Roadside Graves Cover "Downbond Train"

Roadside Graves: "Downbound Train (Springsteen Cover)"

It's been a moment since we checked in with our longtime buds The 'Graves. Aquarium Drunkard posted a nice piece written by lead singer John Gleason to accompany this Springsteen cover for an upcoming comp Long Distance Salvation.

This is one hell of a song and being from NJ it’s almost sinful to mess with Bruce, but I feel like we did it well and found some room to make the song our own without ruining or playing it too similar to the original.

Awesome of the Month: The Shakes

[mp3] The Shakes: "You Ain't Alone"

Out of all the things that people are saying about Amy Winehouse - the one observation that rings most true, was her uniqueness. We have a hard time picturing Adele succeeding how she has, without the existence of Back to Black. Isn't true unique talent what we all look for in new music? All that aside - because we have Amy on the mind - we were immediately drawn to The Shakes, and how this could've been Amy had she been born in Athens, AL and into a different musical linage. The track above is one of the best things we've heard in a bit, and we thank Aquarium Drunkard for turning us on to it. Not sure what's up w/ the unsigned Shakes, but we're sure to keep you updated as we hear more.

Great Lakes: Ways of Escape

[mp3] Great Lakes: "Chosen Enemy"

Admittedly we've slept on this band in the past, but after a nice feature on Aquarium Drunkard, and a press release at the right time yesterday our interest in the country/folk/rock collective Great Lakes has been sufficiently piqued. Their fourth album, Ways of Escape comes out on October 12 with a CD release party at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn on the 24th. The pedal steel rides high in the tunes we've heard, and there are train grooves a-plenty. Singer Ben Crum's vocals are pleasant and understated, at times recalling the low, almost spoken tones of Bill Callahan. We haven't heard all of Ways of Escape yet, but perhaps we'll be back with more insight in a few days. Certainly a release to keep your eye out for.

Tweet

Credit Where It's Due

[mp3] Sonya Cotton: "Red River"

Some of the most interesting music we've come across in the past few days has come (of course) from some of our favorite music blogs. Vince hates these double posts, but deal with it buddy. Thanks to Some Velvet Blog and Aquarium Drunkard for the below.

First, we have the delicate and gorgeous folk stylings of San Francisco's Sonya Cotton. Finding solace in simple and pleasing traditional sounding melodies, Cotton weaves her way through most songs with only finger picked guitar; yet at times the mood is broken by tasteful drums, a violin or horns. Cotton certainly fits well with Stark favorites Alela Diane and Marissa Nadler, but as SVB points out, her voice also bares resemblance to Natalie Merchant, at her least annoying. We're only beginning to dig into Cotton's self-released Red River, but so far, it's extremely satisfying. Cotton is heading East in the middle of May and you can buy Red River HERE.

[mp3] Family Band: "Fantasy"
[mp3] Family Band: "Hatred"

The lay person would probably lump both the above artist Sonya Cotton, and this artist, Brooklyn's Family Band, into the all-encompassing folk category and move on -- yet, these two artists are markedly different. Family Band channel a warmer, more organic sound - autumnal and melancholy but still with a hint of brightness. Their record Miller Path comes out April 15 and there are 500 (make that 499) limited edition vinyls available HERE. Check them out, now.

Stark Presents: Blair

STARK ONLINE and AQUARIUM DRUNKARD PRESENT: BLAIR

with Gunfight and Shark?
Tuesday, February 16th at Pianos

[mp3] Blair: "Hello Halo"
[mp3] Blair: "Rampage"

Stark and Aquarium Drunkard are extremely excited to once again be presenting Blair, this time with excellent New York bands Shark? and Gunfight. Blair's debut effort Die Young is an eclectic amalgamation of carefully-wrought, folk-inspired, acoustic songs alongside straight-ahead, 90s alternative rock-style compositions. There is a subtle melancholy that permeates each track, while Blair's charisma and energy give Die Young a buoyancy and strong undercurrent of positive energy. Blair channels vintage Neil Young and Bowie alongside more contemporary influences such as Yo La Tengo and Feist. We caught up with her by phone to discuss the new album, the differences between her recorded material and live show, and her love for classic 90s FM radio. Read our conversation after the jump.

