Grant Langston aLAbama releasing June 14, 2024
Langston’s music is a blend of California honky tonk, Texas boogie, with some dirty southern rock thrown in for flavor. His album title is a play on his homestate-Alabama, and his now home-Los Angeles, CA. Langston is mash-up. Born and stamped with a Alabama southerness that won't wash away. Living in California now, and taking that tradition to heart. Equal parts Lyle Lovett, Billy Gibbons, Jamie Johnson, Glen Campbell, and Dwight Yoakam.
Langston gathered a talented ensemble of Los Angeles musicians for the album, many of whom he has collaborated with and known for several years. aLAbama is a self-produced album recorded across multiple Los Angeles studios, including Los Feliz Sound Machine Studios, The Den (engineered by Ted Russell Kamp in his home studio), Sonic Boom Room (engineered by Kevin Jarvis in his home studio), and Baked Bean Studios (engineered by Dan Wistrom in his home studio). The mixing and mastering for the album were handled by Mark Niemiec at Audiologic Studios in Nashville, TN.
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David Serby Low Hanging Stars releasing June 14th, 2024
Serby, a linchpin of Los Angeles’ alternative country scene, returns on June 14th with his sixth album Low Hanging Stars, his first collection of new music in a decade and his debut release on the L.A.-based Blackbird Record Label. Low Hanging Stars circles back to the style, sound, and subject matter of the records that made Serby’s reputation, with economical, keenly observed songs about people living on the margins, all carried by Serby’s Smooth as syrup vocal delivery.. The no-punches-pulled writing reflects the influence of L.A.’s laureate of the lost, novelist-poet Charles Bukowski, whom Serby calls “just about my favorite writer.”
Helmed by Serby’s longtime producer and lead guitarist Ed Tree, the set of 10 new original songs features his regular collaborators: bassist Greg Boaz (currently in soul/gospel legend Mavis Staples’ band and a veteran of Dave Alvin’s Guilty Men), drummer Dale Daniel (formerly of the Hacienda Brothers), and keyboardist-vocalist Darice Bailey. SoCal alt-country vet Carl Byron (a featured player in the “gypsy jazz” unit the Hot Club of Los Angeles) contributes Hammond B3 organ, accordion, and keyboards on several selections. Like his previous work, Low Hanging Stars reflects a strong sense of place, and takes in L.A. and environs from the underside of Hollywood to the outskirts of the Salton Sea.
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The Lost Weekend Band One Hell of a Time releasing June 14th, 2024
https://thelostweekendband.bandzoogle.com/home
What is The Lost Weekend Band and One Hell of a Time? It’s a guy named Hardcore Dave fronting a country band. It’s Paul Fig who has worked with Slipknot and Alice in Chains producing a country record. It’s a country rock n’ roll blues band with a frontman who likes to jump off things during shows—“The higher, the better” and writing “love songs, nothing but love songs—well, and one song about lifetime financial struggles”. But mostly it’s about really solid musicians getting together and creating both the 5-song EP and experience of, One Hell of a Time. Their bluesy hard core honky tonk is here to inspire.
One Hell of a Time was produced, mixed and mastered by the same dream team as their previous release and speaks to the progress the band has made in terms of a more filled out, rich and dynamic sound. (Parker Richey on guitar, Joey Ponchetti on drums, Eliot Lorango on bass (Corey Taylor, Dorothy), and Carl Byron on piano (Hot Club of Los Angeles, Sin City All Stars, Jim Lauderdale). The EP was recorded, engineered and produced by Paul Fig at Plyerz Studios (Wilco, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash) as well as Fig’s own Dave’s Room and was mastered by Michael Hately at Lotus Studios (REM, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Linda Rondstadt).
“The last record had some really sad and dark songs,” states HCD. The one is more lighthearted and positive. It has more of a glass-half-full feeling and it’s meant more for inspiration and comfort.”
