Singer/Songwriter Bobby Long Tours Behind EP The Backing Singer

this article originally appeared on The Morton Report, 11/2/11

James Brown may be hailed as the hardest working man in show business, but I’m pretty sure singer/songwriter Bobby Long is determined to give him a run for his money. Earlier this year, he released his debut album, A Winter Tale, produced by Liam Watson (The White Stripes) and toured relentlessly for four months across North America, Australia, and Europe promoting it. Purchace on Amazon

After that, he did his turn through the music festival circuit, playing at Bonnaroo, Mountain Jam Festival, twice at Dave Matthews’ Caravan in Chicago and Atlantic City, and even Austin City Limits. He also supported reputable artists such as Joan Osborne, Brett Dennen, Guster, and Matt Nathanson.

He’s made television appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in February and on CBS’s The Morning Show in August. He’s done his fair share of radio shows as well, with WXPN on World Café/NPR in Philadelphia, AudioTree in Chicago, and KDHX in St. Louis, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, he wrote a book of poetry that eager fans are anxiously waiting to read and he’s written a few dozen songs for his second full-length album that he plans to record with his band early next year.

After a busy eight months or so, another artist might relish the chance to take a break, relax a bit, and bask in the glow of his success, but not Bobby Long. He’s not one to sit on his hands, so over the summer he recorded a five-song EP titled The Backing Singer, which he’s currently spending two months touring North America and Europe to promote.

If you’re not yet familiar with his name, Bobby Long is a British singer/songwriter currently living in New York City who first gained popularity as a solo acoustic act, singing his soulful folk tunes, rich with bluesy or sometimes country undertones. His songs tell stories of love and war and death and heartache. When he recorded his debut album, he had a band backing him, adding depth and a sense of maturity to his songs that many of his fans already were familiar with. His Winter Tale tour was also with a band, adding a harder rock element to his previously quiet yet passionate performances.

The stage is where he really comes alive. Whether it’s a pin-drop quiet room while crooning his soulful ballads, or a raucous crowd of clapping and singing while belting out his foot-stomping jams, Bobby Long has a commanding stage presence that always holds his audience’s rapt attention. Bobby Long at Radio Radio, Indianapolis, 10/7/11

On The Backing Singer, we see Long returning to his acoustic roots, with tender songs and his signature finger-picking style guitar in perfect tandem with his gritty, raspy voice. He’s accompanied by a number of talented musicians, like Dawn Landes (The Secret Sisters) and Cat Pierce lending their beautiful voices to the background, along with the intricate stylings of Jack Dawson on violin.

The Backing Singer is a lovely collection of meaningful songs and the perfect interlude between full length albums. But I don’t think it’s safe to label this artist as ‘the singer of sweet songs’ quite yet. Long’s extensive catalogue of songs already illustrates a vast variety of styles, whether it’s soft and melodic or loud and upbeat. He often talks about the music he listens to and is influenced by and his own tastes vary as much as his talents. The future of Bobby Long’s musical career will be equally varied. As he grows and develops further as a musician and songwriter, so will his sound change and evolve. And true music fans will, no doubt, have many years and many albums of eclectic music to enjoy from him.

His current tour finds him returning to North America beginning in Toronto on November 3, traveling down the east coast and finishing up in the deep South, in Alabama, on Nov 19. Check out his official site for more tour dates.

Art is not free~

I posted this somewhere else, but it's perfect for right here too.  I've got some great interviews and articles lined up soo....be on the look out!

art is not free....

It’s so easy to share music these days, and it’s a tempting thing to do, especially when there’s a musician or band that you love— you want to send mp3s and things to all of your friends so that they’ll love the same music as you do, right?  And sharing is just a nice thing to do.  We’ve all done it.

But here’s a thought…

Musicians have bills.  They need to eat.  They need to pay rent.  It costs a lot of money to tour and to record.  Music is the thing they create…they create to sell so that they can keep creating.  If your favorite singer didn’t sell records or tickets to shows then he or she would have to get a regular job and they wouldn’t be able to create the thing that you love— music.

If you give away their music, then you take away from their potential income.

There are other ways to share the music without giving it away for free.  Fans are the best commodity an artist has, but you need to be smart about it if you want to keep your favorite bands and musicians in business.  Write about them, talk about them, tweet about them.  Post YouTube videos on Facebook and Tumblr.  Invite your friends to come to shows with you.  Join street teams and promote local shows and events.  Call your local radio stations (the good ones, not the Clear Channel bullshit ones) and ask them to put your favorite bands and musicians in their rotation.

Share the music, yes.  But allow your friends and followers to fall in love with the sound and voice that you love so much, without hurting its creator.

I’m not a musician so I won’t pretend to know how the music business works and how musicians actually earn a paycheck.  But I am an artist and I know what it’s like to struggle and try to earn a living with your craft.  It’s HARD.  People think that just because you have this talent, this one thing that you love to do, that you’d be willing to do it for free all the time.  They don’t take into consideration the time, effort and money it takes to get GOOD at the thing that you do.  And equipment, my goodness.  I’m a photographer and the equipment alone would bankrupt someone.

Just because I love to make pictures, doesn’t mean I can afford to give it all away.

Just because it’s easy to send mp3s via Dropbox or email or whatever, doesn’t mean you’re actually helping your favorite musician’s career.

If we give away their income….in the end, we lose.

I've always wanted to be a music writer...

And it was pretty clear that Rolling Stone wasn't going to just up and offer me a job, so I decided to take it upon myself and JUST DO IT. 

I love all kinds of music, all different genres, and it would be really easy to write about the arena-packing super groups that everyone loves.  But you can read about them in Spin or see them on TV. 

