Deep Cuts: Americana

The Felice Brothers are a folk/alt-country group formed in Upstate New York and are rumored to have been founded at performances in the NYC subways in 2006. They've released nine albums to date including their fifth album from 2008 the eponymous "The Felice Brothers". This record features two out-standing tracks: "Whiskey in my Whiskey" and "Frankies Gun".

This album easily earns our collective forgiveness for touring with the Dave Mathhews Band in 2010 with these incredibly effective approaches to song structure and story-telling through songs. This last part is important due to the fact that today a song is seen as a formula to connect to the shallowest and most uniformed portion of the music buying public. The importance of oral history is less emphasized and more lost each time a Rhianna, a Timberland, a Bieber, or the newest incarnation of New Kids On The Block releases an album full of meaningless garbage.

It's important to note that even substantial and culturally significant groups like the Beatles have sold less albums than Rhianna while groups like The Felice Brothers have barely cracked the Billboard 200.

The Felice Brothers - Frankie's Gun
References:

• Felice Brothers, Official Site
• Wikipedia, The Felice Brothers

Deep Cuts: Americana

The unusually gifted and soulful work of Jamie N. Commons has been prominently featured in TV's runaway smash hit show The Walking Dead on the AMC network. His track "Lead Me Home" seems like the work of a much older blues troubadour, singing to a dusty, mostly empty Mississippi roadhouse, opening up for a grumbling Nick Cave. But, this work is in fact from a 20-something musician from England.

Commons' debut album Rumble And Sway was released March 5th 2013 and performed live at SXSW in Austin, Texas on March 14th. It features even more brilliant song-writing from the dry, harsh places in America. There are tales of greedy priests and a failing search for a connection to God in the middle of stinking corruption. It's all told in Commons' unmistakable vocal style and frantically intricate guitar picking.

Jamie N. Commons - Lead Me Home
References:

• Jamie N. Commons, Official Site
• The Guardian, Interview

Deep Cuts: Americana

Blogfoot heard something in the woods. Sounded like alt-country meets John Cougar Mellencamp with influences from Walking Dead soundtrack artists like Jamie Commons. Turns out it was Canadian singer/song-writer Ryan Van Sickle who makes his home in New York City today.

Usually, artists with perfectly crafted images do not appeal to Blogfoot. After a few listens to Van Sickle's album "Ghosts Of The Brokenhearted" released in March 2011, me was very skeptical. His new EP, "Somewhere In America", changed Blogfoot's mind about him. Sickle's work has become much more emotionally raw and musically complex by distancing itself from the pop sound on his previous album. This development comes just in time to soften the blow of lyrics like "Somewhere in America the brave are growing old, fire is slowly dying, hearts are turning cold ... and all the seeds have blown away".

In this long economic Depression in America, it's refreshing to hear an artist confronting the reality of the situation rather than pretending that "things are swell" as so many modern top 40 artists do with their perfect, flavorless bubble-gum musical contributions to blissful ignorance.




References:

• Ryan Van Sickle.com, Official Site
• Bandcamp, Ryan Van Sickle

Deep Cuts From Bloggy's Vault: Classic Country

Kitty Wells is who people mean when they say female country music star. She was only 19 when she was first invited to be featured on the Nashville based radio program the Grand Ole Opry. Her controversial song, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" made her the first female country singer to top the U.S. country charts. She recorded this break-out hit for Decca, in May 1952 at 33, for $125.

Kitty was part Patsy Cline in her vocal range part as heard in her song "Making Believe", she was part June Carter Cash with her heartfelt lyrics in "Dear Brother" and "Don't Wait for the Last Minute to Pray" and sometimes featured irregular subjects like "My Big Truck Driving Man". Kitty Wells was a friend and contemporary of Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn during her 50 years in country music.

Kitty Wells - Making Believe.mp3