So you're originally from New Orleans. Are you living in New York full time now? Do you miss New Orleans?

Yes, I'm living in Brooklyn now; I've been here since March of last year. It was a clean move, and haven't been back since I moved here. I miss it so much, especially now with Mardi Gras and the Saints winning. I'll be playing one show there in March on the way to SXSW.

How did growing up in New Orleans influence you musically? It's more of a Jazz and Funk city, but it's still extremely musical.

I was more influenced by FM radio in my room, and MTV more-so. Even though New Orleans is buzzing with that music, I didn't live right in the quarter or anything, I lived on the outskirts. I was listening to what MTV told me to listen to. When I got older, I became more aware of the importance of Jazz, but for whatever reason I tapped more into pop.

What specifically sticks out in your mind from that era?

I guess I remember the "Loser" video from Beck. I remember that being really big. I started buying everything that Beck ever did. Dookie from Green Day; they just have great melodies and great songs. Metallica the Black Album, and Nirvana -- still my favorite band. I'm a product of modern FM radio.

I was frightened by those early Metallica records [laughs] with like, blood on the cover. I was like 'I want the one with the black cover.' Blood Sugar Sex Magic, my older cousin had that, and I ended up really loving it.

You cover a lot of ground stylistically on the record. What do you feel is the overarching element that ties the album together stylistically or lyrically?

The fact that there is a variety of styles on there. I think comes from the songs being collected over time. One of them might be four years old and one is six months old. I was influenced by different things at different times. The thing that holds it together is that I tend to write, verse-chorus, verse-chorus; the melodies are slightly melancholy, but the subject matter is a mix of sweet of and sour. As I reflect on my music, I would say that I am trying make something ugly, pretty; an attempt to make something painful, beautiful or to convey abstract stories beautifully.

Die Young is sort of a darkly romantic album title; where did that come from?

The phrase kind of stuck in my head while living in California. It's a concept that is dark, but there is something alluring and romantic about it as you said. Young heroes, young rock stars, dying young. The concept is at odds with the approach to life that I feel is ingrained, which is to play it safe and make sure things will last...and make sure that things make sense before you try it. To be willing to die for what you're doing -- to not think it through so much -- to follow your instincts or whatever your first choice was. To disregard the consequences when you do it. But that's not always the best way to go [laughs]. I think sometimes people are fearful of just jumping into things. I think people are afraid to do that.

What have you been listening to recently? New, old?

I listen to a lot of David Bowie, The Beatles, guitar music, like John Frusciante's solo stuff...it's really melodic. I try learn a lot of that on the guitar. Most recently, Grizzly Bear, Wavves I liked a lot. I'll definitely check out music from blogs; I like the XX. Mostly Neil Young, a lot of Dylan. We played with this band Oberhofer and they were great. I bought their CD and I've been listening to it a lot. It's really lo-fi and great.

Favorite Dylan record? Sorry, that's a tough question...
[Laughs] my most favorite Dylan record? Probably Blonde on Blonde

What's next for you after the residencies and for the rest of the year?

The plan is to do some extensive touring, funding permitted, and to try and play as much as possible in the states...maybe go over to Europe to play dates. There is a possibility of that. I'm always writing.

I want to keep playing this record in its live form and for people to hear it that way. The live act is a little more rocking and has a different energy to it.

Can you talk some more about the differences between your recorded material and the live show?

I think probably something that influences this, is that when you're making the record you have an infinite amount of tracks -- you can have five horns and five guitars. You're limited as to your instrumentation live. You have to decide what's going to push the show. On the record, I can sing softly into a microphone; live you're just trying to go for it and not make it the prettiest thing I've ever heard. It's that that rock set up and interpreting the songs...just trying to stay exciting. We often change things up not to get bored. Adam has been on keyboards for seven years, Zach on drums and Brian on bass. It's much more what people bring to the table; the live act is collaborative. It's also about having a producer in the studio. You can't just rock out on a record...there has to be a sound. Maybe if there were 12 people on stage we could match that dynamic.

