Highly Recommended w/ JPW

[Repost from HI54; by Jeremy Sroka, November 3, 2022]

* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is JPW — a creator out of the Sonoran Desert who recently dropped the excellent Something Happening / Always Happening on Fort Lowell Records, the first pressing of which has already sold out, but you can now get in on the 2nd-pressing on yellow vinyl (and you can catch the track ‘Wealth of the Canyon’ on the HI54 Mix CD ‘420 ALL DAY’) // JPW photo by Sam Means

#1 - WHAT IS THE ONE ALBUM (OR EP OR SONG) THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE THE VERY NEXT MUSICAL THING THAT EVERYONE PRESSES PLAY ON THE NEXT TIME THEY FIND THEMSELVES THINKING “WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NOW”?

As a lifelong Star Trek fan, I was chuffed when psychedelic instrumentalist Frank Maston included a Trek song, “Beyond Antares,” in his recent Aquarium Drunkard Lagniappe Session.

Written by Wilbur Hatch and featuring lyrics written by Trek’s “other Gene,” showrunner Gene Coon—whose progressive beliefs majorly influenced the franchise—Maston takes the “23rd century love song” in a library music direction, evoking the synthed out sound of vintage Italian films. Here’s hoping he does a whole album of Trek tunes, I’d be way into it.

#2 - WHAT IS THE ONE MOVIE OR TV SHOW THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE NEXT IN EVERYBODY’S NETFLIX QUEUE (OK, DOESN’T HAVE TO BE NETFLIX, WE’RE ALL INTERNET ADULTS HERE AND KNOW HOW TO FIND ANYTHING ONLINE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER)?

Gone way before its time after only two fantastic seasons, Lodge 49 was a great show about the persistence of magic and meaning set against a backdrop of Southern California mundanity.

Part hermetic/alchemical rabbit hole, part The Big Lebowski, part Office Space, it’s ultimately a show about the power of community and the sacred nature of connectedness. It’s deeply funny but also touching, grounded in blue collar realites but given over to magical realism, and the cast is fantastic. Its golden hour vibe and surf and psych-pop soundtrack was a major influence on Something Happening/Always Happening.  

#3. I (AND BY “I” I MEAN “THE PERSON THAT IS READING THIS”) AM GOING TO THE LOCAL BOOK STORE (OK, MAYBE THE LOCAL LIBRARY FIRST) TO FIND THE VERY NEXT BOOK THAT I WILL BE PUTTING SOME EXTREMELY VALUABLE ‘ME-TIME' ASIDE FOR. WHICH BOOK WOULD YOU GET, IF YOU WERE ME (AND, I SUPPOSE, YOU HADN’T ALREADY READ WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SUGGEST)?

A Manual for Cleaning Women, Lucia Berlin. This collection of short stories is tough and terse, which makes the sporadic bursts of tenderness that much more moving. Berlin’s sentences are usually short. She leaves plenty unsaid, which allows more space to wander into these semi-autobiographical tales from the deserts of Mexico, the southwestern US, and Chile.

She’s got one story included in here, “My Jockey,” about tending to a wounded jockey in an emergency room, that only takes one and a half pages to paint the most vivid, human scene. 

#4 - WHAT IS THE ONE WEBSITE (OR JUST ANY OLD INTERNET THING: APP, GIF, SERVICE, WHATEVER) THAT YOU WOULD GET REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS ABOUT IF IT WERE TO SUDDENLY GO AWAY?

I probably laugh at something @DRIL posts on Twitter once a day. I guess you can find out who @DRIL actually is if you look, but I’ve never had any interest in knowing the IRL person behind the account. I prefer to only engage with the disembodied prophetic and puerile digital cypher who appears in my feed.

Rather than screenshot a favorite, here’s a picture of my copy of Dril Official “Mr. Ten Years” Anniversary Collection, which is both 1) the only physical book collection of tweets that has ever needed to exist and 2) going to come in handy if the servers really do melt away someday.

#5 - AND FINALLY… PLEASE GIVE ONE COMPLETELY UNAIDED RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD START DOING / USING / WATCHING / EATING / THINKING / QUITTING / ETC-ING TO MAKE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE BETTER AND/OR BEARABLE.

