The Great Recession Orchestra is a western swing band that has just released a double record called Double Shot. Disc 1 is called The Forties In Fort Worth and the second Shaking The Sheiks is based on the music of Mississippi Sheiks.

Here’s a Mississippi Sheiks cover tune called “She Ain’t No Good”.

She Ain’t No Good

Originals by Mississippi Sheiks:

One of the benefits of doing this blog for coming up on 8 years now is the fact that I have a lot of people I can continually follow up on. The Wisconsin singer-songwriter Paul Otteson is back with his second long player called Robin Red (I wrote about his previous EP here). These 10 songs shift between chamber folk and a more electric/eclectic americana. For a proud Wisconsonite Paul sometimes conjures up more of British sound with his clearly enunciated vocals which lilt and flutter within each song. Whatever you decide to call this – call it yours by ordering it here.

Oh Destiny

Video for “Oh Destiny w/Anna Vogelzang

I wrote about John Fullbright this week partly because over the last two years I have seen his name in places I trust, referenced by artists I like, and playing clubs I wish I could go to. Of late the same can be said for the trio The Stray Birds. This simple acoustic trio is starting to make waves with their excellent musianship, stipped down songs and beautiful vocal harmonies. The band released an ep in 2010 and are prepping the summer release of their debut full length.

Pick up the ep Borderland here; and stay tuned to Songs:Illinois for news of the upcoming album.

Birds of the Borderland
Sparrow

“Birds of the Borderland” video

And now for something entirely different. Here is the combination western swing, experimental jazz, and film noir soundtrack from the group the Pornadoes. This group of mostly mid-westerners stuck in Seattle has a new 7 song ep called Now Swerving…

Ballard Loafers

Dan Weber is an up and coming singer songwriter in the mode of Todd Snider. He is also from the great Northwest and litters his songs with references to The Dead, Hank Williams, and liquor. His new album is called Ash and Bone. Here’s his song “Gravity” plus a video of his opus “Hank and Jesus”.

Gravity

“Hank and Jesus”

The quote above is about Walter Salas Humara’s band The Silos but I’m fine with applying it to both bands playing our next house concert.

It’s been awhile but we’re back with a summer house concert (and we now have central air!). It’s actually a double bill of Walter Salas Humara of Silos fame and the Detroit based band Frontier Ruckus. The date of the show is Wednesday, June 13 at 7pm. It is a weekday so we’ll start early but school is out so we will be celebrating that and staying up late.

This show is a bit of the old (sorry Walter) and some of the new. Walter Salas Humara released his debut record in 1985. It was called “About Her Steps” and while I love it; it wasn’t til “Cuba” came out a year later that I discovered the band. “Cuba” was a revelation – in fact some credit it as the start of the americana movement in music. It was released independently by a record collective and received critical praise including Rolling Stone calling them “Americas’s best new band”. But it wasn’t until the band’s major label self-titled debut on RCA Records that the rest of the country heard about the band (this song performed on Letterman didn’t hurt). Over the last 25 years, whether it was with the Silos or with any of his solo records and project, Walter Salas Humara has been able to capture a slice of the American way of life with simple, direct songs that speak to the heart.

Frontier Ruckus on the other hand have only a few records under their belt. They are only in their early twenties but they have been praised as having some of the most poetic lyrics and unusual instrumentation (musical saw, odd toy pianos, etc.) of any band in the country. I have loved them since I first heard their 8 minute plus opus “Adirondack Amish Holler” several years back. Their record “Orion Town is already a classic to their fans. They have been touring for the last several years playing anything from a dive bar in Chicago to the über hip California festival Bonaroo to the streets of London (check out the video). They will release a double album this summer called An Eternity of Dimming. We’re lucky to have them.

So, please RSVP if you can come if you are in the Chicago area. Feel free to forward this or invite your friends, teenagers will love this. Anyone interested can RSVP to cbonnell@gmail.com. We will ask for a $20 donation but as always will provide some appetizers and beer and wine so you’ll probably break even. This one’s going to be special — hope to see you here.

