Angus & Julia Stone

People have been asking me quite often lately how I find the artists featured on this blog. I don’t really have a simple answer for that as it comes from a myriad of sources. One, a favorite indeed, is through Amazon.com’s daily deals. Every day they have a new album priced incredibly low, often as little as $1.99!! Angus & Julia Stone was one of the many great discoveries through Amazon. This brother/sister duo released their first album, A Book Like This, in 2007 and I quickly purchased this amazing daily deal.

Angus & Julia hail from Newport, Australia just north of Sydney. Being half Australian myself I’m excited to post my first Aussie feature! The pair was pursuing solo careers while backing for each other until 2006 when they decided to work together. The two still write their own songs then pull them together resulting in a different feel, style and emotion throughout the album. After two years of touring for A Book Like This they have recorded their second album, Down The Way, to be released March 30th in the U.S. During that time Angus also released a solo album, Smoking Gun, in April 2009 under the name Lady of the Sunshine.

The new album due next month was self-produced by the siblings and recorded all over the world from a studio in Brooklyn, NY to an old sawmill in Cornwall, England to a water tank in Coolangatta, Australia. Intrigued? I know I am!

Australian and UK tour dates have been set but they have not released U.S. dates yet. Seeing Angus & Julia live is definitely on my list of must-sees. While searching through photos I found live tour shots where Julia is playing the guitar, bass, keyboard and trumpet. Yes, a trumpet.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s featured duo! Please leave your comments on what you think as I love to hear from all of you. Also, make sure to check back later this week, as I will be posting my first exclusive artist interview!! I’m so very excited I might have to do a little dance.

Charlotte Sometimes

Before I pursued my passion for music I was a dancer. All throughout junior high and high school I took dance classes and competed on our dance team. It was something I was never able to truly excel at for a variety of reasons such as the demands financially and physically. I was tall with lanky, long arms and a woman’s body at fourteen. My instructors did not know what to do with me as they were used to the petite girls who never seemed to go through puberty. That world, so consumed by body image and staying as thin as possible, never appealed to me and I began to focus more on music where I was freer to be myself. This week’s artist had the same start in dance. Charlotte Sometimes was a dancer for thirteen years and left because of the pressure to be thin. She instead picked up a guitar and went about creating her own music. I know its the best decision I ever made and I think Charlotte just might feel the same.

Charlotte Sometimes is the stage name for Jessica Charlotte Poland from New Jersey who renamed herself after a book by Penelope Farmer. She released her first EP in March of 2008 and quickly followed it with a full-length album in May of 2008 titled, Waves And The Both Of Us. Charlotte is just 22 years old but has been writing music and playing guitar since she was fourteen. Before releasing her solo album Charlotte was part of a five-man band known and J. Poland and The Pilots. They self-released an album, I Promise I Won’t Be Released, which is also available on iTunes.

Charlotte’s sound reminds me a little of Natasha Bedingfield with a little Lily Allen thrown in to add uniqueness. Her personal style adds a vintage feel to her look which is even evident on her myspace page. Make sure to check it out because its probably the best myspace layout I’ve seen and if I could get this blog to look like that then I would be over the moon.

Charlotte has based herself in New York, New York and if you are nearby you can catch her playing several shows this March.

http://www.charlottesometimesmusic.com/

http://www.myspace.com/charlottesometimes

Photo 1 by Carolina Palmgren

Photo 2 by Robbie Michaels

Photo 3 by Jeremy Balderson

Charlie Hardin

This week’s artist may look more like a lumber Jack with his red beard and flannel shirts but don’t be fooled by appearances. Charlie Hardin is an amazing musician and passionate performer on the rise.

Charlie hails from Starkville, Mississippi and is trying his hand in the world of Nashville music hopefuls. His first EP, Hollywood Be Thy Name, was released February of 2009 which you can get on iTunes for just under $6. Charlie has also teamed up with Brite Revolution making his music available to Brite subscribers.

