If you're looking for something to do tonight, there's no better choice than heading to the Middle East for what has to be one of the strongest bills of the year so far.  Langhorne Slim, Ha Ha Tonka and local favorites Kingsley Flood are going to bring a heavy dose of gritty, sweaty Americana to Central Square and I suggest you be there. 

The Way We Move - Langhorne Slim

Usual Suspects - Ha Ha Tonka

I Don't Wanna Go Home - Kingsley Flood

Words // Adam Sharp

'Houston Train'- Houndmouth
Be warned that when you hit play below you’re likely to hear your new favorite song.
Website: http://houndmouth.com/

'Kelly Mitchell'- Aunt Martha
A sad, sleepy gem of a song, that'll make you feel feelings while clapping along.
Website: http://www.auntmarthaband.com/

'Oak Tree'- Desert Noises
There are some songs made for driving fast through the country to.  This is one of those.
Website: http://www.desertnoisesmusic.com/

'Thames'- JBM
My favorite song off one of the most underrated albums to come out so far this year.
Website: http://www.jbm-music.com/fr_news.cfm

'Empty (Tour Bus Session)'- Lianne La Havas
That. Voice.
Website: http://www.liannelahavas.com/

Words // Scott Pingeton

I don't remember the last time I actually read a PR email.  99% get automatically filtered, immediately deleted or sit in the purgatory of my inbox forever.  One sure fire way to get me to read about your band is to compare yourselves to My Morning Jacket and Band Of Horses.  Great Elk's email did just that, I read it, I clicked through and I heard anthemic vaguely rootsy rock that sounds perfect for a long drive through some kind of desolate or majestic landscape that doesn't really exist in this over-populated part of the country.  The New York-based band hails from Alaska, which is exactly the kind of place that desolate and majestic landscapes exist.  Their debut album Autogeography is out May 22, but you can stream the whole thing at their bandcamp page.  Listen to "The Weight Of The Sea" here...

Spirit Family Reunion
Hurray For The Riff Raff
The Broken Wing Routine

Friday June 8 - DogBar, Gloucester MA
65 Main Street  Gloucester, MA 01930

9pm // FREE!!

Presented by...
Narragansett - Visible Voice - GloucesterGoods.com

Escape from the city and head north to the seaside town of Gloucester MA for what's going to be an incredible night of music.  Spirit Family Reunion is set to tear up Newport Folk this year with their brand of backyard folk-bluegrass - don't miss an opportunity to see them in an intimate venue.  Seriously.  And as if that wasn't enough, they'll bring along two amazing bands from down south in New Orleans -- Hurray For The Riff Raff and The Broken Wing Routine.

There's no cover, no advance tickets - just show up, and enjoy an incredible night of music.  It doesn't get any better than heading to the shore in the summer to see some amazing music!

Check out the Facebook Event page for more details (RSVP does not guarantee entry)

I Am Following The Sound - Spirit Family Reunion
Look Out Mama - Hurray For The Riff Raff

Words // Scott Pingeton

Mass MoCA is becoming a destination known as much for their excellent music programming as world class modern art.  Wilco's annual Solid Sound Festival has played a big part in putting the Western Mass museum on the map, but there are plenty of other events throughout the year that are well worth the drive.  One of those events that I personally will be happily making the 3 hour trek from Boston for is the FresGrass Festival in late September.  You really don't need a reason to visit the Berkshires in late-September - it's just gorgeous out that way as summer starts to fade into fall - but if you really need your arm twisted, a top-notch bluegrass festival should do the trick.  The lineup includes David Grisman, Trampled By Turtles, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Devil Makes Three, Infamous Stringdusters, Spirit Family Reunion and lots more.  Spread out over 3 days, it's the perfect excuse for a long weekend away from the city.

