Remco Hendriks - Remco's Groove Lab

Two Posts in one month! I'm on a roll. When I published my last post, noting it was YouTube month I remembered Dutch bassist Remco Hendriks and my desire to put together and album's worth of tracks from his YouTube channel. There is a lot there so I focused on one playlist that features a live drummer, his videos are either solo or have a drum backing track, (some live and some canned?). I've mentioned before my preference for songs with vocals over instrumentals but sometimes exceptions must be made and Remco is worthy of that exception. Besides YouTube you can find Remco on iTunes, Spotify and elsewhere (links below) so go show him some love.

Remco describes his channel thusly "On this channel you can find one-take performances recorded on video. No edits, no talk, just good ol' funky music. All bass and all original compositions, hope you'll enjoy!". Watching him play is just as much fun as listening to him, maybe more. As a bassist myself, he and I share some things in common in style and technique but like Micheal Hedges for acoustic guitar, Remco takes things to a whole other level (I still can't slap with conviction). I should be so lucky to be able to do half the things he does. Enjoy.

 

Tracklist

01 Funk with Chords

02 Experimental Fretless Funk Rock 

03 Fingerstyle Funk

04 Fretless Funk

05 Funk Rock Fingerpicking

06 Freaky Funk Rock

07 OC-2 Octaver Dirty Bass

08 Thumb & Fingerstyle Funk Rock

09 Chill Funk

10 Funk Rock in 7/8

11 Shuffle Feel Funk

12 Fretless with Harmonics

13 6/8 Funk Slap

14 Dirty Fretless Rock Bass

15 Dirty Fretless Rock Bass #2

16 Experimental Funk Rock Slap Bass

17 Heavy Groove

18 Fretless Funk Jam

Reality Notes

 

I have been a subscriber of Remco's channel for some time now and I still haven't watched every video there. There are so many! Cutting the playlist down to a CD's worth wasn't easy. I started with the longest tracks and worked my way down from there. I kept them in the order they appear in the playlist.

The cover is a screenshot from one of the videos, cropped and slightly altered with added text and an image from one of his albums. Track titles were derived from the video titles which are more descriptions of style and technique with some redundant wording edited out.

 

Links

YouTube: youtube.com/@RemcosGrooveLab

Facebook; facebook.com/Gr00veLab

Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/4Rej4Q5WWdG3vQHwfNSfwB

Apple Music: music.apple.com/us/artist/remco-hendriks/1240178630

Bandcamp:  remcohendriks.bandcamp.com/

Larkin Poe - Stripped

September on this blog has been YouTube month. I don't have enough projects to fill the month but I do have this. I discovered Larkin Poe through fellow blogger Paul who runs the Albums That Should Exist blog. At the time of this post he has put up 18 separate albums from this duo. The bulk of those are pandemic era home concerts and collections of covers from the bands Tip o' the Hat series (8 volumes so far) all sourced from their YouTube channel (thus making it appropriate for September). 

 

The band is made up of sisters Rebecca (lead guitar) and Megan Lovell (slide guitar) with a small backup band consisting of a bassist and drummer. But I really fell in love with Paul's collections of performances that feature just Rebecca and Megan. Paul calls these acoustic performances but the pedantic in me has issue with that because Megan's slide is always amplified and Rebecca is sometimes playing electric guitar as well but that's a minor quibble, the important thing is the music and both are A class musicians that help renew my faith in the idea that guitar based music is not dead.

I've had Paul's first comp of this band, which he titled "Acoustic 2014-2017", and have had it on my iPod and other mobile devices pretty much since he first posted it but lately that hasn't been enough. I based this compilation on that first album Paul posted, removed the covers and expanded it with songs from other collections Paul posted. He did such a fine job gathering and editing these albums I decided not to reinvent the wheel and use his work and my source, thanks Paul hope you don't mind. The albums I used are listed below. Enjoy.

