Trent Dabbs - Southerner

Trent Dabbs' sixth full album, Southerner, was released a few weeks ago and it's been a wonderful listen thus far. You might not recognize his name but you've surely heard this Nashville singer/songwriter's efforts if you've ever watched TV. He's had songs on just about every major TV show from One Tree Hill to Grey's Anatomy and countless others. And those are just his songs, he's collaborated and written with many other Nashville musicians, who have also had similar success. 

Southerner is a departure from his poppier albums, as the spends this album looking at how his youth in Missisipi and life in Tennessee has shaped him and his music. One of the major influences of this album gets his own song "Neil Young" where he sings "I want to be somebody's Neil Young" which features some solid electric guitar, something we're not used to hearing on a Trent Dabbs album. His usual sweet self is ever present in "Can I Cross Your Mind", my favorite on the album, as well as "Catch Me Up to Speed" and "Keep Me Young". His songs always seem to possess that magical quality that make you go "awww". If you need some sweetness in your life, skip the sugar and pick up one of Trent Dabbs' albums. 

 Keep Me Young by Trent Dabbs 

On top of all that he started Ten out of Tennessee, an artists touring and recording group which has a really tremendous roster in the singer/songwriter world and has helped launch the careers of many young musicians like Matthew Perryman Jones, Butterfly Boucher, Erin McCarley, just to name a few. I've been really surprised by following these people on twitter because they support the hell out of each other unlike any other group of musicians. They all work pretty hard at letting people know when new songs are available, when and with whom they've been collaborating, and when new albums are released. It's been a really impressive thing to watch, they have a really strong community and Trent Dabbs has played a big part in that. 

The reason why I let loose on this Monday post is not just because I really like Trent Dabbs' music, but I think singer/songwriters get unfairly ignored in the blogging community. Ex: This is Dabb's 6th album, yet this is the first post about him on the Hype Machine. Whether you like the music or not, you should be aware that he's still getting albums sold and building platforms for other musicians to do the same. How can you not respect that? Buy his album here.

 Don't Blame Love by Trent Dabbs 

Wilco - You and I

As usual I had Monday morning posting issues. I can't find videos for most of the Ten out of Tenn album. I am obsessed with K.S. Rhoads' album, Dead Language as well as all of the other musicians he has worked with. But damn you, youtube, there are no decent videos to show you (or at least not the ones I want). I urge you all to check out the Ten out of Tenn albums (ten awesome musicians working in Nashville up to volume 3), and then come back here and blog about the ones you like, if you are lucky enough to find decent videos. There is lots to discover when you get into the singer/songwriter/helper-outers of Nashville. There is a large backlog of artists I have from Nashville that I have been waiting to get to write about when the mood strikes me and when videos are available. Also check out the local Nashville radio station, Lightning 100, that brings a lot of the artist in like Trent Dabbs, Andrew Belle, Erin McCarley, Katie Herzig, Butterfly Boucher, the list goes on.

Anyways, in all of this mess and youtube stress this morning I somehow worked my way back to a favorite band. And was shocked to find out that somehow in the excitement that was the European summer of '09, I totally missed the fact that Wilco released a new album, Wilco (the album). It is really great, I don't think they have ever had one bad album. Compared to their other albums like my favorite, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, it is less experimental and inventive. But it is still a really well done album, the piano and string compositions flow well throughout the album and are up to Wilco standards. There is just nothing new or exciting that pops out at you, not that it is a bad thing at all. I really like Everlasting Everything, You Never Know, and especially I'll Fight because for some reason it reminds me of Jeff saying "I would die for your honor." But here they are with Feist on Letterman.