Sometimes music is a collision of opposites. Realities clash and coexist, and the tension that results is scary and strange, but undeniably beautiful. Maybe that's why Samantha Crain & the Midnight Shivers embody so many conflicting unities and clashing identities. With a blow-your-hair-back vocal presence that occasionally yields to whisper-soft vulnerability, Samantha Crain unites the sounds of confidence and desperation.
Jack James is an indie folk singer-songwriter from Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. In 2009 he released the home-recorded debut album Lights off, headphones on for free online. Official site: http://www.myspace.com/jackjamesmusic
Free album download: http://jackjames.bandcamp.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jackjamesmusic
Jukka Salminen is a Finnish singer/songwriter and Tapes is his alter ego. Tapes started when Jukka moved to England in the autumn of 2002 to continue his photographic studies. There he started to play acoustic guitar and write songs. Tapes is about beautiful songs played with an acoustic nylon-strung guitar. The songs are usually quite specific documents about a certain moment or feeling. Most songs are quite short and fragile, and have some kind of photographic content. Tapes is about "shooting Polaroids with a guitar".
John Paul Hammond (born 13th November 1942), also known as "John Hammond Jr", is a blues singer and guitarist. He usually plays acoustic guitars and dobros and sings in a barrelhouse style. Since 1962, when he made his debut on Vanguard Records, Hammond has made 29 albums. In the 1990s he recorded for the Pointblank label. Hammond has earned one Grammy Award and been nominated for four others. He is the son of the legendary record producer John H. Hammond.
Castanets is an experimental one-man band from San Diego composed of Raymond Raposa and any number of session musicians brought on for his albums and performances. The music has been described as gothic country, avant-garde indie, psychedelic neo-folk, and a slew of other labels. Fundamentally, the music of Castanets is built on the clash between traditional music styles (folk, country) and modern intuition (avant-garde, psychedelia).
Session Americana sit tightly around a small café table, ambient mics tuned to catch the whole sound of the voices and instruments. Asuitcase drum kit, an old electric bass, a bunch of acoustic instruments, a field organ – this format feels very theatri-cal and though the musicians face each other, the audience feels drawn into the circle by the warmth, joy and camaraderie that emanate outwards by the all star cast of characters seated around the table. What keeps you coming back show after show is the same thing that any audience member longs for – great songs performed by a great band.
Texas Tea are a two piece alt-country act from Brisbane, Australia. Texas Tea’s debut album, Take A Sip, featured heavily on radio from it’s release in 2006, including ABC, Triple R, PBS, Triple J, 4ZZZ. In 2006 and 2007 Texas Tea took out the Hot 100 on Brisbane’s 4ZzZfm with tracks ‘Macy and Me’ and ‘Whiskey and Wine’. These tracks also featured as finalists in the Q Music Awards and in 2007 APRA Songwriters Award.
Captain Kennedy, a 7-piece folk rock band from Northern Ireland, are earthy, their music visceral. The past couple of years have seen the band establish their position on the Irish music scene with gigs in high profile venues across the country, including a sold-out Mandela Hall. Support slots for the likes of
Tim Barry is a solo folk singer who sings in melodic hardcore band Avail. He released an album titled "Rivanna Junction" on the label Suburban Home Records in the fourth quarter of 2006. He has a new record entitled Manchester out now!
Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country band which formed in Athens, Georgia, United States in 1996. Currently, the band consists of Patterson Hood (vocals, guitar), Mike Cooley (vocals, guitar), Shonna Tucker (bass, vocals), John Neff (guitar), Jay Gonzalez (keyboards) and Brad Morgan (drums). Cooley and Hood are the only original members of the band remaining. Perhaps the band's best known former member, guitarist and contributing songwriter Jason Isbell left the band in 2007, shortly after his divorce from Tucker.