Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to musicians about how they write their songs. Emerging from a broad spectrum of musical influences and styles, Nashville-born singer, songwriter and guitarist Sunny War blends folk music traditions with punk rock. Her latest album, 2023’s Anarchist Gospel, earned wide critical praise — Rolling Stone, Spin and Mojo named it one of the …
Durham Folk Singer Jake Xerxes Fussell Prefers Research and Interpretation to Songwriting
Welcome to Songwriting School, where we talk to songwriters about the craft of songwriting. Jake Xerxes Fussell is a folk music treasure and something of a treasure hunter as well. In addition to singing and playing guitar, the Durham-based musician is regarded for his research methods. He finds Southern songs of yesteryear in archives and old field recordings. And after …
Meridian Brothers | Tiny Desk Concert
You gotta love a band that names itself after siblings that don’t exist, and under a name that doesn’t match anyone in the band. At least I do. I’ve been a fan of the edgy sonic traditions of the Meridian Brothers for a while now, and jumped at the chance to bring the duo’s space age cumbia direct from Bogotá, …
American-Roots Maestro Dom Flemons Follows the Roots of the Blues Through Northeast Florida
The rising tide of Black representation in (Mainstream) American roots music has resulted, to no inconsiderable extent, from the efforts of Dominique “Dom” Flemons and his colleagues in the Carolina Chocolate Drops, an exceptional band founded in Durham, North Carolina back in 2005. Flemons’ departure from the group in 2013 initiated what appears to have been the group’s final dissolution …
On ‘Cedar Island Songs,’ Florida songwriter Laney Tripp Floats in a Vast, Sparkling Sea of Experimental Folk
As a music descriptor, the term “wet” has been common parlance since the early 1960’s. Largely associated with reverb, it’s been used as a kind of shorthand to capture everything from the distant echo of the vocals on classic country tunes to the pedal effects of the single-string guitar leads pioneered by the King of Surf Rock: Dick Dale. If …
Jax Indie-Folk Faves Bobby Kid Return Just In Time with the Tearjerking “Ten Minutes Late”
Get the tissue box ready before listening to Bobby Kid’s newest single. On “Ten Minutes Late,” the popular local indie-folk band — made up of Anna Lester (vocals and guitar), Brian Lester (drums), Phillip Hess (lead guitar), Daniel Hubert Jr. (bass) and Caleb Hollan (pianist) — tells a story of familial loss, love that was once shared and the reminiscence …
Celebrated Guitarist Eli Winter on his Early Influences, his Eponymously-Titled New Album and More
When 20th-century occultist-artist Austin Osman Spare remarked that, “It was the straying that found the path direct,” he could have been anticipating the peripatetic ways of guitarist Eli Winter. Granted, the British magician died nearly 70 years ago and Winter was born in 1997. Yet the Chicago-born Winter has packed a lot of experiential wallop and road miles in a …
On “On Your Line,” Jax’s Rambler Kane Dispenses Honky-Tonk Allegory Over a Country-Rock Stomp
“On Your Line,” the latest from Jacksonville singer-songwriter Rambler Kane is a three-minute stomp of country-rock choogle that serves up facets of the form—a relentless rhythm section in two-four, rolling finger-picked acoustic, and some tasty Hank Garland-style electric soloing—and Kane’s winning lyrics that are a honky-tonk allegory about fishing in the neon bar lights, and getting caught up; hook, line, …
Mama’s Broke | Tiny Desk Concert
A couple of chairs, a small room and a cozy crowd describes the last eight years of tour stops for Mama’s Broke. Having performed in intimate venues including homes and cabins, as well as stages, being at the Tiny Desk may have felt right at home for the Canadian duo. Lisa Maria Bates and Amy Lou Keeler make powerful songs …
Charley Crockett | Tiny Desk Concert
Charley Crockett knew what he was doing when he stood behind the Tiny Desk and introduced himself by smoothly dropping three names: Charley Pride, Davy Crockett and Freddy Fender. With those references, the Texas troubadour framed his concert as a shrewd conversation with sturdy, old ways of singing, spinning yarns of folk heroism and drawing freely from the cultural melting …
Four New Songs by Jacksonville Artists Out Now
Sammy María, Corey Kilgannon, Haxprocess and Limo Scene
And as we unearth new tunes from artists around the globe, we love to shine the high beams of our Local Spotlight series on the beautiful noise emerging from Northeast Florida. This week, we’ve got four great new tracks by Jacksonville artists. A reminder: You can hear the best new local tunes at 20 minutes after the hour, every hour …
Jake Blount | Tiny Desk Concert
Jake Blount has an astonishing imagination. While a concert of folk tunes could simply be a singer and perhaps a fiddle or banjo, the young proponent of traditional music brought eight bandmates and told the NPR crowd that they were here to play “Black folk music from the future.” Most of the songs are from Jake Blount’s late-2022 release, The …
The Best Roots Music of 2022
In 2022, artists working within the orbit of the unstable category “roots music” got personal even as they explored complex cultural lineages and continued to challenge the rules of established scenes and forms. Before any tradition is solidified, it travels from hand to hand, heart to heart. Whether pushing the boundaries of mainstream country, demanding an expanded vision of traditional …
