If It's Too Loud...

Karly Hartzman of Wednesday Photo by Ken Sears Welcome to the third and final day of the Green River Festival, where if you weren't wearing a piece of Geese merchandise, one was provided for you. It was very obvious who most of the crowd at Green River were there to see (which led to the biggest attendance in Green River's forty years), and the big question was if the band of the moment would live up to the hype. Of course, there was a lot of music to be heard Sunday, and we took in as much as we could! Angela Autumn, Backporch Stage Angela Autumn was one of those artists I discovered while preparing for this year's Green River Festival, and I'm glad I did. She plays that style of Americana/roots music that comes right up against the mainstream while still having her own unique sound. Her songs are beautiful, but with an edge to them. Before Sunday afternoon, I had only heard a handful of songs of hers, and after Sunday afternoon, I'm more than a little obsessed. Au...

The summer music festival season keeps creeping earlier and earlier every year. Some announcements just started popping up yesterday, and one of them has us ecstatic. Shovels & Rope have put together a weekend festival in their hometown of Charleston, SC (well, NORTH Charleston, but close enough) and the line up might be one of the best of the year. Besides the obvious choice of Shovels & Rope to play their own festival, they're also bringing along some of our favorites including The Avett Brothers, The Shins, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Dawes, Lucius, Margo Price, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Deer Tick, JD McPherson, The Suffers, Matthew Logan Vasquez, The Deslondes, and more! If you've been a regular reader of this blog for any amount of time this is pretty much a dream line up for all of us. It's going to be a challenge for any other festival, particularly Americana and roots based ones, to come close to matching High Water this yea...

A relatively slow week. Album of the Week : Artist : Deap Vally Album : Femejism Quick Description : Second album from the bass-heavy indie rock act. Why You Should Listen : Deap Vally hasn't lost a step from their awesome debut. Overall Thoughts : The worst thing about this album is its cringeworthy title, which might turn off listeners who would otherwise be really into this sort of proto-Dead Weather/DFA1979-sounding group. There had been some early singles that showed promise, but the whole thing is just a great follow-up to their debut album. Lead track (and lead single) "Royal Jelly" sets the tone for a great listen, and arguably the best of the week. Recommendation : Absolutely worth a listen this week, a highlight. Artist : Dawes Album : We're All Gonna Die Quick Description : Latest album from the roots-rock act that goes a little less roots and a little more AAA rock. Why You Should Listen : Dawes knows how to write a good song even if it...

Jonny Fritz feels like he should be a household name. The artist formerly known as Jonny Corndawg (I've typed Corndawg instead of Fritz at least three times already) has played Newport, recorded with Dawes as his backing band, and sang on Middle Brother's "Middle Brother." While he's known, he's not your aunt knows his name famous yet.  Fritz takes another shot at superstardom with his upcoming album Sweet Creep. It was produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket and he once again enlists Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes to record the album, which they did in three days. The first song, "Are You Thirsty," is just about as laid back and spacey as current country and folk gets. Fritz has this unique ability to sound both retro and futuristic at the same time.  Sweet Creep will be out October 14 on ATO Records. You can watch the video for "Are You Thirsty" below. For more information on Jonny Fritz, check out his website . 

Last year was the year I finally was able to make it to the Green River Festival in Greenfield, MA after a few years in a row of false starts. Everything about the festival blew me away, from the music, the variety of food available, hot air balloons, the incredibly laid back environment, etc. You really get the feeling that the festival is organized by huge music fans that somehow tricked a bunch of bands into playing a show for them by opening it up to the public. This morning, the line up for the 2016 edition (which also happens to be their 30th anniversary) was announced, and this is their best one yet. While all three days boast an incredible array of bands (Friday has Peter Wolf and NRBQ and Sunday features the Wheels of Soul Tour which features Tedeschi Trucks Band, Los Lobos, and North Mississippi All Stars plus Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear,) Saturday is the day I'm personally looking forward to the most. Any festival that has Dawes, Shakey Graves, Shovels and Rope, T...

A surprisingly great week this week. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - The High Country : I confess to not having followed SSLYBY all that closely, but when did they become a fun power pop band? This is a breath of fresh air from this band - it's very straightforward yet has enough interesting wrinkles to throw some curveballs your way. A really solid album. Girlpool - Before the World Was Big : I love this Girlpool album. It's like a weird, interesting mix of early-aughts anti-folk and Tune-Yards mixed with some real pop sensibility. I found this to be an utterly compelling listen from start to finish, and I'm really looking forward to getting back to it. It's not the best release of the week, but it's absolutely the one everyone should be listening to. Barenaked Ladies - Silverball : It's been roughly a decade since I've really enjoyed much that BNL has done, and especially since Steven Page left, it hasn't really been something intere...

As the Newport Folk Festival slowly starts rolling out there 2015 line up, and we sit under 4 feet of snow in the Northeast, it's a great time to look back at last summer's Newport Folk Festival. Suddenly, the absurd amounts of rain on Sunday start to seem quaint, and we start looking forward to this summer and this year's Newport Folk Festival. You can check out our Newport Folk Festival 2014 photo diary over at our Facebook page . Here's hoping to see you all at the Fort this year! For more information on this year's Fest (Friday tickets still remain), head on over to the Newport Folk Festival website . If you can't make it, there are some great Newport Folk Festival Presents shows coming up, mostly in Boston but also in Chicago, Nashville, Napa, and New York City. Check out these here .

Photo by Brian Lima It's been a while since I've updated everyone with the Newport Folk Festival line up, and it truly just keeps getting more and more outstanding. Since I last gave an update, Newport has added classic musicians such as reggae legend Jimmy Cliff and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, established current stars such as a reunited Nickel Creek and Conor Oberst, to next big thing acts like Phox and Reignwolf. I'm particularly excited for Reignwolf, who sound like a more raw version of The White Stripes and The Black Keys. They've also added Rodrigo y Gabriela (somehow making their Newport debut), Puss n Boots featuring Norah Jones, Newport favorite Dawes (pulling double duty as Conor Oberst's backing band), Lucius, Lake Street Dive, The Milk Carton Kids, Gregory Alan Isakov, Lucero, Aoife O'Donovan, Willie Watson of Old Crow Medicine Show, and more! If you're planning on attending Saturday or Sunday and haven't bought tickets, you...