Robert Francis | Before The Nightfall

There's a black and white photograph of Robert Francis on the cover of his new record "Before The Nightfall", showing him sleeping in bed with his hands folded across his heart, as if in prayer, but it's probably just the way they ended up. It captures the innocence of a private moment and it seems completely natural to be privy to it. His songs are just the same, an open invitation into a well-lived and deeply considered life, laid bare and delivered in a sometimes quivering, sometimes booming baritone. Francis is 21 and has been playing in bands in his native Los Angeles since he was in third grade. He lost interest in guitar playing at one point, only to be coaxed back with some guitar lessons from Red Hot Chili Peppers' John Frusciante. I love this record, have listened once straight through, and I'm going to cue it up again.

Kristina Train | A New Voice from the American South

From the very first note on "Spilt Milk", Kristina Train's debut album on Blue Note Records, you know that you're in the presence of a strong and confident singer with a vulnerability that keeps the ears and heart open. The similarity in style and tone to Dusty Springfield, one of her idols, is uncanny. The old school arrangements with strings and well placed back up vocals recall a sound that few employ. Kristina is from Savannah, Georgia, and in a Dusty-story-in-reverse, she went to London to record with British producers/songwriters Jimmy Hogarth and Eg White who have worked with Adele, Duffy and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Uncharted Waters | New Music from Devandra Banhart

When Devandra Banhart started recording about a decade ago, the material was loose and the songs were half-finished. He worked on hand-me-down machines and never intended to do anything with the demos. He briefly attended the San Francisco Art Institute but left to wander and busk and traveled to Paris and eventually back to L.A. where he performed regularly. In 2002, his material was publicly released and was immediately critically recognized. Devandra was signed to Warner Brothers this year and the album What Will Be will be released October 27th. We got the song "Baby" in this week and it found it's way right into the cd player and onto the air on What's New For Lunch and Uncharted Waters.

Listen to Devandra's music here: http://www.myspace.com/devendrabanhart

Carol Brown Goldberg and Andy Chase | The Artistic Tradition

When I went to artist Carol Brown Goldberg's website and heard the music of her son Andy Chase's band Brookville play as the website loaded, I was struck by how sweet the gesture was AND how wonderfully the music complimented Carol's work. I knew that Carol painted to music, and mostly to Andy's various bands, Ivy, Paco, and Brookville, so it made sense that the music would be perfect. But hearing it in this way made me curious about Carol and Andy's relationtionship as mother and son, their individual and combined artistic processes, and how the artistic tradition is passed on in families. Both Andy and Carol spend considerable time on the Vineyard and I invited them to come in for a visit this past August. I wanted to share the conversation, which includes some of Andy's music, with you.

Listen to my interview with Carol and Andy

visit Carol's website www.carolbrowngoldberg.com
and Andy's www.andychase.com