Katie Herzig | The Waking Sleep

There are lots of ways to go about recording an album. For Katie Herzig, on the new "The Waking Sleep", it was "building" a record, assembling fragments of sound into a spacious, openly woven album. When she and co-producer Cason Cooley set up in the studio to start, Katie said "I don't have any songs!" Sound by sound, word by word they emerged.

"Find your voice, find your voice, make a noise," she writes in "Make a Noise". Finding her voice on this record came as she went. From this side, it feels like a giant door opened, and lo and behold, on the other side, there was a path and a process leading to all that she knew deep inside, all that she was capable of.

There is a big world that she and Cooley fashioned inside the tracks, spending hours experimenting with individual sounds, most musical, but some natural sounds--hands rubbing together, a hand brushing over someone's beard. The sound of daily life. Sounds upon sounds, layered and buried, songs rising up to life, and now with the album complete, we're all invited in for the lift, the joy, the revelation.

Bon Iver | Bon Iver

Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and his brother Nate found a ranch style house a few miles from their childhood home in Wisconsin. And in the space that once housed an indoor pool, Justin created a recording studio and his new self-titled album, a stunning follow-up to 2008's "For Emma, Forever Ago".

Vernon has assembled a great supporting cast of musicians including pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz and bass saxophonist Colin Stetson. Bon Iver is out on tour, with friends The Rosebuds on some dates and Kathleen Edwards on others, and many of the shows are sold out.

Mavis Staples at Newport Folk

The joyful and effervescent Mavis Staples performed at Newport Folk Festival yesterday, running through a spirited set of songs, both old and new. "The Weight", "I'll Take You There" and "You Are Not Alone", the title track of her 2010 Grammy winning CD.

I sat down with Mavis after her performance. Click here to listen to the interview.

That old feeling...

Walking around Fort Adams today, the grounds buzzing with the activity of intense preparation for the arrival of 20,000 people 35 musical acts, I got that old feeling. The one that washes over me and makes me so happy to have music in my bones, in my heart and in my life.

As we were setting up in our tent backstage, I heard Suzanne Vega's voice floating in the air. I think it was Klondike who was playing a song of hers to check the sound at the Harbor stage. It sounded so beautiful, and everything I was doing and thinking faded into the background and I thought, "this is as good as it gets. I am so happy right now."

Chadwick Stokes | Simmerkane II

The first solo album from State Radio and Dispatch band member Chadwick Stokes, was released Tuesday. "Simmerkane II" was recorded in Jim Parr's studio in Oak Bluffs and produced by John Dragoneti. Lots of Chad's musical friends, including Parr, Dragoneti, Embree, White Buffalo and Carly Simon collaborated. A bonus CD is included with three tracks that Chad recorded with The Sierra Leone Refugee Allstars

Chad and his brother took a train-hopping trip across country last summer and many of the songs were inspired by that experience. The songs are tender and insightful. The beautifully detailed lyrics tell stories that reveal a sharp eye and a deep heart.

Chadwick Stokes stopped by mvyradio this week.
Listen here

Tedeschi Trucks Band | Revelator

Husband and wife Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have been talking about doing an album together for years and now with their new CD "Revelator", the time has come. The two met in 1999 when Susan was opening for The Allman Brothers Band, the group that Derek has played with since he was a teenager. They married in 2001. One would be hard-pressed to find a better title for the record. Much is revealed, and at the heart of it all is their joyful, life-long commitment to the pursuit of musical excellence. It seems that the power of this collaboration could eclipse their successful solo careers, at least for a while.

Susan and Derek spent 2010 writing songs, assembling an amazing band and finally recording the album in their Jacksonville, FL home studio, Swamp Raga. Grammy-winning engineer Jim Scott, co-produced the album with Trucks, and like the primary pairing of Tedeschi and Trucks, this match anchors and focuses the record. "Revelator" is a spirited, loving coming together of two major talents, smack dab in the middle of their prime, supported by a close-knit cast of accomplished players.

Sarah Jarosz | Follow Me Down

Sarah Jarosz has just turned 20 and the musical maturity that she displays on her new CD "Follow Me Down" reveals a talent that sounds and feels much older, more seasoned than her years. She commands the space on the record with her confident singing and proficient playing on mandolin, banjo and guitar. Her youth is not lost, and comes through in the wonder and joy of discovery that is evident in each song.

Some of the best players in the folk, country and bluegrass world provide support. Vince Gill, Jerry Douglas, Dan Tyminksi, Victor Krauss, Shawn Colvin, Stuart Duncan join in. Most of the songs are written by Sarah and the covers are well chosen. Chris Thile and The Punch Brothers collaborate on Radiohead's "The Tourist" and Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas bring it on home with Sarah on Bob Dylan's "Ring Them Bells". Gary Paczosa produces with great care.

