Eric Lindell: "Tried and True" (2009)

Eric Lindell was born in San Mateo, California, working as a baker by day and playing guitar and bass at night.

After producing his own first album in 1996, he won the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Competition with a song called "Kelly Ann."  He would briefly live in New York before landing in New Orleans where he found a funkier sound and was signed by Alligator records.

His music is defined many different ways including Creole funk fusion, swamp pop, blues funk and blue-eyed soul. His 1996 debut on Alligator was "Change in the Weather" and that album saw the song "Give it Time" get considerable radio airplay and was featured on Boston Legal. 

Eric Lindell has a reputation for his live performances that seems to eclipse his studio work much in the fashion of the J. Geils Band and The Nighthawks.

He has at least eight albums to his credit and his latest release is the outstanding "Sunday Morning" which teams him with legendary Texas blues guitarist Anson Funderburgh and covers a selection of old R & B and country songs that are favorites of theirs.

Lindell is playing an average of 100 gigs a year and his current tour frequently features Funderburgh.

But our favorite song by him is "Tried and True" which, is from 2009's "Low on Cash, Rich in Love". The song doesn't bother with a long intro that builds to the hook (a technique used WAY too much these days). It grabs you from the first guitar note and moves right into a funky blues groove we can all get  behind.

Tell me what more can I say
What more can I do
Baby where, where did I go wrong?
What more could I do to prove myself?
What more can I say?
What more can I do
To prove my love? 
Baby it's tried, tried and true.


So give this song a listen and you will likely want to track down all of his recordings. You can catch him in Jacksonville on August 8th at the Mojo Kitchen (Beaches).

Los Lobos: Kiko and the Lavender Moon (1992)

I'm a little bit more on my own with this song post. There seems to be less background on this song than many others I have highlighted.

But then again, that is the point. Here we have yet another underappreciated song by a underrated band.

Los Lobos got started when David Hidalgo and Luis Perez met in hign school in East L.A.(1973). They both liked the same music which included Ry Cooder and Fairport Convention. Music that was not being listened to by their peers. With the addition of schoolmates guitarist Cesar Rosas and bass player Conrad Lozano they started playing top 40 sets around town.

Having tired of the same songlist, the band started melding Mexican, rock and blues into their own music. They would be joined by Steve Berlin, formerly of the Blasters and have been together ever since.

In 1984 they recorded "How Will the Wolf Survive" to wide acclaim. While based on a National Geographic peogram, the title song reflects aspects of their struggling to maintain their cultural music heritage while trying to make it as an American rock band.

In 1987, They would record the Richie Valens covers for the soundtrack of La Bamba. The title song leapt to number one on the charts. For my money, their cover of Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit "Goodnight My Love" is as good as it gets.

Los Lobos would go on to make many albums but would always have the rap that they never had a "hit" that was not a cover. "How Will the Wolf Survive " charted no higher that #78.

They did win some grammy's and can be found on a wide array of soundtrack and special recordings. Notable is their cover of the Little Bob song "I Got Loaded" used in the movie "Bull Duram" and their outstanding version of the Grateful Dead's "Bertha" on the album "Deadicated". 

The band continues to receive critical acclaim, good reviews and possesses a rabid fan base. They remain true to their own brand of music. Thats where "Kiko and the Lavender Moon" comes in.

One might feel upon listening to this track off of their 1992 album "Kiko", that it was a good fit in our Halloween song contest. It has a spooky feel to it and yey the melody and lyrics help you embrace it for what it is. A man flying in the face of reality.

Daytrotter.com had this take on the song:

"Kikoand the Lavender Moon," a song from Los Lobos' 1992 album, "Kiko," sounds like it's a period piece, or a song that's rooted in a year that only current grandmothers and grandfathers remember. It has the feel of a place that we cannot easily get to any longer. It could be virtually impossible, even, a visage of a bygone time or of simple loss. It sounds as if it's from a time when, if you were hungry, you were thin and not the opposite. It seems to come from a place, or a night that's newly arrived - with the red and yellow pepper colors are getting pushed under the horizon by a hue more characterized by ravens and the abyss. It comes from a place at night when the ashtrays have the first blanket of cigarette ash, the joyful sound of caps popping off the tops of bottles is like music, people have gathered and there's a strong aroma of a big family-style dinner wafting out of the kitchen window, into the backyard. Guys are walking around a backyard that's been draped with cheap, hanging lanterns giving off the faintest of dappled light, the grass is a poor excuse for a lawn, now mostly just worn into a dusty, dirty tract. They carry two fistfuls of beer bottles - the glass of three or four bottles pushed tightly together in a muted clink and a deliberate, but brisk walk from the ice-filled trough back to the gang of empty-handers, his responsibility officially almost fulfilled.

Louis Perez stated in an interview that the song eminated from childhood memories of his home and his mothers altar on a dresser.  He stated, "There's a point where all songwriters fall into this vacuum where it seems so amorphic and almost surreal...all of us were on this crazy trip. It was like a canoe lost in the fog, all of us right there paddling away, and knowing we just have to paddle. We don't no where we are going, but trusted it."

"He always sleeps
Till the sun goes down
He never wakes
Till no one's around
He never stops
Can't catch his breath
It's always there
Scares him to death"

I offer two versions here. The first is an intimate version in a studio where the horns are replaced by keyboards, and the second is the official video for the song. A deluxe reissue of Kiko was released last year.

Brett Dennen: "Ain't No Reason" (2006)

This guy slipped by me, and I have been listening to a lot of folk rock in the last few years. Brett Dennen is from Northern California and learned to play guitar while entertaining kids as a camp counselor. He is very active in supporting nonprofit initiatives and supports the camp to this day.

This is from his from his Facebook page: “In many ways this is my first album,” Brett Dennen says of his fourth record, Loverboy. “On my previous albums I said what I needed to say. I evoked every different mood and sentiment and emotion. Now I don’t really have anything to prove. I’ve been the new kid on the block and now that phase is over. I get to start all over again, relax, and refocus.” He pauses and flashes 

a laidback grin. “And what I’m focused on is having fun.”

I think "Ain't No Reason" is a song about the insanity of the persuit of material things, and that it is not likely to change anytime soon.
 

People walk around pushing back their debts
Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets
Talking 'bout nothing, not thinking 'bout death
Every little heartbeat, every little breath

Dennen’s rise has been impressive. In 2004 Dennen released his self-titled debut, followed quickly by his sophomore LP So Much More (2006,) which spent months on the Billboard Heatseeker chart. The release drew the attention of John Mayer, for whom Dennen opened in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 the artist released his follow-up, Hope for the Hopeless, which debuted at #41 on the Billboard Top 200 and firmly established Dennen as a definitive new voice in modern songwriting. He’s worked with Femi Kuti, Natalie Merchant, and JasonMraz; he’s toured with Dave Matthews, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and The John ButlerTrio; and he’s played Bonarroo, Austin City Limits, Coachella, and Newport Folk Festival. He’s also become the go-to guy for some of the best and most artfully soundtracked contemporary tv shows. His songs have appeared on Scrubs, Grey's anatomy,Parenthood,Brothers and Sisters, and House among others.