October 2009
Over The Rhine
Over the Rhine is the southern Ohio-based husband-and-wife team of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Linford Detweiler and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Karin Bergquist, who have been together making music since 1991.
Mirah
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn has been at the heart of the vibrant Northwest independent music scene ever since her debut album ‘You Think It’s Like This But Really It’s Like This’. A collection of her own 4-track recordings alongside collaborations with Phil Elverum of The Microphones/Mt. Eerie, the album became an instant classic. A follow-up to her first release, the stunning ‘Advisory Committee’ (2001) cemented Mirah’s place in the alternative music canon. These albums were an exploration of the territories beyond lo-fi, aiming to transcend mere technical limitations and to push the boundaries of ‘indie-rock’ towards a more meaningful communicative goal. Phil Elverum’s sound experiments collided with Mirah’s striking lyrical poise and unabashed emotional honesty and the resulting mix proved quite evocative.
Tortoise
Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in various indie rock and punk groups.
Parno Graszt
Parno Graszt means 'White Horse'. White as a symbol for purity and Horse as a symbol for Freedom. Parno Graszt was formed in 1987 in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, the most authentic but under-developed area from Hungary. The Band exist of 7 musicians, and sometimes the group play with dancers from wich the age can vary from 10 to 72! But if you visit their village during a wedding, a baptism, a funeral or another ceremony, you can see that the whole population is part of the band. The instruments goes from one hand to another and everybody is a great dancer!
Krauka
Authentic folk music from Denmark, land of the Vikings. Door of sound
Since the release of their first album and continuing with the following two albums, Krauka (Gudjon Rudolf, Aksel Striim and Jens Villy Pedersen) have followed their own quite unique agenda.
Tom Rush
Tom Rush is a gifted musician and performer, whose shows offer a musical celebration, a journey into the tradition and spectrum of what music has been, can be, and will become. His distinctive guitar style, wry humor and warm, expressive voice have made him both a legend and a lure to audiences around the world. His shows are filled with the rib-aching laughter of terrific story-telling, the sweet melancholy of ballads and the passion of gritty blues.
John McCutcheon
No one remembers when the neighbors started calling the McCutcheons to complain about the loud singing from young John's bedroom. It didn't seem to do much good, though. For, after a shaky, lopsided battle between piano lessons and baseball (he was a mediocre pianist and an all-star catcher), he had "found his voice" thanks to a cheap mail-order guitar and a used book of chords.
Loudon Wainwright III
2010 Grammy winner Loudon Wainwright III's new album Older Than My Old Man Now will be released on April 17, 2012 through 2nd Story Sound Records. Having now lived longer than his father, esteemed Life Magazine columnist and editor Loudon Wainwright Jr., Loudon examines life, family, and mortality with candor and humor on fifteen new original songs.
Older Than My Old Man Now is inspired by the five generations, from Loudon's grandfather to his grandchildren, that are represented and sprinkled throughout this album. His children Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Lucy Wainwright Roche and Lexie Kelly Wainwright and two of their three mothers, Suzzy Roche and Ritamarie Kelly, aid vocally on several songs. Recitations of his father's work and a song co-written by his late first wife Kate McGarrigle called "Over The Hill" are also featured on this album.
Chris Smither
Chris Smither is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has released 13 albums since the early ‘70s. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. Reviewers praise his dazzling guitar work, gravelly voice and sophisticated songwriting. He may be best known for writing “Love You Like A Man” which Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall have covered. Always a solo performer, Chris tours year 'round, performing nationally and internationally at clubs, theaters and festivals. Chris recently published a short story entitled, "Leroy Purcell," to AMPLIFIED, a collection of stories by performing songwriters.
Gustafer Yellowgold
Since his creation by Morgan Taylor in 2005, Gustafer Yellowgold has become an international phenomenon, acclaimed by The New York Times, which described Gustafer as "A cross between ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Dr. Seuss." Entertainment Weekly praised "…The most infectious original songs. It’s like tapping into some pleasure center in the brain- both adult and kid…absurdly appealing. Grade: A." New York Magazine named Morgan Taylor "Best Kids’ Performer" in a recent "Best of New York" issue. "Mint Green Bee" from Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World was a Grand Prize Winner in the Children’s Category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
The award-winning Gustafer Yellowgold DVD/CD sets include Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World, Gustafer Yellowgold’s ‘Have You Never Been Yellow?’ and Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever. The highly anticipated fourth set, Gustafer Yellowgold’s Infinity Sock, will be released in March 2011.
