Best of What’s New

Is it really Saturday again? Yep, the calendar doesn’t lie. I also can’t believe we’re already in April. March seemingly just flew by. Yesterday may have been April Fools’ Day, but it certainly was no joke when it came to newly released music. Following are my picks for this week, which are all on albums that came out on April 1st.

Eric Roberson/Start All Over Again

Kicking us off today is some smooth R&B and soul by Eric Roberson who hails from Rahway, N.J., about 20 miles from my house! From his website: As a GRAMMY Award-nominee, Singer, Songwriter, Producer and Howard University alum, Eric Roberson continues to break boundaries as an independent artist in an industry dominated by major labels, manufactured sounds and mainstream radio. Described as the original pioneer of the independent movement in R&B/Soul music, Eric has achieved major milestones in his career, from being a successful songwriter and producer for notable artists such as Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Dwele, Vivian Green and countless others, to headlining sold out tours across the country. While I’m not familiar with any of the aforementioned artists, what I do know is I dig Start All Over Again, the opener of Roberson’s 13th and latest studio album Lessons. The tune was co-written by producer Daniel Crawford and Roberson who in addition to writing songs for others has been releasing his own music since 2001. Check out that neat smooth sound and groove!

Red Hot Chili Peppers/Aquatic Mouth Dance

Aquatic Mouth Dance is the second track in Best of What’s New from Unlimited Love, the now-released new album by Red Hot Chili Peppers, following the lead single Black Summer I had previously featured in this installment. The current members of the group, which has been around since 1983, include co-founders Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals) and Michael Peter Balzary, known as Flea (bass, trumpet, piano, backing vocals), along with John Frusciante (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals) and Chad Smith (drums, percussion). Unlimited Love is the Chili Peppers’ 12th studio album. It was produced by Rick Rubin, who previously had served as their producer for six albums in a row, released between 1991 and 2011. I’ve yet to hear a bad album this man touches! Credited to all members of the band, Aquatic Mouth Dance has an infectious funky groove driven by Flea’s great bass work.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway/Dooley’s Farm (feat. Billy Strings)

Molly Tuttle impressed me from the very first moment I came across her in July 2020. The now 29-year-old singer-songwriter, banjo player and guitarist is focused on bluegrass and Americana. Tuttle, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area in a musical family, is noted for her outstanding guitar skills. Her father Jack Tuttle is a bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and teacher. Her siblings Sullivan and Michael play guitar and mandolin, respectively. Molly started playing guitar as an 8-year-old and three years later already performed on stage with her dad. At age 13, she recorded her first album with Jack. In 2015, she joined the family band The Tuttles with AJ Lee, featuring her father and siblings, along with mandolist AJ Lee. Her debut EP Rise appeared in October 2017, followed by her first full-fledged album When You’re Ready in April 2019. Dooley’s Farm, co-written by Ketch Secor and Tuttle, is a track from Tuttle’s new album Crooked Tree, which was recorded live at Oceanway Studios in Nashville. It appears as Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, her band. In addition to guitarist Billy Strings, Dooley’s Farm, among others, features Dobro maestro Jerry Douglas who also served as the album’s co-producer.

The Hellacopters/Eyes of Oblivion

Wrapping up this week’s new music revue are The Hellacopters, a Swedish hard rock band that first came together in 1994. After releasing seven albums between June 1996 and April 2008, they split. In 2016, the group’s original lineup reunited for the 20th anniversary of their debut album Supershitty to the Max!, which had won a Grammis music award in Sweden. A performance at the 2016 Sweden Rock Festival led to other gigs that year and in 2017. “As we started playing more and more shows, we felt we needed a new album because we’re not old enough to be a nostalgia band,” Hellacopters co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Nicke Andersson told Apple Music. And the result is Eyes of Oblivion, the group’s first new album in 14 years. Here’s the title track, written by Andersson. Apparently, the tune first came out as an upfront single on December 17. Nice melodic hard rock!

Last but not least, following is a Spotify playlist featuring the above and some additional tunes. Hope there’s something you like!

