Check out the Old Man's Beard

From the the deepest recesses of British Columbia's southern interior, the group Old Man's Beard began as a project for friends Michael Shaver (vocals and guitar) and Jesse Clarke (vocals, guitar, mandolin). Since forming their songwriting partnership in early 2008, Mike and Jesse have toured and worked hard to create a terrific album of original music that showcases both a catchy folk rock sound and the spirit of what it is to be a British Columbian. As a duo they have been exciting audiences with their unique live show consisting of a blend of reggae, boot-stompin' folk, and rock and roll. Over the last few years, the duo has evolved into a five-piece unit that includes Darrin Herting (bass), Leon Power (drums), and Stephanie Webster (vocals and additional percussion). Together, this five piece has built a sound complete with rich, home brewed harmonies, catchy rhythms and streamlined guitar work. After a winter of writing and recording, the band has released its first album, 'The River' and are currently touring in support of the disc. <

Old Man's Beard have had their song 'Dawson Bound' featured on the popular television show Daily Planet. Since mid-July, 'Tofino' (the song I first heard of theirs) has received play on CBC radio's province-wide program, All Points West. The group recently performed as part of the 2009 Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival and participated in the 2009 British Columbia Interior Music Awards (BCIMA) as a performer and nominee in the Best New Artist category. Old Man's Beard clearly love playing music together and this love of music is definitely helping to grow their fan base beyond BC's boarders to all across Canada. I first heard them earlier today after my mom sent me the Tofino song that she had heard off the radio. I really liked the track and dug some more of their stuff off the cbc and off their myspace page
http://www.myspace.com/oldmansbeardmusic

I really like the track Dawson Bound as well. The vocals on this track really seem to remind me of Brandon Boyd (Incubus) and that actually goes for the album as well. It is kind of an interesting mix of Incubus, Bedouin Soundclash, and the Fleet Foxes. The album is really good and totally catches the spirit of BC rock. I think this is a pretty awesome start for these guys from the interior and I hope this isn't the last we hear from them. If you like folk rock in the vein of the new folk revival that is happening then totally dig these guys, especially if you have dug the Fleet Foxes or Mumford & Sons articles that I have written lately.
Cheers all,
See you on Monday!
-Tosho
Check out this awesome live cut from a radio show performance in Medicine Hat.

#18 The one, the only, Bob Dylan

If you have never heard of Bob Dylan you should probably just go back to the moon or wherever you have been hiding over the last fifty years. Bob Dylan, often called the Father of Folk Rock, is generally recognized as one of the top 3 American writers of all time and named as the top solo musician in Rock History. His performing career spans over five decades and his discography extends from the early sixties and contains over 30 albums and counting. Artists like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Tom Waits have publicly stated that Dylan has profoundly affected his career. There are universities in the USA that teach degree programs in Dylanology. In 2008 the Pulitzer Prize committee invented a prize just for Dylan for what they called his 'profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.'The man is one of the greatest rock icons of all time--even if you aren't much of a fan you can't really deny that.

I am going to write a different sort of article on Bob because there are books that could fill a room on him and I don't have a degree in Dylanology.

I first started getting into Bob Dylan when I was about 13. I was watching the new documentary series 'The Beatles Anthology' (a fantastic series by the way) and I saw a segment where the Beatles professed how much they loved the music of Dylan and how much he influenced them early on. That influence is clearly felt on albums like 'Help' ("Hide Your Love Away") and Rubber Soul ("Norwegian Wood"). Getting this kind of high praise from the Beatles was more then enough motivation for me to start checking out Dylan's work. I started out right from the beginning with his self titled debut album from 1962; he had already been touring the coffee house scenes for over 3 years at the time of the record's release. From there I dove in hungrily with albums like 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' (1963) and 'Highway 61 Revisited' (1965). Those are two of my favorite albums in all of music. The lyrics are amazing! If you took away the music the songs would stand alone as beautiful poetry. After getting into those two albums I was hooked and have loved Dylan since.

I first got to see Dylan in 2007 in Victoria, BC. This was in the middle of his Modern Times tour. The show was brilliant and Dylan was in top form that night, belting out classics such as "Maggie's Farm" and, one of my personal faves, "Don't Think Twice It's Alright". It blew my mind and has totally solidified me as a Dylan fan.

In October of 2008 I got to see him again in Victoria, BC and this time I got to meet him in person! I was working as a medic at the Save On Foods Arena and I figured the chance at meeting Dylan was well worth the risk of being fired so I snuck backstage and managed to introduce myself to him. I got to talk to him for a few minutes which mostly consisted of me trying to refrain from shouting out "I'M NOT WORTHY!". He asked me if my name was connected to Peter Tosh and I told him how my parents were huge reggae music fans. I made a quick exit soon after thanking him immensely for the opportunity to meet him and his staff gave me a sweet pin with the tour insignia on it that I still wear on my jacket to this day. In person Dylan seemed like a really down to earth guy for the most part. I was actually a bit surprised by that, seeing as the man is a living legend.

