2021. Divided by 3. 3 sides of the pyramid. The Illuminati. 21 divided by 3, is 7. 7 is the number of good things. I don’t know. Like everyone else in this day and age I am just fucking grasping at air trying to catch a hold of something and keep dangling for a bit. In reality a friend posted an article I wrote a couple years back with a similar tag and I think we all could use some “good things” right about now. So, there you go…
Anyway, here we are at the end of 2021 and I feel like I am in the same place as I was way back in 2020 while writing the feature titled “Shit I Should Have Written About in 2020”. I was recently having a chat with Cindy Howes of Basic Folk Podcast (if you haven’t already, you should be tuning in and subscribed to their wonderful collective of convos) about how the push and pull waxes and wanes for my love of this publication and some sense of obligation that I have to keep this going in some way or another. Things have changed a lot since that fateful day, sitting in my cubicle in Cambridge, MA. I had a table session gig later that day and my mandolin was beneath my desk. A friend just sent me rough mixes of his new record to check out and I opened a blog page and began writing. Music, performing, the community of that in Cambridge/Somerville/Boston was a definitive part of my sense of being.
My own landscape has changed drastically since then, nearly a decade ago. I am no longer a musician living and frenetically playing any gig I could get in the Boston area. Countless shows and photo sessions. Ken Templeton became a regular contributor to the website. Red Line Roots curated 3 compilation records of local musicians. A video series capturing artists in off stage places was created upon my move to the rural hills of Vermont. Partnerships and being a part of the Green Mountain Bluegrass & Roots family. Ken and I started the RLR Podcast and now Ken is the true driving force behind keeping it going. Then Ken moved to North Carolina. We have shifted and adapted to our lives outside of this passion project and as a result, there’s a lot less content and regular/traditional articles being churned out. At times I want to apologize profusely for that and other times I am grateful to have found some semblance of balance for the other endeavors (and my day job) in the process. I think that’s a healthy way to go about life? Still, the few people who actually know me continually tell me that I have too many projects.
But alas, regardless of how many articles are pumped out into the world from this publication its still the music that gets me through. 2021 may have seen a bit of regularity come back into the fold in terms of live shows, but we are still in new and changing times. Ever adapting, but one constant remains. You, the artists, the songwriters, the storytellers. For you are I am ever grateful. Here’s just a few of those projects from 2021 that keep me going, kept me smiling, made me cry. Made me feel…
Mandolins & Things: Andrew Marlin – Fable & Fire / Witching Hour : Andrew didn’t release one masterpiece of a recording in 2021, he and his band of arguably the most talented collective of instrumentalists in the modern music landscape, went on and created two brilliant albums of instrumental songs that will soon be old favorites for those at music festival after hours jams (if they can keep up with some of the tempo). With the two records, Marlin in particular, just further cements himself as one of the most important musicians of this generation. A fact that will continue to solidify itself over time. But this collection is a prime example of just how rich a time we are living in for music and songwriting, as each individual player adds so much depth and brilliance to an already shining light.
A New Classic – Sierra Ferrell – Long Time Coming
: It truly took me seeing Sierra and her fabulous band live at Green River Fest to latch on and realize this was something missing from my life that I desperately needed. Since, the countless hours I have spent on Youtube further digesting the storied songs, well, I think that number may be immeasurable.
Long Time Coming feels like one of the early staples in your collection that introduced you to and influenced your favorite genre of music. There is something so genuine and honest in Ferrell’s delivery. Sincerity that shines. Classics are called classics for a reason, and this woman and her band have proven heartily that they are in it for the long haul.
An Old Favorite – Watchhouse – self titled : Is an explanation really needed here? Probably not. But I’ll entertain you with one anyway. Coming off of a name change and possible paradigm shift, Watchhouse (fmr. Mandolin Orange…that is the last time I will use that descriptor) went and released a collection of songs that was equal parts of what fans have come to love about the band tempered with a palpable, sonic emotion of what the band has had bubbling beneath any sort of chains they felt their previous moniker may have had them tied to. There is a release and a deeply freeing connection threaded throughout the record. Its a beautiful thing.
Best of Both Worlds – Eli West – Tapered Point of Stone : There are musicians who make music and then there are musicians who breathe and envelop music with every single note they play. West falls into the latter bucket. There is a pensive and careful nature to his playing and writing. His voice can be delicate, but ever so curious. There is strength in his words. He draws you in naturally. And that’s not just describing the voice that comes from deep in his chest and emanates from his mouth. The instrumental numbers on “Stone” are equally are curious and thought provoking. The choice of putting them next to one another on a record, is a testament to a writer who can turn an ear in such a powerful nature in both linguistic lyrical poetry and the melody of an instrumental.
Shit Kickin’ Good Times – Zach Schmidt – Raise a Banner : Zach has this calm confidence about him and that’s certainly evident in his songs and his delivery of the words of his tunes. Schmidt is a king of turns of phrase that turn your head. Those examples are prominent across the board on ‘Raise a Banner’. The intelligence in writing is married with a band lineup beyond mind blowing as some of Nashville’s (and beyond) make an appearance across the recordings. A beast of a follow up that was a long time coming for the singer-songwriter…but one that winds up being well worth the wait.
Less is More – Kat Wright – Trio Sessions Vol. 1 : I just recently wrote specifically about Kat’s trio sessions, but if you missed it. This is the record that I needed this year. There is such beauty in it’s simplicity. But yet, its anything but. Each of the 3 musicians in the trio being absolute masters of their craft. Music that will make you smile and cry in the same line of a song. Melt you into an emotional pile of mush, but build you back up again. Just go listen.
Three Times the Energy- Aaron Lee Tasjan – Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan! : Just when you think ALT can’t be any more prolific, the singer-songrocker goes and releases another collective of glam rock bedazzled charmers that is sure to move your body and your soul. And while there are tracks synthed out spectacles of glimmery goodness, tracks like “Another Lonely Day” are pure and beautiful of examples of the heart on the sleeve and stripped down nature we have come to previously love Tasjan for sonically, with his more rootsy releases, continues further into the sentimentality of ‘truth and honesty’ and how that just further infuses itself into ALT’s being, sonically and lyrically.
Well, there you have it. 7 albums for 2021 that kept this guy laughing, crying, stomping and feeling all of the feels. The players above are all to the artist’s Bandcamp pages (no Spotify here, folks). So head on over, buy their records or hit the hyperlink in their names and go grab some merch before the holiday/end of the year and remember, keep on keepin’ on.