Sources: Wikipedia; Eric Roberson website; Apple Music; YouTube; Spotify

Ladies Shaking Up Music – Part 2

Here’s the second part of my two-part post that celebrates some of the amazing female music artists I admire. Part I, which you can read here, covered Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, as well as 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees Carole King and Tina Turner. I wouldn’t argue with you, if you’d tell me the aforementioned artists are obvious choices. Undoubtedly, three of the female music artists in this second installment fall in the same category. If you’re curious about my two remaining selections, I encourage you to read on. I also have a fun encore.

Bonnie Raitt

Since my often mentioned dear longtime German music friend introduced me to Bonnie Raitt more than 30 years ago, I’ve dug her both as a terrific slide guitarist and a genuine no BS type of artist. Not surprisingly, this isn’t the first time I’m covering Raitt. I also got to see her live in New Jersey in August 2016, which was really cool, and wrote about here. Raitt who grew up in a musical family started playing the guitar as an eight-year-old, teaching herself by listening to blues records. After three years in college studying Social Relations and African Studies, she decided to drop out and follow her real calling: music. Since her eponymous debut from November 1971, 16 additional studio albums have appeared to date. Her most recent release is Dig In Deep from February 2016. My aforementioned concert was part of the supporting tour for that album. Here’s one of my all-time Bonnie Raitt favorites: Angel From Montgomery, a great tune written and first recorded by John Prine for his 1971 eponymous debut. Raitt covered the song on her fourth studio album Streetlights from September 1974.

Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt may “only” have been a cover artist (the same is pretty much true for Bonnie Raitt), but what an amazing and versatile vocalist! There’s a reason why she’s so widely admired. And why she’s the only female artist with five platinum-certified U.S. albums in a row in the ’70s. Between 1969 and 2004, Ronstadt released 24 studio albums in genres that varied from country and rock to traditional Mexican music, jazz and even Broadway/operetta. This woman could sing anything! In 2000, she started noticing something was wrong with her voice. During an April 2011 interview with the Arizona Daily Star Ronstadt officially stated she had retired from music. Two years later, she disclosed her diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. If you’d like to learn more about this incredible artist, I’d encourage you to watch the 2019 documentary Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice. Or you can read this previous post. Here’s her pretty rendition of Neil Young tune Love Is a Rose, the opener of her sixth solo album Prisoner in Disguise from September 1975. That release was second of the above noted five platinum records in a row.

Sheryl Crow

If I recall it correctly, the first Sheryl Crow tune I heard was All I Wanna Do from her great 1993 debut Tuesday Night Music Club. I liked her style of catchy pop rock from the get-go and have pretty much listened to her ever since. To date, Crow has released 10 additional studio albums. When putting out her most recent one, Threads, in August 2019, which I reviewed here, Crow said it would probably be her final full-length album. She cited changed listening habits of most music consumers who compile their own playlists with songs from different artists rather than listening to entire albums from one artist. In the age of music streaming, that’s certainly easier than never before. While I still believe in albums, I have to admit most of the time, I listen to playlists as well! One of my favorite Cheryl Crow tunes is from her eponymous sophomore album that came out in September 1996. Co-written by Crow and her longtime collaborator Jeff Trott, it’s appropriately titled If It Makes You Happy. Indeed, it does!

Tierinii Jackson

Chances are this is the first time you hear of Tierinii Jackson, the lead vocalist of Southern Avenue. If you’re a more frequent visitor of the blog, the latter name could ring a bell. This band from Memphis, Tenn. blends traditional blues and soul with modern R&B, and is one of most exciting contemporary acts I know. Ever since I saw a post from fellow blogger Music Enthusiast several years ago, I’ve followed the group and have since seen them twice. They are a fantastic live act. To date, Southern Avenue have released two albums: an eponymous debut (February 2017) and Keep On from May 2019. Recently, guitarist Ori Naftaly said on their Facebook fan page the group’s third album is mostly in the can. It’s scheduled for later this year. BTW, I’ve had a chance to exchange a few words with Jackson who is a humble and down to earth person. When I asked her where she learned to sing like this, she casually replied in church. Time for a little demo! Here’s the powerful picker-upper Don’t Give Up, a tune from Southern Avenue’s first album, as captured live by yours truly during a gig in Asbury Park, N.J. in July 2019, the most recent time I saw them. While it was recorded with an aging iPhone, I think it gives you some idea what happens when Tierinii Jackson gets going. Multiply this by at least three and you probably have what being in the venue that evening felt like.

