7 Bands You Need to Know Now - Unleash Your Music Curator
Unleash Your Inner Music Curator
Discover how to take control of your music discovery journey and escape the grip of the "Machine Algorithm".
Learn about 7 rising Americana artists you need too know now that you're NOT getting to hear and see.
Discover the power of supporting independent artists and shaping your musical landscape.
Join Ben and Zach as they explore the vibrant world of Americana music and uncover hidden gems that will inspire and uplift you.
You'll Also Discover:
How to Support Rising Americana Artists.
A Strategy for Curating Your Own Music..
Why Community Matters in Music.
5 Steps to Break Free from the Algorithm..
A Blueprint for Expanding Your Musical Horizons
What's your favorite way to discover new music?
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Transcript
Are you going to delegate the soundtrack to your life to a machine?
Speaker A:That's what's happening with Spotify.
Speaker A:We're inviting you to take ownership of that.
Speaker A:And when you start listening to the artists that we're going to share with you today, the machine starts working in your favor.
Speaker A:It starts serving up real Americana artists with great messages and you're going to discover new people, expose your friends to them, expose your family and what ends up happening.
Speaker A:If you listen to these songs more, the logarithm, Spotify will start serving these kinds of songs to you and y'all, you will help grow these artists career.
Speaker B:Americana music transforms the world and unfortunately, too many are unaware of its profound impact.
Speaker B:Americana musicians are the unsung heroes and here you'll join us in exploring these passionate artists and how they offer inspiration and hope for the future.
Speaker B:This show makes it happen in a fun and entertaining way.
Speaker B:You'll discover new music that you'll love harder.
Speaker B:Lessons from the road, the story behind favorite songs, a big dose of inspiration for you and your friends, and a good laugh along the way.
Speaker B:I'm Ben Fanning and my co host is Zach Schultz.
Speaker B:It's time to get Americana curious.
Speaker A:Hey there, everybody.
Speaker A:Welcome back to Americana Curious.
Speaker A:Today it is Zach and I bringing you some important news.
Speaker A:Americana of artists you need to know right now.
Speaker A:These are rising artists.
Speaker A:You might be asking yourself, well, why are they talking about this?
Speaker A:Well, y'all, it is hard.
Speaker A:It is hard to be an artist in this genre and get known.
Speaker A:And if you're not known, it's hard to keep going because something's got to pay the bills.
Speaker A:And a lot of people are trying to depend on the Spotify logarithm to share with them the top artists.
Speaker A:But y'all, that's really, that's like delegating your stuff to the AI machine.
Speaker A:You're.
Speaker A:Are you really going to delegate your music?
Speaker A:Are you going to delegate the soundtrack to your life to a machine?
Speaker A:Yeah, that's what's happening with Spotify.
Speaker A:We now, we like Spotify.
Speaker A:Nothing against them, but we're inviting you to take ownership of that.
Speaker A:And when you start listening to the artists that we're going to share with you today, the machine starts working in your favor.
Speaker A:It starts serving up real Americana artists with great messages and you're going to discover new people.
Speaker A:And so my co host Zach here, I consider to be one of the top music curators and I will bubble, bubble, pit him against any machine out there.
Speaker A:So today you're going to get some new artists you may have heard of or may have not have, but I invite you to go listen to them.
Speaker A:We're going to do this.
Speaker A:It's going to be fairly short.
Speaker A:Ish.
Speaker A:I'm going to share a couple and Zach's going to share some.
Speaker A:So Zach, turn it over to you.
Speaker C:Oh, sweet.
Speaker C:Yeah, I'm excited to do this, but I'm excited to see what yours are because I want to always want to learn new music and I'm curious if we'll have any crossover.
Speaker A:All right, let's find out.
Speaker C:Number one, I'm going to start with Fancy Gap, a duo out of North Carolina who are formed during the Pandemic and hit off into a cabin in the Fancy Gap area of Virginia and created one of my favorite albums last year.
Speaker C:They only have one album, self titled Fancy Gap.
Speaker C:It's kind of indie, folk, country, those kind of vibes.
Speaker C:Songs, Little Heart Racer, Magnolias, Old Ways are the ones I would check out.