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The Mike Jacoby Trio Rocket Fuel Logic releasing June 21, 2024
One year after releasing the critically acclaimed CD The Long Haul, the Mike Jacoby Electric Trio is back again with another fantastic collection of songs – this one called Rocket Fuel Logic. With a love of music born in classic rock ‘n‘ roll, the songs are firmly rooted in the Americana and Alt-Country veins. The Mike Jacoby Electric Trio has a real musical affinity and can bring out the nuances and wonder of the songs. A fresh and unique perspective into the heart of each song’s story, which range from insightful to silly, from harrowing to hilarious. They can make you reflect inward, and they can make you laugh – often at the same time.
Album opener “There Oughta Be a Law” sets the tone for the record – a song about perseverance thru life’s ups and downs. From there, the listener gets to stomp the gas, dive into some fractured love affairs, check out some songs of experience and heartache, meet up with a rather ornery fellow living in Resume Speed, Texas and in the end, never stop trying. Quite a collection.
Rocket Fuel Logic by the Mike Jacoby Electric Trio. Mike Jacoby on guitars, vocals and other stuff; Don Read on bass and Mike Levin on drums. Featuring Ann De Jarnett on violin and the fabulous Art Bailey Jr. on piano.
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The Smokey Lonesome Desert Run releasing June 28, 2024
https://thesmokeylonesome.com/
The Smokey Lonesome kicks out tunes with the twang of country and the propulsive power of rock ‘n’ roll. Their stripped-down sound is made by Dave Porter on lead and rhythm guitar and Natalie Fratino on percussively played standup bass. They both sing and drive the rhythm with the interplay forged in performing together for 16 years.
Five of these Smoky Lonesome tunes are freshly captured on an EP titled “Desert Run”. The songs are recorded by Kevin Jarvis at his studio, the “Sonic Boom Room“, in Venice, California. The sound is fleshed out with kit drums on one cut by Kevin Jarvis himself, and a variety of hand percussion, Wurlitzer and accordion by Natalie. There’s also fiddle, inspiringly played by Dennis Fetchet, a many decade veteran of the daily bluegrass performances at Knotts Berry Farm and Disneyland, and a member of the band of late American singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton.
The Smokey Lonesome performs to entertain people, and the audience can feel the Smokey Lonesome’s love of the Americana music they play.
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Just released:
Ted Russell Kamp California Son March 22, 2024, KZZ Records/Blue Elan
Known around L.A. as a first call bassist who can drive gutsy rockers and funky groovers as naturally as he delivers heartrending ballads, Ted Russell Kamp has also established himself over the years as a versatile songwriter and hard-working indie artist and producer. His 14th album, California Son, released March 22 from KZZ Records, is his most personal yet. It’s deeply informed by the music, L.A. rock ‘n’ roll mythology, desert and beach vibes the jazz-schooled native New Yorker has soaked up since rooting himself in Los Angeles 24 years ago.
“Being in California has changed me and I’ve really grown. I’ve got a way of looking at the world and an aesthetic that would never have happened had I been living anywhere else for the last 20 years,” Kamp explains. “The song, ‘California Son’ is one of the most autobiographical things I’ve written and really is a mission statement that helps glue all the other songs on the record together.”
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Breezers Hideaway March 8, 2024 Blackbird Record Label
https://www.breezersmusic.com/
Breezers' Hideaway released 03/08/24 on Indie AM Gold/Blackbird Record Label. (Indie AM Gold is the imprint label started by Scott Kinnebrew of Truth & Salvage Co.) It’s a darkly romantic take on traditional forms of Western folk music.
Since 2016, Evan apRoberts has employed the moniker Breezers as his musical identity and creative outlet, though his involvement in the Los Angeles music scene dates back to the mid 90s. He’s an artist who many people might not know yet, but highly regarded artists are fans of what he does. On this album Graeme Gibson produces and plays on the album, as well as apRobert's good friend and fellow musician Michael Nau.
apRoberts is also recognized for his extensive contributions as a versatile musician, lending his guitar, bass, and vocal talents to various artists. His journey as a touring instrumentalist began in the mid 2000s, leading him to collaborate with esteemed acts such as Michael Nau, Pink Mountaintops, Joel Jerome, Little Wings, Kath Bloom, Tall Tales and the Silver Lining, Kings of Convenience, Elisa Randazzo, and Port O'Brien—an ensemble praised by M Ward as his "favorite new band" in a Pitchfork interview.
