Sonicbids Sunday: Unsigned artists profiled

The purest way to discover new artists has always been, and always will be live performance. Second to that, the Internet has provided a variety of interesting forums, from MySpace to YouTube, to individual artist sits.

One of those forums is a site called Sonicbids. At Sonicbids.com artists or bands can submit an electronic press kit, or EPK, to a variety of promoters, venues, and media outlets for consideration for anything from gigs, to publicity, to inclusion on a CD compilation, to a spot in a performance showcase. In my case, the artists are looking for press coverage.

One of the things I like most about Sonicbids is the wide variety of artists who participate. There are musicians and artists from every style and genre of music from all around the world represented. Many are quite good. So good in fact that I’m often surprised they are not already signed to a record contract. Some are what I call diamonds in the rough – artists who have talent but perhaps need seasoning or a good producer to make their music shine. Sure, a few of the artists leave you scratching your head, but those are the exception and not the rule.

Every Sunday, I’ll profile a few artists who recently found their way into my “Sonicbids Dropbox” (as it’s so cleverly called) that are definitely worth checking out.

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Andy Hawk & The Train Wreck Endings, Tin Can Town – Hawk accurately describes his sound as “mid-'60s Bob Dylan singing with the Old '97s.” Tin Can Town serves up 13 whiskey-soaked slices of folk/blues Americana that recall a night spent with friends at a favorite watering hole. Some of the tunes lend themselves to spontaneous sing-alongs, others will have your toes tapping, and some will cause both.

This is Hamilton, Virginia-based Andy Hawk’s fifth album since 2004, and his second with his band, The Train Wreck Endings. Hawk might look like the high school English teacher he is by day, but judging by the quality of his singing and songwriting, music is much more than a part-time hobby. The Train Wreck Endings - Chuck Bordelon (bass), Steve DeVries (mandolin, banjo, harmonica, backing vocals) Branden Hickman (drums) and Gary Rudinsky (lead guitar, backing vocals) provide strong support throughout.

The album kicks off with “Think Too Much,” a bright, catchy tune driven by DeVries mandolin playing. Hawk pairs introspective lyrics about a lost relationship to a bouncy melody:

“It's 3 a.m. and I can't help but wonder what went wrong/
Though I fill my glass, it looks half-empty to me/
I'm misty eyed and true and tried, alone with all I fear/
I can't go back or forward while I'm here”

The title track is one of the album’s most “Dylan-esque” tracks, with Hawk relating a tale of small town life in a rough-around-the-edges vocal.

“Maybe Someday” is a contagious piece of pop perfection, with a hint of Rubber Soul Beatles added for good measure, while the equally catchy “Real Gone Girl” amps up the country flavor. Hawk again acknowledges his Beatles/Dylan influences on mid-tempo acoustic tracks like “Music From Another Room,” “I Never Thought To Ask,” and “Ferris Wheel” – the latter featuring a tasty guitar solo from Rudinsky. The album comes full circle thematically and returns to the bar for the closing track, the lighthearted “The Last Two In The Bar.”

There a few minor missteps on Tin Can Town – weak lyrics spoil “Good Night,” and “Pitchy & Time-Erratic Blues,” and the latter tune seems out-of-place stylistically on the album. But overall, Tin Can Town is a remarkably strong independent effort the compares favorably to major label releases in the genre. You can purchase a copy, as well as Andy Hawk’s other albums through iTunes, or at CD Baby.

Hawk’s performance schedule keeps him in Virginia. If you’re down that way, here are the currently scheduled dates:

June 7, 11:00 a.m. - Celebrate Fairfax Festival - Starr Hill Stage (Fairfax, VA)
June 12, 5:00 p.m. - King's Court Tavern (Leesburg, VA)
July 11, 9:00 p.m. - King's Court Tavern (Leesburg, VA)

For complete up-to-date information, visit Hawk’s website: www.andyhawk.com

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Charles “Big Daddy” Stallings, Blues Evolution – If you didn’t know Baltimore-based Charles Stallings was a blues guy, all you’d have to do is take one look at the man. Smartly dressed, usually in black, a trademark red fedora (which, of course matches his Les Paul guitar and his point tip shoes) sits atop his large frame. Okay, he’s either a blues cat or an old-school rapper.

