My 2017 Grammy Picks

So, the 2017 Grammy Nominations were released today. Couple of unexpected things, including Sturgill Simpson’s “Album of the Year” nomination and FIVE nominations for Twenty One Pilots, but most of it was expected. Well, other than Beyonce in a rock category, but hey, good on her. I don’t listen to a lot of music in the pop, rap, r&b, country, Latin, classical, or whatever all the rest of those categories are, but here’s a few picks for you.

Album of the Year
Who I’d Pick: Sturgill Simpson “A Sailor’s Guide To Earth” (Pro Tip: When Aaron Lee Tasjan says “Buy this album,” just shut up and hand over your money.)
Who Will Win: “25” – Adele. Adele wins everything.
Number of these I have heard: 1 – Sturgill Simpson
Number of these I really own: 1 – Sturgill Simpson

Record of the Year:
Who I’d Pick Stressed Out – Twenty One Pilots (Columbus, bitches!)
Who Will Win Hello – Adele (I wish they’d play it at the proper speed) Adele wins everything.
Number of these I have heard: 3 – Twenty One Pilots, Beyonce, Adele
Number of these I really own: 1 – Twenty One Pilots

Song of the Year:
Who I’d Pick None of them.
Who Will Win Hello – Adele (I wish they’d play it at the proper speed) Adele wins everything.
Number of these I have heard: 2 – Adele, Beyonce
Number of these I really own: 0

Best New Artist:
Who I’d Pick: Maren Morris
Who Will Win: Whoever’s gonna disappear the fastest, so probably the rapper or the DJs.
Number of these I have heard: 1 – Maren Morris
Number of these I really own: 1 – Maren Morris (“Rich” is a great song!)

Best Pop Vocal Album:
Who I’d Pick: “This Is Acting” – Sia (because Zero Seven was the bomb!)
Who Will Win: Ariana Grande or Adele. Adele wins everything.
Number of these I have heard: 2 – Sia, Adele
Number of these I really own: 1 – Sia

Best Pop Solo Performance:
Who I’d Pick: None of them.
Who Will Win: “Hello” – Adele. Adele wins everything
Number of these I have heard: 1 – Adele
Number of these I really own: 0

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
Who I’d Pick: “Stressed Out” – Twenty One Pilots (Columbus, bitches!)
Who Will Win: No idea.
Number of these I have heard: 3 – Twenty One Pilots (Columbus, bitches!), Lukas Graham, Sia
Number of these I really own: 1 – Twenty One Pilots (Columbus, bitches!)

Best Rock Performance:
Who I’d Pick: “Heathens” – Twenty One Pilots (Columbus, bitches!)
Who Will Win: “Blackstar” – David Bowie. Dead always wins.
Number of these I have heard: 4
Number of these I really own: 4

Best Rock Album:
Who I’d Pick: Weezer
Who Will Win: Blink-182
Number of these I have heard: 3
Number of these I really own: 2 – Cage The Elephant & Weezer

Best Alternaive Album:
Who I’d Pick: “The Hope Six Demolition Project” – PJ Harvey
Who Will Win: “Blackstar” – David Bowie. Dead always wins.
Number of these I have heard: 5
Number of these I really own: 3 – Bowie, PJ Harvey & Radiohead

Best American Roots Performance:
Who I’d Pick: “Ain’t No Man” – The Avett Brothers
Who Will Win: “Ain’t No Man” – The Avett Brothers
Number of these I have heard: 4
Number of these I really own: 2 – Avett Brothers, Sarah Jarosz. Both Aaron Lee Tasjan recommendations.

Best American Roots Song:
Who I’d Pick: “Wreck You” – Lori McKenna
Who Will Win: “City Lights” – Jack White
Number of these I have heard: 5
Number of these I really own: 2 – The Time Jumpers & Lori McKenna

Best Americana Album:
Who I’d Pick: “True Sadness” – The Avett Brothers
Who Will Win: “Kid Sister” – The Time Jumpers
Number of these I have heard: 5
Number of these I really own: 3 – The Avett Brothers, The Time Jumpers & Lori McKenna

 

CD Review – Demos Papadimas – “Waiting”

Like many Midwest rust-belt former manufacturing hubs, the city of Warren, Ohio, doesn’t have much to hang it’s hat on these days, but it still is the home of the W.D. Packard Museum is also home to one of the most unique voices in music, Demos Papadimas, who’s unique take on Americana music is catching ears and making people pay attention.

