If It's Too Loud...

The latest single from Michael Nau is a very pleasant listen. It's the kind of song you can just put on in the background and go about your workday, half paying attention to it. But if you really take time and pay attention to it, listening becomes such a rewarding experience. With "No Quit," the first thing you'll notice is the guitar. It's fuzzy without being noisy. Nau's vocals have the same quality, like the song is being filtered through a haze. "No Quit" is definitely a soul song, but unlike most soul music, the vocals aren't being held on a pedestal and highlighted. It's chilled out soul vocals. "No Quit" is heavy on a psychedelic feel, but a relaxed psychedelic feel and not a tripped out, acid heavy feel. Like I said, this would be an easy song to just put on in the background, but when you actually pay attention to it, it's filled with such a reward. You can listen to "No Quit" below. The single is avail...

Photo by Ken Sears In its second year (but kind of its first), the United Folk Festival swung for the fences with their line up. They brought in some of the biggest national and local names in modern Americana music for a free show in a park/arboretum in downtown Westerly, RI. The location and set up couldn't have been more perfect. Two stages were set up on opposite ends of a section of the park and alternated throughout the day. There was no overlap and no having to decide between two artists. You only had to turn around and face the other stage between bands.  This did lead to my only complaint of the day. The crowd was definitely the sit on a Langhorne Slim Photo by Ken Sears blanket and lounge kind. There was virtually no energy or signs of enjoyment from the crowd besides some clapping at the end. This could have also been since the majority of artists booked fell into the quiet, mellow end of the folk spectrum. While they were all great (Full disclosure: Bringing a...