I’ve been playing around with that weird state right before I wake up in the morning, when I start stirring and coming out of deep sleep. I’ll focus on feelings of universal wholeness or “imagine” the sensation of a enveloping cosmic love. These moments feel gentle and comforting in general, just kind of nice zones to float through and exist in, but a few have taken on an ecstatic quality. It makes for a nice way to begin a day.  

Of course, there are lots of mornings where I hit snooze two or three times too, which can be very nice too.

OK folks, there you have it. Things that JPW thinks you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go get ready to wake up different in the mornings, make sure to follow JPW on the Instagram / Twitter and then also give ‘Wealth of the Canyon’ a listen below…

…and if you like what you’re hearing, go do some further jpw-flavoured audio exploring over on the Bandcamp / Spotify.

OUT NOW: infinitikiss "in the same vibration that pothos green grows" [Digital Single]

The first track from the highly anticipated new album – ambient music – by Albuquerque, New Mexico's experimental artist – infinitikiss – is officially out today on all digital music platforms.  The track is specifically tuned to the Heart Chakra, so please enjoy.  The release date for ambient music is set for March 3, 2023 and you can reserve your copy of the album now.

CLICK HERE TO PREORDER VINYL RECORD

Grooves & Cuts

[Repost from Americana Highways; by John Apice, November 2, 2022]

Kim Ware & The Good Graces – Ready

Sometimes I don’t know if I’m complimenting an artist when I say they sound popish-60s. But that was a glorious time. Hit singles were always melodic, tight, ingenious & catchy. That’s what Kim Ware & The Good Graces’ new CD Ready provides on their September release on (Potluck (CD) / Fort Lowell Records (Digital).

The opener “capital R” is soaked in an expressive pop melody. To me it’s attractive. It’s done well. The air around it is almost like many of the classic girl groups of that era: The Shangri-Las, The Toys & Dixie-Cups if not Marcie Blaine’s little classic “Bobby’s Girl,” & Robin Ward’s unforgettable “Wonderful Summer.” Its sweetness mixed with melancholy. Not easy to do. There’s a girl-group toughness to her vocalizing that’s vulnerable & charming.

It doesn’t sound retro or nostalgic – just a vintage style refreshed, filled with high-octane originality & relatable. “I don’t want to be here, but you’re so inviting…” is so cool. The clean chiming guitars& Kim’s vocal is pure adolescent glee.

The Kim Ware original songs were produced by Jerry Kee (multi-instrumentalist) & the North Carolina recording features Kim (acoustic & electric guitar/lead vocals/whistling), Wyatt Espalin (fiddle on “Palisade Peaches”) & Carrie Shull (oboe on “Ready,” & “So Many Questions”).

There are 13 cuts & that at times Kim starts to sing with a more old-timey country vocal, but she does it with such a reliable sound that it will bring a smile (“Bird In One Hand”). The variety in the tunes is solid without losing focus. I can’t criticize Kim’s moments of humor as being a novelty song, but she does lighten up the repertoire on occasion. There are enough well-developed songs to support the delicate ambiance of the set.

Highlights — “capital R,” “Bird In One Hand,” “Stopped Making Plans,” “Spider Lily Two,” “Odds & Evens,” “Nightmarish,”

Bandcamping :: Autumn 2022

[Repost from Aquarium Drunkard; by Tyler Wilcox, November 3, 2022]

JPW – Something Happening / Always Happening

Not only is Jason P. Woodbury a great writer/editor /podcaster/dude (you know his work on this very website as well as plenty of other spots), it seems that he’s also a great musician/songwriter. Go figure! Jason’s debut under the JPW moniker is a start-to-finish beauty, like Cass McCombs and JJ Cale meeting up in the Sonoran Desert at sunset for some hazy, sunbaked jams. Drum machines tick, guitars glisten, vocals drift, time stops. Very happening!

Stay tuned...

This Thursday, November 10th, our friends at Independent Clauses will host an exclusive premiere for infinitikiss "in the same vibration that pothos green grows" — the first single from the album, titled ambient music by infinitikiss, due out February 17, 2023.  For fans of William Basinski, La Cerca "A Nice Sweet Getaway", and Stars of the Lid.

