R.W. Roldan - The Color Of

In a world of Taylor Swift and her ilk, long graduating from the Country genre into the more profitable pop domain, it's really nice to see genuine folk, acoustic, and poetic Country music being made. Hopefully, fans will take note of those operating in bars, churches, and (God help us) coffee shops.

One such artist is R.W. Roldan and his song "The Color Of" with the accompanying music video. The lyrics are, well, lyrical. The song is linear and (thankfully) very traditional in many ways, perhaps most so, the low, slightly distorted guitar solo in the middle of the track. The song in and of itself does have a political bent with the lines "What makes the color of man's skin a capital crime?" plus the narrative that goes along with it in the verses. But, the point of the song is somewhat more nuanced than a simple white-bad/other-good dichotomy and it really should be explored. 

Les Fradkin – Summer

So, I remember being quite young and my parents had a series of CDs (transfers from LPs) titled “Classical Beat” where orchestral pieces were paired with popular music-style drumbeats and the effect was quite pleasing. Later in college, I became fascinated with “Switched on Bach” as it was such a staple in the synthesizer world.

Imagine my pleasant surprise when I found Les Fradkin’s awesome rendition of Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” composition played through what I can only imagine is a guitar-style-midi controller (I may be wrong) pumping out virtuosic synthetic lines that are perfectly representative of the Italian Master’s genius. The track is intense and very worth the listen! Mr. Fradkin and his music can be found here: www.bongoboyrecords.com/lesfradkin 

The BeeKeepers

Today, while scrolling through my recommendations, I stumbled across East-Coast new folk music trio The BeeKeepers. Luckily their website has a host of wonderful/original songs to sample (and buy – of course, I suggest buying). The track preloaded into the playlist was the song “Roots Run Deep,” a languid and empathic tune with acoustic guitar playing slow chord changes over gorgeous voices singing in harmony.  With brilliantly written songs like this, it’s easy to see why major publications have taken note of this group; everyone from Huffpo to Skope magazine have featured reviews on these ladies. If curious, their webpage can be found here: https://www.thebeekeepers.net which includes fun photos, tour dates, as well as streaming music. 

Artist Interview: Matt Colligan

MW: Matt Colligan, thank you for being here.

MC: Thank you for having me! I'm happy to be here.

MW: So, I’d like to talk about “The Turnaround” – as a concept, it seems to align with much of America’s desire for change both socially and politically – was that an aspect that inspired the song or is it a coincidence?

MC: It's a coincidence. This was written about a friend who accomplished something that, although I had great confidence in him, the endeavor seemed improbable to him. With that said, I appreciate your observation because I like to write concepts that are general enough to be interpreted in a variety of ways, thus increasing the likelihood that more listeners can connect with the concept on a personal level.

MW: Not all musicians are super comfortable in front of the camera but you seem to have a knack for being center in the music-video. Did you ever do any acting or other prep-work for performing on screen?

MC: Thank you for the kind words! I've done some TV interviews, performances, and an episode of a show on Fuse TV but, aside from that, have not done any acting. I don't have any training, but certainly have a great time with it.

MW: Did country music have an influence on you? If so, could you name a few artists specifically?

MC: To be candid, not really. However, certain artists like Lyle Lovett and Loudon Wainwright have influenced my writing. Both of these artists can also fall into a number of other genres (e.g., folk).

MW: What about other genres you enjoy?

MC: I really love alternative, rock, pop, and folk. I'll be moved by anything of lyrical and melodic substance.

MW: Are you currently touring or doing any other fan outreach? If so, where are you performing?

MC: I'm not touring at the moment, but am playing an intimate show at Rockwood Music Hall in New York on December 4th!

MW: Do you have anything for the future that we should be looking out for?

MC: Yes! I will be releasing another single called, "Burn" in January. In 2017, I'll be releasing a bunch of singles.

MW: Thanks so much for participating!

MC: Thanks again for having me, I really enjoyed it. 

Soft Ledges

Soft Ledges is a duo out with their self-titled album which drops on Nov 18^th and if you haven’t heard it yet, you’re honestly missing out. The band consists of the lovely Shelley Miller on vox, guitar, drums, and piano; and Chris Geisler on bass and drums. Together, like a dark and despondent megalith they deliver a heartfelt and deeply passionate studio performance. There are ten songs total on the album and I wanted to highlight several of them.

The album begins with the subtle, jazzy, and smooth “La Nina” – there’s a rock edge to this number that is very satisfying to me - although it is slow, almost insinuating an exhaustion save for the magnificently energetic vocals.

Song number three is “Orion,” starting with piano and high pitched droning. The band gets a huge plus from me for the number of ballads present on this album. Naming all their strengths would take a long time but my biggest compliment for them has to be a sense of melody that is both brilliant in its architecture and daring in the willingness to go places unexpected.