Tickets are on sale now for the incredibly reasonable price of just $46 for the whole weekend.  Make your plans now, I am.  Here is some brand new music from three of my favorite artists that will be at FreshGrass:

Alone - Trampled By Turtles

Boodle-De-Bum-Bum - Carolina Chocolate Drops

I Want To Be Relieved - Spirit Family Reunion

I think you're gonna dig this one, so listen up.  Kalispell is the work of Shane Leonard, and it brims with the earnestness you may have come to expect from fellow Eau Claire Wisconsin locals Justin Vernon, S. Carey and Chris Porterfield.  Westbound is a gorgeous and deeply personal record, perhaps influenced at least in part by the circumstances around Leonard's move from Massachusetts to Wisconsin. I think Kalispell's bandcamp page paints a better picture than I could:

It's like when good friends gather, perhaps around a fire in someone's backyard as the night settles or on the front stoop of your house, cigarette in hand—the setting doesn't matter. It's about the moment after the laughter quiets and the tone shifts, when you venture to say what's been heavy on the mind, so near the tongue, so hard to admit: 

How you've grown impatient with the "state of summer's same."
How you feel alone with the person who should know you best.
How "there was no devotion / in our frozen poses."
How you said yes when you meant no.

Intimate confessions set to folk music is nothing unique, but I think Kalispell does it particularly well - combining confident lyrics with intricate, textured compositions.  From the clawhammer banjo on "Methodist Lift" to "Marion, MT", a folk-dirge that recalls The Low Anthem, to "Lucky A Hundred Times", a gently rolling highlight, the album covers enough sonic ground to hold the listeners interest throughout.  It's a great listen - highly recommended.

Kalispell - Lucky A Hundred Times

Kalispell was at the Middle East in Cambridge last week -- my timing sucks.  Shout if you were there!

Words // Adam Sharp

'On Again, Off Again'- Lemolo
Dreamy, echoing goodness. I absolutely cannot wait for this album.
Website: http://lemolomusic.com/

Lemolo - On Again, Off Again

'Thumper'- The Wedding Band
You like Mumford & Sons? Then you’re going to love The Wedding Band
(because it’s just all the same guys playing under a different name,
basically).
Website: http://www.mumfordandsons.com/

'1904'- The Tallest Man on Earth
Kristian Matsson is back with a gorgeous, brisk song that expands on
his sound ever so slightly.
Website: http://www.thetallestmanonearth.com/

1904 - The Tallest Man on Earth

'Word of Mouth'- Shakey Graves
Music for cowboys from the heart of Texas.
Website: http://shakeygraves.tumblr.com/

'Float'- KO KO
This song will give your ears a sunburn.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/longlivekoko#!/longlivekoko

Float - KO KO

Words // Scott Pingeton

Two of my favorite artists will put out their debut albums this June - Field Report and Spirit Family Reunion.  SFR's debut No Separation drops June 15, perfect timing to claim its spot as my summer roadtrip jam.  The band's irresistable blend of ramshackle folk and back-porch bluegrass is the perfect soundtrack to a summer jaunt -- whether a camping trip, a weekend at the lake or just a long drive with the windows down.  "I Am Following The Sound" is the first studio take I've heard from the record, and I'm happy to report that the recording captures the perfectly-ragged, stomp&clap of the band's live sound.  If this isn't the perfect music for that moment when the hazy late-summer sun softly gives way to purple dusk, then nothing is.

Spirit Family Reunion - I Am Following The Sound

You can catch the band at Newport Folk this summer, or in Biddeford Maine at The Oak & The Axe on June 7 or June 8 in Williamstown MA where they will play a Billsville House Concert.

In case you missed it - here's the band playing "I'll Find A Way" from a recent house show in Boston (also, don't miss the full live recording)

Words // Scott Pingeton

Followers of Visible Voice may think of this as a blog devoted to folk music -- and you'd be right.  The mellow and raspy sounds of indie folk and bluegrass form the core of what I listen to and share here.  But if you've followed VV closely over the past 2+ years, you'll also know that I have a deep-rooted love for soul music.  I love dusting off those Stax/Volt, Motown and Atlantic singles often, but my love of soul and early rock n' roll often manifests itself in the form of garage rock.  There's something about dudes bashing out rock and soul on overdriven guitars that just does it for me.  And thus, any PR email that references "soul-punk" catches my eye.

Hailing from Sydney Australia, Royal Headache creates vaguely soul-inspired rock that hits fast and hard and is over before you know it.  Nothing clocks in over 3 minutes here - the way rock music was meant to be.  And while I wouldn't go as far as NPR did in calling this "an unabashed throwback to an era full of blue-eyed men copping and caffeinating the moves of Motown and Memphis, when rock stood in awe of soul music's ecstasy and agony," the soul influence is there, I guess, and the songs are catchy enough to have me tapping my toes.  And really that's what counts.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled sad-bastard mopey folk :)