Joe Smith, Jeff Finlin, Will Kimbrough, Brigitte DeMeyer, and other Cool Cats
I’m changing the format here for a bit. Life continues to bombard me; so instead of posting individual reviews, I will post several short reviews or links to artists who have caught my ear recently.
Atlanta’s Joe Smith and the Going Concern have a catchy new single out. Joe, originally from California, was heavily influenced by the punk scene, including John Doe’s X and Mike Watt. This new song, as the title suggests, has much more of a bluesy vibe. Check it below, and be sure to click on the other songs from previous albums to get the full punk flavor. Purchase their merch and check their Facebook page for upcoming events.
Will Kimbrough and Brigitte DeMeyer collaborated on a soulful new folk album called Mockingbird Soul. They will make appearances in Northern California this week, and will head to Europe this spring. Check their tour schedules on their websites. Oh, did I mention they moved up to #11 in the Americana Charts this week? Lee Zimmerman of No Depression recently gave their album a glowing review: http://nodepression.com/album-review/two-perfect-pair
Here’s a pic of the pair in Seattle a few years ago:
Will and Brigitte at The Royal Room – Columbia City (Seattle)
Jeff Finlin continues to amaze with his prolific artistry. He just finished recording a new album entitled The Guru in The Girl with Holland’s wildly talented Wild Verband. The record is now mastered–release date coming soon. I am delighted to say this may just be his finest work yet. Finlin fans will be truly blown away.
Finlin also spent most of February on a successful UK tour with Pete Bruntnell and Clive Barnes , selling out several venues along the way. I will defer, once again, to Paul Kerr of Blabber ‘n’ Smoke to wax poetic about their show in Glasgow:
Before he left for the UK, Jeff Finlin released a stunning video which brings to life his poem, “The Tantric Co-motion of Parvati on I-75” from his collection of poetry, Seduction of Radha. Finlin narrates. The video was beautifully directed by Verginia Grando.
Seattle’s Jackrabbit released the rock-driven Dead Man’s Song in December. Take a listen and catch a rare show in Ballard.
At the Tractor Tavern back in December, we met a nice fellow by the name of Mark who manages a singer-songwriter website here: http://singersongwriterslive.com/ On it, he lists Seattle-area shows at venues who cater to singer-songwriters. He includes artist links, and an easy-to-follow legend for those bands he’s seen before and recommends, to those whom he heard were worth a listen.
Support indie artists! Go see a show and be sure to purchase the merch!
My main goal is to get hundreds of pages of concert journals online and share with anyone who might be interested in reading about the joys of live music. Maybe it will motivate the reader to go out and see a live show and experience a similar positive reaction.
I’m a huge music fan. A self-proclaimed groupie. I know a little about a lot of things on music and musicians, and I’m not a scholar of music or expert on any musical subject or musician, which might be frustrating to some of you musicophiles.
I wrote most of my journals within a couple of days of seeing a show, without many revisions. Therefore, many of them will seem unpolished or incomplete. I don’t always have all the details I’d like or the time to research, so bear with me. I’m not anal enough to write every song of every set list, or know the middle names of musicians, etc. I will try to fill in details as I go, without destroying the essence of the original journals. I’ve been keeping journals for years, and have kept just about every concert ticket and article on the bands and musicians I’ve seen. All the pictures shown, unless otherwise noted/credited, were taken by me.
What I’m hoping to do here is to share the joy. Music, especially live music, feeds my soul.
Nice recap, L.