Something a little different - in a good way - for you today.  Hailing from the UK,  Absenté Reo is an engineer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and remixer who produces a range of soundtrack, acoustic and contemporary dance and future bass under various pseudonyms. He spent two years backpacking in 15 countries with a rode microphone, a laptop, a guitar, and a sequencer/sampler and emerged with something unique.  

Listen below as  the atmospheric melodies pull you  in to the story  of "Khan Yunis"   which was recorded with a Bolivian Charango and Chinese Erhu.

After an eight-year hiatus, San Francisco’s The Morning Line is back making jangly guitar pop with their latest EP, Smoke. Singer-songwriter Stephen Smith alongside bandmates Peter Craft, David Knupp, and Brian Mello bring bright hooks, sweet harmonies, and a steady percussive beat to seven tracks that range from the mid-tempo opener “Los Angeles” to the solemn Americana-esque “Last of the Losers” and the infectious closer “Only Game In Town.” Check the album out below.

Following up his acclaimed 2013 debut  The Ballad of Willy Robbins  , Vikesh Kapoor returns with his newest single, "Down By The River." The  affecting ballad brought to life by Kapoor's ethereal and subdued vocals, restrained  instrumentation, and imagery-filled lyrics  is  nothing short of beautiful.
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"Down by the river there she was
pinning the line and drying her clothes
from the hill I watched as my love stood alone
Fare thee well, oh honey, fare thee well
The old church bells never did sound
as they did the day my love and I were bound
as they did the night my wife was not found
Fare thee well, oh honey, fare thee well"
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Kapoor had this to say of the song,  "I wrote  'Down by the River'  while stuck in a blizzard in Pennsylvania. A river called the Susquehanna rushed through my town and I'd sit on its bank in the snow thinking about a Ukrainian girl I met there, by chance, the winter before. A few nights later, waiting for the snow to melt, the image of her on the edge of the river became clear in my mind. I finished the song while the sun was still down, but never got to sing it for her in the morning."

Listen (and be moved) below. Pre-order here:   tinyurl.com/vkflexidiscpre

This week's EARGRABBERS features songs from  recent projects  including  Mary Bragg's Lucky Strike, Chris Shifflet's West Coast Town and  Amilia K. Spicer's Wow and Flutter as well as  songs  from Hugh Masterson and The Dustbowl Revival  both of whom have upcoming albums due in June.

Rogue + Jaye, the brand new musical partnership between Los Angeles-via-Nashville singer-songwriter Courtney Jaye  and  Zach Rogue, frontman of the Bay Area indie-rock band  Rogue Wave, are proud to announce the release of its debut album titled  Pent Up.  Available now on iTunes,  Pent Up,  is the showcase of two seasoned songwriters with immense vocal abilities coming together to produce a body of work that blends the best parts of Americana, Country, indie and pop into a vision singular to Jaye and Rogue. Check out "Golden Lady" from the  album below and head HERE for more info.

Led by frontwoman Kim Ware, the Good Graces are prepping to release their new record, Set Your Sights on   July 7th. Filled with atmospheric Americana and lush indie-folk tracks, the reflective set is set apart by Ware’s warbling Southern drawl (recalling early Sonia Leigh) confessional lyrics. Thematically, the album explores getting older, looking back on your life and trying to correct missteps - a heartfelt attempt at redemption and reconciliation that Ware describes as her “midlife crisis record.”

The new single, "Broke in Two", is a poignant ballad lamenting lost love that is propelled by lap steel, organ, and Ware's bewitching vocals which convey the dispirited emotion of the tune in a way that's palpable.

Ware had this to say of the track:
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"Broke in Two" was the first song I wrote as we were finishing up the last record, "Close to the Sun," and it didn't quite make it on that one. It's one of the oldest on the new record, so I guess that's why it kinda evolved so much, from a simple strummy sad tune, to even more melancholy -- for a while it was finger-picked in the verses - and then finally back to strummy and rocking. Jonny Daly (producer/guitarist) had a real vision with this one and he tracked multiple guitar parts. He'd record something, send it over to me, and then a day or two later he'd scrap it. For a minute he ditched the pedal steel at the beginning for an electric lead, but I just loved the steel being prominent on this one and I really felt like it fit the mood I was going for so I talked him into bringing it back. 

Anyone that knows me can probably tell right away what this one is about. I went through a pretty tumultuous breakup - gosh it's been like over 10 years ago now - but I still find myself reflecting on what went wrong and just trying to figure it all out. I'm not sure I ever will, and every song that I write about it is a little different, but this one is sort of me saying I'm sorry but also letting myself off the hook a little bit; we both neglected the relationship in a lot of ways so I think ultimately I probably don't deserve all the blame that we both sorta put on me. The end of a relationship just sucks all around."

For more information visit  HERE.

Originally from Kentucky, Jason Tyler Burton now calls the base of the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming home. The singer-songwriter recently released the follow-up his 2014 album Headwaters, entitled Lost Behind the Ranges. Written mostly while working as a seasonal park ranger in the Zion and Sequoia national parks, and recorded in Pinedale, Wyoming, the eleven-song set reflects Burton’s transition from wandering the West to finding a home in Wyoming and focuses on relationships including those with significant others, country, and the road.

A collection that is melodically quiet, the songs on Lost Behind the Ranges are heartfelt, personal, and touching with one of the tracks, “Bet On Me” striking a deep emotional chord. Opening with acoustic guitar which is soon accompanied by the sorrowful strains of a violin and shuffling percussion, “Bet On Me” finds Burton warning a potential life partner not to take a chance on him because he will only let her down. While the lyrics themselves are impactful, its Burton’s vocals – emitting a warm sadness of a defeated man who now believes the negative things others have told him about himself - that heighten the emotion. “I’ve spent all these years just trying to break free of what others said would be my destiny.”
 
 "I told you once I told you a thousand times, that I am guilty of a thousand crimes
I told you once I told you a thousand times: Don’t you bet on me
Well are you sure you want to take my name?
Your daddy says I am the one to blame, so are you sure you want to take my name?
Don’t you bet on me."

For more information visitHERE

 Jason Hawk Harris, guitarist for the Show Ponies, goes solo on  "The Smoke and the Stars”  the first song released under his own name which will  be on his forthcoming album due later this year. 

The song, Harris says, has been waiting to come out his whole life. "It clawed its way out of me and left me on the floor in a pool of blood, smiling like a lunatic. Explaining the song would be to offer a mediocre paraphrase.  The lyrics themselves are the best explanation I can give.  In general, I’m a fan of the idea that music is best experienced without pre-conceived notions. And with that, I’m going to shut up so you can listen.” 

The cinematic-like introduction slow builds til Harris' serene vocals  cast a spell  alongside piano, steel, and delicate harmonies delivering  lyrics both absorbing  and complex.  Listen to the song below.