SXSW 2012 Preview: Tristen

Image from Tristen.com

I discovered Tristen back when I was pouring through artists to feature on my Accidental Christmas series. She is a young artist out of Nashville who is making a name for herself in the songwriter community. Her much acclaimed 2011 album, Charlatans at the Garden Gate is beautiful from start to finish, with songs that hint of country and folk influences mixed with indie singer-songwriter, rocker chick vibes. She reminds me of Taylor Goldsmith in her ability to combine thoughtful lyrics with catchy, rich melodies. I also have a feeling she might be totally badass in concert, which why she is an artist I am excited to see at SXSW 2012! Be sure to check her out!

A love letter to music

When I close my eyes and look back on the images of the music in my childhood, it is a slideshow of the covers of my fathers old vinyls. It is Sgt Pepper and his Lonely (but colorful) Hearts Club Band, Bob Dylan and his white boy hippie fro, Joe Cocker wailing, The Rolling Stones rocking. In middle school I would go through a serious classic rock phase, missing out on the pop trends of the time, including the whole Spice Girls revolution (I didn't miss much). Instead I listened to Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, and fell so deeply and madly in love with the Fab Four that three of my friends and I even took on the identities of each of them. I remember sitting in my father's car on a summer day with the top down and the wind blowing and saying, "You had the best music. I wish I had grown up when you did."

I would eventually shed my Beatles persona (I'll leave you to guess who I was) and while these bands that took up such a large part of my heart have never left my playlist rotation, I would soon discover that I live in a world that is as rich with incredible music as my fathers world was. I can't imagine my life now without Dave Matthews or each of the hundreds of concerts I have gone to that have changed my life in so many ways. For months I have been saturated in bands that will be descending upon Austin is less than a month to showcase their gifts. I have been pouring through bandcamps and facebook pages, carefully tracking each musician, taking notes, building playlists.

We are living in an an incredible time for music. Institutions like The Grammys may celebrate domestic violence and auto tune and it is easy to think we are descending into a scary music time of dubstep and amateurs who want to be famous and think, "Thank God there's an app for that!" But turn the dial past the top 40 and there is a world rich in talented musicians. Hell, even Top 40 is being slowly taken over by musicians like Adele and Foster The People!

We are living in a time when artists like Dawes, Blitzen Trapper, The Head and the Heart, and so many others are just beginning. The Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Foster the People and bands we don't even know that we will one day love, have many more melodies and poems to enrich our lives and I feel overwhelmingly lucky to be here for it.

I'm not sure my future daughter will ever spend a year answering only to Taylor Goldsmith, Mark Foster or Grace Potter, but who knows if one day we will be driving down the road and she will turn to me and say, " You had the best music. I wish I had grown up when you did."

Favorite Albums of 2011

So much great music came into my life this year, including a number of kick ass albums! They are the albums that I have played on repeat in obsessive ways, or forced upon my loved ones, readers and strangers on the street screaming, “Seriously, you HAVE to be listening to this!”

To be clear, this is not a ‘best of’ list. I am in no way qualified to determine what has been better or worse than others. Bon Iver seriously doesn’t do it for me no matter how many times I have played his pre-pubescent voiced album, but apparently he’s fantastic. No, this is a list of my favorite albums. These are albums that in 2011 I fell deeply, madly, hopelessly in love with. Interestingly, the majority of my favorite albums are freshman albums. They are in no particular order. 

Torches: Foster The People

Torches has been a serious addiction this year. I even met one of the boys while listening to their album on my ipod. Foster The People have a captivating sound, danceable melodies, strange and poetic lyrics, and completely weird music videos. Their stories range from the socially controversial “Pumped Up Kicks” to the sentimental, “Waste.” It is a dynamic, rich, fun, upbeat, kick ass album from start to finish. I am anxiously anticipating their sophomore album and what the boys will come up with next. In the meantime, I’m still waiting for them to choreograph their entire next music video (Warrant, please!) with Mark Foster’s shouldery dance moves. I think it would be brilliant!

21: Adele

Seriously, have you listened to it? The girl is unreal! I have openly wept at least twice while listening to her perform songs off of this heart wrenching album. Adele's crossover into Top 40 has been a breath of fresh air to those stations and a testament to how brilliant she is. She took writing about heartache to a whole new beautiful level and I can't stop belting her out while driving in my car, or just about anywhere. 

In Light: Givers

In Light is a whimsical dance party by Givers. I love the quirky, rich, and percussion-heavy instrumentals. The percussion often adds a tribal celebratory feel, especially in songs like “Saw You First” and “Up Up Up”. Taylor and Tiffany belt out soulful harmonies and it is easy to hear their giddy smiles through my speakers. Aptly named, this album is about light and I dare you not to actually start bouncing with delight when you hear "Up Up Up"! In fact, I will take this opportunity to apologize to my downstairs neighbor as every listen (and there have been oh so many!) has usually erupted in crazed, euphoric dancing. 

Pickin Up The Pieces: Fitz And The Tantrums

Pickin Up The Pieces is a modern, retro, pop album that makes me want to dress up in sequence and heels and go dancing somewhere hip and glamourous. The wail of the organ and the jazzy sound of the saxophone blend with Fitz and Noelle‘s harmonies, creating a rich, soulful groove. Fitz and the Tantrums are all kinds of fun and so is this album.

