NY TIMES PREVIEWS MARIE/LEPANTO'S 'TENKILLER,' OUT TODAY ON BIG LEGAL MESS

WILL JOHNSON/JUSTIN PETER KINKEL-SCHUSTER PROJECT HITS ROAD SUPPORTING PEDRO THE LION IN FEB AS NYC SHOW, LIVING ROOM TOUR ANNOUNCED FOR APRIL

AMERICAN SONGWRITER, BITTER SOUTHERNER RAVE

Marie/Lepanto - the collaboration between Centro-Matic's Will Johnson and Water Liars' Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster - has a new indie/folk Big Legal Mess album 'Tenkiller' out today, which the New York Times previewed: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/arts/music/playlist-cardi-b-migos-charli-xcx-sugarland.html

The two explore literate southern themes and spare, desolate sounds that lead to cinematic grandeur in their incredible music. Here's the track "High Desert" (OK to share): https://soundcloud.com/big-legal-mess/marielepanto-high-desert

American Songwriter gave the set 4 stars, calling it "moving... mesmerizing... unique and enticing."

The Bitter Southerner said, "A pairing made in Southern indie rock heaven… 'Tenkiller' finds their two voices shadowing one another, with Johnson's battered vocals and Kinkel-Schuster's wavering tenor complementing one another… the perfect record for a long-drive on a two-lane."

The duo will tour supporting Pedro the Lion in February and have newly announced a NYC show as well as a living room tour in April.

MARIE/LEPANTO TOUR DATES:

February 8 - St Louis, MO - Old Rock House*
February 9 - Kansas City, MO - Record Bar*
February 10 - Tulsa, OK - The Vanguard*
February 11 - Fayetteville, AR - living room show
February 12 - Dallas, TX - Trees*
February 13 - Austin, TX - Mohawk*
February 14 - Houston, TX - Rockefeller's*
February 15 - Baton Rouge, LA - living room show
February 16 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jack's*
February 17 - Birmingham, AL - Saturn*
February 18 - Gainesville, FL - High Dive*
February 19 - Orlando, FL - The Social*
February 21 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle*
February 22 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West*
February 23 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In*
April 5 - Springfield MO - living room show
April 6 - Omaha NE - living room show
April 7 - Sioux Falls - living room show
April 8 - Minneapolis - Turf Club
April 9 - Madison - living room show
April 10 - Milwaukee - living room show
April 12 -  Chicago - Schuba's
April 13 - Detroit - living room show
April 14 - Toronto - living room show
April 16 - Boston - living room show
April 17 - NYC - Mercury Lounge
April 18 - Philadelphia PA - Johnny Brenda's
April 20 - Baltimore - living room show
April 22 - Asheville NC - living room show
April 23 - Athens GA - living room show
April 24 - Waverly AL - Standard Deluxe
April 25 - Mobile AL - Satori Coffee House
April 26 - Oxford, MS - living room show
April 27 - Little Rock AR - living room show

Marie/Lepanto clips

NY Times playlist item (Dec 22, 2017)

No Depression premiere (Dec 6, 2017)

HearYa review (January 29, 2018)

Bitter Southerner album stream (January 25, 2018)

No Depression album review (January 25, 2018)

Paste Magazine session (April 17, 2018)

“BRILLIANT” (POP MATTERS, BOSTON GLOBE) KRIS DELMHORST RELEASES HAUNTING NEW ALBUM ‘THE WILD,’ ON SEPTEMBER 22

FIRST COLLABORATION WITH HUSBAND JEFFREY FOUCAULT PRESENTS A DARKLY HOPEFUL, FIERCELY WISE COLLECTION CENTERED ON THE WORK OF LOSS AND RETURN, ALIENATION AND HOMECOMING.

“Brilliant” (Pop Matters, Boston Globe) singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst marks two decades of a life in music with the release of 'The Wild,’ on September 22. The arc of the album describes "losing the path, finding the path: losing your connection to your lover, to the muse, to your sense of self, and dead reckoning the way back," says Delmhorst. The record juxtaposes a wide open sonic template - dark washes of electric guitar and pedal steel, bright layers of acoustic guitars underlined by cello and keys - against lyrics that travel from deep melancholy to the joy of inspiration and connection. Miles Davis famously said, "Music is the space between the notes. It’s not the notes you play; it’s the notes you don’t play,” and Delmhorst uses that philosophy to create an uncluttered embrace of mystery and questioning.

‘The Wild’ is her first studio collaboration with her husband and fellow songwriter Jeffrey Foucault (“Contemporary and timeless,” NY Times), who co-produced and contributed lead guitars and backing vocals. Additionally 'The Wild’ features Foucault’s rhythm section of bassist Jeremy Moses Curtis (Booker T. Jones, Twinemen) and drummer Billy Conway (Morphine, Treat Her Right), veteran players and longtime associates in the course of Delmhorst's career. The result is an album that brings together all the threads of a life in music, and a rare intimacy between players. Of the process of recording with such a close-knit group, Delmhorst reflects, “The best moments in the studio are the ones that feel like a bunch of kids working on a sandcastle, with a dead serious teamwork devoted to something that's essentially play.” Delmhorst and Foucault will tour together in the fall of 2017, taking turns fronting the band, and playing on each other’s sets in a rare confluence of the two respected artists’ paths.

‘The Wild’s highlights include the darkly rollicking Americana of “All The Way Around,” an urgent, simmering meditation on the poles of loss and return; the searching, Faces-inflected “Rules To Games”; and the uptempo longing of “Foolish Blood," reminiscent of Wildflowers-era Tom Petty.