What really surprised me was that a lot of people walked out halfway through the show. The local rag (Times Colonist) gave the show a horrible review saying how bad Dylan sounded and that he should stop touring as he doesn't have what he used to. I haven't read anything in that paper in years and have sent them many letters stating that I think their music reviewer should be fired for incompetence--Bob Dylan gets a crap review but Def Lepporard or Cher or Brian Addams get glowing reviews? Clearly this man is going to Rock and Roll Hell for that one. Give me a break people, that show was dynamite! Bob was in top form and the backing band rocked the house down. The only people that were disappointed were those that showed up somehow expecting the 25 year old version of Dylan to hit the stage..... Well maybe after that miracle he would have introduced John Lennon back from the dead for a one-night-only duet. Personally, I love the fact that he can mix things up and perform the songs differently all the time. How boring would it be for him to do his old songs exactly the same for over 40 years? To those who said "boo hoo he didnt play the guitar?": who cares?! He is a singer above all and he sung every song that night. Its not like seeing a Jimi Hendrix concert and having Jimi play piano all night.
If nothing else, this concert was WELL worth the fifty dollar price of admission just for his awesome version of "Stuck Inside of Mobile".

The Facts:
-Bob was born Robert Allen Zimmerman.
-He has toured almost continuously since 1980 in what is commonly referred to as "The Never Ending Tour".
-Bob has won 11 Grammys, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Pulitzer and a score of other awards including two Honorary Doctorates of Music
-Bob was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
-His son Jakob went on to form the band The Wallflowers and is perhaps the most successful of any rock star's offspring.

My Fave Album:
-My fave Bob Dylan album changes all the time. Lately, it has been 1975's Blood On The Tracks. It was his 15th album and was partially recorded back in Dylan's home in Minnesota. The record is a bit darker then usual with the lyrics mostly revolving around heartache, anger, and loneliness. Dylan has rarely commented on this album but it is said by Dylan researchers that the songs came from his personal troubles at the time, such as the separation from his wife Sara. It is an amazing record and has some of Dylan's best work on it including: "Simple Twist of Fate", "Shelter from the Storm" and "Tangled up in Blue". This really is one of those albums that is solid gold from start to finish. I can't say enough good stuff about how much I dig this album. If you haven't dug it yet, then I highly suggest you go out and do so.



I love this early music video from 1965 for "Subterranean Homesick Blues":

Tosho's Top Ten Albums of 2009

#10 - Mos Def - The Extacic
Mos Def's 4th studio album dropped like a funky bomb onto the charts this year and while I am not a huge fan of his previous works, I found this album to be a delightful mix of older rap styles yet also showing a large amount of growth in the 36 year old hip hop artists career. This album is a gem that features several diverse musical styles, including Soul, Afrobeat, Jazz, Latin, and a generous helping of funky Groove beats. He’s out to show fans and non fans alike that he is still a universal ghetto advocate with unwavering respect and admiration for the streets of his hometown Brooklyn and the tradition of hip-hop itself. There’s still some classic Malcolm X speeches, Arabic prayers, and some Spanish style grooves, but injecting some new flavor in the record is production from indie luminaries J Dilla, Madlib, Oh No and the Neptune’s Chad Hugo as well as guest spots from the legendary, longtime collaborator Talib Kweil, West Coast neo-soul experimentalist Georgia Muldrow, and samples of legendary Nigerian musician Fela Kuti (one of my faves in the genre of world music).
This album was a refreshing amount of funk in a relatively lack luster 2009.

#9 - The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
The fifth album by Portland rockers The Decemberists merges further into the realm of heavy lyric based progressive rock sort of reminiscent of an acoustic Queensryche and is a classic style rock opera at heart. All the songs contribute to a unified narrative, similar to the use of recurring stories in 'The Crane Wife'. Songwriter Colin Meloy stated he originally intended the album to be a musical play. The plot features a woman named Margaret (voiced by Stark) who falls in love with a shape-shifting Forrest dweller named William (voiced by Meloy). A jealous forest queen and William's mother (voiced by Worden), the villainous Rake (also voiced by Meloy) and an ensemble of recurring characters bring conflict to the album's overall story arc. Its modest and mellow and easy to enjoy without any gross overproduction common to many so called rock operas. The album, while heavily story driven has still got enough going on musically that they could still pull it all off in a live setting. With guest vocals by Jim James (one of my fave artists at the moment), this album definitely wormed its way into my heart and made the top ten and is probably my fave of all their works so far.

#8 - Neil Young - Fork in the road
This album is getting back to the basics for Neil and is the first album of his I have really enjoyed since 2003's 'Greendale'. The theme this time around was inspired by Neil's car that was rebuilt to run on alternative energy . This album has a straight forward and honest feel to it. If rock music was a journalistic news program, this album would have been Neil's angry editorial. The subject matter of this fine rant? That, though not quite as boldly signposted as in his 'Living With War', it is still announced pretty plainly. I thought this use of a bit more subtlety makes for a more interesting listening experience as I thought 'Living with war' was a little over the top. The subject on this new album is the recession here in North America and it’s a topic Young chooses to address using one of his most consuming passions, an everyman metaphor: the love of cars. I was really glad when I heard this album because while it was not a fave in terms of Neils work, it was a step up from the majority of the stuff he has done in the last few years (see Chrome Dreams 2, or Prairie Wind). It was also way better then a lot of the stuff that has been released by the majority of artists this year. Neil is proving once again that the greats from the classic rock era still have something to offer and many thanks to them for that because they are still out there keeping rock alive, at least for the moment.

#7 - Rancid - Let the Dominoes Fall
It's no secret that Punk Rock has been sucking serious ass for quite a while now. Rancid are one of the only bands in existence right now that I would actually qualify as 'Punk Revivalists' The boys released this dynamite record (their 7th and their first in six years) in June of 2009. This album is what I love about a classic punk record. It is stuffed full of 3 chord awesomeness and the energy of a side street biker brawl. It gets you moving and up out of your seat ready for mischief. You get the feeling that something off the wall is coming, sort of like your trapped in an early 90's generation x' movie. The simple minimalistic guitar chords, and the power punk drum beats are totally late 70's classic punk style that a thousand albums could be spawned from. The main driving focus here remains the teeth-shattering street punk bombast that has been the group’s calling card for over 15 years. There are plenty of musical and stylistic left turns on this album that will surprise longtime fans while enticing new listeners to harbor a new appreciation for Rancid. 'Let the Dominoes Fall' definitely deserves a warm welcome in a year that had such wishy washy wannabe post 9/11 Punk.

#6 - Mason Jennings - Blood of Man
On his 8th and best album to date, Jennings begins to delve much darker. This is something I have been hoping he would try out for a while. 'Blood of Man' draws forth haunting tales of madness, addiction and loss, accompanied perfectly with warm, gritty electric guitar riffs and raw, powerful vocals. This wonderful addition to his previous works was conceived, written and recorded over the span of a few short weeks and really gives off that raw unpolished feel that helps make it a classic. It comes across as very genuine and straight from the heart which makes it easy to listen to. A great album for putting on on a rainy Sunday and curling up with a book or a cup of hot chocolate. I really liked this quote from Mason about this album: ''I wrote about how hard it is to be 34 and be a parent and sane and married and true and positive and yourself and a man and funny and a decent person and a not decent person and human and in love. I turned the music up so loud so often that my ears rang every night. I wrote about death, of course. I wrote about life. I wrote about pain and addiction. And I let it flow and left it raw. I worked fast and I let my heart lead. What you have is exactly the music I listen to in my van and the way I have given it to my friends on CD-Rs. My hope is that it can help where help is needed. Music saved my life and I am so grateful for it. Thank you for listening. Rock.''
Fair enough Mason, its a great album and thank you for writing it.

#5 - Tom Waits - Glitter and Doom (live)
This album is an instant classic and if you haven't had a chance to listen to it you should do so at once. I have heard from a few different people that have seen Tom Waits live, that this album is as close to the real deal as you can get. Tom is one of that rarest breed of artists who occupies a place that is truly unique in all of music. His career is now into its fourth decade and just as strong as ever. With that unmistakable voice, Waits adopts numerous variations of the down-on-his-luck vagabond drifter persona that he brings to life with his songs in a way few others can match. He brings it all to life perfectly on this record. The songs fit together so well and are faves from all over the last thirty years. His career has seen him take on the role of everything from carnival barker to bohemian beat-poet, to seedy piano-bar lounge singer. This live album comes from Waits' sold out 2008 tour across the states that gathered massive critical acclaim and saw Waits playing in cities he has never played before (you can hear him clearly enjoying himself). The songs, which come from all over the tour, are handpicked by Waits himself and lend a personal feel to the selection of the tracks. This is a great album to check out if you have never really given Waits much of a chance before as it is a very listener friendly album. I highly recommend it to fans of Toms, or anyone who is looking to get into a fantastic and very rare type of musician.

#4 - Levon Helm - Electric Dirt
Following on the heels of his 2007 grammy winning comeback album 'Dirt Farmer', Levon has brought the same crew back for this wonderful followup record. While this album doesn’t stray far from its predecessor’s template, it continues to recapture the voice and persona that animated The Band landmarks like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. The musical palette, however, is wider this time round, emphasizing the breadth of Helm’s interests rather than the stuff of his roots. This album has a bit of urgency to it, possibly having to do with Helm's battle with (and victory over) throat cancer. This album bounces out of the starting gate declaring that it's time to party! Overall, Helm’s recent work embraces the past alongside the present in a way that is inviting, joyous, and thoroughly satisfying. It proves once again that there have been few vocalists in the past 50 years of popular music who project such a natural authority as Levon Helm.

#3 - The Tragically Hip - We Are The Same
OK, I seriously enjoyed this album. This is a moodier, quieter and prettier affair than usual, with slower, more passionate songs, more acoustic guitars and plenty of grooves. The album as a whole has a more outdoors feel to it. It's like the sort of Hip Album you would hear the boys turn out around a campfire one mid summer night in Ontario. This album might have turned off a few Hip purists out there by being a bit of a departure from earlier work but if you want early hip go toss on 'Road Apples' or 'Day For Night' and rock on, but if you want to see a fantastic band that is not afraid to progress and show growth you will dig this record. In many ways it reminds me of the 'Phantom Power' album with its mellow grooves and easy, natural feel. The boys are still a bunch of proud Canadians with songs like the last recluse' that contain the lyrics
"Who are you. the last recluse? Who are you the last Canadian goose"
While some might put this album down, I think that after 26 years together, 11 studio albums and a reputation as one of the best live shows ever, it is a true sign of greatness that the Tragically Hip’s 12th album sounds as fresh, strong and relevant as anything they’ve ever done.

#2 - Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
Dylan, who turned 68 in May of '09, has never sounded as ravaged, pissed off and lusty, all at once, as he does on 'Together Through Life'. I usually describe this album to friends as carrying on from 'Modern Times' but showing that Dylan wasn't afraid to get a bit more down and dirty with it. Bob and his crew stopped by my area on their 'Modern Times' tour and in my opinion he is at the top of his game right now. There is an unmistakeably grim magnetism coursing through these 10 new songs and most of it is captured in Dylan's vividly battered vocals. Above everything this is a record about love, its absence and its remembrance. It all comes through brilliantly in such a way that I instantly fell in love with this album. 'Together Through Life' was generally hailed as one of the best records Dylan has released in years (should I mention it's his 46th?). The warmth of this album is uncanny. It is as if you are curled up in front of a fireplace in a rocking chair listening to him play you these songs that he had just written. A feeling of roughness plays through the record, as if many of the tracks were first takes that just worked so well they left them at that. Dylan's throat has never been anyone's idea of clear and soaring. But he has always stated that as a young folk singer, he strained to sound older and more sorely tested than he was, as if he had known the hard times of the Great Depression firsthand. He's finally there, with an authentically pitted instrument ideally suited to the devastated settings of these songs and the rusted farm-shed production present in this phenomenal album.

#1 - Monsters of Folk- Monsters of Folk
In a year that saw me gradually listening to more and more folk rock sounds, this album was both a great surprise and a much needed album. When I heard that My Morning Jacket's front man Jim James was releasing an album with long time friends Connor Oberst and Mike Mogis, I was sufficiently stoked to say the least. I did some checking and found it interesting that the band was formed in 2004 when the members were on tour with their respective bands and solo projects. After playing together both on-stage and backstage, they started working together on various material. Due to the members' main projects, Monsters of Folk did not wrap up their first album until 2009. It was WELL worth the wait! Of all the so called 'Super Groups' that are springing up lately (Chickenfoot and Them Crooked Vultures to name a few), Monsters of Folk are really the only one that could be called super. So well favoured was this album that they were referred to by certain critics as this generations 'Traveling Wilburys' (although they sort of sound a bit more reminiscent of CSNY). After the first listen, the only flaw that I could see was that Jim James had only brought 5 songs to the mix here, but after another listen that turned into a plus because this album has helped me get into the work of Connor Oberst who brings some of my fave tracks to this album (Ahead of the curve in particular). Everyone shines on this record, although James, whose lead vocals open and close the set, beams brightest. The eclecticism of his latest 'My Morning Jacket' sounds are brought into sharper focus by the company of his new bandmates. I am hoping this is the start of much more to come for the Monsters. This album shows off the talents of these four men at the top of their respective games but creates something here that is greater then the sum of their individual parts.