I gave my heart and soul to you, I let you lay beside me

Jessica Lea Mayfield has been in my sights for the last month or so and I have found daily stalking her myspace page for local tour date announcements. Yesterday I was surprised when the announcement came from my Facebook page. Tricky Facebook...how you waste my time so. The lovely songbird will be performing at Maxwell's on October 21st and again on October 22nd at 205 in the city. SHE IS NOT TO BE MISSED. If you need convincing beyond listening to her music check out the comments on her myspace page filled with glowing admiration. Currently opening up for the Avett Brothers and Black Keys I am hoping she announces more shows for the week of CMJ. I would put a pretty penny on it that she will be one of the most talked about acts by the end of the occasion. Or at least she should be!
***************Jessica Lea Mayfield Tour Dates*******************
Sep 16-**CD RELEASE** Beachland Ballroom - Tavern Cleveland,OH
Sep 17-Ear X-tacy in-store-Louisville, KY
Sep 24-The Valarium w/ THE BLACK KEYS-Knoxville,TN
Sep 25-New Daisy Theatre w/ THE BLACK KEYS Memphis,TN
Sep 26-The Granada Theatre w/ THE BLACK KEYS-Dallas,TX
Sep 28-**ACL Fest Aftershow** Stubb’s w/ THE BLACK KEYS and THE BLACK ANGELS-Austin,TX
Sep 30-The Meridian w/ THE BLACK KEYS-Houston, Texas
Oct 1-House of Blues w/ THE BLACK KEYS-New Orleans, Louisiana
Oct 2-The Tabernacle w/ THE BLACK KEYS-Atlanta, GA
Oct 3-Georgia Theatre w/THE AVETT BROTHERS-Athens,GA
Oct 4-Criminal Records in-store-Atlanta,GA
Oct 15-New Brookland Tavern W.-Columbia,SC
Oct 16-The Handlebar-Greenville,SC
Oct 20-IOTA-Club Arlington,VA
Oct 21-Maxwell’s-Hoboken,NJ
Oct 22-**CMJ** @ 205 Club-nYc
Oct 23-The Khyber-Philadelphia,PA
Oct 30-The MadHatter-Covington,KY
Nov 1-The Basement-Nashville,TN
The One That I Love The Best.mp3
Jessica Lea Mayfield-Bible Days.mp3
Jessica Lea Mayfield Tags/The Avett Brothers Tags/The Black Keys Tags

Move over Florence

So maybe the subject of this submission isn't the most fair challenge. I tried to get into Florence and the Machine, I really did. I found a video of hers before SXSW two years ago of just her and her drum kit, back when she actually played an instrument on stage and I loved it. She had spunk and fire and the energy to back it up. I went to see her at Bowery Ballroom and was just not inspired. My opinion of her really won't change the fact that hordes of people adore her, which is why I feel okay saying that I don't.

Lissie however I absolutely love. I first found out about her on My Old Kentucky Blog and after two listens was scanning the web for more songs, videos, anything with more information about this golden songbird. She is full of spitfire and soul--much like Jessica Lea Mayfield and when it comes down to it this is what I really look for in female singers. You have to be a bit scary and fierce, you have to sound like you've had your soul stomped on and dragged through the dust a bit. I think both Jessica and Lissie are a younger generation of Neko Case or Dolly Parton. Maybe that is a bit of a stretch but if they both continue to write songs that bleed out of their throats like they have been we are all in for a melodious journey. Lissie is bound to gain some more coverage with her recently released cover of Miss Gaga. I love it. Can't hate a good pop song, especially when someone this talented covers it. Thanks Tripwire.

Also check Lissie out here:

"She lives by herself, with her dog, in a farmhouse in Ojai, Calif., where she tends to drink wine and will, on a whim, go to the store to buy paint for her rocks so she can construct a medicine wheel in her big backyard."
-Daytrotter
*Jessica Lea Mayfield Tags

Despite my best ambitions...

