorts, examining circumstance, mortality and human nature. Finding strength in accepting what lies beyond our control, the material on ‘Kingdom In My Mind’ hones in on the bittersweet beauty that underlies doubt and pain and sadness with vivid character studies and unflinching self-examination. While the lyrics dig deep, the trio draws from across a broad sonic spectrum to create a set of songs that although thoughtful and inward looking is ultimately transportive and effervescent.
DOGHOUSE RECORDS, a classic 90s house label that released some of DERRICK CARTER and JAZZ-N-GROOVE’s earliest tracks is back with this 4 track house EP from Dallas native & DOLFIN RECORDS’ own BEN HIXON. Deep underground house with a touch of Detroit beatdown.