Frontier Ruckus Mp3′s:

Adirondack Amish Holler (demo)
Orion Town 2

Walter Salas Humara Mp3′s

For Always
Caroline

Praise for Frontier Ruckus:

“…delicate, finger-picked banjos, aching, oaky violin and the haunting voice of frontman Matthew Milia, who conjures what might happen had Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum been raised in a log cabin. Their songs are full of rich, rural details: frozen lakes, swaying trees, highway lights glowing in the deep night. Add to the mix baleful brass and trembling percussion, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for Gothic Americana.” – Rolling Stone

“(Frontier Ruckus) brings a contemporary angle to its music, eschewing traditional tales of trains, whiskey and rambling for reflections on suburbia, family and ‘life on the edge of the interstate.’” – NPR Music

“So what do banjos, dobros, trumpets, alto horn and a singing saw have in common? One wouldn’t think very much were it not for Frontier Ruckus, a citified quintet of rustic folkies whose name belies their mournful melodies. Though they hail from Detroit, their songs evoke the loneliness and isolation of a dust-blown prairie. It’s a feeling owed in large measure to vocalist Matthew Milia, a star in the making…However this is no downer. Even in the face of that pervasive yearning, Deadmalls & Nightfalls boasts an unassuming, unfettered appeal that grows more affecting with each successive hearing.” – Blurt

Praise for The Silos/Walter Salas Humara:

“The band’s austere style inflects the astringent twang of The Velvet Underground with the drone of R.E.M. and adds countryish echoes that recall Gram Parsons.” Stephen Holden The New York Times

“Powerful earthy pop that sounds like the result of Nirvana riding on R.E.M’s tour bus.” Buzz McClain The Washington Post

“Someday we’ll brag about them to our grandchildren, they’re that good.” Bill Flanagan Musician Magazine

Really, Hype Machine! Nothing on the new John Fullbright album yet. He’s only the most celebrated young artist in all of americanaland. The single from the forthcoming record has already been premiered by Paste, the Kickstarter campaign was a success, SXSW was dutifully conquered and the guy has Shorefire Media working hard (hardly working) as his PR machine.

I’m usually turned off by such a successful launch but it seems like John Fullbright is the real deal. Whether he’s playing guitar or sitting at his piano Fullbright rarely hits a wrong note. On “Gawd Above” Fullbright’s normal acoustic sound is fleshed out by a rollicking band – where this has often failed in the past for other artists; the fuller sound is not an encumberance to Fullbright’s songs. Quite simply he nails it.

Pre-order this May 8th release here at Amazon.

Gawd Above

Here’s a song off Jon Dee Graham’s upcoming record Garage Sale. While I know he is an Texas institution I don’t know much else about Jon Dee. I do like this song though. It’s theme of brotherhood in the light of having lost everything else is powerful.

Garage Sale is due out June 28.

The Orphan’s Song

“Best” video via Music Fog

Polly Paulusma is one of the few singer songwriters that I like that has been able to balance a modicum of success with continued artistic output. Polly gained immediate fame (at least in the indie world) when One Little Indian picked her up in 2003 shortly after the release of her debut record. It seems she’s come full circle with her third release which she is releasing herself on her Wild Sound label. The new record is called Leaves From The Family and is uniformly lush, mostly acoustic outing with guest appearances from Adem and Erin McKeown, rock violin diva Anna Phoebe and acclaimed film composer Michael Price.

Purchase the new record from Polly Paulusma herself here or here.

Last Week Me

Seattle’s got something going on. Sure they were once known as home of the grunge. But of late when I think about Seattle I picture more cowboy boots and pedal steels than flannel. For instance they have the fine folky radio station KBCS, they have the venue The Tractor (“Music, beer & Liquor”), and now they have Joy Mills.

Joy Mills was the leader of the acclaimed pacific northwest americana band The Starlings and now she has her debut solo record out called Trick of the Eye. By and large the songs on here are low key whiskey weepers. In fact on the song “History Repeats” the combination of the sorrowful pedal steel and Joy’s breathy vocals create a pervasive sense of sorrow and heartbreak. Add Joy Mills to the small list of upcoming female alt country stars (think Zoe Muth and Eilen Jewell).

Buy the new record here.

History Repeats