I was talking to my dad last night about why Fresh Scouts exists, and I told him that it really wasn’t my idea—that Tank and KC were the ones who got the whole thing started. But I shared that even before FS existed, I wanted there to be a website like it, where I could have someone just go ahead and tell me where I could find good, new music without having to comb the internet for it myself.
Now, of course, I’m doing the combing and you’re reaping the fruits of my labor, but I don’t want us to pigeonhole ourselves into just covering rock and hip-hop. I know that most of our readership prefers one or both of those two genres, but there’s good country music out there, too. And no, I’m not talking about the damn Rascal Flatts, who have become this ubiquitous presence at every mall, state fair, and elevator in the country.
I’m talking about David Nail.
Not only does the guy have a badass name (Tangent—How sweet would it be if he had a Brooks & Dunn style duo with some guy named Duke Hammer?), but he’s also a very solid singer and songwriter, too. Look, I know what turns people off to a lot of country music. It’s the whiny twang, the lyrics about double wide trailers and white trash women, the near-tangible scent of cigarette smoke and black leather. It’s too blue collar and/or backwoods for some people. I get that.
But Nail isn’t any of those things. The music features good, old-fashioned guitar, keys, drums, and bass. That’s it. The lyrics are about love and life, and they’ve got creative hooks. The vocals come in hard and poignant, and there’s a richness to Nail’s voice that makes him distinguishable from the voluminous pool of cliché male country singers out there. To put it in just a few words (if it’s not already too late for that), the songs are just good. No simpler way to put it. They’re good.
“Red Light,” for example, was a huge country hit last year, which I suppose makes him ineligible as a new artist in the eyes of country fans. But for you other folks looking to branch out to new genres, David Nail is a great place to start. His ballad, “Turning Home,” plays a really nice rhythm on the piano and has an extremely memorable chorus. “Mississippi” is soulful, “Summer Job Days” is catchy, and “Clouds” is creatively melodic. In fact, Nail’s entire 2008 album, “I’m About to Come Alive,” provides limitless enjoyment. I even talked my pops into giving it a shot.
“Hey,” I said, “What is Fresh Scouts for if not great musical suggestions?” He just shrugged and sardonically told me stop pretending like FS was my idea.
My dad’s a funny guy sometimes. Funny, funny guy.
Check out “Turning Home” here:
And here’s “Red Light”:
LikeCourt Yard Hounds – “Ain’t No Son”
I wasn’t quite sure how I would feel listening to 2/3 of the Dixie Chicks. I mean, I am in love with Natalie Maines’ voice and without it I wasn’t sure how it would go. But then I reminded myself that Martie Maguire and Emily Robison were the ones that created the Chicks and they both are incredibly musically talented. Thankfully the sisters deliver with good old rockin’ country. “Ain’t No Son” is a hard driving track that will get you thumping your foot along to the beat. I am still waiting patiently for the Dixie Chicks to release a new record, but in the meantime the Court Yard Hounds satisfy my need for some good country twang.
Check out the Court Yard Hounds performing on The Late Show with David Letterman
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Josh Ritter – “Change of Time”
I really enjoy Josh Ritter. He has established himself as a singer-songwriter that other singer-songwriters look to for direction. His songwriting skill is advanced and his delivery is crystal clear. With his new album, So Runs the World Away, the 33 year-old Ritter serves up another solid track with “Change of Time”. The instrumentation beautifully sweeps across the track and the lyrics are like leaves caught in that breeze. Yeah, I’m deep.
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Gin Wigmore – “Oh My”
Oh my, I enjoy this song. Here are the reasons: 1) Gin Wigmore is a great name. It sounds like it came together in a game of Madlibs or something along those lines. Great name. 2) She is adding herself to the great list of New Zealand exports along with Flight of the Conchords and the Lord of the Rings. 3) Her bad girl image combined with her raspy tone gives me an Amy Winehouse vibe without all of the rehab and baggage.
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Ben Kweller is a fall-back artist. I know that sounds like a bad thing, but it is in fact the exact opposite. He is one of those tried and true musicians that, no matter what, you can always fall-back on for great music time and time again. His earlier albums had a Ben Folds-esque feeling to them with some very folky aspects closer to a Neil Young and some very alternative sounds closer to the Strokes.
We recently had the chance to catch up with Ben Kweller after a gig in Boston and, after popping a squat on the floor, got a chance to ask him about his upcoming projects and life in general. We asked him about his recent album Changing Horses and the inspiration behind this folk, country, blues album as opposed to his earlier works that were more pop and rock oriented.
He was definitely one of the more quirky artists we’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. He’s a very chill guy, but has an energy that surrounds him and his music that is hard to describe, but easy to love. Find out why we love Ben Kweller, and why you should too.
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There’s something you should know about celebrities. No matter what kind of persona they might show on stage or on TV or on the playing field, you’ll never know with 100% certainty who that person really is until you actually get some time to sit down and have a conversation with them. You’d be surprised how many celebrities would disappoint you, no matter how big a fan you’ve been over the years. But on the flipside of that, there are some people you might not have cared anything about previously, but when you meet them for the first time you’re instantly a huge fan.
Bob Crawford, bassist of the Avett Brothers, is somebody you probably don’t know anything about. But he’s somebody you’re going to love.
