Gwen isn’t as coarse as Janis Joplin or pop-synthetic as Taylor Swift. Gwen’s country music is the dominating double-fisted kind & not afraid to make light of a serious subject. Her songs are well-written & melodic. Never so message-driven as to be preachy & radical. Gwen delivers with sophistication & not with a temper. But she does draw attention.
Like its sprawling hometown of Dallas, Texas, cinematic indie rock band Beekeeper Spaceman’s self-titled debut album evokes a never-ending collision between bucolic bygones and the urban present.
Born out of an online multimedia project called Fire Bones, the duo—primary songwriter/ singer/guitarist Greg Brownderville and producer/multi-instrumentalist Spencer Kenney—have shared bills with artists like Erykah Badu, Leon Bridges, Shakey Graves and Black Pumas. Brownderville is editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Southwest Review and author of three books of poetry, while Kenney fronts a solo electro-pop project under his own name and is involved with a variety of acts on the Dallas-based Dolfin Records label.
Americana Highways presents this premiere of Gwen Levey’s song “Not The Girl Next Door,” the title track from her forthcoming EP due to be released on November 3. The song was written by Gwen Levey, Will Rambeaux and Sherrie Austin. The album was produced by Will Rambeaux, mixed by Rory Rositas, and mastered by Dan Frizsell.
Like
Comment
Share
Path through the Past gives us Vampire Weekend sized mega-hooks and uncanny demi-electronic drums. This hybrid electro indie rock banger entices us with a pentatonic melody and deliciously long chord progressions, echoing the song writing style of James Mercer of The Shins. Max’s defeatist lyrics about longing and confronting the choices we’ve made in our lives are bathed in cheerful melancholy. “Every path through the past reaches a dead end / My ex-girlfriend’s dog is probably dead / Every road through the snow leads to crooked bends / And no matter how fast you turn, you always crash in the end,” Max sings.
On July 21, 1966, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in Overton Park. The chief speaker was Imperial Wizard Robert M. Shelton of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who “told the crowd of about 400 Klansmen, supporters and curious onlookers to work for ‘conservative candidates’ in the coming elections,” according to the evening newspaper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar.
A little over a week later, on July 30, the vibe was entirely different as “all the freaks in town” gathered in Overton Park for the first Memphis Blues Festival, a celebration of Black musical expression that was organized by young white music lovers and that showcased such elder giants-in-our-midst as Furry Lewis, Rev. Robert Wilkins and “Mississippi” Fred McDowell.
Listen to this week’s Captain Americana Spotify playlist featuring:
Gwen Levey and The Breakdown – Barefoot & Pregnant
The Handsome Family – Joseph
Old Heavy Hands – Coming Down
Lucy Dacus – Home Again
Bonnie & The Mere Mortals – Tennessee – Live & Unplugged
Mitski – I Don’t Like My Mind
Leeann Skoda, Sie Sie Benhoff, Dylan Rodrigue – The Living Room
Allison Russell – The Returner
Jax Hollow – Wolf in Sheepskin
Sufjan Stevens – There’s A World
Shannon Clark & the Sugar – This Old World
Margo Price, Lucius – Anytime You Call
Megan & Shane, Brit Taylor, Lille Mae – Things Don’t Have to Change
Shakey Graves, Sierra Ferrell – Ready or Not
Rick Hornyak – Shades of Grey
Wilco – Ten Dead
David G Smith – River Gonna Talk
Rissi Palmer, Miko Marks – Still Here
Jalen Ngonda – If You Don’t Want My Love
Esmé Patterson – Coming Down
Hannah Georgas – Beautiful View
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – Something in the Dirt – Live
Elisapie – Californiamut (Going to California)
Rebecca Porter – Clockin’ Out
Rob Tait – Matilda
Mike & The Moonpies – Paycheck to Paycheck (Live)
Nate Fredrick – Low on Sugar
Neal Francis – Can’t Stop the Rain (Live)
Maya de Vitry – Stacy, In Her Wedding Gown
McKinley James – I’ll Be Loving You
Mick Flannery – Goodtime Charlie