Best New Bands » Caroline McDonald https://www.bestnewbands.com News, Reviews and Interviews Wed, 07 Feb 2018 02:08:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 Interview – Roadkill Ghost Choir https://www.bestnewbands.com/interviews/interview-roadkill-ghost-choir/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/interviews/interview-roadkill-ghost-choir/#comments Sat, 12 Jul 2014 01:20:11 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/wp_bnb/?p=17739 Nashville – Roadkill Ghost Choir, a six piece indie alt rock band, has so much going for it that the band was invited to Bonnaroo with only one, awesome EP on the books. Andrew, Zach, and Maxx Shepard (a trio of brothers) and three other band members cozied up on the stage at the New

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  1. New Bands At Bonnaroo 2014 Nashville – Once a modest, band-centric festival, Bonnaroo has morphed into a monster of a weekend where roughly two hundred bands and thousands of people descend on the tiny town of Manchester, Tennessee from June 12-15. The festival’s biggest stage,...
  2. Band on the Run: Interview with Ben Thornewill of Jukebox the Ghost Jukebox the Ghost has traveled many miles since they formed as a trio in Washington D.C. back in 2008. And I don’t just mean the metaphorical distance between their debut album and their recently released sophomore effort because it was...
  3. Radical Face Performs with a Choir at Brick and Mortar Last Thursday, Florida indie artist Ben Cooper (above) brought his project Radical Face to the Brick and Mortar Music Hall in San Francisco. When I first got to the venue The Albatross Choir from Oakland were already onstage creating joyful...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/interviews/interview-roadkill-ghost-choir/feed/ 0 Featured Artist: Breanna Kennedy https://www.bestnewbands.com/featured-artists/featured-artist-breanna-kennedy/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/featured-artists/featured-artist-breanna-kennedy/#comments Fri, 20 Jun 2014 05:36:35 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/wp_bnb/?p=17234 Nashville – Breanna Kennedy’s voice has an effortless strength to it and an enviably sexy rasp. It’s the first thing you’ll notice about her. With a chameleon-like flexibility, it’s bluesy on one song, fragile on another, and occasionally has echoes of ‘90s power-woman rock. It glides over melodies into high upper registers and then sinks

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  1. Featured Artist: Dustin Prinz New York – Dustin Prinz, is a one-man wonder out of Oklahoma, whose acoustic ballads betrays more passion than the average heart can hold. Prinz has been chipping away at his musical endeavors for most of his life,  attuning himself...
  2. Featured Artist: Joe Marson New York – Joe Marson is a Brooklyn transplant whose music resonates in the realm of alternative folk-rock, with a defiant bluesy edge. Together with his band, The Satisfied Mind, Marson delivers full-bodied, soulful ballads charged with slow thumping percussion,...
  3. Featured Artist – Hiatus Kaiyote Nashville – Fire dancing isn’t the typical back-up career of fledgling musicians. But then, nothing is typical about Naomi Saalfield. This former fire-dancer, who goes by the all-too-appropriate stage name Nai Palm, is the lead singer/songwriter of Hiatus Kaiyote, a...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/featured-artists/featured-artist-breanna-kennedy/feed/ 0 We Interview crash At Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium https://www.bestnewbands.com/interviews/interview-crash-nashvilles-ryman-auditorium/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/interviews/interview-crash-nashvilles-ryman-auditorium/#comments Sat, 14 Jun 2014 20:43:22 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/wp_bnb/?p=17398 Nashville – “Do you want some étouffée?” crash holds out a bowl of the steaming crawfish dish that his aunt Kitty brought backstage at the Ryman Auditorium for him. He is as warm and humble towards me, a stranger, as the bowl of homemade goodness he is offering. All smiles and with étouffée in hand,

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  1. crash (versatile vocalist Christopher Richard) is excited to announce a handful of tour dates Los Angeles – Community Music’s crash (versatile vocalist Christopher Richard) is excited to announce a handful of tour dates this spring and summer. He will be supporting Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros for a handful of dates this June, including at...
  2. Crash Solo Debut Success – Hardly Criminal Los Angeles – One may recognize crash’s angelic falsetto from the indie folk musical collective Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes, but Hardly Criminal proves that he can enchant and mesmerize all on his own. The 11-track solo debut album is a...
  3. Mystic Musings: An Interview with Little Daylight Chicago – Nikki Taylor, Matt Lewkowicz, and Eric Zeiler have been turning heads and heating up dance floors with their official remixes for bands like Passion Pit, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Atlas Genius. However the Brooklyn trio,...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/interviews/interview-crash-nashvilles-ryman-auditorium/feed/ 0 New Bands At Bonnaroo 2014 https://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/new-bands-at-bonnaroo-2014/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/new-bands-at-bonnaroo-2014/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2014 00:09:28 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/wp_bnb/?p=17357 Nashville – Once a modest, band-centric festival, Bonnaroo has morphed into a monster of a weekend where roughly two hundred bands and thousands of people descend on the tiny town of Manchester, Tennessee from June 12-15. The festival’s biggest stage, What, will be lit up by the likes of Sir Elton John, Jack White, and

