When Marc featured the title track off The Hustleralbum by Jeff Kleinon Episode 17 of the show, I think I asked him to re-play the song three times. After patiently listening to The Hustler on repeat for 15 minutes, he said “Oh! And you have to watch this video! I think he should be a comedian.” We watched it, and for the first time in history, I agreed with Marc.
This is the video he showed me:
So, when I interviewed Jeff, you can bet your britches that I needed an explanation for the significance behind “the monkey tapping on the window.” Read the rest of this entry »
Drew Danburry prefers his family’s brownie recipe over cookies, plays pranks on his friends while they are pooping, disagrees with capitalism, favors ankle socks to tube socks, and could not care less about what is going on in the lives of Britney Spears or Brangelina.
Drew has toured with Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin, Lydia, The Robot Ate Me, Aubrey Debauchery, Harry and the Potters, TaughtMe, and many others. Additionally, he just recently wrapped up a solo acoustic tour. I spoke with Drew about this tour, the downside of being a “nice guy,” his engagement to his long-term girlfriend, Lynette, signing to Emergency Umbrella Records, and his future plans. Read the rest of this entry »
Michael Lee (I trust that we don’t need any pronunciation help with this one…) is one cool Californian cat. He grew up in cow-infested Visalia, Ca., and now lives in badass-infested Chico, Ca. He likes to fall asleep watching movies on his couch, drink Jameson, eat at Pluto’s, all while wearing his Two Ton Boa t-shirt.
I featured “The Jealous Type” in January on Episode 8 of The Merry Andrews Show and now Michael Lee is back with a vengeance and a new album that rocks off my britches in a very … elegant and romantic way.
Many artists aren’t into discussing what inspires their songs because they like the songs to have different meaning for everyone or something lame like that. I respect the secrecy, but I’m a nosey little devil and I always ask. I get a major rush out of hearing a song and saying “Oh! This is about blah blah blah…” Michael was a dream and gave me all the gory details about the songs on his new album Yesterday and Every Day After. Are you ready for this jelly? Read the rest of this entry »
Kate Earl … you may or may not have heard of her, but she is putting out an EP June 9 on Universal Republic/Casablanca Music. She is a very thoughtful and hardworking LA-by-way-of-Alaska artist. Some have compared her to Lily Allen, but her sound leans more towards artists such as Cat Power, and Feist. You can hear her entire EP at KateEarl.com.
She also has loads of video blogs that she titles “Life Of Kate“, where you can get to know more about the adorable Filipino Alaskan.
Magic & Fur is a London-based sextet made up of Chris Wilde, Gary Legend, Gavin Ellis, Julian Simon, Artur Dyjecinski, and Dom Ryan. This week, the band launched their debut single, “Christine,” and in the midst of the celebration madness, Chris found some time to talk with me about who in the heck Christine is, what’s in store for the band in the future, Leonard Cohen and, of course, prescription drugs. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the best things about being one of the hosts of The Merry Andrews Show is having the opportunity to introduce listeners to new music — but being introduced to new music by my fellow co-hosts is the real treat. For the hour that we record the show, we get to not only play the role of “host” but also the role of “listener” as we all surprise each other with our music choices.
On Episode 8, Ashley featured the song “Mystical” by Philadelphia based goddess, Birdie Busch, and I was hooked. She is the perfect combination of Ingrid Michaelson, Feist, and Jaymay mixed with some sprinkles and home made whipped cream.
