
Echoes of Phil, Don, Gram, Emmylou and Maybelle Twenty-somethings Pearl Charles and Kris Hutson may have grown up in the sunshine of Los Angeles, but their music is rooted in the hollers of Appalachia and the rolling hills of Southern Kentucky. Their harmonies span both high-and-lonesome and Everly's-styled parallel thirds, and their folk and country is made from autoharp, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, piano and steel. Their vintage look (grandma dresses, suspenders and browline glasses) and the dour depression-era expressions they strike for publicity photos give a visual suggestion of their sympathies, but it's the [...]
Weaving worn guitars, Autoharp, banjo, fiddle, mandolin and two hauntingly powerful voices and embracing a love for the Carter Family and a DIY punk ethos, The Driftwood Singers encapsulate an old timey era with decidedly forward looking and somehow timeless songs. They have announced a string of US summer tour dates. Download If I Take That Notion from their most recent 73. Tour dates can be found below. a Tour Dates: July [...]
Earlier this week we posted Volume One of the Best New Releases for the Week of June 12th, featuring songs from Jaill, The Tallest Man on Earth, Guided By Voices, and many others. This, Volume Two, features singles from new LP and EP drops by Hot Chip, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Sea of Bees, Phoebe [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe

Following an 18-year hiatus, soul singer Bobby Womack returns to top this week's list of new releases with The Bravest Man In The Universe , which easily ranks among the legendary singer's best albums to date. Following the approach he took with the late Gil Scott-Heron’s excellent final record, producer and XL Recordings head Richard Russell, along with co-producer and Blur/Gorillaz-leader Damon Albarn, adds moody electronics and trip-hop beats to create, what our Music Director, Don Yates, calls "masterful set of electro-soul" whose "spacious, modern production makes a surprisingly effective showcase for Womack’s grainy, deeply soulful vocals [...]

On one hand, you have to doff your bowler hat to Kris Hutson and Pearl Charles, who as the Driftwood Singers embrace traditional folk music with tender loving care, crafting dark but uplifting tales with little more than voice, guitar and autoharp. On the other, you wonder what motivates southern California-bred art-schoolers to look and sound like they just rolled in from the Dust Bowl with one change of clothes, their instruments and a Victrola. As aesthetics go, it beats face paint and glowsticks, I guess. But the answers really rest in the tomes on the duo's self-titled [...]
Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet. Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Baby Dee : "Yapapipi" [mp3] from Regifted Light search for more Baby Dee posts at Largehearted Boy Baby Monster : "City of Lovers" [mp3] from City of Lovers [...]

Come celebrate the life and music of the late Levon Helm this Tuesday at The Mint in Los Angeles. The night will begin with a dinner and rare screening of the Levon Documentary: Ain't In It for My Health which has been making it's tour around recent film festival circuits. Per the Los Angeles Film Festival: Starting with the image of a tour bus warming its engine in the stillness of an empty lot, this haunting, personal portrait of music legend Levon Helm evokes the mood of a lifetime spent on the road. Jacob [...]
As we throttle towards summer, the pile-up of great summer tracks (to be included in the upcoming Summer Mixes series) expands ever more. Add to that new singles from Here We Go Magic and P.S. I Love You especially. We already posted a review of P.S. I Love You as the Album of the Week [...] Read more, get songs or stream the entire mix on Indie Rock Cafe
Origami Vinyl :: Top 10 Records (5/4-5/10) 1. Jack White - Blunderbuss 2. OFF! - OFF! 3. Father John Misty - Fear Fun 4. NO - Don't Worry You'll Be Here Forever 5. The Driftwood Singers - I Don't Live Here Anymore 73 6. Nobunny - La La La La Love You 73 7. Allah-Las - Tell Me (What's On Your Mind) 73 8. The White Stripes - Hand Springs 73 9. Nick Waterhouse - Time's All Gone 10. Light Asylum - S/T [...]

On Silversun Pickups 's latest and third album, the LA band shaves the fuzz of their guitars in favor of a more brooding, heavily electronic sound. You can pick up Neck of the Woods and a handful of other new albums out this week, including the second studio album from Kingston, Ontario duo PS I Love You , which according to our Music Director, Don Yates, is another impressive blend of energetic post-punk and anthemic garage-rock with loud, ringing guitars, muscular rhythms, yelping vocals and punchy song hooks." For a taste of their rocking sound, check [...]
Every day, Daily Downloads offers 10 free and legal mp3 downloads, plus free and legal live sets from around the internet. Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: The Driftwood Singers : "I Don't Live Here Anymore" [mp3] from I Don't Live Here Anymore (out May 8th) search for more Driftwood Singers posts at Largehearted Boy Kaia Wilson [...]

Yellow Red Sparks on the Terrace Stage There's nothing better than than enjoying folk music on a surreal ranch in the hills of the San Gabriel Mountains with 500 guests and 28 bands. On August 7th, The 2nd New Los Angeles Folk Festival was held at Zorthian Ranch in Altadena, CA. With four different stages spread over Zorthian's 48 acres—each stage created out of the Ranch itself—attendees could enjoy an array of local and non-local music, all there to celebrate the genre of folk and its kindred spirits. Attendees hopped from stage to stage [...]

[In the midst of all other summer festival news, Make Music Pasadena will be the first to follow up Silver Lake Jubilee as a local music outdoor event. They've got a diverse lineup with artists playing in every nook and cranny of the city. Here's a quick preview of three different bands playing on Saturday...] Best Coast , "Gone Again" — Best Coast returns with a new single via Adult Swim, but not much as changed since their breakout album [...]
California's The Driftwood Singers play simple, melodic, catchy folk music. It's much harder to do than it sounds. Check out the video for "Coco Ellis" here: NXNE performance: Date: June 17 Time: 9:00pm Venue: The Central The Driftwood Singers' website