08.10.10
Matt White is Falling In Love With His Best Friend...
Matt White's new single, "Falling In Love (With My Best Friend)" hits digital retailers on August 17th. ARTISTdirect boasts that the song "channels Elton John and Woody Allen equally, combining a soaring hook and vivid storytelling."
Stream the single now at Matt's MySpace.
08.10.10
Mark Olson Enlists Buzzworthy Bands as Tour Openers
Mark Olson is hitting the road this month in support of his new album, Many Colored Kite, and Cory Chisel, Breathe Owl Breathe, Backyard Tire Fire, Vandaveer and Ivan & Aloysha are among the buzzworthy bands invited to join the renowned Jayhawks’ founder on his upcoming US tour beginning August 27th in Los Angeles.Wisconsin folk-rocker Cory Chisel made his major-label debut with Death Won’t Send A Letter in the fall of last year with a dark and urgent rock and roll vision. Cory joins Mark on 9/14, 15 & 17.
In a Lincoln Log cabin in deep rural Michigan live and work Micah Middaugh, Trevor Hobbs, and Andréa Moreno-Beals. This is Breathe Owl Breathe. The trio's new album, Magic Central, is a timeless aural cartogram of feeling, souls, skill, and story, much of which was born out of experiences living at the cabin. The group joins Mark on 9/25 & 26.
Backyard Tire Fire is building on the momentum of their new record Good to Be, which was produced by Grammy-winning producer and member of Los Lobos, Steve Berlin. For the band’s fifth full-length release, BTF have spread the stylistic court with a rich, ever-expanding palette of aural rock ’n’ roll colors and textures that tap into bouncy, Kinks-meet-Squeeze Brit pop-rock, Tom Petty-styled Southern rock, and Beatles-esque majesty. The band joins Mark on 9/16.
Vandaveer is Mark Charles Heidinger, a man who knows how to charm via the medium of song. His melodies are easy, welcoming and filled with splendor, and intelligent enough to be on the right side of radio-friendly. While humble, his folk is not twee or sappy. Divide & Conquer, Vandaveer's 2nd album, was released in 2009, aided and abetted by the angelic vocals of his good sister Rose. Vandaveer joins Mark 9/18-23 and 9/27 & 28.
Seattle's Ivan & Alyosha take their musical inspiration from vintage folk-pop. Formed in 2007, the band has gained traction following the release of their debut EP, The Verse, The Chorus and a successful stop at SXSW 2010. The duo joins Mark opening night, 8/27, and 9/7, 11 & 12.
08.09.10
Who's Playing on The Posies' "Blood/Candy"?
The Posies return with their new LP, Blood/Candy, on September 28th, and the band recruited an impressive list of collaborators to join them on the record."Licenses To Hide," which premiered on SPIN.com last week, features lead singer of Reverie Sound Revue and Broken Social Scene vocalist Lisa Lobsinger. Meanwhile, album opener "Plastic Paperbacks" features UK punk legend and ex-Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell, Kay Hanley of Letters To Cleo lends her voice to the ethereal "The Glitter Prize" and Paco Loco of Australian Blonde and the Paco Loco Trio makes an appearance on the album's closing track, "Enewetak." The band also brought in Grammy-nominated string arranger Phil Peterson , who has played on recent albums for Owl City and Nada Surf.
08.05.10
The Posies Premiere "Licenses to Hide" on SPIN.com
The Posies premiered the song "Licenses to Hide" from their forthcoming album, Blood/Candy, exclusively today on SPIN.com. Talking about the track to SPIN, Posie Jon Auer said:
"'License to Hide' is one of two songs on the record that I think is so completely out of left field for us. I always thought that the Posies should have something that resembles a showtune in our canon... On a certain day, it could be in one of the Muppet movies -- and I mean that in a good way."
Check out the feature and listen to "Licenses to Hide" here .
08.04.10
Matt White on ARTISTdirect
ARTISTdirect says Matt White may just be the "smartest man in pop music." Find out why and check out Matt's interview here.
08.03.10
Megan McCormick Album Release Party
Relix Magazine presents Ryko Recording Artist and September's “On The Verge” pick, Megan McCormick, and her debut album, Honest Words. Celebrate the release of the album on Saturday, August 14th at The Basement in Nashville.
08.03.10
Folk Alliance International Announces Mark Olson as Keynote Speaker for 2011 International Conference
Mark Olson has been announced as a keynote speaker at the 2011 Folk Alliance Conference on February 16-20th in Memphis, TN. Mark joins musician David Bromberg as the second keynote speaker at the conference.
"I was inspired by the local bands playing around Minneapolis, like the Replacements and I come from a folky background, Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan, Neil Young," Mark said of the folk genre. "Then a friend turned me on to the Flying Burrito Brothers, and when I started playing and harmonizing with Gary, something worked right away...to me, our music has a soulful feeling, put together with traditional melodies and I think there will always be people out there who like that."
For more info on the event, visit the Folk Alliance website.
07.30.10
An Autographed "Kite"
If you haven't already picked up a copy of Mark Olson's new album, Many Colored Kite, a number of retailers across the country have limited quantities of the album autographed by Mr. Olson himself. Check out the list below to see if there's a music store near you offering this special opportunity:Other Music, NYC
http://www.othermusic.com/
Electric Foetus, Minneapolis
http://www.electricfetus.com/
Park Ave CD
2916 Corrine Dr.
Orlando, FL 32803
http://www.parkavecds.com/
Amoeba
6400 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90028
http://www.amoeba.com/
Waterloo
600A N. Lamar
Austin, TX 78703
http://www.waterloorecords.com/
Grimey's
1604 8th Ave S
Nashville, TN 37203
http://www.grimeys.com/
Cactus
2110 Portsmouth
Houston, TX 77098
http://www.cactusmusictx.com/
Twist & Shout
2508 E Colfax
Denver, CO 80206
http://www.twistandshout.com/
Music Millennium
3158 E Burnside
Portland, OR 97214
http://www.musicmillennium.com/
Guest Room
125 E Main St
Norman, OK 73069
http://guestroom-records.com/
Shake It
4156 Hamilton Ave.
Cincinnati, OH 45223
http://www.shakeitrecords.com/
Tumblin' Dice Music
697 Bluff Canyon Circle
El Paso, TX 79912
CO-OP Records
516 S. 2nd St.
Clinton, IA 52732
07.29.10
Megan McCormick in Relix Magazine
Megan's forthcoming Ryko debut, Honest Words, received a glowing review in the new issue of Relix magazine, saying that Megan "expresses her joy and agony with a sound that blurs the lines between blues, rock and alternative-country, while channeling everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Steely Dan."
07.27.10
Mark Olson's "Many Colored Kite" Takes Flight
Mark Olson's new studio album, Many Colored Kite, is out today! The album is available on CD and LP on 