Nothing is Wrong: Dawes

There really is nothing wrong with this Dawes album, and if push came to shove I would have to choose this as my absolute number one favorite album of the year because it is just so damn good. While so many albums on my list I love for the dance parties that usually erupt while listening to them, Nothing Is Wrong strikes at a much different place. Taylor Goldsmith is a poet and a brilliant songwriter. I get something new out of his lyrics with every listen and his melodies are their perfect complements. (the video is grainy, but it's my favorite song off the album and I had to share)

The Head And The Heart: The Head And The Heart

This self-titled album by The Head And The Heart has a beautiful folk sound, rich in harmonies and undertones of melancholy. Many of the songs start simply and build up in emotional and beautifully instrumental ways. This album is music that fills me up to the very core and songs like, “Down In The Valley” make me homesick for a place I’ve never even been to. This is a band I am eager to see grow and mature.

Portraits: Wheeler Brothers

Representing Austin on this list, Wheeler Brothers are definitely a favorite this year. Portraits is a well rounded folk-rock album with Texas rock inspirations. Like so many of the albums I have loved this year, this is their first LP, but with an incredibly mature and cohesive sound. You may not have heard of them yet, but you will. 

What were your favorite albums this year?

Dawes at KGSR Anniversary Party

Listening to Dawe's fantastic album, Nothing is Wrong, you might not expect Taylor Goldsmith to rock out as much as he does. He is passionate about his poetic lyrics and the crowd at the KGSR Anniversary Party enthusiastically sang along. His casual demeanor is thrown aside on stage as a rock star takes his place. Every time I see him perform it is magical. 

Dawes

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KGSR Anniversary Party!

The Gourds at KGSR Anniversary Show

Givers at KGSR Anniversary Show

Matt Kearney at KGSR Anniversary Party

Dawes at KGSR Anniversary Party

KGSR Anniversary Party Friday!

Two of my favorite bands of the year, Givers and Dawes, are playing THIS Friday night at ACL Live as part of the KGSR Anniversary Party. They will also be joined by The Gourds and Matt Kearney. It looks to be a fantastic show! Givers are guaranteed fun and the last time I saw Dawes my friend shouted at the top of her lungs, "Why can't all concerts be like this one!!" Tickets can only be won through KGSR and various events around town or by listening to their station. Good luck!!




Dawes with Mumford & Sons - When My Time Comes from WXPN FM on Vimeo.

Dawes makes the days of Utopa Fest move easy

There is a place called Utopia, TX and not too long ago it was descended upon by artists and music lovers to create an oasis as close to music perfection as one might find. It was away from the reaches of wireless and 3G (because apparently you can't have your Utopia and Google it too) and nestled among the hills where I often expected to glance up and see John Wayne riding by, waving his hat and proclaiming that he's not bad for a one-eyed fat man.

Utopia Fest 2011

It was quiet in the noises of life, rich in the soundtrack of musicians delighted to play beneath the Texas sky to a crowd so delighted to listen and dance. The clear musical highlight of the festival was Dawes, an independent rock group out of sunny Los Angeles. The combination of their talent and musicianship, Taylor Goldsmith’s poetic and poignant lyrics, and their genuine, energetic and soulful performance made for the kind of moments that had my friend shouting, “Why can’t all concerts be exactly like this one!” Hours later, back at our campsite, we sat around with our neighbors quoting lyrics and gushing about their performance. Dawes had certainly made our night move easy. 

Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes at Utopia Fest

I spoke with Taylor after his performance. Standing in the dark by some shrubbery behind the stage, I asked (in a not so subtle homage to Almost Famous), what it is that he loves about music. He reflected, “I like the environment that it creates. Even when we were on stage just now, I was looking at all these silly light up tents and thinking that I’m standing here with 1,000 or so like minded people out in the middle of the Texas mountains, so far away from anything. Here we are getting to know each other better and it’s all because people play music.” 

Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes at Utopia Fest

Those words stuck with me long after our conversation and I thought about these festival strangers who I camped with, shared morning coffee with, on whose shoulders I danced and who helped me change a flat tire at the end a long weekend, all because of our love of music. 

Dawes is breaking out in all kinds of major ways. Taylor Goldsmith has been called “the best songwriter in America,” by Esquire magazine, their video for Time Spent In Los Angeles is climbing the VH1 charts, and last week they played with Mumford and Son’s at the World Cafe 20th Anniversary Concert. And yet, despite all of these major accomplishments, he can still see the magic and joy in a small crowd gathered in Utopia, TX. It is this genuine nature and incredible talent that will take him far for years to come. 

Meeting Taylor last year at ACL along with Chris Chu of Morning Benders 

@dawestheband 's Time Spent In Los Angeles music video

I am still in a generally comatose state recovering from 2 full days of getting to know my toilet far too  intimately. Well played, stomach bug, well played. Until I am fully back on my feet, or at least vertical enough to sit at my desk long enough to share with you all of the music goodies that I have (interviews with Dawes, Blitzen Trapper, The Giving Tree Band, Wheeler Brothers and so much more!), watch this video. Apparently it is climbing the VH1 charts, which is strange because I didn't know VH1 still played actual videos (though that would explain the one I saw the other day, which I chalked up to being a feverish hallucination). Still, if VH1 charts are still around, this video deserves to be there. The song is probably always worth playing on repeat (which also might have happened while I was in a fever haze. Or maybe I was just singing it to my dog on repeat...either one is plausible...I don't really remember much).

Photos from Utopia Fest: Dawes

They were the band that everyone couldn't stop talking about, the artist that even the artists were gushing over. Write up and interview to follow, but here are some photos to hold you over.