There’s something deeply triumphant about the new album from veteran country blues singer Rory Block, and what’s strange is that I’m not sure why this is. I Belong to the Band, released May 29 on Stony Plain Records, should be a simple album of covers of Reverend Gary Davis, the fabled blues/gospel shouter made famous in the 60s/70s folk revival. But there’s something deeper at work here. I think it’s love. In the liner notes, Block talks about visiting Davis with guitar master Stefan Grossman, and how Davis’ kind but stern, and thoroughly imposing, demeanor greatly impressed her. She soaked up the music, though it seems she didn’t actively take lessons from Davis, but more than that she connected to both Davis and Grossman as friends and reflects on that time with the slightly sorrowful memory that comes in later life. In creating an album of Davis covers, she’s both drawing forth these memories and also tying them to the memories of her life. Somehow she touches something deeper by doing this.

While I was expecting either iconoclastic covers of Davis, re-envisioning his music via her own lens, or pitch-perfect recreations, this album actually has neither. She just plays the music hard, beautifully hard. Her voice is as powerful as Davis and her picking gets the job done right. Despite the rather straight-ahead renditions, there’s a sense of triumph underneath, a sense of barely suppressed joy in the music. As the baby boomers move into late life, the music they once imitated has now become the music of their own lifetimes. In the liner notes, Block laments the loss of old-time tradition bearers like Davis, but doesn’t reflect that perhaps she might be bearing traditions of her own. Why did people fall in love with Davis’ music if not for the fact that he brought a lifetime of love to it? And that’s why I’m falling in love with this album from Rory Block: it reflects her own lifetime of loving the blues.

Rory Block: Twelve Gates to the City

 

I get so focused on my own version of folk music (fiddles, banjos, and songs written centuries ago by nameless poets), that I tend to forget that folk music for most people actually refers to a more modern vision of acoustic troubadours. So in honor of this world of folk, here are three artists that have been catching our ears recently.

Reed Foehl: Once an Ocean
2011 re-release. Neverfoehl Records.

Despite being released in 2009 originally, Colorado singer-songwriter Reed Foehl's album, Once an Ocean, sounds as fresh as if it had been released yesterday. Foehl's an obviously gifted songwriter, with a quick ear for the humbly inspiring stories of everyday folks. The album's being re-released in anticipation of Foehl's upcoming full-length, and it's an indicator that Foehl will be a powerful force in the roots music world. The title track is stunningly beautiful and has been on constant repeat at HearthHQ. It weaves an innovative finger-picked guitar melody line with Reed's crystal-clear vocals.  I'm a sucker for gently finger-picked guitar songs, but this song takes that archetype a step further with its intricately crafted guitar melody. Nicely done, sir!! Though Reed leads the album, he does bring some friends along to add beautiful touches to the music. Be Good Tanyas members Trish Klein and Frazey Ford are especially welcome, adding delicious harmony vocals and picking. Young indie folk artist Jefferson Hamer co-produces the album, brings a gorgeous song of his own ("Wolves"), and adds some beautiful guitar work to the mix. He's a talent to watch out for too! I'm not familiar with the other guests, but the album feels more like an ensemble album than a solo singer-songwriter leading a band, a welcome change from many of the albums I hear these days. I can't wait for Foehl's upcoming full-length! PS: You can check out an interview with Reed Foehl on No Depression from 2009 here.

Reed Foehl: Once an Ocean

 

David Newberry: No One Will Remember You
2012. Northern Electric Records.

While other singer-songwriters talk about their storytelling skills and their ability to draw you into a song, Canadian singer David Newberry DELIVERS! His new album, No One Will Remember You, is packed with beautifully crafted songs, the kind of music that has to be made by hand with great care. Coupled with his beautiful voice, and you have quite the package! On the other hand, the songs are frequently overpowered by excessive, and at times needless, production (90s-era drums, screaming guitars, walls of sound), but he's so good that his songwriting and vocals cut through everything. His songs are gently sad, almost wistful, possibly exhausted, really the only emotions we have anymore in a world on the brink. On the title track, he sings "We cut the trees to make the paper / Turn the world inside out, and put it through a press / To teach ourselves that telling stories / Is just the same as getting out there and doing it yourself." Most singer-songwriters would like to shout their views from the mountaintop, but Newberry seems content just to talk about his life and his perspective. It's a refreshingly ego-less perspective that's unfortunately very rare. For the next album, let's just give him an acoustic guitar and set him loose on the road so real people can find his music. David Newberry deserves to be heard!