There is something so incredibly delicious about swimming. One of my earliest memories was my first swimming lesson. The water was unbearably frigid and I did not enjoy it all. Screaming with tears streaming down my face I would not unleash my chubby arms from the neck of Pam, my beloved babysitter and unfortunate instructor. Once immersed and comfortable that was the end of the story for I became infatuated with the water from that day forward. Maybe it comes from growing up on a river that feeds into the majestic and unique Chesapeake Bay or maybe it was because as soon as it was warm enough I would ride my bike every day to our local watering hole and not return until it was dinnertime. My entire childhood was spent in, on or near the water and I was certain I would dedicate my education and adult life to preserving what was so beloved to my heart. Unfortunately I discovered New York and the reality of politics surrounding lobbying for environmental protection and have taken the weaker way out. But my love for the slickness and crispness of the waves and my respect for the creatures that call these places their home has never left me and never will. Floating in between that upper layer of sun-soaked surface wetness and the cool depths below you truly feel you are blessed for being a creature of our earth. The only sounds that penetrate your ears are the bits of coral crumbling under the hungry mouths of the fish feeding upon their jagged edges. Dark navy blue fins dotted with irridescent baby blue sparkels are my favorites to seek out. They hide under the large orange fans that drift with the waves, both coinciding peacefully as they have for ages. Yesterday afternoon while wadding out into the azure sea a little fish no longer than my pinkie took a liking to me and swam circles around my belly for a good thirty minutes. He would hide behind my back dodging my fingers that playfully chased him around the front and then hide again. To see if he really was interested in playing I took a couple of curious side strokes and he happily kept by my side. I decided to name him Claude. After my sister inquired, why Claude i responded with, 'because he is such a little flirt he must be french.' For you my dear little Claude I give you the lovely Jessica Lea Mayfield. This talented songstress has opened for both the Black Keys and the Avett Brothers on numerous occasions and has the lit of a skylark. At the tender age of 19 she recently was on the Black Keys last album, Attack and Release on the last track. Unfortunately I could only find one track to share with you, but I invite you to check her out. She is worth the gander.
Jessica Lea Mayfield-For Today.mp3

in 2009 we get new YEASAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Yeasayer this past Saturday at Williamsburg Music Hall
I could not be awaiting an album with more anticipation than the new Yeasayer album. This past weekend I saw them at Williamsburg Music Hall in front of a sold out hometown audience almost exactly a year to the date from their sold out show at the Mercury Lounge. I was so in love with them back then that it is hard for me to break it down into exactly what has changed in the band or how it makes me feel but i know it is all a very good thing. They have taken their already beautiful songs and strong sets and taken to another level of being so smooth and seamless you would have thought they have about four or five albums and tours of experience behind them. Their show on Saturday found them as tight as I have ever seen them after fourteen months of various cities and venues. The intros into their songs were the longest they have ever lavished upon my ears and they seemed so happy to be home that their overwhelming joy was immediately contagious and spread across the crowd graciously gathered awaiting their every strum of their guitars and beat of their drums, bongos, cymbals, keyboard strokes...etc. It is going to be highly enjoyable to see where their next album takes them and I cannot wait for more tour dates to be announced once they have given themselves a bit of a rest. They are one of my favorite bands on the scene and for all of those people who say there is nothing like old music and records and there are no good bands I just cannot even listen to them whine anymore. With bands like Panda Bear, Yeasayer, Cat Power, The National, Magnetic Fields, Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Dodos, Arctic Monkeys, LCD Soundsystem, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and Hot Chip there is more talent than you can spend time listening to and I could not be happier for feeling this way every day.

Yeasayer Tags

Brooklyn Brooklyn Take Me In

So next week my boyfriend is moving from Charleston, South Carolina back to New York so we can collectively move into an apartment that will be *ours* somewhere in Brooklyn. Hopefully. Which I thought was a perfect time to listen to one of my favorite songs by The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You. The first few lines of the song are as simple yet delicate. Sitting at my desk searching through endless Craiglist it resonated with me on a whole new level and made me...hopeful. Enjoy.


