Baby Robot Media

With new single “Jim’s Dad,” Stuffy Shmitt ponders the death of a flawed family member

Stuffy Shmitt has released new single “Jim’s Dad” from his forthcoming LP, Stuff Happens, out Dec. 4.

Stuffy is a veteran NYC rock & roller who’s performed and recorded with everyone from Violent Femmes’ Gordon Gano and David Johansen of the New York Dolls to The Band’s Levon Helm. From 2000 to 2012, he put out a half-dozen mostly under-the-radar solo records. Then about eight years ago he went off the rails, consumed by bipolar disorder. Finally, he got himself properly medicated, moved to Nashville and was able to sort out everything he’d created during his bouts of depression & mania. The resulting album, Stuff Happens, is his finest yet.

“Jim’s Dad” is a hypnotic tune anchored by Shmitt’s deep baritone. The song considers what happens when a flawed family member dies unexpectedly. “Jim’s Dad was a scout leader / Was a wife-beater,” Shmitt sings unceremoniously. There’s no sanitizing or smoothing over here—just the plain truth narrated from a refreshingly detached remove.

Stream the song here…

by Baby Robot Media

Ghost Cult Magazine premieres the new single from This Way To The EGRESS

Eclectic and amazing genre smashers This Way To the Egress have already announced their new album, their sixth, Retrospectiva! on Halloween 2020. The band has teamed up with Ghost Cult today to share their new single “Gravedigger”, lovely bop and mediation on the apocalyptic end-times vibe of 2020, or really the last few years in the world. READ MORE…

by Baby Robot Media

Americana UK announces new debut studio LP from Kentucky’s Josh Merritt, debuts lead single “The High”

“The High” is an honest song that comes from having lived through the reality. Josh Merritt’s childhood was scarred by his mother’s and stepfather’s methamphetamine addiction. Not only as users—they fell into manufacturing and distribution.

After several bleak years, Merritt and his brothers were taken away to be raised by their grandparents on a farm in the unincorporated community of Reynolds Station. So when Josh Merritt sings, “Hang the phone up on your closest of kin / Don’t give three damns if you see them again,” he knows what he’s talking about.

David Quinn is #2 on The Alternate Root’s TOP TEN SONGS OF THE WEEK

Singing in an attempt to understand a chaotic world, the snarling vocals of Suzanne Santo duet with the spit and fire guitar work of Gary Clark Jr on the single “Fall for That” in the #1 spot on the weekly Top Ten for Wednesday, September 23, 2020. Using Margo Price’s backing band, David Quinn offers “Born to Lose”, an advance listen to his upcoming (10-23-20) Letting Go, featuring Brett Resnick (Kacey Musgraves) on pedal steel and Laur Joamets (Sturgill Simpson, Drivin N Cryin) on guitar.

by Baby Robot Media

Stephie James’ debut EP, THESE DAYS, receives a 9/10 from Americana UK

It’s normally a safe assumption that you can tell most of what you need to know about a person by the company that they keep. So, when a young singer-songwriter can boast of work done for Dan Auerbach and tours in support of Nikki Lane—it makes sense to give them your undivided attention. Of course, there’s always a possibility that you set your expectations too high and come away disappointed. At the same time, there’s a chance that you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

by Baby Robot Media

Ned Hill delivers “rich poeticism with frank, unavoidable pain” on NEW song, “Wake Me Up,” at American Songwriter

Ned Hill sifts through wreckage like his life depends on it. A pillar in the Americana and blues-rock scene, the craftsman observes a relationship’s burning out and seeks for any kind of cure he can find. With “Wake Me Up,” premiering today, Hill touches upon unimaginable loneliness and the once-vibrant intimacy and desire that all but eludes him now. “Where do we go from here?” he ponders with the raw opening line.