The Pines
Rising out of the prairies of the Midwest, The Pines display a stunning line-up of musical talent, gaining them a faithful and growing following. Frontmen Benson Ramsey and David Huckfelt share a common musical language rooted in the songs and songwriters of their native Iowa, while each brings a distinct voice and sensibility to the sound that Rolling Stone senior writer David Fricke calls “quietly gripping” stark-country. The mysterious sound of The Pines fuses Benson’s ethereal, otherworldly, heart-piercing songs with David’s earthy, darkly romantic and rough-hewn visionary tales. With masterful guitar work, beautiful vocals and the graceful keyboard and vocal additions of Benson’s brother Alex Ramsey, the core of The Pines’ sound captivates and elevates with rare intimacy.
Monte Montgomery
Monte Montgomery has taken the acoustic guitar beyond anyone's expectations. With his amazing fretwork, unique combination finger and pick style playing through trailblazing "chordal" thoroughfares often baffling even the most accomplished players. While Monte remains a huge enigma in the guitar universe, his legendary reputation has spread like wildfire since he appeared on Austin City Limits.
The Klezmatics
The Klezmatics are an American klezmer band based in New York City.
Formed in New York's East Village in 1986, the band plays an updated form of the music, mixing it with other musical traditions, singing in English and Yiddish. They have also participated in cross-cultural collaborations, most notably with the Palestinian musician Simon Shaheen.
Great Lake Swimmers
Toronto indie-folk/rock darlings Great Lake Swimmers return with New Wild Everywhere (April 3, 2012), their fifth studio album and follow up to 2009's Juno and Polaris-nominated album Lost Channels. Lead single "Easy Come Easy Go," the most upbeat and up-tempo song in the band's history, is available January 17, 2012.
New Wild Everywhere captures all of the excitement and intuitive musicianship of a group at the peak of their creative powers, with 12 new tracks that reveal a depth and maturity only previously hinted at by lead singer and songwriter Tony Dekker. Produced by longtime Great Lake Swimmers' collaborator Andy Magoffin, New Wild Everywhere marks the first time in the band's history that an album was recorded in a real studio (Toronto's Revolution Recording); past albums have been famously recorded in historic churches, castles, music venues and more.
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
"The album is named 'Know Better Learn Faster' because you can't," explains Thao. "By the time you realize you should, it's too late. And I enjoy the predicament and the totally devastating, unfunny humor of that."
Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is an Austin, Texas based Western swing band, winner of nine Grammy Awards. The name is derived from the expression "asleep at the wheel" which means one has fallen asleep while driving a vehicle, or "behind the wheel". It can also describe someone who is blissfully unaware of a dangerous situation.
Warsaw Village Band
True to their name, Warsaw Village Band (in Polish: Kapela ze wsi Warszawa) is based out of Warsaw, Poland, and combine traditional Polish folk music with modern sound elements.
múm
múm (pronounced [muːm], “moom”)** is an experimental electronic group from Iceland whose music is characterized by soft vocals, eccentric beats and colorful effects, and a variety of traditional and unconventional instruments
Originally a duo, the band has expanded and contracted in the 12 years of being and has counted 15 - 20 people along the way.
Homemade Jamz Blues Band
In December 2007, the trio made music history as the youngest blues band to achieve a record deal: Toronto-based Northern Blues Music signed the band when
Ryan (15),
Kyle (13)
and Taya (9).
Bay Area Blues Society's West Coast Hall of Fame "Blues New Artist of the Year, 2008!"
2nd Place Winners over 93 experienced adult blues bands at the 23rd International Blues Challenge, 2007 (band category). Homemade Jamz' (total age) is the youngest blues band to ever entered the International Blues Challenge.
Written by Michael Rossetto
Produced by Robert Simonds
Host: Jonah Simonds (South High Class of 2010)
