Most people do their year-end recaps in December. That might have been nice for us at Those Who Dig, but we just didn't get there. On the plus side, we can recap the full twelve months now. Today we have a look at some of the highlights of our blog during 2012.
It looks as though friend of the Dig Jonny Fritz has decided to dig up some of archived VHS performance footage of his Nashville cohorts and publish it on a YouTube video blog he is calling VHSessions. This decidedly lo-fi venture comes with a heavy does of sentimentality and candor, but does not lack in musical quality. To my eye, this footage looks less like a marketing strategy and more like a time capsule which has recently been opened only to discover that there was and is worth still on that tape.
The first installment of the series features Andrew Combs in a recording of Part Time Lovers (Full Time Fools). It was recorded by Jonny Fritz in 1989 in Nashville, TN and the song was written by Andrew Combs with Jabe Beyer. I love the easy country phrasing Combs shapes his melodies with and his lyrical ability to deal in platitudes without loosing a feeling of first hand experience or authenticity. This is a beautiful song beautifully performed, and I have to laugh when I imagine Jonny perched on the other side of the presumably massive camera.
Give it a listen and then hop on over to the VHSessions channel for more. Weird Thought Thinker from Joshua Hedley is a wonderful follow up and is not to be missed. You dig?
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Almost a year ago, I spent a good chunk of a day with Greenpoint musician Matthew Meyer. For a variety of reasons, it unfortunately kept slipping by me when it came to transcribing it and sharing. With profuse apologies to Matthew, it is finally here. Please check out this great, insightful conversation with an incredibly talented and creative individual who is active in the neighborhood I call home.
It's time for the first Weekly Roundup of 2013, let's get to it!
Released in November of 2012, NYC based hip hop artist PremRock's latest release, Mark's Wild Years, uses Tom Waits as the singular source for sample material on his 13 track confessional of an album. Given Tom Waits' pension for dramatic imagery and inventive instrumental grooves, it is amazing that it took this long for someone in the hip hop world to find their own voice alongside Waits. Check out PremRock's use of Dirt In The Ground below and then read on for the both my full thoughts. You dig?
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Big Deal released a great album in 2012 and they are already gearing up for more in 2013. Check out their latest video, "Teradactol."
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Happy New Year! I wanted to start 2013 by sharing one of the highlights of 2012: the very first "Those Who Dig Presents" show. We had a blast at Muchmore's on November 14th with David Pollack, Palomino, and Oh! My Blackbird and raised more than $200 for Sandy Relief. Read on to check out a slideshow of photos of the night. Photography by Michael Pina.