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Bandcamp Friday : Spring Shopping List
Bandcamp is doing it again! This Friday, May 1st, and every first Friday through July, the streaming and purchasing platform is once again waiving their revenue share. Many artists are releasing special live albums, compilations, EPs, singles, etc. to further tempt you to buy. Several record labels are also waiving their share, so 100% of sales will go directly to the artist. You can view a comprehensive list from Bandcamp…
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Songs for 6000 Feet : Playlist
I’m currently quarantined in the place I lived as a teenager, and it was here where the vast fields and mountains inspired my interest in and subsequent love for Americana. This is essentially the playlist I made fifteen years ago, with some additions to keep it feeling fresh and up-to-date. I used to listen to these songs, and imagine my life here – hiking, cooking, practicing guitar, finding joy in…
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Pacific Range – Studio Walk : Video Premiere
Curation Records isn’t only purveying cool Californiana canciones, but curating a community. To repeat Pacific Range labelmate Farmer Dave’s statement from a past interview, “the emphasis [in music] going forward is on family… You want to be with your community.” In that spirit, I asked some friends and fans to help write this article. It’s hard to imagine that only a few weeks ago, Curation Records was putting on a hell…
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Troubled Folk Songs : Playlist
I suppose it’s time to release this playlist into the wild. I’ve been working on it since November, gradually. Initially I named this one “Things I’m Sensitive To.” I’d been fascinated by this concept of ‘unearthed’ records for a minute, but had little guidance after a while and so went it alone. Over the next few weeks, I discovered the Numero Uno group but also did some heavy research seeking…
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Pacific Range – High Upon the Mountain
High crested mountain peaks giving way to arid, sweeping, open horizons; lush, ancient forests; hurtling through a canyon before the road breaks open to a vast and sparkling sunlit surf – Pacific Range’s debut full-length LP High Upon the Mountain is Curation Records’ first official release. The album takes listeners on a sonic tour of West Coast sound, the array of landscapes and sensations California offers mirrored by the band’s…
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Farewell, Tres Warren
I was pretty late to the game with Psychic Ills but when I started listening to them a few years ago, I never stopped. I can’t count how many times Inner Journey Out was stuck on repeat as I sat alone staring at mountains as the sun melted across the valley. The songs on that album, in particular, stir something inside me so deeply, I hesitate to attempt to describe…
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5 Ways to Support Artists Right Now
The music industry’s been turned on its head as record sales have fallen by the wayside and touring has become the main source of income for musicians. And thanks to our current situation, thousands of tour dates have been canceled and artists of all calibers are facing uncertain financial futures. They’ve also been some of the first to act, planning live streams of intimate, acoustic online concerts and even mini online…
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Farmer Dave Scher
Farmer Dave called me and immediately the call dropped. I called back. “I’m in a canyon!” he pronounced. Of course he was. With roots in California dating back to the mid-1800s, Farmer Dave admits that California is an easy place to fall in love with, whether you have roots or not. He speaks like an ancient person from the future. I had a feeling he might be able to shed…
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Bonny Light Horseman at Rough Trade and Levon Helm Studio
It may be 2020 but the spirit of the 1800s is alive and well. I heard Wild Mountain Thyme three nights in a row this week, performed by two different bands. There’s no chance of traditional music being forgotten any time soon, if Anais Mitchell, Josh Kaufman, and Eric D. Johnson have anything to say (sing) about it. It’s an education. Bonny Light Horseman continues the long tradition of reinventing…
