Don’t Ask Why: 10 Reasons You Need Lula Wiles’ Debut Album Featured Album by Brian Carroll - June 21, 20160 If you are even an occasional reader of this online publication then you probably already know how we feel about Lula Wiles. From the moment I first heard the voices of Isa, Ellie and Mali sing together I was enthralled and smitten. Ever since the first time I saw them at Club Passim the girls have only matured and honed their craft exponentially and the debut record is a prime example of a band who was smart enough to spend the time getting it right and THEN made a record, rather than just going into the studio and seeing what shakes out. I may have dried out my entire vocabulary for words meaning "beauty", "badassery", and "brilliance" so rather than write a
A Sweet Sting: The Wolff Sisters and the Last Calvary EP Featured Album Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - May 23, 2016May 23, 20160 The Wolff Sisters are like a perfect storm. A collection of different elements come together to create this swirling cyclone of heated voice and instrument and sonically powered passion that just works. It just works so well. The three sisters fronting the now 6 piece band interplay their varied voices in beautiful harmonies and swap lead duties from tune to tune. It's not quite folk rock, its not quite "the blues" but the sound that these three sisters have managed to cultivate by mixing the three differing dynamics and musical aesthetics is truly impressive. The new 3 track EP from the gals features a full band with a solid based rhythm section of Michael Gluszack on drums and Jacob Jones on bass,
Take It To The Limit: Cowboy & Lady’s ‘Take Me To Town’ Is A Down Home (Up North East) Good Time Featured Album Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - May 3, 20160 Sometimes you listen to something and it just makes you feel good. It washes a feeling of tenderness over your body, it has some sort of sincerity and a calming kind of a sensation, like waves over sand or something like that, flows over you…then there is music that you can’t really describe. I find that music to be the music that moves me the most, the songs that are the most difficult to put into words how it makes you feel. It simply does, it MAKES YOU FEEL. Despite often times downtrodden in their thematic nature, the music of Cowboy & Lady does just that. I just feel good when I hear the voices of Tyler-James Kelly and Jess
First Listen: Ruby Rose Fox “Domestic” Featured Album by Brian Carroll - April 13, 2016April 13, 20160 “I have heard it ALL before” is what I often times tell myself. Everyone is ripping off or borrowing from someone else. Creating their own Frankenstein sound and aesthetic. It is hard to be original in a world and time where so much has come before it. That is what I often told myself…then I heard the voice of Ruby Rose Fox. The singer-songwriter doesn’t quite fit any certain mold or try and force fit her sound or personality into any sort of cast. She has constructed and sculpted her own sense of being and voice. A precious metal of a different sheen, a voice that stands on it owns and barrels you down with is intensity. The latest from Fox,
Leaving It All Out There: Hayes Carlls’ Lovers and Leavers – A Beautiful Return Featured Album by Brian Carroll - April 4, 20160 As a songwriter or poet or any kind of artist you have “your guys” (using guys in the androgynous fashion to simply mean “people” here). The small collective of those that came before you and had a profound impact on your art. I typically whittle that number down to 3. 3 singers or songwriters or musicians that in some respect had such a profound effect on my own art, I find myself writing a song then realize I just wrote a song that already existed from one of the trinity. Since the moment that I heard “Lost & Lonely” off of 2002’s “Flowers and Liquor” I knew that even if he decided to take 5 years between releasing albums (as
First Listen: Brian Wright Cafe Rooster Sessions Vol 1 Featured Album by Brian Carroll - March 31, 20160 The past two nights I have the extreme pleasure of being introduced to Brian Wright, his music, and his supporting abilities to his friend and contemporary, Aaron Lee Tasjan. It's funny how those artists that you dig and like tend to take a few listens to in order to warm up to, but the ones that knock you straight in the face and become favorites do so almost instantaneously. So is the case with Wright. His Cafe Rooster Sessions Vol 1 record is simple in its ideal and layout, but complex in its impact. The arrangements are sparse, glimmers of acoustic guitar and harmonica and warm harmonies, but each and every word is sharp and deeply slices the air that it passes through.
Under the Covers: Pre-order Lyle Brewer’s Upcoming “Postcards” Featured Album by Brian Carroll - March 21, 20160 We here at Red Line Roots are big fans of Lyle Brewer. It seems everything he touches turns to gold, be it a fellow Boston songwriter's tunes live or in the studio, a re-vamping of Bach tunes, or any of his last 5 releases. To our great excitement Brewer recently announced the recording of a cover project called "Postcards". The rumor mill has it that such covers as Joni Mitchell's "Case of You", a Sufjan Stevens tune, and even one from a Camber-ville favorite Dietrich Strause will make the cut among others. We can't wait to hear more about this project, but for now head on over to the Kickstarter page, pre-order yours and keep you ears and eyes open for updates
A Goddamn Supernova: Margo Price’s “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter” Shines Featured Album Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - March 18, 20160 The first time I heard Margo Price’s voice I fell in love. There was something so exciting about what this gal was doing and the power with which she delivered it. There is a vigorous attitude and a grit in her delivery, but it’s absolutely f*cking gorgeous all the while. She manages to strike a balance in her music that is absolutely flawless. The balance of using the authoritative intensity of her voice when its most impactful and allowing those delicate, breathing moments to shine as well. The balance of going back to the roots of country music and keeping the flame burning with injecting her own story into a narrative, that until recently seemed as though it was on
Scary Stories to…Sing…In the Dark: Vudu Sister Releasing “Mortis Nervosa” Featured Album by Brian Carroll - March 17, 2016March 17, 20160 I am fairly certain most of the folks around my age (or their parents from being kept up most nights with terrified children) remember a little book series called "Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark". The images and stories haunted me and my dreams in the best way possible. Keith McCurdy was also a fan of these books and inspired by them. Keith has a way of eliciting beauty from some of the most macabre and sorrows themes with his music. Death and insanity and sadness seem to dot the lines of his songs and infuse their way into his art. His project Vudu Sister is on the verge of releasing another album titled "Mortis Nervosa", with many of the tracks
Packing Heat: The Suitcase Junket Announces New EP “Dying Star” Featured Album by Brian Carroll - March 4, 20160 There are very few artists who can truly capture your attention like Matt Lorenz can. Going under the moniker so many of us have grown to know and love him by: The Suitcase Junket, the songwriter's instrumental setup alone turns heads, and when he begins to play and sing that is when he truly grips you and you are forever in the throes in this man's music and voice. The fire and fierceness in which he performs is undeniable and incredible. You can tell how much he loves to create and perform and with his unique music contraptions and his ability to adapt and forge sounds from what many would consider throwaways, he and his art are nothing sort of pure brilliance. "Dying Star"