Acoustic Showcase 2
The theme this time is American and Canadian singer songwriters. Please don’t be disappointed if you haven’t heard of most of the artists featured, because that’s the point : these are young and talented singers not yet featured elsewhere on my site, who in my estimation deserve to reach a much wider audience.
The songs draw on a range of different genres and sub-genres, including traditional folk, country and blues. Though grounded in these cultures, these artists don’t just try and replicate what has gone before. Each has his or her own original sound.
Click on the artist’s name to visit their myspace page, or on the album titles to go to Amazon and buy their albums.
Sam Amidon
“In an era of overheated Nick Drake comparisons, Amidon is eerily close to the real thing.” – David Fricke, Rolling Stone .
Multi-instrumentalist Amidon, who plays guitar, banjo and fiddle amongst other things, says that “As a child, all I knew was traditional folk. I spent holidays at folk festivals, and my friends were all children of folk musicians. If I couldn’t sleep at night, my dad would take me for a walk and sing me murder ballads. That’s perhaps not the best parenting technique, but I adored the stories.” His most recent album, All is well, is a modern interpretation of traditional Appalachian folk. The songs are haunting and atmospheric. The Vermont musician looks younger, but sounds maturer than his 27 years.
Recommended : Louis Collins
Brett Dennen This laid back folk rocker from Oakdale, California is the complete package, with songs and a voice to stir the soul. 2008 saw the release of his 3rd album, Hope for the Hopeless. In January 2009, he kicks off a 3-month headlining tour, covering every major city across the United States.
His song “Make You Crazy” was inspired at an awards ceremony for people in the film industry writing about mental illnesses. After his performance at the awards ceremony, Dennen says he was sitting in the audience while a talk was being given about “the pressures in society and how that alone is enough to make people insane. Not to mention the overwhelming stresses that are out there that have an actual physical effect on people. So I jotted that into my phone and thought about it and those were some ideas from it.”
Recommended : Ain’t gonna lose you
Little Miss Higgins
Canadian blues singer who lives in the small Canadian railroad town of Nokomis, Saskatchewan. Influenced by Memphis Minnie and Big Bill Broonzy, in her songs and performances she recreates a 1930s subculture, but with a freshness and vitality that is all her own. Her captivating performances are ably accompanied on guitar by partner Foy Taylor. Although she covers some blues classics such as W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” and Mississippi John Hurt’s version of “Frankie and Albert,” most of the songs are her own. Since the release of the critically acclaimed Junction City in 2007, she’s written some new material. She tells us in her myspace blog that “on Saturday, January 31st Foy and I are hosting a video release party down at the Nokomis Hotel Bar (Beverage Room). ”
Recommended : In the middle of nowhere
Meg Hutchinson
In March 2008 Meg released Come Up Full, her 5th album at the age of 29, but her first on folk label Red House Records. After graduating from college with a degree in creative writing, she had quit her longtime job on an organic vegetable farm and settled in Boston. She began to accumulate a string of awards for her songwriting. Come Up Full delivers on all her early promise. Her earthy vocals, her storytelling style and her soulful and carefully crafted lyrics come together in a strong set of acoustic songs touching on personal and political themes. “Song for Jeffrey Lucey” is based on the real story of Lance Corporal Jeffrey Lucey, who returned from Iraq to Massachusetts, suffering from severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). “I heard about Jeffrey Lucey and was devastated by his story but incredibly moved by how his family spoke out about PTSD,” Hutchinson says.
Recommended : True North
Jaymay
Jamie Seerman, or Jaymay, is a 28yo singer songwriter from Long Island. Her clear vocals and witty penetrating lyrics remind me of Laura Marling. In 2007 Jaymay moved to London, after signing with Heavenly Records. Her debut album Autumn Fallin’ was released in the United States in March 2008 on Blue Note Records.
Recommended : Gray or Blue
Eilen Jewell
On April 21st, Signature Sounds will release Eilen Jewell’s third album, Sea of Tears. We are promised that the album will “wed her elegantly unflinching songwriting with a rustic, pre-Beatles swagger that encapsulates vintage R&B, Midwestern garage rock, Chicago blues, and early rock and rockabilly, while maintaining the haunting, folk-inspired purity that first made her an artist to watch.”
The Boston based singer’s recordings so far, Boundary Country her 2005 self-released debut, and her national debut album Letters from Sinners and Strangers, already demonstrate not just fine lyrics and a remarkable talent but a real feel for different musical traditions which marks her out as more than just a country singer.
Recommended : High shelf booze
Matt Jones
Matt Jones is an unsigned artist from Ypsilanti, Michigan; which is about 15-20 miles outside of Ann Arbor. He pays the bills by painting houses. He also plays drums for an indie folk band, Misty Lyn and the Big Beautiful. In the time between Misty and painting he makes his own music. On his first five song EP, Right to Arms, he plays acoustic guitar and sings with no accompaniment. He has ,however, recorded a full-length album titled The Black Path since the EP; the record is already available on itunes and he will be self-releasing it in February 2009. The album features accompaniment from himself on drums, and Misty Lyn members Carol Gray on violin, and Colette Alexander on cello.
Recommended : Jugulars bones and blisters
Huck Notari
Beautiful country music, rootsy and authentic, with songs that tell stories of rural working class life. Huck grew up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and is a former member of the Kitchen Syncopators, a ragtime and country blues band. Currently living in Portland, Oregon, he plays scratch fiddle, horn and piano with the Oz. St. Fossils and in 2007 released his first solo record, Highland. He is currently working on his next record soon to be out.
Recommended : He rode off
