The Bones of J.R. Jones, ‘Hammers and Nails’

Lightnin' Hopkins and Sylvan Esso … now those are two artists you rarely hear mentioned in the same breath. But, for Jonathon Linaberry — who performs under the moniker the Bones of J.R. Jones — each artist is just as important an influence as the other. The New York songwriter and multi-instrumentalist — catch one of his live shows and you're bound to see Linaberry, by himself, playing everything from the guitar to the bass drum, often simultaneously — doesn't shy away from incorporating seemingly disparate genres into his music, with the end result falling somewhere between early, bluesy Black Keys and the punk-infused folk of Possessed by Paul James. 

This track, "Hammers and Nails," comes from Spirit's Furnace, the follow-up to his 2014 debut Dark Was the Yearling

”'Hammers and Nails' was heavily inspired by those old Southern spirituals. I am always fascinated by how those ancient songs can be so repetitive in structure, yet despite that, the emotion in the performance never wanes and, in fact, actually grows in power as the song progresses," Linaberry says. "That idea was a huge inspiration for this song. I wanted the lyrics to reflect the feeling those spirituals make me feel … something dark, primal, and foreboding. Warnings of slipping even when you have the best intentions and [you're] not living up to them or yourself. 'Dirt will always tell' is in reference to the idea that no matter what you hide from yourself in life that, in death, the truth will always be heard."

Listen to "Hammers and Nails" and pre-order Spirit's Furnace here.

Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (ft. Rhiannon Giddens), ‘St. James Infirmary Blues’

Yo-Yo Ma and Rhiannon Giddens … need we say more? The legendary cellist brought the talented solo artist and former member of Carolina Chocolate Drops on board for a project with the Silk Road Ensemble, a multi-national group of composers and performers Ma formed in 2000. The ensemble just readied a new album, Sing Me Home, featuring Giddens on the popular American folksong "St. James Infirmary Blues," which we're happy to premiere. Other guests on the album, out April 22, include Bill Frisell, Sarah Jarosz, and Gregory Porter. 

“Music is one of the best ways human beings have to code memory and often, at Silk Road, it’s also the way we code friendships," Ma says. "Michael Ward-Bergeman’s arrangement of 'St. James Infirmary Blues' for the Silk Road Ensemble grew out of his friendship with the legendary Romani band Taraf de Haidouks, and became the way to welcome to our creative community a new friend: the extraordinary Rhiannon Giddens. As Michael says, Rhiannon’s voice on this song was a gift to us all.”

"What an amazing session with the Silk Road Ensemble!" Giddens adds. "I was so honored to get to sing with these fabulous musicians, and you can tell we are all having a great time!”

Listen to "St. James Infirmary Blues" and pre-order Sing Me Home here.

Ben Lubeck, ‘Love Cuts Glass’

For many songwriters, it can take years for a song to find its home. Sometimes you write something so far out of left field that the only thing to do is let it sit and wait for the right moment and the right project to have a chance to truly shine. Such was the case for "Love Cuts Glass," a song by Farewell Milwaukee's Ben Lubeck that found its home on his upcoming solo record, Rented Rooms, out February 26.

"I began writing 'Love Cuts Glass' in the basement of the Fine Line in Minneapolis before a Farewell Milwaukee gig, a few years ago," Lubeck says. "I’ve always loved the song, but it never fit the theme of the Farewell Milwaukee records we’ve put out. I kept it in my back pocket for the right fit and, when Rented Rooms started to become a reality, it was one of the first songs on my list of tunes I wanted to record. It ties into the story of the album beautifully, and the title of the album is essentially taken from the line 'since the rooms you rent are so dirt cheap, why don’t you blow out the ceilings, let the rains come in, and let your mistress from Laredo give you what you need, a temporary fix for a temporary fiend.'  

"The song dives deeply into the relationship with my dad and our time spent traveling through the deserts of the Southwest. Though our relationship is complicated and has been through many bumps in the road throughout the years, I still have fond memories of those adventures, which is why much of the album art has a Southwest theme."

Listen to "Love Cuts Glass" and pre-order Rented Rooms here

Silver City Bound, ‘Take My Picture’

The life of a musician isn't an easy one, with long strings of late nights and cheap food wearing on you after a while. New York City quartet Silver City Bound is all too familiar with that specific brand of exhaustion, channeling the feeling into the title track from their upcoming Take My Picture EP, which releases March 4. "Take My Picture" is a surprisingly ebullient tune, one that has shades of Wilco, the Felice Brothers, and '70s classic rock.

"Recording 'Take My Picture' was a blur of late-night burritos, cheap drinks, and reckless, marathon recording sessions," vocalist/accordionist Sam Reider says. "Someone was taking muscle relaxants. Someone else was about to have a baby. It was an emotional time, and you can hear it in the music.

"This song is for everyone that's ever stood on a stage while those jerks in the back get drunk, yell at you, and don't leave a tip. This song is for anyone who's ever fallen in love with that fantasy person who's always just out of reach. This is an anthem and a love song. If you like it, 'Take a little piece of me and give it to someone you love.'"

Pre-order Take My Picture here

Austin Swearengin, ‘Crooked Brain’

Ah, the drunken stroke of brilliance. We've all been there, and we've all forgotten it by morning (or, for some unfortunate few of us, we've remembered our moment of enlightenment, usually via rereading an embarrassing 3 am text message). For Minneapolis songwriter Austin Swearengin, however, those nights out can lead to some great ideas — some of which, unfortuntaley, were never written down.

Swearengin wrote the track "Crooked Brain" about that exact phenomenon. The song is off his upcoming record — Swearengin, Watson and May (Double Shift Music).

"Its the Y2K version of civil war, all in your head," Swearengin says. "Everything's gone to static, the screens won't respond. It's about identity and politics; you're out with your friends having some drinks, and you come up with some great way to describe these things, and you wake up in the morning and have no idea how exactly you worded it." 

Listen to "Crooked Brain," and pick up Swearengin, Watson and May when it releases on February 5.


Photo credit: Emma Cook