Video: Roadside Graves at Pianos

The Roadside Graves at Pianos 1/16/10
"Far and Wide / Jail"
"My Father Sat Me Down"
"Anthony's Gate"

We're not lying about the Roadside Graves. Besides the testimony of every fan in attendance at the Stark/Aquarium Drunkard presented show earlier this month, the great folks at Duke Street Blog have provided us with video evidence of the awesomeness that was The 'Graves set on January 16th. It's like goddamn Stark where's Waldo in the below video. How many bloggers can you spot? The second half of the in-the-crowd encore is "Jail" and no, it's not recorded yet, so stop asking us! Enjoy these three vids.

Roadside Graves - "Far & Wide / Jail" from DUKE STREET on Vimeo.

Roadside Graves - "My Father Sat Me Down" from DUKE STREET on Vimeo.

Roadside Graves - "Anthony's Gate" from DUKE STREET on Vimeo.

The Roadside Graves at The Mercury Lounge

STARK vs. THE ROADSIDE GRAVES

Photos by Karp
In advance of tomorrow's stacked bill of The Roadside Graves, Blair, Avi Buffalo, The Loom, and Sam Walsh and the National Reserve, the Stark squad caught The Graves on an equally great bill at The Mercury Lounge opening for The Rural Alberta Advantage last weekend. The New Jersey rock band leaned heavily on songs from their fantastic '09 record My Son's Home, but also played several new songs, including "Liv Tyler," from their upcoming EP You Won't Be Happy With Me being released March 6th on Autumn Tone Records. As always, The Roadside Graves proved why there has been a palpable buzz growing about them over the past year. Their live show is tight, well rehearsed, and passionate. There are few bands playing the type of Springsteen-inspired Americana as well as The Roadside Graves right now. We caught up with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Benson, who hinted that while The Band and Springsteen remain touch points, The Roadside Graves may be incorporating more diverse influences (did he just say Genesis?) into their sound. Read our conversation after the jump.


How did the band come together?

Well - John, Rich, and I have been playing in bands together since high school - it's been about 15 years together I think. We were in this band The Billy Crosby's in high school, which I guess is The Graves its most crude and ridiculous form. We stuck together and got some friends together from the New Brunswick area. We've had the same line-up for awhile now, except we have a new keyboard player - Johnny Piatkowski. Him and Colin the drummer are in this crazy psych prog band - called Fun Machine. It's cool having those guys around - they don't listen listen to country and folk music at all, they are into more Genesis and Peter Gabriel and other more prog shit.

I hear a lot of Springsteen in your sound, especially in the piano lines, would you count him as an influence?

Springsteen is definitely a huge influence. We like to think he would be even if we weren't from Jersey. We definitely think of him as being a country singer, he is Americana. The music he plays is heavily steeped in the folk tradition, so it's not a hard leap to go from his influence to go to Dylan or the band, they are country artists too, they are all folk singers. With Johnny and Colin in the band, we're starting to listen to different music. We all listen to a ton of music, and share all the time. We're listening to more of the Talking Heads and The Clash, and that stuff is staring to permeate our songwriting and our arrangements. So it definitely changes over time - we still love Bruce and there will be certain piano lines or something that we will thrown in there as an homage.

Who does most of the writing? Do you write in the studio as a band?

There are two different ways we write songs - we're actually rehearsing right now - one way - is that [singer] John [Gleason] writes most of the lyrics and has a rough sketch of a song. Then him and I get together to flesh out the ideas and lyrics, and I'll take his lyrics and set it to different music; then we bring it to rehearsal, and they take it apart and put it back together. It's definitely a highly collaborative situation.

