Sarah Jarosz is a fresh-faced young lady from the Texas hill country. At just 19, she's already had the opportunity to not only meet, but create a record with some of her contemporary heroes (although most nearly a generation ahead of her). Because her instrumental reputation precedes her (Sarah plays mandolin, banjo, guitar, and even a toy piano on her album), she was able to employ Tim O'Brien, Chris Thile, and Abigail Washburn as additional musicians/vocalists on her first record. Each of these bluegrass legends offered up a glowing foreword about Sarah, praising not only her playing, but also vocals and songwriting.
I first learned of Sarah when I saw that she had a slot opening for the Dave Rawlings Machine on their recent tour. I was able to catch this show when they made a stop in Austin, and even ran into Sarah patiently waiting in line to catch Dave/Gillian/OCMS as they performed in-store the evening before the show.
Sarah's debut,
Song Up In Her Head, will go down as a well-crafted new-age bluegrass record. Despite where Sarah may take her career in the future, the guestlist it features will help it to remain a bluegrass favorite for some time and is currently helping garner extra attention for the young musician. This attention reached its pinnacle when Sarah learned that she would have a chance to take home a Grammy Award Sunday night.
Grammy nods don't often drift into our realm of the music world, but when they do, they usually show favor to the bluegrass end. Gillian Welch's debut was nominated for
Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1997 (when Sarah was 6) and her work on the
O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack helped it win the Grammy for
Album Of The Year in 2001 (10, when she started playing the mandolin). As Sarah made obvious in her set in Austin, she was thrilled/honored/maybe a little nervous to open for a true heroine in the business. Fittingly following Gillian's lead, Sarah's debut finds itself in the running for a Grammy. Her song
'Maninneedof' has a chance to be named the
Best Country Instrumental Performance. Sarah will be contending against international outfit The Greencards for the song
'The Crystal Merchant' off their album
Fascination. Also nominated in the category are Alison Brown and Steve Wariner.
Sarah Jarosz - ManinneedofThe Greencards - The Crystal Merchant
But bluegrass isn't the only genre that occasionally get Grammy attention. Obvious
ThisMornin' favorite Ryan Adams found himself thrice nominated in 2002.
Gold:
Best Rock Album,
'New York, New York':
Best Male Rock Vocal,
'Lovesick Blues':
Best Male Country Vocal. In 2004, Wilco's
A Ghost Is Born took home the honor for
Best Alternative Music Album.
The award for
Best Contemporary Folk Album was first awarded in 1987. Previous winner include John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Alison Krauss, Bob Dylan, and Steve Earle - who is again nominated this year for his well-crafted tribute album
Townes. Joining him in the category is Neko Case, whose
Middle Cyclone is also nominated for its artwork with
Best Recording Package.
Steve Earle - To Live Is To Fly
Neko Case - People Got A Lotta Nerve2010 will mark the first ever award for Best Americana Album, hopefully starting a much-deserved shift in notoriety for the growing genre. Your nominees:
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Levon Helm - Electric Dirt
Willie Nelson & Asleep At The Wheel - Willie & The Wheel
Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
Indie mainstay Karen O finds herself nominated in two categories for two different projects. Her band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs'
It's Blitz is in the running for
Best Alternative Album. Karen's work on the
Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack has been praised all over, and the song
All Is Love is nominated for
Best Song Written for a Motion Picture.
Karen O & The Kids - All Is LoveRyan Adams' on-again off-again go-to producer Ethan Johns is nominated for both
Best Engineered Album and
Producer of the Year for his work on Ray Lamontagne's album
Gossip In The Grain.
Ray LaMontagne - You Are The Best Thing
All of this said, I'm still not gonna put myself through the agony of watching this commercialized spectacle - I may try to time it so I can catch some of the above mentioned awards. That is... if they manage to find time to televise them between Taylor Swift and Rihanna performances.
If you're here, you're lost. 
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Let's be honest. Lately, I've updated the look of this blog more often than the content. My post frequency has dropped recently due to a number of reasons. We won't get into why. Instead, let's get into how we go about fixing this.
Johnny's sixth installment of the American Recordings catalog was released today - his 78th birthday. You can download it through Amazon, today only, for $3.99, and I strongly suggest you do.
The Amazon music store is just as big as iTunes catalog, and their 10 million mp3s still go for only $.99. In addition to their daily $3.99 deal, each month, Amazon also makes 100 mp3 albums available for only $5. Here are some notable ones:
eMuisc is where I get a large majority of my purchased music. I pay $11.99/month for 30 downloads (about $.40 a song). There are 4 other plans to choose from on either side of that. Additionally, eMusic puts select albums on sale. They do this by offering a full album download (10-14 tracks) for only 7 credits - or something close to that. When you initially sign up, you'll also get 25 free downloads to start.
Another great online music source is AmieStreet.com. They offer music on a demand-based system. When as song is first added, it's FREE (or very cheap). Each time the song/album is downloaded, the price goes up slightly, songs capping out at $.98 cents. So if you're quick, you can beat any deal, anywhere.
Been quiet around here lately. Sorry for the lack of posts.
Woke up this Monday morning to some exciting news in my inbox. Josh Ritter's much anticipated follow-up to 2007's Historical Conquests now has a title, release date, and a promo track. So Runs The World Away will be available in the states on May 4th (April 23rd in Ireland).
As much as Josh is loved throughout the blogosphere, I'm sure this will be posted everywhere, but I'd like to be the first to bring it to you. Josh wants you to join his mailing list to get this track, so do that too below.
Another week, another winner, another contest. Congratulations to Tim for winning the Justin Townes Earle contest from last Wednesday.
Got an email this morning containing some free tracks available from AmieStreet.com. One of which happens to come from a very highly anticipated album - Joe Pug's full-length debut Messenger. The disc comes out February 16th via Lightning Rod Records following Joe's impressive first two EPs. Get Nation of Heat here and In The Meantime is still available for free when you join Joe's mailing list.
Sarah Jarosz is a fresh-faced young lady from the Texas hill country. At just 19, she's already had the opportunity to not only meet, but create a record with some of her contemporary heroes (although most nearly a generation ahead of her). Because her instrumental reputation precedes her (Sarah plays mandolin, banjo, guitar, and even a toy piano on her album), she was able to employ Tim O'Brien, Chris Thile, and Abigail Washburn as additional musicians/vocalists on her first record. Each of these bluegrass legends offered up a glowing foreword about Sarah, praising not only her playing, but also vocals and songwriting.
But bluegrass isn't the only genre that occasionally get Grammy attention. Obvious ThisMornin' favorite Ryan Adams found himself thrice nominated in 2002. Gold: Best Rock Album, 'New York, New York': Best Male Rock Vocal, 'Lovesick Blues': Best Male Country Vocal. In 2004, Wilco's A Ghost Is Born took home the honor for Best Alternative Music Album.
Just picked a winner for the last download giveaway - Congrats Jeanette!
album Downtown Church (Out Today). As the title may suggest, it's a gospel-flavored album that was actually recorded in an empty church. Another chillingly tender album from Patty. Go ahead and but it: [Amazon CD/mp3]
