Music Recommendation: Bottle Cap Rockets

If you’re anything like me you’re always on the hunt for some new music to listen to. I especially search for good rockabilly bands, I cannot get enough of the stuff and let me tell you The Bottle Cap Rockets are “The Stuff” of Rockabilly. Strong vocals, killer bass, clever lyrics, and that constant driving guitar that will get you dancing whether you want to or not.Who else is guilty of dancing in their car and getting caught by other drivers? Hopefully it’s not just me 😉Can we talk about how cool these cats are?

The Bottle Cap Rockets consists of Alan Gross on lead vocals/guitar, Chris Wolfer recruiting bassist/back up vocals, and different drummers are brought in to form a trio for shows. 

Alan Gross

Chris Wolfer. *All photos were taken from The Bottle Cap Rockets Facebook page and website. I do not own them*

The band is based out of Ringwood NJ and since forming back in 2010 has released their first album First Seven which is available on itunes, amazon, and cd baby, performed with the likes of The Ultra Kings, Crash Gordon with Debra Dynamite on vocals, and Nikki Hill. Opened for Eric Lindell at Mexicali Live in Teaneck NJ, and plan to release their second album Go Ape sometime early 2014.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/first-seven/id551150143

http://www.amazon.com/First-Seven-Bottle-Cap-Rockets/dp/B008U9BVOW

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bottlecaprockets

Even if you’re not necessarily a fan of rockabilly you will like this band, they have a good mix of that classic rockabilly sound people like me will want, but they’re not a “time capsule” band. You can definitely hear the influences of Elvis, Roy Orbison, and Eddy Cochrin. Yet there is still something new and fresh offered with their tunes. So I highly suggest you check em out and let me know what you think! http://bottlecaprockets.com/ Hope all enjoyed this post and found a new band to listen to. Cheers!

Ronnie Fauss and JD McPherson Concert.

Last Thursday I had the great pleasure of seeing Ronnie Fauss and JD McPherson in concert. The show had sold out, but since the original venue was outdoors (The Belmont) and it had been raining all day, it was moved to The Kessler, well a change of venues and a change of plans meant I was going to be able to have an incredible night full of music, dancing, and of course some concert photography, this is me we’re talking about afterall.

First act was Ronnie Fauss. Admittedly my expectations are never really high to opening acts…I’ve heard some great ones and I have heard some real doozies, much to my delight Ronnie was fabulous! He is a Dallas based singer songwriter who draws influences from John Prine and Steve Earle. His music ranges from moody “bad boy country” to upbeat storytelling country. You can check out his page here  http://www.ronniefauss.com/ and if you have to opportunity to see him you should!

 Then JD McPherson took the stage. JD McPherson has something for everyone, honestly if you have the ability to hear I cannot comprehend you not liking these guys. There style is a mix of the kind of music they like, Rock n Roll, Rhythm and blues, rockabilly, etc. JD’s current album Signs and Signifiers is the perfect blend of old and new and shows the true artistry of these incredible musicians! You can find out more about the band here http://www.jdmcpherson.com/news.html

Almost as soon as they hit the stage people were out front just ready to start dancing, and oh boy did they dance! Seriously if you ever have the opportunity to see these guys DO NOT HESITATE! BUY THOSE TICKETS! You will not be sorry you did. I have been to my share of concerts and these guys are the best band I have ever seen!

Jimmy Sutton kills it on the bass!

Ray is a mad man on the keys! I’m pretty sure his hands move at the speed of light!

JD is just a rock star I mean really.

Doug is a phenomenal saxophone player!

Jason is an incredible drummer, I have no idea how he does it!

I love how JD and Jason are basically making the same face.

 Love the way this shot turned out.

 I had the most amazing time and cannot express how wonderful these guys are, just do yourself a favor and go see them. Hope you all liked the pictures Happy Wednesday.

Music Monday 9.

What do you know? I still feel like being lazy and merely sharing a song today. Thanksgiving wore me out, there was a LOT of cooking. So enjoy this song that has been stuck in my head the past several days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ThRVUcmSa0

Happy Music Monday!

Music Monday 8

Well I’m feeling rather lazy…So I’m going to keep this post short and sweet. I am going to share one of my favorite songs of the incomparable Johnny Cash. I think one of the main reasons I like this song, other than the obvious fact that Johnny Cash is one of the greatest things that ever happened to music, is that in the song Rockabilly Blues Johnny names a lot cities here in Texas. Nothing like a bit of Texas pride to win someone over to a song right? Anyway here’s the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Vk9gVxjWo

Happy Music Monday guys!

