The Band Perry is out to prove there’s a lot more to them than their chart-topping single “If I Die Young.”

The Alabama-born, Tennessee-based trio of siblings saw that song zoom to #1 on the country charts after it was released as a single from the band’s 2010 self-titled debut album. Although the song didn’t win a GRAMMY, the band still netted two of the coveted trophies and a host of other awards.

But now the real work begins as Kimberly, Neil, and Reid Perry hunker down with super-producer Rick Rubin to craft their sophomore album. The trio is also burning up the highways as it plays concerts throughout the U.S. including on Brad Paisley‘s Virtual Reality Tour.

So just how is The Band Perry planning to keep the career momentum going? Recently the siblings took time out to talk about just that. Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: The Band Perry Talk Next Album, Brad Paisley and Bribes’

Kathy Mattea has done it again.

When the two-time GRAMMY Award winner released Coal in 2008, many critics thought it’s powerful messages about Appalachia would be impossible to replicate. That’s understandable when you consider the Charleston, W. Va. native wrote the 11 songs on Coal as a way to spotlight the Montcoal, W. Va. mining disaster that killed 29 people. But what Mattea did on the album even beat that lofty goal; she turned the songs into a story of those that lived in the area for decades, continually triumphing over oppression.

Although Mattea has had more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks chart including “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses,” and ”Goin’ Gone,” she has no qualms about turning back to her folk, bluegrass roots for her latest album though it moves her away from the country music spotlight. Mattea recently took time to talk about her new album, her time in mainstream country, and how a sense of place plays into her music. Continue reading ‘Exclusive Q and A: Kathy Mattea Talks About ‘Calling Me Home’’

If you love sludge metal bands that drag their guitars and drums through dense bogs of distortion and jolting tempo changes, screaming doom and gloom the whole way, then you’ll want to steer clear of Everett Coast. Hailing from the sunny City of Angels, the duo’s breezy folk rock is antithetical to anything that’s hard edge, hardcore, or hard knock. Like Simon and Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers, Everett Coast is all about harmonics. Layered and staggered vocal harmonies permeate their songs. On “Just Let Go” shimmering keys and glistening guitars create dreamy, ethereal rock. While metal bands like Lamb of God bellow lyrics like, “Destroy yourself / see who gives a f—k,” Everett Coast stays positive, singing, “I know we’ll meet again someday / Where we can be the best of friends.” Our point is this: Life’s hard. Sometimes misery’s company is a catharsis, and sometimes it’s better to stay in the light. Next time you need to feel good about things, you know where to go.

Hanging with buds, falling in love, partying all night — that’s what teenage dreams are made of. Take The Day, out of New Berlin, Wis., has dedicated their talent to providing a killer soundtrack for youth. Their songs are high-adrenaline, hooky dance rockers, inspired in equal measure by Top 40 pop and EDM. “Freaks” gets the blood pumping with big synth blooms, pitch-shifted beats, and grungy guitars. Although Take The Day is clearly influenced by artists like Skrillex, they like their rock, as the gnarly guitar solos of “Look Who’s Laughing Now” prove. But it’s “Celebrities” that epitomizes what the band is all about. “Gimme the fame so everybody knows my name,” demands singer Adam Devlin, “I want to party every day.” If you think this band is settling for anything less than supreme rock stardom, you got another thing coming.

Talain Rayne

“Talain Rayne is shipwrecked.” Thus begins Talain Rayne’s Kickstarter manifesto, a hilarious, touching plea for donations to help the singer-songwriter get a new set of wheels and get out of Dodge. (Dodge being Phoenixville, PA.) Rayne’s ability to raise more than $12K is due in part to his uncanny resemblance to Tom Hanks in Cast Away. But it’s also due to his huge talent. Rayne crafts swooning, emotive indie pop with stomping drums, cascading pianos, twinkling xylophone and awesome boy-girl harmonies. From his dreamy meditations on sibling revelry in “Dear Sister, Your Brother” to the fierce vulnerability in “16,” Rayne knows how to pack a visceral punch. Probably one of his most moving songs is “Family Wall,” written for his father. “I take back everything I said, all because I love you, dad,” he croons. There aren’t a lot of dudes singing love songs to their dads out there, which makes this one all the more touching. Hey Talain — we love you, man.

