Paul Givant of Rose’s Pawn Shop Explains How The Pandemic Has Impacted His Process
In a recent interview with The Big Takeover, Rose’s Pawn Shop leader Paul Givant discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the band and his songwriting. As it turns out, being sidelined for a while was good for both his songwriting and his ability to strategize with live performances. “It was a good time to write,” he told the site. “I […]
Nima Kazerouni Unveils New Video Via Instagram
Nima Kazerouni recently released a video for “I Walk Down It,” which is Track #3 on his new self-titled EP. According to the artist, “A friend recently told me that this song belongs in a slasher movie. Had never thought of that but I couldn’t agree more. This video definitely evokes those creepy-eerie tones amidst a […]
MXDWN Gives A Thumbs-Up To The “Vivid, Human, and Moving” New LP from James Yorkston, Nina Persson, and The Second Hand Orchestra.
MXDWN recently reviewed The Great White Sea Eagle, which is at radio now from James Yorkston, Nina Persson, and The Second Hand Orchestra. The site contends that the LP “sounds like grownups reminiscing about the good and the bad times in a cabin by the sea, with quilts over their laps and a fire roaring, speaking in whimsical […]
Jason Bajada Releases Video and Continues His Québec Conquest
Jason Bajada recently shared a new video from Crushed Grapes. The album was released last year to critical acclaim, earning plaudits from The CBC, Dusty Organ, Ear To The Ground, Rock N Roll Globe, Broadway World, Enigma Online, and more. Now, fans can see the clip for album highlight “Brooklyn Isn’t Big Enough For the Both of […]
New Music From Kat Niles
Kat Niles is an LA-based singer-songwriter and composer whose work is a study in contradiction. She draws inspiration from the music of her childhood — Townes Van Zandt, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, medieval motets and choral pieces, and Britney Spears. Her lyrics are influenced by magical realism and the literary works of Virginia Woolf and Clarice Lispector. Her unruly and experimental song structures are […]
Paul Givant of Rose’s Pawn Shop Shares Stories and Advice With Americana Highways
Americana Highways recently spoke to Paul Givant of Rose’s Pawn Shop about his life as a touring musician, learning about his taste in coffee, the band’s craziest (and in one instance, deeply sad) tour lodging experience, and what CD he’d choose to have stuck in his tour van for the duration of a roadtrip. Givant also has advice […]
The Times Argus Says Sunny War Is “Vital”
Sunny War is in the Top 20 at the NACC 200 and has the #1 album at NACC Folk. That is no surprise, because – as the Barre/Montpelier Times Argus notes – she represents “one of the most compelling and distinctive voices in American roots music.” War plays Waterbury Center, Vermont tomorrow night, and the local paper calls […]
MAGNET Says Mary Halvorson Is Essential
MAGNET says that Amaryllis and Belladonna, both released last year by Mary Halvorson on Nonesuch, are “essential.” The site writes, “Already a bandleader and guitarist of renown, [during the pandemic] Halvorson continued the self-challenging path that has led her, in recent years, to branch out from jazz in order to take on fresh instrumental combinations, lyric-writing and increasingly cross-genre composition. Halvorson doesn’t […]
Sunny War – On Tour and Surging at NACC – Performs for WNXP’s Sonic Cathedral
Nashville NPR affiliate WNXP is all in on Sunny War‘s newest album and recently featured the artist on its Sonic Cathedral series of live performances. They write, “Inspired by bands from AC/DC to Bad Brains, Nashville singer-songwriter Sunny War (the musical moniker of Sydney Ward) makes Americana music that blends everything from country to blues to punk and everything in between. Born out of an emotionally […]
June McDoom’s “On My Way” Is KEXP’s Song of the Day
Today the illustrious radio station KEXP has selected June McDoom‘s “On My Way” as their Song of the Day! If you’re going to listen to one new song and artist today, make it be this one. You can check out the full KEXP’s June McDoom Song of the Day feature here. “Singer/songwriter June McDoom taps into her family history for her […]
The Wild Is Calling Features Matt Holubowski’s “My Burrow”