It seems Charlie is getting his music career up and running with some grass roots efforts. He has been playing in coffee shops and people’s homes who request him. You could actually have Charlie come to your house and perform for all your friends! How cool is that! Here is the info should you want to do that:

“Want Me To Play At Your House?
Several good folks have recently asked me if I will come play a show at their house as a part of my upcoming tour schedule. If you live in the United States, then it's probably workable. Shoot me an email at charliehardinmusic@gmail.com and I will give you the particulars. See you soon, in your living room.
~Charlie”

Besides touring with Milktooth this fall there isn’t much news about what is in the works for Charlie. I know this, I can’t wait to hear more!

http://www.myspace.com/charliehardin

Photo1 - Ryan P Photos

Mindy Smith

What a week it has been. Since last Monday there have been several life changing events in the lives of those closest to me. This week I chose an artist who’s songs touched me and will now forever remind me of the what has happened this last week. Music is so important and purposeful to me and it seems only right for me to dedicate music to these moments. I have chosen the artist Mindy Smith and her beautiful music to share with all you. While Mindy has been around since 2003 her music is still relatively unknown to many. I first heard her track “Come To Jesus” at church, sung by one of our talented vocalist. I immediately fell in love with its old folk sound and looked into Mindy further. Not only is this posting very special to me but my music soul mate, Allegra, actually sent me an email on Saturday asking if I had heard of Mindy Smith because she thought I would like her!

It is that track, “Come To Jesus” that marks the first great moment of this week. On Friday my best friend, who is the closest thing to a sister I have, gave birth to her first child, Jackson Gregory. I drove up Thursday night to be there for her last minute c-section and waited with all the family and friends for baby Jack to be born. He has finally arrived and is absolutely perfect in every way. I am such a proud auntie and this song reminds me of how much we all pray for safety, protection and comfort for this little miracle and the comfort of the Lord in the many years ahead of him. Love and miss you Jack! Also my coworker and his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy on Saturday. The full moon was working hard!


The second life changing event of this last week is the engagement of one of my dearest and closest friends. After spending a month in Switzerland with her man she game back with a gorgeous vintage ring on her finger. For her and her love I picked Mindy’s song, “True Love of Mine.” This is a beautiful duet (I LOVE male/female duets!) and would be absolutely perfect for a first dance. Congratulations dear friend! I can’t wait for all that is to come!

Mindy Smith is a singer/songwriter from Long Island, New York who was put on the map after she was asked to sing one of my all time favorite songs, “Jolene” for the Dolly Parton tribute album in 2003. Dolly even joined in the recording during the last part of the track in a moment I can only describe as pure bliss for me. Just listen and see. Mindy released her first album in 2004 titled, One Moment More which includes “Jolene” and “Come To Jesus.” Since her debut album Mindy has released two other full-length albums and one Christmas album in which she wrote 6 original Christmas songs - something rarely done these days. Her recent album, Stupid Love was released last year after a two year break in which she wrote the songs for the album only when she felt inspired. As a result she released a great album with songs you can truly relate your biggest life moment to as I have.

Mindy Smith is a wonderful blend of all my favorite genres. A little, folk, country, bluegrass and pop to create a sound that is truly wonderful. Mindy has also had several of her tracks featured on the shows, "Grey's Anatomy," "Smallville," "Six Feet Under", and "So You Think You Can Dance." Also, you can download Stupid Love on Amazon.com for only $5!

http://www.mindysmith.net/

http://www.myspace.com/mindysmith

I hope you enjoy this week’s featured artist and thank you for letting me share a little of my life with you all.

Would love to have your thoughts and comments!

Winner Winner!

Well it has been an eventful weekend for me (more info on that in today's feature) and in the midst of the all that was happening I was overjoyed to see all the emails flooding in with your comments.

Thank you all for entering!

The winner of the Lillian Ray Musical Note necklace is Natalie from Blond At Heart!

 

Using Random.org the 29th comment was chosen. Congrats Natalie!

