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As you might imagine, I listen to a lot of music. I've always been pretty damn picky, but in some regards, Well-Rounded Radio now has me acting like the radio DJs and A&R people I used to hate so much when I was in bands (and trying to get them to listen to me!). So much stuff, you put it on, and if something doesn't grab your attention in a minute or two, you start reaching for the stop button.

My favorite album of 2009 was Song Sparrow Research's Welcome to the Potato Famine. I downloaded it in the fall via Bandcamp and found myself going back to it again and again for many months. Needless to say, given the amount of music now available to all of us, that doesn't happen as much as it used to for me.

You might recall the 50th episode of Well-Rounded Radio with Mike Dreese of Newbury Comics where I talked about the origins of Well-Rounded Radio. My friend, Marion Seymour, who played a big part in the story, has two sons. Her oldest, Harrison Boyce, is a terrific designer and you can see his work at harrisonboyce.com. Harrison also created the current Well-Rounded Radio site (in Movable Type).

Marion's younger son, Hamilton Boyce, is a musician who Marion has been telling me about over the years, from going to Garfield High School in Seattle and playing jazz to his first band, Grotto Fork, to the recording of Song Sparrow Research's first EP, The New Ragtime Revolution.

Last fall, I downloaded Song Sparrow Research's first full album, Welcome to the Potato Famine, from Bandcamp and was, to put it plainly, blown away.

Where The New Ragtime Revolution showed the band was finding its own sound, Welcome to the Potato Famine is the sound of a band becoming quite confident. It’s a sonic adventure that demonstrates both intensity and restraint. Some of the band’s songs are 6, 7, or 9 minutes long and have the effect of both exhilarating you and leaving you spent at the end.

Song Sparrow Research’s line-up for both recordings was David Balatero on bass and cello, Hamilton Boyce on guitar and vocals, and Nash Turley on drums and harmonica.

With the album recorded at the Caldwell Sculpture Studio in Seattle in the middle of winter and vocals in a studio, the album has a big, epic sound, but also a level of intimacy through the vocals.

Song Sparrow Research has been compared to a variety of artists, including Neil Young and Jeff Buckley, but I also hear hints of Sonic Youth, The Velvet Underground, jazz, improvisation, noise, and metal in the songs, too.

You can see some videos on their YouTube channel, including clips from live shows and music videos. Follow them on Twitter and become fan on Myspace.

You can still download Welcome to the Potato Famine at Bandcamp. Personally, I think $9.99 is an excellent price. Or, go cheap and buy at Amie Street and help drive them up the charts.

Song Sparrow Research is working on their second album now in Seattle, with an expanded line-up that includes more strings and stand up bass.

I sat down with Balatero and Boyce in December in Seattle to discuss:
* how the band recorded and produced their debut album in a giant metal working warehouse
* who some of their favorite artists are that also influence their work
* how are looking to make a living in this brave new world of music 2.0

Photo credit: Ethan Welty

Songs included in the episode include:
1) Song Sparrow Research: No Thoughts of My Own (Welcome to the Potato Famine) (in preview)
2) Song Sparrow Research: Tall Landlords (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
3) Garfield High School Jazz Band
4) Grotto Fork: Not Guilty (Ungulate)
5) Grotto Fork: ADAT (Ungulate)
6) Song Sparrow Research: Dry Sun (The New Ragtime Revolution)
7) Song Sparrow Research: Short Sighted (The New Ragtime Revolution)
8) Song Sparrow Research: Told to Send (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
9) Song Sparrow Research: From Mildew (unreleased demo)
10) Song Sparrow Research: From Mildew (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
11) Song Sparrow Research: Colored Paper (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
12) Song Sparrow Research: Told to Send (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
13) Song Sparrow Research: Amp Dead (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
14) Song Sparrow Research: No Thoughts of My Own (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
15) The Raggedy Anns: Standing in the Rain
16) Song Sparrow Research: Colored Paper (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
17) Song Sparrow Research: Heavy Shit (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
18) Song Sparrow Research: Experiments in Feedback Control (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
19) Song Sparrow Research: From Mildew (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
20) Song Sparrow Research: Green to the Ground (The New Ragtime Revolution)
21) Song Sparrow Research: Another Day/Gooseneck (The New Ragtime Revolution)
22) Song Sparrow Research: Heavy Shit (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
23) Song Sparrow Research: No Thoughts of My Own (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
24) Song Sparrow Research: Tall Landlords (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
25) Song Sparrow Research: Amp Dead (Welcome to the Potato Famine)
26) Song Sparrow Research: From Mildew (Welcome to the Potato Famine)

Posted by Charlie at 02:53 PM | Permalink

Listen (TRT 1:14): Hi-Fi mp3 | Shop

At a moment where what being a record label means is certainly in flux, Rounder Records is celebrating its 40th anniversary and, in many ways, showing what it means for artists who share a label and what that means to its customer and fans. (News on 4/14/10: Concord Records acquires Rounder Records)

Rounder Records was started in March 1970 by Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton-Levy, and Bill Nowlin (left to right). In our interview, Irwin tells us how the label came to be, and how they began with blues and bluegrass, and evolved the label to include folk, Cajun, Celtic, and reggae music.

