Here at MM we get a lot of albums submitted for our listening pleasure via ReviewShine – an online method for putting bands and blogs together. Unfortunately we get so many submissions that we often can’t/don’t do them justice by giving them the listening time that they deserve – entirely our fault unfortunately.
So we’ve spent the past couple of days making a concerted effort to spin some, if not all, of the submissions we have received and pick out a few bands and tracks that we think might appeal to the MM reader. So pour a large whiskey, put on a ten gallon hat, download and pick out the ones you want to keep from dusty tex-mex to bluegrass to old-timey folk to gypsy jazz to classic Americana.
The Beauties play classic roots rock on their self-titled debut album. A perfect example is the record’s opening track, the jauntily snide, and toe-tappin’ Fashion Blues.
Download The Beauties – Fashion Blues mp3 (from The Beauties)
By contrast Ghosttown Gramophone play classic straight-up Americana with guitar, piano, lapsteel, mandolin and accordian. Try this maudlin tale of a coma patient waking up.
Download Ghosttown Gramophone – Otherwise I’m Fine mp3 (from December 32nd)
The Driftwood Singers are an old-time, close-harmony duo in the style of groups like the Carter Family and the Louvin Brothers. Alternating instruments like guitar, autoharp, mandolin, banjo and fiddle, they play a mix of their own original songs as well as classic folk standards.
Download The Driftwood Singers – I Have No One to Love Me (But the Sailor on the Deep Blue Sea) mp3 (from Look!)
Ted Pitney also draws from a well of Americana while painting with shades more undefined and foreign. It is visceral but arranged. Rock ‘n’ roll but humble. It’s a 1957 D-18 Martin guitar. Dusty and dirty tube amplifiers. It’s heartache and it’s family and friends.
Download Ted Pitney – October Fire mp3 (from The Genesee EP)
Tumbledown House are best described as modern parlor music or dirty saloon jazz, inspired by union songs, saloons, mining camps, and brothels, with a little nod to some bygone female vocalists.
Download Tumbledown House – Right Hand Man mp3 (from Tumbledown House)
Tara Linda is influenced by the land and stories of the American Southwest, and she skilfully blends Spaghetti Western, Tex-Mex, and sultry rock. We’re betting there is some Morricone and maybe some Calexico in her CD collection…
Download Tara Linda – Dream Out Loud mp3 (from Tortilla West Serenade)
Ghost Towns, the new album from singer-songwriter John Statz. It is inspired by grimy, war-torn Balkan towns and dying, broken down American cities. Try Jackson Hole, our favourite from the record.
Download John Statz – Jackson Hole mp3 (from Ghost Towns)
The Blackberry Bushes are a band of songwriters with an old-time and bluegrass bend. They take a deep breath full of Appalachian mountain sound traditions, and exhale a collection of songs rooted in the green and wild indie rich Pacific Northwest.
Download The Blackberry Bushes – Salt Creek mp3 (from Little Bit Of Grace)
Last, but by no means least, is the indie-folk strum-a-long of Taxidermic Heartbreak Glory, a stand out track from Blue Cadet Three’s album Palomino Wildfire, rich with lazy banjo, wandering fiddle, and groovy bass lines.
Download Blue Cadet Three – Taxidermic Heartbreak Glory mp3 (from Palomino Wildfire)
The Mad Mackerel 