Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions : AA Bondy

It was a really beautiful day last Monday evening. The sun was at it’s brightest, not quite content to turn in for the evening, but on it’s way down regardless. There was a breeze though, and the humidity was unusually mild for a Tennessee August, which made for a really nice setting to hear music in. Particularly the dulcet voice and subdued finger-picking of AA Bondy. I’ve met a lot of people who play music for a living in my day, and few, if any of them, were as amicable and excitable as Mr. Bondy. It’s good to meet one of the good ones from time to time, if nothing else to renew your faith that sincere music can come from sincere people. Pick up his record, American Hearts if you have an extra few bucks. It’s worth every penny.

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] AA Bondy – Black Rain, Black Rain [Live : Backstage Session]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] AA Bondy – The Mightiest of Guns [Live : Backstage Session]

Buy AA Bondy’s American Hearts from Insound.

Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions : Centro-matic

Centro-Matic
June 24, 2008
Mercy Lounge
Nashville, TN

When Centro-matic frontman Will Johnson started singing his songs for us backstage at the Mercy Lounge a very fitting scene began to form. Situated on a hand-me-down sofa in front of a cracking exposed brick wall, Will sang a song about loss and frustration as the sun set and a coal train slowly churned along behind him. There couldn’t have been a more perfect background for the sad song and whiskey-and-cigarettes voice singing it. It was a really beautiful thing and we’re glad we get to share it with you.

Oh, and if you listen closely you can hear some bleed-through of Glossary’s pedal steel check which, though unintentional, sounds pretty magnificent with Counting The Scars. I love the improv’d nature of these sessions for moments such as that.

Stream the HD version here!
[mp3] Centro-matic – Trust to Lose [Live – Backstage in Nashville]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Centro-matic – Counting The Scars [Live – Backstage in Nashville]

Buy Centro-matic’s new double disc LP featuring side-band South San Gabriel here.

Backstage Sessions : The First Ten Episodes – An Audio Recap

I realized today that the posting of the second installment of our session with Ingrid Michaelson marks our tenth episode of The Backstage Sessions. I know some of you have not yet hopped on board, so I wanted to post a little easy to download sampler zip. The zip contains my favorite performance from each of our sessions, and for your convenience you can also download each track individually. Of course you can see the HD video of these performances and grab the mp3’s not included on the mix by clicking on that shiny “Backstage Sessions” tab above you.

Don’t worry, we’re still in full-swing, I’m actually working on editing the wonderful Centro-matic session as we speak for your consumption.

[Zip] Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions Sampler [Episodes 1-10]

[mp3] The Lonely H – Rollin’
[mp3] Headlights – Towers
[mp3] The Whigs – Like a Vibration
[mp3] Bon Iver – Creature Fear
[mp3] Fleet Foxes – Katie Cruel
[mp3] John Vanderslice – Numbered Lithograph
[mp3] Via Audio – Lizard
[mp3] Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Oceanographer
[mp3] Sea Wolf – Middle Distance Runner
[mp3] Ingrid Michaelson – The Way I am

See & Hear more Backstage Sessions here

What do you think of the series so far?

Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions : Ingrid Michaelson (Part 2/2)

Ingrid Michaelson
Exit/In
Nashville, tn
June 9, 2008

Part two of our wonderful but delayed because of technical difficulties Backstage Session with Ingrid Michaelson. Catch part one here.

Watch the HD version here!
[mp3] Ingrid Michaelson – The Way I am [Live – Backstage Session]

Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions : Ingrid Michaelson (Part 1/2)

Ingrid Michaelson

Exit/In
Nashville, tn
June 9, 2008

Usually we have Backstage Sessions up in a matter of days after they’re filmed. This go around some issues with the original footage caused a big delay (over two weeks!) I’m happy to report that we’re on our way to getting everything done and worked out though, and part 1 of the session is available for you now, today. Part two will follow shortly.

Ingrid Michaelson and her band were troopers! It’s HOT at the Exit/In in the summer (no A/C in the backstage area) and they were patient enough to play two songs for us in the sweltering heat without complaining. We also learned they have a career in stand-up comedy if this music thing doesn’t work out, (they’re seriously funny girls and a guy). If you haven’t yet purchased Ingrid’s latest effort, Girls & Boys, which has taken her to just about every press outlet imaginable, I encourage you to do so right now. Luckily for you, Ingrid & CO. are still on the road with a series of headlining dates, several festival treks, and even a few dates supprting Dave Matthews Band. See which show is closest to you here.

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Ingrid Michaelson – Far Away (Live – Backstage Session)

Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions : Sea Wolf

The Exit/In was a less than desirable place Friday night. It’s our favorite venue in town for sure, but we’d never ventured backstage during the summer months (we only started Backstage Sessions in February) so we weren’t prepared for the lack of air conditioning in the all concrete space on an 89 degree day. It was, to be understated, excruciatingly hot. Luckily for us The Exit/In has the friendliest staff in Nashville and they were kind enough to let us turn off the A/C fans which were dumping extra hot air into the space through their back-ends.