Title track “The Wild” explores the animal self buried under the detritus and nonsense of culture, a haunting lament for what we've lost, both inside and out. “I Don’t Need to Know It All” celebrates the elemental mystery of existence. “We have a whole lot of data at our disposal, and all of it adds up to no more than a rickety little raft on which we attempt to ride a vast, deep sea of things beyond our ability to understand.” The closer, “The Light In The Hall,” ends with an eye to the road forward, making an elegiac plea to stay awake to life and everything it brings.

All Music said, “Captivating and very intriguing… This artist is subtle in her approach with music that comes up behind you and a voice that breathes through the speakers.”

Tour Dates (all double-bills with Jeffrey Foucault):

October 20 - Stone Mt Arts Center - Brownfield ME
October 21 - Once Ballroom - Somerville MA
October 22 - Higher Ground - Burlington VT
October 25 - Gypsy Sally’s - Washington DC
October 26 - Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 2 – New York, NY
October 28 - Shea Theater - Turners Falls, MA
November 2 - Ballard Homestead – Seattle, WA
November 4 - Old Church – Portland, OR
November 7 - Arcata Players Theater – Arcata, CA
November 8 - Palms Playhouse – Winters, CA
November 9 - Freight & Salvage – Berkeley, CA
November 10 - Don Quixotes – Felton, CA
November 11-  McCabe’s - Santa Monica, CA
November 12 – Soho - Santa Barbara, CA
December 1 – The Ark - Ann Arbor, MI
December 2 - Seven Steps Up - Spring Lake, MI
December 3 - City Winery - Chicago, IL
December 5 - CSPS - Cedar Rapids, IA
December 7 - Cedar Cultural Center - Minneapolis, MN
December 8 - Stoughton Opera House - Stoughton, WI (Madison area)
December 9 - Collectivo - Milwaukee, WI

‘The Wild’ Track Listing

1.     All The Way Around
2.     Temporary Existence
3.     The Wild
4.     Rules to Games
5.     I Don’t Need To Know It All
6.     Magnolia
7.     Color of the Sky
8.     Foolish Blood
9.     Lonely West
10.  Hollow
11.  Tracks in the Snow
12.  The Light in the Hall

“AMAZING” (NPR MUSIC) MUSIC MAKER BLUES REVUE’S LA DEBUT AT SKIRBALL CENTER’S SUNSET CONCERT SERIES FEATURING “MORE THAN CONVINCING” (NY TIMES) ROBERT FINLEY, JB'S ALUM ROBERT LEE COLEMAN, AND DEEP BLUESMAN ALABAMA SLIM

Music Maker Relief Foundation is pleased to announce that The Music Maker Blues Revue’s Los Angeles debut featuring, Robert Lee Coleman, Robert Finley, and Alabama Slim will be performing at the Season of Sunset Concerts series, August 18th, at 8:00 pm. NPR Music has called the Music Maker Blues Revue “exciting... amazing... great stuff.”

The Music Maker Blues Revue consists of artists such as Robert Lee Coleman, Alabama Slim, and Robert Finley, each of whom will perform at the Skirball Center. The “more than convincing” (NY Times) Robert Finley is a creative artist from Bernice, Louisiana that specializes in “roots soul” and is known for his live performances and is a recent signee to Big Legal Mess, which will put out his debut album ‘Age Don’t Mean a Thing’ this fall. Robert Lee Coleman is a legendary guitarist, from Macon, Georgia, that is known for playing with great artists such as Percy Sledge and James Brown. Alabama Slim is a gifted blues singer who grew up singing the blues with his grandparents and is known in the states and abroad for his album 'The Mighty Flood,' that features blues guitarist Little Freddie King. The New York Times predicts that the Sunset concerts will “showcase an intriguing mix of artists devoted to cultural exchange and preservation.”

More info, photos, video on Robert Finley: http://nicklosseaton.blogspot.com/search/label/robert%20finley

More info, photos, video on Robert Lee Coleman: http://www.musicmaker.org/artists/robert-lee-coleman/

More info, photos, video on Alabama Slim: http://www.musicmaker.org/artists/alabama-slim/

The Music Maker Blues Revue is a thriving band created in the early 1990s as back up for legendary artists such as Guitar Gabriel, Ironing Board Sam and Beverly “Guitar” Watkins. The Blues Revue’s performance represents Southern musical traditions ranging from Jazz to Blues, Boogie Woogie and Soul. After quickly becoming a powerhouse band of their own right, they have collaborated with artists such as Etta Baker, Macavine Hayes, Robert Lee Coleman, Pat Cohen, and many more.  This amazing band has performed all around the world from the United States, Argentina, Australia, Europe, and Guatemala.  Music Maker founder Tim Duffy stated: “ The Music Maker Blues Revue is a powerful, entertaining, set of the greatest blues musicians you ever heard.”

Sunset Concerts is a free music series that has been presented in Los Angeles, CA, at the Skirball Cultural Center,  since 1997. These concerts include alternate folk-rock, West Afriran blues, Brazilian samba/jazz, Colombian funk fusion, Southern boogie, and Middle Eastern rock music.  These concerts will take place every Thursdays from July 21 to August 25. Other performers/ performances include Thao and the Get Down Stay Down (July 21th), Songhoy Blues (July 28th), Thalma de Freitas (August 4th), M.A.K.U. Soundsystem (August 11), and Shai Tsabari and the Middle East Groove All Stars (August 25th). Doors open at 7:00 pm and have limited seating for first-come, first served.

Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. is a tax exempt, public charity under IRS code 501(c) 3. Music Maker aims to keep our Southern culture vital by directly supporting senior  (over 55) American roots musicians in need, expanding their professional careers, and assisting Next Generation artists in the development of their professional careers. Since the organization’s founding in 1994, Music Maker has assisted hundreds of musicians who represent the traditions of Blues, Gospel, Old-Time String Band, Jazz and more. Music Maker’s programs ensure the talents of these cultural treasures are accessible so that our rich musical heritage can be shared with the world and preserved for future generations.

“MORE THAN CONVINCING” (NY TIMES) MAJOR NEW SOUL VOICE ROBERT FINLEY MAKES RECORDED DEBUT AT 62 ON FAT POSSUM IMPRINT BIG LEGAL MESS

FORMER US ARMY SERVICEMAN & LOUISIANA CARPENTER TURNS TO MUSIC CAREER, MUSIC MAKER RELIEF FOUNDATION AS HE FACES TROUBLES WITH HIS VISION

September 30 will see the emergence of a major new soul music voice with Robert Finley’s debut album ‘Age Don’t Mean a Thing’ on Big Legal Mess Records, a Fat Possum imprint. Already, the New York Times has called the 62 year old north Louisianan singer “more than convincing… venerable but vigorous.” NPR Music reviewed a performance of the Music Maker Blues Revue featuring Finley, calling it “exciting… amazing… great stuff.” He has performed at NYC’s prestigious GlobalFest and at the King Biscuit Festival. He is set to follow that with an appearance at LA’s Skirball Center on August 18.

Produced by Bruce Watson and Jimbo Mathus, the album traverses the classic Booker T & The MGs-esque Memphis groove of “I Just Want To Tell You,” the tough soul-blues of the title track, “Snake In My Grass,” and “Is It Possible To Love 2 People,” the romantic deep soul of “Make It With You,” danceable funk on “You Make Me Want To Dance,” the tremolo- and organ-soaked heartache of “It’s Too Late.” Finley proves himself a powerful songwriter, penning seven of the album’s nine tracks himself.

Facing vision troubles after careers in the US Army and as a civilian carpenter, Finley has decided to pursue music full-time with the assistance of the Music Maker Relief Foundation.

Finley traveled north to Memphis to work with members of the Bo-Keys. Players include a who’s who of the Memphis soul scene including drummer Howard Grimes (Al Green, Otis Clay, Syl Johnson, OV Wright), Marc Franklin (Bobby “Blue” Bland), Jimbo Mathus (Elvis Costello), Al Gamble (St. Paul & The Broken Bones, the Hold Steady, Alex Chilton), Kirk Smothers (Jim Lauderdale, Buddy Guy), Reba Russell (U2, BB King), Harold Thomas (James Carr), Daunielle Hill (Solomon Burke).

"JUKE-JOINT PROFESSOR EMERITUS" (ROLLING STONE) KEVIN GORDON BRIDGES SWAMPY ELECTRIC AND POETIC ACOUSTIC SOUNDS ON NEW ALBUM 'LONG GONE TIME' (OUT SEPT 4)

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: “HE’S WRITING SONGS THAT ARE LIKE SHORT STORIES”

Hailed by The New York Times as "part Muddy Waters and part Carl Perkins," erudite, swampy southern songwriter Kevin Gordon will release his new album 'Long Gone Time' on September 4. His first release since 2012's critically acclaimed 'Gloryland,' 'Long Gone Time' is half-acoustic and half-electric, bridging Gordon's introspective, detailed Southern poetry (he has an MFA from the prestigious University of Iowa Writer's Workshop) with his biting, boozy, honky-tonk shuffle and swagger. Produced by multi-instrumentalist and Dove Award-winner Joe McMahan (Mike Farris, Freedy Johnston, Allison Moorer), it's an intoxicating blend of the intellectual and visceral delivered with sticky-sweet guitars and barroom piano.

The album opens with "All In The Mystery," a loping come-on loaded with sexual innuendo like Elvis Costello on a road trip south of the Mason-Dixon. Rich with visual detail, "GTO" tells the story of his father's stolen car, while "Letter to Shreveport" is a haunting stream of consciousness punctuated with ominous slide guitar, and "Walking on the Levee" evokes the magic and the loneliness of an early-morning trek along the edge of a memory-filled town still "sleeping off what they drank at the bar." On "Goodnight Brownie Ford," Gordon poignantly pays tribute to the rodeo-riding country singer, and the bittersweet "Shotgun by the Door" paints vivid portrait of lingering racial tension. Later in the album, Gordon and his crack band morph into rollicking roadhouse rockers with "Church on Time" before closing out the record with the subdued, vivid character studies of "Cajun with a K."

Praised by NPR, The NY Times, USA Today, and more, 'Gloryland,' marked the end of a six-year hiatus for Gordon, whose work has been covered by everyone from Keith Richards and Levon Helm to Ronnie Hawkins and Todd Snider. In his illustrious two-and-a-half decade career, Gordon has shared stages with Snider, John Prine, Leon Russell, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and the Blind Boys of Alabama among others, played the storied New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and earned the respect and admiration of his peers and a slew of musical icons. Lucinda Williams raved that "he’s writing songs that are like short stories," while Buddy Miller said "it reminds me why I love music," and renowned author and biographer Peter Guralnick described the music as, "John Lee Hooker tied to the hard, imagistic poetry of William Carlos Williams."

Stay tuned for more information and tour dates to be announced.

