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Bombadil is a band and a word that I was unfamiliar with. I did a quick check on Wikipedia and apparently there’s a fellow named Tom Bombadil that is described in J.R.R  Tolkien’s 1934 poem, “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil,” as a “merry fellow” living in a dingle close to the Withywindle river, where he wanders, exploring nature at his leisure. Oddly enough, that spirit of back-country exploration is a fair description of the band and their recent release, Tarpits and Canyonlands.

Bombadil was formed by Duke University alumni in North Carolina by way of Bolivia, giving them an international flavor on folk and Americana music. Tarpits and Canyonlands will be released by Ramseur Records, which was the first sign that I’d most likely love the album. The second sign was the second song called “Sad Birthday.” It’s an upbeat piano driven, hand-clap accented number that is brimming with musicianship and raucus energy.

“Honeymoon” is the next song and another standout. Much like “Sad Birthday,” they take a serious theme and marry it (pun intended) with playful arrangements as they question “what lies beyond that honeymoon?” Their sound is a blend of Cat Stevens and The Avett Brothers that will have you tapping your steering wheel, bouncing in your chair, skipping in your step, or otherwise drawing a bit of drudgery out of your day.

Tarpits and Canyonlands will be released on July 7th.

Website | MySpace | Twitter | Ramseur Records

Bombadil – Honeymoon

Bombadil – Reasons

Video: Bombadil – Three Saddest Words, from their previous album, A Buzz, A Buzz.

July is a heckuva month to see live music in Chicago. With Festival Season in full swing, there’s a great show to see every weekend – and almost every night. Of course, Pitchfork Music Festival is in the middle of the month with an exceptional lineup, but there’s plenty more to tickle your fancy the rest of the month. Here are the shows we recommend. See you at the rock show.

White Rabbits – Empty Bottle – 7/1

White Rabbits – Percussion Gun

Gringo Starr – Schubas – 7/2

Gringo Starr – All Y’all

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks – The Bottom Lounge – 7/2

Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks – Baltimore

Drive-By Truckers – Taste of Chicago – 7/4

Drive-By Truckers – Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife (Live)

Buddy Guy – Taste of Chicago – 7/4

Sunset Rubdown – Logan Square Auditorium – 7/7

Sunset Rubdown – Idiot Heart

Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears – Chicago Folk and Roots Festival – 7/10

Magnolia Electric Co. / The Donkeys – Schubas – 7/11

Magnolia Electric Co. – Josephine

The Donkeys – Walk Through a Cloud

Deep Dark Woods – The Hideout – 7/14

Deep Dark Woods – Hang Me, Oh Hang Me

Deer Tick / Dawes – Empty Bottle – 7/15

Deer Tick – Art Isn’t Real (City of Sin)

Dawes – When My Time Comes

Cymbals Eat Guitars – The Bottom Lounge – 7/17

Cymbals Eat Guitars – Wind Phoenix

Those Darlins – Schubas – 7/17

Those Darlins – Redlight Love (HearYa Live Session)

Various Artists – Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park – 7/17-19

Frightened Rabbit – The Bottom Lounge – 7/19

Frightened Rabbit – The Modern Leper

Blitzen Trapper – Empty Bottle – 7/19

Blitzen Trapper – Furr

Akron/Family – The Bottom Lounge – 7/24

Akron/Family – River

Elvis Perkins in Dearland / The Dodos – Subterranean – 7/25

Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Shampoo

Obits – Empty Bottle – 7/25

Obits – Pine On

Backyard Tire Fire – Wicker Park Festival – 7/26

Backyard Tire Fire – How The Hell Did You Get Back Here (HearYa Live Session)

Scott H. Biram – Empty Bottle – 7/26

Scott H. Biram – Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue

Toad the Wet Sprocket – Park West – 7/27

Josh Ritter – Metro – 7/30

Josh Ritter – Good Man

What did we miss?

Yes, it’s Jim James from My Morning Jacket. Back in 2001, he recorded a tribute album to George Harrison and on July 7th he’ll release the EP under his solo moniker, Yim Yames.

You can head over to his site to trade your email address for a free download of “Behind That Locked Door.”

I went through a phase in middle school where I listened to the Lemonheads a bit more than I care to admit. It’s A Shame About Ray was one of those catchy albums that started fueling my search and discovery of indie music. It also featured a cover of Paul Simon’s “Mrs. Robinson.”

Over the past two or three years, I’ve been in a serious Townes Van Zandt phase, listening to his albums, watching documentaries and just getting lost in his lyrics. “Waiting Around To Die” is the track that stands out among all others.

I was a little nervous seeing the Lemonheads releasing a cover of the song, but they did a phenomenal job maintaining its spirit without any adverse changes. The song is featured on their freshly released album, Varshons. You can buy at Amazon.

The Lemonheads – Waiting Around To Die

Seattle’s Throw Me The Statue are set to release their sophomore album, Creaturesque, on August 4th via Secretly Canadian. The first single was just released as a free and legal download. Here’s the song “Ancestors” for your pleasure.

Throw Me The Statue – Ancestors

Older Tracks:

Throw Me The Statue – Ship

Throw Me The Statue – Lolita

Throw Me The Statue – About To Walk

I first heard of Horse Feathers when they opened for Blitzen Trapper at Schubas last fall.  The music was stunning and the crowd shut up and listened quietly to the entire set.  Fast forward a few months to a sunny Friday morning at SXSW, and I’m sitting with the HearYa crew in gravel at Homeslice Pizza watching Horse Feathers kick off our day.  Again, the crowd quickly shut up and listened. Fast forward a few more months and I found Horse Feathers at Schubas for the first of two sold out shows with Joe Pug.  Once again, the show was exceptional and the crowd took notice.  After a few too many beers and a couple of shots, I decided to head home because Horse Feathers was coming into my studio at 11am the following morning.