His latest release and second full-length album “Waiting” is available for purchase on iTunes, and streaming on Spotify, as well as in physical form at The Record Connection in Niles, or his website; and it’s well worth your listen if you’re a fan of Americana and a man who knows his way around the bouzouki. This album has some great Greek-tinged Indie Rock with lots of harmonica, steel guitar, violin and solid drumming provided by violinist Sandi Quotson, Ralph Rich on drums, Nils Johnson on bass and pedal steel guitarist Al Moss, the 12 songs spanning 40 minutes leaves you wanting more and pressing the repeat button, much like his first release, “Wandering Through the Wilderness” did, which is why he was named one of Cleveland Scene Magazine’s 13 Bands to Watch in 2013.

“Waiting,” which was released on Record Store Day 2016, kicks off with “Just a Stranger,” followed by some slick pedal steel work by Moss on the tune “Second Street” which is one of my favorite songs on the album, along with “Little Sadie” and the closer “Who Would’ve Thought” that features some great finger-picking on the bouzouki. “Waiting,” the title track, features a lot of great finger=picking from Papadimas along with solid work from Quotson on violin. It’s a sound that’s hard to describe, or define, but it works.

“Restless Time” is the first single off the CD, and it has an video produced by Radio Lark‘s Chris Rutushin and Khaled Tabbara from The Zou.

Demos and the Band are playing in Youngstown on Saturday, Nov 5, 2016, at Suzie’s Dogs & Drafts Downtown with Hayden Brooke, Watching for Foxes and Joshua Powell & The Great Train Robbery; The Elbo Room in Chicago on Nov 9 & 10; Rambling House Soda with Hedbo in Columbus on Nov. 12, and has a series of dates in Kent, Youngstown & Pittsburgh to close out the year. Do yourself a favor and give Demos a listen, live or on record. You’ll thank me later!

CD Review: JD Eicher – “The Middle Distance”

Yes, JD Eicher still has a band, and yes, they’re still top-notch, but with his forth solo album, “The Middle Distance,” released in May, the songs are so personal, so real, so individually focused, having it be a ‘band’ album wouldn’t have worked. At all.

This is an album about fear and failure; hope and belief; focus and finding what matters; and making it work.

The opening 53 instrumental seconds that start off the album build up to opening line, “There’s a song that’s still unsaid,” drawing you in to the world of someone who’s lost. Confused. Looking for the right path. It’s all internalized. These are issues we all have, conversations we’ve all had in our heads about romance, family, work, life. As the CD rolls on, the realization, the confrontations, the issues, and the reasons we’re on this journey all come clear (“Be Well” and “Lines In The Sky”).  So does taking time to focus on core beliefs (“The Middle Distance” & “Man of Faith”), finding what focus that energy on (in JD’s case, family, faith and his wife Cathi), realize it’s time to fight (“Not Everybody Runs”), pull it all together and realize what you have, and getting rid of those fears (“What We’re Not,” “This Love Is A Light” and “Not Afraid.”)

The album was recorded in JD’s home, using simple mixes, a great mix of falsetto vocals, layering and non-traditional song structures and it’s a solid ten-track, 40-minute album.  Favorite songs include “Be Well,” “Not Everybody Runs,” “What We’re Not” and “Not Afraid,” but the line of the album, for me, comes from “Man of Faith:”

“What if God were not one being doing good things
What if God were every good thing being done?”

I think it took me a good five or six listens to the entire CD to understand the concept of it, and when it all fell into place, for lack of a better term, it really blew me away how simple this CD was, how great a listen it is and how I think I could have written most album of this during many sleepless nights. Taken individually, the songs are very listenable, but in the album’s order, it’s a journey. And a pleasant one. If you’re looking for a new summer CD, JD Eicher’s “The Middle Distance” is my suggestion.

(“The Middle Distance” is available on iTunes or Amazon music, or from JD himself while he’s touring!)

Heart Opens as the View Expands … Radio Lark’s “Stolen Oranges” CD Review

On the second track of Radio Lark’s second studio CD “Stolen Oranges” entitled “Jar,” singer/guitarist/lyricist Chris Rutushin wishes he could capture a moment in a jar to share with someone how lucky they are.

Relax. You’ve done it. And shared it with the world.

