American Songwriter

The Artist: Sara Rachele with J Thomas Hall
The Song: “Don’t Give Me Hell” from Diamond Street, out September 2
Fun Fact: Originally from Decatur, GA, Rachele spent her teenage years as a keyboardist and background singer in The Love Willows before relocating to New York.
Songwriter Says:  “When you end up in a relationship, there are those places you go together. We all have them—whether it’s a favorite coffeeshop, dive bar, book store, record shop, whatever. You develop these strong associations between that person in your life and that particular place. Of course, when things end, it can be difficult to go back—to the point where, sometimes, you feel compelled to give that  place up. My new album Diamond Street is a collection of all those places and shared moments—both precious and dirty—that we revisit in our minds. LISTEN HERE…

Sometime last summer, Lily and the Tigers decided to record their third studio album. They chose a studio far outside of town, gassed up the car, and packed it full of instruments… then threw in some tents and camping gear, too.

For a week, the band tracked songs in a Vermont studio during the day and camped under the stars at night. It was cheaper than renting a hotel, but for a band that specializes in ramshackle, flea-bitten folk songs, it was also a stylistic move. The Hand You Deal Yourself is the product of that week spent in the New England wilderness. It’s a raw, ragged campfire album, full of guitars that twang and drums that clang. On the title track, you can almost hear the summer wind whistle through the maple trees. READ MORE

The Song: “Vampire,” a languid, introspective ballad off the upcoming LP Love Wars Baby.
The Artist: Party Dolls
Who’s That: A semi-obscure supergroup combining like-minded members of The District Attorneys, Tedo Stone, Moths, Ruby the Rabbitfoot and the Archers of Loaf side project Crooked Fingers.
Sounds Like: Driving in the rain with the radio cranked up.
Fun Fact: The band got together last year when only half of The District Attorneys were available to play a Valentine’s Day gig in Athens, Georgia. Love Wars Baby, featuring a bevy of therapeutic post-breakup songs,  drops on Valentine’s Day this year. Feel the love.
Songwriter says: “‘Vampire’ was an attempt to write a Valentine’s day song and not feeling up to the challenge,” admits Party Dolls’ Drew Beskin. “It was literally written while staring out of a window. I had to call it ‘Vampire’, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I called it ‘Out My Window’.”

LISTEN HERE

Check out “Another One Born In New York” off I Am More Than This, a gorgeous track from Athens, Georgia dream-pop duo Powerkompany’sdebut LP.

The song was inspired by some unusual circumstances (or, if you will, a typically normal day in the teeming metropolis of New York City.) Band members Marie Davon and Andrew Heaton met a girl who wanted to get married — to both of them.

“Maybe it was all a joke, maybe she was serious or maybe it was a little bit of both—who knows?” recalls Heaton. “She was from New York. She’d been a model, was a talented photographer and her father had been a Broadway producer. She sort of started courting Marie and me as if we were one person. It was madness, really.”  Read more…