Rob Berliner plucks a mandolin and guitarist Andrew “Hellmouth” Gray gyrates toand- fro, striking a wooden block tucked into his waistband. “Y’all stand up!” coaxes singer/guitarist Sean Hoots as the band’s rambunctious energy oozes from the stage. “We love what we’re doing and really connect with the music we’re playing,” says Hoots. “Everyone responds to music and more so when it exists in a communal realm where it’s not an artist presenting a show as much as it’s people playing music and inviting everyone to join in.” Hoots and Hellmouth’s eponymous debut combines gospel, blues, bluegrass, country and folk to create what the band describe as “new music for old souls.” “After our previous bands dismantled, we found ourselves reconnecting in a very personal way with what music meant to each of us,” says Hoots. “We got into acoustic, more intimate music. We’re just really opening up our souls and letting it all hang out.” www.hootsandhellmouth.com
At 23, Little Rock’s Christopher Denny has had a harder life than most. His childhood was unbelievably trying (he’s asked us not to print the details). A former addict, he spent time in jail. The one-time busker—who worked sidewalks in Dallas and Chicago—is unequivocally the real article, a guy who’s been broken, one who stands on shaky emotional ground wholly in awe of music, the inner peace it’s given him and its potential to better people’s lives. All that said, what will strike you the most is the sweet country warble in which he sings. Most immediately recalling Jimmie Dale Gilmore, it leaves Denny sounding plucked from another era, when Johnny Cash was still high on pills and America wasn’t one big strip mall. With any justice, his debut, Age Old Hunger (00:02:59 Records), will rock juxeboxes from the Lower East Side to Little Rock for generations to come. Says Denny: “Ya know, I had a pretty weird childhood, but music made me realize that I have some worth. It’s given me some hope in this world." www.christopherdenny.com
Cortney Tidwell grew up near Nashville’s Music Row, but new wave washes over her debut album, Don’t Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ever Records). Fusing new wave, electronica and folk/country, Tidwell’s stunningly beautiful music emerged from inner turmoil: “I was coping with losses and personal issues,” says Tidwell. “It’s almost a stream of consciousness.” Perhaps it’s natural that a woman who grew up with parents in the music business would turn to the art for solace. Yet Tidwell fought the urge. “I really didn’t want anything to do with it. I saw what it did to my mother. It destroyed her.” But the pull was strong. After her mother (singer Connie Eaton) died, Tidwell worked out her grief on then piano she’d inherited. The result can best be described as a mix of Andreas Vollenveider, Clannad and Sandy Denny. “I get hung up on how to classify my music,” she said. “I really can’t.” www.myspace.com/cortneytidwell
If there’s one thing that Kim Nekroman hates, it’s a band that goes on stage and doesn’t entertain. “I hate when they just stand there and play their instruments,” he says. “I wish I’d just stayed home and listened to the CD.”No one will accuse Nekromantix of that faux pas. With a stand-up bass shaped like a coffin, a distinctive pounding beat and lyrics you might not want mom to hear, the Denmark-bred band specializes in fun with an edge.The band’s new offering, Life Is a Grave & I Dig It (Hellcat Records) show show well the combination works. Set aside the lyrics about toe tags, hell and hearses for a minute: The songs Nekroman writes are about everything from romance to watching football. “This isn’t about me walking through the graveyard in the pale moonlight,” he says. “This is about life. It can be alot of fun. Let’s enjoy it.” www.nekromantix.com
Canadian troubadour Jeremy Fisher began his career busking on the streets of Vancouver and Seattle. Once he developed a fan base across Canada, he biked the length of the country as part of a six-month tour ofperformances. More recently, Fisher’s $60 homemade music video for his song “Cigarette” logged more than 2 million views on YouTube. “The cigarette was made out of modeling clay and every frame was an individual picture I took, so it was a very long process,” he explains. “It’s funny, because I’m not all that patient a person. But I’m dedicated.” His folky pop/rock style recalls early Paul Simon and Bob Dylan with an original Great White Northern twist. Fisher’s U.S. debut,Goodbye Blue Monday (Wind-up Records), is a catchy collection of songs that range from love ballads to political anthems: The track “Cigarette” describes an addictive relationship, while “Lay Down (RigobertoAlpizar)” tells the story of an unarmed passenger shot in Miami International Airport in December 2005. www.jeremyfishermusic.com
Stop looking in Nashville: The next incarnation of Gillian Welch is hiding out in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Central Virginia. Jan Smith pens emotional songs of the southern landscape and simple life of local folks from her home base in the rural outskirts of Charlottesville. Smith’s first memory of bluegrass involves getting spanked by her father when she was four; she was caught sneaking away from the family campsite at Bill Monroe’s Bean Blossom
Bluegrass Festival. “I was supposed to be taking a nap,” Smith says. “Who can say whether I was drawn to the music. or to the sheer energy of the festival itself?” She delivers her stark front-porch stories behind pure string sounds through a voice that’s antiquely stunning with modern hues. On her Landslide Records debut, 29 Dances, Smith proves it’s all there for her to become an Americana mainstay, especially as the ageless conviction of her tunes molds so well with the backing support of some of Music City’s best pickers, including Mark Fain (Ricky Skaggs) and Byron House (Sam Bush), who polish the disc in all the right places. “I work out emotions and try to make sense of experiences through songwriting,” she says. It’s only a matter of time before she’s invited down from the mountain to become a modern-day Opry darling. www.honeybirdmusic.com
THE NEXT DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
