The first thing you hear and what locks you in on the disc is the voice.  This is not some low-cal, trans fat-free wimpy voice; this is the very un-Teeny voice of Teeny Tucker!  From the opening verse of the first song Ain’t That The Blues all through her new album Keep The Blues Alive Teeny piles on multiple helpings of high calorie blues.

Teeny began singing early, in her church choir in her native Dayton, Ohio. She is the daughter of blues-man Tommy “Hi-Heel Sneakers” Tucker so she has blues in the blood! Teeny began her professional career in 1996, not long after a very well received performance at the Apollo Theatre.

Keep The Blues Alive is a great collection of mainly original tunes, most co-written with her guitarist Robert Hughes. Her choir background shows on some of the tunes backed by Teeny’s excellent backup singers Mary Lusco-Ashley, Paula Brown and Jackie Tate, giving these tunes a soulful energy reminiscent of Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Review’s recent stuff,  some of my favorite. This is a great collection by a very talented singer.  If you love good soulful blues, definitely check Teeny out!

Check out the video of Teeny performing below.  Feel the energy!

I love discovering a talented new singer-songwriter.  In this case, a new singer-songwriter reached out to us here at AmericanaRoots.com and offered to send  a disc to check out.  Check it out I did and dig it I do (say that 3 times fast…)!!

The mountains of western North Carolina are home to  Paul Cataldo, who has released his first full length disc, Rivers, Roads and Mountains. Fittingly, the disc was recorded at Quad Studios, the same Nashville studio that birthed Neil Young’s Harvest (Young being one of Paul’s earliest musical influences).

Paul wrote all 11 tunes on the disc, on which he is joined by a slew of Nashville musicians. His voice is very easy on the ears, with just a twinge of southern drawl, perfect for these tunes about, well, rivers, roads and mountains. Its a very catchy disc, with several melodies  getting firmly stuck in my head, especially from Diggin For Diamonds (in a coalmine), which is way more enjoyable that the Dora the Explorer theme which usually occupies that spot…

There’s plenty of guitar, harmonica, dobro, steelguitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo to satisfy any Americana fan. Among the highlights is the fiddle laced opener Mountain Town, a happy ode to Paul’s roots.  Of course there is a song about losing a girl (seriously losing, fell out of a canoe..), Damn You River.  How about after losing a girl, such as in Don’t Bet It On The Farm:

It all starts when the crickets go silent
Then you hear the crash of iron on iron
When the sun won’t break the clouds
And your lover stops coming around

Sometimes alone is your safest bet
Like getting clean without getting wet
Rambling around from town to town
With no weight holding you down you’ll never drown

Rivers, Roads and Mountains is a disc I highly recommend from a talented new artist who is really worth checking out.  I look forward to Paul’s next disc for sure!

Check out a video of Paul playing the opening track of this disc, Mountain Town!

Our friends at Blind Pig Records are out with another winner for those of you who dig the bluesier side of this mix we here call Americana.  He said, She said by Peter Karp and Sue Foley is that disc!  Sometimes two artists are on the same path, heading in basically the same direction and eventually collide in a creative crash!   Thus was the case with these two.  Their explanation of the project spells it out well:

“He Said – She Said” is the new inspired show featuring a collaboration of original songs by Peter Karp and Sue Foley. The project is based around a correspondence the two shared through letters that were written over a year period. These letters started as a casual exchange between two committed performers sharing their common bond of the loneliness of the road, the pain of separation from family and home and above all, the drive to make music. But as time went on the letters they shared became more poignant, more revealing. Those letters became their songs. The result is “He Said – She Said.” The show features songs of two artists in development, sharing artistic purpose and spiritual kinship in a meeting of hearts and minds.

If you are not familiar with these two, imagine combining the songwriting creativity of a couple of Johns..(Hyatt or Prine) with the guitar and sass of Bonnie Raitt and you get the idea of what we have here.  That’s not to say Sue Foley can’t pen a tune.  Some of the best on the disc are her contributions, including my favorite track on the disc, the beautiful acoustic guitar ode So Far So Fast. Ditto her tune Danger Lurks; a flamenco influenced solo guitar musical “film noir” that ends appropriately enough with “I”m doomed, so doomed.” Karp’s Wait has a mid-70’s Stones sound I really liked.  You can’t overlook the lyrics on this disc.  Being inspired by personal letters, the lyrics hold more meaning that those of your average tune; something they obviously took seriously with the project.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable disc by two musicians who stand well on their own, but together even stand perhaps just a bit taller!

For information on the disc check out the website they set up for it at http://hesaidshesaidproject.com/

Rochester, New York is home to yet another excellent Americana artist I discovered on Von’s excellent podcast Americana RockMix, found right here on our site.  Von played two tunes I really dug , Summerville and the title track off Brian’s new cd, Esperanza.

Brian’s music is pure Americana; plugged in Americana that is full of spunk and life.  He possesses a Springsteen type swagger and exudes the same confidence delivering his well crafted tunes with guitars blazing. The disc would be worth it for the two tunes mentioned above, but the first single off the disc is King of the Mountain. It’s Earle-esque thumping mandolin would make it the perfect tune for driving down The Copperhead Road!

All said, this is an excellent and energetic Americana album sure to please! Check out Brian’s website for more information at: http://www.brianlindsay.net

Check out the video from Lay Your Burden Down, another great tune off the disc!

One of my favorite blues artists, Nick Moss, is out with another great collection of blues on his new cd Privileged, recently released on his own Blue Bella Records.  I love Nick’s high energy Chicago style blues, and look forward to the next time I am able to see him live- GREAT show.

Nick is joined on this collection of mainly original tunes by Gerry Hundt, guitar and mandolin; Stumpy Hutchkins on bass; John Kattke on organ and Bob Carter on drums.  Among the cover tunes are Howlin’ Wolf’s Louise, the Cream classic Politician and Steven Stills’ For What It’s Worth.  If you’re gonna do cover tunes, might as well do some great ones!

The guy never disappoints.  Proof? Check out this video from the CD release party at Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago (a place that should be on every blues lover’s Bucket List) this past March and the group playing  Louise.