Other times the song will be improvised on the spot. All of the songs on the [upcoming] EP were written like this. We could be jamming or whatever, and John will just start improvising lyrics. He's really good on the spot and he will just sing it over what we're playing. If we like it, we'll tape it. "Liv Tyler," on the new EP came about that way. But those are the two main ways. It's very collaborative.

After such a successful year, what do you think has changed the most for the band?

The biggest thing has been starting to work with Autumn Tone Records, Scott [Simoneaux] from Aquarium Drunkard, and Dane our manager. Just having smart and savvy people pushing things for us and pushing us and being our advocates. They believe in us and the music. Working with them has helped expose us to new audiences, get shows, and get connected to new press, blogs, touring. It's great just having a group of people out in California, especially all the bands they work with like Avi Buffalo, Parson Redheads - expanding the family. It's really helped us navigate the segway from local to national band. It's a hard thing to do on your own. Also, just feeling we have a safe home for our new material - we have these guys who are into it and we trust them. It keeps the wheels greased.

What's playing in the van when you guys are on tour?

I gravitate more to the older stuff, but in terms of contemporary material I play a lot of Tom Waits. It's amazing, he's still right on the cutting edge. Will Oldham, Joanna Newsom, Court and Spark, M ward. John is really connected to the indie rock scene and he always playing new stuff.

What's next?

We're releasing the new EP You Won't Be Happy with me on March 6th on Autumn Tone. Before that, they're digitally reissuing our first full length in early February called If Shacking Up Is All You Want to Do. We'll be writing and arranging another full length which would would love to have out sometime [in Fall 2010]. We're playing SXSW, proably a 4 or 5 week summer tour and we're always doing one-off shows in Jersey, New York, Philly. Mostly just get back to writing.

STARK AND AQUARIUM DRUNKARD PRESENT: THE ROADSIDE GRAVES, AVI BUFFALO, AND BLAIR

We here at Stark are extremely pleased to be again presenting with Aquarium Drunkard The Roadside Graves - Saturday, January 16th at Pianos. Joining the Graves on the bill will be Sub Pop's rising stars Avi Buffalo, along with the amazing Blair and The Loom. Sean Walsh and The National Reserve will be joining the fun as well. Keep your eye on the site for a recap of The Roadside Graves' amazing show last Saturday at The Mercury Lounge as well as an interview with guitarist Jeremy Benson.

The Secrets of "Graceland" Revealed

[mp3] Nelcy Sedibe - "Holotelani"

[mp3] Udokotela Shange Namajaha - "Awungilobolele"

Much has been made of, and many have debated the ideas behind what Jon Pareles famously coined as "cultural imperialism" in his Rolling Stone review of David Byrne and Brian Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. "Does this global village have two way traffic?" Pareles asked. Paul Simon's famous 1986 album Graceland has fallen under the same attacks from many critical circles. Where does musical idea sharing end, and straight up stylistic plagiarism begin? Is there even a line at all? It's a complicated issue, with no real answers. Of course, musicians have lifted ideas and styles from each other from the beginning of time. It happens. Yet, it's wrong for anyone to believe that Paul Simon invented the styles of music at play on Graceland. Conversely, Paul Simon never claimed to have done so. Hm. See? Complicated. See what all this has to do with the above album after the jump.

So, what can we do to combat the idea and practice of "cultural imperialism" if it even exists?The answer, is to simply shine light upon, and promote the artists who helped develop the styles popularized in the West by artists such as Byrne and Simon. To show readers that artists had been playing stylized African-pop long before Graceland came out. Never have the styles embodied on Graceland been so apparent than on this collection called The Indestructible Beat of Soweto. It's an amazing amalgamation of the genres, songs and beats popularized in the 70s and 80s in the Soweto region of Africa. Oh yeah, and it sounds EXACTLY like Graceland. Get it today, before summer's over.  A big thanks to Aquarium Drunkard for posting on this yesterday. 

TONIGHT: STARK AND AQUARIUM DRUNKARD PRESENT THE ROADSIDE GRAVES AT PIANOS

TONIGHT

THE ROADSIDE GRAVES
PIANOS: NY, NY
Stanton & Ludlow St.

