Nathan Salsburg’s work is more associated with American folk guitar playing than anything else. But through his new project, “Psalms”, Salsburg goes different places, creating brand new arrangements for Biblical psalms and singing in the original Hebrew.
I’ve lost count of the amount of times I wrote “Produced by Dan Auerbach” here when describing an album. Yola‘s “Stand For Myself” is another of those. Her debut record, “Walk Through Fire”, was gaining serious traction when the pandemic hit, robbing her of well deserved high profile shows and festival slots – but not for long. Fresh off a Newport Folk Festival slot, this might be the possible songwriter’s dream summer.
Fourteen LPs into her career, Lucinda Williams is roots music’s biggest treasure. Not sure how she hasn’t crossed over enough into an ocean of indie reverence. Their loss. “Good Souls Better Angels” is yet another gem from the Louisiana singer-songwriter. Plus: new tracks by Angelo De Augustine, John Paul White, Lizanne Knott, Hazel English, Katie Von Schleicher, Jennie Lawless, Jenny O., Jaime Wyatt, Whitney Rose, Israel Nash, The Texas Gentlemen, Garrett T. Capps, Lithics, No Age, Built to Spill, Sammy Brue, Okey Dokey, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, John K. Samson, Chuck Prophet Official, Zachary Cale, Modern Nature, Blake Mills, Sam Prekop, and Khruangbin.
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.
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.