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When the folk-rock quartet Raining Jane opened for Jason Mraz at a show at the University of Redlands in Southern California, he was so impressed with their act that he suggested they work together. They accepted, of course, and a … Continue reading
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Plus a gallery from a great concert with unexpected audience participation! Narrative songwriting is a staple of American music, but it’s not easy to do well. The charts are full of derivative, clichéd, sentimental songs that do sell well enough, … Continue reading
This gallery contains 35 photos.
Tomorrow night Eliot Bronson, Dean Fields, Jason Myles Goss and Andy Zipf will wrap up their 15-day, 15-city tour at The Evening Muse in Charlotte, NC. In five previous posts you can read about the tour and what was planned. … Continue reading
Today we continue our series of profiles on the artists of the Parlor Sessions Tour with Eliot Bronson who was born in Baltimore where The Sun called him a “folk singing wunderkind.” The year after earning that praise he moved to Atlanta where he’s also earned similar praise from the press and built a sizable following. He formed the duo The Brilliant Inventions which won a number of awards and built a sizable regional following until 2010 when his partner decided to pursue a career in photography.
For his part, Eliot continued his music career, releasing a solo album, Blackbirds in 2011, and an album called Milwaukee with his band the Yonder Orphans in 2012. He continues to receive accolades for his work, including first place in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest (http://www.merlefest.org), an award whose laureates include Gillian Welch, Johnny Williams, and Tift Merritt.
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Today’s Parlor Sessions Profile is of Jason Myles Goss, a songwriter with uncanny ability to step outside of himself and write songs from another point of view that ring utterly true. He’s a storyteller whose songs can transport us into the boxing ring, to the boardwalk on Coney Island, to a fishing boat in Maine, to name a few places.
In describing the influences on his most recent album Radio Dial, his website states:
…in his latest collection of songs, Jason displays a broad range of influences, from the stark and eclipsing lyricism of Gillian Welch and A. A. Bondy, to the lush, melody-driven, pop/rock ambitions of Ryan Adams’ “Gold” and The Wallflowers’ “Bringing Down the Horse.”
I do hear that, but I’d add there is something Springsteenesque in his ability to evoke the working class so empathetically in his lyrics.
He’s now based in Brooklyn, but he grew up in Hopedale, MA, and in 2003 at the age of 21, when he was selected as a finalist in the first Newport Folk Festival Songwriters’ Contest, he was the youngest finalist by 10 years. It’s one of a number of awards and accolades he’s received.
Yesterday I posted the responses of Andy Zipf to a series of questions about the Parlor Sessions Tour. I asked Jason Myles Goss, another of your four musical “hosts” in the Parlor the same questions. His answers make me think maybe he’ll be the comic relief in the minivan. They’re followed by a video of “Black Lights,” one of those evocative narratives songs I mentioned in the beginning of this piece, from his most recent album Radio Dial. Continue reading
The Parlor Sessions Tour, set to begin in 5 days at Rockwood Music Hall in NYC, sounds like it’ll be my favorite kind of show. It’s 4 singer-songwriters playing together in small venues and interacting with one another. In addition, as Andy Zipf puts it, “We really want to bring the audience into the experience.” Yesterday I posted a short interview with Dean Fields explaining a little about about the tour. Today I’m posting the first profile of the 4 artists who’ll be traveling in the Parlor Sessions minivan, starting with Andy Zipf, not because I’m going in reverse alphabetical order, but simply because his responses were the first I found when pulling the four responses up on my computer.
It seemed an appropriately random way to choose which to write first for a tour that doesn’t have a clear hierarchy of acts. This will not be 4 acts playing in order of ascending importance, building to the headliner, but rather a “mutual admiration society” as Dean Fields called it. Watching artists interact is always interesting, and it’s another reason to come see this show.
So who is this guy with a name so full of consonants? He’s definitely someone who believes music can have a lot of power. Continue reading
Something that’s been getting a lot of play on my iPod lately is the free 12-song sampler for The Parlor Sessions Tour featuring Dean Fields, Andy Zipf, Jason Myles Goss and Eliot Bronson. It’s a 12-song sampler by four young singer-songwriters who are heading out on tour together June 5-15, making stops along the East Coast from New Hampshire to Georgia. I knew Dean Fields, who’s been profiled in this site, and am a big fan, but Eliot, Jason, and Andy were new, delightful discoveries for me. I’m a sucker for a good song and, one after another these tracks pulled me in.
You can hear the artists for yourself over the course of the next four days. Each day I’ll be posting a brief profile of one of the artists, along with a track or two and a brief Q&A, or you can download the sampler yourself at any time. Of course I’ll be at the show here in Boston, so look for a report on that, too.
In today’s post, however, we’ll look at the tour itself. The Parlor Sessions is a great name for a tour by this kind of singer-songwriter, playing these kinds of venues. It evokes Continue reading
Season Ammons, Courtesy of the artist
Texas-born, Florida-based, singer-songwriter Season Ammons has been making music in front of an audience since the once shy child found found her voice in a middle school choir. When she was just 17 she moved to Nashville to pursue her dreams. She had some brushes with quick success, such as being advanced as a finalist for the USA Network show Nashville Star in 2004. Ultimately she wasn’t chosen, yet she refused to give up doing what she loves and kept building a following.
In a phone interview she told me that when she finally released her first studio recorded CD, tellingly titled “I’m Alive,” she intended to make a statement. The self-produced disc what her way of asserting that she was in the music business to stay. I wanted to announce that I’m here, I’m doing this full time, and I wanted to show people what I could do.” As an independent artist responsible for every aspect of the project from the songs and sound to the packaging and marketing, there was a lot to do and a lot on the line, and she had to learn fast. Continue reading
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National Throat, Will Dailey’s 4th album, will be released to the general public soon, but two of the songs from it, “Sunken Ship” & “Castle of Pretending” are already available for free on NoiseTrade as part of on a 20 … Continue reading
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I had a chance to chat with Dean Fields before his show at Club Passim last Friday, opening for Ari Hest. I was excited to hear about his upcoming tour with Eliot Bronson, Jason Myles Goss, and Andy Zipf. All … Continue reading