I adore music. Light, slow, hard, jangly, it doesn't matter. My iTunes Library (when it stops freezing) showcases artists and genres many who hear my playlists are surprised I like and even more surprised they love and have never heard of.
So I decided to start a blog showcasing the artists I love and people who hate looking for music never tend to hear. A blog where whatever you're into you can find a companion artist for something you absolutely adore.
First up, my Singer Songwriters.
I was a Brandi Carlile fan from way back to '05. She was one of my 'Fav's From Myspace' as I term them, back before iTunes was huge and you couldn't find random artists on Youtube. The best way back then was to 'Favorite' an artist, listen through Myspace and hope someone upstairs signed them so they could put out a cd you could buy. In the years following Myspace's sudden downfall I found artists I'd loved through Myspace making an emergence to Mainstream music, Tristan Prettyman with her 'Love, Love, Love' ending up in movie credits, Matt Wertz and Matt White signed and coming out with a cd. Everywhere you saw the impact Myspace had on the world, and on music all together.
Sadly Myspace and it's downfall came, but so did the emergence of a new way of finding music such as Pandora. Pandora and it's interface allowed you to type in a song and find others like it, or so it professed. It was akin to the radio, with little to no choice as to who you listened to and commercials every few sets. With Pandora, bands like the Damwells, The Daniel Ross Band and Dave Barnes popped up and you were given a glimpse into music that was considered to sound like your favorites, even if it actually didn't.
About this time iTunes became popular. You could purchase single's instead of full cd's, testing out each song for a few moments before deciding to buy it. 99 cents was a bargain when you were used to being forced to spend 15 dollars for a cd of songs, half of which you most likely didn't want. Also around this time came Wikipedia, where you could search for a genre page and have a list of artists pop up, one by one searching for each on iTunes until you found an artist you liked.
Ah, the good old days.
But then, in came Genius, the iTunes response to Pandora and slowly all started to become right in the world. Genius made up for where Pandora lacked. A simple list of songs that might compliment a favored track with a button for a short test before purchase. This coupled with Wikipedia is currently how I discover my music. It's time consuming, it's rife with bad (and not in a fun way) music but it's currently the easiest way for me to feed my music addiction, because ladies and gentlemen, it's an addiction.
Where Brandi Carlile came off, Antje Duvevot, Chris Pureka and Adrienne started. Women singer songwriters with a touch of something, something that gave their songs staying power. Of course all musicians can't replicate lightning constantly but I find there are some whose voices just lend towards a weight that's hard to describe, beyond possibly the word 'awesome' of course.
When I discovered Nervous But Excited I was surprised at the depth I found in their music. One vocal artist had a voice that I inherently knew I would not like alone but paired with the second she kept the music from growing stale, from becoming too much of the same thing, repeated over and over. One singer changed the entirety of a band, a fate The Shondes know all too well.
In The Shondes music they have two distinct singers, one whose voice I simply cannot stand for long periods of time, and other who lends a deep credit to the harmony. She takes their lyrics, concentrated in meaning and history and gives them the space to hang squarely in your mind. A message hidden within beautifully sung tones. For you can hear everything in music, the feelings, the heart, the soul.
And that's just on a Tuesday :D
The final band I truly love, and not simply because their voices don't really match their visual persona's is The xx. While The xx are less on the folky side of Singer Songwriters and a bit more electronic the male vocal artist has a deep weight to his voice that pulls you in like taffy and sticks to your insides. This paired with the lighter breathy match of his bandmate creates a push pull rival to the Silversun Pickups but entails a loner vibe that firmly sets them in the Singer Songwriter category for me.
So that's it folks, that my fav Singer Songwriters of the moment. Next week check back for the next genre I'll be covering. I just haven't decided which one yet...
Other artists unmentioned but unforgotten are:
Brendan James
Christopher Jak
Holly Long
Meg Hutchinson
Lucinda Williams
William Fitzsimmons
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