2011 Artist To Watch: J. Irvin Dally

[mp3] J. Irvin Dally: "The Punchbowls"

[mp3] J. Irvin Dally: "Cocaine (Big Ugly Yellow Couch Session)"

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.

Greg Thomas Drops Atlantic/Pacific

[mp3] Greg Thomas: "In Sequence"

Full disclosure, Greg Thomas is a long time friend and supporter of Stark. That does little, though, to take away from the pure song-writing talent and natural vocal intonation, of someone who is quickly becoming a rising player in the highly competitive New York singer songwriter market. Just ask Idolator. Yet, Greg is not just some crooner with a guitar. At a full-to-capacity CD release show last night at The Living Room, he showed off his more than capable band, featuring a talented atmospheric lead guitar player, and a tightly in-the-pocket rhythm section.

Admittedly, Greg has pushed our tastes a little bit outside the box. He wears his influences proudly on his sleeve, and counts John Mayer, Sigur Ros, and Wilco as some of his heros. Funnily, that's a very apt description of Greg's music. He flirts with a mainstream, major-label friendly sound, yet manages to keep up his "cred" with a dark undercurrent to his songs, and a fantastically hazy production to some tunes on his new record Atlantic/Pacific, available now. Buy HERE. While we would like to see Greg get after it a little bit more vocally on the choruses (belt it out dude!) - he had a table full of crusty indie rock bloggers head bobbing, toe-tapping and proudly singing along (Karp).

The full room was a testament, not only to Greg's rock solid character, but to the recognition of a new talent that puts all those whiney dudes and chicks with acoustic guitars at places like The Living Room and Rockwood to shame.
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