Mike Doughty and Thin Lizzy (Phil Lynott is second from left)
Mike Doughty’s recommendation: “One of things that attracts me to Thin Lizzy is that I’m so moved by the life story of Phil Lynott, the singer, songwriter and bass player. His father was a black Guyanese guy that knocked up his Irish mom and split. He grew up a black kid in Dublin. Can you imagine how isolated that kid must’ve felt? Much of his work resonates with his very strong core of Irishness, which is poignant, given how he must’ve been taunted for his un-Irish appearance.
He’s a soulful, tortured singer, very Van-Morrison-influenced, which is really interesting, given Thin Lizzy’s solidly 70s-heavy-rock sound.
Phil Lynott died, in 1986, of septicemia – which, as far as I understand the Wikipedia entry, is basically an inflammation of every organ – brought on by a ruinous heroin and alcohol intake.
They weren’t, in my opinion, an album band – their strength was the live show. They have some amazing recordings – The Boys Are Back in Town, naturally, and Jailbreak, which has one of the most amazing, thick, rich, growly guitar sounds of all time.”
New to Thin Lizzy? Mike suggests you start here: “Actually, I’d recommend a newcomer a live album called Life/Live, a tossed-out end-of-career album. It’s slightly tricky to find–there’s a CD reissue, licensed by a small label, buyable online, but it wasn’t a particularly important album in their career.
It happens to be the first Thin Lizzy album I ever bought. I ordered it from the Columbia Records and Tapes Club as a 14-year-old, in 1985, not knowing anything about how the band sounded. Being a metal kid, it was way more soulful than anything I’d been listening to.
The cult of Phil Lynott is kind of hilarious. There is an incredibly ugly bronze statue of him standing outside a pub on Harry Street in Dublin. In fact, there is an astonishing range of bad portraits of him. As it happens, on my Tumblr, http://mkdo.co, I declared January of 2012 Bad Phil Lynott Art Month, and posted a horrible picture of him daily.
There’s a haunting connection in two of my favorite songs, Dancing in the Moonlight and Got to Give It Up. In the former, he’s a teenager staying out too late to meet a girl; one lyric is, “My father, he’s going crazy–he says I’m living in a trance.” The latter is a cry for help from a barstool, explicitly about how low he’s been brought (a hideous irony is that he introduces the tune on Life/Live with a whoohoo-is-anybody-drunk-out-there-tonight monologue). The first line is, “Tell my mother, and tell my pa, that their fine young son didn’t get too far.” So harrowing that he writes about a father that he never really had.”
About our guest author, Mike Doughty: Mike is currently a solo artist but most will remember him as the leader of Soul Coughing, a band that Doughty formed in 1992 and was deserving of Steve Almond’s praise of “making the most interesting music on the planet” for a number of years back in the ’90s. The band uniquely blended infectious grooves, jazz arrangements and, of course, Mike’s signature lyrics. There were alternative hits (Soundtrack to Mary and Super Bon Bon), albums and praise, but the group disbanded in 2000. After Soul Coughing, Mike hit the road on his own and was approached by Dave Matthews to sign to his ATO label. Fast forward several years and albums later, we find Mike still doing what he does best: releasing ultra-catchy records that are packed with his sly observations and playing those songs for adoring fans. His latest release, Yes And Also Yes is one of his best, and standout tracks Na Na Nothing (video below) and Holiday (What Do You Want) deserve massive repeats on your Spotify playlists. (Incidentally, the latter is duet with Roseanne Cash, who has been very vocal about being a big M. Doughty fan, listen to the track here). Mike has also written his first memoir, The Book of Drugs: A Memoir and the critics are raving. Popmatters.com says, “The reason why The Book of Drugs works is because it’s absolutely unflinching … A highly entertaining read … All in all, The Book of Drugs is an outstanding book.” Mike is out on the road supporting the album and the book, so be sure to visit http://www.mikedoughty.com/ to get the latest on his appearances and new releases.
Liam McCormick’s recommendation: “I love so many different kinds of music and so many different artists, that being asked to chose just one artist that moves me is an extremely hard task. Where does one start? I could talk about a number of well known artists like Miles Davis, Cursive, Claude Debussy, Kings of Convenience, Damien Rice, Feist, and so on, but I think it is more important to talk about an artist that is less known, that deserves recognition. So, my band of choice is a small group out of Stockholm called The Tiny.
One of my best friends is an amazing Swede named Lars, and because of our friendship I’ve had the privilege of being exposed to a ton of Swedish artists. Many of them are relatively unknown in the states. I first fell in love with The Tiny during a vacation in Ireland. We were driving through a dark, wooded area around the small western village of Innestoge when we decided to throw their debut album, Close Enough, on the stereo. As cliché as it sounds, as soon the first note was sung, time seemed irrelevant, like we were the only thing that mattered at that moment. Like we’d been plucked up out of our moving car and were being spoken to individually. We didn’t speak until about 15 minutes after the record finished, once we’d had time to process how the music mixed with the scenery had changed us.