Tracklist

01 Holy Ghost Fire

02 Back Down South

03 Don't

04 She's a Self Made Man

05 Bleach Blonde Bottle Blues

06 You Can Close Your Eyes

07 Blue Ridge Mountains

08 Look Away

09 Tears of Blue to Gold

10 Blunt

11 Cast 'Em Out

12 Elephant

13 Trouble in Mind

14 Keep Diggin'

15 Stubborn Love

16 Easy Street

17 Take What You Want

18 Come On in My Kitchen

Reality Notes

These girls love to play covers - and they do a fine job of it - but one of the things that the pandemic era of YouTube home concerts gave us is a glut of cover versions by so many artists that frankly I'm a bit burnt out by them so this comp is focused on the band's original material (as it should be, they're fine songwriters as well as musicians). There are still a couple covers, Come On in My Kitchen seems to be a band favorite and is featured on two of their albums making it one of their own and You Can Close Your Eyes is just too good to pass up. Being kind of an obscure song to me helps it to fit in. I tried to make sure that the rest were all originals or at least made appearances on their official albums.

 

There was some overlap in the source albums that duplicated a few songs so I chose the best sounding ones. The cover is a pic I found on a Google search and added the text and border. 

YouTube channel

@LarkinPoe

Sources

Porch Pickin', Episode 3, Nashville, TN, 2-13-2021

Home Concert, Nashville, TN, 11-21-2020

Home Concert, Nashville, TN, 6-13-2020

Home Concert, Nashville, TN, 5-22-2020

Acoustic, 2014-2017

Marcus King - Young Man's Dream

 It's been a while since I posted a non-various artists collection. 

Marcus King is another one of those guitar guys that started out performing at a young age. Like Derek Trucks before him he was a veteran by the time he was Twenty. My brother has been bugging me to listen to this guy for a while now and I would play a video here and there. I was always impressed and could see the attraction but I never took the dive to really give him a chance. This comp is an attempt to rectify that.

YouTube recently recommended the WGBH Live in Studio acoustic session so I gave it a listen. Only a minute in and already I was not disappointed. I like the sound of The Marcus King Band, full on blues based rock, my favorite kind but stripped down to just man and guitar allowed me to get a bigger view of this young man's old soul. So I gathered all the solo performance videos I could and condensed that down to a CD's worth of music for in the car. And now I'm sharing it with you. Enjoy.

 

Tracklist

 

01 Love Song  (Live at JITVHQ in Los Angeles, CA 2020)

02 Man You Didn't Know (Live From The Big House)

03 8am (Live in Studio WGBH)

04 Sorry About Your Love (The Blues Kitchen Presents)

05 Beautiful Stranger (Paste Studio NYC - The Manhattan Center)

06 Where I'm Heading (LaMosiqacom Oneshotsession)

07 Sweet Mariona (Paste Studio NYC - The Manhattan Center)

08 Young Man's Dream (at Easy Eye Sound)

09 Remember (Live in Studio WGBH Acoustic Session)

10 One Day She's Here (Paste Studio NYC - The Manhattan Center)

11 No Pain (Acoustic w/ Dan Auerbach at Easy Eye Sound)

12 Midnight Rider (Live From The Big House)

13 Jealous Man

14 Goodbye Carolina (Live in Studio WGBH)

15 Wildflowers & Wine (Paste Studio NYC - The Manhattan Center)

16 I Won't Be Here

17 Slip Back (in bed - MyMusicRx #Bedstock 2017)

18 Autumn Rains (Live in Studio WGBH)

19 The Well (Paste Studio NYC - The Manhattan Center)

20 Dyin' (Live From The Big House)

Reality Notes

Everything in this comp was ripped from videos found on YouTube. Just do a search for "Marcus King acoustic" and they will pop up. Two of these videos, WGBH and Paste Studios, are multi-song performances the rest are single song videos. I edited out any interviews, applause and bumper music leaving only the music.

The cover is a photo I found on a Google image search which I cropped to a square and added the border using my favorite photo editor/viewer Irfanview. Still looking or a new program to make covers with. I might just end up installing an older version of MS Word that doesn't require a MS account.

Kent Nishimura - Arranged By...

There are a lot of good and great guitarists on YouTube and beyond. Some are technically great, some seem overflowing with feeling and soul in spite of technical limitations. But the really great are those that seem to transcend the instrument to the point where flesh, wood and steel become one. Even rarer are those that achieve that oneness at an early age. Kent Nishimura is one of those rare types.

What struck me most about Kent was not his age but the completeness of his arrangements. Everything you expect to hear is there. Melodies, solos, bass lines and percussion. His dexterity and feel for a song is mesmerizing.