But Stallings is definitely a blues cat. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina and raised on a farm in Hobbsville, North Carolina, with his ten brothers and sisters. After moving to Baltimore, Stallings began performing in local R&B and Jazz bands, but always dreamed of recording with his own blues band.

Now he’s got one. He plays live with a seven-piece outfit that features core members Ronnie Jenkins (drums), Wayne Johns (guitar), Kelvin O'Neal (trumpet), and Joe "E Flat" Thomas (sax). They all appear on Blues Evolution, along with some notable guests, including keyboardist Bill Pratt, bassist Gail Parrish, and harp player Mark Wenner of the Nighthawks.

Blues Evolution plays like a live party album, opening with “Into Blues/Let’s Boogie” an extended instrumental in which the band gets to show off its considerable chops. Over the course of 15 tracks, Stallings and the band serve up just about every flavor of blues imaginable.

First up is some good ol’ dirty blues, “Going Down South,” which shows off Stallings strong vocals on a tune that may or may not be about the pleasures of travel and eating.

Wilmington gets name checked on the next track, “Blues Train Express,” which take the listener on a blues journey down the East Coast:

“Philadelphia, PA, where we’re not gonna stay/ Wilmington, Delaware – you wanna go, you gotta pay”

“Hard Times / Good Times” is a traditional slow blues, featuring Wenner wailing on the harmonica throughout.

Blues Evolution kicks into full-on party mode with the next track – “Blues Line Dance” – one of several tracks that applies the blues to some less traditional musical styles. On “Blues Line Dance,” the mash-up works well, especially when the horn section of Thomas and O’Neal drops in a little James Brown tribute. It’s not hard to imagine the song catching on and becoming another “Electric Boogie.”

“Cha Cha 3000” and “Hola Senorita” mix the blues with cha-cha and Latin styles respectively. “Hola Senorita” pushes the envelope a bit far and winds up sounding more like a parody, but the instrumental “Cha Cha 3000” brings the two divergent musical styles together surprisingly well.

Stallings seems to want Blues Evolution to be an album for blues fans and non-fans alike. For extra insurance, he throws in “Hand Dancin’” – a pretty good straight-ahead soul number. The album ends with “Thank-You Boogie,” in which Stallings calls out all the band members and guests that appear on the CD.

Blues Evolution has already received quite a bit of national attention, with reviews in Living Blues, Blues Review, and DownBeat Magazine, and has received enough airplay to reach the national blues radio charts. If Stallings and his band are as much fun live as they are on record (and I’ll bet they are), they must put on a heck of a party.

Here’s Stallings and his band performing live at the Surf Club in Bladensburg, MD on November 17, 2007:





You can purchase a copy of Blues Evolution, as well as Stallings’ first album, One Night Lover through iTunes, or at CD Baby.
Stallings performance schedule keeps him in Maryland. If you’re down that way, here are the currently scheduled dates:

May 29 - WEAA Spring Fundraiser Eubie Blake Cultural Center (Baltimore, MD)
May 31 - Chesapeake Bay Wine Fest - Terrapin Park (Stevenville, MD)
Jun 20 - City View Bar & Grill (Woodlawn, MD)
Jun 21 - Patterson Park Concert Series - 6-8 p.m. (Baltimore, MD)
Jun 27 - Bare Bones Grill & Brewery (Ellicott City, MD)
Jun 28 - Federal Hill Main Street Blues & Jazz Fest – 3 p.m. (Baltimore, MD)
Jul 4 - Blues Concert - Quiet Waters Park Concert Series – 6 p.m. (Annapolis, MD)

For complete up-to-date information, visit Stallings’ website: www.bigdaddystallings.com

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