Frank Gutch Jr: Angharad Drake Plays the Corner Lounge; Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers’ J.D, Wilkes Circa 2008 (But Still Oh So Relevant); and Notes You Won’t Be Able to Get Out of Your Head…

Tomorrow night, Nanaimo, it all goes down.  The very first Canadian performance of Australia’s folk-rockin’ Angharad Drake, and boy do I wish I could be there.  Drake has been bending ears down in Oz for the past few years and is slowly developing a following as loyal as anywhere on the musical scene.  No SXSWs or Bonnaroos for her.  She is working her way up from unknown, but those will be part of her circuit next time around.

Frank Gutch Jr: Musicians on a Mission: Dan Phelps, Julian Taylor, Wes Swing, and Jimmy Lee (formerly Lee’s Company)… Plus a lugubrious panorama of Notes

Meet Dan Phelps, if you have not already done so.  I first ran across him over a decade ago when he was working with both Bill Pillmore and his daughter Jess Pillmore on their respective albums, Look In Look Out and Reveal.  Bill was an original member of Cowboy and I had heard through Scott Boyer, another original member of that venerable band, that he was recording for the first time, to my knowledge, since Cowboy‘s excellent 1971 release, 5’ll Getcha Ten.  When I contacted him, he was in full recording mode, working with Phelps, whom he had chosen to produce.  To my amazement, Phelps did more than just produce.  He was a sideman and a damn good one, a creator of good licks and solid musical ideas.  It was a first look at a musician I would follow from that point on.