Oh Ginger’s New EP [ohginger]

Lindsay Holler has been making great music out of Charleston, South Carolina for a while now, but recently she has  been collaborating with Michael Hanf on a duo they call Oh Ginger. What makes it an interesting combination is that Hanf is a multi-instrumentalist and former Charlestonian who now lives in New York, making the commute for rehearsals pretty rough, I’d guess. The vibraphone which Hanf primarily wields on the new EP complements Holler’s guitar picking nicely, just as Hanf’s voice is a more strident counterpoint to her own soulful singing.

On her own, Holler tends toward the blues/country side of Americana; with Hanf the sounds that emerge are a more mixed bag of hushed indie folk and classic songcraft, marking this not as a major departure but an intriguing sidestep.

Here’s a video of Oh Ginger singing “And So it Goes” from the new EP:

For more, check out the Bandcamp page for the EP here:

Needtobreathe release new song “Drive All Night”

Needtobreathe

South Carolina pop-rockers Needtobreathe served as the opener for part of Taylor Swift‘s last sold-out arena tour, and while they’ll never be a ‘country’ band, the direction hinted at in new single “Drive All Night” is certainly arena-anthem territory. Positively Springsteenian in tenor and tone (not to mention the title’s the same as an old Bruce song), it’s the kind of windows-down, foot-to-the-floor rock that used to blast out of pickup trucks before they went ‘boom’ with bass tracks instead.

Hear for yourself as they’re streaming the track on their website here, complete with lyrics…

The new album The Reckoning comes out September 20th on Atlantic Records.
Here’s a live take on the new song:

And a recent Swift concert opening set in Montreal yielded this:

New Leslie Single “Touch Me” Free Download

One of my favorite South Carolina bands for several years, the Charleston power trio Leslie, just released a new song online, “Touch Me.” If you like 70′s rock from Sweet to Aerosmith, or the contemporary groups which also channel those psychedelic grooves (Mooney Suzuki, Detroit Cobras, etc.) you need to hear this band…

Good Old War on Tour

I feel a road trip to Charleston coming on, say, September 1st…that’s when indie-folk upstarts Good Old War will come through town, their closest tour date to where I am. Haven’t heard of them yet? With a self-titled album out June 1st, an appearance on World Cafe Live a few days ago, and even some Billboard chart action (for whatever that’s worth these days), you will soon. Until then, check out this video of a live version of “Get Some” from just a few days ago:

Get a free download of “My Sinking Ship” at www.goodoldwar.com