'Long Gone Time' Track List (Note That LP Track List Different):

1. All In The Mystery
2. GTO
3. Letter to Shreveport
4. Walking on the Levee
5. Shotgun Behind the Door
6. Crowville
7. Goodnight Brownie Ford
8. Immigrant
9. Church on Time
10. Cajun with a K
11. Following a Sign (CD- and LP-only bonus track)

BROOKLYN FOLK FESTIVAL CARRIES ON SPIRIT OF EARLY NEWPORT FESTS WITH WORKSHOPS BY MASTERS, BANJO TOSS

SEVENTH ANNUAL FESTIVAL MOVES TO LARGEST VENUE TO DATE AT ST. ANN'S CHURCH APRIL 17-19

The seventh annual Brooklyn Folk Festival—held this year at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church, its largest venue to date—is set to educate as well as entertain when it returns April 17-19. In the spirit of the original Newport Folk Festivals, the BFF celebrates the legacy and music of a variety of cultures and communities through performances, instruction, panels, film screenings, contests, and more. Central to the festival's mission of perpetuating vernacular music from around the world is an impressive slate of interactive workshops, which honor the folk tradition of passing on songs, stories, and techniques from generation to generation. Check out more information on the festival, which has sold out every year, in the New York Times.

Saturday's workshops include an old time jam session; a discussion and performance of the Irish revolutionary songs of rebel leader James Connolly by Matt Callahan and Yvonne Moore; a presentation about the history of folk music in New York by the Museum of the City Of New York's Stephen Petrus; and vocal harmony instruction for all levels of singers from Don Friedman and Phyllis Elkind, who regularly teach at Brooklyn's own Jalopy Theater and School of Music.

Sunday afternoon's activities kick off with the famous Banjo Toss, which honors players' love/hate relationship with the 5-stringed instrument as they vie to hurl it furthest into the Gowanus Canal. It's followed by a fiddle workshop with the renowned fiddler Bruce Molsky, who, in addition to becoming one of the country's most celebrated Appalachian players and instructors, has collaborated with everyone from the GRAMMY-nominated Fiddlers 4 to the Irish/Hungarian/Dutch supergroup Mozaik to Norwegian hardingfele player Annbjorg Lien. Art Rosenbaum, who won a GRAMMY for his Smithsonian-Folkways box set 'The Art of Field Recording: Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum' and has authored several books on the African-American folk tradition in Georgia, will lead an old time banjo workshop later in the day.

"The workshops not only allow people to learn or improve on an instrument or as singers, but also give important background to the music that makes it come alive as a force for understanding cultural history and social change," says founder and co-host Eli Smith. "Music is an important form of storytelling, and with our workshops, films and lectures, we hope to offer people a way to understand the backstory and social function of the music."

In addition to the workshops and panels, this year's performance lineup features 30 bands, including Daptone gospel group Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens, country blues multi-instrumentalist Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, folk legend and songwriter Michael Hurley, old-time fiddle and banjo player Bruce Molsky, fiddle player Frank Fairfield, and intergenerational anti-folk collaborators Peter Stampfel & Jeffrey Lewis.

AMERICAN SONGSTER DOM FLEMONS HEADS OUT FROM GRAMMY-WINNING CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS FOR DYNAMIC NEW SOLO ALBUM 'PROSPECT HILL,' OUT JULY 22 ON MUSIC MAKER RELIEF FOUNDATION

Dom Flemons – founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and American Songster – will release his third solo album 'Prospect Hill' on July 22 on Music Maker Relief Foundation. 'Prospect Hill' finds Flemons digging deeply into ragtime, Piedmont blues, spirituals, southern folk music, string band music, jug band music, fife and drum music, and ballads idioms with showmanship and humor, reinterpreting the music to suite 21st century audiences.

Following a series of tour dates with a new generation of American roots musicians like Pokey LaFarge, Flemons will perform April 18 as part of the Brooklyn Folk Festival at the Bell House. He performed and spoke on WNYC Soundcheck in March to talk about his Oxford American essay on Gus Cannon.

Flemons has mastered a variety of instruments such as banjo, guitar, harmonica, fife, bones, bass drum, snare drum and quills. After a stint in New York City, Flemons has returned to his musical home of North Carolina.

Solo and with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Flemons has played live for over one million people within the past three years. As part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, which he co-founded with Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson in 2005, he has played at a variety of festivals Newport Folk Festival, Bonnaroo, and the Grand Ole Opry.

Of his set at Sydney Festival, The Daily Telegraph (Australia) said this year, "Dom Flemons knocks 'em dead… a showstopper."

The New York Times called the Carolina Chocolate Drops "an end-to-end display of excellence," continuing, "They dip into styles of southern black music from the 1920s and ’30s—string- band music, jug-band music, fife and drum, early jazz—and beam their curiosity outward. They make short work of their instructive mission and spend their energy on things that require it: flatfoot dancing, jug playing, shouting."

Rolling Stone observed, "The Carolina Chocolate Drops are...revisiting, with a joyful vengeance, black string-band and jug-band music of the Twenties and Thirties—the dirt-floor dance electricity of the Mississippi Sheiks and Cannon’s Jug Stompers."

The Guardian said, "An appealing grab-bag of antique country, blues, jug band hits and gospel hollers, all given an agreeably downhome production. The Carolina Chocolate Drops are still the most electrifying acoustic act around."

