Kacy & Clayton get high, Jom Comyn goes both ways, GospelbeacH burn one and more in today’s Roundup. Can you really call it Urgent Care when they make you sit there for hours before you see a doctor?
1 Kacy & Clayton have come a long way. Literally, musically and career-wise. The Saskatchewan folk duo recorded their Oct. 4 album Carrying On at Wilco’s famed Loft in Chicago — with none other than bandleader Jeff Tweedy in the producer’s chair. And their latest preview High Holiday featured harmonica player Charlie McCoy, whose previous clients include Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Simon and Garfunkel, among others. But even though they’re moving in some pretty fast company these days, they haven’t lost their homespun charm, as the animated video for this bluesy strummer illustrates. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jeff Tweedy said “When I first heard Kacy and Clayton, I was struck by how much detail and nuance they had absorbed from what sounded like a large swath of my record collection. When I told them that they were as good as the artists they were drawing from, I’m not sure they believed me. On this record I don’t hear those influences as much as I hear them taking the things they love so intimately and telling their own story. I think they’re a truly great band.” He oughta know:
2 One step forward, one step back. That’s how it goes in life sometimes. And that’s how it works for Edmonton singer-songwriter Jom Comyn in the video for his suitably jangly Chapel of Chimes — he and his band had to learn to play the song backward for the shoot. Because being an independent singer-songwriter from Edmonton just isn’t a hard-enough existence, apparently. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Don Zimmermon, Chapel of Chimes video director: When I reversed the backwards footage, it created this disjointed, slightly off-tempo rendition of the song – a quality that reminds me of the fractured recalling of old, distorted memories. The blurriness of a lot of the images and the intentionally out-of-focus foregrounds are nods to the insignificant yet poignant moments you hold onto. A lot of details are fuzzy, others are sharp. Sometimes the things you remember clearest seem to serve no purpose at all. Why can’t I remember that person’s face? I can remember those power lines so well.” Going forward:
3 There are artists you know, and the artists you need to know. If Brent Rademaker and GospelbeacH aren’t in the former category for you, well, trust me, they’re in the latter. Assuming you like music that sounds like a cross between the swampy heartland rock of Tom Petty and the folky earthiness of the Laurel Canyon sound. Because that’s just what you get from the Beachwood Sparks’ co-founder’s latest single Dark Angel, a preview of his band’s Oct. 4 release Let It Burn. It’s a beaut. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “GospelbeacH is back with a set of great new songs. Let It Burn is the follow up to their acclaimed 2017 album Another Summer of Love and the third proper studio album by the infamous Los Angeles rock combo. It features the return of virtuoso guitarist Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Brotherhood). Let It Burn is an album of West Coast rock and roll, redemption and guitar solos!” What more is there?
4 Any day is a good day to dance. That includes Tuesdays. Especially Tuesdays. So hit the floor wherever you are — unless you’re in the middle of a funeral or something, though if you are, I have to ask what the hell you’re doing reading this at a time like that — and shake it on down with the help of Aussie surfer-turned-producer Jacknife and his banger Visions. Catch the waves. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jack Duggan has traded his surfboard in for a DJ rig and has since developed a unique blend of dark, underground mid-tempo electro house music. Embodying the persona of a blade, delicate yet diligent, the Australian native is the next producer to keep an eye on.” Look sharp, mate:
5 Musicians might appear to possess a supreme amount of self-confidence, but the truth is they’re wracked by insecurity just like the rest of us. Take it from singer-songwriter Keegan John Trumpour — who operates under the name Opeongo — and his cut Less of Me. Though I have to say, based on his idiosyncratic voice and way with a slow-burn folk-rocker, he’s got nothing to worry about. SAYS THE PRESS RELEASE: “Less of Me, like most of my music, was inspired simply by my need to make sense of a lot of inward negativity, feelings of deep-seeded inadequacy. In the song, I’m attempting to articulate that no matter how dearly you hold someone, your love can be easily compromised at the hands of your own self-loathing. One needs to learn to love and respect themselves in order to love fully unto another, otherwise one cannot trust the heart and mind within that allow us such joys as love. This is a concept I still often struggle with, but its recognition was pivotal in my continuance.” Less is more:
