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Musical acts you love that you figure hardly anyone knows about

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by old_tony, Aug 9, 2016.

  1. Neutral Corner

    Neutral Corner Well-Known Member

    Let's talk about Ry Cooder, who is a long time favorite of mine. The first thing of his you heard most likely was on the Stone's "Let it Bleed". He's playing the mandolin on "Love in Vain".

    This guy was an Americana artist before the term existed. He resurrected old folk, blues, jazz. He played Woody Guthrie. His sound on slide guitar is amazing and distinctive. He's restless in musical terms, a chameleon. He has played with any number of styles and sounds, from folk, to slide blues, gospel, conjunto and norteno, Hawaiian slack key, world music (he did some very nice stuff with Ali Farka Toure'). He's done a number of movie soundtracks. such as "The Long Riders", "Paris, Texas", and "Crossroads". He plays the guitars at the end of Crossroads (not Ralph Macchio, lol) in the guitar duel with Steve Vai.

    "Buena Vista Social Club" was a film he made about going to Cuba with his son to find all these old school Cuban Afro Latin Jazz players that were playing before the rise of Castro.

    Anyway, even if you don't really know anything about the guy, you've likely heard him along the way. Most recently he's been touring with Ricky Scaggs, Scaggs' wife Sharon White, and her father, Buck. The Whites are a legendary Texas country family group.

    Hard to pick just one example. I'm going back to his very first album. He's covering Blind Alfred Reed from 1929. Flaco Jimenez on the accordian.

     
  2. MisterCreosote

    MisterCreosote Well-Known Member

    Not sure if either of these count, but two of my favorites are Frank Zappa and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. In my experience, people are familiar with the names but not the actual music.
     
  3. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member


    Love it.
     
  4. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    Foetus

     
  5. Mr. Sunshine

    Mr. Sunshine Well-Known Member

    Spent a summer in high school in the late '80s living in Chicago with my brother and working. Didn't know anyone outside of family, so I spent most of my spare time listening to his vinyl collection. The Zappa records were the highlight. Came back to school that fall and wore out my Joe' s Garage cassettes.
     
  6. Flip Wilson

    Flip Wilson Well-Known Member

    You'll recognize the song but probably never heard of the singer: Barbara Lynn, from Beaumont, Texas. She still plays some live shows. She was in Austin a few weeks ago, but I didn't hear about the show until too late to go.

     
  7. Mr. Sunshine

    Mr. Sunshine Well-Known Member

    Lucifer's Friend and Point Blank
     
  8. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    Aztec Two Step
    The Brandos
    The (original) Flying Burrito Brothers
    The Lamont Cranston Band
     
  9. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Love Bob Schneider. Was playing one of his CDs in my cart the other day and a friend remarked on how good it is. So one more convert.

    I mentioned Luke Bell on the Top 50 Americana CDs. He doesn't really qualify as he's basically brand-new. Hopefully he gets some recognition.

    My all-time favorite is Butch Walker. Heard his Marvelous 3 hit "Freak of the Week" right about the time he was going solo. Loved that and his own stuff and have followed him ever since, going to his shows every chance I get. He's still putting out strong stuff, an example of which was just released today. His new CD hits in a week and a half or so:



    Saw this band a few years ago in Seattle when I was looking for something free to do. They were playing a free show in a park and instantly hooked me. Have seen them twice since. They tour practically nonstop. Here is a clip from a festival last year:



    One of my friends calls Lydia Loveless the next Neko Case. She has a new CD coming out next week. Here's the first single off it:

     
  10. JRoyal

    JRoyal Well-Known Member

    Oklahoma artist edition

    Parker Millsap


    JD McPherson


    John Moreland


    Broncho


    Wink Burcham


    Kalyn Fay
    Middlegate Station
     
  11. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    Saw Vintage Trouble open for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour in 2013, great live band
     
  12. king cranium maximus IV

    king cranium maximus IV Active Member

    Deerhoof. They're on the back end of their career now, but The Runners Four and Friend Opportunity are two of the best albums of last decade.

    Not everyone's cup of tea. Dadaist, occasionally veering into noise rock, though they've got songwriting chops. Very prolific.
     
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