One thing holds true here at Trail Mix . . . . the month after a festival gets featured, you are guaranteed to get a ton of music! A ton! This month’s mix is huge! 33 tracks long! I uploaded tunes from behind a mountain of discs over the course of two nights! I had so much music on hand that I had to move a bunch of stuff to July.
Of course, that isn’t bad news. It’s good news. It means next month will be just as bad ass as this month.
We kick things off this month with a great track from Stanton Moore. Fans of Galactic are well aware of Mr. Moore and the underpinning his drum chops have provided the stalwart band of the New Orleans jazz/funk scene. Having churned out sick jams with Galactic for nearly two decades, Moore returns to his roots with his first jazz trio record, Conversations. “Tchefunkta,” this month’s lead track, is a fine representation of that sweet NOLA swing that listeners can find on Moore’s new record.
This month also marks the return of The Whiskey Gentry to Trail Mix. Recently, the band released its first live record, Live From Georgia, and “Dime Short of Dollar Bill” highlights singer Lauren Morrow’s impressive pipes. You won’t find a better band on the scene right now that better blends alt-country and folk sounds. These guys are the real deal.
There are some impressive Trail Mix debuts this month, too. Check out “Satan’s Toy” from Kelsey Rae Copeland, an up and coming songwriter from Southwest Virginia. Jason D. Williams, son of the famous Jerry Lee Lewis, is featured, as are two great new acoustic bands, The Warren G. Hardings and The Boston Boys. Other great new bands include The Bones of J.R. Jones, The Howling Tongues, Caleb Caudle, and Fire Mountain, and Hezekiah Goode.
I am also excited to finally feature a tune from Danny Schmidt on the mix. I used to go catch Danny and his Charlottesville songwriting comrades at these shows they put on called King of My Living Room. On a stage made to look like someone’s living room, Charlottesville’s best songwriters threw songs around at each other. As a member of the audience, I felt like a witness to something all to private. This month, Danny is joined by Carrie Elkin on the outstanding “Two White Clouds.”
There are just too many artists this month to mention. All of them are great. Check them all out more than once. Stay tuned to the Trail Mix blog for artist features and some album giveaways. Make sure to download and stream at work or home, school or the office . . . . Tell a friend. Tell your mama. And, as always, seek out some of these records from these great artists. They support Trail Mix. Let’s show some appreciation by buying their music.
Download our June Trailmix here.