Once Sea Wolf began to play their songs for us though, the extremely uncomfortable sticky southern heat began to feel more like a comfortable fire on a chili night. No one noticed the thick, warm May air and for 10 minutes or so we just basked in the instant familiarity of Alex Church’s songs. You can share with us by streaming the video below and taking the mp3’s of the performances as a souvenir. See the rest of Sea Wolf’s tour dates here, buy their music here.

Sea Wolf – Middle Distance Runner

Stream the HD Version Here!

[mp3] Sea Wolf – Middle Distance Runner (Live – Backstage Session)


Sea Wolf – You’re a Wolf

Stream the HD version of this video here!

[mp3] Sea Wolf – You’re a Wolf (Live – Backstage Session)

Via Audio & Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin : Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions

Via Audio & Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

The Hi-Tone
Memphis, Tn
April 29, 2008

This was the funnest session we’ve ever done. We spent 2 days in Memphis: seeing movies, trying to find vegetarian food (apparently hard to do in Memphis – one girl responded with “yeah, we have salad…and chicken), going to the park, Stax, and watching music. The sessions were crazy, Via Audio & SSLYBY performing each other’s songs together as a super group of sorts, banging on pots and pans, cheese graters, basketballs, guitars, and singing into fans. We shot a lot of footage which we’ll edit into a mini-doc of sorts soon. There are also some fun covers to enjoy below…

Lizard [Via Audio – unreleased]

Stream the HD version here

[mp3] Via Audio & Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltin- Lizard [Live – Backstage Session]

I Can’t Focus [Via Audio]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Via Audio & Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltin- I Can’t Focus [Live – Backstage Session

Oceanographer [Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin & Via Audio – Oceanographer [Live – Backstage Session]

The Beach Song [Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin]

Stream the HD version here!

[mp3] Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin & Via Audio – The Beach Song [Live – Backstage Session]

Heart Shaped Box [Nirvana Cover]

Stream the HD version here!

NOTE: Vimeo seems to be confused and saying the video does not exist: it does. Click on the HD link to watch it.

[mp3] Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin & Via Audio – Heart Shaped Box (Nirvana) [Live – Backstage Session]

Bonus mp3:
[mp3] Via Audio & Someone Still Loves you Boris Yeltsin – Weird Fishes (Radiohead)

##

Buy Via Audio Records
Buy Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin Records

A Conversation With The New Pornographers [Video pt.1]

We’re honored to do our first video conversation with a band as great as The New Pornographers. It was also nice to learn that in addition to being great songwriters &musicians, they’re also nice, grounded, gentle human beings who like their friends, love their jobs, and still can’t believe they get to make music for a living.

Note: it was also great to hear venue staff who were confused at the band’s name. Apparently the sound man thought the New Pornographers was not a band name, but a literal traveling group of pornographers. Gotta love Nashville.

The following interview took place on Friday April 18th, Backstage at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville, TN. This is part one of the interview, part two will be available later this week.

Watch the HD version here!

L to R : Kathryn Calder (Keyboards, Vocals), Carl Newman (Songwriter, Guitar Vocals), John Collins (Bass, Guitar)

Bon Iver Backstage Session mp3’s now available

Originally, we told you that we couldn’t give you the mp3’s for the Bon Iver Backstage Session. For whatever reason, Jagjaguwar decided to give us the green light to post the mp3’s which we were originally barred from posting. Thanks to the kind folks at J.J. for the clearance. Now enjoy the mp3’s!

[mp3] Bon Iver – Creature Fear (Live – Backstage Session)
[mp3] Bon Iver – Flume (Live – Backstage Session)

Buy Bon Iver’s wonderful LP, For Emma, Forever Ago (from which both of these tracks are culled), at Jagjaguwar.

John Vanderslice : Hard to Find a Friend’s Backstage Sessions

If you’d have asked me at 8:00 pm last night if the planned Backstage Session with John Vanderslice was going to go down, I’d have told you without a doubt, “No.” John didn’t realize how early he was playing, and he’s too kind to monopolize the backstage area, so to avoid inconveniencing Malkmus & The Jicks we set up shop in the back billiard room/secondary bar of the Mercy Lounge / Cannery Ballroom. As if that wasn’t enough, it seemed a few select members of the staff (specifically a cranky & rude doorman) didn’t want things to go down as planned, but John would not be stopped. With the clock ticking down until his set time, John chose to forgo eating dinner to play some songs for us in a pool hall with his absurdly talented violin player/backup vocalist Daniel Hart. He really is the nicest guy in Indie Rock.

Please, buy a record & see a show!

STREAM THE HD VERSION HERE! (Latest version of flash required)

[mp3] John Vanderslice – White Dove (Live – Backstage Sessions)
[mp4] John Vanderslice – White Dove (Live – Backstage Sessions – video)

STREAM THE HD VERSION HERE! (Latest version of flash required)

[mp3] John Vanderslice – Numbered Lithograph (Live – Backstage Session)
[mp4] John Vanderslice – Numbered Lithograph (Live – Backstage Sessions – video)

Watch more Backstage Sessions here.

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