“Stolen Oranges” was released in September along with a video for the title track, and the production values on both are outstanding, but it’s the lyrical and six-string hooks that make this ten song sophomore album a keeper.

“Stolen Oranges” from Radio Lark.

I’ve found a majority of albums that use the opening track as the album title and first single don’t usually have much more to offer beyond those first three or four minutes. This, I’m glad to say, is not among them. A great opening track, “Stolen Oranges,” leads to “Jar” and into “(Lonesome) Homesick Jones” featuring some blistering harmonica riffs by Demos Papadimos. That’s a hat-trick of great tunes to kick off a CD. Which is impressive. And then, it gets better, and weirder, before coming back around with to end on a mellow note.

Track four, “Pull Of The Moon” features Shiloh Hawkins (of Blue Through Branches) in a great give-and-take duet with Rutushin that really jumps out of the speakers at you. Their voices are so complimentary and the arrangement of Lex Calder’s Hammond B3, Lake Baum’s electric & Shiloh’s acoustic guitars and Ed Davis’s drums makes this hands-down the best song on the CD, musically and lyrically. “March Hare” follows with a great Sitar intro, and then, out of nowhere, a spoken-word interlude called “Hovedbanegården” that kind of throws things off track, for me. It’s not bad, it’s just different. “Passenger” gets us back into the music nicely, and it followed by “Queen of Marigold,” which is my second favorite track on the CD (behind “Pull of the Moon”). Rutushin’s acoustic guitar is highlighted for the first half of this song before it blows up into an Oasis-like gem of a song. An acoustic re-do of the title track called “Stolen Oranges (When In Rome)” shows the quality of the lyrics here and features some great mandolin work from Nathanel Welch, and the CD ends with “The Song Renames Unnamed AKA The Hobbit Song,” which is a great closer with more of Welch’s mandolin & Scott Burns on cello.

The best part of all of this is it was totally unexpected. I met Chris while discussing his camera work on a TV show, and had no idea he was in a band, or just how outstanding his lyrics and music are until he handed me the CD a couple of days after it was released,  But that’s how it goes …. so I’m told.

Check out the video for “Stolen Oranges” here, and grab the CD from iTunes … your ears will thank you.

Radio Lark is:
Chris Rutushin – vocals, acoustic guitar, melodica, harmonica, keys & djembe
Rick Deak – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, dobro & cajón
Scott Burns – vocals, bass & cello
Dave Lynn – vocals & electric guitar
Patrick Majernik – drums & percussion

The band is playing. Please be quiet.

I’m not sure what exactly the medical condition is called that prevents adults, usually between the ages of 18-34, from being unable to refrain from talking for periods of 45 to 60 minutes when a band is on stage. And I’m no scientist, Jim, nor am I a doctor,  but I know for a fact it’s a real condition. I’ve seen it first hand, many times. I just don’t understand how some people just can’t stop talking to listen, especially when the band is playing. It’s annoying to me, and it has to be disrespectful to the band.

Some of us, if you can imagine this, love live music, and, well, geeze, maybe came to see AND hear the band perform their music live. No, really, what a concept. Live music. For 45 to 60 minutes. Played by actual musicians. RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. You can watch them play their instruments, tune them, tell you stories, and showcase some new stuff you’ve probably not heard yet … but all you can do is talk?

I’m not referring to “Oh, that’s a great lyric” or “Wow, what an amazing guitar lick” or “Damn, that rhythm section is tight” type of talk … this has nothing to do with the actual events on stage. These are just random yahoos talking about the random things that make up their random lives. I get clapping, cheering, yelling, showing the band you connect with them and their music and appreciate the vigor they bring to the stage while playing it for you. But just standing talking about work and the kids and TV shows and your new car? Nobody but you really cares about the banality of your daily life, and nobody outside of your circle of friends needs to hear about in a voice loud enough to be heard in a 10 foot radius.

Sadly, this isn’t a one-time event, or something that happens in one venue, or one city, or to one band. Tonight, I was standing 15-20 feet away from a stack of speakers that covered 72 square feet, pumping music at 128 decibels (thanks iPod app that pointed that out to me) and was rather pissed at the general din of the conversation not only being audible, but at many points overpowering the sound coming from the stage.

