This was the first song I wrote for our forthcoming album. I sat on it for a while and we just recently started playing it live. It has a real groove to it that I feel shows our growth as a band. It is a little bit of a party/break up song. I got the line in the chorus from my dad he always used to say "that person is feeling no pain" when talking about someone who has a had a few too many cold ones. -Bison Bone
Music | Travelin' Hats and Cowboy Boots: Langhorne Slim and The Law @ The Bluebird 6/4 & 6/5
Langhorne Slim, born as Sean Scolnick is one of those performers that you can’t see just once... Ask anyone at The Bluebird this past weekend. Most of the fans that filled the walls of the theater were all there to see Scolnick perform for their third, fifth and even seventh time. A true testament of a timeless performer. And while it was only our first time seeing him, we were quick to convert.
With a missing tooth, goofy boy grin and wild eyes Scolnick took the stage with such conviction that the entire theater erupted in resplendent excitement. Slim is humble in a refreshing way and confident in a non cocky way - his stage presence is truly awe inspiring. While it is no question that Scolnick is comfortable being in the spotlight as a performer, his lyrics allow him to rise above the white noise of Americana. Whether Scolnick is transporting the listener to his childhood home with grandpa Syd or to the voidless space of a love lost, each song evokes emotion and invites the audience into his life.
When Scolnick performs he is not there to just mark another venue or city off his tour list. He interacts with crowd and not only gets personal with us but pushes us to get closer to him (both figuratively and literally). Slim was constantly lengthening his mic cord so he could drop into the crowd and mingle with the audience. Jumping onto handrails and wearing sparkly hats from well dressed audience members he made us all wish (and sort of believe) he was our best friend. As veteran concert goers we see a lot of performers get into the crowd because they want to create a scene and in turn a memorable experience for the audience - but there was no motive behind Scolnick’s antics. He simply felt compelled to jump in and did it, his movements were unrehearsed and uninhibited.
A highlight of the night included a law-less performance from Scolnick. He went sans band and played us a couple songs from his 2009 solo release, Be Set Free to a pristinely quiet Bluebird. Slim’s voice reverberated throughout the beer soaked walls as each audience member absorbed the passion laden lyrics. With only his guitar as support he shook the theater to our core as we hung drunk on each word. Without the band, his voice held raw emotion and a brash sadness that is otherwise overshadowed from the organ, drums and bass that The Law bring to the table. Each performance is unparalleled, unique and ranges from show stopping emotion to knee shakin’ banjo dancing.
From what we’ve seen of Scolnick thus far we are joining forces with his legion of fans and adding more Langhorne Slim and The Law to our future show wishlist. And from what we’ve seen in Denver, two nights of Langhorne is still two too little.
Music | Ticket Giveaway | Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer | May 7th
We have a great ticket giveaway to go see acclaimed songwriters Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer at The Walnut Room this Thursday at The Walnut Room. The contest is running on our Facebook and Instagram page. We have had these guys playing on repeat for the last few weeks and want to send you and a friend to check them out live.
Internationally-acclaimed songwriters Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer’s latest album, Maritime, captures a moment in time and place from their seaside home. Upon early release in Europe, Maritime charted at #1 on the EuroAmericana Chart for two consecutive months and ranked among the Best Albums of 2014 by The Telegraph, praising it for “…soulful songs, intuitive musicianship, and fine singing.”
Tucked away in the current-swept inland seas between Seattle, Washington and Victoria, British Columbia lies an archipelago of islands so serene that it readily defies our notion of political boundaries and sense of time. Handcrafted wooden cabins are nestled into small farms, still beyond the reach of cell towers, and the allure of the ocean is ever present. Instead of traveling far from their natural solitude to record an album in a bustling city, McGraw and Fer called on their cohort of kindred musicians and producer to come together from across the country to make what they were calling their “island record.” Recorded live in a home, at the end of a dirt road, amidst towering evergreens, a story of a patient island is told.
McGraw and Fer met in Flagstaff, Arizona in 2010 before relocating to the Pacific Northwest in 2012. McGraw spent a decade as a wildlife biologist, studying endangered birds in remote locales from the deserts of Mexico and the Grand Canyon to the mountainous rain forests of Washington state - penciling lyrics on data sheets with binoculars in hand. Fer’s musical pulse led her to Spain, where she studied music, language and local culture. After years of playing electric lead guitar with bands stateside, she suddenly found herself exploring the streets of Sevilla writing songs on a nylon guitar.
Together, their exceptional vocal harmonies coupled with Fer’s pioneering electric guitar work have become a vehicle to carry them around the world. The pair has honed their skills touring extensively throughout the US and Europe, sharing stages with fellow troubadours including Iron & Wine, Glen Hansard, Gregory Alan Isakov, Kelly Joe Phelps, Birds of Chicago and many others. Winning over audiences anywhere from Alaska to Amsterdam, McGraw and Fer are on the crest of a building wave with the US release of their new album, Maritime, on March 3rd, 2015.
Maritime is unique in its authenticity, navigating the waters of folk, indie-rock, and rootsy Americana. The album is emotive, raw, and honest. Compelling vocal harmonies grace every track, along with electric guitar, warm cello, driving rhythms and rich, wooded instruments. It is far more than just a romantic snapshot of rural, pastoral living, but rather a window into the complicated realities of broad human existence in both a troubled and beautiful world. Maritime is both the asking of questions, and the subtle answers that an island reveals.
a.tom collins | Album Stream
Today, a. tom collins celebrates the national release of his debut full length album, Stick & Poke. The 10-song album was recorded and produced at Absinthe Studio by the legend, the mystery, Bob Ferbache, and a. tom collins. It is released by Greater Than Collective, the non-traditional Denver-based label founded and run by Pete Turner (Illegal Pete's) and Virgil Dickerson (Suburban Home Records).
A. tom collins is a songwriter who is hard to pigeon-hole, navigating the murky swamps of New Orleans R&B and '60s Soul, and following the cues of diverse influences from Tom Waits and Cab Calloway, to The Stooges and Sam Cooke. Called 'one of the city's best front-men' by Westword, piano-man Aaron Collins drops anchor with an impressive crash at each and every port, transfixing bewildered audiences with his strange brand of old time futurism that is as familiar as it is refreshing. Expect wild horns, surprising rhythms, catchy gang chants, and one hell of a live show. Over this past weekend, he played to a completely packed house, with lines out the door, at the Underground Music Showcase.