While Seth and Scott Avett are the heart and soul of the Avett Brothers—a country/bluegrass/pop/rock fusion group making loads of waves in the last year with their first major label album, “I and Love And You”—Crawford has proven to be an integral part of the band for the better part of eight years. Now that they’re seeing some serious success, Crawford explains what the major-label process has been like.
“We didn’t know what to expect going into it,” he said, “and I know sometimes there can be negative connotations associated with major labels. But it has probably exceeded what we thought it could be… We’ve always worked with a small team, and what Columbia and American have done is they’ve added to that team with another really small group of people that we work with on the other side. Everybody’s really enthusiastic about what we’re doing, and everybody wants us to succeed.”
And so far, succeed they have. Rolling Stone Magazine named them “The Artist to Watch” for 2009, obviously helping them garner a lot of momentum.
“That’s always exciting, but in a way it was like it came kind of late,” Crawford chuckled about the honor. “We had been around for eight years when that happened. We’d been trying to get in front of [Rolling Stone] for years, and they kept denying it. Then all of a sudden they like it.”
He laughed about the entire process of what it means to reach success in the fickle music business, and in the end he’s really just thankful. “In reality, though, you just can’t deny what a thrill it is to see that happen.”
It wasn’t always this easy for the Avett Brothers, though. Because of their hard-to-classify musical genre, there weren’t many major labels willing to take a risk on them due to fears that they wouldn’t appeal to a broad enough audience.
“It was a hurdle for the labels and for the industry,” Crawford explained. “In fact, we were told that many years ago when we were invited to play for RCA in Nashville. We were in a little board room with three executives watching us, and the woman told us, ‘The way demographics go, we just need to put you in this little box. Would you be willing to do other people’s material?’ And we were like, ‘Well, we’d rather not,’ and that was it. So I guess it was a hurdle for the labels, but it was never a hurdle for us musically because we’ve always just done what we do.”
Now, Crawford and the Avett Brothers are starting perhaps their biggest tour yet, running all over America and part of Europe between now and mid-summer, culminating in their third appearance at the Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee. They’ll be one of several artists rocking several stages that weekend—stages that will see Jay-Z, Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon, Stevie Wonder, Weezer, Zac Brown Band, and damn near every other significant musical artist in the business. It’s like the NBA All-Star Weekend for musicians.
But as the 2010 tour gets underway, Crawford is forced to leave his wife and four-month-old daughter behind—making this the hardest work trip he’s ever had to make.
“I didn’t even look at the schedule, so I have no idea what’s coming up,” Crawford said in response to a question about what he was looking forward to on the upcoming tour. “I know we’re playing at some point with Gov’t Mule, and that’s really exciting—but I have been absolutely blind to what was coming because I’ve been so focused on being at home and being at home with [my daughter].”
And here comes the part where you fall in love with a guy you never even knew you cared about. Family and music are this man’s two passions, but when asked how the two compare, he didn’t even hesitate.
“I’m so thankful for all the great things that have happened (with the Avett Brothers) and all the hard work we’ve put in, but this is your family. It can’t even compare,” Crawford explained, adding, “This could all go to crap in a heartbeat—I mean, I hope it doesn’t, and I’m counting on it not—but there’s nothing that can compare to holding my daughter… I knew that when she came into the world, that was the greatest moment of my life, no matter what we ever do with the Avett Brothers.”
Fans of Crawford and his group get to root for a genuinely good guy, and from what we understand the actual Avett brothers are the same way. Yes, they’re on the up-and-up in the music industry, writing critically acclaimed music and playing for increasingly huge audiences, but they’re also really good people. There’s no pretension, no sense of entitlement—just three guys who love making music and absolutely have their priorities straight. If you weren’t a fan before reading this, you should be now. And if you still aren’t a fan, maybe picking up their album or going to see their show would change your mind.
As if it needs any changing.
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Are there siblings out there more talented than the Wayans Brothers? Yes. Welcome Scott and Seth Avett to the stage. Bob Crawford may not be blood related, but he might as well be. Bob rocks the stand-up bass, Scott picks the banjo and Seth tickles the guitar. This well-balanced trio, hailing from North Carolina, rock stages near and far as The Avett Brothers.
Many in the music industry have found it challenging to place the music of The Avett Brothers into one particular genre. I believe that this challenge is a good thing, because at the end of the day one genre cannot describe what they do. It is best to label their music as “fresh” and leave it at that. But for those that desire labels, I would have to say that their music is a blend of folk, bluegrass, rock and roll, and country. And the last time I checked that aisle doesn’t yet exist at my local record store.
A few weeks back a good friend of mine got me tuned into The Avett Brothers. The first thing that really struck me after giving a listen was that their music is refreshingly different from so much that is out there right now. Their blending of genres and independent swagger is thrilling. Tracks off their new album I and Love and You have moments of stillness followed by energetic outbursts that is downright exciting.
You will be hearing a lot from The Avett Brothers in the coming months. Heavy touring coupled with national exposure on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will quickly make the guys a household name.
I and Love and You is an amazing album. I personally recommend “I and Love and You”, “Head Full Of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise”, “Kick Drum Heart” and “Slight Figure Of Speech”.
The Avett Brothers with their track “I and Love and You” on the Late Show with David Letterman. Introduction and music begins at 40 seconds.
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Want more music from siblings? Check out The Lovell Sisters!