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER VINYL RECORD

infinitikiss; Photo by Kati Baldwinin

Lauds, pictured here with 'Imitation Life' debut album Producer: Holt Evans II

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER VINYL RECORD NOW

Fort Lowell Records · Lauds - "24"

[L-R] Gavin Campbell, Boyce Evans, Holt Evans II, J. Holt Evans III, McKay Glasgow

OUT NOW: Haji P. "So Regular" ft. DJ MF Shalem

The Digital Single from the second release of the Fort Lowell Records' series This Water is Life is out today on all digital music platforms by hip-hop artist Haji P.; who is featured on Side-A of the record, alongside indie rockers Color Temperature on Side-B.

This Water is Life is in partnership with Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group, made possible by Dock Street Printing, Gravity Records, Persephone's Farm, Satellite Bar & Lounge, and Wild Phoenix Salt Cave, and features artwork + photographs provided by Josh Putnam, Ross Langdon Page, and Pufferfish Print Shop, 

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER VINYL EP

Geared Up: Lauds Guitarist J. Holt Evans III Discusses His ProCo Rat 2 Distortion Pedal

[Repost from V13; by Christopher Gonda, October 28, 2022]

Since we’re living in a rather introspective era of modern human history, it would make sense that much of our music is likewise somewhat reflective. Lauds are excitedly wrapping up work on their debut full-length record, Imitation Life, right now, with a release date set for January 20th, 2023, via Fort Lowell Records. Featuring ten brand new tracks, the lyrics are thoughtful and pensive, with lyrics that are anxious about finding any tiny part of contentment in life. Based in Wilmington, North Carolina, the band represents the sounds of their surroundings, combining together a post-modern surf rock sound that goes well beyond the constraints of that genre.

Formed a few years ago, band leaders and songwriters J. Holt Evans III and McKay Glasgow met by chance in the home studio of Evans’ father, Plugpoint Studios. Glasgow was working on some demos when he recorded with his folk band, and Evans quickly got involved. The two began sharing demos of material Glasgow felt would not fit in with his folk group, and soon an enriching indie rock collaboration was born.

For our latest Geared Up interview, we recently spoke with J. Holt Evans III to discuss his favourite studio and stage gear, including the ProCo Rat 2 fuzz/distortion pedal.

What one piece of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound?

J. Holt Evans III: “It’s hard to limit myself to one piece… I’m not a gearhead per se, but I’d say I know what I like and know just enough to be dangerous to get sounds I am happy with and that feel inspiring to me. McKay and I want to make wavy guitar pop like our heroes and we use a lot of the typical gear commonly associated with dream pop/shoegaze music to achieve our sound: Fender Jazzmaster, Roland JC Amps, ElectroHarmonix Memory Man, etc.

“I think the biggest piece of gear currently inspiring me is my ProCo Rat 2 fuzz/distortion pedal. I used to use it almost exclusively for solos, but it’s so versatile and sounds so good on top of the big delay, reverb, and chorus that I always run that I keep finding new excuses to use it. It has definitely shaped our songwriting on the record and pushed us in a noisier direction as a band which is exciting for me.”

How did you come to possess this pedal? Vintage shop, regular shop, borrowed money, gifted. Give us the details…

“I’m fortunate to have a really supportive dad who dabbles as a recording engineer. He is a MAJOR gearhead, and he gave me my Rat as a Christmas gift. It’s really fun we’re always giving each other gear for birthdays, holidays, etc., and it gives us both an excuse to try out new things.”

What made you choose this pedal, and were there any close seconds or alternates?

“I had been searching for a distortion pedal for a long time and tried using tube screamers and a Xotic SL drive but was never able to get them dialed in the way I wanted. My goal with any kind of fuzz or distortion is to be able to just add it to the effects that I’m already using live without it sounding like mush. The tube screamer is a classic pedal, but it was just tough for me to get a handle on in terms of setting it up to feedback when I stepped on it but not be too much.”

What about this particular pedal makes it so important to you?

“I think the versatility and the simplicity of the RAT are just incredible. Just messing with the filter knob can get you anywhere from biting, spiky fuzz to a kind of ‘singy’ sound. Live, since our band mainly plays small clubs where my amp might not even necessarily be mic’d, it’s really easy to adjust on the fly with my feet based on what I’m hearing, which is also a huge plus. That pedal also has a pretty cool legacy as well of being used by great punk and noise bands which is cool as well. My pedalboard with my black ProCo RAT 2 (center with blue tape).”

Did you use this pedal during the recording of Imitation of Life? If so, please elaborate on how and for what parts.

