soul

After having won last year's Americana Music Association's emerging artist of the year and with a set of high-profile festival stops about to kick off, there's a serious buzz growing around gospel roots rocker Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue. His new CD, Shout! Live, recorded during a series of Sunday night appearances last fall at Nashville's Station Inn, shows why.

Farris's message is straight-ahead Christian testimony, but it is delivered with raw emotional punch and raucous musicianship that will get many non-believers to sit up and take notice—and likely dancing in the festival aisles. I am sometimes put off by acts that put the praise message ahead of the music, but that is not all the case with Farris and his crew, which includes a trio of gospel singing sisters and irrepressible rhythm and horn sections.

Last week the folks over at South by Southwest pulled the covers off their new Youtube channel and it's already been getting massive fan viewage. The channel's pretty packed with interviews, film trailers and features from year's past and I'm sure they'll be updating on a steady schedule throughout the fest.

 

 

The backstage view of a performance at the 2008 San Francisco Blues Festival.

Citing a lack of funds, the founder and chief organizer of the San Francisco Blues Festival announced yesterday that a 2009 festival will not take place, and that the country's longest running blues festival might have to shut its doors for good.

In a statement regarding the decision to postpone, and possibly put to bed the 37 year-old festival, the founder Tom Mazzolini said, "The combination of rising production costs and lack of sponsorship support leaves me no choice but to cancel this year's show."

 

The 7th annual 10,000 Lakes Festival has released the first round of artists for its 2009 lineup. The event's headliners are Dave Matthews Band and Wilco. Jam band staples such as Umphrey's McGee, Tea Leaf Green, and Widespread Panic will be featured, the latter two being scheduled to play two nights. In addition, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings will provide a dose of soul, in place of the otherwise rock-oriented lineup. Also performing at 10KLF are Railroad Earth, WookieFoot, Trampled By Turtles, Junior Brown, Cloud Cult, Everyone Orchestra, Kathleen Edwards, Pretty Lights, William Edward Whitmore, BoomBox, Kinetix, The Macapods, My Dear Disco, The Ragbirds, and Enchanted Ape. More artists will be announced, as well as a schedule, as the festival draws nearer.

Next week Jamaica's Jazz and Blues Festival kicks off its three-day event with stars and legends ready to rock the stage. Each year this event welcomes over 40,000 patrons to enjoy two stages full of music along with a food court offering Jamaican cuisine and craft artisans selling their creations. Running from January 22-24, the festival will take place at the beautiful Rose Hall in Montego Bay.

Although the festival is called the Jazz and Blues Festival, it typically hosts a number of artists across a wider range of genres. The original aim of the event was to showcase all kinds of talent with a heavy emphasis on jazz and blues. At this festival you can hear all kinds of music from Gospel to R&B to Latin to Country.