Molly Tuttle

The last artist I’d like to highlight is Molly Tuttle, who I feel is super-talented and has a great future ahead of her: The 28-year-old grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and has lived in Nashville since 2015. She comes from a musical family. Tuttle started playing guitar at the age of eight and three years later already performed on stage with her father, Jack Tuttle, a bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and teacher. She recorded her first album with him as a 13-year-old. In 2015, Tuttle joined the family band The Tuttles with AJ Lee, featuring her father and siblings, along with mandolist AJ Lee. Tuttle’s solo debut happened in October 2012 with the EP Rise. That same year, her impressive guitar skills were recognized by the International Bluegrass Association by awarding her Guitar Player of the Year, something she repeated in 2018. Among other accolades, Tuttle also won Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards. Here’s her terrific rendition of The Rolling Stones’ She’s a Rainbow from her most recent album …but I’d rather be with you from August 2020. Co-written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the tune originally appeared on the Stones’ 1967 studio album Their Satanic Majesties Request. Check out Tuttle’s incredibly fluid guitar-playing. This is just awesome! In case you’re wondering about Tuttle’s, she’s living with a condition called alopecia universalis, which results in total body hair loss. Usually, she wears wigs.

I’d like to wrap up things with where I started this two-part post: Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I just couldn’t resist to present the following compilation clip of her guitar solos as an encore. Tharpe was a true gospel rock star who among others played a white badass Gibson SG! In case you weren’t aware, now you know where Chuck Berry learned a trick or two. The one caveat is the footage wasn’t published under Tharpe’s name or by a record company, so it’s hard to tell how long this clip will stay on YouTube. Let’s enjoy while it lasts!

Sources: Wikipedia; Southern Avenue Facebook fan page; YouTube

What I’ve Been Listening to: Molly Tuttle/When You’re Ready

While I knew I had come across a remarkable young artist and featured her amazing rendition of Neil Young’s Helpless in my previous Best of What’s New installment, I hadn’t planned to follow up with dedicated post on Molly Tuttle so quickly. Things changed when a dear friend and music connoisseur from Germany whose opinion I highly value told me he was blown away by Tuttle (I had mentioned her name to him). So I guess I was, well, ready to take on When You’re Ready, the Americana and bluegrass singer-songwriter’s first full-length album from April 2019.

Before getting to that record, I’d like to recap some background on Tuttle, borrowing somewhat from the above post in case you didn’t get a chance to read it. Apart from writing original music and covering songs by others, Tuttle is an accomplished banjo and guitar player and teacher. The 27-year-old, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area and has lived in Nashville since 2015, comes from a musical family. Her father Jack Tuttle is a bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and teacher. Her siblings Sullivan and Michael play guitar and mandolin, respectively.

Tuttle started playing guitar as an 8-year-old and three years later already performed on stage with her father. At age 13, she recorded her first album with him. In 2015, she joined the family band The Tuttles with AJ Lee, featuring her father and siblings, along with mandolist AJ Lee. Her debut EP Rise appeared in October 2017. That year, Tuttle also won Guitar Player of the Year from the  International Bluegrass Association, something she repeated in 2018. Among other accolades, she also won Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards.

This bring me to When You’re Ready, which appears to have put Tuttle on the map as a solo artist. According to her website, What followed were dates at Telluride, Newport Folk Fest, an appearance on CBS Saturday Morning, and an enthusiastic reception both by critics and her fellow musicians. Rightfully so, in my humble opinion. Time for some music.