Load the car and write the note
Grab your bag and grab your coat
Tell the ones that need to know
We are headed North
One foot and one foot back
But it don't pay to live like that
So I cut the ties and I jumped the tracks
For never to return

Oh Brooklyn Brooklyn take me in
Are you aware the shape I'm in
My hands they shake my head it spins
Oh Brooklyn Brooklyn take me in

The Avett Brothers are currently touring and have played with one of my other loves, Jessica Lea Mayfield. She spoke incredibly highly of them which is reason enough for you to go check them out.
**********TOUR DATES****************
8.21-Boulder Theater- Boulder, CO
8.22-Ogden Theatre-Denver, CO
8.25-Red Butte Garden-Salt Lake City, UT
8.26-Knitting Factory Concert House-Boise, ID
8.28-Paramount Theatre-Seattle, WA
8.29-Britt Festival-Jacksonville, OR
8.30-Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival-San Francisco, CA
9.1-HSU Van Duzer Theater-Arcata, CA
9.3-Grand Sierra Theatre-Reno, NV
**rescheduled for a 2010 date, TBA**
9.4-Strawberry Music Festival-Camp Mather, CA
9.5-Orpheum Theatre-Los Angeles, CA
9.17-North Charleston P.A.C-North Charleston, SC
9.18-Westobou Festival-Augusta, GA
9.19-The Moon-Tallahassee, FL
9.20-Bama Theatre-Tuscaloosa, AL
9.22-The Lyric Oxford-Oxford, MS
9.24-Minglewood Hall-Memphis, TN
9.25-Robinson Center Music Hall-Little Rock, AR
9.26-Cain's Ballroom-Tulsa, OK
9.27-Granada Theater-Dallas, TX
10.1-House of Blues-New Orleans, LA
10.2-Austin City Limits Festival-Austin, TX
10.3-Baton Rouge River Center Theatre-Baton Rouge, LA
10.3-Rose State PAC-Midwest City, OK
***rescheduled for a 2010 date, TBA***
10.5-Lovett Auditorium-Murray, KY
10.15-Rams Head Live-Baltimore, MD
10.16-Electric Factory-Philadelphia, PA
10.17-Terminal 5-New York, NY
10.18-House of Blues-Boston, MA
10.20-Englert Theatre-Iowa City, IA
10.21-The Barrymore Theatre-Madison, WI
10.22-The Canopy Club-Urbana, IL
10.23-Turner Hall Ballroom-Milwaukee, WI
10.30-Louisville Palace-Louisville, KY
10.31-Ryman Auditorium-Nashville, TN

If these two got together

I think everyone in the indie/rock/music community would be a happy little Bon Iver/Lykke Li-lover. At least I would be.

As if you need anymore convincing of why you should show up to see the KEXP live in studio sessions during the week of CMJ (Monday, October 20th through Friday, October 24th) look no further. Lykke Li is scheduled for a spot on Tuesday, October 21st and she will be stellar. You can check out the rest of the lineup which includes some of my favorites like the Voom Blooms, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Friendly Fires, Hercules and the Love Affair, Deerhoof...seriously, they are FREE kids. FREE. Sign up
HERE.
Lykke Li Tags/Bon Iver Tags/KEXP Tags

Can You Tell...

Led Zepplin-Whole Lotta Love.mp3
Black Mountain-Stormy High.mp3
Fleetwood Mac-Doctor Brown.mp3
Waylon Jennings-Gold Dust Woman.mp3
Wanda Jackson-I Gotta Know.mp3
Those Darlins-Wild One.mp3
David Vandervelde-Someone Like You.mp3
Sera Cahoone-You Might As Well.mp3
Call Me-Jessica Lea Mayfield.mp3
Horsefeathers-Curs In The Weeds.mp3
Huck Notari-Long Road.mp3
Shearwater-Century Eyes.mp3
The Moondoggies-Black Shoe.mp3
Sam Cooke-A Change Is Gonna Come.mp3
Ra Ra Riot-Can You Tell.mp3