England’s darlings, Gomez have recently released their latest album, entitled A New Tide. The song “Airstream Driver” has really caught my ear. It seems to be getting a bit of airplay on radio stations as well, it seems. I really dig the monotone vocals that are a trademark of the bands style plus the dramatic guitar mixes really well into the whole equation. I don’t really know what to say about it other than it’s pretty awesome. See for yourself below… 

Click here for a live in-studio version

Click here for the album version

I guess the salsa really is hot, huh??

My recent Awesome Song Alerts have a common thread that intertwines them together -  Simplicity.  Hayes Carll told us about a girl that he liked, but wasnt going to get in “Beaumont”.  Buddy & Julie Miller filled us in on what made moments of their past so precious, and with Paul Eason’s “The Mountains of Nuevo Leon”, we have a straight-forward country song that also sticks to the the beautiful basics of telling a story.  When Eason sings, “Sun is hotter here than the salsa/the salsa here dont mess around“, I cant help but hear a bit of Robert Earl Keen’s “Gringo Honeymoon”, also a laid-back Country-classic tale of living the simple life south of the border. With a voice that reminds me of a less hokey Roger Creager (no offense), Eason effortlessly delivers a song that simply will not get out of my brain!

Go to Paul Eason’s Myspace page, and click on “The Mountains of Nuevo Leon”.

I love it when a song pops up on the Ipod, grabs me and forces me to hit repeat time and time again. “Ellis County” from Buddy & Julie Miller’s absolutely stellar disc, Written in Chalk has done just that. The fiddle that weaves in and out of the chorus effortlessly oozes a longing and rawness that matches the tone of the lyrics.  When the Miller’s sing “Take me back to precious things my heart carries” or “Take me back to when our daddy let us sin on Sunday“, the song turns into a family photo album that hasn’t turned yellow with age, but has become a living, breathing document that will forever serve as a reminder of innocent times for this family. The vocals are also heart-tugging as they weave together just as effortlessly as the fiddle I mentioned earlier. It has been noted that the hubby-wife duo’s vocals are reminiscent of the makers of my favorite album of 2008, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson. I think that’s fair to say for the female side of the equation for sure. As one would assume, I am not the only one that loves this song, either.  Check it out for yourself!