Weekend Edition: Indie Mixtape Nashville and 7 other not-to-be-missed features!

This Week's Featured Music Minnie Driver The Minnie Driver Collection Frazey Ford Frazey Ford Five EP This Week's Featured Audiobook Former Taylor Swift manager and private consultant Rick Barker (Music Industry Blueprint) and longtime radio journalist / professional artist developer Wade Sutton (Rocket to the Stars) combine nearly 40 years of radio, marketing, public relations, and live performance instruction experience into one publication for artists seeking careers in commercial music. This book covers a wide array of subjects including: - When artists should consider hiring a manager - How to prepare for radio tours and interviews - The importance of PROPER live performance training - How to sell sponsorships for live shows and CD releases - Building fan bases through the use of e-mail marketing - How to go about hiring a booking agent - How artists can better communicate with the media  SIMILAR AUTHORS  Donald Passman, Bob Baker, Dave Kusek and David Hooper Will's Weekend Wrap-Up We did it, you guys! Another wonderful week is in the books and the weekend lays before us like blank canvas just waiting for shenanigans to fill it from corner to corner. I’ve been a bit sleep deprived this week covering the amazing goings on at AmericanaFest – including a killer show this afternoon I’m really looking forward to featuring The Avett Brothers, The Lone Bellow, Shakey Graves, and Angaleena Presley – so this is gonna be short and sweet. This week’s recommendations are a bit theme-based, as every artist in this foursome turned in an unbelievable set during their AmericanaFest showcases. While I try to find the nearest place to take (another) nap, dive in and sample some of the best voices and songwriters in the rootsy Americana game. Onward and upward, my friends! –WILL HODGE, NoiseTrade Music Editor Sturgill Simpson Sturgill Simpson If you like the slink-and-thump of 1970s-era classic country, you’re gonna love Sturgill Simpson. Channeling a modern day Waylon Jennings, Simpson’s deep drawl and conversational storytelling style of songwriting is a truly fresh take on the unpolished outlaw country of decades past. The self-description of “bonafide mountain hillbilly soul” accurately hits the nail on the head like few others do. This sampler features four tracks from his stunning debut album High Top Mountain, and they are all worth a listen. “Railroad of Sin” and “Some Days” are the standouts here, but give “You Can Have the Crown” a spin and you’ll see why Simpson still introduces it as “the song I wish I had never written." If you like Simpson’s sound, he also just released his fantastic follow-up album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music this year as well. Amy Ray The NoiseTrade Sampler I’m still buzzing from Amy Ray’s untouchable Thursday night showcase at Mercy Lounge, so I thought I’d pull this one from the vault and shine another light on it. It’s been available here on NoiseTrade for awhile and you owe it to yourself to pick it up if you’ve not done so already. Featuring 12 catalog cuts from Ray’s solo material – including tracks from Stag, Prom, Didn’t It Feel Kinder, and Lung of Love – and a few bonus live tracks as well. This is a rich retrospective from one of the best voices and most gifted songwriters in all of music. Sure, I may be a little biased since those of us that grew up in Georgia where pretty much raised on Amy’s voice. But even if you aren’t already a fan of hers, I’m sure you’ll find my fervor well deserved when you dig in to this incredible collection. Josh Ritter Live at the Iveagh Gardens Back in 2010, Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band traveled to Iveagh Gardens in Dublin, Ireland and recorded a two-hour show spanning his entire career. It was the first rock show ever performed there and the 21-songs presented here accurately capture the aural atmosphere of that magical night. Ritter’s beautifully wistful take on “Moon River” and the frenetic funk feel of “Rattling Locks” are gorgeous entry points. As a bonus, there are also two tracks from Ritter’s The Beast In It’s Tracks from last year. I’ve always felt Ritter’s voice fits somewhere between the passionate tone of Glen Hansard and the wiseman whimsy of Tom Waits, so if you are into either one of those legends, give Ritter a spin. Joe Pug An Introduction to Joe Pug For Joe Pug’s AmericanaFest set, he straight knocked the walls out of High Watt with his booming voice and his modern folk masterpieces. I promise you it would not be overstated hyperbole to say that he has one of my all-time favorite voices. The fact that he is an unquestionably brilliant lyricist just sweetens the pot. Most ears will impulsively try to attach the Bob Dylan tag, but a closer listen will show that influence as a starting point and not a destination. I’ve come to be untroubled in my seeking and I’ve come to see that nothing is for naught. I’ve come to reach out blind, to reach forward and behind. For the more I seek, the more I’m sought.– “Hymn #101” I mean, c’mon. Download the intro sampler, go buy everything he’s ever put out, and then tumble sweetly down the rabbit hole. When writer Will Hodge isn’t closer to fine, can find him running off at the keyboard about music, concerts, and vinyl at My So-Called Soundtrack .

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