minor mine - out of heaven

i'm always excited to get international tunes, and this is no exception. here is a dark and creepy music video, featuring scarecrows and tall raven people, for the new tune 'out of heaven' by driving folk rock group minor mine of thessaloniki, greece. this song is the lead number off of their new album of the same name. understated electric guitar and organ pulse under a voice and words saturated with an old world dread. minor mine has played with americans murder by death on their european outings, and the billing makes sense.



listen to more tunes from minor mine here. check out a few more live performances and formal videos on their youtube channel.

blacktop desert - sea of fields and flame

lofi indie folk-pop out of charleston, sc, blacktop desert's songs impart a lonesomeness and distance, with dark piano driven production laying back in a haze of tape fuzz. it sounds the way a desert of black top looks, passing outside your car window on a solitary drive. the accompanying videos express that as well.





hear more blacktop desert here. like the previous three posts, these videos are courtesy of sarah murphy, check out her youtube channel for more music.

the judy chops - home and jealous hearted me

the judy chops out of staunton, va are likely one of the harder working bands in the shenandoah valley. able to appeal to all audiences, the chops play a pretty full show schedule dealing out renditions of traditional folk, jazz and blues as well as original tunes. this post features a couple of their originals, one live and one in narrative video format.





both videos are by sarah murphy. the video for 'home' was an entry in harrisonburg, va's super gr8 film festival. learn more about the judy chops here.

jonny fritz (AKA corndawg) - holy water

i love this guy, i have been following his strange career for years. i remember a show where he walked out of the coffee shop he was playing in mid song, not missing a word, getting the crowd to follow, in order to leave behind a rude audience member, who was interrupting the intimate vibe of the evening. he was playing an un-amplified, upholstered electric guitar. afterwards he sold t-shirts airbrushed with portraits of dead children. this performance, at the blue nile in harrisonburg, va, is a little different, featuring the full country style band and decidedly less wacky approach he has favored more recently.



learn more about the corndawg right here. video by sarah murphy.

sarah murphy - mama said

sarah murphy of harrisonburg, virginia, performs a heartfelt original tune in a strong clear voice. not only does she do this, but she also films a lot of other bands. i'm gonna make a series of posts from her youtube channel. check that out for a bunch of live and otherwise videos of a variety of bands.

the modern folk music of america.

jonathan livingston greyskull - great justice/tiny men

ambient droney instrumental music from the man who also makes hip hop and goes by the name satellite high. if you follow him on twitter you've already seen him tweet about this like 50 times haha.


sit back relax and zone out to it. also check out his raps here.

picardy III - a savior

confessional folk rock with intimate, graceful production from picardy III, AKA james summers, of austin, TX. james has toured extensively as the drummer of the whiskey priest while quietly self producing albums as a singer songwriter in his own right. the folks at rainboot records in the UK took an interest and are releasing his newest work, 'a savior' on their imprint. the album vacillates from quiet reflections with shimmering harmonies to more anthemic heart-on-the-sleeve numbers, with big choruses and swelling guitars.


grab the new record in a variety of formats here for eight to fifteen bucks, and explore this site to find james' other releases as name-your-price downloads.

shenandoah alley - squirrel gravy and live at larkin arts

here they are, two EPs worth of ripping blue ridge mountain bluegrass from the shenandoah valley's shenandoah alley (haha). some of my very best friends here getting together to make some tunes that make you think of those bright leaves in the appalachian fall, cold tea, hot whiskey, lightning bugs and a bonfire inside of an old washing machine. i loves these boys and their tunes.

unfortunately, digital copies of these aren't available for purchase, so listen online, or if you want one, hassle the band at one of their shows in the harrisonburg area or on their facebook.

dr. muskrat and his mississippi mudsteppas - the spasm

here is some jug band tunes from dr. muskrat and his mississippi mudsteppas, a video of whom i've featured here before. this band includes kat wodke, one of MFOA's very first contributors. this is a classic and well performed jug band revival album, in the vein of early old crow medicine show, mother mccree's uptown jug champions, and the carolina chocolate drops. it includes well worn jug numbers such as 'tear it down' and one of my personal favorites, 'st. louis blues', alongside some original numbers. give this thing a spin and dance a little jig.

also at dr. muskrat's bandcamp is the following pretty album of acoustic ambient music called the application


both are available as completely free downloads, shuffle yourself tired with the spasm, then drift off with the application.

yesper - cannibal king

i feel this guy because he is a singer/songwriter who records by himself who moved from virginia to the pacific northwest. yesper recorded these whispered ghostly folk tunes in an abandoned store front in seattle that he had to sneak into. brushed drums and closely plucked melodies make dry sounds in open spaces. get the album as a name-your-price download on his bandcamp.


here is a video of yesper performing a thom yorke song that does not appear on his album.


yesper - atoms for peace from yesper on Vimeo.

check out more yesper here. here's to sweet virginia and the misty mystical pacific northwest.