States of Delines

Songs that masterfully tell stories, while bringing out empathy in us for their characters, are always a delight. Even better and much rarer is the joy of enjoying songs free of cliches. Add in a passionately moving and beautiful voice into the mix and you have a great album. The Delines debut album, Colfax Ave., sings unforgettably powerful stories better than any other album I can think of in recent memory.  

How the Delines came to be is a terrific story in itself.  Willy Vlauntin, author, song-writer, and frontman for the band Richmond Fontaine, was approached by one of the band's backup singers Amy Boone.  She asked him to write an album for her.  Vlauntin reports that for some time he had been entranced with Amy's voice as he listened to her warm up for gigs.  He was so impressed with her singing that he decided to take her up on her offer and write an album of music for her.  

Vlauntin spent two years writing the songs for Colfax Ave. He says it was a joy crafting songs and stories that he wanted to tell, but that were not suited to his voice.  At the same time, he expressed personal vulnerability regarding this project.  What if Boone did not like these songs? Fortunately, for all of us, she liked them.

Vlauntin and Richmond Fontaine drummer Sean Oldham then set out to fill out the rest of the band for this project. They found some terrific musicians to round out the band.  Tucker Jackson is on pedal steel. The Decemberists’ Jenny Conlee is on keyboards, and Freddy Trujillo is on bass.  Vlauntin serves as the band’s guitarist.

The title cut, “Colfax Ave.," tells the powerful story of a sister trying to save her brother, a veteran suffering PTSD, from his self destructive path. The writing is so strong that we feel empathy and concern for both the sister and her brother. And not only is the brother in danger. The sister is clearly putting herself out on a limb to save him. “The Oil Rigs at Night” tells the story of a woman planning on leaving her man, if only she can bring herself to do it. During this song the protagonist laments, “I’ve covered up my heart for so many years, I don’t even know if it’s survived.” Throughout this album Boone’s passionate voice rings with a quiet intensity, vulnerability, and resilience. Here is a terrific performance of "The Oil Rigs At Night" performed live on KEXP.

Here's hoping that more music comes out of this amazing "side project" by these terrific artists.

Note:  This will serve as our final regular post of the year. Fletcher and I are both hard at work compiling our respective "Best of 2014" lists, and we plan to get that posted within a couple of weeks.

Jump on Board- Ark Life

Denver has had a burgeoning music scene the past few years. Bands like The Lumineers, Tennis, Elephant Revival, and Slim Cessna’s Auto Club have all broken through being just a regional band.  I have really fallen for a new band Ark Life. They call themselves “rock and roll with western soul”.  I think this is a great way to describe their music.

The band is led by the main songwriter and vocalist, Jesse Elliot.  His name might sound familiar in that he held the same position with the hard working band, These United States. That band is currently on hiatus after touring endlessly for a number of years. Jesse moved to Denver and quickly fell into the great music scene in this Mile High city.  He soon met the players who make up Ark Life (Lindsay Giles, Anna Morsett, Natalie Tate, and Ben Desoto). All of these players were in other bands or doing solo work when they met Jesse.They all knew when they played together they had something special. Jesse started writing songs especially for this band and they just released their first album, The Dream of You and Me, a few months ago.

Jesse wanted to make sure the band would be compatible, so he made a choice to do things a bit backwards from other bands. Ark Life went out on the road first to make sure they could be and work together in close quarters. Magic happened with the amazing songs and harmonies they put forth. They then decided to record the album and have been on the road touring it.

They have a very unique sound. With three female singers and Jesse, they have killer harmonies. Having three female voices gives their songs a very special sound. Trust me in that it is very beautiful and even better live. Here is "Proud of Me Out There Mama":

I had the pleasure of working their merch table when they came through Baltimore a while ago. They had been on the road for a while but they were so kind and to me and others. I loved their vibe not only musically, but as people. I look forward to getting back to Denver and hanging out with them again. In the meantime, you should listen to their rock and roll western soul, and see them for yourselves.

Billy Joe Shaver Will Live Forever

One of the treasures I discovered living in Texas for the past nine years is the pure and non-commercial country music of Billy Joe Shaver.  Billy Joe, who turned 75 this year, is one of the original outlaws of Texas music.  Over many decades his lyrics and music have shouted out stories of Texas life with charm, wit, and some of the best song writing you will find in any genre.  That said, it's been 7 years since Billy Joe put out an album with new songs.  Fortunately, for us fans, the wait is over.

Billy Joe's musical career started in the early 1970s after he hitch-hiked to Nashville, because he couldn't catch a ride to Los Angeles.  Billy Joe landed a job  in Nashville writing songs for $50 a week.  When such names as Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson began recording his songs the industry took notice and Billy Joe signed his first record deal in 1973.  Waylon Jennings remained a Billy Joe Shaver fan all of his life, and he once recorded an entire album of his songs.  Billy Joe's songs have been covered by everyone from Elvis to Bob Dylan.  He's also shown up in now and then in film, including an appearance in the well regarded film, The Apostle, made by his friend Robert Duvall.

His new album, Long in the Tooth, is a very personal album, and it's full of the exemplary song writing one has come to expect from Billy Joe Shaver.  The opening track, sung as a duet with Willie Nelson, "Hard to Be an Outlaw" is a swamp rock hoot.  It takes well aimed, and well deserved shots at the current state of country music. In a recent interview, Billy Joe was asked about the current state of country music and whether or not today's country music stars have demons.  Billy Joe replied, "They do. They're just not writin' about them." Fortunately, for us, Billy Joe is not afraid to write about his demons.  The title cut, "Long in the Tooth", has all the edge of a great Lucinda Williams tune.  Things get more serious and reflective on the third track, "The Gitgo".  The remaining 7 tracks on this album are all strong.  This 10 track album consistently represents Billy Joe Shaver's work at its best.

