General, Headline, News

Small Houses & Ochre Room Finland Tour (+ Small Houses Euro Tour)

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smallhouseseurotour1

These are exciting times for me, because one of my favourite singer-songwriters Jeremy Quentin aka Small Houses will soon tour in Finland (11.09-14.09) with excellent local group Ochre Room. These concerts in Finland are part of Small Houses first Euro tour that started today in Iceland. Scroll down to see all the tour dates.

Jeremy Quentin is a Philadelphia-based (originally Flint, Michigan) folk / alt-country singer-songwriter, who has three released albums under the moniker Small Houses. First one Our Dusking Sound (2010) might be only good, but the last two, North (2011) and Exactly Where You Wanted To Be (2013), are wonderful albums. If you’ve followed this blog during the recent years, you are well aware that I’m a great admirer of Jeremy Quentin as a singer and as a songwriter. He is able to create enchanting moments with his beautiful singing voice and gentle finger-style guitar playing. For me, it all started with the song Late July back in 2011. It was my first introduction to Small Houses and ended up being my favourite song of the year. The album North was full of delicate folk melodies and inspiring songs. Especially the songs Country Flowers, North and the aforementioned Late July are very dear to me and are always able to serve as a perfect antidote against stress and anxiety. You can listen to North at bandcamp and/or watch these videos, Late July and the official music video for North below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_hK2qyGlQc]

In early 2013, the third Small Houses album Exactly Where You Wanted To Be hit the stores and our hearts. It’s certainly one of the top 10 releases of 2013. Jeremy had become even stronger and more confident as a songwriter without losing that pure gentle honesty of his music. You can listen to Exactly Where you Wanted To Be at bandcamp or watch these videos, official video Oh, Hiding Out, I Saw Santa Fe from Halfway House Sessions and the official video for Our Sweet below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbHA_4mg3nU]

Jeremy Quentin is already making new music. This unreleased song Old Habits is stunning and a huge favourite of mine.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGAkkQy-d3c]

Further Studies:

classroomsession

I really like Lawrence High School Classroom Sessions. Several of my favourite artists like Chris Bathgate and Small Houses have done these where they discuss their art and play their music. Jeremy did this in early 2012. There are five youtube clips. This is a link to part 1: Sarah’s Song and conversation. You will easily find the rest from youtube.

alleyeson

On a more recent note, Jeremy Quentin just appeared on a documentary web series All Eyes On. This project by Mike Gallagher focus on one person each month. In august 2013 all eyes were on Jeremy. So good way to learn more about the person behind the music is to go to All Eyes On website (and scroll down a bit). There you can watch video interview & live sessions + listen to three podcasts.

All Eyes On Website

And let’s not forget that besides Small Houses, you’ll get to see a wonderful Finnish folk-rock / americana band Ochre Room. They released their amazing debut album last year and have been working on the follow-up during the spring and summer of 2013. I’m extremely excited to hear some of these new songs for the first time on this tour. Here are some great ones from the debut album Evening Coming In. Blue Ribbon, Don’t Try and video for My Summer.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/87674287″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]
 
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/87676561″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]
 
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_QZQEU37DM]

Oh and a big thank you for Ochre Room for organizing this tour. It doesn’t really get much better than this. I think I’ll have to go to either Rauma or Helsinki as well. Only Turku isn’t enough. By the way, The Turku concert at Pikku-Torre is also Flavour Of The Month’s 15 Year anniversary. That’s worth of an own blog post within a few days. Anyway here are all the Small Houses Euro tour dates with the Finnish ones highlighted:

SMALL HOUSES EURO TOUR:

04.09.13 – Cafe Rosenburg – Reykjavik, Iceland
05.09.13 – Ob.la.di Ob.la.da – Reykjavik, Iceland
06.09.13 – Ob.la.di Ob.la.da – Reykjavik, Iceland
07.09.13 – Cafe Haiti – Reykjavik, Iceland
11.09.13 – Klubi – Tampere, Finland
12.09.13 – Kahvila Soppi – Rauma, Finland
13.09.13 – 8raita – Turku, Finland
13.09.13 – Pikku-Torre – Turku, Finland
14.09.13 – Korjaamo – Helsinki, Finland
18.09.13 – Kampen Bistro – Oslo, Norway
19.09.13 – Landet – Hägersten, Sweden
20.09.13 – TBA – Lund, Sweden
21.09.12 – Norreport – Halmstad, Sweden
27.09.13 – KussKuss Küche – Berlin, Germany
28.09.13 – Børneteatret – Copenhagen, Denmark
29.09.13 – YouAreAwesome – Bremen, Germany
03.10.13 – The Jet Lounge – Amsterdam, Netherlands
04.10.13 – SWAN – Amsterdam, Netherlands
07.10.13 – The Windmill Brixton – London, England