David Newberry: All of the Apples in the Basket

 

Anna Coogan: The Wasted Ocean
2012. self-released.

Seattle singer-songwriter Anna Coogan has a chameleon-like knack for molding her music to a specific genre's sound, and then for transcending that sound. She did this with her earlier album, Glory, in which she blew open the roots-based world of Americana with a sound that felt entirely new. Partly it's her vocals, which have such a sweet ache to them that they fit into most genres easily. But she's also an excellent song crafter, able to build compelling melodies and arrangements that draw you in. For her newest album, The Wasted Ocean, she looks to her East Coast upbringing and the maritime sea shanties she used to hear growing up. Her songs this time around are rife with imagery of the sea, sailors, and the "whalefish." It's not corny at all, and Coogan infuses these old themes with a new life. My only complaint is that her voice is mixed strangely on the album, somehow sounding a bit garbled or muffled. Other than that, this album is a great example of a multi-faceted singer-songwriter able to plumb her own depths to come up with new sounds.

Anna Coogan: Blood on the Sails

Over at HearthPR headquarters, we're very excited to be promoting the new EP from roots musician Woody Pines. We've been watching Woody since he was in the Kitchen Syncopators, a legendary busking street jugband from Eugene, OR, that were the shining lights of the West Coast folk scene. They broke up some years ago, and Woody Pines went off to a great solo career interpreting his vision of American roots music: all full of stomp and swing, jump and jive, the kind of music that leaves us tapping our feet, bouncing around in our office chairs, and grinning all the while. It's old-time feel-good music done by a young master who clearly understands that this kind of music was always about having a great time. Enjoy!

Woody Pines: You Gotta Roll EP

You know it when you hear the name: Woody Pines is a roots musician who taps into the rural backwoods of Americana. On his new EP, You Gotta Roll, you’ll hear backroads folk music of the very best kind, inspired by rough street jugbands, neighborhood BBQs, lost 78’s of old blues singers, dusty 45’s of forgotten rockabilly singles, a faint radio signal you can’t trace and can’t stop listening to; the kind of music you have to travel deep into the country to find. Woody’s been playing this music for years, first cutting his teeth with the fabled Kitchen Syncopators, a street-performance jugband from Eugene, Oregon that also included Gill Landry of Old Crow Medicine Show. This beloved crew traveled up and down the West Coast, laying the seeds for a new generation to take on traditional music. Going solo in 2002, Woody released the acclaimed 2009 album, Counting Alligators, and has been enjoying touring in the US and the UK. Now Woody’s back and preparing to drop a full-length album in late summer 2012. You Gotta Roll is an EP teaser designed to showcase new songs and a new sound born of his hot touring band.

He may have gotten his start busking as a jugband on the streets of New Orleans and the Pacific Northwest, but years of hard-traveling and touring, plus guest spots with powerful artists like David Rawling, The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle, and more have honed Woody’s music to a razor’s edge. On You Gotta Roll, Woody and his band rip through five traditional songs from diverse sources. The Dock Boggs classic “Red Rockin’ Chair” gets a somber makeover with acoustic banjo, Leadbelly’s “Ham & Eggs” gets a smooth rockabilly beat, and Hank Williams “Can’t Keep You Off My Mind” and “Treat You Right” from Washington Phillips/Casey Jones both keep the kind of harmonica-fueled swing that made Woody’s name as a street performer. The Woody Pines band includes Zack Pozebanchuck on Upright Bass, Lyon Graulty on Clarinet, Lead Guitar and Vocal Harmonies, Mike Gray on Drums, and Woody on Guitar, Harmonica and Vocals. Throughout, Woody’s vintage vocals lead the band’s hot accompaniment, sounding at times like a reborn Bill Haley. This is roots music done hard and fast, with a jump and jive sound you might have heard in the earliest days of rock ‘n roll. It’s music that hasn’t forgotten its old dancehall roots; the kind of music you’d hear at a crowded rent party, as sweaty dancers crashed about a tiny room. On You Gotta Roll, Woody Pines has taken the music that inspired his wanderlust youth and turned it into a living vision of American roots music today.

Woody Pines: Long Gone Lost John


Woody Pines: Ham & Eggs