Tom Waits [photo by Michael O'Brien] I came across Part One of Beck's interview with the legendary Tom Waits early last week but wanted to hold off posting anything on site until the second half of the interview had been made available (Part Two went up a few days ago). The conversation between the two artists appears as the kick-off for "Irrelevant Topics", a new segment on Beck's website which will feature " conversations between musicians, artists, writers, etc. on various subjects, without [...]
Monsters of Folk , the supergroup consisting of M. Ward, Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis (of Bright Eyes), and Yim Yames (aka My Morning Jacket's Jim James), are set to release their collaborative self-titled debut via Shangri-La Music on September 22nd. Over the weekend Monsters of Folk offered up "Say Please", the first preview track from the new album, as a FREE download and all you have to do to get yourself a copy is say "please". Of course it never hurts to throw in a "thank you" as well. It would make your mama proud. [...]
![Adam and Darcie::Hands/Mind [MP3]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/1869766_lg.jpg)
It's mid-afternoon in mid-July. The only light in my office illuminates from the white screen of my computer and from the soft gray of the day which is covered in clouds. A few drops of rain fall from the eaves outside my window, the curtain drawn back to reveal glimpses of green made more intense by the passing storm. Thunder rumbles for five seconds and then ten, a tractor trailer picks up the roar and carries it south down Route 29. Now it's silent except for the regular rhythm of running rain. I'm on my third [...]
Bill Kirchen Bill Kirchen and The Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods perform at the Pavilion on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall this evening as part of the continuing summer concert series Fridays After Five . Joining Kirchen and his band are special opening guests Jeebus . Gates at 5:30pm. And as always, it's FREE. The Records Review Rewind is going to be a segment that will be continuing over the coming weeks (and possibly [...]
![Bombadil::Tarpits and Canyonlands [Album Review]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/1864875_lg.jpg)
Bombadil [photo by Melissa Madison Fuller] There is no proper description...no jumping off point...except to say that the music of Bombadil is wildly creative, imaginative, delightfully unpredictable, and joyous. On their recently released second full-length album, Tarpits and Canyonlands , the North Carolina quartet has crafted a collection of songs that is a spirited journey through a landscape of layered instruments, tender melodies, and soaring harmonies. As it stands, I have held on to this release for well over a month now. I've held on to it [...]
Admittedly, Black Moth Super Rainbow is a band that I know next to nothing about. So if you're looking for insightful commentary I'm probably not your guy. The Pittsburgh-based band released their fourth full-length album, Eating Us , on May 26 via Graveface Records . The band's latest video for "Born on a Day The Sun Didn't Rise" debuted last week and I've got that for you along with the MP3 track below. Black Moth Super Rainbow begins an East Coast tour at the end of July [...]
Dylan Gilbert Charlottesville will get a chance to say hello to Dylan Gilbert when the 21-year old indie folk, singer-songwriter from North Carolina performs at the Bridge PAI this Friday, July 17th. Joining Gilbert will be Washington D.C.'s In Heaven and You , Philly's Hermit Thrushes and Charlottesville's own The Invisible Hand . 8pm. $5. (You gotta love a four-band bill, five dollar show!) [...]
Cracker frontman David Lowery stopped by the WNRN studios in Charlottesville earlier this afternoon for a live in-studio interview and performance. Cracker is preparing for a big U.S. tour which kicks off this Saturday, July 18th in Elgin, Illinois and will continue through the first week of September. [complete list of tour dates after the break] I should have the entire audio from the in-studio performance up sometime tomorrow but in the meantime here's a little live video treat from today's WNRN appearance. "Friends" appears on [...]
The Invisible Hand I'm running a little behind so I'll try and make it short and sweet. A couple recommendations: C'ville's Adam Smith and his band The Invisible Hand open up for Dylan Gilbert at the Bridge PAI on Friday night. Very Solid. And I know it's last minute but...EARL KNOX is at Rapture TONIGHT (07/15) as part of the weekly Charlottesville Music Showcase series!! Earl Knox is one of Charlottesville's very best rock bands as I [...]
From last night's appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman . ------------ Purchase: Wilco-- Wilco (The Album)
--- From drunken angels to grievous ones, this post is a continuation of sorts from the path I started beating yesterday. After posting the Lucinda Williams performance of "Drunken Angel" taken from her appearance on Sessions @ West 54th , I started browsing through the available videos from some of the other artists who had made appearances on the show during Sessions ' run on PBS in the late 90's. I don't think I ever saw any of the shows after they first originally aired and while there were a host of standout appearances, [...]