Speaker C:But the whole album as a whole is just spectacular.
Speaker C:I saw a quote that they're described as lush, dreamy journey through life's complexities.
Speaker C:So start with Fancy Gap.
Speaker A:Fancy, yeah.
Speaker A:And by the way, what a cool name for a band.
Speaker A:Don't we all want to be a little fancy Gap?
Speaker C:And I did hear a little note or they commented on the road trip to Raleigh post that they will be at the show because they're from Raleigh.
Speaker C:So they are going to go support BJ next week.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:And Zach and I will be there, too.
Speaker A:Road trip to Raleigh.
Speaker A:That's a complete side conversation.
Speaker A:But do not worry, we will review it for you, tell you all the many stories right after.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:So mine is a band that Zach already knows, but it's one of those bands where in my world, everybody knows this band.
Speaker A:But yet when I mention it to a lot of people out there, like who is this?
Speaker A:And it's Larkin Poe.
Speaker A:Larkin Poe is a band that we started listening to during the Pandemic as a family.
Speaker A:We went and we got into them and went to the neighborhood theater in Charlotte, by the way, which is an old movie theater.
Speaker A:They've torn the scenes out and the band played an incredible set.
Speaker A:My daughter, who at the time was nine years old.
Speaker A:Eight.
Speaker A:Nine years old, was right up at the stage and these two sisters, Rocket and yes, they are.
Speaker A:A little research.
Speaker A:They are.
Speaker A:Their band is named after their great, great, great, great grandfather who was the cousin of Edgar Allan Poe.
Speaker A:So they are Larkin Poe.
Speaker A:Their newest album is called Bloom and two songs on there.
Speaker A:Yeah, Zach, you've heard this, right?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Easy Love, Part one, Bluephoria.
Speaker A:Check those out.
Speaker A:And to describe it, they are.
Speaker A:They have incredible harmony, like a lot of great Americana artists do.
Speaker A:What's a little different is they.
Speaker A:There's like, sort of a depth to the.
Speaker A:To one of the.
Speaker A:To the lead singer's voice and the songwriting, so.
Speaker A:Spot on.
Speaker A:And then her sister plays slide guitar like Dwayne Allman level.
Speaker A:And yes, I'm bringing in all my brothers.
Speaker A:And there might be some people calling heresy there, but if you don't believe me, listen to it and then go see it.
Speaker A:And she plays a mean slide guitar.
Speaker A:And then there's an older song, slightly older, called Deep Stays Down.
Speaker A:It builds nicely.
Speaker A:You really hear the harmony.
Speaker A:And it's my daughter's favorite.
Speaker A:Alarcon post on.
Speaker A:And you hear it, and I think it'll be yours.
Speaker A:And by the way, they've actually toured a lot with Elvis Costello, Bob Seeger, and a bunch of other people.
Speaker C:Sweet.
Speaker C:Yeah, I can contest.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:And those girls can play.
Speaker C:I mean, both of them.
Speaker A:Come on.
Speaker A:All right, who you got?
Speaker A:So we.
Speaker A:So we've given it to.
Speaker A:They gotta listen to you right now.
Speaker C:All right, I'm gonna go.
Speaker C:A guy named Zach Meadows, who I've been.
Speaker C:People around Nashville know his name from the songwriting and his incredible album Road to Nowhere last year.
Speaker C:But this guy's voice and storytelling is just step above.
Speaker C:I know.
Speaker C:I mean, he's.
Speaker C:He's fairly new.
Speaker C:Ish.
Speaker C:Not to me.
Speaker C:But I want Tell people.
Speaker C:Just go check out Zach Meadows.
Speaker A:Zach.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:When we.
Speaker A:When we push play.
Speaker A:And by the way, I'm going to.
Speaker A:And y'all.
Speaker A:Y'all.
Speaker A:I don't know Zach Meadows.
Speaker C:So I'll give you a couple of songs to start with.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:Three White Crosses and the Texas Two Step.
Speaker C:I mean, you'll be hooked.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Texas Two Step.
Speaker A:Three White Crosses.
Speaker A:Yeah, do that.
Speaker A:And y'all, this is.