Music Monday No. 5

Yes yes yes I know, last Monday I did not post. Shame on me, all of that bragging about how consistent I was being then…BOOM! No post. I do however have a good excuse, the internet was down. See a very reasonable excuse indeed ;).  Anyway today is a recommendation for an incredibly talented singer! Drum roll please…

Emmet Cahill!

I’ve made it well known that I am quite the fan of all the Celtic Thunder men, every guy is extremely talented and brings so much to the table. But today I thought I would focus on the classical singer of the group Emmet. I was so fortunate as to see Emmet perform alongside Keith Harkin at one of Keith’s solo gigs. I must say I was completely blown away, Emmet is a surprisingly strong singer for someone as young as he (I believe he is 22). Of course one does not need to be middle aged to be a great singer, but you can almost always hear a notable improvement from someone who is older. Well Emmet is quite the exception to this, he voice is so strong and pure that you would believe you are listening to a well seasoned man, of shall I say… advanced age 😉

I did a wee bit of research on Emmet and it is no wonder why he is so talented. From the young age of 5 he was learning to play the piano, and by 7 was taking voice lessons. When I was that age I was just trying to avoid soccer practice 😉 I wasn’t very disciplined haha. From there Emmet went on to win a music scholarship for highschool. Then he continued his studies of piano, organ, violin, and vocal training for the next few years. Another impressive accomplishment was the fact he earned a degree in Musical Performance from the rather prestigious Royal Irish Academy of Music, talk about dedication to ones craft.

Paul Byrom left Celtic Thunder in 2010 to pursue a solo career, so auditions were held in June of that year, and it isn’t any surprise to me that Emmet was chosen to fill the void, and to become the classical singer of the group. Emmet is winning over more and more fans with every performance. Singing the likes of ‘Kindred Spirits’ written by Phil Coulter specifically for Emmet, the beautifully haunting ‘Isle of Hope’, and the giggle inducing ‘My Irish Molly’. As well as singing Celtic Thunder favorites like ‘Galway Girl’, ‘Seven Drunken Nights’ and many others with the rest of the Celtic Thunder guys. So that is why Emmet is the topic of today’s Musical Monday Post.

You can check out some of Emmet’s music on his youtube channel and I highly encourage you to subscribe to it.

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn0PIUMHZwycQj8-Jd2g_yg/videos?view=0

You can also like his page on Facebook and keep updated there

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emmet-Cahill-Official-Music/158928754151170?fref=ts

Or you could even follow him via twitter

https://twitter.com/EmmetcahillCT

Whatever you do, I highly encourage you to check him out. I hope you all enjoyed this post, and be sure to let me know what you all think, I adore hearing from you guys. As always have a very happy and Musical Monday! Cheers!

Music Monday.

Hello blog readers. I thought I might try my hand at a new regular, scratch that make it semi regular (this is me we’re talking about after all) blog post series, titled Music Monday, this can be about my favorite cd, song, musician, music video, or whatever else I am currently digging that relates to music. So for today’s post I thought I might give you a cd recommendation. I bought myself Keith Harkin’s debut album through Amazon, it arrived last Monday, and I have been unashamedly playing this single cd all week.

Fabulous album cover 😉

OK so I can hear what some of you are thinking, “uh huh sure it’s great, whatever you’re just one of those fan girls, who would buy his cd even if he sounded like a dying cat”. Well you my dear are wrong, very rarely do I buy cd’s. Most of the time I wait for it to hit youtube or pandora cause I’m cheap like that. I also don’t just get the sudden urge to buy whatever music, since I work hard for my money, I want to know that what I am buying is going to be great! Well I hadn’t any doubts, cause I have been to two of Keith’s shows and each time I was blown away by his beautiful vocals, and killer guitar playing skills. Seriously even if Keith wasn’t as good-looking as he so obviously is, I would still be just as much of a fan. Because you cannot argue with raw talent! Honestly I feel like that is the best description I can give Keith…Raw talent! His cd has finally been released and I would highly recommend that you go out and buy yourself a copy, and then buy a copy for someone that you like, because music this great deserves to be shared with the masses.

 everyone with the ability to hear would love this album!

Keith has some of his own songs on this album which are sublime, as well as compilations and some fabulous covers of classic songs (Everybody’s Talkin’ At Me is my favorite cover). Every song knocks it out of the park though. There is truly a song for everyone on this album, so no matter what your musical tastes may be you will not be disappointed. I have placed the links below to where you can buy his album. Hope all of you have a very Happy Musical Monday!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/keith-harkin-keith-harkin/24997900?ean=602537115488

http://www.amazon.com/Keith-Harkin/dp/B008N5UX8S

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/keith-harkin/id559958870

http://www.celticthunder.ie/content/keith-harkin-keith-harkin-cd