I really don't know much more about Kent. His videos have been popping up on my feed for a while but I only recently gave him a listen so he's still very new to me. All I know is what is on his website. He started playing when he received his first guitar at five years old, He released his first album at 12 years old and has released two more since. He is primarily focused on covers but has composed a few originals. This comp collects 24 tracks from his YouTube channel that I found most satisfying. There's a lot more on his channel so check him out. Enjoy.

Tracklist

01 Smooth Jazz Chillout Solo Acoustic Guitar #1 (Short Version)

02 It's Too Late - Carole King

03 Purple Rain - Prince

04 Don't Know Why - Norah Jones

05 Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder

06 Africa - Toto

07 Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers

08 Rylynn - Andy Mckee

09 Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Tears For Fears

10 Careless Whisper - George Michael

11 Hit The Road Jack - Ray Charles

12 Living Inside Your Love - Earl Klugh

13 Human Nature - Michael Jackson

14 Another Brick In The Wall - Pink Floyd

15 Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head - B.J. Thomas

16 Lean On Me - Bill Withers

17 What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

18 The Hustle -  Van McCoy

19 You Are The Sunshine Of My Life - Stevie Wonder

20 We Are The Champions - Queen

21 Sweet Love - Anita Baker

22 Lupin III [Jazz] - Yuji Ohno

23 Drive My Car - The Beatles

24 Thriller (Ending) - Michael Jackson

Reality Notes

 

To be totally upfront and honest I am not a big fan of instrumental music and instrumental covers of popular music is more often a miss than a hit for me. As I may have mentioned in other posts, I prefer songs. I need voices and words. The exceptions are often those that can transcend mere music making and transport you somewhere else. I'm a fan of fingerstyle guitar in general and like Michael Hedges and Leo Kottke in particular but they occasionally sing which helps to move things along. I also enjoy some classical things, big fan of Bach, not so much Mozart or Beethoven. I love Ravi Shankar and can get lost in traditional Japanese koto music. But for the most part instrumental music is a background filler for me. In spite of that, this will not be my last instrumental post. I am enthusiastically adding Kent to that short list of instrumentalists I enjoy but I'm not expecting this to be in regular listening rotation. But if you are a fan of this style of music you will love this.

With the exception of track one these are all covers. Kent has a few originals but mostly interprets songs from other artists. Drive My Car is from Kent's first video he posted and is quite young at the time of recording but his skills even then are impressive. Kent covers a lot of genres so in choosing the tracklist I went with my own tastes. I highly recommend going to his channel to watch him play Purple Rain and Brick In The Wall. Both renditions are amazingly complete and must be seen to be believed. There is little to no overlap between the songs on his channel and his official albums so if you are a fan this will sit right alongside those.

I wanted to set a mood with the cover so I avoided using a picture of the artist and instead went with a landscape of meadows and trees. Enjoy.

YouTube

Website

Allison Young - Pillow Talk

2020's YouTube month continues with the enchanting Allison Young.

Allison is a singer/songwriter from Nashville, the country music capitol of the world and though she touches on country she covers a lot more ground. She's a fine multi-instrumentalist but first and foremost she has one of the most beautiful, natural voices I've heard in a long while.

Allison naturally cultivates the vintage look to great effect which fits her musical style perfectly. She covers a wide range of genres with the bulk of them old standards but most songs seem to come out soft and a bit sultry. I've gone through as much as I could find from her and gathered a CD's worth of covers for you to enjoy.

Tracklist

01 I Wanna Be Loved By You
02 Everyday
03 I Fall To Pieces
04 Autumn in New York   Feat. Josh Turner
05 Pillowtalk
06 I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire   Feat. Post Modern Jukeboxs
07 We’ll Meet Again
08 Un F The World
09 Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)
10 I Can’t Help Falling In Love
11 In Spite of Ourselves   Feat. John Paterini
12 Be My Baby
13 If I Didn't Care
14 I'll Be Here In The Morning
15 You Really Got A Hold On Me
16 Creep
17 Mr. Blue Sky   Feat. Post Modern Jukebox
18 Hidden In The Sand
19 Black Coffee
20 The Bug Collector
21 Romulus
22 Gonna Hurry
23 Our Love Is Here To Stay
24 Smile
25 Fever   Feat. Josh Turner

Reality Notes

The bulk of the songs are solo performances with some of those featuring Allison performing all of the instruments and vocals. Three tracks are duets, one with friend John Paterini and two with Josh Turner. Two songs features Allison with Postmodern Jukebox, a group that specializes in doing modern songs in a "loungey"/jazzy style often with guest vocalists like Allison.

