SOTD: "Grown Ocean" - Fleet Foxes

So much to love about this song and video, this is going to be a great album!

SOTD: "Barton Hollow" - The Civil Wars

SOTD: "Wolves" - Bronze Radio Return

Chamberlin: Northeast Tour

Great news as Chamberlin announced some Northeast tour dates last night, including one in NYC and my hometown Fairfield, CT. Looking forward to these....

North East Tour
March 28

After much neglect, we'll be playing this Northeast this April/May w/ fellow New Englanders, Bronze Radio Return who have a great new record out called Shake! Shake! Shake!

Dates below. Check out the tour page for more info:


April 22 - Higher Ground - Burlington, VT (Just Chamberlin)
April 29 - World Cafe Live - Philadelphia, PA
May 1 - TBD - Brooklyn, NY
May 2 - DC9 - Washington, DC
May 3 - Iron Horse - Northampton, MA
May 4 - T.T. The Bears - Boston, MA
May 5 - World Cafe Live - Wilmington, DE
May 6 - Stage One - Fairfield, CT

SOTD: "Beam Me Up" - Midnight Magic

SOTD: "Under Mountain, Under Ground" - The Lighthouse and The Whaler

My buddy JayO sent this one over, great tune!

SOTD: "Don't Let Go" - The Windupdeads

SOTD: "The Devil Is In The Beats" - The Chemical Brothers

2011 So Far....

Seems to me that 2011 is off to a GREAT start with a bunch of great new bands on the scene. Here's some quick notes on the new bands I've been listening to, some of these I've featured in the SOTD but I've added some additional notes and clips.

TYPHOON



If you like Beirut, Arcade Fire, etc., I think you'll love these guys. They just finished some shows at SXSW and have some additional dates you can see on their tour page HERE. They have a 5 song EP out on Itunes called "A New Kind of House", highly recommend picking this up, amazing stuff. Really hope these guys make it out east soon, can't wait to see them live. Check out this awesome clip that NPR filmed in Austin last week....





CHAMBERLIN



A couple months back I was sent a link to check these guys out and was totally blown away. I ended up checking out three clips as that's all I could find but I thought they were excellent. The band just got off a tour opening for Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and has a bunch of other dates lined up which you can see HERE. From what I've heard, sounds like they'll be heading out east in May so I'm excited for that. You can pick up their album "Bitter Blood" on Itunes, just got released a couple weeks ago.

In the meantime, check out this tune.....






SCATTERED TREES



This album comes out in a couple of weeks but I was sent an advance copy and it's really solid. They've got a couple shows coming up in Kansas City and Chicago in April.






MIDDLE BROTHER



I've written about these guys a few times already this year, including the show I saw a couple weeks ago in Brooklyn. Lead singers from Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit make up Middle Brother. Their self-titled album is on Itunes and has some great songs on it. Here's one of the cuts....




Well, that's all I've got for now. Great start to the year, please send anything you're listening to my way. Thanks!

SOTD: "Hardliners" - Holcombe Waller

SOTD: "This Thing About You" - Miracle Fortress

SOTD: "Close That Door" - Mansions

Mansions - Close That Door from Billy Maddox II on Vimeo.

SOTD: "Hello Lover" - Empires

SOTD: "Young Blood" - The Naked & Famous

My buddy Chris sent this one my way yesterday. It's also the free download on Itunes this week.

SOTD: "Early Morning Hymns" - Old Canes

SOTD: "The Great Defender" - Bird Of Youth

SOTD: "Wring It Out" - Rival Schools

Railroad Revival Tour: Mumford, Edward Sharpe & Old Crow!

This is one of the coolest and most innovative ideas I've read in a long time, this tour is going to be AMAZING. From the email I received earlier today.....

"Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show Announce 'Railroad Revival Tour'


This April, Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show will embark on a tour unlike any in recent memory. Traveling exclusively in vintage railcars, the three bands will journey across the American Southwest over the course of a week. The aptly titled Railroad Revival Tour will feature the three bands playing concerts at six unique outdoor locations along the route, beginning April 21st in Oakland, California.

Winston Marshall from Mumford & Sons is taking a humbled historical perspective on the tour, saying, "To misquote the great Woody Guthrie, this train is bound for disgrace. Glorious disgrace. Woody rode with his fellow drifters around North America; we get to do it with a bunch of other musicians, although not strangers, from different corners of the world. A dream come true to be on tour with them, a privilege we get to do it on a train (one of Britain's greatest inventions by the way)."

The Railroad Revival train is 1,500 feet long and consists of 15 vintage railcars from the 1950s and 60s, pulled by two locomotives. The bands will eat, sleep, and record on the train as they travel across the American Southwest, bringing their collaborative vision to fans from California to New Orleans. The bands will have equal billing and equal time on stage, in an environment that encourages creativity and cross-pollination. The entire tour will be the focus of a documentary that captures the spirit of the journey and gives intimate insights into the creative process.

When asked about the inspiration behind the Railroad Revival Tour, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros commented, "From hobos to the wild west, trains have always been a fascination of mine. This tour is going to be rad."