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  1. 2014 is the Year of The Orwells: A Review of Disgraceland Chicago – I said it before, and I’ll say it again: 2014 is the year of The Orwells! Soon everyone and their mom will know who they are thanks to their sophomore album Disgraceland, with a plethora of influences from 90s rock...
  2. Festival Preview: Bonnaroo What Bonnaroo does better than any other North American festival is purvey that communal atmosphere of Woodstock. As great as the festival’s atmosphere is, let’s talk about some of the bands we’re most excited to see. They’re not exactly a...
  3. The Head and The Heart Add Midwest and Southern Stops to 2014 Fall North American Tour Los Angeles – The Head and the Heart have tirelessly toured the world in support of their lauded sophomore effort, Let’s Be Still, since its release in late 2013 on Sub Pop Records. The band is set to play at...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/new-bands-at-bonnaroo-2014/feed/ 0 Willie Watson “Folk Singer, Vol. 1″ https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/willie-watson-folk-singer-vol-1/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/willie-watson-folk-singer-vol-1/#comments Thu, 08 May 2014 06:10:51 +0000 http://www.bestnewbands.com/wp_bnb/?p=17064 Nashville – On his first ever solo album, Folk Singer, Vol. 1, Willie Watson plays ten recycled tunes. They are stripped down and vulnerable, naked as the day they were born. He’s reviving the roots from which the modern folk movement has blossomed. At a time when traditional instruments and music have morphed beyond recognition (e.g.,

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  1. Raucous Neo-Folk/Bluegrass Band Friendly Savages Charm at The High Watt Nashville – If you think the Macy Gray hit “I Try” should be confined to karaoke bars, you haven’t heard Friendly Savages cover it with their assortment of folky instruments and The Avett Brothers-esque harmonies. Their version doesn’t reveal some...
  2. Spectre Folk and Chris Lee’s Double Record Release at Union Pool, with Lee Ranaldo Thursday night, Union Pool hosted Vampire Blues’ Double Record Release Spectre Folk’s The Ancient Storm and Chris Lee’s Bury the Kings. Vampire Blues is Steve Shelley (of Sonic Youth)’s new record label, and he also has producing credits on Chris...
  3. Handful of Luvin’: The New Folk? Seattle based band, Handful of Luvin’, have seen some notable local success since their 2005 inception. In 2008 they were voted third best local band of Western Washington by King 5 Evening Magazine and have been selling out venues across...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/willie-watson-folk-singer-vol-1/feed/ 0 Sylvan Esso https://www.bestnewbands.com/featured-artists/sylvan-esso/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/featured-artists/sylvan-esso/#comments Tue, 01 Apr 2014 14:40:02 +0000 Nashville – Sylvan Esso is a name that has been popping up on tastemaker music blogs with more and more frequency over the past year. Their music is so electric, so sticky that it’s difficult to declare which of the three songs they’ve released is the strongest. Sylvan Esso delivered on a much anticipated South

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  1. Mixtape 50: Speedy Ortiz, Tying Tiffany And More Hey-O, this mixtape is 50. And it’s a good one. First off, I had to reach back and shout out again to the January Showcase we had that was another cool one with more musical discoveries like the spazzy cyber punk trio...
  2. Kate Tucker And The Sons Of Sweden – The Shape The Color The Feel Nashville – Kate Tucker & The Sons of Sweden like to do things a little differently. Their new album, The Shape The Color The Feel, is due out in February of 2014, and it promises to be anything but a...
  3. Mixtape: Angel Haze, Potty Mouth, TRUST And More New York – In this week’s music roundup of a mixtape, we have a little something for everyone, as there’s been a lot of great coverage and new releases of sounds of a great variety of genres. Caroline reviewed Foreign...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/featured-artists/sylvan-esso/feed/ 1 The Voluntary Butler Scheme – A Million Ways to Make Gold https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/the-voluntary-butler-scheme-a-million-ways-to-make-gold/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/the-voluntary-butler-scheme-a-million-ways-to-make-gold/#comments Mon, 24 Mar 2014 15:44:20 +0000 Nashville – The quirky collection of songs on A Million Ways to Make Gold comes out on March 24th, just as spring is finally arriving. The album is from British-born Rob Jones who operates under the mouthful-of-a-moniker, The Voluntary Butler Scheme. His third album is sonically lush with its playful, brushed rhythms, splashes of bright