Yet I’m the bad guy when I politely ask, or, not-so-politely request, someone take their conversation elsewhere because, well, I paid to hear the band play their music, not you talk about your new cell phone (happened at a Cowboy Junkies show in Kent), or how the kids did in school (Red Wanting Blue, Pittsburgh), or how the local sports team won or lost today’s or this week’s game (numerous bands in numerous towns). Seriously … I do not understand why people pay to see a band and then proceed to talk the entire time the band they paid to see is on stage.

And after politely asking, or not-so-politely requesting, someone please be quiet because the band is on, I’ve been threatened, made fun of, pointed out to others as someone who’s bothered by people talking, and, at one show, almost had a sucker punch thrown at me as I walked away, until a friend told the dude, “Uh, he was in the military. And he’s from Youngstown. You might wanna reconsider that.” All because, oh, I wanna HEAR the band I paid to see, not hear you talk.

Tonight, the assclowns who were talking over the finesse band we saw proceeded to yell in my ear, ask if they could clap, try to goad me into an altercation and involve their friends in even more conversation after I asked them to take their conversation elsewhere because I didn’t pay to hear them talk, I paid to hear the band. All of this happened 20 feet from the stage in a venue that had more than 200 people inside.  And by finesse band, I’m talking a band with an upright bassist, cello player, banjo/uke player, drummer who spent as much time behind the kit as playing his cajon (aka slapbox) in front of it, and a lead singer who played acoustic guitar. So the sound was intricate. And layered, and often times very low volume, where all the conversations were drowning it out.

I’m not talking Ronnie James Dio at jet engine level blowing your hair back, whether you have hair or not. This is music that silence is a part of, and when you have dozens of conversations going on in the room, you just can’t get that silence.

Like I said … I just don’t get it.

What’s so hard about being quiet for 45 to 60 minutes when  a band is playing? Is it me? Do I expect too much?

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine

Columbus, Ohio’s Erica Blinn and the Handsome Machine rocked Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh on April 6, 2013.

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Erica Blinn & The Handsome Machine rocking Howlers Coyote Cafe in Pittsburgh. April 6, 2013. © Eric Broz

Happy Dog Saloon in Cleveland is Dead to me

There are very few thing I hate worse than piss poor band management by venues who book live, original music acts on a local, regional or national level. Because there are a great many people who like to see bands play original music, and who will hop in the car, dedicate a night, a few hours or a few hundred miles of drive time to go see a band they like who’s playing somewhere in their geographical reachable area. And usually it’s on a tight schedule … “If we leave by midnight, we’ll be home by 1:30 and I can sleep for six hours before work” kind of schedule. I’ve done it more times than I care to count, and enjoyed damn near every single lost moment of sleep.

And I’m not the only one. I have MANY, MANY awesome music-loving friends who’ve piled in cars, pinched pennies, scrounged for beer money and parking and tolls and cover charges and eaten the shittiest truck stop food to make the trek to see a band they love play live and spend the next day sore from sleeping in a car, cranky from not enough sleep in a car, and loving every minute of it.

Because most of the time, it’s worth the sacrifice.

To see the band. To live that moment. To be in that room. Whether it’s 20,000 fans at the arena; 15,000 fans at the amphitheater, 1,000 at the club or 10 of you in a dive bar, those are the moments where you connect with the music and musicians who matter to you, and nobody can take that away. It’s pure magic.

However, in the unlikely event of a water landing … when you don’t get to see the band through no fault of your own … shit get super serial. Super fast.

I’ve had any number of roadtrips cancelled for any number of reasons: Flat tire. Car problems. Work issues. Family crisis. Weather. Car accidents on your way to the venue blocking traffic for hours. Friends who promise and bail. Bank account issues. And honestly, I’ve had them all. And I hate it, but I suck it up, realize I missed them this time and promise to make better plans to avoid some or all of the above next time THAT BAND I HAVE TO SEE is anywhere near where I am.

But when the stars and planets align, and you have four working tires, good engine, you’re not working and not on call, have no family issues, beautiful weather, everyone is safe on the highways you travel, with a friend by your side and a positive bank balance with cash in your pocket and you get to the venue far enough in advance to get a prime seat or standing position close enough to satisfy your needs, desires and camera capabilities and the band you want to see isn’t playing until several hours AFTER their advertised time, and oh, they’re not the opener but the ‘closer’ now? Or they never play at all?

That, my friends, is a completely different story. And why I will never, EVER, go see a band at Happy Dog in Cleveland again.

