Exclusive Premiere: Mother Meadow - "Pull Me Through" [indie folk / singer-songwriter]

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I’m excited to introduce everyone to a very talented singer/songwriter, Mother Meadow, who was so kind as to choose holaOLA to exclusively debut her first single, “Pull Me Through”, which you can check out below in the form of a self-produced video, featuring first-hand road trip and hiking footage shot along the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.  The song is the first single off her debut Shorebirds EP, which was recorded last fall at The Glow Recording Studio in Athens, GA and will be available August 26.

The young woman behind Mother Meadow is Bradenton, Florida’s Sadie Frederick, who lists Alela Diane, Feist, Railroad Earth, JJ Grey & Mofro, Donna the Buffalo, and The Lemonheads as main influences. When asked about the meaning behind 'Mother Meadow', Frederick explained that it “came from observations of nature during a cross-country road trip last summer” and that “the beauty of wildflowers in meadows, as well as learning to take care of [herself] and be more ‘motherly’” naturally inspired her to embrace 'Mother Meadow' as her moniker.

That very same love and and appreciation for life and nature shines through on Mother Meadow’s debut single “Pull Me Through” and its accompanying video. Frederick’s saccharine vocals and reflective lyrics paired with the strummy guitars, wistful strings, and sunny keys of “Pull Me Through” help to establish Mother Meadow as a rejuvenating folk artist with the gift of capturing the beauty of life in her songwriting.

After listening to “Pull Me Through” below, do yourself a favor and head on over to Mother Meadow’s SoundCloud page to check out two more great songs off the Shorebirds EP. Make sure to follow her on Facebook too so you can get your hands on a copy of her EP in August and maybe catch a performance near you!

Just Rolled In: Wilder Maker - "Hope Springs" [americana / indie folk]

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Boston-born, Brooklyn-dwelling Gabriel Birnbaum is the songwriter behind the Americana/folk rock band Wilder Maker, which used to be known as Boy Without God and already has a couple records out, but his credits don't stop there. Whether on stage or in the studio, the twenty-eight-year-old musician has played with the likes of Sharon Van Etten, Jens Lekman, Akron/Family, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, DeVotchKa, Landlady, and SKATERS. He is also a member of the Ethiopian pop group Debo Band who released a critically-acclaimed full length back in 2012 via Sub Pop Records.

With this extensive résumé and the release of the lead single, "Hope Springs", from the first volume of Wilder Maker's upcoming Everyday Crimes Against Objects of Desire series, Gabriel Birnbaum is on the right track to making a name for himself and putting his band on the map. The song floats along at a leisurely pace with wispy guitars, dreamy organs, and beautiful boy/girl vocal harmonies, but the most standout characteristics of the track are Birnbaum's blues-y baritone (much like Bill Callahan's voice, or Justin Vernon's, when he's not hitting falsettos or tweaking the AutoTune knob) and the contradictory echo of the word "die" during the hopeful choruses. However, considering that Everyday Crimes... is a conceptual series of three EPs dealing with the tribulations of a rough breakup, the mixed emotions of the choruses make sense, and when bandmate Katie Von Schleicher chimes in with Birnbaum on the choruses just after he finishes reminiscing over his lost love in the verses, it effectively adds a realness to the melancholic situation of which we have just scratched the surface with "Hope Springs".

Pre-order a copy of Everyday Crimes Against Objects of Desire, Vol. I here or get your hands on it when it's released November 18 via Bleaksploitation Records. Enjoy the first single "Hope Springs" from Wilder Maker's three-part EP series below, as well as an excellent track from their 2013 album Year of Endless Light.

Just Rolled In: The War on Drugs - "Red Eyes" [indie rock / americana]

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With autumn coming to an end, the cold creeping in, and my supposedly youthful joints tensing up more and more each day, there's nothing better than to hear a song that gets your blood pumping and makes spring seem within reach, a long  reach, that is. The War on Drugs, which is the Philadelphia band started by Kurt Vile and friend Adam Granduciel back in 2005, will be releasing their third album entitled Lost in the Dream March 18 via Secretly Canadian and they have graciously shared the first single with us, "Red Eyes".

Although Vile abandoned The War on Drugs in 2008 to go solo, The War on Drugs didn't necesarilly abandon him. Adam Granduciel continued fronting TWOD but joined him as a guitarist (until 2011) in The Violators, Kurt Vile's on-and-off backing band. When you listen to "Red Eyes", it's hard to ignore the similarity in their music styles. While the energetic, yet ambient single shares the hazy vocal effects, strummy acoustic guitars, and cosmic guitar solos characteristic of Vile's work, it stands on its own thanks to its bright synth lead, bellowing woodwinds, piano key punching, and its overall raw rock-n-roll spirit reminiscent of "The Boss".

Enjoy TWOD's "Red Eyes" below followed by a personal favorite from their excellent 2011 album, Slave Ambient.

holaTUBE: The Last Bison - "Midnight City" (m83 cover) [indie folk / chamber music]

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With roots in Chesapeake, VA, the 7-piece "mountain-top chamber music" family band The Last Bison has just released their "debut" album Inheritance, which is gaining the critical appeal and audience they probably hoped last year's self-released Quill LP would have acquired when they were simply known as "Bison". However, after the name change they decided to rerecord (and reorder) the six strongest tracks from Quill and add five new tracks. The result is a more polished and cohesive indie folk album that is reaching many more sets of ears with the help of Republic Records and Paste Magazine and thanks to critics' comparisons to The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, and Mumford & Sons.
In this video, shared exclusively with Paste, you can experience The Last Bison's live take on "Midnight City" by m83, in which the Virginian folk ensemble uses instruments of all sorts to completely re-imagine the hit electronic song. With Ben Hardesty's raspy howl and rhythm guitar, his father Dan's lead banjo picking, his sister Annah's chiming bells, a brooding percussion, cello and pump organ combo, and a flawless violin impressively replacing m83's synth leads you have a complex and truly unique cover song that can just about live up to the original.

Listen to the original recording of their single "Switzerland" from the self-released Quill below and buy their new debut Inheritance LP here.