-
Ben Reddell Band – ¡LA Baby!
Texas native-turned-Angeleno Ben Reddell honors both his adopted city and his homeland of Texas on his EP, LA Baby, out today. LA has a storied history of honky tonks, but unfortunately, few of the historic ones are still operating. However, one person is responsible for keeping that outlaw spirit alive and well in California and that’s Ben who hosts and organizes the Grand Ole Echo, originally founded by Kim Grant. As well as being a community leader, promoter and preserver of Western musical ephemera, Ben has last released EP with his band in 2012 but has been plenty busy since…
-
Joe Bourdet – “Mantra”
This is the first post on Petal Motel about Joe Bourdet, but it won’t be the last. Joe’s putting out an instant classic of an album, Meadow Rock, on June 18th and I’ve been waiting impatiently since the moment I heard a pair of singles he’d previously released, “Seamist” and “El Capitan.” The full album is an aural tour of California – shooting you from sprawling meadows, to the pristine beaches of northern Malibu, to the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the sparkling cities and back to the vast expanses of rolling meadows and super blooming wildflowers in between. Today, Joe…
-
Stevie Weinstein-Foner – “Give Me A Song”
Stevie Weinstein-Foner shares the video for the gorgeous second single, “Give Me A Song” off upcoming album Wondering, out 6/18 on Wild Kindness Records. Stevie’s music is Californiana at its finest. With lovely, canyon-country acoustic strums, Blythe Gruda’s climbing complementary vocals, and a Bluebird-like picked coda, “Give Me a Song” is a cinematic marvel, and a promising taste of what to expect from the full-length record. “Give Me A Song” is a prayer, an asking, for the thing that the song itself is giving. As a songwriter, I sometime question the usefulness of my craft, like, what are songs good…
-
20 Years of Beachwood Sparks
Just over 20 years ago, the definitive, and one of the greatest modern Californiana records was released. Today, founding Spark Brent Rademaker’s Curation Records reissues a remastered, refreshed, revitalized sparkling, fully-loaded array of re-issue offerings. The double-LP features one record containing the original tracks mastered by John Golden re-imagined for vinyl by JJ Golden; while disc 2 features bonus tracks and unreleased versions of “This Is What It Feels Like,” “Canyon Ride,” and the original recording of “Morning Light,” later released on Painted Hills, Josh Schwartz’s project of the same name. The companion CD Beachwood Deluxe features the bonus tracks…
-
Greg Loiacono : Seed
Wow this song is a MOOD. I love this Greg – that edge, grit, and angst! This is the sound and the vibe that made so many young audiences fall head first for the Mother Hips 30 years ago. Greg relays a sentiment we can all relate to, “We don’t have a choice about being born. But we are expected to live certain ways. Parents who create us, school teachers who mold us, societies in general rely on a person to live in particular ways that jibe with cultural norms. And we just get thrown into it without a say…
-
Olivia + Harrison – The Shadow : Listen
I met Harrison Flynn in 2017 standing in line at Amoeba in LA, waiting to get our copies of Barefoot in the Head signed by Chris Robinson and Neal Casal. If I recall correctly, I think we talked a lot about Sweetheart of the Rodeo maybe, the Dead, the usual suspects. I tried to get him to start a band with me actually but luckily, he held out to work with people who shared talent of his caliber. Harrison’s playing blew me away on this track, and Olivia’s fantastic vocals are a magnificent compliment. Looking forward to a bright future…
-
Dan Horne
You know Dan! He’s everywhere, especially this year. He’s produced, played on, or written on so many favorite albums – to name just a few from 2020 – Circles Around the Sun’s self-titled, Mapache’s From Liberty Street, Trummors’ Dropout City, Pacific Range’s High Upon the Mountain, some badass tracks from Mojohand, and now, his debut solo EP, The Motorcycle Song EP, is officially streaming everywhere. Tell me a little bit about the The Motorcycle Song EP. You play and sing everything by yourself, which is a stark contrast since so much of your work is so collaborative. How was it?…
-
Trevor Beld Jimenez – I Like It Here
A lot of folks are going to hear Trevor’s power pop, AM radio gold, sunshine-y Californiana record I Like It Here, out today on Curation Records, and draw some immediate parallels, due to his sun-drenched vocals, his lyrical references, and his history. I’m going to try to avoid leaning on that too heavily in favor of focusing on Trevor’s songwriting, the really amazing instrumentation instated by an impressive line-up of session players, and the heart of the album that shines through. We know that Trevor is a hell of a songwriter and musician. He’s the force that contributed to so…
-
Sweeten the Distance
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. From the definitive riff of the eponymous opening track, to the hymnal chords of the closing one, Neal Casal really hit his stride with Sweeten the Distance. The record is a fabulous summation of the two amazing albums preceding this one – the shimmering psychedelia present on No Wish to Reminisce, and the acoustic heartbeat heard on Roots and Wings, with a real sun-drenched sound. This…