My heart belongs to the up & coming artist, the unsigned or unknown guy or girl who's singing his or her heart out in small bars and coffee shops, touring the country in a brokedown van, sleeping on friends' floors. 

These are the people who deserve our attention... and I've been pretty lucky to meet a few for interviews.  I'll be posting those here very soon....

In the meantime... enjoy this song by my all-time favorite artsit, BOBBY LONG:

(I really like Bobby Long alot...so get used to it... there will be more of him here!)

Margaret Durante - Maybe Tonight (EP)

article first appeared on Blogcritics: http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-margaret-durante-maybe-tonight1/#ixzz1Srn163dH

In an industry where singers are a dime a dozen and everyone and their mother is recording an album or selling music online, it’s growing increasingly difficult to stand out among the masses. There’s no sure-fire secret for success, but there are factors which seem to help many make it in the music biz: you can’t sound like everyone else, you need to have talent, you need to have a personality, and you need to be genuine. All the spotlight, glitz and glamor will eventually shine right through any and all b.s.

This is good news for country singer/songwriter Margaret Durante, because she’s the triple threat. She’s got a strong, vibrant voice; her gift of music and penchant for lyrics stands out among her contemporaries, and she’s beautiful—not just on the outside, but inside as well.

The 22-year-old Maryland native relocated to Nashville three years ago to pursue her music full-time. But for as long as Durante could remember, she wanted to be a performer:

“I have always been singing and always enjoyed performing […] but when I really knew that I wanted to be a performer was at a young age. My parents would have friends over and I’d make them sit down and listen to me sing a song before they carried on with their evening  And I sang at all these parties and weddings around the community…”

It was then that Durante knew she belonged on stage in front of a microphone.

“Performing in front of a live audience, it gets under your skin and there’s no way I could do anything else. The cool part about live performing is that all these people go into a venue not knowing each other. You go with your friends, but you don’t know everyone else in the room and by the end of the show—especially country music because there’s that story-telling aspect—everyone’s friends all of a sudden or they have some sort of common ground with the next person and I think that’s so cool.”

Indeed it is.

Despite the fact that Margaret Durante was clearly born for the stage, she’s still just a regular girl who can be found roaming one of Nashville’s many parks on a Sunday afternoon or simply doing her laundry. Her favorite book is Catcher In The Rye but she also loves the Backstreet Boys and NSync and is not afraid to throw down on some decadent Italian food. She’s grounded, down-to-earth and her music reflects her unpretentious personality.

Her latest project is a four-song EP, entitled Maybe Tonight. It’s a sample of what’s to come on her full length album, Words On Frosted Glass, that’s due out late summer or early fall. Maybe Tonight highlight’s Durante’s talents with the title track that she describes as “fun and flirty,” and a slower, moodier track, "Better," which the singer describes as “very relatable to women who have had their heart broken.” I have to agree; it’s a lovely song about heartbreak and healing after love lost.

"Whiskey and a Gun" illustrates what’s best about country music, with great storytelling that’s rough and raw. The EP is rounded out with the "Paper Chains," a beautifully melodic song about love and relationships.

Margaret Durante is currently on a radio tour promoting Maybe Tonight, which is available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com as of Tuesday, April 19.

Record Store Day...

Article first appeared on Blogcritics: http://blogcritics.org/music/article/reflections-on-record-store-day/

It’s been said that music is the universal language, to which no one would argue. We all love music. It makes us happy, saddened too. It evokes memories of love and childhood, inspires and motivates, calms and relaxes. We all have an internal soundtrack — music that keeps us moving — always turning.

Although I’m not a musician (nor will I ever be)  music has always been a huge part of my life. My dad had a big vinyl collection, full of old records he'd originally bought in the '50s, '60s and '70s — lots of old jazz, blues, some R&B and country. He played those records to death, too. I can still remember hearing him loudly cursing from the den when he'd discovered a scratch on one of his Earth, Wind, and Fire or Louis Armstrong records.

He played them all the time — all the time — while cooking. The smell of frying potatoes and onions will forever make me think of Count Basie or Miles Davis. I can’t drink red wine without thinking about Wes Montgomery, Nina Simone, or even Ricky Nelson.

When I was very small, I'd pull the records from their shelf, completely mesmerized by the album art and photographs. The cover to The Isaac Hayes Movement seemed particularly strange and beautiful to me; I’d stare at it for hours as my dad played the album.

I still love all of that old music, in fact. I can appreciate it more now, especially since I’ve inherited most of my father’s collection. My husband also inherited some cherished old records, and together we add to our collection all the time. It’s priceless to us.

There’s nothing better than browsing through an old record store. As soon as I walk through the doors and inhale that old, musty smell of precious music, I get excited. I love to flip through old crates and shelves, never knowing what I’m going to find. Very often I'll notice familiar titles; sometimes I’m lucky to find that one rare album I’d been looking for.

Recently, I browsed through an amazing record store alongside a group of my favorite musicians. The experience was surreal — I was giddy with excitement — and I’ll never forget it.

April 16 is Record Store Day, when the wonder and culture of independently owned record shops is celebrated around the world. There will be live music at various stores along with special releases reserved just for this day by such artists as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Regina Spektor and many more.

Tom Waits once said [about record shops], “Folks who work here are professors…” And he’s right. Go find a record store, talk to the people who work there. Tell them what you like, and they will find you music you will love. Not only will you be doing yourself a favor by enjoying new (or just new to you) music, but you will also be supporting a locally owned business, the kind that has traditionally supported artists and musicians for decades.

The art of music, the art of enjoying music, goes beyond the MP3. There’s a synergy inside a record store that can’t be replicated by an online playlist. So, go find one, experience it. You won’t regret it.

For more information including a list of special releases reserved for Record Store Day, and to find an independently owned record store near you visit www.RecordStoreDay.com. See you there!