Where do you begin with The Tiny? A small band of three, The Tiny carry a perfectly balanced sound. I guess I should start with their vocalist. There is something so hauntingly beautiful about Ellekari Larsson’s tone and delivery. If you’ve ever heard a Swede sing in English, the accent is amazing. It’s hard to place, sometimes sounding Irish in nature… but there is a clean, and trebly snap in the way they articulate words that make lyrics really hit you. Ellekari’s voice has a Billie Holiday-meets-Bjork tone quality, and she sings with such cautious passion that you can almost hear her heart breaking. Then, there are the equally amazing instrumentalists that help tell The Tiny’s stories. Ellekari plays piano and sometimes the pump organ, Leo Svensson plays the cello mainly, but has been also featured playing the glockenspiel and the saw, and finally, there is their double bassist, Johan Berthling. The record also features violin and viola on a few tracks.”
New to Tiny? Liam suggests you start here: “Due to their bass-heavy instrumentation, the music on Close Enough has an amazing tonal gap between the vocals and the instruments, which allows the listener to pick up every note that each player strikes. The album is recorded live, so there is a high level of musicianship exhibited by the band. Additionally, all of the clicks and breaths that are usually removed from the final product are left untouched, which makes the songs sound extremely vulnerable and organic. It is dramatic music like this – music that takes me to another place or time – that truly enables me to write the music that I write. Listen to The Tiny while driving at twilight and try not to skip any tracks. You won’t regret it.”
About our guest author, Liam McCormick: Liam is the lead singer for The Family Crest, a West Coast collective that takes a unique stab at making music. Liam started the group on 2007 with the idea of making music with virtually anyone, anywhere. Recording sessions take place in bars, churches, streets and other unconventional locations and session players include friends, fans, non-musicians…anyone who happens to be in the right place at the right time. The resulting lineup has swelled to over two hundred and fifty ‘Extended Family Members’ participating in recordings, live performances, and media projects. The songs are full sounding and expertly orchestrated, making best use of every stringed melody and back up holler. Bay Bridged recently said of the band, “…they take their earnest, anthemic cue from The Arcade Fire, but the presence of so many string and wind instruments and the talents of frontman Liam McCormick put them on a unique frequency.” The media has latched on to the group, helping fuel a series of sold out club shows and landing them a live performance on KEXP in Seattle. The buzz is sure to continue to build as the group is gearing up for SXSW and will release their new album, The Village in March. Be sure to check the The Crest Family website for pre-order info for that record, tour dates and more.
Joe Grushecky’s recommendation: “My favorite CD of the past couple of years is Horsefly by a journeyman singer/songwriter/guitarist named Pat McLaughlin. I saw Pat play at Douglas Corners in Nashville and was blown away by his band and songs. The CD has everything I look for: great playing, impeccable grooves, intelligent meaningful lyrics, and passionate soulful singing. I think it really speaks to an audience that has a few miles on them (like me!). I have listened to this album endlessly.
Also, I have recently discovered Eli “Paperboy” Reed and his Come And Get It CD. I grew up listening to a lot of soul music, both mainstream and obscure stuff. Eli has an authentic sound. It is timeless, modern, and retro all at the same time. I like the horns and really admire his singing. My son discovered it in my car CD player. “Hey Dad, listen to this!” Listen indeed.”
About our guest author, Joe Grushecky: Joe has been making straight forward, righteous rock records since 1979. His first record with the Iron City Houserockers caught the attention of Rolling Stone’s Greil Marcus as he wrote, “…their debut album is strong, passionate and a little desperate…I hope they’re around for a long, long time.” The praise continued into the early ’80s as Joe and the band released three more albums, including Have a Good Time But Get Out Alive which was slugged by Rolling Stone as “a new American classic.” Joe split with his first band and took a position as a special education teacher in Pittsburgh (where he still lives and teaches today), but the rocker was far from finished. He formed a new group, The Houserockers, put out three more three more gutsy, earnest records and in 1995, Joe released American Babylon, a collection produced by fellow working class hero, Bruce Springsteen, whom Joe had met through Steve Van Zandt. Bruce co-wrote two of the songs for the album and even toured with Joe and the band. That marked the first of several collaborations between Joe and Bruce (the most recent being a November, 2011 two-night stand in Pittsburgh, review here) including the pair co-writing Code of Silence which has become a staple in Bruce’s live show. Joe has a new live CD out called We’re Not Dead Yet and you can catch his full-throttle performances by checking his tour page.
