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live

The TakeRoot 2019 review

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Garrett T. Capps. Photo by Knelis / TakeRoot 

It’s midnight in Groningen. It’s the end of an abnormally warm November saturday and it should also have been the end of an eight hour marathon of roots and americana across six rooms in the De Oosterpoort complex. But Garrett T. Capps and his NASA Country have different ideas. Suddenly, a “curfew” seems like a malleable concept as fellow Texans Robert Ellis and James Steinle join the band on stage for a sprawling and ecstatic “Born in San Antone” and a version of the classic “She’s About a Mover”, penned by San Antonio’s very own Doug Sahm. Capps seems comfortable as the frontman to a 21st century version of the mighty Texas Tornados, powered by a strong rhythm section and an unusual synth that takes his brand of Americana to another dimension. I’ve been calling it krautcountry after seeing them in Paradiso’s small room in the same evening as Faust and Camera, and you should too.

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live

TakeRoot Festival 2019: our picks

The Grote Zaal of De Oosterpoort during the 2018′s TakeRoot festival.

TakeRoot Festival. Saturday, 2 November 2019, at De Oosterpoort, Groningen, The Netherlands. Tickets for sale here.

Coming of age in the era of MySpace meant stumbling into a lot of “A little bit of everything, except country and rap” on your fellow scenester’s profiles. Fast forward some 15 years, and there’s a rapper headlining your favorite indie festival, much to the disgust of a few folks who haven’t grown from their proud everything-except-country-and-rap pedestal. But most young alternative Europeans still look at country music with the same disgusted look that your aunt made the first time she stumbled upon a 50 Cent music video.

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Bolachas Now Playing

#181: Lambchop, “This (is what I wanted to tell you)”

Lambchop wants to tell you something. We think you should pay attention, even if you’re not a fan of Kurt Wagner’s experiments with vocoders that are carried from 2016’s FLOTUS. Under the surface, the classic Lambchop sound is still there. Plus: new songs by ANOHNI, Weyes Blood, Cate Le Bon, Dave Depper and Laura Gibson, Roosevelt, Altın Gün, Ex Hex, Nilüfer Yanya, Caroline Spence, Luther Dickinson & Birds of Chicago, Mavis Staples, Strand of Oaks, Damien Jurado, Calexico and Iron & Wine, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, John Paul White, Dylan LeBlancA.A. Bondy, Orville Peck, and Bill MacKay.

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Bolachas Now Playing

#176: Robert Ellis, “Texas Piano Man”

Our favorite Texas Piano Man is back! At this point we’ve featured almost half of Robert Ellis’ new record on this playlist, and deservedly so. Plus: new songs by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Hayes Carll, John Paul White, Damien Jurado, A.A. Bondy, The Cactus Blossoms, Hexvessel, Conan Osiris, Jessie Ware, Alice Phoebe Lou, Wye Oak, Weyes Blood, Jenny Lewis, Lola Kirke, Emily Scott Robinson, Leyla McCalla, Amy McCarley, Okey Dokey & Liz Cooper & The Stampede, Broken Social Scene, and George Strait.