I had never heard of Jeffrey Foucault until Smansmith (the only name I can find) over at Slowcoustic.com,”a blog about the unhurried side of Americana/Alt-Country/Folk/Indie/Down-Tempo music”, mentioned him on Twitter (@Slowcoustic: Still baffled why Jeffrey Foucault isn’t biggest name in music. Check out his Townes Van Zandt…fb.me/1AVxADb7w).
People need to hear this guy’s music. Wow he’s good.
Came across this in my Twitter feed this morning thanks to Music Fog (the absolute best resource for americana music). I’m ashamed to say that this is the first I have heard of this band. As mentioned in the write up on Music Fog, the song references John 5:8 – the ending of a Bible story about the healing power of faith.
I was reading this from American Songwriter and near the end it mentioned some of what Bruce Springsteen said during his speech inducting Jackson Browne into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. I’ve seen it before but had forgotten how good it is. So, as an homage to the New Year and the musical possibilities it presents, here are Bruce and Jackson telling it like it is. Happy New Year!
“Where do they hide the statues?” …and JB’s acceptance.
Hannah Fair is a young singer/songwriter from New England working hard to make a name for herself. Her eponymous first recording project is a promising collection of six songs that reveals a nice sense for the atypical lyrical and melodic hook. The songs are delivered with a confident, relaxed style that often gives them an immediacy that feels like she’s writing the lyrics as she is singing them.
From “Fancy Things”:
I see it in his eyes when he looks into mine
What is better than the look of love?
I feel it on his lips when we kiss
with his hands on my hips we will dance
And with the stars at our feet
I can feel myself sink deeper in love with this man
I don’t need fancy things, don’t need no diamond rings
All I need is right here with me
I enjoy the organic nature of the recording. It hasn’t been scrubbed clean. The rough edges of the performance have been left intact allowing Ms. Fair’s humanness to come shining through. The liner notes will tell you that it was “recorded in 3 days at Dirt Floor Recording Studio, Chester CT…without computers to analog 1 inch tape.”
The following video is a solo performance of a newer song, not on the EP, entitled Lonesome For You. It is my favorite of her compositions to date. The purity of her performance is perfect for this simple lament for the lonely in our midst.
Just longing for a friend
Someone to love to tie up their ends
A riveting talk about spoken word poetry and recitation of two original works by Sarah Kay.
Credit where credit is due: I found this through Seth Godin’s Domino Project, but from what I’ve read I am way late to the party. So if, like me, you’ve been under a rock and haven’t heard of Sarah Kay…you’re welcome. She will change how you feel about the power of poetry.
Justin Nellis is that rare singer/songwriter with a piano under is arm. Based in Minneapolis, MN, he brings his jazz improv roots to bear on every track, accentuating his lyrics with rich, jazz-influenced changes that move his compositions way beyond the typical 3-chord-verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure. While comparisons to other piano playing songwriters are inevitable, Justin has a style, and way with words, that is all his own. If you’re a fan of piano-driven pop/jazz fusion, you won’t be disappointed. Available here.
The last cut on the album is a wonderful, upbeat reinterpretation of Beyonce’s “Halo”. Check out the live acoustic version from Beyonce for comparison.
I’ll take the traditional country sound any day over the pop-country being pushed today. Every one of these guys nails it during their solos – clear that they’ve put in their “10,000+ hours”.
Congrats to JTE for winning Song of the Year at the Americana Music Association’s 10th Annual Awards. Listen to the entire broadcast here thanks to NPR Music and Folk Alley.
“…washing your sins away no matter how deep you have to dive.”
And here he is doing a great one called “Ain’t Waitin’”
This is not Visible Tom Waits (but it is by Jim Lockey)
Just came across this Tumblr, Jim Lockey – Drawings, via a Tweet on this post. Seems the illustration, Visible Tom Waits, is making its way around the internet (as evidenced by how I heard about it) without credit being given to the artist. So I thought I would help with that. Jim’s illustrations are quirky and hard to categorize and, of course, that’s what makes them appealing. Mr. Lockey’s website is here where he is described thusly:
Jim Lockey is an artist. His work is about creating fictions and often about artwork itself. Working predominantly with Text, Video and Performance he explores the complex relationship between artifact and viewer.
