Cleveland Jones Sings from the Heart

Soul artist Cleveland Jones wears his heart on his sleeve in his debut album, Ace of Hearts. And that’s not a bad thing. Jones’ deliciously raspy, elastic tenor inspires, soothes and despairs throughout.

It’s an extremely well-arranged collection of songs that relies more on immediate emotional impact, rather than traditional pop hooks, to suck the listener in at first go round. With tracks ranging from the aching “Heart Breaks” and “To My Father,” to the funkily cathartic “Free Yard Sale,” it’s clear these songs have been building for some time.

The Berklee-trained Jones brings a much-needed shot of old-school flavor back into his genre. In an industry and audience where most ears have become accustomed to programmed beats, digital instruments and auto-tuned vocals, this album is a breath of fresh air. Arrangements including rich horn accents, warm organ fills and swelling backing choruses are a welcome change. There’s nothing like hearing musicians doing their thing, and doing it well.

Ace of Hearts is available this Friday, May 10.

Derek Evry: All Rock Video, No Chaser

If you’ve been to a show at IOTA, chances are you’ve come across insomniac rocker Derek Evry working the door sporting his signature mutton chop streaks or Grizzly Adams beard.

This past September, Evry released his new record, Here’s to Better Misery, a catchy collection of lean power/pop/punk, in the vein of Jimmy Eat World and early Green Day. The album reaches a peak with the gorgeous “Tonight Our History Will End,” featuring Margot MacDonald on harmony vocals.

Evry and his Band of Misanthropes can really bring it live, and the new music video for the chugging, riff-driven “When We Get Home” wisely takes advantage of that. No abstract concepts, no fancy outfits. Just some stage lighting, a little visual static effects here and there, and four dudes rocking their hearts out in the corner of a warehouse. And that’s exactly how it should be. Evry’s eyeballs rocket around his vitreous humor with a paranoid urgency, like an Arlingtonian Billy Jo Armstrong, as he pours his heart out. And the band, fueled by the muscular drumming of Ben Tufts, powers its way through the high-energy track.

Catch Derek Evry next at the Velvet Lounge January 10th, 2013.

Wes Tucker & the Skillets CD Release Party at Iota, Saturday November 17

MetroMusicScene veteran Wes Tucker brings his sizzling brand of alt-country to Iota this Saturday for the release of his fourth studio album, "Afterlens". He and his band the Skillets have been making sophisticated, blues-tinged country since 2005, building up a devoted following up and down the eastern seaboard. I've had a chance to preview "Afterlens", and it's a great listen.

Wes Tucker writes smart, sometimes sad, country songs in the tradition of Rodney Crowell and Townes van Zandt, although he sounds like Mason Jennings' more soulful brother. "Could Be Worse" is one of those "feel good about feeling bad" songs, a catchy ode to a relationship doomed despite the best intentions. "Rattle Your Chains" is an expansive, wistful piano-rocker with an urgent, plaintive refrain. The album sounds great, whether you're listening on your headphones or blasting it with the windows down on a humid summer day.

Doors open for the "Afterlens" CD release part at 9pm this Saturday, November 17th, and the cover is $12. Check it out, and tell them MMS sent you.

Future of Music Summit Kick-Off Party w/ Metro Music Source and Listen Local First

Our friends at the Future of Music Coalition are hosting their annual Music Summit, exploring the intersection between music, technology, and policy, and their impacts upon working musicians. They're teaming up with the Metro Music Source industry networking series and Listen Local First, an initiative devoted to building awareness and creating opportunities for local musicians and venues, for a kick-off party prior to the event. The Future of Music Summit Kick-Off Party will feature performances from local artists Christylez Bacon, Bumper Jacksons, Dan Fisk, and Michael Shereikis (of Chopteeth and Zeiti), as well as networking opportunities. Come, check it out, support local music and the organizations that encourage and empower them.



Kick-Off Party Event Details:
When: Monday, November 12, 2012
Time: 7.30pm-11pm
Venue: The Dunes, 1402 Meridian Place, NW, Washington, DC 20009
Cost: $5
Advance tickets available for purchase at: https://d.tixelated.com/001127

Facebook Event Page - https://www.facebook.com/events/281240911995915/

Norman Rockwell's "Fare Thee Well" - An MMS Preview

Northern Virginia folk rockers Norman Rockwell are preparing for the release of their debut album, "Fare Thee Well",  this Saturday, October 20th at Vienna's Jammin' Java. MetroMusicScene was lucky enough to hear a preview of the album, a strong debut in the spirit of The Avett Brothers and Noah and the Whale.

This is music for a sweltering summer day, the kind of album you'd put on when riding down a dusty county road with the windows open, the radio blaring, watching the storm clouds forming on the horizon. This quartet is fronted by a pair of vocalists, Joshua Johnston and banjoist Ben Hirsch. Individually, Johnston's tremulous vocals falls somewhere in between the wailing tenor of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alec Ounsworth and the speak-singing of NatW's Charlie Fink. Together, Johnston and Hirsch's vocals complement and ricochet off one another, not unlike Seth and Scott Avett or Carl Newman and Dan Bejar of The New Pornographers. Rounding out the quartet are bassist Sean Meyers and percussionist Nathan Read.

You can check out one of the songs from "Fare Thee Well", the aptly named 'Stateline'. This track, inspired by a band member's commute back and forth from home in Virginia to college in Vermont, tells the story of a journey that is as much intellectual and emotional as it is physical, as well as the transition from childhood to adulthood. 

Doors open at the CD Release and After-Party at 7pm, and tickets are $15.