Friday, May 23, 2014

Folks We Oughta Know – The Canyon Style

     On a semi-regular basis, a post is dedicated to the Indie Folk Genre. Normally, the post is named for the month. However, the name of this Folk-related post is “Canyon Style,” since each of the band names includes the term “canyon.”

     Since Old Man Canyon is headed to the San Francisco Area in the near future, we’ll start with two songs that have been heard on television shows in 2014. “Wiser” has “appeared” on the Showtime series Shameless and on NBC’s About a Boy. The song “Phantoms and Friends” has been on the show Suits and twice on Shameless.
     On June 10, 2014, Old Man Canyon will visit Hotel Utah in San Francisco. The band is based in Vancouver, Canada. Jett Pace fronts the band and provides the distinctive vocals, but only a group effort can achieve the texture that appears in these two songs. 
     "Wiser" by Old Man Canyon

     "Phantoms and Friends" by Old Man Canyon


      Hicks Canyon Band hails from Irvine, California. The members are Spencer Hannemann (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals), Alex Teubert (drums, percussion, vocals), Jonathan O'Brien (bass, keys, guitar, vocals), Carole Anne Pecchia (vocals), and Nehemiah Chen (violin).
     Our song of preference is “Blood Veins.” However, there are other songs in which the violin is more evident, with positive results. 
      "Blood Veins" by Hicks Canyon Band

      "What's Remaining" by Hicks Canyon Band


     Then there’s Great American Canyon Band. “Wild Heart” is a song by this Baltimore-based duo of Paul and Krystal Jean Masson. The husband-and-wife team shows its vocal skills throughout the song, but does so with little completion from the instruments in the first half of "Wild Heart" and with a shared spotlight with the instruments during much of the second half.
     “Wild Heart” by Great American Canyon Band 

     “Lay My Body Down” by Great American Canyon Band


     Yah, we recognize that it’s not Indie Folk and that the term “canyon” is in the song title rather than the band name. Still, we like “Old Canyon Road” by Hill People. The song has a freshly minted Grouplove feel to it. The band comprises Australian siblings Joe, Esther and Samuel Crowley.
     “Old Canyon Road” by Hill People (currently a free download)

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