Delta Spirit

Delta Spirit is a band from Long Beach, CA. The group combines unconventional instruments such as trash cans lids and orchestral bass drums, multi-instrumentalism and spiritually themed lyrics into a hybrid of rock and northern soul. The group consists of Jon Jameson (bass), Brandon Young (percussion), Matthew Vasquez (vocals/guitars), and Kelly Winrich (multi-instrumentals). In 2005, Jonathan Jameson and Brandon Young, who had played with each other in many bands, decided to form a band with their new friend Sean Walker. Young first spotted Vasquez busking on a bench at two in the morning, and the two exchanged information. Delta Spirit hired Kelly Winrich as a producer, but he joined the band within the first year. The band got its name from Jonathan's great uncle, "Uncle Red", who was a flight control operator near Birmingham, AL. He also ran a company, "Delta Spirit Taxidermy Station of North Central Alabama". The band released their debut EP, I Think I've Found It, on Monarchy Music in 2006. This is "Bushwick Blues" from their 2010 release History from Below.

I will be traveling back to Georgia until Monday the 16th. However, I will be featuring musicians from the good ole Peach State..even though GA grows more peanuts and they are actually prized for their pecans than peaches all togehter. Enjoy!

*Posts will be featured on the weekends..Holla!

www.deltaspirit.net

Smelly Dog

Bon Iver

Bon Iver is an indie folk band founded by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon is joined live by Sean Carey (drums/vocals/piano), Michael Noyce (vocals/baritone guitar/ guitar) and Matthew McCaughan (bass/drums/vocals). Noyce was actually Vernon's guitar student during high school.Vernon independently released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago in July 2007, the majority of which was recorded while spending three months in a remote cabin in Northwestern Wisconsin. Because of the extensive use of vocal harmony on the songs of For Emma, Forever Ago, Vernon was concerned that there would not be enough voices to duplicate the sound of the songs on the album in a live setting. To compensate for this problem in early performances, Vernon passed out lyrics for some songs to the audience to sing along to. In an interview with Pitchfork, he described this dilemma. "I don't want to be the guy with an acoustic guitar singing songs, because that's boring for the most part. The song actually needs 80–500 people singing or whatever the vibe is of that room, it needs that fight.  The name, Bon Iver, is a play on the French phrase "bon hiver", meaning good winter.  He is set to release his second album Bon Iver Bon Iver in June of this year.  This is "Skinny Love" off of For Emma, Forever Ago.

www.boniver.org

Smelly Dog

*Forgot to hit the ole Publish button..explaining the late post*

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) and Alison Krauss (Alison Krauss & Union Station) got together and put together an LP featuring cover songs from many different musicians. The album Raising Sand was released in October of 2007 and was critically acclaimed. It won the Album of the year at the 2009 Grammy Awards, along with the other 4 awards in which it was nominated. Apart from the influence of Plant and Krauss' vocal styles and talent, the album's producer, T-Bone Burnett is credited with giving the album its skeletal musical style. Although there was much praise and success with this album, another is not in the works. The duo got back in the studio in late 2009 and had little success. The two said that there wasn't any magic and that things weren't coming together, so they ditched the project. That said, I would highly recommend listening to this album. This is the first track off of the album entitled "Rich Woman." This song was originally written by Dorothy LaBostrie and McKinley Millet.

www.robertplant.com

www.alisonkrauss.com

Smelly Dog

Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes is a Seattle-based folk band that consists of Robin Pecknold (vocals/guitar), Skyler Skjelset (guitar/mandolin), Christian Wargo (bass/vocals), Casey Wescott (keys/mandolin/vocals), Joshua Tillman (drums/vocals), and Morgan Henderson (multi-instrumentalist). The quintet describes its music as "baroque harmonic pop jams." Today the band releases their second full length album in the United States. It has been a long time coming for fans, with the their first album being released in 2008. This is "Bedouin Dress" off of their new release Helplessness Blues.

www.fleetfoxes.com

Smelly Dog

Olof Arnalds

Ólöf Arnalds (born 1980) is an Icelandic singer/songwriter and indie musician who has been active within the Icelandic music scene for quite some time. Apart from her own music and being a touring member of Múm since 2003, she has cooperated with many bands and artists. Between 1988 and 2002 Ólöf studied violin and classical singing, and in 2002-2006 she studied composition and new media at Iceland Academy of the Arts. In 2007 her debut album Við Og Við was released by 12 Tónar. The album features a set of songs performed mostly in a traditional troubadour style. Ólöf's second album is Innundir Skinni and was released in September 2010. This is "Klara" off of her first album.

www.olofarnalds.com

Smelly Dog