Jake Blount’s ‘The New Faith’ is a Cautionary, Clarifying Afrofuturist Tale
Generations ago, gospel giants Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson each sang the rhetorical question, “Didn’t it rain, children?” and bent time with the emphatic answers they supplied. “Just listen how it’s rainin’,” they urged, adopting present tense, “all day, all night.” Their ebullient, imaginative readings of the scriptural event of the Great Flood testified to past divine judgment and …
Randall Bramblett Talks About a Career Spent Pushing the Sonic Boundaries of Modern Roots
While barely in his twenties and fresh from dropping out of a college career studying religion and psychology, Randall Bramblett made his recording debut in 1970 with Goose Creek Symphony. Considering how esoteric and indefinable that particular drugs-meets-jug-band group were, it was an auspicious beginning for the young multi-instrumentalist whose career remains inventive and unpredictable. In the fifty years since, …
Watch | Howdy live in the Studio 4 at WJCT
Beaches-based singer-songwriter performs a couple Gulf-and-Western style ballads
Jacksonville Beach-based singer and guitarist Landon Gay is a true saltwater cowboy. And therein may lie secret to the unique Americana sauce he’s injected into the four singles he’s released under the moniker Howdy, which have collectively racked up more than three-quarters-of-a-million plays on Spotify. Indeed, embedded in Howdy’s lofi, minimalist ballads is a palpable authenticity — in the pace …
Allison Russell | Tiny Desk Concert
“I am grateful and I am proud for this circle of goddesses,” said Allison Russell during her joyful, rousing Tiny Desk set, reaching toward the six women surrounding her. Russell has cultivated this band’s harmoniousness in the year she’s been touring in support of her astounding, unclassifiable album Outside Child, which tells the singer’s life story, from her childhood escaping …
Pigeon Pit | Tiny Desk Concert
A song by Pigeon Pit has gotten me through this year. Chugging a punk twang with the sun at its back, “milk crates” recognizes the relentless churn of life, but still seeks freedom from tyranny, exhaustion and the everyday nonsense that drags us down. The first time I heard the song performed live was at the band’s Tiny Desk sound …
On ‘Eureka Springs’ Cory Driscoll Chronicles a Physical and Emotional Journey
Jax singer-songwriter on how a road trip to America's heartland inspired his latest concept album
In an era in which music streaming services seem to encourage consumption of singles, Jax-based singer-songwriter Cory Driscoll writes tunes based around a theme in order to create an entire body of work –– it’s called an album, kids. Driscoll’s been in several musical projects over the years, but his first record under his given name, 2018’s Tropical Depression, was …
Just Announced | The Lumineers at Daily’s Place
Ho Hey! The Lumineers will bring their folk-rock stomp to Jacksonville in May
Indie-folk darlings The Lumineers have announced a four-dozen-plus-date North American tour, kicking off at Daily’s Place amphitheater in Jacksonville in May. Founded by vocalist-guitarist Wesley Schultz and multi-instrumentalist Jeremiah Fraites, the Denver-based band emerged from the coffee shops, storming the pop-music charts with their GRAMMY nominated 2013 self-titled offering, which featured “Submarine” and the anthemic “Ho Hey,” both of which …
Local Spotlight | The best new music by Jax artists out right now
Jesabel's Infectious pop, top-notch hip-hop from IntricateTheAlmighty, Howdy says "aloha" to L.A., Lazuli Vane steeps a funk-laced brew and a Lynchian new video from Cory Driscoll
Though the Jacksonville Music Experience team covers new music from around the globe, we’re always keeping our collective ear to the ground, locally. And right now, our Jax-made-music cup overfloweth. Here’s a rundown of the five best new tracks by Jacksonville artists, all of which appear on JME’s November Fresh Squeeze playlist on Spotify. “Squeeze” by IntricateTheAlmighty Duval-based rapper IntricateTheAlmighty …
Local Spotlight | “Stay in L.A.” by Howdy
Jacksonville indie-folk cowboy says "Aloha" to the West Coast
California retains a mythical quality in the hearts and minds of East Coasters. Los Angeles, too––despite its labyrinths of on- and off-ramps, fire hazards and (now) mosquito problems––can weigh heavy on the imagination of a right-coast romantic. A West Coast pilgrammage, then, is a must; if only to realize the grass is always greener. On “Stay in L.A.” Jax Beach-based …
Go | This Week’s Live Music Recommendations
Big name bands are beginning to return to Northeast Florida, providing opportunities for the region’s standout acts to lend support while getting in front of a larger audience. This week, local indie rock youngsters Faze Wave will open for Cold War Kids at The Amp’s backyard stage. It’s one of the three shows JME contributors recommend checking out this week. …
The Willow Wacks
St. Augustine folk band The Willow Wacks recount their start as a band, and perform.
Hometown 501
St. Augustine based artist Jenna Alexander shares the story of how she got into the many mediums of art she produces. Local glass artist Thomas Long talks about local art and the work he produces at his St. Augustine studio. St. Augustine folk band The Willow Wacks reminisce on their start as a band and perform an original song. Andrew …