Track number four “Deer Fly Blues” continues with the dark ambiance overlayed with Miller’s voice. The sheer variety of moods present in the delivery is astounding as she is able to instantaneously shift from playful to angry, disgust to acquiescence, and flirtatiousness to disinterest. The band is right behind her as a cacophony of sound props up the vocals as they surge and dissipate; it’s the kind of teamwork that typically only comes after long, long periods of playing together and Soft Ledges seems to have it in spades.

“Long Way to the Ground” is track number six. This one is guitar driven with playful riffs playing a rhythmic accompaniment. The lyrics echo the title of the song in a way that is very poignant. The guitar all of a sudden becomes sad in the context of the lyrics. In a big way, it seems as though the accompaniment is the optimistic part of the ego that says “everything is going to be OK.” Unsurprisingly, the lyrics actually seem to take this direction until the line “you’re never gonna get back up till you come down.”

Soft Ledges seem to be happy to pay tribute to older styles of music – this isn’t to say they are copycats or simply reinventing tracks from 20, 30, or 40 years ago as there is always a profoundly individualistic spin put on the songs. This is evident in the penultimate number titled “Don’t Wait,” it’s a moody and bluesy aural experience that would be very at home on an Aretha Franklin album; however, there is a darkness present which is unmistakably modern.

There is precious little information about these three musicians available on their website. I’m hoping that will change as more folks take notice of them. It would be interesting to read the context of their musical musings. In the meantime, there are a few samples of their release which can be played directly from their homepage. When the album drops, I’ll be more than happy to spend the required dollars to own it. 

Artist Interview: NatStar

Hello readers! For this week’s interview, we have hip-hop artist and mobile entrepreneur NatStar. He’s released an Android/iOS app as a means to access his album/videos. The audio version of his newest album, “ANATYMOUS” is out on November 15^th.

MW: NatStar, thank you so much for being here.

NS: I appreciate you for having me.

MW: So, the biggest thing I think we’re all curious about is why release an app? Why not just go the traditional route of dropping the album with all the fanfare that way?

NS: I’ve in the past used an app as a means to promoting myself as an artist. I used a company named blackvibes.com. I remember at the time it allowed me to upload my music and videos to the app so I thought, why not release an album as a mobile app? It allows me to include so much more than just music. It’ll include music videos, live videos, a documentary, album credits, song lyrics, links to merch, itunes download and contact abilities. Also within the app is a blog that allows me to send out direct notifications to those who downloaded the app. In short, its very personal and convenient! go to your app store on your phone to DL or officialnatstar.com/anatymous to DL.

MW: I enjoyed listening to your song “Dagga” on your website. There is a quirky quality to the beat, it almost has a vintage sound to it, except for the drums which are really modern. Is that representative of your other music?

NS: For the most part yea it is. However, I mostly adjust to the times but always try to keep an element of musicianship in my music which explains the drum sound selections lol..

MW: Where does the title “ANATYMOUS” come from?

NS: Anatymous is a play off of the word anonymous basically inserting my name Nat lol. It’s the feeling of being unknown and the drive to fix it.

MW: I take it you produce all your beats; several of the readers of this blog are also interested in production. Would you mind walking us through your creative process?

NS: Of course. It’s different at times depending on what i’m feeling. A lot of times I hear a melody in my head and will create a tempo behind it. I’ll lay a basic drum pattern to at least get the melody down then go back and create mainly around the main melody.

MW: Any favorite pieces of kit you could mention?

NS: I have random kits and so many of them it’s hard to pinpoint specifics lol.

MW: Are you hitting the road to promote your new app/album or do you have something else up your sleeve?

NS: I’ve been on the road touring and will be home in Charlotte, NC next for the next date in mid-November. I’ve recently performed in St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee on the current tour.

MW: Thanks again for taking the time!

NS: Thank You!

JJ McGuigan "Dissociative"

Artist JJ McGuigan has a new EP available titled “Dissociative.” I was able to listen and really loved the track “Desperate Eyes” (number 5 in the lineup). The ambient intro is stirring – when the voice comes in, it’s breathy, almost like a hazy dream in which the person is drifting in and out of sleep. The guitar comes in strumming one note at a time which creates a distant and rhythmic feel. This music feels very at home with bands like “Love Life,” it has a slow but somewhat punkish feel to it which comes together very nicely. Another aspect to this song’s credit is the fact that I love the attitude of the drums; it sounds like sampled machine guns that the vocals just float over.  The entire EP is more than worth a listen and I’m happy about being able to recommend it. For more information, please visit jjmcguiganmusic.com