Sound Cloud Sunday, October 17, 2021
Sound Cloud Sunday October 17, 2021
The winds blow cool but we keep the new and independent music rolling at #laurelcanyonsound and on Laurel Canyon Radio. Check out the socials of our artists this week and give them some love (and spins). The show can also be listened to by clicking below:
The Popravinas – Bunkin In Reno/Zoom To The Ocean
Hometown: Albany/Pittsburgh
Album: From the album “Do The Creep”
Review Snippet:American powerpop band The POPRAVINAS are back with a 4th album. Influenced by bands like The REPLACEMENTS, they give a lot of importance to the melodies in their music as you can hear in “Do The Creep” or in “Is There Anybody, Anywhere But Here?” The POPRAVINAS also have an americana (almost country side) in songs like “Self Made Derecho” or “Fade Out.” It sometimes feels like The STONES are jammin’ with SOUL ASYLUM when you listen to “Feasibility Holdout” or “Minor Resistance” and you’ll hear a Western saloon atmosphere in “Bunkin’ In Reno”! A song like “Might Want Out” has a 90s indie vibe, you can easily picture REM playing it while “Zoom To The Ocean” and “Who Started That” both take us to 60s/early 70s California. If you look for a cool summer album with solid songwriting, then look no further! /Laurent C.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Thepopravinasmusic/
Birdtalker – Old Sob Story
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Album: New single out in July.
Review Snippet:
Website: https://www.birdtalkermusic.com/
Jason Boland & The Stragglers – The Light Saw Me
Hometown: Harrah, OK
Album: “The Light Saw Me” is out December 3
Review Snippet: The man who’s most responsible for keeping the traditional country backbone in Red Dirt music strong and rigid for many many years is probably not the one your would finger as being the most enigmatic of all the founding fathers. But that’s exactly what Jason Boland has become as his mane has gone silver, and his career has now stretched to 20 years of service. This is a guy that has a tattoo on his forearm that quite literally says “Forearm,” after all. If you mistakenly thought there wasn’t a thinker in there, or someone not apt to screw with us all if he so chooses, you’ve been missing out on the full breath of the Jason Boland genius.
Website: https://thestragglers.com/
Cat Ridgeway – Sweet Like Candy
Hometown: Orlando, FL
Album: From the EP “Nice To Meet You” out October 8.
Review Snippet: A little bit of everything and a lot of soul.
Website: http://www.catridgeway.com/
Julia Kwamya – Wonderhow
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Album: From the album “Feeling Good About Feeling Bad”. The EP came out in April. Haven’t seen the full album yet.
Review Snippet: . It’s from that reality that Kwamya triumphantly drops into the EP closer, “Wonderhow.” The layers of synth and percussion are transportive – I can feel myself floating in Kwamya’s words, as she repeats to herself: “Never gonna say it again, never gonna say it again.” Between principled rejection and the coy suggestion of love, Kwamya wonders how she’ll ever utter that word again. I lose myself in the melody. There’s nothing else like it.
Website: https://www.juliakwamya.com/
Jeremy Pinnell – Big Ol’ Good
Hometown: Northern Kentucky
Album: From the album “Goodbye LA” released October 8.
Review Snippet: Jeremey Pinnell’s Goodbye LA is a collection of songs that inspires listeners to reflect on country music’s greatness. It is inaccurate to call this a pure country record. There’s much more here. This is a collection of songs that evokes spirits of the fishing hole and then transports us to the honky-tonk dance floor. It combines passionate songwriting with dynamic musicianship to make this a completely well-rounded album that you’ll find yourself leaving on repeat.
Website: http://www.jeremypinnell.com/
Carolyn Wonderland – Crack In The Wall
Hometown: Houston, TX
Album: From the album “Tempting Fate” out October 8 on Alligator Records.
Review Snippet: Award-winning Texas guitar slinger, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Carolyn Wonderland will release her Alligator Records debut album, Tempting Fate, on Friday, October 8. The album, produced by famed master roots musician Dave Alvin, is the next chapter in Wonderland’s remarkable career, one that is already overflowing with countless, colorful, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. She spent the last three years as lead guitarist in blues legend John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, and has now joined the Alligator Records family as the first female guitar hero in the label’s storied 50-year history. But that’s not all. Her spine-chilling, soul-deep singing matches her guitar prowess note for note. And she has a knack for writing songs that sound like instant classics.
Website: https://carolynwonderland.com/
Wesley Dean – Never Thought Of You
Hometown: Gawler, Australia
Album: Single released in September 2021.
Review Snippet: Widely known as Wes Carr – the shooting star of a singer-songwriter who flew to the top of Australian Idol more than a decade back – Wesley Dean is at once someone new for the world to now meet, and also exactly who the world saw lighting up televisions every week in Australia way back when. The key difference now is seeing Dean commit to being who he really is on and off the stage while sharing the kind of music and down-to-earth experiences he had always wanted to proudly share but was constantly told didn’t makes sense or feel relatable, coming from someone so young and unfairly perceived to be so naïve.
