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Simone Felice's narrative song-writing style is all the more powerful when his life story is taken into account. Felice suffered a brain aneurysm at the age of 12 that should have rendered him musically incapable. Instead, he went on to become the drummer and one of the primary song writers for the Felice Brothers, a band that he started with his brother, Ian, in 2001 after 9/11. Though he'd played punk music as an adolescent, Felice found his stride in folk music and before long, The Felice Brothers were an internationally recognized name.
Philadelphia's own, Good Old War, has a new album, Come Back As Rain, out next week. These Philly natives and indie-folk trio, consist of Keith Goodwin (vocals, guitar, keys), Tim Arnold (drums, keys, accordion, cocals), and Daniel Schwartz (guitar, vocals). Pulling from each of their surnames to create the band's moniker, these three friends and collaborators have created a great chemistry on stage and a knack for mesmerizing three-part harmonies. Playing at festivals such as SXSW and the XPoNential Music Festival, collaborating with Anthony Green, and cultivating a reputation that's reached beyond the Philly music scene to the rest of the nation, Good Old War have started out their first few years in a successful fashion.
Born in Jersey and now based in Nashville, folk songstress Jessie Baylin has roots in classic pop, jazz, and even the blues. Growing up on a steady diet of Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday, Baylin also acquired an affinity for the intimacy and wildness of bar performances--by the time she was 13, she was singing at the local jazz bar herself. She later moved to Los Angeles and became enamored with the Laurel Canyon brand of rootsy folk, and later debuted with an album entitled You and produced by Grammy winner Jesse Harris. Since then, she's toured with likes of Marc Broussard, James Morrison, and Brett Dennen. She also released "Firesight", a deeply personal and soulful album that showcased her budding creativity. She's now back with a follow up, the rich and powerful Little Spark.
Released just this past January, Little Spark is deeply influenced by Dusty Springfield and other such soul queens. Yet Baylin doesn't spend too much time looking for nostalgia--she's inventing her own expansive, modern take on classic pop. Given the orchestral components and the choral passages, the sound of Little Spark certainly does conjure a time of living room radios and big bands, but Baylin's sultry, expansive, and gorgeous vocals carry home the freshness of her music.
Be sure not to miss out on hearing the talented Jessie Baylin live--it's the weekly Live Friday XPN Free At Noon performance, and there's no better way to start the weekend. You can also catch Jessie, with The Watson Twins for a full show on March 3 at World Cafe Live.
From Monteal, the band Islands are on tour in support of their new album A Sleep & A Forgetting. They play two shows at the First Unitarian Church here in Philly on Friday, February 24 and will be here that day for an XPN Free At Noon show.
Boundary-pushing blues rocker Joe Louis Walker has done it again. Walker has 50 years of music and more than 20 albums under his belt, but he continues to churn out powerful, gritty, heavy blues rock. Walker's musical influences course through his songs. He grew up listening to blues greats, including T-Bone Walker, B.B. King and Pete Johnson. At age 8, Joe Louis Walker picked up his first guitar and began to imitate their work. By sixteen, Walker was the house guitarist of San Francisco's The Matrix and was opening shows for the next generation of blues rock heroes-- Jimi Hendrix, Thelonious Monk and Lightnin' Hopkins, to name a few. Joe Louis Walker manages to channel the sound of each of his heroes, yet maintain a distinct sound.
One of the first Shaking Through artists and current XPN Artist To Watch, Sharon Van Etten has a new album called Tramp. She's in town to play a sold out show on Friday at Johhny Brenda's, and will be here for an XPN Free At Noon, this Friday, February 10, 2012!
For over ten years, Pete Donnelly has made pop music in Philadelphia. He's plays in several bands, including The Figgs and NRBQ, and has produced and played for acts such as G. Love and Special Sauce and Amos Lee. Now, after 10 years as a critical figure in the Philadelphia music scene, he's released a solo album.
Dr. Dog's new album Be The Void will be out February 7, and the band plays two nights at the Electric Factory on March 24-25. They'll be here for an XPN Free At Noon Friday, January 27!
Hailing from Brooklyn, the electroic duo Chairlift is comprised of Caroline Polachek (vocals, tambourine, synth) and Patrick Wimberly (bass, drums, keyboard). Originally formed in Colorado with the intent to make haunted house music, Chairlift relocated to Williamsburg in 2007, and began to build buzz. They've toured a lot, including a stint with Yeasayer. In the past few years, they've also released an EP and two full-length albums--the latest of which comes out next week, on the 24th. The follow-up to Chairlift's sci-fi inspired "Does You Inspire You" debut, "Something" is the duo's first album with Columbia Records.
Hailing from Ridgewood, NJ, but now comfortably situated (both in sound and influence) in Brooklyn, NY, Real Estate is a young five-piece making waves in the music market. Band members Alex Bleeker (bass), Martin Courtney (vocals, guitar), Mathew Mondanile (guitar), Jackson Pollis (drums), and Jonah Mauer (keys and guitar) have all been together for just one year, though the roots of Real Estate were planted in 2008. In the last few years, Real Estate have been building a reputation for coherent, catchy, and precise tunes--but tunes that are also introspective or effervescent at all the right times. Real Estate's summer-y indie rock is nothing short of spell-binding.
Since releasing a set of demos and their self-titled debut in 2009, Real Estate has since been named 'Best New Music' by Pitchfork, toured with the likes of Deerhunter, Girls, and Kurt Vile, and played at festivals around the world. Now that they're out with their follow-up, Real Estate is picking up even more followers and buzz. This latest album, entitled "Days" and released on their new label Domino, is just as cheerful yet just as sentimental in sound. Influenced by power-pop and beach sun by turn, it's clear that Real Estate is definitely here to stay.
Don't miss your chance to see Real Estate as the week winds down--they're here for a Free at Noon session this Friday! There's no better way to start the weekend.
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