I received my free copy of Big Head Todd and the Monsters’ new album All the Love You Need in the mail a few days ago. If you went to their website this time last month (or maybe even earlier, I can’t remember) and entered the usual contact info, they promised to send out a free copy of their new album to you!

I remember listening to Big Head Todd and the Monsters quite a bit when I was in high school. Their recordings were good, but I really fell in love with their music when I saw them live! I saw Big Head Todd open for the Dave Matthews Band at the original Mile High Stadium in Denver…yes, those were the days, before it was demolished, rebuilt, and renamed Invesco Field AT Mile High.

The memories of this event are ingrained deep as this was my first “big” concert experience. Todd played a white Telecaster and “Bittersweet” and “Broken Hearted Savior” never sounded so good. They also used to do a great cover of Jimmy Page’s “Tangerine.”

If you go to the Big Head Todd website now, you can download the entire new album for free! You have to enter your address (so some may argue that the music isn’t quite free, whatever) but that’s about it. Most bands simply use this information to help route their tours.

Giving your fans the gift of free music is a great way to spur new interest in long time fans, and even win over some newbies. If you aren’t familiar with Big Head Todd, you should check out their new album. To get the full experience, however, I really encourage you to at least check out the two older songs listed above.

Here are a couple of my favorites from the new album All the Love You Need:

Spanish Highway

How Easy

Big Head Todd’s MySpace: myspace.com/bhtm

Big Head Todd’s Website: bigheadtodd.com

I’m still enjoying the view in the photo below, at least for the next few days. When I’m not listening to the waves in the background, I’ve had The Avett Brothers newest album “Emotionalism” piping through the ipod.

I didn’t know much about this band before I hauled the disc from the bin to the cash register, but I’m REALLY glad I picked this one up. You can sample a few songs on their MySpace page.

It is easy to see why The Avett Brothers won both Duo/Group of the Year and New & Emerging Artist awards from the Americana Music Association. If you have a soft spot for melodic roots influenced music, give “Emotionalism” a few (hundred) spins. Even though you can hear a banjo in many of the tracks, and mostly acoustic instruments are used throughout the album, some of the songs give me a bit of an early rock ‘n’ roll vibe.

The Avett Brothers MySpace: www.myspace.com/theavettbrothers

The Avett Brothers Website: www.theavettbrothers.com

Photo Credit: Crackerfarm, Avett Jubilee / Festival Essex

This is the view from where I’m staying for the next week, and as a result, my posts will be short and sandy…I mean sweet.

I finally saw “Reign Over Me” last night with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle. The movie as well as the music was great! I’ve been searching for the “soundtrack” (not the score/background music version) and unfortunately I don’t think the group of classic rock songs as presented in the movie will be released as a collection.

I hate it when they do this. At least release two different versions, the score, and the rest of the songs that played such a key role in many important scenes in the movie. People would be willing to hand over the cash for this collection of songs. With songwriters such as Graham Nash, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, and Pete Townshend, how could you go wrong? The movie had both The Who’s version and Pearl Jam’s cover of “Love, Reign O’er Me.”

Not only is it annoying that you can’t buy all of the songs together, but even if they were all available on itunes, it takes too long to go and gather all of them and download the songs individually. If people have to hunt the music down and assemble it themselves, I see people stealing the music from a P2P service rather than jumping around twenty different itunes pages to find these songs. This seems like a missed opportunity.

On a bit of a side note: If you do happen to watch this film, doesn’t Adam Sandler look A LOT like Bob Dylan throughout much of the movie?

A mysterious package was delivered yesterday. I couldn’t remember ordering anything for myself, and all of the music I recently purchased had already arrived. Hmmm…Priority mail? Addressed to me?

After anxiously ripping open the box I was ecstatic (and very thankful) to see that one of my loyal readers had sent me the Josh Ritter songbook that I hinted I wanted in a post last month! If you are a Josh Ritter fan and can strum a few guitar chords, well maybe more than a few, then you should definitely get your hands on one of these books. Josh’s online store

This generous gift reminded me of a great Josh Ritter show from Austin, TX October 29th, 2007 that I found a little while ago. Here are a couple of my favorites from that show. The sound quality is fairly good except for a chatty audience.

Josh Ritter, Monster Ballads

Then, here is a great cover of “Crystal Chandeliers and Burgundy,” a song that Johnny Cash made famous but was actually written by Jack Wesley Routh.

Josh Ritter, Crystal Chandeliers and Burgundy

The entire concert is available here.