Allison has some original music as well. She performs a few of her own songs on her YouTube page. I was prepared to use them if I needed more material to flesh out the album but fortunately I found plenty of covers. Be sure to check out her videos. They are well produced and entertaining, always a pleasant viewing.

For the cover I utilized a pic from a photo session that produced the cover of her EP of originals that can be found on her Bandcamp page. Be sure to check that out.

Facebook
YouTube
Bandcamp

Josh Turner
Postmodern Jukebox

Jess Greenberg - YouTube

In 2018 I declared September YouTube month where each week I presented an artist that I discovered and/or follow primarily on YouTube. In 2019 I failed to follow up on that theme but in 2020 I have a couple more for you.

During YouTube month of 2018 I received a request for a Jess Greenberg comp. At the time I had about 50 of her videos downloaded but for some reason they resisted all attempts to extract the audio. I would try every now and then and finally I managed through VLC and after some time going through each track I have narrowed the list down to fit on one CD.

Jess posts in small bursts it seems. The most recent is three months old at the time of this post but the previous video is three years old. Her first video was posted nine years ago, as you watch them in chronological order you can watch her mature.

Tracklist

01 Beast of Burden - The Rolling Stones
02 Stop this train - John Mayer
03 Big Love - Fleetwood Mac
04 Crazy in Love - Beyonce Knowles
05 Little Wing - Jimi Hendrix
06 We Found Love - Rihanna
07 Fly me to the moon - Bart Howard
08 Dark Side - Kelly Clarkson
09 Kiss me - Sixpence None the Richer
10 Wanted dead or alive - Bon Jovi
11 Underdog - Kasabian
12 Why'd you only call me when you're high - Arctic Monkeys
13 Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney
14 Domino - Jessie J
15 Somebody Else's Guy - Jocelyn Brown
16 Everlong - Foo Fighters
17 Fever - Eddie Cooley & Otis Blackwell
18 You've got to show me love - Robin S
19 Get Lucky - Daft Punk
20 When you were young - The Killers
21 Gold on the Ceiling - The Black Keys
22 I don't trust myself (with loving you) - John Mayer
23 Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
24 Titanium - David Guetta
25 Wherever You Will Go - The Calling
26 I Got You (I Feel Good) vs Scuttle Buttin' - James Brown-Stevie Ray

Reality Notes

Jess has posted almost 80 videos over the years so if you like these check out her channel for more. As far as I can tell Jess has not posted any original music but is focused on covers. Jess has a wonderful voice and excellent guitar chops and is certainly impressive but overall her videos often didn't affect me in the same way Reina Del Cid or the artist that is featured in my next post. I would like to hear her in a more fully produced performance where her voice can shine a bit more and use her guitar skills in a more controlled environment.

The bulk of Jess' videos were recorded the same way. It looks like she used a laptop or PC webcam using the built in mic in her bedroom. So, while the sound is not perfect, it is clear and consistent which gives the comp a cohesive feel to it. She covers a wide range of styles and genres, some worked for me more than others but everyone's taste is different so again, if you like these you might like the rest so check them out.

Now, about that cover. Sometime during her second year of posting she started wearing the low-cut tops. I'm sure that had something to do with the increase in play counts her videos receive but be sure that the music is the main focus. In fact, one of the reasons for doing this comp was so I could enjoy the performance without the distraction of the wardrobe. The cover here is a cropped screenshot of one of her videos (I believe from the Beast of Burden video, I can tell by the chord she's playing) to which I added the text.

Website
YouTube
Facebook

Reina del Cid - Sunday Mornings With...The Originals

Here is a follow up to my Reina del Cid post a couple months back. This one focuses on the original songs they performed for their Sunday Mornings With... series.

I culled these 23 songs from more than 50 tracks. These folks are very prolific and continue to release a new song each week. Some are covers and some are originals.