Speaker A:This is one of the reasons we're doing this show, because Zach and I kept getting together and just sharing music like this.
Speaker A:So you're.
Speaker A:You're getting what Zach and I normally do.
Speaker C:This is our text during Pandemic.
Speaker A:There's inflation, there are wars, there are problems in the world, and we hold on to great music to help motivate us in these conversations.
Speaker A:So this is what it's.
Speaker A:You're getting behind the scenes right now.
Speaker A:Another one is another.
Speaker A:Zach.
Speaker A:I know you know this one because I talk about it a lot, but it's Sammy Ray and the Friends.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Another band that my family and I really got into during the pandemic.
Speaker A:And it's shocking to me, people don't know Samurai and the Friends.
Speaker A:They're a.
Speaker A:And this band really forms around community.
Speaker A:So when you go to a show, you will see a lot of super Samurai in the Friends fans.
Speaker A:Sammy Samuel Ray, she's a former hardcore like jazz musician from Manhattan and she got up with some friends in Brooklyn and they bring the heat.
Speaker A:They've got two saxophones, they've got two guitars, keys.
Speaker A:She plays about everything under the sun.
Speaker A:And I mean it is a high energy show.
Speaker A:We've seen them twice now and I recommend checking out Kick it to Me whatever we feel and State Song for, for starters.
Speaker A:And I want to note too that this band, they toured first, they played a lot of live shows, they had a little EP come out that just.
Speaker A:That just skyrocketed.
Speaker A:Then they finally came out with like a full length album.
Speaker A:And she's incredible.
Speaker A:Check out samueray2 on Instagram.
Speaker A:I mean she is.
Speaker A:She will just pick up like a mandolin or a ukulele or guitar and just really showcase her voice.
Speaker A:I think it's so unique to find someone that has that kind of voice, that kind of theatric ability, bringing in this jazz fusion and then bring it into an Americana world, which is one of the reasons I love this genre.
Speaker C:That's what I was going to say.
Speaker C:The word for Sammy Ray and Friends is just unique.
Speaker C:Authenticity.
Speaker C:I mean, it is.
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker C:You nailed that one.
Speaker A:What else you got, Zach?
Speaker C:All right, I'm thinking there's a band I'm about to say, who not a lot of people know at all, but I believe they put out one of the best albums last year.
Speaker C:And these guys are the future of Americana music.
Speaker C:And it is Steel Saddle out of Montreal, Canada.
Speaker C:And this band, if you want to think like 60s-70s Southern country rock vibe, that's what they are.
Speaker C:And then they go ahead and throw in a horn section and it's.
Speaker C:It's incredible.
Speaker C:The guy, the lead singer has kind of this R B style voice.
Speaker C:But then there's these craz sounds, this band and they have one album out, it's self titled Steel Saddle.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:Check it out.
Speaker C:It is.
Speaker C:It's incredible.
Speaker C:Under your arms is one of the great songs on there, Angelina.
Speaker C:And they have a song actually called Steel Saddle where they basically all these sounds just collide.
Speaker C:So check out Steel Saddle.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I'm intrigued.
Speaker A:I mean this is a great to bring in a Canadian Artist and what?
Speaker A:So to me, sometimes Americana at its best is when it's creatively fusing together a lot of different kinds of instruments, genres, and creating like a really special sound.
Speaker A:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker C:No, there.
Speaker C:I didn't know they were from Canada until yesterday when I was kind of doing a little research on them.
Speaker C:But I've been listening to this album on just heavy rotation lately.
Speaker A:I'm checking that out.
Speaker C:Steels now.
Speaker A:Zach Meadows.
Speaker A:Fancy Gap, Still Saddle man, this is.
Speaker A:This is a great list.
Speaker A:All right, so my final one is Ripe.
Speaker A:Are you familiar with Ripe?
Speaker A:R, I, T E.
Speaker A:A little bit.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Bunch of Berkeley, y'all.
Speaker A:It's so hard.
Speaker A:Zach's pretty much hurt everybody.
Speaker A:Prestigious Berkeley College of Music in Boston.
Speaker A:They connect historically over their backgrounds.
Speaker A:And we were actually at a Martin Sexton concert, which is sort of an old school Americana artist.
