The Warm Up with Water Liars

We’ve had an awesome week in Memphis, hosting tons of great bands and  staying out way too late hanging out with said bands. Fareveller Music Festival is wrapping up tonight with three huge shows at Otherlands, Young Avenue Deli, and Newby’s. It’s a very eclectic line-up with too many top notch bands to name – but one group that we’ve been waiting anxiously to see is Water Liars.

The band graciously agreed to make make the long drive from Ohio to get here early enough to record three stripped down versions of songs from their new album Phantom Limb out on Misra Records. We got them to play them on the grand piano and they turned out sounding fantastic.

So, take a listen to the music, then stay tuned for our little chat about their plans for the summer and how the new record came about by accident. Then we’ll see you TONIGHT when they open for Jessica Lea Mayfield. If you have any energy left, wander down the street to Young Avenue Deli and catch the Fareveller Music Festival closing festivities with Those Darlins.

Perhaps one of the greatest albums in Misra’s canon, Water Liars’ debut was entirely unplanned. Recorded on a whim, with one microphone, the then unnamed rock band – consisting of St. Louis, MO songwriter, vocalist, guitarist Justin Kinkel-Schuster and Oxford, MS drummer, producer, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bryant – casually convened to play and record.

Over the course of three days, in the small milltown of Pittsboro, MS, a series of ineffable and magical recordings came together. It was one of those seemingly providential experiences – far too remarkable to be denied. Water Liars was born.

The Warm Up with Rob Jungklas

We were definitely excited to have Rob Jungklas set up in studio C today to share some tunes with us. Jungklas is an old friend of Ardent and is a long time Memphis musician, having weathered the highs and lows of the music business since the mid-eighties. He’s been very prolific the past few years working with producer Jeff Powell and is getting ready to finish up mixing his latest album at the end of next month.

We chatted about the change in his songwriting over the years and we got to meet his son, Robert, who might just be the next great Memphis musician, if he sticks with it! Check out three songs and then go see Jungklas with his cohorts, Jonathan Kirkscey and Robert Barnett tonight at Otherlands! They are playing with The Memphis Dawls which means it will be a fantastic show!

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Locals Only: Jana Misener of The Memphis Dawls listens to Michaela Caitlin

I can’t remember the name of the planet I travelled to when I first heard Michaela Caitlin play, but I’m pretty sure I would have loved to stay there with its friendly natives. Only the roaring applause bouncing from one teal Otherlands wall to another could bring me back to reality. And I don’t often drift off like that in public.

I sometimes wish I had randomly come across her music online, in a 6 degrees of so-and-so kind of way, so that I could pretend she wasn’t human and that her ethereal vocal tones weren’t something to envy. Instead I’m content and grateful to have her in Memphis living and working in the same half-mile radius as me and my friends.

new shmew by michaelacaitlin

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The Warm Up with The Memphis Dawls

We were super excited to have our really good friends The Memphis Dawls stop by Ardent Studios today to record an episode of The Warm Up. We’ve been following these ladies’ musical careers for the last half decade and are thrilled about this new incarnation.

You may know Holly Cole from her other project, Holly and the Heathens, Krista Wroten as the violin player in Amy Lavere‘s backing band, and Jana Misener from Giant Bear. And if you live in Memphis and don’t recognize Nahshon Benford’s horn playing, we don’t know where you’ve been the last decade since he plays on just about every Memphis album of note that has been released the last few years!

But even if you’ve never heard of any of their other projects, we urge you to take a listen to The Memphis Dawls. They’re fabulous musicians and so good looking! If you are in Memphis, you can catch them play TONIGHT at Otherlands!

Locals Only: Ryan Peel Listens to the Sheriffs of Nottingham

I think the first thing you’re going to notice about the Sheriffs of Nottingham is that there’s a black guy in front of this band singing rock music.

That’s just not something you see every day, and the thing about the Sheriffs is that it’s not a gimmick. It’s not Hootie. It’s not lame. It’s honest, good rootsy blues rock music.

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