Many of these songs have yet to appear on an album. I did my best to determine which songs were originals. It was usually declared in the video title or description and in some cases during the intros on the video itself. If any of these are covers they did a great job of making them their own.

01 Library Girl
02 1970
03 Let's Begin
04 All Time Low
05 Giving Up
06 Hold Me Before I'm Gone Forever
07 Blue Sky Armageddon
08 Sister, Don't Cry
09 Ferdinand
10 Million Girls
11 Runner in the Sun
12 Honey from the Bee
13 Woolf
14 O My Baby
15 Pretty Lie
16 Shot 'em Dead
17 Edge of the Universe
18 Soul Mines
19 Burn Out
20 Common Man
21 Queen Hazel
22 Up the Creek
23 Seasons

Reality Notes

I continue to be enamored by this band. Great songs and great musicianship. Always tasteful and never overstated. If you feel compelled to show your support they do have a Patreon page. This seems to be a common method for independent bands to fund their work.

I had a lot of material to choose from so I focused on unique tracks that have yet to find space on an album or were very different from the album versions. Many of these are song sketches that were either further developed or maybe even dropped for one reason or another but everything here is worthy of sharing.

Reina del Cid - Sunday Mornings With...

YouTube month concludes with my most recent discovery and the catalyst for this series. 

Reina del Cid is an up and coming group that is doing very well. With three independent albums and what looks like regular touring including Europe it always pleases me when I see a group or artist do well when they really deserve it. They also have a weekly YouTube series named Sunday Mornings With Reina del Cid. They post weekly videos of covers and originals.

Musically Reina del Cid ticks every box in my list of things I like. They are mostly acoustic based with a variety of sounds and styles. Toni Lindgren, the lead guitarist is amazing. She has a great sense of tastiness and never overplays but obviously has the chops to do so if she wants. She also plays fine mandolin and banjo, a girl after my own heart. Reina writes great songs and has one of those voices that displays a wisdom well beyond this young girls age.

I was so struck by Reina Del Cid that I went and purchased what I could and I hope you show them some love and do the same.

01 Sugaree
02 Ain't No Sunshine
03 Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)
04 21st of May
05 Over the Red Cedar
06 Colours
07 What Would I Do
08 All My Little Words
09 Bells of Harlem
10 Dream A Little Dream of Me
11 Ophelia
12 XO
13 Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
14 Faded Love
15 Slip Slide on By
16 You Belong to Me
17 Boogie Shoes
18 Wildflowers
19 Tupelo Honey
20 Ruby
21 Dear Someone
22 I'll Be There
23 Praise You
24 Tonight I'll Be Staying Here
25 Dink's Song - Fare Thee Well

Reality Notes

The Sunday series has been going on for quite a while and I had plenty of songs to choose from. I was able to hold back all of the originals and still choose my favorites from what was left. Please go to her channel and check out the rest then go and see them if you can. They will be coming through my neck of the woods soon.

The quality of the audio varies from location to location but most are A+ with the worst never as bad as a B. They definitely have the equipment and the people to do this right.

I'll let Reina describe the songs herself. I copied these notes from the description of each video. I did edit out any unnecessary text about past tours and stuff like that. The headings are the actual video titles with the date they were first posted.

Sugaree (Grateful Dead) - Mar 12, 2017
Toni might be a bit of a Dead-head -- she introduced me to this song a while back, and now I love playing it. It was between this one or Tennessee Jed, which actually I think we'll do at some point, too. Keep those requests coming, btw!

[This was the first song I watched but it was their version of Tupelo Honey that sold me.]

Ain't No Sunshine - Jun 11, 2017
Here's an oft-requested classic from the great Bill Withers. "Use Me" will always be my favorite song by him, but this is up there, too. Though it looks sunny on camera, it's actually a pretty dreary day here in Minnesota, and right after we shut the camera off, there was a sudden downpour with hail, so there certainly ain't no sunshine today. See you next Sunday!

Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) - live from the van! - Oct 1, 2017
I'm dedicating this Sunday Morning video to my mom because it's one of her favorites. She once sang this song (after being persuaded by friends and a glass of wine or two) at a party, and little did she know, someone was recording the audio. I had that mp3 on my iPod for many years until it was stolen and lost forever, but I used to listen to her sing this one a lot when was walking around campus in college. So here you go, Mom! Our version, live from the new van.