Let’s kick it off with the opener Million Miles. The beautiful tune was written by Tuttle together with Jewel Kilcher and Steve Poltz, singer-songwriters from the U.S. and Canada, respectively. I really dig Tuttle’s singing and how about these lyrics: Called the cable man/’Cause my screen was blurry/Seems the more I rush/All I do is worry/I am too much like my mom/All she does is hurry/What’s a girl to do today…

Take the Journey has a very cool acoustically driven groove. The song was co-written by Tuttle and Sarah Siskind, an American folk singer-songwriter.

Light Came In (Power Went Out) shows Tuttle from a more pop-oriented side. Co-written by her, producer Ryan Hewitt and composers Stephony Smith and Maya Elizabeth de Vitry, the catchy track feels more produced with a full-fledged band.

Messed with My Mind is one of four tracks on the album solely written by Tuttle. Another great tune with good lyrics: Paid a quarter to the fortune teller/All she gave me was a bucket of lies/Had me thinkin’ it would all get better/If I could await around for you to be mine//I couldn’t hear my intuition/Blarin’ at me like a smoke alarm/Caughtin’ you lightin’ up a fire in my kitchen/Now you’re actin’ like you never meant me no harm…

The last track I’d like to highlight is another tune Tuttle wrote by herself: Sleepwalking. Her emotional vocals and words are the standouts to me in this song: If I drove into the sea/Float away with the fear/Be my anchor, please/’Cause your voice is all I need//Keep talking/Now we’re sleepwalking/Through a world that disappeared/Bad habits/Burn like TV static/But you’re comin’ in clear… That’s just beautiful!

Molly Tuttle’s first full-length album shows an incredibly talented young solo artist. Her next release will be a covers album scheduled for August 28. And, as Tuttle stated on her website, there’s more: “I have been working on writing for another original album and am still planning to record that this year…but in the meantime I wanted to share these covers that have lifted my spirits, in hopes that you’ll find some much-needed joy as well.” I’m looking forward to both!

Sources: Wikipedia; Molly Tuttle website; YouTube

Best of What’s New

A lot of cool new music I came across this week made it tough what to include in this latest installment of my recurring feature. That’s actually a nice problem to have, at least in my book. While you may not be a Bon Jovi fan, have you ever heard the Jersey rocker do an outright protest song? I certainly had not. Or how about a cool Byrds-ey-sounding psychedelic garage band called The Reverberations? Or young and amazingly talented bluegrass and Americana artist Molly Tuttle? These are just three of the artists I’m featuring this week. Do I have your attention?

Bon Jovi/American Reckoning

While a band that has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide has probably done more than one thing right, I realize opinions about Bon Jovi are divided. On most of their 14 studio albums that have come out so far over some 37 years, I can at find at least one or two songs I enjoy. American Reckoning, released July 10, will be on the band’s next album Bon Jovi 2020, which has been pushed back until December 31, 2020 due to you know what. Both the single and the album have something in common that’s new for Bon Jovi: Political lyrics. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, American Reckoning is a protest song reflecting on the death of George Floyd caused by reckless police action. “I was moved to write American Reckoning as a witness to history,” Bon Jovi said in a statement on the band’s website, “I believe the greatest gift of an artist is the ability to use their voice to speak to issues that move us.” All net proceeds from downloads of the song will support the Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative through December 31, 2020. Kudos!

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings/Hello in There

For some 28 years, country, folk, bluegrass and Americana singer-songwriter Gillian Welch has been writing and performing with her musical partner David Rawlings. The two first met during a music audition at Berklee College of Music in Boston where Welch majored in songwriting. Following her graduation in 1992, she moved to Nashville. Rawlings soon followed and they started to perform as a duo. After getting a record deal with Almo Sounds, they met T-Bone Burnett who had seen them perform. Burnett produced their debut album Revival, which like most of their records appeared under Welch’s name in April 1996. Welch and Rawlings have since released five additional studio albums. Hello in There is from their most recent release All the Good Times Are Past & Gone, a covers album that came out on July 10. The tune was written by John Prine and included on his 1971 eponymous debut album.