And some important links:

Small Houses Website
Small Houses at Facebook
Ochre Room Website
Ochre Room at Facebook

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Album of the Month, Featured, Headline, International music, News

Album of the Month: Austin Lucas – Stay Reckless

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austinlucas

There was also several other great possibilities for the new album of the month spot. I’m very much into The Lieblings album and I’m more than just a little obsessed with the upcoming Marine Dreams album. But then there’s a new Austin Lucas album and in the end, the choice is rather easy. I love this guy. His two previous albums Somebody Loves You and A New Home In The Old World are very dear to me and the new release, Stay Reckless is probably his finest album to date. Absolutely fantastic from the get-go to the last note. A great blend of americana, country and rock’n’roll. I suppose some country purists might struggle with this, because at times Stay Reckless might be closer to Hüsker Dü than Willie Nelson. Ok, that namedropping got more than a little out of hand. On a more serious note, whether it’s blast of countrified rock’n’roll or a beautiful country ballad, Austin nails it perfectly each time. This time Austin also had one of the best bands in the world as his backing band in the studio. Austin Lucas with Glossary. That collaboration was a match made in rock’n’roll heaven. This is Alone in Memphis from the amazing new Austin Lucas album that just came out on New West Records.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/98722622″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]
 
Austin Lucas Website

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International music, News

Wes Tirey, Buffalo Gospel, Nathan Edwards

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I wrote about singer-songwriter Wes Tirey and his excellent EP I Stood Among The Trees few months back. Currently Wes is raising funds for his upcoming tour in Italy and released a new EP False Idols. Digital EP costs $1 (or more if you want to) and all sales will go to help fund his Italian tour. So it’s a good cause (of course funding a Finland tour would be a better cause..) and there’s definitely value for money, because Wes is such a great songwriter. False Idols was recorded to a cassette recorder at his apartment. Therefore this is a bit rough and bare, but the sound actually fits quite well to the mood of these folk songs. This is the opener Master, Master.

Wes Tirey at Bandcamp

buffalo

Milwaukee-based Buffalo Gospel and their new album We Can Be Horses have been on my playlist for a few weeks. It’s a very strong release that offers a bunch of gorgeous songs at the junction of americana, folk rock & alt-country. The whole thing is really good and some of it is utterly wonderful. Here’s the music video for The Western (Devil Is Me).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBrlVHXAbDM]

Buffalo Gospel Website

nathanedw

And I’ll end this blog entry with Nathan Edwards who has spent some time in Stephen Foster’s song cabinet. An album called Nathan Edwards presents The Music of Stephen Foster came out back in July. This beautiful version of Hard Times Come Again No More ends that album.

Nathan Edwards at Bandcamp

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Featured, Finnish music, Headline, News

Yesterday’s news: Koria Kitten Riot, Rosvot

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There were some exciting news yesterday.

koriakit

1. Koria Kitten Riot released a new single The Lovers That You’ve Never Had. This excellent Finnish band has been signed by Gaea Records and this single is their first release under Gaea. A new full-length album will be coming out early 2014. I have really high hopes for the album. I’ve been a fan of Antti Reikko both as a songwriter and as a singer (great voice) for several years. After the release of the previous album, Koria Kitten Riot has become a full band instead of a solo adventure. I’m quite confident that Koria Kitten Riot is going to reach even greater heights after this decision. Those songs, that voice and a band full of talented musicians. I don’t think they will be able to fuck this up even if they tried to. Here’s the first single, The Lovers That You’ve Never Had.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPOXdEOz78A]

Koria Kitten Riot Website

2) A new Finnish music blog portal Rosvot collected several great Finnish blogs under the same roof. Including some of my own favourites like Slow Show, We Never Stood A Chance and Stop, Shake, Honey, Go. Highly recommended, because they’ve kept the blogs separate and individual. I think I would have absolutely hated it, if the bloggers had just started one massive blog. This way the blogs still remain unique and personal, which is the main thing for me. Too many people writing the same blog usually just makes it harder to learn things about the individual blogger and his/her taste in music (and how it matches my taste). So Rosvot has definitely done this joining forces thing the right way. More exposure for everyone without losing the personal touch of each participating blog. Well done.

Rosvot Website

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