“It’s all over the album. You can hear that weird kind of ‘singy’ setting that I mentioned above on the solo for ‘Misplace a Night.’ Another theme of us wanting to evolve our sound for the record was looking for ways to package noisy, distorted passages into the context of music that is essentially guitar-pop. You can hear me trying to go for a more unhinged sound on the solo of ‘CeeDee Lamb.’

“Part of my inspiration to get a RAT was that band METZ, who I think use it as their main distortion/fuzz. I love the way you can clearly hear their guitar player stepping on it, and it immediately just lets out like a squall of feedback. I don’t think we get quite that extreme on the record, but the influence is definitely there on the new songs.”

Do you have a special way that you recreate your album (guitar/vocal/bass) tones in a live setting, or is it more just plug-and-play?

“Live, I just use the same setup I do with my pedalboard as I do to record, so it is plug-in and play in a way. The guitar sound is really important to me, and in regards to wanting our band to have a cohesive sound, so when we first started playing shows, I used to get really stressed about nailing my tone perfectly but have done a complete 180 since then, thankfully. I have everything marked out how I want it on my amp and my board and now I just make sure I’m in the ballpark before we start playing and try to have fun with it.

“I’ve gotten a lot better at adjusting stuff with my feet as needed mid-song as well (laughs). My Fender Princeton Reverb II with my little setting hieroglyphics written on tape.”

We know you love this pedal, but are there any major cons? (Ok, now you can also list the pros.)

“I think just playing noisy effects heavy lead guitar can be frustrating at times due to the fact that your gear has to be working in order to get the sound you want live. There are times where I definitely wish we made Oasis-style music where you just plug into a distorted amp and play. Not to be cheesy, but I do feel like chorus, reverb, and echo are part of the building blocks of how I am able to say something authentic musically with the guitar.

“I’m not a technical player at all: I hear parts in my head with those textures already woven into them, and so it just feels natural to play them that way. I always joke that my dad played the first two U2 records too many times in the car growing up and created a monster.”

If you could or wanted to (maybe you don’t at all, and that’s cool), what would you tweak or mod on the pedal?

“Always feel like I don’t even know what I don’t know regarding gear, so modding is out of the question for me at this point (laughs).”

Time for some fun. Give us your best “gear goes wrong” story.

“There are so many. Aside from the usual bad cable completely cutting my volume mid-song, one that stands out to me was when my band and I were doing a lot of guitar switching mid-set, I always had to remember to adjust my input volume on my echo pedal to boost my overall sound, because my other guitar I played had really low volume pickups. Lauds played a set at Gravity Records once in Wilmington, where I switched guitars and completely forgot about adjusting the input. Then I spent an entire song like taking my pedal board apart onstage, gave up, and then just stood there until I remembered what I needed to do. Was brutal, but I feel like it happens to every guitar player that’s playing through a ton of effects."

After many years in the music industry, Jason P. Woodbury puts out 2 albums of his own

[Repost from KJZZ; by Lauren Gilger, October 27, 2022]

Jason P. Woodbury has spent years working on all sides of the music industry in Arizona. Today, he’s the creative director at Hello Merch and host of the Transmissions podcast for online music magazine Aquarium Drunkard.

But in all that time, he’s never released an album of his own. Well, this year, he’s released two: a solo record and one with his band, Kitimoto.

The solo project is called JPW, the album, “Something Happening/Always Happening.” It has echoes of everything from Western guitars to shoegaze indie rock.

And in a conversation with The Show, he said as the pandemic raged on, the songs poured out of him.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO FULL RADIO INTERVIEW

Kim Ware and the Good Graces “Overflowing” Strikes a Haunting Vibe (Premiere)

[Repost from PopMatters; by Jonathan Frahm, October 26, 2022]

Kim Ware and the Good Graces premiere the lyric video for their atmospheric indie folk tune, “Overflowing”.

It’s been 16 years since Kim Ware and the Good Graces made a splash in the Atlanta indie scene. The songwriter has since blossomed into an intuitive folk artist, attuned to crafting atmospheric works that have carried her around the country and back to her Georgia and now North Carolina home. Ware recently moved back to her hometown of Kings Mountain, a small town where she first picked up her musical streak through drumming. Alongside the move, Ware teed up for the September release of the Good Graces’ sixth album, Ready, produced by Jerry Kee (Superchunk, Polvo).

