June 11, 2013

Tedeschi Trucks Band Offer Free Song Download, Preview New Studio Album


Made Up Mind, the forthcoming studio album by Tedeschi Trucks Band, isn't slated for release until August 20, but its lead single, “Part of Me,” is available now to stream or as a free download.

The follow-up to the group’s 2011 GRAMMY©-winning debut, Revelator—a live album, Everybody’s Talkin’, was released last year—Made Up Mind was produced by Jim Scott (Wilco, Chuck Prophet) and Derek Trucks, and features contributions from such guest artists as Sonya Kitchell and Doyle Bramhall II, among others.

Stream or download “Part of Me”:




Further Reading:

June 09, 2013

Michael Franti Previews Upcoming LP with Video Debut, “I'm Alive (Life Sounds Like)”


Michael Franti, the veteran reggae/roots rocker who with his stalwart group Spearhead has achieved both critical and popular praise for such anthemic hits as “A Little Bit of Riddim” and “Say Hey (I Love You),” is gearing up for the release of his eighth studio LP, All People, with the video premiere of its ebullient lead single, I'm Alive (Life Sounds Like).

June 02, 2013

Album Review: Caitlin Rose - The Stand-In


There’s no denying her kinship with country music, but considering Caitlin Rose solely as a country singer neglects the breadth of her resourcefulness. On both her 2010 debut EP, Dead Flowers (which in the title track saw her covering the Rolling Stones) and her 2011 LP, Own Side Now, she’s demonstrated remarkable versatility, exploring variations of pop and folk and alt.country with equal conviction. Along the way, whether encouraged by her own musical tastes and curiosity or by the environment in which she was raised—the daughter of two industry vets, she’s lived in Nashville since she was a young child—Rose has developed a rich and varied appreciation for the craft of songwriting. In concert, in fact, she's been known to cover such venerable songsmiths as Jerry Jeff Walker, Randy Newman, and Nick Lowe—her version of “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide” was a highlight of last year’s tribute album, Lowe Country—and that appreciation has no doubt informed her own artistry.


With her sophomore LP, The Stand-In (ATO Records), the 25-year-old singer/songwriter is at her most ambitious yet, following her muse and embracing her influences with startling assurance. She most notably reveals her honky-tonk roots in the album’s two covers, “Dallas” (by the Felice Brothers) and “I Was Cruel” (by the Deep Vibration), and in more subtle ways throughout. Yet she achieves a sense of eclecticism with these songs—more sophisticated-pop ones like “Everywhere I Go” and “Pink Champagne,” for instance, recall Elvis Costello and the Attractions' Imperial Bedroom more than Emmylou Harris’
 Elite Hotel—that gives this album its most rewarding character.  


There is no tentativeness plaguing this music, no rough edges to suggest that with but her second full-length Caitlin Rose remains well within the learning curve of her craft. Indeed far from sounding like an ingénue’s see-what-sticks experiment in discovering her creative voice, The Stand-In heralds an artist in full and fascinating grasp of her talent.