Don Miggs’ recommendation: “All time, it would be U2. What they consistently do amazes me. It’s never ‘by the numbers’ for them on album or live. They truly lead the way on how to mature gracefully in a rock band. My favorite new act is the Gaslight Anthem. Combining the heart of Springsteen and the guts of The Clash. It just works.”
New to U2 or Gaslight Anthem? Don suggests you start here: “Achtung Baby by U2 is just the perfect blend of a band mixing new sounds with familiar themes. And the songs just kill.
59 Sound isn’t the best Gaslight Anthem album, but it is where you GET the band and hear the promise and potential of a great American act. The album feels nostalgic and achieves a rare feat. It makes you smile and ache simultaneously.”
About our guest author, Don Miggs: Don Miggs fronts, yes, you guessed it, Miggs, a band that may be the hardest working group on the tour circuit. The band plays straight forward pop rock that is drenched in bright guitars and big hook choruses. They average 150 shows a year, landed opening spots with Duran Duran, Maroon 5 and Train and rocked as hard as one possibly can on Good Morning America. The band enlisted multi-platinum producer/engineer Ken Lewis (Fall Out Boy, Kanye West) to bring a bigger sound to their latest album, Wide Awake. Things continue to go right for these guys as they snagged Lindsay Lohan to star in their Banksy-inspired video for Let the Games Begin. Check the Miggs tour page to see when you can catcht them live.
Serge Bielanko’s recommendation: “I’d say that Badly Drawn Boy and his record The Hour of Bewilderbeast move me more these days than much of anything else. I really can’t put my finger on it exactly, which is how it usually goes with the best stuff. It’s a combination of things, I think. The songs are beautiful and eloquent without even trying. And the music is this hodgepodge flea market of folk and pop, with magnificent clever beats and melodies. I can’t say enough about it really. There are a lot of songs on the record, something like 17 or 18, and that usually is a bad sign. Not here though. There isn’t any filler at all. None. Everything sort of flows together, songs ooze into other songs. I think it there might be magic spells hidden back behind the chords. Whenever I put it on, usually in the car, I see deer and rabbits and shit. Wild things come out of the forest. That doesn’t happen with most records, you know. I never had it happen when I played any other albums, so I quit listening to most of them.
I have never really admitted this to myself before, but I’m gonna do it here. Why not. I love this record maybe more than any record I have ever listened to. No lie. I find the whole damn thing inspiring and hopeful and pumped full of some kind of love that isn’t easy or free, but is worth it in the end. It isn’t a record to share with your friends while you sit around the kitchen table drinking beers and bullshitting. It’s more like a hundred dollar bill. You keep that shit in your wallet, it makes you happy/gives you a little peace of mind in a mad world. You don’t go flashing it around.
Does that make sense?
No?
Ok. Try this.
Badly Drawn Boy’s Hour of the Bewilderbeast is basically the soundtrack to meeting an old elf in a country pub and getting drunk with him out in the beer-garden, in the warm and pouring rain.”
About our guest author, Serge Bielanko: The last we heard from Serge musically was in 2008 where he belted out stirring vocals (check Wilderness below) on Marah’s masterwork, Angels of Destruction!. He then moved out to Utah, became a Dad and showed us another side of his greatness through the incredibly well written dad-blog, Thunder Pie. (We here at Rocktorch.com also return to Serge’s great tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s right hand man, Terry Magovern (scroll down for Serge’s piece) every so often, just to remind ourselves that dreams really do freakin’ come true!). But now, Serge is back in the band, joining brother Dave and Christine Smith to set the music world straight and, to put it plainly, we can’t fuckin’ wait. Spy the rehearsal video below and catch one of the US shows in VA and PA before they go off and conquer Spain. Serge, welcome back!
Star Anna (photo: Hillary Harris) and Chan Marshal of Cat Power (photo: Steve Gullick)
Star Anna’s artist and album recommendation: “Cat Power’s You Are Free is the first one of hers I bought. I was in High School and I had just started playing guitar. It meant a lot to me that the songs could be simple without compromising depth or feeling. This was one of the records that really helped me make the transition from garage band drummer to singer/songwriter.”
About our guest author, Star Anna: As soon as we clicked play to listen to For When We Go (mp3 below), we were immediately knocked out by Star Anna’s voice. It has the same controlled urgency that drew us to Lucinda Williams. It’s experienced, it’s soulful, it’s honest and it has won over a couple of big name fans to help spread the word. Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses fame classified her as ‘the real deal’ in this editorial for The Seattle Weekly and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam (who plays guitar on her new album) states that her singing ‘…takes me to a higher place.’ Her first two praise-magnet records won her a Song Of the Day spot on NPR in 2009 (Through the Winter) and she was labeled as one of the ‘Next Big Things’ in On Sound magazine. The new album is called Alone In This Together and it’s on Local 638 Records, the label run by our favorite female North Westerner, Rachel Flotard of Visqueen fame. Buy Star’s album here and check her site for upcoming tour dates.