About a month ago I got an email from someone who saw this here music blog, and knew it had a Columbus connection, and was playing the Tree Bar (great venue, great management) and asked if I’d share the word.  To be honest, I get, on average, 10 of these a week. Most of the time I have no idea who the band is, and they provide little to no information about themselves, their style, etc. They just want me to pimp their shows. And I listen to them, and don’t like them, and usually ignore the request, because if you don’t have anything nice to say, say nothing at all, right?

But Jeremy Porter was different. I read his email. He’s an old school 80s punk turned 90s rocker turned indie rock Americana guy. I dig that. That’s basically me. But with much more musical talent, as I learned after I went to his band’s website and listened to their music.

I liked it. Hell, I liked it so much I bought the new CD. Wrote a review. Promoted the Columbus show, the Cleveland show and the Pittsburgh show on this here blog, my other regular ass blog, and Facebook and Twitter. Because I really liked the sound of the band. Hell, I even created a Facebook event for the Cleveland show and invited about 60 of my Cleveland-area friends. Eight of which showed up at Happy Dog, Friday, April 5th at 9:00ish to see see Jeremy Porter & The Tucos.

Just like I did.

And after paying our cover charge about 9ish, and having a few fine craft beers, and some food, and listening to 90 seconds of the soundcheck, we were wondering when the band was going to start. Because at 9ish the place was about 80% full. Now it’s 10ish and it’s 60% full.  And it’s 10:30 and it’s 50% full. And still, no music.

So imagine our surprise when at 10:45 the ‘headliner’ (Bill Fox who was with a band called The Mice from 85-88, disappeared until 96, and after a few years disappeared again, only to re-emerge in 2007 … yet I’ve never heard of the guy, so I wasn’t there to see him) starts playing. After a good portion of the crowd that was there an hour ago has already left the building. And nobody’s paying attention.  (Sorry, Bill, I’m sure in a different venue under different circumstances I’d like you. Hell, GBV likes you. And Robert does no wrong, so odds are I’d dig ya plenty, just not tonight, man. Sorry.)

So I walk the 10 feet from where I’m sitting to where Jeremy Porter is sitting. We talked, earlier in the evening, I told him I was excited to see the show and had like 8 people there with me. He thanked me for that, for my review of the album, the Facebook event, blah blah blah … the mutual admiration society rules were in effect and we called it a draw.  So as I walked up to him at 10:45, those rules were gone. I was upset about him NOT opening. And said that.

Then, when he answered, I left upset behind and became hot pissed when I found out he not only knew that they weren’t playing first, he was fine with it. Yet he never took the time to tell that to anyone via Facebook, Twitter, or, oh, yeah, that dude who came to see us and brought his friends sitting 10 feet away from me. That’s just a shitty thing to do to someone who just became a fan, and promoted your shit.

So we left. Two songs into Bill Fox’s set and without seeing anything but 90 seconds of Jeremy Porter’s soundcheck.  Because, after driving 75 miles one way, dropping about $100 in dinner, drinks, tolls, parking and cover charge, hoping to see a band I wanted to see play at 10ish because I had to leave by midnight because of work, it sucked to realize the band I wanted to see wasn’t playing until about midnight because the ‘headliner’ or venue or booking agent or whothefuckever decided that a 9 pm show should start with the alleged headliner starting at 10:45 and the alleged opener should start at midnightish or later, we left.

Had I known that was the timetable, I’d have said Fuck Jeremy Porter and Fuck Happy Dog I would have driven an extra two miles down the road to Brothers Lounge to see Erica Blinn and the Handsome Machine who was allegedly starting at 9:15 … and well, holy shit, they actually started at … wait for it … 9:15.

See, that’s a good venue. And a good band.

So fuck you, Happy Dog. And fuck you, Jeremy Porter, for letting Happy Dog fuck you, and fuck me and 8 people I brought to see you.

Go back to that state up north.

Ryan Smith – Primary Numbers CD Review

Columbus, Ohio’s Ryan Smith is an amazing lyricist. Soon after moving to Columbus, he was one of the first artists I first saw at Andyman’s Treehouse when he opened for somebody I liked. “Swimming” caught me. “Girls With Glasses” hooked me. His 2006 release “Neil Avenue” was among my  most listened to CDs of that year. I said his 2008 release “I Just Want To Feel That Way” “… could be the best six Paul Westerberg songs that Paul Westerberg neither wrote nor recorded.” (You can read that here.)