I showed up to the studio with a headache, reminding myself I am no longer in my 20’s.  Justin, Nathan, Catherine, and Sam rolled ina few minutes later, coffee in hand an ready to go.  We positioned the mics and cameras and got rolling.  Their music is awesome and seeing them pull it off in an intimate setting like this was something to behold.  Justin’s voice is smooth as silk and the band delivers an incredible dynamic behind him.  Every time I looked up from the control room, somebody was picking up a new instrument to add to a part, mid-song.  Nathan’s performance on the saw during “Heathen’s Kiss” gives such a dark and haunting texture, while Sam throws the kitchen sink at the music from banjo, mandolin and violin to percussion and glockenspiel.

I had my hands full for this session, covering both audio and camera-switcher duties, so it took me a song to get things under control. I missed a few things in the process.  You’ll notice Justin’s floor tambourine is a bit cutting and loud, especially on “Working Poor.” Like hi-hats in a drum kit, a little goes a long way and this tambourine went ALL the way.  These are live sessions though and you can’t control all the variables. Sometimes you just gotta deal with it.  I was tempted to say something after the first take, but instead I thought twice and did what everyone should do when seeing Horse Feathers. I just shut up and listened.

Exclusive: Horse Feathers – Working Poor

Exclusive: Horse Feathers – Heathen’s Kiss

Exclusive: Horse Feathers – Curs In The Weeds

Exclusive: Horse Feathers – Rude To Rile

Download the entire Horse Feathers Session as a zip.

Video: Horse Feathers – Heathen’s Kiss

See the rest of the videos from our session with Horse Feathers on our the HearYa YouTube Channel.

Here are the tracks we talked about this past week. Look out for our live session with Horse Feathers coming up this week!

Pink Mountaintops – Vampire

Pink Mountaintops – While We Were Dreaming

AA Bondy – When The Devil’s Loose

AA Bondy – There’s A Reason

AA Bondy – Vice Rag

Generationals – Angry Charlie

Generationals – When They Fight, They Fight

Generationals – Wildlife Sculpture

Stanley – Nothing to Say

The Builders and The Butchers – Barcelona

Exclusive: Other Lives – It Was The Night

I exploited my daughter on HearYa not too long ago and we’re going to spend a sunny Father’s Day together. Here is my favorite song for the occasion – perfect for anyone with a daughter. Anyone else have a favorite?

Video: Paul Simon – Father and Daughter

Good news for Chicago people! Other Lives are back in town for a show at Schubas tomorrow night (6/20). It’ll be a special night. The band stopped by Shirk’s studio in April for one of our most memorable live sessions to date. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, get in there. This band has a way of pulling emotions out of you that you may have forgotten you had.

Here’s what Steve Shirk (HearYa Live Session producer) says about why you should attend:

After our session in late April, I was expecting a great follow up show at Schubas. I wasn’t prepared for how huge Other Lives sounded in that room – They blew me away. Alex Pasco, their live mix engineer who is on tour with them, really brought their sound to a new level for me.  The band sounded so powerful.  I remember moments in “End Of The Year” nearly melting my face.  That’s not to say that they don’t do the quiet thing REALLY well.  This band understands dynamics in the studio and even more so on the stage.

We recorded three videos from the session and only posted “Precious Air” at first. I featured the video for “Paper Cities” on our home page (to your right) all week and now “It Was The Night” is the final installment.

Exclusive: Other Lives – It Was The Night

Video: Other Lives – It Was The Night (HearYa Live Session)

The Builders and The Butchers are back, so let’s start with some lyrics:

Close your eyes and you draw one more day to a close.
You choose to be alone. You float through your life as a ghost.
And everything heals given time. And everything dies given time.
And the scars run together, mixing the nerves with the blood.
And the soldiers light houses on fire and they burn down.
And all your belongings turn to dirt in the ground.
When your heart’s deep and dark as a well.
And everything that’s golden and green goes to hell.

And away we go kids, for another uplifting collection of tunes from Portland’s The Builders And The Butchers. The thing that initially drew me to B&B on their self-titled debut is how their storytelling transplants you to another place. Tunes likes “Bottom Of The Lake” and “Red Dresses” made me an immediate fan. As evident by the initial verse of “Golden And Green” shown above, Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well sees the boys moving forward with their bluegrass/punk music.

The Builders and Butchers are built around vocalist Ryan Sollee’s Southern-Gothic inspired lyrics backed by a host of instruments, including mandolin, pump organ, violin, stand-up bass, keys and whatever else they could find to bang on or slap together.  They revisit the Spanish Civil War on “Barcelona,” a song that features an excellent dose of trumpet that offsets the tension in Ryan’s vocals. It’s a brilliant composition and sign of the band’s progress. “In The Branches” is another winner that features a choir down the stretch, giving it a gospel vibe.

The music blends gospel, country, folk in a bouillabaisse of noise and sound that leaves you on edge, but wholly satisfied. Their bio has this to say about Salvation and I couldn’t have worded it any better: “The story of Salvation is a Deep Dark Well is that there’s joy and celebration through the darkness, there’s light in the hardest of times, and when you reach the bottom may salvation light your way.”

MySpace | Gigantic Music

The Builders and The Butchers – Barcelona

Listen to the entire album over at Spinner.

Video: The Builders And The Butchers and Portland Cello Project – Golden and Green