Rock Torch

Mark Olson carries a torch for Ane Brun

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Mark Olson of The Jayhawks and Ane Brun

Mark Olson and Ane Brun

Mark Olson’s recommendation: “I really like the music of the Norwegian {singer/songwriter} Ane Brun. She is Nick Drake meets Country, meets Jazz meets Bjork. Her album Changing of the Seasons is the one I have listened to the most. I think she is on tour with Ani DiFranco now. Her band is cool too! She features a violin, a background singer and a drummer and bass player who create a rolling hypnotic sound. Highly recommended. Ingunn {Ringvold} played her for me and we both enjoy her songs. There is something Nordic and intense about her music, of course!”

Mark OlsonAbout our guest author, Mark Olson: Mark is the founder and principal singer/songwriter of The Jayhawks, the legendary Americana group from Minneapolis. It takes an artist of great courage to leave a group after their most popular record, (in this case, it was The Jayhawk’s Tomorrow The Green Grass), but that is just what Olson did in 1995. Since The Jayhawks, Mark formed The Creekdippers, released a record with co-Jayhawk Gary Louris and launched his solo career. His latest effort, Many Colored Kite burns bright with optimism. “I put everything I had into this one,” Olson says of the record. “I tried to play my best, sing my best, and write my best. I want this to look towards the future, and I hope our story goes on.” Check his upcoming tour dates here and be sure to check Mark Sasso’s recommendation of The Jayhawks here on Rocktorch.com.

MP3: Little Bird of Freedom by Mark Olson


Mark Bates carries a torch for Neil Young

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Mark Bates and Neil Young

Mark Bates and Neil Young

Mark Bates’s recommendation: “I’d have to say that the artist who always moves me with what he’s doing (regardless of where his muse takes him) is Neil Young. There aren’t many writers left that can follow their dreams without compromise. Compromise is not a word in Neil Young’s vocabulary and it never will be. As a performer, Neil allows himself to be incredibly vulnerable on stage, and that enables the audience to become a part of his world. Most artists have difficulty being that naked on stage. For example, you’ll never see Bob Dylan (my second favorite artist) sitting alone behind an antique pump organ in a sold out theater. Neil is a little introverted publicly and is a very private person but seeing him perform is an open window to his soul. That’s a rarity these days.”

New to Neil Young? Mark suggests you start here: “Harvest Moon is an absolute masterpiece. I relate to this album in the same way that I relate to my first love. A magical experience. My mother played the album while I was still in a car seat, so it’s been around most of my life. The meaning of the songs have changed for me as time has gone on. Anyone who has loved, lost, and longed for whatever it is they used to have will be emotionally attached to the album. “The same things that make you live can kill you in the end,” sums up the whole record (and life) for me. The late Ben Keith plays lap steel and helps produce the album. It brought tears to my eyes when he passed a few weeks ago, but this album is a great example of how amazing he was too. They were a great team. I think it’s the quintessential Neil Young album.”

Mark BatesAbout our guest author, Mark Bates: Mark is only 21 years old, but he has already written over 21 songs. His rootsy Americana caught the attention NPR and in July they made his heartfelt song, Death Sucks the the song of the day. His 2009 release, Down the Narrow is available at Amazon and you can hear samples from that album here.

MP3: Flyin’ Shoes, written by Townes Van Zant, performed by Mark Bates


Abraham Villanueva of Hacienda carries a torch for The Temptations

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Abraham Villanueva 0f Hacienda and The Temptations

Abraham Villanueva and The Temptations

Abraham Villanueva’s recommendation: “The Temptations are one of my favorite groups and I feel are often wrongly disregarded as 60’s love/bubblegum pop. The discography attached with this vocal group is amazing, the production, musicianship and songwriting talent that went along with the temptations were an amazing catalyst that provided opportunity for a talented group of singers to flourish. The range of style which the Temptations preformed is in part due to the fantastic quality of the performers ability to interpret the songs (making otherwise lyrically banal top 40 songs genuine and unique) and also to the inventiveness of the producers and the musical talent of the legendary Funk Brothers. The earlier hits are most often associated with the band, but as the years and styles changed through the 60’s you find a group of artists (arrangers, writers, musicians and producers included) willing to push the boundaries of an otherwise simple act into a vehicle for great musical achievement. A fact I find incredibly important is the team never sacrificed groove and melody for ego/novelty as you often find with a lot of late 60’s music.”

New to The Temptations? Abraham suggests you start here: “I find some of the most interesting tracks came during the production/writing transition from Smokey Robinson to Norman Whitefield. Not yet into the 7-9 minute funk epics to come, and far from the simple sugary pop of the early years; albums like I Wish It Would Rain and Sky’s the Limit find the band feeling their place in a musical climate built around the overemphasized political messages and psychedelics of the era. Pulling from all the creative elements of the bands past (R&B, Broadway, Vocal-Pop), The Temptations created a group of songs that are probably as beautifully strange today as they were back then. More often then not, it seems, when presented with the question: why would you make a certain musical choice, the group responded with: why not?”

Abraham VillanuevaAbout our guest author, Abraham Villanueva: Abraham is the piano player and one of the vocalists of Hacienda, a Mexican-American quartet that wowed Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. Auerbach heard a six song demo from the band and went on to produced both their 2008 offering, Loud Is the Night and their latest, Big Red & Barbacoa. The Beach Boys are clearly an influence on the boys, but spy the Younger Days clip below and you’ll think your listening to the Band (is that Robbie Robertson on gueeetar?). Check the Hacienda MySpace page for tour dates, and New Yorkers, be sure to catch them opening for My Morning Jacket!

MP3: Whose Heart Are You Breaking Now? by Hacienda


Ben Funkhouser of Herr Jazz carries a torch for Alemayehu Eshete

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Ben Funkhouser of Herr Jazz and Alemayehu Eshete

Ben Funkhouser and Alemayehu Eshete

Ben Funkhouser’s recommendation: “Alemayehu Eshete is an artist that moves me. He is an Ethiopian singer and musician who began his career in the ’60s, and has recently played shows again in the US and Europe. His music is powerful and groovy at the same time, taking hints from Mulatu Astake’s ethio-jazz, James Brown’s funky swagger, and traditional Ethiopian sounds as well. The music is beautifully arranged, skilfully executed and totally dance-able.”

New to Alemayehu Eshete? Ben suggests you start here: “The album that I would recommend is Ethiopiques 22: More Vintage. It comes from the Ethiopiques series, of which there has never been a bad release and is distributed by Buda Musique Records.”

Ben FunkhouserAbout our guest author, Ben Funkhouser and Herr Jazz: Ben is one half of Herr Jazz (the other half being Jake Goltiani) and hails from Olympia, Washington. At only 15, Ben began booking bands and formed Herr Jazz before he was out of high school. The music is a wonderful mix of punked up skate/surf music with splashes of world music thrown in for good measure. It sounds young, fresh and fun (I’ve been thinking of them as Vampire Weekend Jr.) and their music can be purchased through Masa Records.

MP3: Summer Skate by Herr Jazz


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