[mp3] Roadside Graves: "Ruby"
[mp3] Roadside Graves "Far and Wide"
[mp3] Roadside Graves "Take a Train"

We're thrilled to join Aquarium Drunkard in presenting one of the best new bands to come out of New Jersey in the past several years, The Roadside Graves, as they celebrate the release of their third record My Son's Home out now on Autumn Tone Records. The band is in the middle of a tour which found them sharing the stage recently with another Stark fave Lucero. Their live show is not to be missed. We've been dedicated followers of this band since they released their fantastic and grossly overlooked last record No One Will Know Where You've Been. Interweaving elements of The Band, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt and a dose of Bruce Springsteen, The Roadside Graves manage to produce a unique and coherent sound, pulsing with the energy of their large ensemble and anchored by the gritty and melodic vocals of lead singer John Gleason. My Son's Home is an 18-song comprehensive tour of quality American music. Deftly moving from folk, to rock, to back-porch country, The Roadside Graves have produced one of the best roots-Americana records of the past five years, hands down. Click after the jump to see the full Piano's bill and the rest of The Roadside Graves' tour dates. It's going to be amazing tonight. We can't wait. Email us if you want to say hi - we'll buy you a beer.*

*probably not, but we'll drink one with you.

PIANOS
9pm Blair
10pm Gunfight!
11pm Roadside Graves
12am The Loom
1am Afterparty at Piano's with R.E.Y. as guest DJ

Jul 3 2009 Union Hall/opening for Chuck Mead Park Slope/Brooklyn, New York
Jul 18 2009 Lampost Jersey City, New Jersey
Jul 25 2009 Trash Bar w/ Chainsaw Trio, Any Day Parade Brooklyn, New York
Jul 28 2009 summer tour begins WEST COAST and back
Aug 29 2009 The Court Tavern New Brunswick, New Jersey
Sep 12 2009 1Monolith Festival Red Rocks, Colorado
Sep 19 2009 Let it Roll Music Festival Ghent, New York

STARK & AQUARIUM DRUNKARD PRESENT: THE ROADSIDE GRAVES

JUNE 26th:

THE ROADSIDE GRAVES @
PIANOS
NEW YORK, NY

[mp3] "Far and Wide"
[mp3] "Ruby"
[mp3] "Take a Train"

We're thrilled to join Aquarium Drunkard in presenting one of the best new bands to come out of New Jersey in the past few years, The Roadside Graves, as they celebrate the release of their third record My Son's Home coming out June 9th on Autumn Tone Records. We've been dedicated followers of this band since they released their fantastic and grossly overlooked last record No One Will Know Where You've Been. Interweaving elements of The Band, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt and a dose of Bruce Springsteen, The Roadside Graves manage to produce a unique and coherent sound, pulsing with the energy of their large ensemble and anchored by the gritty and melodic vocals of lead singer John Gleason. My Son's Home is an 18-song comprehensive tour of quality American music. Deftly moving from folk, to rock, to back-porch country, the Roadside Graves have produced one of the best roots-Americana records of the past five years, hands down. Click after the jump to see the full Piano's bill and the rest of the Roadside Graves' tour dates including a show opening up for another Stark fave Lucero.


PIANOS
9pm Blair
10pm Gunfight!
11pm Roadside Graves
12am The Loom
1am Afterparty at Piano's with R.E.Y. as guest DJ


Jun 12 2009 Maxwell’s, opening for Lucero Hoboken, New Jersey
Jun 19 2009 The Court Tavern w/ Federale, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Jun 21 2009 Make Music New York, @ DUCK DUCK Brookyln, New York
Jun 21 2009 Make Music New York, outside Spike Hill Brooklyn, New York
Jun 26 2009 Piano’s (Record Release Show) New York, New York
Jul 18 2009 Lampost Jersey City, New Jersey
Jul 25 2009 Trash Bar w/ Chainsaw Trio, Any Day Parade Brooklyn, New York