But perhaps Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show put it best when describing the tour, saying that "It's bound to be one hell of a steel wheelin, railroadin good time...while the western country rolls by and the smoke rises blacker than musical notes pouring out of that stoked-up-and-chuggin iron chariot."

Tickets to The Railroad Revival Tour go on sale Wednesday, March 9 at 9 am PST (10 am MST, 11 am CST, 12 pm EST). Tickets are available exclusively through http://railroadrevivaltour.com. Each ticket will include an MP3 download of live recordings from the tour as well as a commemorative ticket custom-designed for each site, with no additional service fees.
"


April 21 Oakland, CA @ Middle Harbor Shoreline Park

April 22 San Pedro, CA @ Ports O'Call Village

April 23 Chandler, AZ @ Arizona Railway Museum

April 24 Marfa, TX @ El Cosmico

April 26 Austin, TX @ 4th and Waller

April 27 New Orleans, LA @ Woldenberg Park

SOTD: "Blood & Guts" - Middle Brother

This was my favorite song from the Middle Brother concert this weekend, just a great tune.

Middle Brother @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg - 3/5/11

On Saturday night, I finally had the opportunity to see the new group Middle Brother. If you haven't heard of them (or their music yet), Middle Brother consists of the lead singers from three bands: John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes & Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit. This tour also featured Deer Tick and Dawes opening these shows for the new group.

Deer Tick & Dawes have been alternating the opening slot with Middle Brother finishing the show and on this night Deer Tick would take the stage first. I've seen Deer Tick several times but it was cool to hear some songs off their latest album, "The Black Dirt Sessions", which came out last year. John and the guys have a lot of energy so they always put on a good live show but I really enjoyed some songs I haven't heard live like "Twenty Miles" & "Christ Jesus". The closer to the set was "Mange", a song that really lends itself to a powerful live performance, really comes alive in person.

After a short intermission, Dawes took the stage and played a solid mix of some older tunes off their album "North Hills" along with some new songs that will be on their upcoming album (slated for release this year!). I've seen these guys a bunch over the last couple years and I think they just get better and better every show, the older songs have really grown over the last year or so. The new stuff sounded great, at one point Taylor split the crowd in half to sing the chorus (felt like a Ben Folds moment). I especially loved "Peace In The Valley" and "That Western Skyline", two great songs off their debut album.

About half way through the Dawes set, the guys invited Jonny Corndawg on stage to sing a few tunes, the highlight probably being "Trashday", which went out to all the "married people", haha. The whole set was great but the best part was when they played a raucous version of "When My Time Comes" with guest appearances by John McCauley & Matt Vasquez, I filmed video of this one (see below), check out John on the harmonica!



Middle Brother closed the show and played mostly songs off their self-titled album that just came out about a week ago. This album is really solid so definitely pick it up if you don't have it yet. As I usually find, there's always a song that I think is just okay on an album but really impresses me in concert, I give the nod to "Blood and Guts" this time around. Taylor absolutely owned this song, really, really good performance and got me listening to the song all day. I took some footage of another tune, "Blue Eyes", which you can check out below.



All in all a great night out in Brooklyn at one of my favorite venues. You often hear people complain about ticket prices nowadays but for $25, you couldn't get a better 4-hours in my opinion, worth every penny. These guys will be on tour over the next month or so, try to see the show if they're coming your way.

SOTD: "Love & Leave" - Scattered Trees

My Morning Jacket: Circuital

Got this email earlier from My Morning Jacket, can't wait for this new album. Sign up to get these live tracks from Terminal 5:

"My Morning Jacket will release their highly anticipated sixth studio album this spring, entitled Circuital. In celebration of the forthcoming full-length, the band will give away six weekly downloads beginning March 3rd. The first five downloads will be live songs taken from each night of their historic week at New York’s Terminal 5 in October of 2010. On the sixth week, the band will offer up a brand new song from the new album.

Circuitalwas recorded in Louisville, KY and Nashville, TN, and was co-produced by frontman Jim James and Tucker Martine (R.E.M., Sufjan Stevens, The Decemberists). While in Louisville, the birthplace of the band and where three fifths of the guys are from, they recorded in the unique environment of a gymnasium inside of a church. They laid down almost everything live and allowed room for spontaneity.

In addition to getting reacquainted with their roots, the guys opted for a loose and warm production style for the album. The result is yet another reinvention of their sound that both forges new ground and maintains the distinct spirit of My Morning Jacket’s previous work.

Head to http://www.mymorningjacket.com to sign up for all six songs now and immediately receive the first song taken from their first night at Terminal 5."


My Morning Jacket Tour Dates:

04-17 Lexington, KY - Memorial Coliseum (University of Kentucky)

05-20-22 Gulf Shores, AL - Hangout Festival

06-02-05 Ozark, AR - Wakarusa Festival

06-02-05 Hunter, NY - Mountain Jam

06-09-12 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival

06-30 - 07-03 Quincy, CA - High Sierra Music Festival

SOTD: "Under Cover Of Darkness" - The Strokes

SOTD: "Simple Math" - Manchester Orchestra