Episode 75 – Sunday LIVE from Brockville 5:00 PM EST on Mixcloud

Billy Strings – Gild the Lily
Liam Bailey – Sour Wine
American Patchwork Quartet – Wayfaring Stranger
Dean Wareham – You Were the Ones I Had to Betray
The Fretless & Madeleine Roger – Caledonia
Lambrini Girls – You’re Not From Round Here
The Weather Station – Neon Signs
Michael Cera Palin -Wisteria
Sera – So So

Billy Strings – Gild the Lily

Billy Strings (born William Lee Apostol, October 3, 1992) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and bluegrass musician.^[1] He has released four studio albums, with his album Home winning the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2021.

Rolling Stone named Strings one of the Top Ten New Country Artists to Know in 2017.^[1] On February 12, 2018, Rolling Stone published an article titled “Bluegrass Prodigy Billy Strings Plots 2018 Spring Tour”, saying: “Billy Strings doesn’t have any trouble living up to his name. [He is] one of the latest breakneck guitar pickers to emerge in the bluegrass world.”^[9] 

A good article on Billy Strings in GQ. Here are two excerpts:

It is, of course, a conundrum only slightly less old than celebrity itself, how to remain yourself as you become a sensation, even an old genre’s new hope. But for Strings—who is a child of addicts, whose father died of a heroin overdose, who emerged from penury and addiction himself to become one of acoustic music’s most promising voices in decades—such balance remains especially precarious. Bluegrass was his childhood way of earning scarce attention at home; he is now trying to reckon with the fact that he has value beyond it while becoming its biggest name. “Just where am I supposed to go from here?” he sings on one of Highway Prayers’ best cuts. “How much longer now before I’m in the clear?”

and one about a difficult time growing up to parents with addiction problems:

Over the years, Strings has told me devastating stories about his childhood—his mom, passed out drunk on a mattress in the pouring rain outside the family trailer; sexual abuse at the hands of people he trusted; his parents listening to the police scanner to know when to toss their drugs into the woods. He first got stoned when he was eight, drunk when he was 10.

American Patchwork Quartet – Wayfaring Stranger

American Patchwork Quartet – “I’m So Glad” | Live at the Grand Ole Opry

From their Bandcamp page

American Patchwork Quartet (APQ) is on a mission to reclaim the immigrant soul of American Roots Music.

Really interesting band – from an interview with Clay Ross, a grammy award winner Ranky Tanky. and band member in Afropop Worldwide

Exploring different styles of music is something I’ve always been interested in. Before Ranky Tanky, I had a group called Matuto and we called our music Brazilian Bluegrass. The first break that I ever caught when I moved to New York was playing with Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista. And man, Cyro’s music is incredibly eclectic. I’ve always been into that type of thing. With Ranky Tanky, there’s a lot of eclectic influence as well. It’s a little bit masked in the fact that Gullah is an informant to so many different styles of music. Gullah music has informed jazz, has informed rock music, has informed country music and gospel—so many forms in the American vernacular. So we can call something that we do Gullah, even though it has overtones of country or overtones of rock ‘n roll. However it might be framed, at the root of it is that Gullah beat.

what is Gullah?

The Gullah (/ˈɡʌlə/) are a subgroup of the African American ethnic group, who predominantly live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida within the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. Their language and culture have preserved a significant influence of Africanisms as a result of their historical geographic isolation and the community’s relation to its shared history and identity.^[2]

and about the lead singer, Falu, who imbues these Appalachian ballads with her own Hindustani vocal training.

She’s an 11th generation student of a very specific strain of Hindustani classical vocal music. She can speak much more specifically on all the nuances of her training, but it is very much an oral training. She studied intensely with her guru to learn this specific style where they have microtonal notes.

The Fretless & Madeleine Roger – Caledonia

The Fretless & Madeleine Roger – Caledonia OFFICIAL VIDEO

another award winning Americana band – this one from Canada

The Fretless are a Canadian folk music group based in Toronto, Ontario.^[1] The group, consisting of violinists Trent Freeman, Karrnnel Sawitsky and Ben Plotnick, and cellist Eric Wright,^[1][2] won the Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2017.^[3]

The band’s sixth album, Glasswing, will be released on September 13, 2024.^[9] The opening track, “Lost Lake,” is the album’s first single.

The Weather Station – Neon Signs

The Weather Station – Neon Signs (Official Video)

From Stereogum

In 2022, Tamara Lindeman released the Weather Station album How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars. Today, the Toronto-based musician is announcing its follow-up, Humanhood, and unveiling the lead single “Neon Signs.”

“The song came with multiple strands entwined; the way that something that is not true seems to have more energetic intensity than something that is, the confusion of being bombarded with advertising at a moment of climate emergency, the confusion of relationships where coercion is wrapped in the language of love. Ultimately though, isn’t it all the same feeling?”

opening lyrics

I’ve gotten used to feeling like I’m crazy, or just lazy
Why can’t I get off this floor?
Think straight anymore?
Out on the street
I went walking in a punishing heat
Nobody meets my eyes except witty signs and luxury designs

Será – So So

from New Music Review

Originally hailing from Calgary, AB, and now based in Toronto, ON, indie pop-rock artist Será has been making a name for himself in Toronto’s songwriting scene. Since his first release in May 2024, he has gathered nearly 200,000 streams on Spotify, capturing audiences with his blend of pop-rock and indie vibes.

Será’s EP, created with the help of co-writer and co-producer Michael Hammer, dives into the story of a young man confronting painful truths after a challenging breakup. The tracks bring together catchy pop-rock melodies reminiscent of Train and Keane, combined with the raw energy of indie influences like The Strokes and Mt. Joy.

So So is the name of his first EP. Everything that I can find about his releases is 2024. He has an upcoming album Gemini Fever, but info on a release.

Liam Bailey – “Sour Wine” – Zero Grace

Liam Bailey is an English singer-songwriter. He has been releasing music since 2010.  Our featured track comes on fourth full length release. He comes Paul Weller approved.

Bandcamp did a nice feature on him.  

Dean Wareham – “You Were the Ones I Had to Betray” – That’s the Price of Loving Me

Dean Wareham  is cultish figure who has been creating compelling music since the 1980’s. He co-founded the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. In 1991 he established the band Luna. Luna broke up in 2005. He then formed a duet with fellow Luna band member (and wife) Britta Phillips, forming the duo known as Dean & Britta. In 2015, he reformed Luna.

Here’s some samples of his earlier work  

and

“You Were the Ones I Had to Betray” is a sombre number balanced by a dream poppy sound.

Lambrini Girls – “You’re Not From Round Here” –  Who Let the Dogs Out

The Lambrini Girls are a delightfully potty mouthed duo from Brighton England. They have only been making and releasing music since 2021.  This, their debut album rose to #16 on the UK Albums Chart.  The press loves them.

.  The track You’re Not From Around Here,  rails against gentrification 

Michael Cera Palin –“Wisteria” – We Could Be Brave

This Atlanta based band reformed after going on hiatus back in 2018.  The band semi explains the origin of their name, “for those curious, we chose the name “Michael Cera Palin” because it’s a clever anagram. (?????)

For what might be a first on this blog/podcast, there’s no presence on YouTube of this song. so I’ll share from bandcamp . 

On YouTube they have generated some buzz for their cover of Sheryl Crow’s, If it Makes You Happy. 

It’s taken 10 years but their debut album will be released later this year.