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  1. Grant Olsen of Gold Leaves Talks About His New Album and Staying Gold. Gold Leaves is Grant Olsen (Image by Kyle Johnson), who you may know from Arthur & Yu. This has been a busy and productive year for him, culminating in the release of his debut album, The Ornament, followed by a...
  2. Album Review: Beachwood Sparks, The Tarnished Gold In music, 11 years is an eternity. Fads come and go and what was yesterday’s hit is today’s washed up band. Beachwood Sparks bucks that trend, proving that as long as there’s good music to be made, people will listen...
  3. Album Review: Gold Motel As we previewed in our Artist of the Week and subsequent interview, we’re pretty excited about the new Gold Motel record. The Chicago-natives took singer’s Greta Morgan’s experiences in Southern California and made a pretty successful record despite the recording...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/the-voluntary-butler-scheme-a-million-ways-to-make-gold/feed/ 0 Shovels And Rope – Hurray for the Riff Raff Play Cannery Ballroom https://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/shovels-and-rope-hurray-for-the-riff-raff-play-cannery-ballroom/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/shovels-and-rope-hurray-for-the-riff-raff-play-cannery-ballroom/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2014 00:01:25 +0000   Nashville – Americana fanatics will be excited to know (if they didn’t already) that Shovels & Rope and Hurray for the Riff Raff are teaming up for a mini tour through the southeast. Both bands make daring, raucous music that befits the kickass women who lead them. We saw their show in Nashville at

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  1. Hurray for the Riff Raff – Small Town Heroes Nashville – Alynda Lee Segarra has become something of a poster child for the roots music renaissance growing out of New Orleans. She has collaborated with many of the local musicians and attested to the supportive artistic community within the...
  2. Hurray For The Riff Raff – My Dearest Darkest Neighbor Why do the blues endure? Generation after generation, those sad songs are recycled. Hurray for the Riff Raff’s (mostly) covers album My Dearest Darkest Neighbor answers that question. The blues endure because the human condition knows loneliness, morbidity, abandonment, heartbreak, and so...
  3. SXSW: Lianne La Havas And Hurray For The Riff Raff   Austin is warm, it’s sunny and the music is still flooding with a vigor you can’t compare to anything. Everyone is moving by foot whether to catch the next unofficial showcase or the last minute surprise performer. There was...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/shovels-and-rope-hurray-for-the-riff-raff-play-cannery-ballroom/feed/ 0 Hurray for the Riff Raff – Small Town Heroes https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/hurray-for-the-riff-raff/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/hurray-for-the-riff-raff/#comments Sun, 16 Feb 2014 19:21:26 +0000 Nashville – Alynda Lee Segarra has become something of a poster child for the roots music renaissance growing out of New Orleans. She has collaborated with many of the local musicians and attested to the supportive artistic community within the city hosts. Her band, Hurray for the Riff Raff, is pumping fresh folk blood into Crescent

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  1. Hurray For The Riff Raff – My Dearest Darkest Neighbor Why do the blues endure? Generation after generation, those sad songs are recycled. Hurray for the Riff Raff’s (mostly) covers album My Dearest Darkest Neighbor answers that question. The blues endure because the human condition knows loneliness, morbidity, abandonment, heartbreak, and so...
  2. SXSW: Lianne La Havas And Hurray For The Riff Raff   Austin is warm, it’s sunny and the music is still flooding with a vigor you can’t compare to anything. Everyone is moving by foot whether to catch the next unofficial showcase or the last minute surprise performer. There was...
  3. Three Cheers for Louisiana’s Hurray for the Riff Raff Hurray for the Riff Raff are not your average folk band, and the story of how they came to be is certainly everything but. Alynda Lee Segarra was a 17 year-old girl fascinated by punk rock and the world outside...
]]> https://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/hurray-for-the-riff-raff/feed/ 0 You Won’t Opens for Lucius at The High Watt https://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/you-won-t-opens-for-lucius-at-the-high-watt/ https://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/you-won-t-opens-for-lucius-at-the-high-watt/#comments Thu, 30 Jan 2014 18:28:33 +0000 Nashville – You Won’t caught our attention in 2012 with the release of Skeptic Goodbye. It’s an album built from punchy, idiosyncratic percussion and equally as punchy, audacious lyricism.  It was an album that Josh Arnoudse and Raky Sastri made together before they were officially a band, before they’d booked shows or built a fan

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  1. Raucous Neo-Folk/Bluegrass Band Friendly Savages Charm at The High Watt Nashville – If you think the Macy Gray hit “I Try” should be confined to karaoke bars, you haven’t heard Friendly Savages cover it with their assortment of folky instruments and The Avett Brothers-esque harmonies. Their version doesn’t reveal some...
  2. Saintseneca’s a Welcome Surprise at The High Watt Nashville – Saintseneca’s show at The High Watt was one of the best I’ve stumbled into since I saw A.A. Bondy on a whim in 2010. I hadn’t heard from this band beforehand, but the vocal choruses on their 2011...
  3. Lucius Fills Brooklyn’s Rockwood Music Hall with Love The Brooklyn based quintet Lucius is a rare thing. You don’t often find a band that is both genuinely talented and comprised of genuinely nice people. It comes through in their songs and the atmosphere of their live shows. If...
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