Tuesday, January 25, 2011

2011 Artist To Watch: J. Irvin Dally



J. Irvin Dally wowed a handful of onlookers Friday at the Living Room. There were ghosts of Jeff Buckley in the room as Dally and his capable trio worked through a set of stellar compositions - all focused around Dally's powerful, yet fragile vocals. The intimate moments were well balanced with the louder ones, though Dally was quick to note that there would be even more rocked-out moments the next night during their set at the larger venue Pianos. Dally draws equally from lonesome, country-tinged acoustic songs and intricate finger picked electric guitar driven compositions. While currently living in LA, Dally admits to a nomadic lifestyle not really calling one place "home." This comes out in his, at times, longing lyrics, melancholy melodies and spare arrangements. The real talent and selling point of Dally though, has to be his voice. It's crystal clear, pristine, moving and delicate in one breath. With a little more woodshedding to hone his songwriting, Dally has a truly great album in him, and we can't wait to watch him continue to develop. Grab his most recent EPs at his bandcamp. Check out "Cocaine" from J's Big Ugly Yellow Couch Session above.

In another note, we were pretty shocked as to the awful atmosphere at Googies Lounge upstairs at the Living Room. The pumping bro-jams from downstairs more than bled into "acoustic atmosphere" the Living Room has long done well to cultivate. Pretty disappointing, and we won't be recommending Googies to managers and bookers any time soon.

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