Music Business Blog by Jason Feinberg

Saw the Cave Singers last night at the Echo. This band gets better every time I see them, and the record is easily one of my favorites this year. I am really happy they have been getting so much attention (including a live set today on Nic Harcourt’s KCRW show and great article on NPR). They are also very buzz-worthy at many of the hipster sites and tastemaker blogs.

Some press has called them late to the folk music game, but I think that’s inaccurate. When reviewing or critiquing a band, you have to consider the background, intentions, and history of said band. In this case, these guys didn’t intend to write a folk record, it just organically came to be when one roommate sung over another roommate’s demo recordings. And it’s not simply “folk” – there’s a spirit to it I haven’t heard in many of the genre’s staples.

Keep in mind these guys are primarily from punk bands (Derek from Area 51, Death Wish Kids, Murder City Devils, Pretty Girls Make Graves; Pete Quirk from Hint Hint; Marty Lund from Cobra High) and I think that’s part of the charm. When three guys (and guest Andrea Zollo, also from many of the same bands as Derek) get together to just express themselves in a new style, you tend to get something outside the standards of that new genre. You do get some of the standard elements of artists like Dylan and Guthrie, but you also get some bleakness that seems to stem from many of the same influences of prior bands. You also get a new take on “folk guitar” – when a guy playing bass for most of his life switches to fingerpicking an acoustic guitar, a non-standard sound emerges. Maybe it’s because I’ve been playing for almost 20 years, but I can hear very distinct phrasing and styling that is quite atypical of a folk guitarist. But it works – it works very well actually.

So check them out – here’s their myspace page where you can hear some songs and see their upcoming tour dates.

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