This Saturday on Local
Folk we take a deeper look at the tight knit and vibrant music scene of
Northampton, MA. Despite a population of less than 30,000, the city
consistently punches above its cultural weight. In addition to venues like the
Iron Horse, Calvin Theater, and Parlor Room which attract top local and
national talent, Northampton-based record label Signature Sounds has helped to
shine spotlight onto a bevy of local artists like Lake Street Dive, Crooked
Still, and Eilen Jewell.
One such artist is Heather
Maloney, whose album Making Me Break was
released in April by the label. After studying everything from classical Indian
music to opera, Maloney spent years living and working in a silent retreat center
in Central MA. She eventually channeled these experiences into a haunting debut
solo release, followed by a self-titled album in 2013. Her latest record was
produced by Bill Reynolds (Avett Brothers, Band of Horses) and builds on this
foundation with an edgier and more textural sound.
The Sun Parade
specializes in lush red-eyed pop tinged with the psychedelic American roots of
artists like The Band and The Flying Burrito Brothers. The group’s latest
release, a 2014 EP entitled Heart’s Out,
has paved the way to a larger following and more touring opportunities, including
with Lake Street Dive and fellow Northampton band And The Kids.
Like tour mates The Sun Parade, And The Kids share a love of
jangly ear-catching arrangements. Led by the huge vocals of guitarist Hannah
Mohan, the group takes simple ingredients and makes them transcendent by using
insistently repeated vocal and melodic lines to create mesmerizing soundscapes
that continually build and recede.
Despite a recent move to Nashville, Jamie Kent remains
inextricably linked to the Northampton music scene. In addition to constant
touring, Kent helped to found and book the Northampton Summer Music Series and
other events that have helped build foundations for many of the acts that have
followed in his wake. His most recent EP Embers
& Ashes was described by Rolling Stone as “country soul channeling
Townes Van Zandt”.
This Saturday on Local
Folk we celebrate the release of Axis
Mundi, the final studio album from Rhode Island duo Brown Bird, by
spotlighting the flourishing music scene of Providence, RI.
Brown Bird founder David Lamb released albums as far back as
2003, but it was not until the summer of 2008 when a chance encounter with
MorganEve Swain led to full blown partnership musically and otherwise(the two
would eventually marry). Together the pair organically wove elements of folk,
psych rock, Balkan and gypsy grooves, while touring and recording relentlessly.
That process was abruptly cut short in May of 2013 when Lamb was diagnosed with
an aggressive form of leukemia, to which he would eventually succumb in April
of 2014. A year later, the final recordings (many of which were undertaken
during Lamb’s treatment) are being released as the album Axis Mundi, named for the place where heaven and earth meet.
If 2008 was the genesis of Brown Bird’s wildly inventive
sound, it was also a breakout year for another Providence group that
insistently pushed past folk-rock labels. That year The Low Anthem released
their third album Oh My God, Charlie
Darwin, which would eventually be picked up by Nonesuch Records leading to
performances at festivals like Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits.
Although currently touring less, members Ben Knox Miller and
Jeff Prystowsky, and Bryan Minto, continue to channel the group’s DIY ethos
(the band would famously dumpster dive for cereal boxes to hand cut and silk
screen for their first CD covers) with the opening of the Columbus Theater and Cooperative
. The theater, originally built in 1926, had fallen into disrepair by the
mid-2000s. Following extensive rehabilitation it was opened under the direction
of the co-op in 2012. Since then it has been critical in raising the profile of
Providence artists as well as showcasing performers like Charles Bradley,
Juliana Hatfield, and Hurray For the Riff Raff. Says Columbus programming
manager Tom Weyman, “We want the Columbus to be the bloody beating heart of
Providence's music scene, unpolished, where art is created and performed, and
where musicians are inspired to do their best work.”
Following the breakout success of groups like The Low Anthem
and Brown Bird, there has been a rise in the regional and national profile of
Providence artists like Joe Fletcher (recently departed to Nashville), The
Silks, Smith&Weeden, and many more. Tune in this Saturday to Local Folk to hear just a few examples
of the artists who have contributed to this rise as well as those who are
positioned to continue building the city’s reputation in New England and
beyond.
WUMB’s
very own Patrick Coman, host of Local
Folk,(Saturdays from Noon to 2PM) switched sides of the mic on January 23rd
to perform tracks from his brand new album Reds
& Blues for Dominick’s weekly Local
Spotlight. In addition to being a musician and the host of Local Folk, Coman serves as the
organizer of the For The Sake of The Song
series, a concert series featuring bands and songwriters performing either
the music of or music inspired by their favorite artists. It was through this
series that Reds & Blues really
came together, particularly in the almost-title track “Red Diamond Blues”—inspired
by Bob Dylan and The Band’s The Basement
Tapes—with which he started the set.
Being
such a fixture in the Boston music scene it would be reasonable to assume that Patrick Coman is
a Boston native. This, however, is not the case. His journey began in Oklahoma
and made a stop in Berlin before landing him in Boston, his home of the last
five years. He chronicles this trip in the song “Foreign Tongue”—influenced by
Tom Petty’s Wildflowers—written
during his move to Boston. When asked
about living in such different locations he said, “I met a girl and followed
her around”. Coman then finished the set with “My Baby’s Been Good To Me”
written for that same girl.
The
Reds & Blues CD release party
will be at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge on January 24th. Coman and
will play two sets; one of his own songs
followed by a cover-set featuring music from the seven albums that influenced
the record. More information at PatrickComan.com.