About our guest author, Mike Doughty: Mike is currently a solo artist but most will remember him as the leader of Soul Coughing, a band that Doughty formed in 1992 and was deserving of Steve Almond’s praise of “making the most interesting music on the planet” for a number of years back in the ’90s. The band uniquely blended infectious grooves, jazz arrangements and, of course, Mike’s signature lyrics. There were alternative hits (Soundtrack to Mary and Super Bon Bon), albums and praise, but the group disbanded in 2000. After Soul Coughing, Mike hit the road on his own and was approached by Dave Matthews to sign to his ATO label. Fast forward several years and albums later, we find Mike still doing what he does best: releasing ultra-catchy records that are packed with his sly observations and playing those songs for adoring fans. His latest release, Yes And Also Yes is one of his best, and standout tracks Na Na Nothing (video below) and Holiday (What Do You Want) deserve massive repeats on your Spotify playlists. (Incidentally, the latter is duet with Roseanne Cash, who has been very vocal about being a big M. Doughty fan, listen to the track here). Mike has also written his first memoir, The Book of Drugs: A Memoir
, on the stereo. As cliché as it sounds, as soon the first note was sung, time seemed irrelevant, like we were the only thing that mattered at that moment. Like we’d been plucked up out of our moving car and were being spoken to individually. We didn’t speak until about 15 minutes after the record finished, once we’d had time to process how the music mixed with the scenery had changed us. 
About our guest author, Liam McCormick: Liam is the lead singer for 
by a journeyman singer/songwriter/guitarist named Pat McLaughlin. I saw Pat play at Douglas Corners in Nashville and was blown away by his band and songs. The CD has everything I look for: great playing, impeccable grooves, intelligent meaningful lyrics, and passionate soulful singing. I think it really speaks to an audience that has a few miles on them (like me!). I have listened to this album endlessly.
CD. I grew up listening to a lot of soul music, both mainstream and obscure stuff. Eli has an authentic sound. It is timeless, modern, and retro all at the same time. I like the horns and really admire his singing. My son discovered it in my car CD player. “Hey Dad, listen to this!” Listen indeed.”
About our guest author, Joe Grushecky: Joe has been making straight forward, righteous rock records since 1979. His first record with the Iron City Houserockers caught the attention of Rolling Stone’s Greil Marcus as he wrote, “…their debut album is strong, passionate and a little desperate…I hope they’re around for a long, long time.” The praise continued into the early ’80s as Joe and the band released three more albums, including 
About our guest author, Don Miggs: Don Miggs fronts, yes, you guessed it, Miggs, a band that may be the hardest working group on the tour circuit. The band plays straight forward pop rock that is drenched in bright guitars and big hook choruses. They average 150 shows a year, landed opening spots with Duran Duran, Maroon 5 and Train and rocked as hard as one possibly can on Good Morning America. The band enlisted multi-platinum producer/engineer Ken Lewis (Fall Out Boy, Kanye West) to bring a bigger sound to their latest album, 
. Things continue to go right for these guys as they snagged Lindsay Lohan to star in their Banksy-inspired video for Let the Games Begin. Check the 
move me more these days than much of anything else. I really can’t put my finger on it exactly, which is how it usually goes with the best stuff. It’s a combination of things, I think. The songs are beautiful and eloquent without even trying. And the music is this hodgepodge flea market of folk and pop, with magnificent clever beats and melodies. I can’t say enough about it really. There are a lot of songs on the record, something like 17 or 18, and that usually is a bad sign. Not here though. There isn’t any filler at all. None. Everything sort of flows together, songs ooze into other songs. I think it there might be magic spells hidden back behind the chords. Whenever I put it on, usually in the car, I see deer and rabbits and shit. Wild things come out of the forest. That doesn’t happen with most records, you know. I never had it happen when I played any other albums, so I quit listening to most of them.
About our guest author, Serge Bielanko: The last we heard from Serge musically was in 2008 where he belted out stirring vocals (check Wilderness below) on Marah’s masterwork, 
About our guest author, Star Anna: As soon as we clicked play to listen to For When We Go (mp3 below), we were immediately knocked out by Star Anna’s voice. It has the same controlled urgency that drew us to Lucinda Williams. It’s experienced, it’s soulful, it’s honest and it has won over a couple of big name fans to help spread the word. Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses fame classified her as ‘the real deal’ in 