Contact Beth for your new necklace! lillianraydesigns@gmail.com

(As I went to the Lillian Ray blog I noticed you won her giveaway too! Lucky girl!)

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 73 Result: 29 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Lillian Ray Giveaway!

While this blog is solely a music site I am a strong supporter of anything artistic and creative. I have several friends who are incredibly talented musicians, photographers, artists and writers. Well today MMM is teaming up with Beth from Lillian Ray to do a special giveaway!

Beth has been one of my closest friends since junior high and has become incredibly talented at making jewelry. Beth started selling her hand-crafted pieces on Etsy.com one year ago and to celebrate her anniversary she has released a new line of high end jewelry in her Lillian Ray Luxe line.

Not only is she offering some great deals and giveaways on her blog (Click here to be directed) she has also created a great piece of jewelry for a special giveaway on MMM.

Isn’t it cute?! So pretty, simple and perfect for the music lover. Enter to win it for yourself, your wife, girlfriend, mom, etc. I just love it so much I wish I could win it!

Why am I doing this giveaway you ask? Well, my goal and vision for this blog is to promote new artists who are trying to gain a fan base and set their career in motion. The music industry is a tough place and I would love this blog to be a place where they can get noticed just like the band featured this week, Vampire Weekend, did when they were just getting started. So to give you a little incentive to spread the word to all your friends I'm having this giveaway as a thank you to all my supporters.

What you need to do to enter:

First you must be a public follower of MMM before you can enter to win.

* For one entry leave a comment with your favorite piece from Lillian Ray and/or Lillian Ray Luxe.

* For another entry mention Mary’s Monday Musicology on your blog or Twitter and leave a separate comment with the link to your blog or Twitter account.

* For a third entry leave another comment with your favorite artist featured on Mary's Monday Musicology and why they're your favorite.

Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry. Deadline is January 31st Midnight PST.  
I'll be using a random number generator to pick the winner so make sure to check back next Monday!

Vampire Weekend

You all would be so proud of me. For the second week in a row the featured artist/band is not from Nashville! I’m getting back to more variety and stretching not only myself but also all of you who check in each week for new artists. Over the past few years I’ve been expanding my music taste. Listening to music I wouldn’t normally enjoy and as a result I’ve fallen in love with some new bands such as The Raconteurs and Muse. My friend Taylor who is a musician pursuing a career as an artist told be once that he listens to some music as exercise to work out his musical muscles. Another friend, Valery, has been trying everything from Celtic to Gregorian chanting to expand her musical taste. So here at Mary’s Monday Musicology we are going to be doing that as well (maybe not with chant music). This week we are taking a baby step in that direction with Vampire Weekend.

Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Baio and Christopher Tomson, who all met while at Columbia University in New York, formed vampire weekend in 2006 after graduating. They then self produced their first album while all working full time jobs. I too graduated in 2006 but sadly was not that productive and was in the “What the heck am I doing with my life?/I just want to do music!” stage of life. The name Vampire Weekend comes from a film Koenig made during college. Their first self-titled album was released in 2008 and their new album Contra was just released two weeks ago and I’ve been listening to it non-stop.

It was actually the blog world that spread the word about Vampire Weekend as they were getting their start and working towards getting a record deal. They have had several of their tracks featured on the silver screen with the films Step-Brothers and Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Vampire Weekend is great music for friendly gatherings with its mellow but upbeat sound. Can’t you just picture yourself with some Sangria in one hand while you BBQ some carne asada and are doing a little dance? I know I can but that’s just me. The new album has quite a few African beats that just get me dancing in my car.

http://www.myspace.com/vampireweekend

http://www.vampireweekend.com/

Hope you enjoyed this week’s featured band. Be sure to comment and let me know what you think.

Giveaway Alert!!!

Check back tonight for a very special giveaway as MMM joins with Lillian Ray Jewelry as she launches her new Luxe line and celebrates her one year anniversary! It will be worth your while I promise!

Photo #2 by Esther White

Photos #1 & 3 - Unknown