21st of May - Nickel Creek (cover) - Jul 20, 2014
Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek wrote this stingingly satirical song from the point of view of Harold Camping, the California preacher who falsely predicted the end of the world--a few times. If you like our version, check out the original!

Over the Red Cedar - Charlie Parr cover - Oct 29, 2017
Charlie Parr is one of Minnesota's finest songwriters, and we wanted to pay homage to him for this Sunday Morning video. We're doing Charlie's song "Over the Red Cedar." If you like our version and haven't heard his, check it out here.

Colours - Jun 1, 2014
"Colours" is a song by Donovan, covered here by your friendly neighborhood Reina and Toni for our weekly Sunday Mornings with Reina del Cid video series.

What Would I Do (Ray Charles) - Feb 12, 2017
It doesn't get any better than waking up early, brewing a cup of coffee, and playing some Ray Charles to start the Sunday morning. It's been a pleasure bringing these songs to you so far.

All My Little Words - Mar 25, 2018
This Sunday morning we're doing a cover of a song by The Magnetic Fields. I've been a fan of this band forever, and this has always been one of my favorites by them.

Bells of Harlem - Jul 22, 2018
P.S. Loving this Dave Rawlings Machine tune? Check out their live version of “Bells of Harlem” from their KEXP session.

[This was recorded outdooors. Listen for the sirens that pop up in the background at just the right places.]

Dream A Little Dream of Me - Aug 20, 2017
Doing the Doris Day classic, "Dream A Little Dream of Me" for this week's Sunday Morning song.

Ophelia (The Band cover) - Jul 27, 2014
Our friend Grace sat in with us on tuba for this week's video and brought a whole new level of awesome.

XO (Beyoncé cover) - Oct 30, 2016
We did an acoustic treatment of Beyonce's "XO" for this Sunday morning video. It isn't very often that Toni plays that beautiful Gibson CS-336, but when she does, it's a treat for the rest of us.

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - May 28, 2017
Because we usually get up around 5 or 6 a.m. on Sundays to record our videos and post them a couple hours later, we're always looking for new places to record that won't get us in trouble with our neighbors. (Not everyone wants to wake up to the sound of a couple of hooligans learning a Paul Simon song.) So for this week's video, we brewed some coffee and took it to an abandoned schoolyard in St. Paul., far from any neighborly sleeping that might have been going on closer to home.

Faded Love - Apr 22, 2018
This is a Western swing song written by Bob Wills and released in 1950. I think it has one of the most beautiful melodies of any old time country tune. My favorite version is (of course) Patsy Cline's because it brings me to tears, but Willie and Merle both do this one justice, too. Putting my own spin on it for this Sunday Morning, and I hope you enjoy! (P.S. Thanks to Toni for lending me her sweet Martin for this one while she's in Norway!)

Slip Slide on By - Valerie June cover Jul 23, 2017
Toni Lindgren joins me this week with some tasty slide guitar on this cover of the beautiful Valerie June song, "Slip Slide on By." This comes off of her newest release, The Order of Time--one of my favorite albums from this year.

You Belong to Me - Dec 31, 2017
Here's a 1950s classic that was done by everyone from Jo Stafford to Patsy Cline to Bob Dylan. I just adore this song, so I wanted to share my version with you this Sunday! I hope you enjoy it!

Boogie Shoes - Aug 13, 2017
Happy Sunday morning! A couple minutes after a monsoon swept through, we went up to a wet rooftop in downtown St. Paul to play this song as the clouds started to clear up. That's Andrew Foreman grooving on the upright bass and Toni Lindgren choppin' the mandolin. Shane Lattie is the man behind the camera!

[If you listen close you can hear Reina break a string during Toni's solo. The professional that she is, she did not stop playing but soldered on.]

Wildflowers (Tom Petty) - Oct 8, 2017
This week we went over to one of our favorite local record stores, Hymies Vintage Records, to pay tribute to one of the greatest rock n roll legends of all time. Tom Petty has inspired me in countless ways and the best way I know how to honor the music he left behind for us is to live in it and share it with friends. So I hope you enjoy our take on "Wildflowers," one of his most beautiful songs.