“Overflowing” is an ethereal rambler that plays out like an offbeat sum of parts: grungy guitar tones, a neo-western flourish, and some indie folk harmonies. Ware’s straight-shooting vocal delivery brings it all together, casting haunting reflections over the tune. The Good Graces’ accompanying lyric video for the single drives the mood further, complete with washed-out yellows and reds across a smoky landscape.

Ware tells PopMatters, “‘Overflowing’ is one of a few songs on the record that I wrote while I still lived in Atlanta before the pandemic. I was listening to a LOT of Jaimee Harris’ ‘Red Rescue’ during that time; I feel like a bit of her influence may have seeped in. The creation of the song was pretty organic, though, with the lyrics being mostly stream of consciousness, save for a line or two.”

“At the time, we were trying to get our old house ready to put on the market, which turned out to be a huge endeavor. So the line ‘we’ll never make it out of Georgia’ was reflective of how I felt at the time, with the ‘speed trap’ being all the obstacles life was throwing at us. It’s one of the first songs we finished for the album, and I really love all the atmospheric touches Jerry brought to it. Sonically, it’s probably my favorite song on the album.”

We've got a Facebook account!

For those of you who use Facebook, you can now follow Fort Lowell Records on that platform, here: https://www.facebook.com/fortlowellrecs

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE: Haji P. "So Regular" ft. DJ MF Shalem

Happy Halloween! 🎃  Here's a very special *treat* for you: 

Fort Lowell Records is proud to share with you the first single from our next edition of the This Water is Life series: Haji P. "So Regular".  Officially being released this coming Friday, November 4th on all digital streaming platforms, you can enjoy Haji P. "So Regular" ft. DJ MF Shalem all week here on our site.

This Water is Life is a self-sustained and ongoing series of split EPs with two express purposes: to highlight new hip-hop / indie rock music from Southeastern North Carolina, as well as to provide a platform for Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group to deliver up-to-date authoritative reports on the health of the Cape Fear River Basin for both human beings and wildlife.

Haji P. (AKA: Illustrator, HP Fangs) is the hip-hop artists for This Water is Life, Vol. II, while Color Temperature (AKA: Photographer, Ross Langdon Page) is the indie rock musician.

This Water is Life is in partnership with Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group, made possible by Dock Street Printing, Gravity Records, Persephone's Farm, Satellite Bar & Lounge, and Wild Phoenix Salt Cave, and features artwork + photographs provided by Josh Putnam, Ross Langdon Page, and Pufferfish Print Shop, 

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER THE VINYL RECORD

Haji P.

Tonight, we dance!

LET'S DANCE at The Opera Room tonight (Oct 30) at 8pm

Tonight, we rock!

Kicking Bird perform live in concert tonight (Oct 29) at Satellite Bar & Lounge in Wilmington NC, along with The Beehive Blondes.  Stayed tuned here to Fort Lowell Records for more information to follow (soon) regarding the release of Kicking Bird’s debut album. 🎸

OUT NOW: Lauds "24" [Digital Single]

Lauds’ debut full-length Imitation Life is a lush, aural tapestry of blissed-out guitars against a backdrop of rhythmic tension woven by the five-piece, Wilmington, NC-based band. The lyrics of the 10 tracks ping-pong between anxious introspection and the search for fleeting bits of contentment in life, like the best empathetic, reflective autumnal rock of the second Brit invasion era. On songs like "Wasted Hours", "24" and "Rust", the elegantly anguished vocals wash over the listener like the waters of Cape Fear and the Atlantic Ocean that dominate the Wilmington landscape, evoking the “post-surf stupor” that songwriters J. Holt Evans lll and Mckay Glasgow feel after a day riding its waves. 

The first single "24" from Lauds' Imitation Life is out today.

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER LAUDS' DEBUT ALBUM ON VINYL

JPW - Wealth of the Canyon (Live from The Dirty Drummer)

JPW performing "Wealth of the Canyon" from the debut album 'Something Happening / Always Happening' at The Dirty Drummer in Phoenix, Arizona from the Album Release Concert held on Saturday, September 10, 2022. Video by Becky Bartkowski.

Taco Tuesday

Join Fort Lowell Records every Tuesday Night at Satellite Bar & Lounge in Wilmington, North Carolina from 6:30-9:00pm as we spin a variety of our favorite records from our own personal vinyl collection, while we all enjoy dinner at Block Taco and a beverage-of-choice or three from the bar!  See y'all tonight!

