Back in June I started something that was supposed to become a regular feature, You Probably Haven’t Heard. It’s a list of musicians that have not reached their potential audience. Anyone playing large venues or well known to My Gentle Readers, is excluded. I’m trying to expose you to musicians that are new to you that you will enjoy. I am not expecting anyone to love all my recommendations but every reader should find new acts to love. That even applies to Becca who magically knows everyone I know. It can’t really be everyone
I’m not listing artists in the order of how much I like them. My goal was to add new people as I saw, listened to, or socialized with them, and to post a new list every time I hit ten. I neglected the list for months. I had six acts n the second group of ten and stopped adding. I just added four more. And will start making my new list. My apologies to all the worthies that should have been included earlier and will now have to wait their turn.
- Anna/Kate Band: Anna Gothard and Kate Foster played John Platt’s On Your Radar and instantly became one of my top discoveries. This is what I wrote about them with some slight editing: Kate stood on stage alone without an instrument. We wondered what was going on, then we heard Anna’s pure voice from the back of the room. She stood in the dark holding what looked like a cell-phone flashlight. Kate joined in, a song that was part duet and part intricate harmony as Anna took the stage. That’s exactly the kind of theatricality that Anna & Elizabeth might do. I loathe to say “theatricality” as it makes you think of showbiz and glitz. This is not Spinal Tap doing Stonehenge. There is artifice but artifice that comes across as purity. After that they held the audience in the palm of their hand…. Their songs range from the traditional, as the opening song, to songs that sound like upbeat pop songs, as long as you don’t listen to the deep lyrics. While their songs are choreographed performance pieces, their banter is genuine, spontaneous, and at times silly.
- Harpeth Rising: Put a gun to my head and make me choose a favorite band and I might say Harpeth Rising. There’s certainly no one I like more. They are a chamber folk trio, banjo, violin, and cello. If Mozart were to form an Americana inspired band it might come out similar to Harpeth rising. You’d think having three conservatory trained musicians would be enough, but there’s more. They are amazing singers with and write songs with deep lyrics. They have a sense of humor, they have a musical sense of humor. Not many bands can make you smile on an instrumental. They are delightful people. To provide some balance I’ll point out that they have a banjo. That’s for the same reason weavers put an imperfection in every Persian rug, because only Allah is perfect.
- Jess Klein: I’ve known Jess the longest of anyone on this list. Twenty years ago I saw her open for Moxy Früvous. She didn’t win me over. By the time I saw her at SMAF she did. The essence of what makes her great is her passion. She believes in what she’s singing and makes you feel what she feels. When you see Jess prepare to feel the need to smoke a cigarette or march with pitchforks and torches; maybe just cry and think about your grandmother.
- Mari Black: Mari (rhymes with sorry) is another chamber folk goddess. She’s a Scottish fiddling champion. She won scotch, she doesn’t drink. She decided she loved Klezmer and added that to her repertoire. There’s Appalachian music. What holds them all together is that it’s all music you can dance to. She’s a virtuoso, her band is made up of virtuosi. She silly. She does trick fiddling, behind her back, through her legs, etc.. There are so many ways she makes you feel good.
- Mediaeval Baebes: They are just what their name indicates, women that sing medieval music. They all sing. Some play violin, viola, hurdy gurdy, or recorder. One, step dances. They are accompanied by instrumentalist that includes a lutist. In between songs the can be silly. They can be silly during some of the songs. They can all bring you to the medieval view of heaven.
- Moira Smiley : Moira is one of my top musical discoveries of the year. She’s a singer and composer that surrounds herself with great musicians. Her genre is whatever she wants it to be. I’ve seen her only once and her first song was in Bulgarian. She is not bound by the bonds of expectations. There are ways she reminds me of Jocie Adams of Arc Iris, in others of Happy Rhodes. She follows her vision wherever it takes her. She can sing, write, and arrange with genius. That’s all you can want of a musician.
- Ryanhood: I have a feeling of proprietorship with Ryanhood. Nobody recommended them to me and I didn’t see them on a bill with anyone else. I ate dinner with them at NERFA and found their conversation interesting enough to merit checking out their music. They more than lived up to my expectations. They have something to say and say it well. What makes them great? Their singing? Their harmonies? Instrumental virtuosity? Their banter? The answer is yes. They bring it all to the table. They are one of the easiest bands to recommend. What makes them great has universal appeal.
- Sam Baker: Sam is the odd man out on this list. He’s a storyteller with a guitar. His songs are short stories. He intersperses true stories of his own fascinating life. There aren’t many people that can talk about being the caught in a terrorist bombing and surviving by a combination of luck and heroic efforts by others and not have that be the entire act. His personal story infuses his songs, they are not his songs. The show is either himself on guitar or joined by Carrie Elkin on guitar and voice. That’s all he needs to earn your total attention.
- Sunny War: I just discovered Sunny at the Hudson West Folk Festival the weekend before last. She was so good I went to see her the next day. She is performing just accompanied by her guitar but I would not be surprised to find her with a band next tour. She’s a brilliant and self-taught guitarist. She developed her own techniques that give her a unique sound. I suspect that many people were so taken by her singing that they did not notice her instrumental virtuosity. She sings with total sincerity. She made my never miss list.
- The Sea the Sea: I discovered Chuck and Mira before they were The Sea the Sea. They came to the Budgiedome for the open song circle and won me over instantly. I have never heard voices blend more exquisitely, but a beautiful sound won’t hold my interest long. They could have a career singing stacked harmony, that would enthrall most people. Fortunately for me it would bore them. They choregraph their voices in an intricate dance. Even that isn’t enough. They write original songs that not only sound beautiful but have great and meaningful lyrics.
Look up and you’ll see a link to the complete list.
Wise Madness 