'Dom Flemons, American Songster, Presents: Prospect Hill' Track List

1. Til' the Seas Run Dry
2. Polly Put the Kettle On
3. But They Got it Fixed Right On
4. Have I Stayed Away Too Long?
5. Georgia Drumbeat
6. I Can't Do it Anymore
7. Sonoran Church Two-Step
8. Too Long I've Been Gone
9. Marching Up to Prospect Hill
10. It's a Good Thing
11. Grotto Beat
12. Hot Chicken
13. San Francisco Baby
14. My Money Never Runs Out

"AMBITIOUS" (NPR) DEBUT ALBUM BY LEYLA MCCALLA HAILED BY NY TIMES, PITCHFORK AND BEYOND AS FAST-RISER PLAYS SOLD OUT SHOWS IN NYC, PHILADELPHIA, AND BOSTON

Leyla McCalla's debut album 'Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes' has been hailed by the New York Times and others as she's played sold out shows in New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston on her debut headlining tour. NPR aired a 17-minute profile of the cellist/songwriter/singer/

banjo player.

She's also the subject of a full-page interview profile in Pitchfork Media that tells her story from being born in NYC to pioneering unconventional cello techniques to performing Bach and trad jazz in New Orleans to joining the Carolina Chocolate Drops to her discovery of Haitian folk music and the creation of 'Vari-Colored Songs.'

Here's what we're reading:

"Her magnificently transparent music holds tidings of family, memory, solitude and the inexorability of time: weighty thoughts handled with the lightest touch imaginable."
- Jon Pareles, New York Times, February 14, 2014

"Her playing--on cello, tenor banjo and guitar--suggests a perpetual spring, giving these songs about losing innocence and finding death a vibrancy that fits their folk music function. Her voice is a velvety purr that's both wise and bright, not unlike the surreal sophistication of Jolie Holland's best work."
Grayson Currin, Pitchfork Media, February 7, 2014

"Leyla McCalla redefines the cello… Stunning... [a] rich mix of sounds,.. McCalla earns the literary company with her dark-toned songs. Her unusual cello style also matches the poetry in terms of sheer invention."
- Jim Farber, New York Daily News, February 7, 2014

"Evocative."
- Mark Jenkins, The Washington Post, January 30, 2014

"A beguiling album in the way it pulls the listener in distinct directions. At once unvarnished and sparse, like field recordings in high definition, it’s also rich with the organic suppleness."
- James Reed, The Boston Globe, February 1, 2014

"Ambitious, deep, and gorgeous."
- David Kunian, Offbeat Magazine, January, 2014

"Impressive… a fully realized and nuanced gem."
- Steve Leggett, All Music Guide

"Striking."
- Charlie Heller, New York Post, February 7, 2014

"Beautiful."
- Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register, February 13, 2014

"Delightful… hypnotic and hybrid, with exotic echoes of an older world made fresh by the thoughtful passion of McCalla's interpretation."
- Alison Fensterstock, New Orleans Times-Picayune, February 5, 2014

"What a voice, more Billie Holiday than anything, flourishing in such bare surroundings and bringing the words, whether joyous or dark, to life... As arranger, musician and vocalist she’s a remarkable talent, and this debut is assured and a harbinger of a towering career."
- Chris Nickson, Sing Out!, December 31, 2013

NPR World Cafe, USA Today Tout Declan O'Rourke As Travel + Leisure Premieres Lush Music Video

NPR WORLD CAFÉ NEXT FEATURES DECLAN O'ROURKE AS ACCLAIM MOUNTS FROM USA TODAY & SPIN

TRAVEL + LEISURE PREMIERES NEW MUSIC VIDEO "TIME MACHINE" FILMED IN RURAL IRELAND

Declan O'Rourke – who made his US debut with the stunning new album 'Mag Pai Zai' (Rimecoat / Missing Piece) – was last week's featured Next artist on NPR World Café.

World Café host David Dye says, "It is definitely time for this music to cross the ocean... O'Rourke has a penchant for writing about love and history with equal amounts of ease and gravity."

Today, Travel + Leisure premiered the new video for "Time Machine," gorgeously filmed in rural Ireland and featuring O'Rourke's nephews as stand-ins for his younger self. In the piece, he talks about how a priest gifted him his first guitar in Melbourne, Australia.

Other acclaim has come in from a variety of critics, including USA Today, in which he was featured on a Playlist alongside major stars like Neko Case, Nine Inch Nails, Lorde, Drake, Lupe Fiasco, and Nirvana.

Acclaim for 'Mag Pai Zai'

"Compassion, romance, a sense of mortality, and a sense of history run through the songs of Declan O'Rourke… his calling is as a balladeer, proffering reassurance in the face of inevitable sorrow." – Jon Pareles, NY Times

"Declan O'Rourke is long overdue for a stateside breakthrough." – Luke McCormick, SPIN

"The Irish balladeer's storytelling skills shine." – Edna Gundersen, USA Today,

"Warm, enveloping voice." – Eric Danton, Wall Street Journal

"Classic crooing sound." – Nate Storey, Travel + Leisure

"Greatness... A listen to a song like 'Time Machine,' 'Caterpillar DNA' or 'Langley's Requiem' is to feel a biting wind blow right through you, and have you reaching for the first warmth available. Heaviness has never had a better home."– Bill Bentley, Morton Report

"Be warned: O’Rourke isn’t just another balladeer with an acoustic guitar. His voice, lyrics and arrangements have distinct impact." – Chuck Campbell, Knoxville News-Sentinel

AS SPIN, NY TIMES WEIGH IN, DECLAN O'ROURKE'S US DEBUT 'MAG PAI ZAI' OUT DIGITALLY THIS WEEK, ON PHYSICAL CD OCTOBER 8

O'ROURKE PLAYS NYC'S CUTTING ROOM TONIGHT

Declan O'Rourke – the songwriter who has had three top albums in Ireland – is about to make his US debut with 'Mag Pai Zai.' He has opened for Bob Dylan, Snow Patrol, and John Prine and shared the stage with Bono. 'Mag Pai Zai' earned him comparisons to Glen Hansard, Sondre Lerche, Ron Sexsmith, and Rufus Wainwright. 'Mag Pai Zai,' out this week in digital download and out October 8 in brick and mortar stores, has brought O'Rourke acclaim from several outlets and a certain influential rocker:

"Compassion, romance, a sense of mortality, and a sense of history run through the songs of Declan O'Rourke… his calling is as a balladeer, proffering reassurance in the face of inevitable sorrow." – NY Times

"Declan O'Rourke is long overdue for a stateside breakthrough." – SPIN

"Warm, enveloping voice." – Wall Street Journal

"He writes the sort of classic songs that people don’t write anymore, songs that sound like they’ve been around forever." – Paul Weller

Hear 'Mag Pai Zai' in its entirety at American Songwriter.