The Wild Is Calling recently featured Matt Holubowski‘s single “My Burrow,” comparing the Québecois songwriter to Paul Simon, Dr. Dog, and Hamilton Leithauser. “There’s a line for everyone in this poetic masterpiece,” the site writes. “[It’s] an anthem for the modern dreamers, the ones buried in the crowd of viral vitriol… Swift movements of warped orchestration accent life’s chaotic turns. Much […]
New Music From Rose’s Pawn Shop
With a fusion of bluegrass instrumentation and folk-rock amplification, Rose’s Pawn Shop has spent the better part of two decades carving out an Americana sound that’s as diverse as the band’s native Los Angeles. Their past releases offer a melting pot of modern-day roots music, shot through with electric guitar, fiddle, raw percussive stomp, and stacked vocal […]
The Bluegrass Situation Reviews Sunny War’s “Stunning” New LP
The Bluegrass Situation writes that “Sunny War‘s stunning new album, Anarchist Gospel, is never preachy, because it doesn’t need to be. War’s evocation of both anarchy and gospel in this context is strikingly grounded, blossoming from everyday understandings and interactions with each concept. And deeper still, in these sweeping, grand arrangements built on sturdy bones of fingerstyle, […]
Week In Pop Covers Nima Kazerouni’s New EP
Week In Pop has a lovely, reflective feature on Nima Kazerouni‘s new self-titled EP. “Leader of the beloved So Many Wizards,” the site writes, “Nima shares songs that revolve around leaning into fatherhood, ballads from the heart, songs from the lockdown and songs dedicated to new re-emergences and newfound affinities.” According to Week In Pop, “the EP offers […]
New Music From SR2
The original 14-song limited edition vinyl LP of Tape Excavation was created to accompany the 2020 Independent Project Records coffee table book Savage Impressions (an arresting look back on Independent Project Records and Independent Project Press founder Bruce Licher’s career as a visual artist) published by P22. Tape Excavation was compiled by Savage Republic and Scenic founding member Licher after scouring through dozens of boxes of cassette tapes from rehearsals, demos, […]
Folk Alley Reviews Sunny War’s Anarchist Gospel
Folk Alley writes that “there’s a raw beauty on all the songs on Anarchist Gospel. Sunny War wears her emotions on her sleeve in her brilliant songwriting. With her stirring vocals and moving guitar, she calls forth the deep shadows that pass over the human heart, and the redemption that lies in wait.” Read the site’s full review of […]
Underdog Fanzine Praises Vic Ruggiero’s Versatility
Germany’s Underdog Fanzine is into the new Vic Ruggiero LP. “Vic Ruggiero is musically very versatile,” the site notes. “Be it [with] The Slackers, Rancid, [or] Transplants… With Stuff In My Pockets, Vic moves in completely different ways and is reminiscent of a troubadour who walks through the country and conjures blues, folk and Americana out of his pocket in retro sound. Vic is […]
Nashville’s WNXP Does A Deep Dive Into Sunny War’s New LP
Nashville station WNXP featured Sunny War‘s Anarchist Gospel as its album of the week last week, writing that “This album is the balance between good and bad. It represents someone’s story through the worst parts of life, but also follows the story of someone preserving. Sunny War’s vulnerability on Anarchist Gospel is bold and brave, but for her it was needed to […]
Retro Pop Talks With Nina Persson
Retro Pop Magazine has reported on Nina Persson‘s recent involvement with James Yorkston and the Second Hand Orchestra, with whom she released the collaborative album The Great White Sea Eagle last month. The album is very different than Persson’s work as the frontperson of The Cardigans, as she explains: “This isn’t something I think I could have done back [when The Cardigans were […]
Dusty Organ Praises Matt Holubowski For Pushing Forward His Sound On New Single “My Burrow”
About the newest single “My Burrow” from Matt Holubowski, Dusty Organ writes, “Known for his atmospheric and unsuspectingly lush folk sound, the singer-songwriter continues to push his sound forward on his commanding new single ‘My Burrow.’ Incorporating hints of electronic influences, buzzing guitars, and a more invigorating spirit, ‘My Burrow’ balances regret and optimism with its philosophical […]