Blaze Foley The first Blaze Foley song I ever heard was Merle Haggard's cover of "If I Could Only Fly" (the song also served as the title track on Haggard's 2000 release on Anti- Records). "If I Could Only Fly" just plain stopped me dead in my tracks. I first thought that Merle Haggard had penned a new modern classic but it wasn't until I scanned through the album's liner notes that I discovered that Blaze Foley was the song's author. (I would also [...]
Lucinda's tribute to the late Texas singer-songwriter Blaze Foley, this performance of "Drunken Angel" first aired in 1998 on the short-lived (and sorely missed) PBS series Sessions at West 54th . For this live appearance Williams is joined by one of my favorite contemporary guitar players, Kenny Vaughan, who in recent years has made a name for himself in Marty Stuart's band The Fabulous Superlatives (Note: If you really want to get a full taste of Vaughan's guitar work I suggest you pick yourself up a copy of Souls' Chapel , the [...]
Paul Burch [photo by Melissa Fuller] Between the early spring of 2006 and continuing on through the summer of 2008, I wrote a number of album reviews for the San Antonio, Texas-based website AmericanaRoots.com. Over the course of the next few months I'll be re-posting some of those reviews here on The Velvet Rut. I'm beginning with singer-songwriter Paul Burch and a review I wrote for his last album East to West , which was released back in 2006 on Bloodshot Records . [...]
Here's the first official music video from Charlottesville's own Straight Punch to the Crotch . The video has been in the works for awhile now (preview clips have been on the band's website since January / February of this year) and it finally made its worldwide debut earlier this week. The video was produced and directed by Gabe Deloach of Folk Hero Films and SPTTC and the song, "When Animals Attack", is the second track off of Straight Punch to the Crotch's debut album We are Star Children . The [...]
![New Music From These United States::I Want You To Keep Everything [MP3]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/1850803_lg.jpg)
These United States [photo by Sarah Law] With two studio albums already under their belt, Washington, D.C.'s These United States is preparing to release their third full-length album, Everything Touches Everything , later this year. Due to hit stores on September 1st via Colorado-based United Interests, the release of Everything Touches Everything will arrive just a year and a half after the band's debut. That first record, A Picture Of The Three Of Us At The Gate To The Garden Of Eden , come out back [...]
The Fiery Furnaces The latest Charlottesville concert announcement from Starr Hill Presents has The Fiery Furnaces, along with White Rabbits, coming to town at the end of August. The two Brooklyn-based indie-rock bands will be taking the stage at Fry's Spring Beach Club on Wednesday, August 26th. Doors at 7pm. Tickets are $15 and are currently on sale now. [ BUY TICKETS ] The Fiery Furnaces , led by the brother-sister team of Matt [...]
I first came to know of Texas-born singer-songwriter Jolie Holland during her brief stint as a member of Be Good Tanyas around the time the all-girl group put forth their debut Blue Horse in 2000. From there my proper full introduction to her music came via her solo debut album Catalpa in 2003 but it was the arrival of Holland's second album, Escondida in 2004, that just completely blew my mind (and continues to do so to this day). There's a sultry, agelessness in Holland's [...]
James McMurtry, Ingrid Michaelson, and Jolie Holland [l-r] While the first three show announcements haven't come directly from the new venue's management, they have arrived via Starr Hill Presents , and it looks like the former Gravity Lounge, now named The Southern , should be up and running once again in Charlottesville before summer ends. With a new management team in place, a promised fresh new look, and now a new name and the first official shows on the schedule, it appears like I can start looking forward to seeing [...]
Here's the brand new video for Blitzen Trapper's "Black River Killer" which appears on the band's 2008 Sub Pop Records release Furr and is one of my favorite tracks from one of my favorite albums from last year. I'm still hoping we can get these guys to come put on show for us here in Charlottesville one of these days. As an added bonus, I've thrown in a listening track for "Gold for Bread" (also found on Furr ) and I've also included [...]
the velvet rut
Avicii – Two Million
Beck – I Just Started Hating Some People Today
iamamiwhoami: kin - Teaser
