Fresh Track: Laura Wolf “Good” Featured Track Music Features by Brian Carroll - September 8, 20170 I was lucky enough to spend some time with Laura Wolf a couple of weeks back. We filmed an Old Spruce Session for this very song and while that version may be slightly different than the recording one, I think there is something inherently special about seeing how it was built - as Wolf literally built the song via loop pedal as I filmed. The side by side of each is compelling in how she has managed to replicate a studio tracked song in a live setting. But we aren't here to talk about that session (though you can go watch it here if you feel so inclined). We are here to share this fresh track with you. There is still a
Fresh Track: Say Darling “One Man Band” Featured Track Music Features Reviews Track Reviews Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - August 30, 20170 What do you get when two juggernauts join forces, combining talent and styles? One answer could simply be: Say Darling. Another could be a brutal force of badass bluesy goodness intertwined with jazzy licks and a swing backing that will get you moving, shaking and shatter all your reservations about getting down...you know, if you had reservations about that. Its the power of music in its finest form and its ability to overtake your body. A power that Celia Woodsmith and Chris Hersch command with robust and straightforward capability. The duo recently released their debut EP back at the end of June and this one song is speaking to us particularly deep. Just one of those tunes that gets you moving.
Fresh Track: Tom Brosseau Covers Hank Williams “You Win Again” Featured Track Music Features by Brian Carroll - August 18, 20170 There is something so, incredibly pure about Tom Brosseau's voice. An airy, light quality that is...its...it just makes me smile. He has a distinct ability to capture you, the whole you, and pause you in time with his striking vocals and plaintive, wistful guitar style. Uncomplicated and effortless, words flow off his tongue and notes dance off of his finger tips. You could just as easily see Tom sitting in with the Watkins at the Family Hour or envision him on tour with the likes of Hank Williams 66 years ago. He is timeless...and he has gone and covered the lonesomest singer in country to great effect. Brosseau takes on an entirely alternate feeling the emotion that good Ol' Hank reflected
Fresh Track: Greg Klyma “Sand” Featured Track by Brian Carroll - August 8, 20170 It comes with the territory I suppose. Picking up experiences and stories like trinkets from roadside attractions and rest stops when you live a certain life. The life of a troubadour. Somerville singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Greg Klyma has lived that life and the stories that he has woven into the fabric of his music as a result is clear evidence of it. Klyma celebrates the release of his next record this coming Sunday, August 13th at Thunder Road in Somerville, MA. A collection of songs that range from the satirical and dry humored "Ex-Girlsfriends Cost Less Money Than Ex-Wives" to the delicately balanced waltz of "Kristofferson", the songwriter traverses a variety of sonic landscapes and themes throughout the record's 10 tracks,
Fresh Track: The Beagle Brothers “Hearts Go By” (ftr. Kayla Schureman) Featured Track Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - August 4, 20170 I love when an artist friend shares another artist with me. I pay even more attention when that artist released my favorite record of the year. The new single (and record) from The Beagle Brothers features our pal Kayla Schureman and that faint cry of the pedal steel and Schureman's gorgeous honeyed voice are the perfect accoutrement to the band's countrified sound. Sorrowful at first, then picking up the pace and seamlessly dovetailing to a more uptempo driving rhythm for the second half of the tune. There is surely something in the water down there in Pittsburgh (maybe it's whiskey?) as some great country tinged acts seem to be coming out of there and The Beagle Brothers just add a bit
Fresh Track: The Mallett Brothers Band “Long Black Braid” Featured Track by Brian Carroll - July 3, 20170 The sound of The Mallett Brothers Band comes from deep within the pines of Maine. The embodiment of a flannel clad morning chill and a bit of sap and dirt caked on the knees of your favorite well worn denim. Songs that are broken in and a bit rough around the edges, courtesy of a gruff vocal dipped in sweet whiskey and campfire smoke. It just feels genuine and hard earned. The latest single from the band just recently dropped. Recorded at Acadia Recording Company in Portland, Maine "Long Black Braid" has ringing guitar lines, sweeping fiddles and huge choral harmonies that are equal parts swooning croon and larger than life energy. A follow up to the earlier 2017 release, "The
Fresh Track: Nico Rivers “Tidal Wave” Featured Track by Brian Carroll - June 6, 20170 Nico Rivers self describes as "blurring the lines between indie-rock and Americana" and while I find him to be slightly more Bright Eyes than Bob Dylan I can get on board with that description. The latest from the Boston based singer-songwriter is a punched up rocker with layers of raging electric guitars, evocatively stirring vocals and layers and depths of electronically derived sonic cyclones of swirling arrays. The thing moves...f*cking a, does its move. Tidal Wave is part of a short release from Rivers. The main single with a backbone of "B-sides" consisting of tunes Backroads and an alternate version of All the Same. The former sounding like some hybrid foot-stomping-Lumineers-styled-folk meets melodic-ringing-guitars-indie-rock. Its infectious. All The Same is anything but more of the
Fresh Track: Joan Shelley “Where I’ll Find You” Featured Track Track Reviews by Brian Carroll - May 18, 2017May 18, 20170 Joan Shelley's music came to me via another musician friend's songs. Last year our pal Sam Moss was on tour with Shelley leading up to a Newport Folk Festival performance from both of these artists. I caught Shelley and her 3 piece at The Skinny Pancake in Hanover, NH on that tour and while the majority of the crowd met her gorgeous performance with some sort of indifference, I was awestruck into ghostly stillness, barely able to move and entranced by the beautiful sparsity that the band managed to create. Despite drums and electric guitars, the space that these 3 created on stage was delicate and soft and encapsulated those willing to lose themselves in it with a warmth and
Fresh Track: Twisted Pine “El Chepe” Vulfpeck + “The One I Love Is Gone” Bill Monroe Mash-up Featured Track Uncategorized by Brian Carroll - March 29, 2017March 29, 20170 In case you were living under a rock late last week and missed it, Twisted Pine's mash-up of "El Chepe" by Vulfpeck and "The One I Love Is Gone" by Bill Monroe skyrocketed to nearly 100,000 views after the funk group picked up the video and shared it on their page claiming "so grooving" about Pine's take on their track. The local community did the same and this thing has been shared all around the New England scene and beyond with over 850 times. The quartet, made up of Dan Bui on mandolin, Chris Sartori on bass, Rachel Sumner on guitar/vocals and Kathleen Parks sharing vocal duties and fiddle (as well as some fancy handy work on the granola-percussion) effortlessly blend a
Fresh Track: Matt Wheeler & Vintage Heart “Safer” Featured Track by Brian Carroll - March 15, 20170 There is a kindness that percolates inside the voice of Matt Wheeler. Its inviting and calming in a way, but curious nonetheless. Wheeler and his band, dubbed "Vintage Heart", just release a self titled record last week. Self-described as "the next step in our progression as an orchestral, lyrical folk band", this first tune we dove into on the record is a pure example of just that. Driven by the content of the writing and quite large in terms of the arrangements contained within, "Safer" is a great illustration that the band is accomplishing just what they are setting out after. The song has a bit of an Andrew Bird-esque quality to it, with a plucked ringing of strings throughout it. The arrangement