Music & More

Rockwood Music Hall , 6/27/09 One of the hottest bands I ever saw play at Rockwood Music Hall has a new album out today. I'm talking about Sister Sparrow And The Dirty Birds. Pound of Dirt If you've never seen Sister Sparrow And The Dirty Birds live, they play an unstoppable mix of rock, soul, jazz, and blues. On the surface these they might seem like Tower of Power with an awesome female lead singer, but their music is totally original, as you'll hear when you listen to this album. But to really get the complete picture, you've got to get to a show. Here they are with a live version of "Make It Rain", the track that opens Pound of Dirt . This was recorded in front of a sold out crowd at Sullivan Hall in NYC, on September 23, 2011. Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds are ably led by front-woman Arleigh Kincheloe (Sister Sparrow). With a beautiful voice, so powerful it almost doesn't seem like it could come from such a small package, Arleigh has vocal ch...

. Saturday Video Fun: "Perfect Kiss" by Marie Hines is my new favorite county song (and video). Marie Hines is a singer-songwriter out of Nashville, originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Marie is part of Music City Unsigned , which is a community of independent artists working in Nashville. "Perfect Kiss" is the totally irresistible single that comes out on Tuesday as part of the five track Heartcrash EP. Heartcrash Marie wrote all five songs on the EP. Her band includes piano, guitar, bass, and drums, along with some pedal steel, violin, viola, and cello. Eric Kinny arranged and produced the EP with consummate skill, he also played piano on two of the songs. "Perfect Kiss" is typical of Marie's songwriting. One of the great joys of music for me has always been finding a great singer-songwriter, and Marie is such an artist. Her singing and musicianship are impeccable, and there is a considerable amount of magic in her songwriting. She writes ...

Saturday Video Fun : Jessie Ware, a new British singer with a warm and soulful voice will release her new single, "Running" on March 26th. Michael Cragg in the Guardian said " Jessie Ware makes the step from featured vocalist to solo artist. Expect pop stardom to follow. " "Running" is only Jessie's second solo track ever. Check out the video, directed by Kate Moross. Since 2010 Jessie has been getting major positive reaction singing on other people's records in London, such as this one that she did last year with Sampha, "Valentine". Jessi released her first single at the end of last November and got an extremely favorable response. It's called "Strangest Feeling" and this isn't so much a video as it is an audio track on Youtube. Here's the Guardian article from Wednesday (2/15/12). If you read yesterday's New Band of the Day, then you'll know about Jessie Ware, one of those singers beloved of a variety of ...

The Power of Youtube: Gabrielle Aplin is a singer-songwriter from Bath, England who has used Youtube and her talent for music to build a following and music career without any record label in sight. She posted her first videos to Youtube at age fifteen. Most of her videos were cover songs recorded at home. By sixteen she was attracting a significant audience with covers like "The Liar and the Lighter" (You Me At Six), which now has well over 500,000 views. Her website describes her as: At nineteen, Gabrielle Aplin is the self-taught; self promoted singing, piano and guitar playing internet sensation. With beautiful vocals and a raw talent for song writing, Gabrielle is evolving as the most in demand online music artist. This is no overstatement. Now nineteen and in college, Gabrielle has released three EPs, all of which are available here in the US at Amazon and iTunes. She has sold out her last several tours of the UK and she was just booked to open for Gotye on his ...

Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan This week Amnesty International released Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, to celebrate the 50th anniversaries of both Bob Dylan's career and the Amnesty Organization. As a socially conscious crusader for human rights, Dylan was a great fit. The album is a sprawlng tribute of 73 tracks filling four CDs with artists covering Bob Dylan's songs and the proceeds go to support Amnesty International. There are many major and well-known names as well as plenty of unknown artists but the one thing they all have in common is a love for the man, his music, and his message. Thomas E. Davis of Seattle summed up Dylan's influence nicely in his Amazon review. As for Bob Dylan, few artists have been offered accolades to match those laid at his feet. He's among the greatest poets of our age, a transformational figure in the history of music. There's not a singer or songwriter alive who doesn't owe a debt to his wit and wisdom, ...