US RELEASE SET FOR ARTIST DECLAN O'ROURKE'S IRISH TOP TEN ALBUM 'MAG PAI ZAI' ON RIMECOAT / MISSING PIECE RECORDS

NY TIMES: "HIS CALLING IS AS A BALLADEER"

PAUL WELLER ON O'ROURKE: "HE WRITES THE SORT OF CLASSIC SONGS THAT PEOPLE DON'T WRITE ANYMORE, SONGS THAT SOUND LIKE THEY'VE BEEN AROUND FOREVER."

WSJ PREMIERES 1ST SONG

Declan O'Rourke's 'Mag Pai Zai,' which rocketed to number six on the Albums Top 100 chart in Ireland, will be released in the US on Rimecoat / Missing Piece Records. Recalling the masterful melodic and vocal gifts of Rufus Wainwright, Harry Nilsson, and Van Morrison, the album will be released via digital download September 24 and distributed on CD October 8.

For the New York Times, Jon Pareles wrote, "Compassion, romance, a sense of mortality and a sense of history run through the songs of Declan O’Rourke... The gravity of unaccompanied traditional Irish ballads — the deliberation in their melodies, their calmly sustained phrases, their fatalistic undertone — informs his songs, whether they’re about faithful love or reckoning with elemental forces."

The Wall Street Journal premiered the first track from 'Mag Pai Zai' today. Eric Danton praises O'Rourke's "warm, enveloping voice."

O'Rourke's song "Galileo (Someone Like You)" was recorded by Josh Groban on his album 'Illuminations,' which charted at number four on the Billboard 200 in the US. Growing up between Australia and Dublin, Ireland, O'Rourke has opened for Snow Patrol, Badly Drawn Boy, John Prine, and Weller. He has also performed on BBC2 and BBC4.

-->Interviewed in Hot Press, Brendan Graham, who penned the worldwide smash hit 'You Raise Me Up'said, "To me, Declan is not a songwriter within the ordinary definition of the word. He is a sorcerer of songs, with a Dickensian skill for finding the moment that details some aspect of our humanity."

All Music Guide called 'Mag Pai Zai' "captivating."

US tour dates are in the works, including an NYC show.

'Mag Pai Zai' Track Listing

1.    Time Machine
2.    Slieve Bloom
3.    Be Brave & Believe
4.    Dancing Song
5.    Caterpiller DNA
6.    Lightning Bird Wind River Man
7.    Langley's Requiem
8.    A Little Something
9.    The Hardest Fight
10.    Orphan Wind Song
11.    Galileo (live, bonus track)
12.    Marrying the Sea (live, bonus track)

Declan O'Rourke clips

NY Times concert review (April 25, 2013)

Irish Examiner (April 23, 2013)

Wall Street Journal song premiere (August 15, 2013)

SPIN "Slieve Bloom" track premiere (September 9, 2013)

NPR World Cafe Next (October 14, 2013)

KINGSLEY FLOOD'S "AWESOME" (NY TIMES) VIDEO "SUN GONNA LEMME SHINE" BREAKS 10,000 VIEWS AS NEWPORT FOLK FEST DAY ANNOUNCED & DAYTROTTER SESSION POSTS

The "awesome" (New York Times) music video for breakout band Kingsley Flood's "Sun Gonna Lemme Shine," inspired in part by a NY Times Magazine cover story, has passed 10,000 views as Newport Folk Festival confirmed that the band would play Friday, July 26.

Meanwhile, Huffington Post asked KF's singer Naseem Khuri for an essay about the video entitled "Why We Made a Video About a Boy in a Dress." Khuri writes, "While most of our recent album, Battles, does not focus on boys wearing dresses per se, it does look at choice. Through the eyes of people who have done all the right things and still fall behind, it questions what choices they have to stay above water. Do they have to sell out? Throw elbows?":

The band's Daytrotter session posted last month.

The Boston Globe said of a recent sold out show, "Triumphant... magnetic... Singer Naseem Khuri didn't just play acoustic guitar; he beat it into submission. He rendered two acoustic guitars unusable by the time the band hit its encore run... Yet even within the torrent of energy Kingsley Flood puts out live, the band distinguishes itself with richly textured songs."

"REVELATION" (WASHINGTON POST) CORB LUND SETS SXSW SCHEDULE

Corb Lund – the descendent of four generations of Albertan ranchers, former punk/metal player, and whipsmart songwriter of – has been added to the lineups of the Lonestar Music official showcase, Lonestar Music day party, and New West Records day party.

9pm Wednesday March 13 - Corb Lund, Lonestar Music Official Showcase, Black Heart, 86 Rainey Street, open to badge and wristband holders only

2:30pm Thursday, March 14 – Corb Lund, New West Records Day Party, Threadgills, 301 West Riverside Drive, private but please contact me to RSVP.