Rounder also manages 18 subsidiary labels, including Heartbeat and Zoe Records.

As someone who knows a bit about bluegrass music, but wanted to learn more, I also ask Irwin to take us through the history of bluegrass.

Irwin kindly takes us through the history of bluegrass from Bill Monroe to Flatt & Scruggs to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to Alison Krauss to Steve Martin.

From the Theme from Deliverance to Bonnie and Clyde to O Brother, Where Art Thou? to bluegrass festivals around the world, Irwin helps us to understand some landmark moments in the history of the form and why it’s thriving now more than ever.

There are, of course, a lot of great resources about bluegrass music online, including Wikipedia, DMOZ, International Bluegrass Music Association, Society for the Preservation Bluegrass Music of America, International Bluegrass Music Museum, Bluegrass Works, and iBluegrass.

There is also a terrific book about Bill Monroe by Da Capo Press, Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe by Richard Smith.

From starting a record label because, as Irwin put its, “nobody told us we couldn’t” to winning a Grammy Award for Allison Krauss and Robert Plant’s Raising Sand collaboration, there are many lessons within Rounder’s story for musicians in 2010 and beyond.

In our next episode of Well-Rounded Radio, we’ll feature an interview I did with Scott Billington, the Vice President of A&R for Rounder Records with a focus on Cajun and zydeco music, much of which Billington has produced himself.

Rounder Records celebrated its 40th anniversary in March with a new concert CD and DVD, as well as a concert special on PBS. The concert featured Mary Chapin Carpenter, Minnie Driver, Bela Fleck, Allison Krauss and Robert Plant, Allison Krauss & Union Station with Jerry Douglas, Steve Martin, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas, Madeleine Peyroux, and Irma Thomas.

They’ve also just revamped their web site, rounder.com and there's a great book about Rounder, The Never-Ending Revival: Rounder Records and the Folk Alliance by Michael F. Scully.

I spoke with Irwin in Newburyport, Massachusetts to discuss
* why they started the label and how it has kept going
* how Rounder evolved through the years
* what some challenges are for roots music in the year 2010

Songs featured in the interview include:
1) J.D. Crowe and the New South: The Old Home Place
2) Alison Krauss and Robert Plant: Rich Woman
3) George Pegram: Mississippi Sawyer
4) George Pegram: Are You Washed in the Blood?
5) Joe Val: Along about Daybreak
6) Don Stover: Things in Life
7) Hazel Dickens: Hills of Home
8) Bill Monroe: Molly and Tenbrooks
9) Flatt & Scruggs: Go Home
10) MIke Seeger: The Memory of Your Smile
11) Bill Monroe: Blue Grass Breakdown
12) Jim & Jessee: Hard Hearted
13) Bill Monroe: Orange Blossom Special
14) Conne and Babe & The Backwood Boys: Home is Where The
15) The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: Will the Circle be Unbroken
16) Summertown Road: Summertown Road
17) Vern Williams: When Springtime Comes Again
18) Steve Martin: Late for School
19) Alison Krauss & Union Station: Every Time You Say Goodbye
20) J.D. Crowe & The New South: Long Journey Home
21) Danny Paisley and the Southern Grass: At the End of a Long Lonely Day
22) Whitstein Brothers: Arkansas
23) The Soggy Bottom Boys: I am a Man of Constant Sorrow
24) Laurie Lewis & Kathy Kallick: Is the Blue Moon Still Shining
25) Alison Krauss and Robert Plant: Gone Gone Gone
26) Jimmy Rogers with Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters: Left me with a Broken Heart
27) The Balfa Brothers: J'ai Vu Le Loup, Le Renard Et La Belette
28) Bela Fleck: Crossfire
29) Minnie Driver: Cold Dark River (Rounder Records 40th Anniversary Concert)
30) Irma Thomas: River is Waiting (Rounder Records 40th Anniversary Concert)
31) Sierra Hull: Secrets
32) James King: Leavin'
33) Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard: Montana Cowboy
34) James Hand: Don't Want Me Too
35) Marcia Ball: That's Enough of that Stuff

Posted by Charlie at 06:00 PM | Permalink