Always happy to feature local Pittsburgh artists here on Ear To The Ground Music and there are few as talented and well-received as Joy Ike. A little like Sara Barielles, Joy’s songwriting and pop piano style clearly show her influences, but she’s taken …
Category: Piano
Hem – Departure and Farewell
Sometimes a title is all you need to understand an album. Jason Mraz’s Love is a Four Letter Word or John Fullbright’s From The Ground Up or the beautifully titled Rappalachia by bluegrass/hip-hop group Gangstagrass. With their first album in years, Hem has done that …
Daniel and the Lion – Death Head
Although most people probably don’t care how I “discovered” a band, I find the story with DATL to be particularly fun. They did a cover of Ray Charles “Hallelujah I Love Her So” that was so incredible I had to know more about …
Artist Spotlight: “Nicholas David” Nicholas Mrozinski and the Feelin’
My favorite contestant from season three of NBC’s The Voice was “Nicholas David,” the easier-to-pronounce name of Nicholas Mrozinski, a Minnesota soul singer who covered some fantastic pop soul classics on the hit TV show. I was excited to see what else he …
The Lone Bellow – The Lone Bellow
We’ve spent the last couple weeks trying to make up for albums that we missed in 2012. But it’s time for the first truly great album of 2013. The Lone Bellow’s self-titled debut is a work of genius, an album that blends vocal …
John Fullbright – Hallelujah
I’m a vocal fan of covers. I love them and I love when artists I love cover songs I love by other artists I love. Case in point, John Fullbright (incredible musician) covering Hallelujah (incredible song) by a bunch of incredible musicians. Just …
The Likes of Us – The Likes of Us (free download)
Concept albums typically deal with a topic or an idea, but what if you took a style of music and decided to make an album? Ask The Likes Of Us, a duo of Benj Heard and Katrina Stone, who realized a musical connection …
Dan and the Wildfire – Smoke Signals
The newest album by the quartet hailing from the northeastern US, Smoke Signals, should have people drawing comparisons between Dan and the Wildfire and Blitzen Trapper. A blog favorite, Blitzen Trapper has often crafted albums that are both uniformly Blitzen Trapper and also contain songs …
Broken Fences – Broken Fences
Music is most easily digested and appreciated when it fits the mood. While some use music to get them psyched up or to calm them down, I think music is best when it fits the mood that already exists. Not all music fits …
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – “Goodbye Kiss”
I love Grace Potter. I may actually be in love with her. She has an incredibly soulful voice, she writes simple songs that have strong meanings and she plays a mean piano. She seems to be more honest and genuine than any other woman …