Tupelo Honey - Apr 20, 2014
Good morning! So, I got a bunch of suggestions last week for covers, and this Van Morrison song was my favorite. My bandmates Chris (bass) and Toni (guitar) are sitting in with me for this one.

Ruby - Jan 29, 2017
We're sitting in a shed outside a coffee shop called the Bean Factory in St. Paul -- happy Sunday morning! No, Toni and I did not mean to match . . . we were just on a maroon sort of wavelength, apparently.

Dear Someone - Mar 18, 2018
We’re road tripping out in the American West to bring you some fun Sunday Morning videos in new locales, and this week we find ourselves in the gorgeous south rim of one of the wonders of the world: the Grand Canyon! This is the first time either Toni or I have seen it, and my, it sure is grand. I hope you enjoy this Gillian Welch tune, “Dear Someone.”

I'll Be There - May 25, 2014
"I'll Be There" is an old Ray Price song - we've revamped it a little and made it our own. Enjoy, and join us next Sunday for another video!

Praise You (Fat Boy Slim acoustic cover) - Jun 10, 2018
Happy Sunday Morning! We're currently on tour and recorded this acoustic cover of Fat Boy Slim's "Praise You" just outside an awesome venue called The Outpost where we played in Albuquerque yesterday.

I've always really liked this Fat Boy Slim song, and I absolutely love the original song "Take Yo Praise" by Camille Yarbrough from which the vocal sample was taken. If you haven't heard that, do yourself a favor and check it out on YouTube.

This is a song by Dave Rawlings Machine. If you like our version, check out their KEXP session (it's right here on YouTube): melodic guitar solos, great harmonies, and unbeatable facial expressions. :)

Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You - Jan 22, 2017
Greetings from the pool room of a little motel in Ogallala, Nebraska. We’re on road back to Minneapolis after a short stint in Colorado, and we didn’t have our usual audio equipment with us so we had to just put up an iPhone and go. Hope you enjoyed this Bob Dylan classic!

Dink's Song - Fare Thee Well - Apr 27, 2014
The fourth installment in the "Sunday Mornings with Reina del Cid" coffee-and-a-song series. Love this beautiful, melancholy old song.

Thanks to Luke for this one. Keep those suggestions coming!

[I was going to provide a link to each video but Reina switches videos from public to private and from private to public from time to time. the private videos are visible only to her Patreon supporters.]

There are enough tracks left over to make another compilation. Maybe in the future I'll post a collection of some of the stripped down originals. In the meantime here is their Daytrotter appearance from February 2018.

The cover is a cropped screenshot from the videos.

Youtube
Website
Facebook

Benjamin Kammin - 6 Rabbits-2 Dogs-1 Cat-1 Cow

YouTube month continues. 

I'm cheating a little on this one. I've known Ben since long before he had a YouTube channel but I like to promote him whenever I can. I first encountered Ben playing at a Barnes and Nobel bookstore and was instantly a fan. I ran across him a few more times and struck up a conversation. Ben is an amazing fingerstyle guitarist with one of those soft and smokey singing voices that seems to wrap around you before penetrating your soul.

I had the pleasure of recording some demos for Ben when my studio was brand new and barely up to specs for such delicate music but the results were fine for demos. I've included some of those here. Simply put, anything with a vocal was recorded by me.

01 Road to Mallow
02 Sad, Sad, Sad
03 Breaking of the Shells [Billy McLaughlin]
04 Little Beaver [Leo Kottke]
05 Autumn
05 Little Beaver [Leo Kottke]
06 Long December
07 November [Pino Forastiere]
08 Ojo [Leo Kottke]
09 South by Winterwest [Billy McLaughlin]
10 September
11 Sunflower River Blues [John Fahey]
12 Dali
13 Mona Ray [Leo Kottke]
14 Sleepy Time [Alex de Grassi]
15 God Said No

Reality Notes

Ben does not perform very often these days but he is far from idle. He gives guitar lessons online for all levels. He was part of a research team that transcribed every available recording by Leo Kottke. He did release an album around the time I first met him. Sadly that album is out of print. He did give me permission to post it on my Sybil Records blog and site. That link is now dead but I will re-up it eventually, maybe here as well.