Ashley recently asked Birdie about her influences and she explained, “I guess it would be best to say that ‘the time’ I spent with my grandmother was a huge influence. When I began to hang with her on a more regular basis, only then did I start to realize and open myself to the art of true chillin’.” She went on to add, “Not necessarily the chillin’ you think with a beer and a beach, but more like sitting by the kitchen window so you could look at the leaves outside. Since my grandmother was quite old and immobile when we came to develop this friendship, we would spend a lot of time in seats and I started to have to think of life as something I wasn’t going towards but something that was right there with me. She’d show me old photos, or we’d organize her handkerchief drawer, which was pretty impressive.” Birdie continued, “I cherished the importance of bringing joy and peace to someone who very simply adored the friendship. There was a moment where I realized she could very well spend her last years alone on a couch watching TV and I wasn’t going to allow that to happen to her. I really believe the best songs come from just letting life in at all sides and then the thoughts, stories, and songs come along like gifts.” (MUSIC AFTER THE JUMP)Read the rest of this entry »
Lawrence Bonk has begun a year long journey and music project called Another Day On Earth. This project requires Lawrence to write, record, and post one song each day for an entire year. He says, “Some may be good. Some may be bad. Whatever. I guess I’m trying to teach myself to let go and be happy with things as they are. Here are the rules I have come up with: They have to be written and recorded that day. However, once a week I am allowed to post something I had laying around to give myself a break. That’s it, pretty much. There are no rules regarding length or epic-ness of content. We’ll see how I’m feeling that day.” As if recording a song a day isn’t enough of a challenge, Lawrence’s recording set-up doesn’t make it any easier. His equipment includes an old laptop and a karaoke microphone that was made for a Nintendo Wii game. (Full interview after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »
Drum rolls please, ladies and gentlemen. It is my honor to introduce you to the one … the only … TADHG COOKE! You all know how much I love telling you how to pronounce artists names, but this one really gets me riled up. Tadhg’s name is pronounced like “tiger” but without the “er.”
Tadhg said “A nurse from Northern Ireland pleaded with my parents not to name me Tadhg, because at the time, the Troubles in Northern Ireland were pretty bad, and the word ‘taig’ (which is how they would pronounce Tadhg up North) was used by the Loyalists as a derogatory term for all Nationalists. The Loyalists would scrawl on Catholic/Nationalist houses slogans like “K.A.T” (”Kill All Taigs”) and “Taig’s Out” (well, that’s more self-explanatory). Luckily for me, the peace process was reaping rewards by the time I was hopping across the border to appear on the BBC in Belfast and Derry. The wounds are still fresh, though, and you always see nice people wincing in anticipation when they attempt to pronounce my name in some unnatural way in order to avoid making it sound like ‘taig’.” Tadhg went on to say “There’s some kid on Nickelodeon according to a MySpace fan of mine who is called Tadhg. He’s only a kid, but I’m hoping that he will be tremendously successful thus negating the need for translators, and decreasing the chances that DJs will have a heart attack when they see my name.” My psychic intuition leads me to believe that Tadhg Cooke, who plays with David Geraghty of BellX1 in his spare time, will become a household name first, thus making life easier for the Nickelodeon kid — not the other way around. Read the rest of this entry »
I was just introduced to Jacksonville-based singer/songwriter Shawn Lightfoot, and I am thrilled that he is coming to our neck of the woods in a couple of weeks. He describes his sound as “indie/ acoustic/ glam” and I would say that’s pretty accurate. I’m on this kick right now where I only like to listen to music I can cook to, and these are some good cooking tunes, my friends. In fact, as a result of discovering Shawn, I’ve been cooking a little too much lately. Let’s all go make him feel welcome at The Bunker on April 10th.
Take a listen to Shawn’s tunes here. I recommend the song Get Sexy With Me because I’m sort of a pervert like that.
Trevor Hall is a singer/songwriter from South Carolina, but there’s not a hint of country twang in his speech or his songs. In fact, he sounds like he is from Jamaica, or Africa, or … India … or anywhere but South Carolina.
Trevor says that Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Ben Harper, and Bjork influence him, and his appreciation for diverse artists comes through in his songs. For example, “The Lime Tree” has a slow acoustic feel, whereas “A Sunny Sky” reminds me more of bluegrass, and “31 Flavors” screams “BOB MARLEEEYY!”
In my opinion, SXSW made a Gigantosaurus Rex mistake in 2008 by not accepting Geoff Koch’s (pronounced like ‘coke,’ not ‘cock’) offer to play at the festival. The way that he handled the rejection: he banded together with a huge group of musicians in Austin that do not support the event and they all played at anti-SXSW-themed venues. According to Geoff, “a growing number of people are sick of the long lines, and short sets.” So, ladies and gentlemen, meet Geoff Koch: a young musician and author who will not take “No” for an answer. Give him a barrier and he will surely find a way to destroy it. Even talking about his drive makes me feel like I should sign up to run a marathon. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’re having a difficult time spotting Artur Dyjecinski in a crowded room, just look for the guy in the cowboy shirt with the super bad-ass mustache. Then, once you find him, ask him to tell you about all of the places that you want to travel to, because it’s almost guaranteed he has been to them and can tell you where the party is at.
Artur was born in Poland, moved to Canada when he was two, then later relocated to England and is now pondering the idea of moving to Australia after touring the United States and France.