Pre-Order Now: This Water is Life, Vol. II ft. Haji P. + Color Temperature

This Water is Life is a self-sustained and ongoing series of split EPs with two express purposes: to highlight new hip-hop / indie rock music from Southeastern North Carolina, as well as to provide a platform for Cape Fear River Watch and Coastal Plain Conservation Group to deliver up-to-date authoritative reports on the health of the Cape Fear River Basin for both human beings and wildlife.

Volume II of our This Water is Life project featuring hip-hop artist Haji P., along with indie rock artist Color Temperature, and is scheduled to be released this Winter Season.

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER NOW

Audio Explorations 'ActionReaction'

Hello!  James Tritten here, of Fort Lowell Records.  Audio Explorations was my own band with Steven Haley from 1996-2002.  Our sophomore album ActionReaction was originally released on Compact Disc twenty years ago.  But now, Fort Lowell Records has made Audio Exploration ActionReaction available on vinyl record for the very first time.  

There are only (50) copies of this album available on vinyl, so if you want to add this to your collection, do not wait to order it later; they are already over half-way sold out.

Some of the feature of the 20th Anniversary Vinyl Edition of Audio Explorations ActionReaction include:

• 135-gram heavyweight vinyl
• Orange colored vinyl
• Lyric Sheet
• Tour + Studio Photographs
• An original 2002 Tour Poster

Thank you in advance for the support! -- James

CLICK HERE TO ORDER NOW

Singles

[Repost from Independent Clauses; by Stephen Carradini, September 7, 2022]

“Wealth of the Canyon” – JPW. This track sounds like an effortless, casual, wonderfully tossed-off take on Laurel Canyon-style West Coast folk/country. It take significant work to make it sound so easy, and so JPW’s work is your benefit, listener.

Kim Ware & The Good Graces - Ready

[Repost from De krenten uit de pop; by Erwin Zijleman, September 22, 2022]

De Amerikaanse muzikante Kim Ware trok nog niet heel veel aandacht met haar band The Good Graces, maar levert met het onder haar eigen naam uitgebrachte Ready een geweldig album vol zonnestralen af

In een overvolle releaseweek als de afgelopen week krijgt een album helaas niet heel veel tijd om indruk te maken, maar Ready van Kim Ware had gelukkig ook niet veel tijd nodig. Mijn eerste kennismaking met de muziek van de Amerikaanse singer-songwriter was direct raak en levert me een album op dat hier nog heel vaak langs gaat komen. Ready van Kim Ware staat met één been in de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek en met het andere been in de collegerock en folkrock uit de jaren 90. Het levert een origineel geluid op, maar ook een geluid waarvan je alleen maar heel erg vrolijk kunt worden. Kim Ware tovert op Ready het ene na het andere onweerstaanbare popliedje uit de hoge hoed en vertolkt ze op zeer karakteristieke wijze.

Ik kon de afgelopen week kiezen uit een flinke stapel nieuwe albums, waaronder veel albums van vaste waarden of op zijn minst vertrouwde namen, maar er drong zich ook een album op van een tot voor kort voor mij totaal onbekende muzikante: Kim Ware. Als Kim Ware & The Good Graces heeft de Amerikaanse muzikante wat mij betreft een album afgeleverd dat de nazomer glans moet gaan geven en daar voor mij al mee is begonnen. 

Kim Ware werd geboren in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, en dat is sinds kort ook weer haar woonplaats. De afgelopen vijftien jaar maakte Kim Ware als lid van de band The Good Graces muziek vanuit Atlanta, Georgia, maar wist ze de cultstatus niet te ontstijgen en dit ondanks een handvol prima albums, die mij tot deze week overigens nooit zijn opgevallen. Het ontstijgen van de cultstatus zou wat mij betreft moeten gaan gebeuren met Ready, wat een onweerstaanbaar lekker en ook erg goed album is. 

Ready, het eerste album dat Kim Ware onder haar eigen naam uitbrengt, werd gemaakt toen de coronapandemie het openbare leven in de Verenigde Staten lam legde en werd voor het overgrote deel gemaakt door Kim Ware, die tekende voor de songs, de gitaren en de zang, en Jerry Kee die tekende voor het grootste deel van de rest van de instrumentatie en de productie van het album. Hiernaast duikt een keer een viool op en twee keer een hobo, maar dat is het. 