After taking some time off to get a rip-roaring DJ business started (and he’s awesome, too, so if you’re in Central Ohio, hire him), I was excited to get an email from him when “Waiting” was released in 2012, and it was rich in layering and some great studio work, and quickly added to the playlist, and became my third favorite EP released last year. In fact, I said in my year-end review (here), that it is “interesting electropop, taking generous use of looping, layering and a bevy of sounds that seem to come from everywhere and nowhere, especially when listening with earphones, or in the car. It’s like a sonic treat for your brain.”

So I was excited to get an email from him with a link to his new album, “Primary Numbers,” before it’s released on April 23, 2013.  To be honest, Ryan’s always hooked me up with his stuff before it’s released, and I’m always glad to get new music. This was no different, i dove in, saw it was 11 tracks, so we’re talking full album, hit the download link, and started listening to it. The first track, “An Introduction of Sorts,” starts of with some interesting synthesized piano, which is in nice change from the guitars he usually uses. And as I sat there listening, I realized … uh … okay … must be an instrumental. With nice layering. Okay. That’s cool. Then “Just Enough To Make It Not Awkward” started playing. More of the same. Instrumental. Synthesized piano. Layering. Loops. For 11 songs. Yep.  Turns out the whole CD is completely instrumental. Which is cool, just not what I was expecting.

I love to see artists I enjoy grow, and evolve and stretch the envelope of their ability, challenge themselves and become more skilled at what they do, and I guess, since his lyrical prowess is already at a level with some of my favorite songwriters, this is a natural progression.

It’s a good album as far as instrumentals go, I’m just not really a fan of instrumentals. I like lyrics way too much, and Ryan writes great lyrics. Anyway, all that being said, here’s a link to the first single, “Simple Things” … you can give it a listen and form your own opinion of it. I’m hoping it grows on me.  “Simple Things” is available for a free download, as most of his music is.  I just feel that many Ryan Smith fans are going to feel the same way I do: Waiting to go back to Neil Avenue because I Just Want To Feel That Way I used to listening to Ryan Smith sing some words.  Now where’s my copy of “Girls With Glasses” at?

Right-Click to download “Simple Things” as an MP3.
(Courtesy of Ryan Smith. Probably until he reads this review.)

Jeremy Porter & The Tucos – Partner In Crime – CD Review / Tour

One of the cool things about JACOMB is hearing from artists who are putting out music that I might not find … the latest being Jeremy Porter & The Tucos. Hailing from That State Up North (but we don’t hold that against them), JP has been rocking and rolling the heartland in bands like The Regulars, SlugBug, The OffRamps, and Fidrych, as well as playing solo. He’s played Columbus before, sharing the stage with bands like Watershed and rocking out at Stache’s and the like … and now he’s back, with a new album, “Partner In Crime” and a mini Rust Belt tour that visits Ohio, twice: Thursday, April 4th, at the Tree Bar in Columbus; and Friday, April 5th at Happy Dog in Cleveland; and playing Rock Room in Pittsburgh on Saturday, April 6th.

The new CD, “Partner In Crime,” was released on New Fortune Records in March, and is a great piece of Americana. The 12 songs flow across 46 minutes of heartbreak, heartache, tales of falling for the pizza girl and lamenting about the one who got away. While those sound like pretty much every indie rock album, the music behind the songs, and Porter’s delivery, make them unique. From the rollicking “Pizza Girl” to sad-bastard “Barely All The Time” to the sadder-bastard “Wedding Day” this is a great collection of music, and I’m glad Jeremy brought it to my attention, and hope I can bring it to yours.  I know I’ll be at the Cleveland show … Come on out and support live music and hit the Rust Belt Tour!

Rust Belt Tour:

Thu Apr 4 • Columbus, OH • Tree Bar
Fri Apr 5 • Cleveland, OH • Happy Dog
Sat Apr 6 • Pittsburgh, PA • Rock Room
Fri Apr 19 • Mt. Pleasant, MI • Rubble´s
Sat May 11 • Detroit, MI • Lager House
Sat May 18 • Saginaw, MI • Hamilton Street Pub

The Real California ~ Musica

Ron Copenhaver and Ryan Johanssen of The Real California, captured at Musica! in Akron, Ohio, on January 11, 2013.