Last Week’s Jams (3.6 – 3.10)

We covered tons of territory last week, particularly as we ran tons of little interviews in our Meet the SXSW Band features; it’s also the Spring season, so that means there are tons of announcements about new records and such. I was stoked to hear new stuff from Constant Follower and Mary Onettes, plus we premiered new tune from The National Honor Society and Hot Coppers. And, seeing as its SXSW, we got interviews back from Daiistar, Taleen Kali, Hamish Hawk and a ton more, all with little introductions plus their music. Or, you can listen to the jams below and see if they’re playing near you, wherever you find yourself!

Constant Follower and Scott William Urquhart Announce Even Days Dissolve

If you read these pages from time to time, you might have read about the moving performance I caught from Constant Follower last year, not to mention the incredibly intricate brand of folk they’ve been writing. Recently, the group announced a collaborative album with Scott William Urquhart, which only adds another delicate layer of guitar work to Stephen McCall’s moving pieces. Here, I love the openness running through the track; the tune allows the song to find its own way, leaving space to breathe and allow the musicianship to shine through. The writing all came about organically, inspired by the poetry of Norman MacCaig, to whom McCall is indebted. Together they will release Even Days Dissolve on April 14th, so prepare to delve into one of the year’s most intimate listening experiences.

Constant Follower Share Live Footage from National Wallace Monument

For some time, I’ve been singing the praises of Stephen McCall and Constant Follower; seeing the band perform in a church at SXSW was, well, spiritual, as we expected. Unfortunately, I didn’t see you all, so instead I’m really pleased to share some special live footage recorded at the National Wallace Monument in Scotland, featuring three songs from the excellent Neither Is, Nor Ever Was LP. McCall’s voice has this purity to it, as you’ll hear, seemingly ready to shatter into pieces the moment you reach out to touch it. As for the recording, there’s such patience in their togetherness, each note serving to carry the song’s lofty goals to near perfection. Take a listen, and be sure to go back and visit the LP, if you haven’t.

SXSW Interviews: Constant Follower

I spent a lot of last year hyping Constant Follower, particularly around the release of Neither Is, Nor Ever Was. So, I’m really excited to see the band coming over here to play SXSW this year. We were fortunate enough to grab a few moments from the band and have them fill out our little questionnaire, with one of their hits below to sample.

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Last Week’s Jams, Today (September 7 – 10)

Welcome to another Monday my friends. First, taking a minute here, as I’m writing this post, to celebrate the 7 day young Rhys Bennett Lankford! That’s right, went and had me another one of those kids, and its been a lot of fun, and well, we’re super stoked on the lil’ fella. That said, we also had a short week, so maybe we didn’t get as many jams in as we might otherwise. But, rest assured, we’ve got a pretty solid little collection of tunes here for you to begin your week, with quite a few ATX appearances from the likes of Lola Tried, American Friend and more. You know what to do, press play and stuff.

Constant Follower Share Weave of the World

We’re starting to move into those cooler evenings (you know, dropping to the low 90s), so stumbling into the latest from Constant Follower seems the perfect way to move into the Fall. For starters, we don’t have to wait before we meet the careful craft of Stephen McAll; he offers himself to the listener, laying his soul before us. He drapes it all over this mild-mannered guitar work, leaving plenty of space in the song’s middle for us all to take stock of our lives and what we’ve got going around us. This song appears on Neither Is, Nor Ever Was, which drops in October via Shimmy Disc/Joyful Noise.