Well, it’s been a very long time since I’ve done a “Mike’s Music” post. Mainly because one of my favorite music shows (Jool’s Holland) has been on a break – and then when the show came back I was bit uninspired… Anyway, the previous episode had a stonking return to form which is what inspired this post. It was one terrific performance after another – without the need for effusive personal testomonies or the need for “judges!”
I’ve got quite a lot of selections from youtube – so lets take this to a read more page…
Ren Harvieu was discovered on MySpace by manager Paul Harrison and producer/songwriter Jimmy Hogarth after uploading demo tracks, which Harrison and Hogarth listened to. She started recording an album but in May 2011, before it could be released, she broke her back in an accident where someone jumped over a hedge and landed on her. She spent two months in hospital recovering movement in her legs. On December 5, 2011, the BBC announced that she had been nominated for their BBC Sounds of 2012 poll. After releasing “Through the Night” (single) and “Open Up Your Arms”, her first album Through the Night was released on Kid Gloves Records on 14 May 2012.
Tom Jones is, of course a man who needs introduction. I think Tom has moved on from his days in Vegas and being inundated by women’s panties. He’s really maturing into a new phase. I think he might have the talents to be in the same league of Johnny Cash and his now legendary “American Recordings”. I first heard this song performed by white-noise band “The Jesus and Mary Chain” – and is originally a Leonard Cohen song (I’m currently listening to Cohen’s new album…). The Tower Song is followed by a number with Jools Holland on the piano – Travelling Shoes is a bit of gospel
The Punch Brothers are a progressive bluegrass band. The band consists of Chris Thile (mandolin), Gabe Witcher (fiddle/violin), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldridge (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). Their style has been described as “bluegrass instrumentation and spontaneity in the strictures of modern classical”. What I like is they can just play there instruments really well!