4:15pm Thursday, March 14 – Corb Lund, Lonestar Music Day Party, St. Vincent De Paul parking lot, 1327 South Congress Ave., open to the public

Amid raves from NPR, NY Times, UNCUT and others, Corb Lund scored a personal best with a #13 debut on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and a #60 debut on the Billboard Indie Chart for his "breakthrough" (Washington Post) album 'Cabin Fever' (New West Records). The album also debuted at #1 on Billboard's Canadian Top 200 albums chart. In the Nashville Scene's 13th Annual Country Music Critics' Poll, Corb Lund is the #10 male vocalist and 'Cabin Fever' is the #20 best album of 2012. He will open a show in April for country royalty Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley. Here's what the press have said:

"Impressive… great songs… Lund finds glory in tough work, spotting characters most people would overlook, and celebrating them with colorful sketches… Corb Lund's ironic humor and keen sense of American culture is similar to Hayes Carll." – NPR

"An album of pithy mischief and roguish charm." – NY Times

"This is another terrific chapter in what's become a rich catalouge of orthodox country" - Uncut 9/10

"A breakthrough [and] a doozy… Lund is a revelation, laconic and scary smart, with a devil’s eye for details." – Washington Post

"As if strolling out of the American West itself, caked with layers dusty guitar riffs and rugged vocals, comes Corb Lund’s latest work… The album’s 12 tracks drip with cowboy speak." – Paste Magazine

"Corb Lund has one up on the alt-country competition in that he’s been an actual cowboy, and his songs sometimes seem like the soundtrack to a Western directed by Quentin Tarantino." – MTV Hive

"Corb Lund's 'Cabin Fever' is the best country record this year." – The Oregonian

DESCENDED FROM FOUR GENERATIONS OF ALBERTAN RANCHERS AND HAILED BY NPR, CORB LUND TO PERFORM AT THE MINT OCT. 11

Corb Lund – the songwriter descended from four generations of Albertan ranchers who used to play metal and punk music – will play Los Angeles' The Mint October 11. Goth girls to survivalists, bovines to bibles, antique pistols to vintage motorcycles: Lund’s songcraft covers it all.

Amid raves from NPR, NY Times, UNCUT and others, Corb scored a personal best with a #13 debut on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and a #60 debut on the Billboard Indie Chart for his "breakthrough" (Washington Post) album 'Cabin Fever.' The album also debuted at #1 on Billboard's Canadian Top 200 albums chart. NPR said, "Impressive... great songs... Lund finds glory in tough work, spotting characters most people would overlook, and celebrating them with colorful sketches... Corb Lund's ironic humor and keen sense of American culture is similar to Hayes Carll."

Most recently, CMT.comhttp://www.cmt.com/videos/corb-lund/835168/september.jhtml just posted his new music video.

WHO: New West artist Corb Lund
WHAT: LA performance
WHEN: 9pm, October 11, 2012
WHERE: The Mint, 6010 West Pico Blvd, LA, 323.954.9400
TICKETS: $8 in advance; $10 at the door via The Mint box office

CORB LUND SCORES PERSONAL BEST #13 HEATSEEKERS & #60 INDIE BILLBOARD CHART DEBUTS FOR "BREAKTHROUGH" (WASHINGTON POST) 'CABIN FEVER' ON NEW WEST RECORDS

Amid raves from NPR, NY Times, UNCUT and others, Corb Lund scored a personal best with a #13 debut on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and a #60 debut on the Billboard Indie Chart for his "breakthrough" (Washington Post) album 'Cabin Fever.' The album also debuted at #1 on Billboard's Canadian Top 200 albums chart.

Here's the poignant video for the song "September": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFvwqgjC7As

NPR All Things Considered's Meredith Ochs raved about the "impressive" album of "great songs," saying, "Lund finds glory in tough work, spotting characters most people would overlook, and celebrating them with colorful sketches… Corb Lund's ironic humor and keen sense of American culture is similar to Hayes Carll": http://n.pr/N6gbmr

Meanwhile, NY Times' Nate Chinen called it "an album of pithy mischief and roguish charm": http://nyti.ms/QYpWu3

UNCUT gave the album nine out of ten stars, raving, "This is another terrific chapter in what's become a rich catalouge of orthodox country."

In the Washington Post, Allison Stewart wrote, "Lund is a revelation, laconic and scary smart, with a devil’s eye for details."

Additionally, Corb Lund and his longtime band The Hurtin’ Albertans will be showcasing at The Mercy Lounge at 10pm on September 12, 2012 at the Americana Music Awards and Conference. Complete upcoming tour dates are listed below.

Aug. 10 – Dawson County Fair – Glendive, MT

Sept. 12 – Mercy Lounge – Nashville, TN

Sept. 21 – Firehouse Saloon - Houston, TX

Sept. 26 – The Blue Light – Lubbock, TX

Sept. 27 – Mercury Lounge - Tulsa, OK

Sept. 28 – Love And War In Texas - Plano, TX

Sept. 29 – Cattlelacs Chainsaw Art Gallery – Manchaca, TX

Oct. 01 – Bar SS – Laporte, CO

Oct. 02 – Bar SS – Laporte, CO

Oct. 03 – The Soiled Dove Underground – Denver, CO

Oct. 04 – Oskar Blues – Lyons, CO

Oct. 05 – Turn Of The Century Saloon – Montrose, CO

NY TIMES, NPR, AND MORE RAVE ABOUT CORB LUND'S "BREAKTHROUGH" (WASHINGTON POST) 'CABIN FEVER' (NEW WEST RECORDS)

