Blog: OBSESSION COLLECTION

LANGHORNE SLIM ["PRINCE" OF FOLK] Langhorne Slim delivers live. I Saw them at Rothko's in January, with a packed house. The group worked the crowd into a frenzy, with just an acoustic guitar, stand up bass and drums. This group has heart, passion and a love of performance that is refreshing and uplifting. I was watching the show with a drummer from a legendary hardcore punk band. At the close of the show he shook Langhorne's hand and said "after seeing this show [...]

SINGER SONGWRITER [PERFORMANCE STATURE OF A VETERAN] STUNNING SHOW BY HONNE WELLS on Monday night August 14th at Bar 169 in the Lower East Side. As Honne Wells sat down on a low stool he slowly took off his shoe, placing his foot through a small tambourine. The mic stand was set [...]

AKA Frances Quinlan [SMILING FOLK QUEEN] Hop Along Queen Ansleis is refreshingly original. Her voice has a wide octave range that rises and falls with complete abandon. She never holds back. She tells stories and fills songs with many words and images, and delivers them at machine gun pace. Within a second her voice can suddenly fall to a whisper or a hum only to rise again with veracity that is unprecedented. Usually singers with that range typically work slowly and build to a crescendo, never surprising the listener. To me [...]

AKA Matthew Winn [MANIFEST SOME DESTINY] If you're looking for pretty or easy, don't even bother. If you want to see and hear a music legend develop, you're in for a ride. Matthew Winn is reserved, and his musical counterpart is the beast within. In his own words, "this is not folk punk, this is serious". Wildebeest is an exceptional multi-instrumentalist playing guitar, keyboards, accordion and harmonica. His guitar playing and picking style is fast and furious. I can only compare the caliber of his playing [...]

AKA Damien Derose [UNPREDICTABLE BEAUTY] After listening to Fear Not, Distant Lover , he got to me. It just lingered and I couldn't shake it. Peasant's sound and songwriting quietly haunted me. His songs start out so simply. The beauty lies in the layering of instruments and harmonious vocals that give it depth and add dimension. He coats each song with delicate percussion [...]