It all started when Artur picked up the guitar for the first time at age eight. He booked his first gig covering Bob Marley songs at age 13, and to this day has still never had a formal music lesson.
If he isn’t interesting enough to you yet, get this: Artur’s day jobs include creating and selling his art and using his Masters degree in Mathematics to run statistics for banks.
Drew Danburry is a folk musician from California who I fell in love with after watching this video for a song he wrote about his wife, Lynette:
I talked to him recently and learned that he is about to embark on a tour withSomeone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin as well as Ryland Bouchard (from The Robot Ate Me), he has made a new (and even more awesome) video for me to watch over and over, and he has some songs available for free download.
Here is the new video for one of my favorite songs, Artex.
This has nothing to do with music, Lynette has a pretty sweet Etsy store that you should buy neat things from so she can start a “Send Drew To Tampa” fund.
What I enjoy most about Zack Weber has zip, zero, zilch, to do with the fact that he has a sound so unique that every generation can find a piece of his music and dance around to it like it’s nobody’s business. It has nothing to do with fact that his music is so diverse that when I have his CD in my car I forget it isn’t a mixed one. It also isn’t because he’s adorable or gives really great instructional videos on “Drumming 101.” No no no, my little friends, what I like most about Zack Weber is that he can get first place in Mario Kart while playing with his FEET. Read the rest of this entry »
Brendan McCreary (who actually spells it BrEndAn) decided that he was going to become a rock star at the ripe age of 11.
He tells me, “It was the summer of my 8th grade year, and staring at the piano keys in my living room, I realized there was a lot more going on with music than I had any knowledge of, and for the first time in my life, I was actually interested in something other than action figures and dirt. I wanted to know about chord structures, and song forms. I wanted to write my own songs, and sing them and play them … and so I did: and there’s never been a doubt in my mind about it since.” He continues, “I believe very strongly, that although I had always gravitated towards music from the time I popped out, the major reason I got into music was because no one told me to. It wasn’t like all that other shit … math, science, social studies, literature, PE … music was mine. No one gave it to me, and no one could take it away. In this way, as a young idyllic child, I stuck it to the Man, that asshole.” It’s impossible to not love a musician with this sort of attitude, isn’t it?
The first instrument that BrEndAn began playing was the guitar and he reveals that his favorite part about playing the guitar is that it “unleashes the proverbial beast” in him. Read the rest of this entry »
My understanding is that Guillemots are pretty well known in the UK. Because I live in the states, where they aren’t as famous, I think I can stretch this a bit and call them “underground.” Either way, I am absolutely willing to jeopardize my notoriety as a “music discoverer” for them. That really should be enough information to convince you to check them out, but I suppose I’ll write a little more anyway.
Guillemots is made up of Fyfe Dangerfield (lead vocals, keyboard, guitar), MC Lord Magrao (guitar), Aristazabal Hawkes (double bass) and Greig Stewart (percussion). Read the rest of this entry »
This is only my second week at this underground music column and I’m already feeling a bit restless. Narrowing it down to only one artist a week seems a little bit like Chinese water torture, doesn’t it?
This week I am representin’ Unkle Bob. Unkle Bob is made up of Rick Webster (vocals, guitar), Stuart Cartwright (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin), Ron Yeadon (drums, percussion), Tad Macdonald (bass), and Geoff Widdowson (keyboards). Am I the only one who thinks it is interesting that there is no one named “Bob” in this band?
Fun Fact: It is my opinion that the song “Laid” by James is one of the most marvelous songs in the entire world. You know the song. Trust me. Matt Nathanson did a cover of it for theAmerican PieWedding Soundtrack. Anyway, Unkle Bob is on the label that ex-James guitarist Saul Davies founded. Cool shit. Right? Read the rest of this entry »
Greetings, virtual champions and welcome to the first week of my attempt at underground music infiltration! There is no better “first week” artist than Sea Wolf. Careful now, apparently there are two Sea Wolf’s out there. My understanding is that the other Sea Wolf does not have a space between “Sea” and “Wolf.” But the biggest difference between the two is that they produce completely different sounds.
Sea Wolf is made up of Alex Brown Church (vocals and guitar), Lisa Fendelander (keyboard), Theodore Liscinski (bass), April Guthrie (cello), Scott McPherson (drums) and Aaron Robinson, (guitar).
