Ben Sollee
by Cellist Ben Sollee is like Andrew Bird with a little more soul, or Arthur Russell with a bit more bounce. Initially making his name as Abigail Washburn’s sideman and a member of her Sparrow Quartet (which features none other than Bela Fleck on lead banjo duties), Sollee’s solo material skews more heavily in the pop direction, making him a bit of an oddity amongst his fellow folkies. The title track off his debut album, Bend, features Washburn in a supporting role, and is one of the most heart-rending songs you’re likely to hear this year.
Listen to the song, A Change is Gonna Come.
Tagged: folk music, pop music
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A former bare-knuckle boxer from Yorkshire, England (for real), Findlay Brown was heralded by many as the UK’s answer to Jose Gonzales when his debut album, Separated By The Sea, was released on Peacefrog Records in 2007. Love Will Find You moves beyond his earlier folk sound to a more ambitious — and soulful — place. Produced by Bernard Butler (Suede), the album features songs that are lush and intimate, influenced as much by Phil Spector and Ennio Morricone as by Roy Orbison or The Beatles. The album came together while Brown was stuck on his sister’s couch nursing a broken leg, having been run over by a cab driver: ‘I’d already started going back and listening to a lot of records I’d grown up on, like Elvis Presley, soul music, doo wop, Phil Spector, The Righteous Brothers and the like. I had an idea about making a modern record influenced by the songwriting of the late 50s and early 60s. I just started writing, trying to work out what made a universally great song, like Stand By Me. These new songs are the first part of that process’. You can download his new single, Holding Back The Night, for free in our Music Download section.
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