There’s a little venue in L.A. that has generated a very quiet, but very real, sense of magic. It’s called Hotel Cafe. This unassuming room opened up in 2000 without pretense — just a cozy place serving good coffee and snacks, with a small stage that the owner though might occasionally play host to a local jazz outfit or two. But a year or so later, Gary Jules happened by the Hollywood joint, spotted a piano, and stopped in to inquire about a residency. Before long, he was booking the joint with like-minded singer-songwriters (people with warm hearts, intriguing perspectives, and engaging live shows that benefited from the intimate atmosphere). And in this most unlikely of places, a community was born — a community that sports some names you might recognize, or will soon: Cary Brothers, Patrick Park, Joshua Radin, Jim Bianco, Pete Yorn, and AM.
AM — those are his initials, and you say it like “A.M. radio” — just released his second record, Soul Variations. And though you might not know his name, you might hear something you recognize when you listen to this edition of the Songlines podcast, because AM has already had his songs placed 39 times in independent films, HBO and MTV shows, and elsewhere.
Best known for “Walking in Memphis,” the hit song from his 1991 debut record, Marc Cohn has recorded sparsely in the years since. The return of his searching, soulful voice is always welcome. His latest disc, Join the Parade, is darker than his past efforts, but not dreary. The songwriter reflects on random acts of violence — from catastrophic events that ravage entire cities to intimate conflicts between people on their streets.
Blue Rodeo’s two lead singers, guitarists, and songwriters, Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, have been playing music together for 30 years now, and officially formed Blue Rodeo in 1984. Impressively, though, Canada’s most popular roots rock act has only just released studio album #11, as they’ve taken healthy doses of time in between recordings to exercise their craft out on the road and to let the inspiration for songwriting flow to them, never forcing matters. Julia Clarke will tell you more about their latest effort, Small Miracles, in this edition of the Songlines podcast.
Sunday October 28th 2007, 7:05 pm
Filed under: Podcasts
Posted by: Sean
Bettye LaVette’s first record in many years, I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise, introduced her to many Triple A radio listeners in 2005 — though she had been making music for decades. Her pained, churning vocals took us through some brilliantly reinvented covers, from Dolly Parton’s “Little Sparrow” to Fiona Apple’s “Sleep to Dream.” She takes a different tack on her new release, Scene of the Crime, employing the Drive-By Truckers (complete with new member Spooner Oldham) as her backing band, resulting in a delicious, gritty Muscle Shoals-style sound. Hear samples and the full story in this edition of the Songlines podcast.
Friday October 26th 2007, 10:46 am
Filed under: Americana
Posted by: Leslie
After a long battle with drug and alcohol addiction, Mike Farris had a graveside revelation in the winter of 2004 — he was going to get clean, and quickly, with the aid of his family, his church, and his songwriting. He turned to the music of his roots (“When I was growing up, we had five records in my family . . . and three of them were by Johnny Cash. I didn’t realize how much that stuff was ingrained in my being.”) and infused it with the deep spirituality of Southern gospel. The result is a gem of an album called Salvation in Lights. Julia Clarke will tell you more.
Rilo Kiley has long been a darling of indie rock fans and critics alike. They made a bold move with their new record, Under the Blacklight, letting their pop sensibilities take over, sounding by turns like the Jackson 5, disco-era Diana Ross, with even a hint of the best of the Go-Gos. Luckily for us, the record succeeds with flying colors, banking on the crystalline purity of Jenny Lewis’s voice. Hear more in this edition of the Songlines podcast.
In less than two months since the street date, Rilo Kiley has sold over 77,400 copies of Under the Blacklight, with no sign of fading. In fact, due to a combination of the 52/52 campaign at MTV and front page “What’s Hot” selection at iTunes, the band has seen a vast jump in sales for both the album and individual tracks. (The album jumped 131% in sales, selling 2,730 albums this week, up from 1,179 last week; the track “Silver Lining” jumped 208%, selling 7,379 tracks this week, up from 2,396 in the previous week.)