The band backing up Billy Joe on this album is top notch, featuring Leon Russell on keyboards, Tony Joe White on guitar, and Mickey Raphael on harmonica.

Enjoy "The Gitgo"

I've seen Billy Joe perform live twice.  His shows are terrific and not to be missed.  He is currently on tour.  Now that he's 75 I don't know how many more opportunities we will have to see his shows.  If he is heading your way I strongly encourage you to catch one.

Say Yes To This War On Drugs

I am telling you to say yes to this War on Drugs. To most of us baby boomers, the war on drugs was a naïve and failed policy that encouraged people to “just say no” to drugs during the Reagan years. The War on Drugs I am encouraging you to check out is an amazing band out of Philadelphia. They have made a steady incline into the business the past few years and have just released a critically acclaimed new album.

The War on Drugs is fronted by Adam Granduciel.  Adam grew up in California before moving to Philadelphia in 2003. He, like many other artists, starting recording his own music on a tape machine from his bedroom. He had a thing for Dylan’s music and when he got to Philly he met Kurt Vile, who was also into Dylan. They hit it off and Adam joined Kurt’s band The Violators. Adam was still making his own music as War on Drugs. In 2005 together they released an EP as War on Drugs and did a tour together. The band was signed to the Secretly Canadian label and put out their first full length titled Wagonwheel Blues.

It received some good press and they toured America and Europe promoting it. Kurt left after this tour to promote his own solo career, so Adam became the sole front person. Because Adam tends to be a perfectionist the band went through some personnel changes. Adam then recorded Slave Ambient which was released in 2011. This is the album I was happily introduced to this band. They toured this album to more critical acclaim.

Adam's career was now to the point where he could do music full time. He then started the process of recording the next album. Because of his perfectionist tendencies he would record a song, re-record it a number of times, trash it and go back to the first recording of it. He was feeling a lot of pressure and during this time his life took a bit of a tailspin personally. His long term relationship ended, he was feeling insecure, depressed, and couldn't move forward. He gave up drugs, smoking and changed his diet which all made him feel better. Adam then made a decision to become more democratic and involve his current band to help him out in the studio putting together this new album. This was a great choice and they in March released Lost in a Dream. Pitchfork calls this album “psychedelia-smeared country rock”. I couldn't agree more. Please enjoy the new single "Red Eyes"

I think you have just heard some of his influences like Dylan, Petty, and Springsteen.I have never had the opportunity to see this band live but I have heard great things about their shows. If you liked this one, you should also check out "Under the Pressure" which is an 8:00 reverb drenched guitar anthem.  I hope this gives you reason to say "yes" to this War on Drugs.

Two Sides of LP

The artist LP is a testimony to perseverance in the music business. She has been signed to labels, dropped, resigned, dropped, and every time continued to move forward. She never gave up and just recently put out her first full length album (or I could joke LP) and it has been getting a ton of attention. LP may be short in stature, but not in determination. When you hear her powerful voice you wonder how it can come out of her body. Her voice soars and brings you into her lyrics immediately.

LP was born in NYC in the early 80’s. She likes to be a bit mysterious (hence using a moniker rather than her real name) and not giving a date of birth. Her dad was a lawyer and her mom was an opera singer who passed away while LP was still in high school. Music is how she coped with her mother’s passing. David Lowery from Cracker heard her and featured her on a 1998 Cracker song. Lowery produced her first full length album but if never caught on. In 2006 she performed at South by Southwest and a bidding war was started to sign her. She signed to Def Jam records but left the label before she put out an album due to artistic differences. She then signed with RedOne Records, but that also never materialized an album.

LP was however writing tons of songs and a few of these songs were picked up by major artists. These varied from Rihannah to Backstreet Boys  to Christine Aguilera to Joe Walsh. Millions of people were hearing her songs and not knowing who wrote them. LP had earned a great reputation as a songwriter in the industry and was sought out after for her hit songs. Because of the overwhelming demand for her songwriting ability, she moved to Los Angeles. In 2011 she started performing again with her traditional ukulele by her side and this time drew large crowds to see and hear her. LP signed with Warner Brothers who put out an EP in 2011 titled Into the Wild.  The title song got a lot of airplay and was featured on a national bank TV commercial. All of a sudden everyone wanted to know who was behind that voice. LP just released her first full length album on Warner Brothers Forever For Now. I am not going to play "Into the Wild" but rather chose  "Night Like This" for your listening pleasure:

I recently had the privilege of work an LP show when she recently came to Baltimore. I had not heard much about her, so I didn’t know what to expect. I can tell you that she was one of the most humble artists I have worked with. She appreciated everything I did for her at the merch table. What impressed me most was she signed merch after the show. The line was very long and she spent time with each person one on one. She asked their names, had a short conversation, took pictures, and made each one feel like a friend. She wasn’t doing it to sell merch, she was really interested in what each person had to say. Her honesty and kindness came through. I was very impressed with her positive attitude about life, especially since she has gone through a lot to get to where she is today.

UPDATE: The gorgeous harmonies of Sweden's First Aid Kit are back with a new release titled Stay Gold. I have written about them in the past and this album has some stronger writing but continue the mesmerizing sister harmonies. Do yourself a favor and check it out.