The cover is an homage to Ben's first CD which featured a sketch of a tree on the cover. The little caricature in the bottom left corner was drawn by me during one of his performances back in the day.

YouTube
Website

Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers - The Van Sessions

Week two of YouTube month.  

The Gramblers was a side project for Tim Bluhm of The Motherhips.  He heard Nicki sing one day and offered to produce some demos for her. They fell in love and married and Nicki joined The Gramblers.

To deal with the boredom of travel while on the road, they started working up cover songs and recording them in the van with their phone and posting the results to YouTube.

A friend pointed me to their rendition of the Hall And Oats classic I Can't Go For That and I was hooked. If you have a chance to see them live please do. Nicki has several albums to her name. Some solo and some credited to Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, all wonderful.

01 I Can't Go For That
02 Watercolor Canvas
03 You're No Good
04 Hey Baby
05 Everyday
06 Islands in the Stream
07 Let's Hear It For The Boy
08 Can You Get To That
09 Faith
10 Deal
11 Band on the Run
12 Don't Worry Be Happy
13 Easy
14 Material Girl
15 How Sweet It Is
16 Hit Me With Your Best Shot
17 She's Got You
18 Stuck in the Middle With You
19 Take the Money and Run
20 Ramblin' Man
21 Here Comes The Sun
22 Days Like This
23 How Will I Know

Reality Notes

Because of the location and nature of these recordings, sound quality is so-so. Listenable but a bit of background noise (they were recorded in a moving van!). The noise is minimal and does not detract from the overall enjoyment of these songs. The performances are all top notch and instruments are well placed for a good balance. And Nicki has a beautiful voice. They have a lot more than this up on their channel so I was able to pick and choose my favorites.

I was saddened to read that Tim and Nicki have recently split and Tim has left the band. They seemed a great match both musically and relationship wise, I wish them well.

I found the cover during a google search. Some kind artist illustrated a screenshot from one of the videos. I did have to add the title text.

YouTube
WebSite
iTunes
FaceBook

Molly Lewis - SweetAfton23

I have declared September to be "YouTube star" month! Each week this month I will post a collection of songs from an artist that I first heard or follow on YouTube. The tracks themselves were ripped from the videos posted on their official channel. Each collection will be timed to fit on a CD meant to introduce you to the artist and their work. I will do my usual editing of removing spoken intros and outtros unless appropriate as well as EQ and volume matching where needed.

I came across Molly Lewis - aka: SweetAfton23, her original YouTube handle - when I was looking for songs to learn after I purchased my first ukulele. One of the first songs I found was Political Science by Randy Newman as performed by Molly Lewis. What kept me coming back to her channel was her charm and sense of humor and that she played the uke as her main instrument.

Contextual evidence from her videos suggests that she recorded most of her videos while she was in college and that music was/is a passionate but sideline hobby. She appeared to achieve some local fame as a performer and her videos receive a large amount of plays, she even had the opportunity to play her song for Stephen Fry (one of my favorite Brittish comedians) to the man himself. She does have a few songs for sale on her Bandcamp page so check out her channel and show her a little love and support (links below).

01 An Open Letter to Stephen Fry
02 Political Science
03 Crazy
04 Creep
05 Don t Think Twice, It s Alright
06 Hidden in the Sand
07 I Believe She's Lying
08 Toxic
09 It All Makes Sense At The End
10 Two Of Us (Mother s Day special)
11 I Pity The Fool
12 MOUSTACHES (Taken At All/Dear Prudence)
13 My Hope
14 Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
15 Only You
16 Our American Cousin
17 Poisoning Pigeons In The Park
18 Road Trip
19 Some Postman
20 Still Alive
21 Tom Cruise Crazy
22 Adverbs
23 10,000 SUBSCRIBERS medley
24 A Christmas Carol
25 PEEP FIGHT

Reality Notes

The quality of Molly's videos changed for the better as she honed her craft. The audio quality varies depending on the location chosen for the video. Of the four artists I will be presenting, Molly is the only one for which I am including original songs among her covers so Molly, if you see this and wish me to take down any or all of these songs, just say the word. But do know that I made this collection out of love and respect for your talent.

YouTube Channel
Website
Bandcamp