Tag: folk-rock

5:00 Bell! TGIF, I need a drink…

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VOLUME UP!

Nathaniel David Rateliff grew up in rural Missouri, learning to play the drums at age seven. As a young teenager, he taught himself guitar and began writing his own songs. At eighteen, Rateliff moved to Denver for missionary work. And then he was off to the races.  Rateliff developed a dedicated following within the Denver music community.  The New York Times dubbed him a Denver local folk-pop hero. Spin praised his “massive, alluring” voice. Billboard dubbed the unsigned singer-songwriter a “must hear.” This wave of acclaim led to a solo tour opening for The Fray, which brought his work to the attention of national and international audiences. Rateliff has also shared the stage with artists such as Bon Iver, Mason Jennings, Iron & Wine, Ben Howard, Michael Kiwanuka, The Low Anthem, Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling and Rosanne Cash, among others including The Lumineers in Denver. On August 5, 2015, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats made their late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Band website here.

Album on iTunes here: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Woke Up To The Light

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Strand of Oaks is led by singer/songwriter Timothy Showalter. Showalter, 32, was born in Indiana, and currently resides in Philadelphia. His new album HEAL was scheduled for mixing on December 26, 2013. Driving on the freeway on Christmas Day, Showalter and his wife hit a patch of black ice and crashed their car head on into a semi-truck, and were very fortunate to walk away with their lives. Showalter suffered a, “pretty severe,” head trauma, “which affected me much more than I realized at the time.” Fearing delays, Showalter, the mixing session went ahead. “Being on the verge of death, and my thoughts being so closely tied to that, changed the album’s direction,” Showalter claims. “Together, we pushed it toward a much more cathartic sound that forces the listener to where I was at that exact moment, somewhere between almost dying and being absolutely fearless.” (Learn more about the artist at Strand of Oaks)

I woke up to the light, you woke up to my hand
Reachin’ for the night we ran
If the morning comes, I will still be here
Holding all the lines of the field

Save the dawn light shine
Save the moon, save the night
And I call you by name I call you here
In the distance we will find,
Heaven lies in waiting
And keep the light on for me
Keep the light on for me

We woke up to the light, and felt no warmth behind

Find this tune and the new June, 2014 Album on iTunes: Heal

Comin’ Home

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City and Colour is the recording alias for Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green. Green, 33, was born in St. Catharines, Ontario. He plays melodic acoustic and folk music and is often accompanied by a rotating number of Canadian indie rock musicians. Playing guitar since age eight and crafting songs since his teenage years, Green has always known he wanted to write music and sing: mostly for himself, to find peace and clarity amongst the chaos. He thinks it’s kismet that others happen to like to listen. “At the end of the day, when I write a song, it has to make me happy,” he says. “I have to want to sing it again. And then the hope after that is that somebody else will like it.”

Green recorded 3 studio albums.  All three previous studio albums have achieved platinum status in Canada, while Little Hell is also now Gold in Australia debuted at #1 on Canada’s Top 200 Chart, #28 in the U.S., in the top 40 in the U.K. Moreover, almost every show in 2011 and 2012 sold out (including the famed Royal Albert Hall, a two night stay at the Roundhouse in London and New York’s Terminal 5). (Bio Sources from wiki and his official website)

Find his most current album on iTunes at this link.

 

Friday Night: William Fitzsimmons

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William Fitzsimmons (born 1978) “is an American singer-songwriter, based in Illinois, perhaps best known for his songs “Passion Play” and “Please Don’t Go”, which aired during ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.  Fitzsimmons was born the youngest child of two blind parents.  He is said to have developed his multiple instrument abilities from his mother and father, both of whom were recreational musicians. He was taught the piano and trombone during elementary school, and began teaching himself guitar while in junior high school. He is also proficient at the banjo, melodica, ukulele, and mandolin.  William’s career in music came only after completing a Master’s Degree in counseling at Geneva College, and working as a mental health therapist. Fitzsimmons’ writing often includes reference to personal and family subject matter. His 2006 effort, Goodnight, is said to have been based largely on his parents’ divorce during his adolescence, and his 2008 work, The Sparrow And The Crow, was written entirely about and following his own divorce.”

Find iTunes link here.

Cat with Peace Train

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Now I’ve been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come 
And I believe it could be, something good has begun…

(Music Starts at 0:50 seconds…go ahead…see if you can keep your foot from tapping…)