The Good

?uestlove inherits Jimmy Fallon’s dynasty in “Downton Sixby”

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon? “Downtown Sixby” gives you an inside peek the talk show host’s life offstage, where cue card valets come up with hilarious Kardashian jokes, hirsute daughters look for love, and Roots drummers stand to inherit the Fallon dynasty.

Flight of the Conchords reunite for charity

It’s business time again for Flight of the Conchords. The New Zealand duo have reunited to pen a charity single for Cure Kids called “Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That). Check out the lyric video below to hear how robbing robbers and feta cheese just might be the solution to it all. Continue reading ‘Discourse & Dischord’

Lucinda Williams was already a multi-GRAMMY Award-winning singer songwriter in 2009 when she married music industry insider Tom Overby on stage at her Minneapolis concert prior to her .

But finding the man she calls “my best friend, my soul mate,” actually bumped her artistry up even more levels. You’ll hear that on her GRAMMY Award- nominated album Blessed and perhaps even more so in her live performances, especially when she performs songs she has just written and will soon record. At a recent sold-out show at the Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C., Williams did the near impossible. She and her musical partner for the evening, virtuoso guitarist Doug Pettibone, performed a two-hour show before a packed room that had the intimacy of a house concert. Continue reading ‘Your Country’s Right Here: Lucinda Williams’ New Music Shines Bright’

It was 1991 and Los Lobos were pissed. “We had recorded [1990 album] The Neighborhood and toured that record nonstop,” remembers saxophonist/keyboardist Steve Berlin. “The Neighborhood took us about a year to make, for no good reason. We had a co-producer who had an agenda, and we were dealing with his agenda and not trusting ourselves. We came home from that tour pissed-off, broke, we had sort of bought this idea that we were big rock stars and that we needed to have all this rock-star stuff, like lights, and two buses, and lots of stuff that we really didn’t need, or even want, for that matter.” Continue reading ‘Riffs, Rants, And Rumors: Los Lobos Look Back On ‘Kiko’’

Matthew Peabody of The Missing Chums

Matthew Peabody and Mike Kegler share a long history, one that spans bands and orchestras and college jam sessions. The Missing Chums is a continuation of that musical synergy. Along with keyboardist Matt Douponce and bassist Henry Van Loon, the band cranks out jumpy, lo-fi rockers. The title track to their debut album, Out of the Gates, is an anthem of uncertainty. “I’m guessing this great flood will wash your conscience clean,” Peabody warbles over furious strumming, handclaps, and tambourines. The excellent “Cover It Up” is more brazen, steeped in the ‘80s with big distorted guitars, rock steady drums, and Peabody’s loosened croon. The Chums’ music is raw and unrefined, equal parts nervous energy and swaggering hooks. On “Yes You May” isolation and desire creep in, but by “Moving Target” the group has pulled out the tambourines for a low-country jig. Life’s tough. Still, every underdog has its day.

For this week’s Songs of the Revolution, we were honored to play host to Shonen Knife, the all-female Japanese pop punk band that influenced a generation of American rockers before ever stepping onto U.S. soil.

The band has just released Pop Tune, their 18^th studio album since their debut in 1982. Frequently cited by Kurt Cobain as one of his favorite bands, they had a lot of success in America in the mid-late ‘90s, and during that time made one of their best-loved recordings, a cover of The Carpenters’ “Top Of The World,” which was included on a popular tribute album.

Despite a few lineup changes over the years (singer Naoko Yamano is the remaining original member), the band is currently as strong as ever, as evidenced on this session. We naively requested a stripped-down set, in keeping with the vibe of the SOTR sessions. When the band arrived at the studio, we set up and suggested maybe just a hi-hat for cymbals. Sure, they nodded and agreed. Drummer Emi Morimoto asked for another cymbal stand. Okay, maybe just a ride cymbal, we hinted. Soon enough, she was wailing on the kit with a nice, high crash invading all the mics. We had to respect that. And, in the end, we’re glad we’re not the ones who got Shonen Knife to water it down.

Enjoy these streaming video performances and free downloads, and try not to let “Banana Chips” drive you mental with its insistent catchiness. Atomic-level earworm.

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