Speaker A:Incredible.
Speaker A:By the way.
Speaker A:He's not a rising Americana star.
Speaker A:He's like a star already.
Speaker A:So check out Martin.
Speaker A:But we're out.
Speaker A:We're at the poor house here in Charleston, which we frequent, and it was an outdoor show with Martin.
Speaker A:And then we indoors, we hear this music starting up and the tickets were sold out and so we.
Speaker A:But we could.
Speaker A:We sort of finagled our way through the back door into it.
Speaker A:And it was packed with people all about 10 years younger than me.
Speaker A:And this was.
Speaker A:Covid had kind of calmed down a little bit, but it was still around.
Speaker A:And the lead singer was like, hey, y'all, I'm pretty sure we're gonna get Covid after this show, so let's go hard.
Speaker A:And then, of course, three days after, they're on Instagram.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:We got Covid in Charleston and they had to sit.
Speaker A:I had to sit out for their tour a couple days.
Speaker A:But they.
Speaker A:They do a lot of improv on stage.
Speaker A:They do have brass and they're a little more funkish than you would think for Americana.
Speaker A:But they have a great, great improv, great soul.
Speaker A:And I believe their fan base is known as the Green Headband Gang, as I understand it.
Speaker A:And again, sort of like Samurai.
Speaker A:They foster such a positive community around it and they get a lot of people follow them around and they do.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:They can be a little bit jammy, but.
Speaker A:But still stay in the realm of non jam band.
Speaker A:But they do get a little jammy.
Speaker A:But it's so much fun.
Speaker A:And I.
Speaker A:I just love bands that have great albums, great songs.
Speaker A:Their song Downwards, pretty dirty and little lighter.
Speaker A:They're all wonderful.
Speaker A:And it's so great when you can Match great music with a great performing touring band.
Speaker A:And I put them in that category.
Speaker C:Yeah, I like it.
Speaker C:I'm gonna check them out.
Speaker C:I'm.
Speaker C:I got one more okay that I want people to know about, and this one is a little bit more well known, but still, if I run around people, they don't know this band, the Kitchen Dwellers.
Speaker C:And I mean, you're talking bluegrass on steroids, but storytelling and the musicianship that this band can play, I mean, they're the coolest.
Speaker C:And they have a lot of concept albums, a couple of them, where you're following the story all through the album, which is just.
Speaker C:I just love that when.
Speaker C:When bands do that and can pull it off, and the Kitchen Dwellers can pull it off.
Speaker C:So I just want to.
Speaker C:I know people know them in certain circles, but a lot of people don't know the name.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:To me, they're in that place of, hey, people should know this band.
Speaker A:But they get no radio play.
Speaker A:And Zach introduced me probably a year ago, and we've.
Speaker A:I've really enjoyed listening to them, and I.
Speaker A:I really think everyone else will too.
Speaker C:And I.
Speaker C:I just wanted to add one more.
Speaker C:Just one more focus.
Speaker C:A gal.
Speaker C:She's based out of Minneapolis.
Speaker C:Her name is Molly Brandt.
Speaker C:Tremendous album last year called American saga.
Speaker C:Mr.
Speaker C:Texas is a tune on there that's brilliant.
Speaker C:Nicotine.
Speaker C:Dollar stores and strip malls.
Speaker C:Just powerful vocals and storytelling.
Speaker C:And then I.
Speaker C:As.
Speaker C:I was kind of reading up on her because.
Speaker C:I mean, I've listened to her for years because she roams around this.
Speaker A:This area.
Speaker C:But I.
Speaker C:I got a little depressed when I found out she's just started guitar and writing songs during.
Speaker C:Four years ago, during the pandemic.
Speaker A:So this is my hobby.
Speaker A:No, it's my living now.
Speaker C:I was like, I did nothing.
Speaker C:So check out Molly Brands.
Speaker A:Molly Brandt.
Speaker A:All right, so let's recap.
Speaker A:Fancy Gap, Larkin Poe, Zach Meadows, Samurai and the Friends.
Speaker A:Still Saddle Kitchen Dwellers.
Speaker A:Molly Brandt.
Speaker A:Did I hit them all?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:All right.