Josh Ritter’s MySpace: www.myspace.com/joshritter

Josh Ritter’s Website: www.joshritter.com

I think I first heard these guys on XM Satellite Radio a week or two ago. You see, I have this list on my desktop with the names of bands/artists that I have recently just discovered. If I hear a track I like, their name immediately goes on the list. When time permits, and sometimes even when it doesn’t, I pull up “the list,” plug in the headphones, and dive into the music.

For some reason, The Felice Brothers had an asterisk next to their name. So when I pulled out the list tonight, I explored their music first, and consequently, theirs was the only music I got to. I kept listening to the four songs on their MySpace page over and over.

Since I can’t quite put my finger on what it is that I love so much about The Felice Brothers, here’s what Gabe Soria of Vice Magazine February, 2007 had to say:

…They’re a harvest festival, a late-night meal of greasy roast chicken and a stolen bottle of red wine shared with friends, and a woozy summer night filled with the promise of love, danger, barbecue and fireworks, all rolled into one…

I hear a little Bob Dylan, a little gypsy?, and well…some interesting and truthful songwriting. As others have observed, there is something distinctly American about them, and I could agree more.

The Felice Brothers MySpace: www.myspace.com/thefelicebrothers

The Felice Brother Website: www.thefelicebrothers.com

I like Doug Burr because stylistically his music expands my “listening comfort zone”. Although he is based out of the Lone Star State, (as if you couldn’t tell from the flag in the background above) he separates himself from the body of twang-ish music coming out of places like Austin these days (not that there isn’t a ton of great music in Austin).

There are certainly folk/country elements to his music, but Burr has a way of setting a mood with his songs that sets him apart from more traditional singer/songwriters. The songs are simple, but the layered production adds depth and interesting and unpredictable moments. Like I said, a little bit different from what I usually listen to, but it’s definitely growing on me.

You can get a free mp3 of “In the Garden,” a song off of his new album “On Promenade” at Spune, a label/artist development/promotion company. I think giving away a free single from new releases, or at least allowing potential fans/customers to listen to full tracks is absolutely necessary. Sure, lots of artists are doing it these days, but still not enough have embraced this strategy. I applaud Doug for being with the times.

Now if only the other Doug, (Doug Morris, Universal Music Group CEO) could get with the times. It is scary how music industry executives think: or don’t think.

Doug’s MySpace: www.myspace.com/dougburr

Doug’s Website: www.dougburr.com

Photo Credit: Kate Mackley

Will Hoge’s name has been floating around my head for a while now, and after listening to his new album I’m kicking myself for not going straight to the record store the instant I heard his name, probably over a year ago.

So if you’re like me, and you’ve heard of (or never heard of, now you have) Will Hoge but haven’t taken the time to get acquainted with his tunes, stop reading this and go to his MySpace page right now! You will have a chance to stream his ENTIRE new album “Draw the Curtains” from start to finish.

The fact that you can preview the entire album before laying down the cash and committing the music to shelf, I mean hard drive space is fantastic. This is the way it should be, and more artists/record labels should take note. People have been making the argument for a while now that you can test-drive cars, computers, clothes, and even chicken sandwiches before you buy them (yes those little toothpick samples count). So why not music?

Alright…back to Will Hoge! He wraps a whole lotta soul, a little blues, a touch of country, and pure passion into his tunes. And in my book, that’s a recipe for great rock music. My words here certainly don’t do him justice, so I suggest checking him out yourself…the sooner the better.

You can get a free mp3 of “Dirty Little War,” one of the tracks from the newest album at Will’s website.

Here are a few of my favorites from the new album: “The Highway’s Home,” “Silver or Gold,” “Midnight Parade,” “Dirty Little War.”

Will’s MySpace: www.myspace.com/willhoge

Will’s Website: www.willhoge.com

Photo Credit: Will Byington

Joe Whyte has me reaching for my wallet again, anxiously wanting to consume every note he has ever recorded, and helping me to continue on my quest to spend all of my hard earned scratch on music. I just discovered him a couple of days ago and as I type this, I have This Foolish Heart ripping through my headphones.

Joe Whyte is the “real deal,” whatever the “real deal” means when it comes to music (I place the “real deal” a few notches above “frickin’ good”). In other words, he is unbelievable. You could call him Alt-Country, Folk-Rock, Americana, etc., but regardless of the genre it comes down to this, he is a great songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. His latest album, Devil in the Details, came out earlier this year and I can’t wait for my copy to come in the mail!

Joe is one of those artists that I wish I had discovered years ago. His tender stripped down ballad No More even has me considering buying a mandolin! Actually I’ve been thinking about that one for a while now, but this tune may push me over the edge.

Oh, and guess what…no record label.

Joe’s MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/joewhyte

Joe’s Website: http://www.joewhyte.com

Photo Credit: Kim Gilligan