Website: https://wesleydeanmusic.com/
Sean Hogan – Drink About You
Hometown: Sarnia, Canada
Album: Single released in August.
Review Snippet:
Website: https://seanhogan.net/
Juliana Riccardi – Full Cup
Hometown: Los Angeles
Album: From the EP “Full Cup” released October 8.
Review Snippet: Recorded live at Dreamland Recording Studio in upstate New York, Full Cup features a critically-acclaimed ensemble comprising Will Hensley on guitar and pedal steel, Jeremy McDonald on bass, Nick D’Agostino on drums, Todd Caldwell on keys and Wayne Tucker on trumpet — longtime creative associates and Riccardi’s dear friends. The project reflects a shift in momentum for the Mar Vista local who works seven days a week to support her development as an independent artist. For the first time in her professional life, Riccardi had an opportunity to record her music at an historic studio space flush with natural acoustics. The converted church has brought life to treasured recordings from Joan Jett, Suzanne Vega, 10,000 Maniacs, Bad Brains, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Jack DeJohnette, among other enduring voices. “Being able to record live and in this space,” says Riccardi, “I really felt closer to so many of my influences from the ’60s and ’70s — Stevie Nicks, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison — it completely transformed the energy.”
Website: https://www.julianariccardi.com/
Noah Gunderson – Exit Signs
ALCD 5007
Hometown: Olympia, WA
Album: From the album “A Pillar Of Salt” out October 8.
Review Snippet: A Pillar of Salt makes an emphatic impression as a work flush with artistry and originality. It ought to elevate Gunderson to a higher level of recognition and appreciation, establishing him as an artist with an elevated perspective and a deeper design to touch those with him he attempts to connect. It’s overdramatic, yeah I know, he confesses in the Song “Atlantis.”
Website: https://www.noahgundersen.com/
Anderson East – Hood Of My Car
Hometown: Athens, AL
Album: From the album “Maybe We Never Die” out September.
Review Snippet: The resulting effort is every bit as engaging as his previous work but sonically distinct at the same time. With award-winning producer Dave Cobb at the helm and frequent colleague Philip Towns manning the soundboard as well, Maybe We Never Die reflects an apparent evolution he’s made since his last album, the somewhat prematurely named Encore in 2018. Then again, East tends to offer a new album every three years, giving him enough time to reflect and reboot.
Website: https://www.andersoneast.com/
Andrew Farriss – Drifting
Hometown: Perth, Australia
Album: Self-titled album released in March 2021.
Review Snippet: As co-founder, songwriter, and keyboard player for one of the most exhilarating and successful rock bands of all time, INXS, Andrew Farriss will be a name familiar to music fans all over the world. However, some might be a little surprised that for his first major solo release he’s gone for a full-on outlaw country sound, heralded by the thundering sound of horses’s hooves in the atmospheric, mandolin-strumming, scene-setting opening track, Bounty Hunter – Hummingbird.
Website: https://andrewfarriss.com/
Ross Adams – 4th Street Up
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Album: “Escaping Heat” featuring the 400 Unit came out on September 10.
Review Snippet: Ross Adams is a singer/songwriter from Charlotte, N.C. His writing reflects the old country motto of heartbreak and loss along with clever stories and interesting characters, all in the shadows of his major influences Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams and Jason Isbell. His first solo album “1952” was released in 2015. After signing with a record label upon the release of the album, he toured across country with those songs, playing small clubs and bars. After disputes with his label, Ross left and became frustrated with the music business. After taking a year off and dealing with personal issues, Ross is now back better than ever with a fresh take on the music scene and his own writing. His latest album “Songs from an Ancient Terrace” is set to be released November 28th.
Website: http://www.rossadamsmusic.com/
Linda Draper – Tether
Hometown: Brooklyln, NY
Album: From the album “ Patience and Lipstick” out January 21, 2022 on South Forty Records.
Review Snippet: “Linda Draper approaches folk music with spare songs and a high register not unlike folk mama Joan Baez.
Website: https://www.lindadraper.net/
Jake Blocker – I’ll Have A New Baby Tonight
Hometown:
Album: From the album “I Keep Forgetting” self-released September 18
Review Snippet: Not to overshadow what Jake Blocker has accomplished here—and at what’s still a formative age to be singing traditional country—but the music of I Keep Forgetting is just as impressive, with fiddle and steel guitar perfectly cut and tailored to the style of songs Jake sings and writes, welling up all those nostalgic and wholesome feelings like only the best of country music can. And along with writing and singing, apparently Blocker is proficient with with guitar, and is even learning how to play steel guitar himself.
Website: https://jakeblocker.bandzoogle.com/