NEW VIDEO AND NEW TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED

The New York Times, NPR, Billboard Magazine, and others have raved about 'Cabin Fever' (New West Records), the new album from Corb Lund. It all amounts to career-best reviews for Lund, a former metal musician and fourth generation Albertan rancher:

"Impressive… great songs… Lund finds glory in tough work, spotting characters most people would overlook, and celebrating them with colorful sketches… Corb Lund's ironic humor and keen sense of American culture is similar to Hayes Carll." – NPR

"An album of pithy mischief and roguish charm." – NY Times

"This is another terrific chapter in what's become a rich catalouge of orthodox country" - Uncut 9/10

"A breakthrough [and] a doozy… Lund is a revelation, laconic and scary smart, with a devil’s eye for details." – Washington Post

"As if strolling out of the American West itself, caked with layers dusty guitar riffs and rugged vocals, comes Corb Lund’s latest work… The album’s 12 tracks drip with cowboy speak." – Paste Magazine

"Corb Lund has one up on the alt-country competition in that he’s been an actual cowboy, and his songs sometimes seem like the soundtrack to a Western directed by Quentin Tarantino." – MTV Hive

"Corb Lund's 'Cabin Fever' is the best country record this year." – The Oregonian

"I'm digging it hard." – No Depression

"A release I’m certain we’ll be talking more about as 2012 progresses." – My Old Kentucky Blog

"It dreams big." – Consequence of Sound

"Cabin Fever is tough without sounding callous, heartfelt without being melodramatic, and true and straightforward enough that plenty of rock and country acts could learn a lot from it." – All Music Guide

Additionally, Corb Lund and The Hurtin' Albertans will be performing at The Mercy Lounge on September 12, 2012 at 10pm during the Americana Music Awards and Conference.

Check this new video for the heartbreaking song "September."

Lund has announced initial US tour dates as a full tour is being planned:

September 12 – Mercy Lounge - Nashville TN

September 14 – Knucklehead's – Kansas City, KS

September 19 – Fort Worth, TX - TBA

September 21 – Firehouse - Houston, TX

September 22 – Testicle Festival - Bozeman, MT

September 26 – Blue Light - Lubbock, TX

September 27 – Mercury Lounge - Tulsa, OK

September 28 – Love & War - Plano, TX

September 29 – Doug Moreland Festival - Manchaca, TX

October 3 – Soiled Dove Underground - Denver CO

October 4 – Oskar Blues – Lyons CO

October 5 – Turn Of The Century – Montrose CO

October 6 – Chico Basin Ranch – Colorado Springs CO

NY TIMES ON CORB LUND'S 'CABIN FEVER,' OUT TODAY: "AN ALBUM OF PITHY MISCHIEF AND ROGUISH CHARM"

AMERICANA MUSIC AWARDS AND CONFERENCE SHOWCASE CONFIRMED SEPT. 12 IN NASHVILLE AT MERCY LOUNGE

The New York Times' Nate Chinen included Corb Lund's 'Cabin Fever' (out yesterday on New West Records) in his Sunday Arts & Leisure playlist. Here's the complete review:

"You can almost see the twinkle in Corb Lund's eye throughout 'Cabin Fever,' an album of pithy mischief and roguish charm, due out on Tuesday. Mr. Lund, who hails from cowboy stock in Alberta, mines his milieu with a catch in his voice and a keen eye for detail. It's not just the yodeling that sets the song 'Priceless Antique Pistol Shoots Startled Owner' apart. His rangy band, the Hurtin' Albertans, sounds noticeably loose in the studio, especially in 'Bible on the Dash,' a wry bit of advice offered side by side with the Texas troubadour Hayes Carll. And to his credit Mr. Lund makes it hard to tell which is the truer version of him: the survivalist prophet of 'Gettin' Down on the Mountain,' who resembles a smart-alecky Cormac McCarthy, or the pleading paramour of 'September,' who clumsily tries to keep his love from heading back to the big city: 'I can picture how you're living, in a tiny fourth-floor flat/Well there's times that a thousand acres and the Rocky Mountains can't compete with that.'"

Additionally, Corb Lund and The Hurtin' Albertans will be performing at The Mercy Lounge on September 12, 2012 at 10pm during the Americana Music Awards and Conference.

New video for "September."

ON WAVE OF ACCLAIM FROM NY TIMES, USA TODAY, & ROLLING STONE, KEVIN GORDON PERFORMS AT OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD MARCH 29

Kevin Gordon, the southern rock and roller and poet who is the subject of a recent NY Times feature, will perform at Otto's Shrunken Head on March 29. He also earned four stars (out of four) in USA Today and three and a half stars in Rolling Stone, which said, "The smarts on 'Gloryland' never undercut the roots-rock rush. Dude's a juke-joint professor emeritus."

In the Times piece, Lucinda Williams said, "He’s writing songs that are like short stories, and I really like the kind of swampy, bluesy sound."

Meanwhile, Gordon also earned a rave from Oxford American, which said, "'Gloryland' should enhance his already sizable reputation as a poet-songwriter and an impassioned performer."

Philadelphia Inquirer called 'Gloryland' "unforgettable"; Blurt labeled it "astonishing"; and American Songwriter spoke of is as "vivid." No Depression said, "If you love Americana and you're only going to buy one album this year this is the one to buy."

Further out, on April 20, Gordon will open for John Prine at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ.

Check out video of Gordon live in NYC in January:

Here's a segment from NPR Here & Now on Gordon.

WHO: Southern rock & roll songwriter Kevin Gordon

WHAT: New York show

WHERE: Otto's Shrunken Head, 538 East 14th St., (212) 228-2240

WHEN: 10:30pm, March 29, 2012

TICKETS: Suggested donation $5