Adele and The Civil Wars in Boston 5/15/11

There was a seemingly endless line that snaked down Landsdowne Street this past Sunday night as Adele fans waited to walk into The House of Blues for the British singer's show that sold out months ago. These were people WITH tickets! and everybody wanted get in early to claim a spot for the night.

At other shows at HOB, I have found a place in the back near the sound board, but Sunday we made our way to the front of the floor section and found room, stage right with a great view of what would be an unforgettable night of music.

From this vantage point, I was able to see the roadies set up for Adele's set and this was a part of the show that I didn't expect to witness. They were getting everything just right. The straight mic stand, the stool, the table with water and tea, the fan, and the four (or was it five?) monitor wedges that would surround Adele with her voice, the voice that everyone was coming to hear.

When we did hear her, it was from off-stage. And when she appeared, it was simply, with her trademark openness, humility and thankfulness, and to great applause and cheers.

The talent that Adele displays is equally matched with the love, admiration and appreciation that her fans have for her. The appreciation is the main thing. Adele does something for her fans beyond just dazzling them with her vocal prowess and stunning presence; it seems that she holds a mirror to their best qualities.

"Rumor Has It" was one of the highlights of the show. Adele tells the story behind the song

Hot Tuna | Steady As She Goes

It's been 20 years since Hot Tuna released an album, so the new "Steady As She Goes" is a welcome arrival and well worth the wait.
Produced by Larry Campbell at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock NY, the album is firmly fixed in the 60's and 70's acoustic/electric rock n' roll that Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady first established in The Jefferson Airplane and their early days in Hot Tuna.

According to Kaukonen, both he and Casady felt very comfortable and free to create in the recording process due Campbell's support of their vision and the producer's clear view of what the final product would sound like. Not only did Campbell produce the record, but he plays multiple instruments, including fiddle and violin, recalling the great sounds of Papa John Creach. Barry Mitterhoff is on mandolins and Skoota Warner on the drums, making this a real band album. Teresa Williams provides harmony vocals, and in a couple of songs sounds like The Airplane's Grace Slick. The effect is perfect, and it's one of the many fine touches that serve to recapture a sound that could well be lost and forgotten but lives on in their music making.

Alison Krauss and Union Station | Paper Airplane

The sepia tone of the picture of Alison Krauss and Union Station on the cover of their new album "Paper Airplane" sends a message before the first notes of the record sound. Tradition is important here. Over the course of the past thirty of her thirty-nine years, Krauss has mined the folk and bluegrass traditions of American roots music, recording for the first time when she was fourteen. She has stayed true to her original record label, Massachusetts based Rounder Records, signing with them in 1985. She has worked with Union Station since the early 80's

This album flows like a rolling river, steady and strong, mighty, but contained. There is a depth of experience, a certain world weariness in Krauss' voice that ever so softly permeates the songs she sings here. The twenty plus years of playing with Union Station secures the music so there is not one false note. Dan Tyminski confidently takes the lead vocal on a couple of the tracks. Richard Thompson's "Dimming of the Day' and Jackson Browne's "My Opening Farewell" are nice additions to the new material written for the record.

The Little Stevies | Attention Shoppers

I started listening to this new album by The Little Stevies, a band for Melbourne Australia, just before I went on vacation in March. I took it with me and it ended up in a endless loop in the rental car cd player. These guys have great musical chops and an innate ability to connect heart to heart. The album was recorded in L.A. and produced by Ethan Allen who has worked with Tim Finn and Kristin Hersh.

After doing multiple takes for a video for one of the songs "Feel It", they ended up taking the 10th and last one for the final video. Sisters Sibylla and Bethany Stephen and their band mate Robin Geradts-Gill dance through the shot just like they did when they were kids putting on dance routines for their parents in the back yard. You'll see their folks applauding at the end of the video.

Check it out on Youtube

Dawes | Time Spent In Los Angeles

We played the new song by Dawes today on mvyradio's What's New For Lunch. The new album "Nothing Is Wrong" will be out June 7th. The song is very SoCal- the band proudly hails from North Hills, CA. It's reminiscent of early Jackson Browne and The Eagles, with Jackson himself, and Benmont Tench appearing on the record. Dawes starts a tour May 5th in Houston, with Brett Dennen joining them on some dates, and will be doing select TV dates and live shows with Robbie Robertson.

Here's a clip of "Time Spent In Los Angeles":
Click here


The band appeared with Robertson on Letterman recently, performing his "He Don't Live Here Now More". Robertson says "They're all at the top of their game. I'm the one that's a little rusty."



See the video on Youtube