Kim Ware en Jerry Kee hebben lang en in alle rust gewerkt aan het lekker vol klinkende album en dat hoor je. Ready is een ontspannen maar ook mooi klinkend album en het is bovendien een album dat driftig strooit met zonnestralen. Het is een album dat voor een belangrijk deel past in het hokje Amerikaanse rootsmuziek, maar Kim Ware heeft haar muziek ook voorzien van een bijzondere twist en van invloeden uit de indie-folkrock uit de jaren 90. 

Ik moet bij beluistering van Ready meer dan eens denken aan de muziek van 10,000 Maniacs, maar ook de namen van Neko Case en The Cranberries kwamen direct bij mijn eerste beluistering van Ready voorbij en zijn sindsdien blijven hangen. Het betekent overigens niet dat de muziek van Kim Ware heel erg lijkt op die van de genoemde namen, want hoewel Ready op een of andere manier direct bekend in de oren klinkt, kan ik geen vergelijkingsmateriaal bedenken dat echt in de buurt komt van dit album. Ik hou het er maar op dat Kim Ware Amerikaanse rootsmuziek met een jaren 90 twist maakt. 

Het is een geluid dat zowel liefhebbers van Amerikaanse rootsmuziek als liefhebbers van meer richting indierock neigende muziek moet kunnen aanspreken en het is muziek waarvan je alleen maar heel vrolijk kunt worden. Zeker wanneer Ready met flink volume uit de speakers komt vliegen de zonnestralen je om de oren. Deze zonnestralen komen vooral uit de gitaren op het album, al kunnen deze gitaren ook best weemoedig klinken. 

Het past allemaal prachtig bij de opvallende zang van Kim Ware, die heel af en toe en zeker in de wat ruwere tracks wel wat doet denken aan Kirsty MacColl, maar ook beschikt over een stem die is gedrenkt in de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek. Ik had een flinke lijst met kanshebbers voor een plekje op de krenten uit de pop de afgelopen week. Kim Ware stond daar niet tussen, maar is wel een van mijn favorieten van de afgelopen weken of zelfs maanden. Erwin Zijleman

De muziek van Kim Ware is ook verkrijgbaar via de bandcamp pagina van het label van de Amerikaanse muzikante: https://fortlowell.bandcamp.com/album/ready.

The Friday Five

[Repost from Aarik Danielsen; September 16, 2022]

JPW, “Something Happening / Always Happening” / Jason Woodbury ranks quite high among my favorite thinkers and conversationalists on music. In his writing and podcasting, the technical serves the spiritual and vice-versa. Great critics and essayists don’t always make great musicians, but Jason shows off his all-around skillset with two releases this year—his work as guitarist for Kitimoto sounding through “Vintage Smell” and, now, his solo effort.

There are many descriptors to float toward “Something Happening”: Psychedelic rock, a sort of jammy, trippy vein of folk. To me, it’s interior soul music. The gentleness and attention inside Jason made manifest in melody and rhythm.

Thought provoking words, and dreamy guitar based music that grows on you with a few listens.

[Repost from Americana UK; by Tim Martin, September 22, 2022]

Ready is an album made up of pre-pandemic songs mixed with a few written under Lockdown.. Opening song ‘Capital R’ would perhaps have been better placed further down the running order. The relaxed groove of ‘Like A Bottle’ makes a better introduction to her dream pop inspired guitars and distant vocal. Ware’s voice comes across as a Kirsty MacColl from the Southern States. She’s been described by earlier reviewers as having a warbly Georgia drawl. If that was the case she has lost a lot of the “warble” on these two songs.

She calls ‘U2 (Means to An End)’ a “breakup rocker”, and it is a fairly grungy piece. Following that with the much quieter ‘So Many Questions’, a tribute to her late father is a bit of a sudden gear change, but the Neil Young flavoured song is one of the best on the album. ‘Stopped Making Plans’ is one of the most overt lockdown songs to emerge recently. “I booked a trip to Germany. Late last year, 2019. I should have known it wouldn’t come to pass. I hunkered down and wrote some songs. But they’re too sad, and way too long”. Ware seems to do best on these less rock oriented songs, her voice seems suited to them and the chiming guitars complement it well.