Speaker A:So y'all.
Speaker A:Great list.
Speaker A:I'm fired up to check these out myself and.
Speaker C:Wait, you missed one.
Speaker C:Yeah, you missed Ripe.
Speaker A:Oh, right.
Speaker A:You say right.
Speaker A:Darn it.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Yes, Ripe.
Speaker C:Because I'm gonna check them out in about five minutes.
Speaker A:Feel good music, kind of get you.
Speaker A:Get you going.
Speaker A:So for the listeners now, what.
Speaker A:What do you do first?
Speaker A:Well, you heard several artists, so what I would do would be.
Speaker A:And what I'm planning to do is to take one or two of these, go to Spotify, or go to your Apple Music or Amazon, and just listen to a Couple songs.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Maybe credit a little playlist, your own personal Americana Curious playlist.
Speaker A:By the way, we have a playlist called Americana Curious that we recommend you check out.
Speaker A:Zach manages it.
Speaker A:It's really, really good.
Speaker A:But you can create your own and start saving some of these songs.
Speaker A:Expose your friends to them, expose your family and what ends up happening.
Speaker A:If you listen to these songs more, right.
Speaker A:The logarithm, Spotify or whatever will start serving these kinds of songs up to you.
Speaker A:Trying them does not do that.
Speaker A:But if you listen to them a lot, that's what will happen.
Speaker A:And y'all, you will help grow these artists career.
Speaker A:And, and a lot of people don't know this, but organizations like Spotify, they give this feedback to the artist.
Speaker A:So when they are going on tour, if they're going to come to your town, they know if they're getting downloads of music from your area.
Speaker A:If they are, they're more likely to show up.
Speaker A:If no one's listening, they're probably not.
Speaker A:Or they might not.
Speaker A:They may only only be an opener.
Speaker A:They may not get to play a full set.
Speaker A:So you actually get to vote with your downloads.
Speaker A:Zach, do you have anything else on that?
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:I think that was a great point though because that is true and I don't think even a lot of artists are aware of that.
Speaker C:How that's tracked with listens and areas that when you come here.
Speaker C:But that's a great point, Ben.
Speaker C:Great point.
Speaker A:Send it.
Speaker A:Share your music with your friends.
Speaker A:Yes, you can send them articles about how bad things are in the world or you can send them salacious Kardashian stuff or something like that.
Speaker A:But you could also make their day or change their life by sending them a great song.
Speaker C:I do have a funny story.
Speaker C:I got into a guy's truck.
Speaker C:He's a friend of mine.
Speaker C:I work with him every once in a while and every time I get in his truck, it's something bro.
Speaker C:Country thing.
Speaker C:So I started talking to him and he's not really aware of another world.
Speaker C:He just knows what's on the radio.
Speaker C:So for almost a year, every night at 6pm I've been sending him a text of a different artist to try out.
Speaker C:And after about three months he started getting annoyed.
Speaker C:But now he's actually.
Speaker C:He says, oh, I've actually listened to that one.
Speaker C:So I'm kind of.
Speaker C:It's kind of a funny what started out as messing with them.
Speaker C:It's still going.
Speaker C:Almost a year.
Speaker A:Well, okay.
Speaker C:I have a timer that says send, send, send him a message.
Speaker A:Well we may be.
Speaker A:So Zach is starting to tip our hands a little bit, but we are cooking on a newsletter to support you all, support our listeners and support the artist.
Speaker A:Stay tuned for that.
Speaker A:And if that interests you, if you want to be involved in that, if you want to get this, let us know.
Speaker A:Send us a direct message on the Americana Curious Instagram.
Speaker A:That's a great way to reach us right now.
Speaker A:Or you can leave a comment on Spotify or Apple or whatnot, but send us a message.
Speaker A:Let us know and definitely leave us a review.
Speaker A:Yeah, thanks y'all.
Speaker A:We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker A:Thanks for joining Zach and I for.
Speaker B:This episode of Americana Curious.
Speaker B:Subscribe where you listen to your podcast so you are notified when a new episode is released.
Speaker B:I'm Ben Fanning and it's been great sharing these artists and music with you.
Speaker B:Until next time, stay Americana Curious.