Will Hoge/Midway Motel

Will Hoge is a singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tenn. According to Wikipedia, which characterizes his music as Americana and southern rock, Hoge grew up in a musical family that influenced him. After enrolling in Western Kentucky University with plans to become a high school history teacher and basketball coach, Hoge realized music was his calling. In 1997, he released an EP with his band at the time Spoonful, but it wasn’t successful and the group disbanded. After self-releasing a live CD and his first studio album Carousel, Hoge managed to get a deal with Atlantic Records in early 2002. While it was short-lived, it resulted in his major label debut Blackbird on a Lonely Wire in March 2003. Hoge has since released seven additional studio records, as well as various EPs and live albums. Midway Motel, co-written by Hoge and Ricky Young, is the opener to Hoge’s most recent studio album Tiny Little Movies that appeared on June 26. I can hear some John Mellencamp in here.

Grace Potter/Eachother (feat. Jackson Browne, Marcus King & Lucius)

Grace Potter is a 37-year-old bluesy, roots rock-oriented singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and actress, hailing from Waitsfield, Vt., who has released various albums solo and with her former band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals since the early 2000s. While studying theater at St. Laurence University, she met drummer Matt Burr. Together with bassist Courtright Beard, they formed the initial lineup of indie rock band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. In 2004, they self-released their debut album Original Soul. Four additional albums followed. In 2015, Potter’s solo album Midnight appeared. Potter left the band in 2017, shortly after announcing her divorce from Burr with whom she had been married since 2013. Another solo album, Daylight, appeared in October 2019. Eachother is Potter’s latest single released on May 22. Written by her during the early days of the pandemic, the ballad features Jackson Browne, blues artist Marcus King and indie pop band Lucius. Check it out!

Molly Tuttle/Helpless (feat. Old Crow Medicine Show)

Based on what I’ve read and heard, it seems Molly Tuttle is what you could call a wunderkind. It’s virtually impossible to do full justice here to the 27-year-old singer-songwriter, banjo player and guitarist, who is focused on bluegrass and Americana. Tuttle is noted for her outstanding guitar skills, and she can definitely sing as well. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay area in a musical family. Her father Jack Tuttle is a bluegrass multi-instrumentalist and teacher. Her siblings Sullivan and Michael play guitar and mandolin, respectively. Molly started playing guitar as an 8-year-old and three years later already performed on stage with her dad. At age 13, she recorded her first album with Jack. In 2015, she joined the family band The Tuttles with AJ Lee, featuring her father and siblings, along with mandolist AJ Lee. Her debut EP Rise appeared in October 2017, followed by her first full-fledged album When You’re Ready in April 2019, which climbed to no. 5 and no. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers and Independent Albums charts. Her multiple accolades include Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2018 Americana Music Awards and Guitar Player of the Year from the International Bluegrass Association in 2017 and 2018. Molly who has lived in Nashville, Tenn. since 2015, has a new covers album scheduled for August 28, …but I’d rather be with you. It doesn’t include her beautiful rendition of Neil Young’s Helpless, which she released on May 22 and features Nashville-based Americana band Old Crow Medicine Show. The tune first appeared on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Déjà Vu album from March 1970.

The Reverberations/Under Your Spell

Let’s wrap things up with some really cool rock. The Reverberations are a five-piece from Portland, Ore. Their Bandcamp profile characterizes their music as “’60s influenced psychedelic jangle.” Based on what I’m hearing on their latest single Under Your Spell, that description hits the nail on the head. Unfortunately, the band has hardly published any information about themselves. Neither their Bandcamp nor their Facebook page provide any background – I don’t get it! Discogs lists two albums, Mess Up Your Mind (2016) and Changes (2019, along with various EPs and singles, dating back as far as 2015. Based on their photos on Facebook and Bandcamp, these guys don’t exactly look like high school kids, and with their Byrds-ey guitars, they certainly don’t sound like it. Whoever is familiar with my music taste knows that’s a sound I never get tired of. On Under Your Spell, which is the B-side of the band’s most recent single Palm Reader, I also love the keyboard work. And check out the lovely psychedelic cover art. Damn, now I feel I’m literally under their spell!

Sources: Wikipedia; Bon Jovi website; Apple Music; Grace Potter website; Molly Tuttle website; The Reverberations Facebook and Bandcamp pages; YouTube