‘Recurring Dream’ is a less obvious pandemic song: “I have this recurring dream, I wish you’d tell me what it means. I’m in a car but there’s no driver, somehow I’m still safe. I think it’s about control or lack thereof, it’s hard to know. I can’t seem to make out the place”. Ware’s lyrics are mostly thoughtful as shown on ‘Odds and Evens’, her response to the events in Washington of 6^th January 2021. “I couldn’t stop thinking, even though I don’t have kids, how the hell do we explain ourselves to our kids?” Ware says.

As is maybe inevitable with songs written over such a long period of time there are a few that are a bit patchy, but the second half of the album is all great tunes and especially lyrics. It’s well worth spending time with this album and getting to know Ware’s songs.

We are kinda' really freakin' excited about this

JPW's debut album Something Happening / Always Happening sold out prior to the release date (September 9, 2022); pretty much, we've only got two copies of the original pressing left in stock.

So, we've decided to repress JPW Something Happening / Always Happening... but this time we are making it available on a beautiful vibrant yellow vinyl wax (to match the sticker on the cover, of course).

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER YOUR YELLOW JPW VINYL

Records should be available in about two months, and we will ship them out to customers as soon as they are delivered to us.  This second pressing is limited to only (100) copies, so don't sleep on this — place your order today to reserve your copy!

Join us every Tuesday night at Satellite Bar & Lounge in Wilmington NC

Yours truly will be DJing our favorite vinyl records.  See ya' there!

 

In Conversation with Kim Ware

[Repost from Chunky Glasses; by Kevin Hill, September 17, 2022]

For over a decade, singer/songwriter/Southerner Kim Ware has been crafting indie-folk songs full of heart and twang with her project Kim Ware and the Good Graces. On her latest album Ready, she’s digging deeper inside then ever before. The result is an album overflowing with brutal honesty, (often hilarious) youthful angst, and an emotional core that could melt even the most hardened of hearts. Join us as we sit down with Ware to discuss the new album, making music in isolation, working with producer Jerry Kee (Superchunk, Polvo, Tift Merritt), and much, much more.  

JPW – 'Something Happening / Always Happening'

[Repost from Ears to Feed; by Jesse Locke, September 15, 2022]

Dance the Mutation - September 2022

As the host of Aquarium Drunkard’s Transmissions podcast, I’ve become so accustomed to hearing Jason Woodbury’s high, tender voice in my ears that his singing sounds instantly familiar. Something Happening / Always Happening ventures into the heart of cosmic Americana with a sound as serene as the Arizona deserts that Woodbury calls home. The sputters of the Rhythm Ace drum machine are a key element, adding a timeless quality to the band’s shimmering, mirage-like arrangements. “Always Happening” closes the album with a vast 10-minute sprawl, becoming more vaporous as its ambient synths radiate a feeling of awestruck reverence – the same quality Woodbury brings to his interviews.

September shows (HIGHLY recommended!)

[Repost from Sac.Indie.Music; September 2, 2022]

September 30, 2022 @ The Starlet Room – Desario (Record Release Show) w/ ghostplay + Fawns Of Love

Desario has been a long-time staple of Sacramento, and they released a brand new album titled Signal and Noise on Fort Lowell Records! They will celebrate their new album with a record release show at The Starlet Room (located just above Harlow’s)! Desario has always been strong at crafting their songs. Simply put, they are great songwriters. This new album is a triumphant return that features carefully crafted songs full of brilliant layers of crunchy shoegaze guitars and lovely delays, all topped off with the soft, airy vocals of frontman John Conley. There is an excellent reason why this talented band has graced the Ace of Spade’s stage opening for bands like Echo and the bunny men, Jonny Marr, and The Charlatans (UK)! It’s an absolute treat to have them back with this new album. Go pick up the vinyl copy while you still can by clicking here!

OUT NOW: Kim Ware and the Good Graces 'Ready' [Digital LP]

Singer, songwriter, and drummer-turned-guitarist Kim Ware of the Good Graces is known for her unique brand of raw, folk-leaning “southern indie” music. Performing with a rotating cast of musicians, Ware has been crafting tracks with both guts and heart since picking up her first guitar in 2006. She’s one of those rare artists whose melodic lines and candid lyrics feel so natural they’re almost unnatural; she’s been praised as a “songwriter’s songwriter” as well as “an Atlanta treasure” by local musicians and press alike.

Ready is Kim Ware and the Good Graces' latest studio album, and it is official out today on all digital platforms.  Click here to order Ready on compact disc, care of our friends at PotLuck Foundation.