There are some great places to find under-rated singer-songwriters these days when one is in-between festivals or concerts. One of my favorites is CBC Radio 3, an online music streaming site where you'll hear stuff that does not fit the spoon-fed pop formula mass audiences get from most mainstream radio.
If you can't be near a computer all day, CBC Radio 3 offers a podcast that gives you a taste of weekly chart highlights voted for by their audience, all at at your listening convenience. R3-30 is a compilation of weekly chart highlights focusing on Canadian talent that you're unlikely to hear anywhere else - at least for now. And smart move for them: the podcast is indexed by song, so if you do hear something you absolutely hate, click the forward button on your MP3 player and it will advance to the the next tune rather than the end of the podcast (NPR could learn.... just sayin'...).
Listening to the R3-30 podcasts brought me a bunch of under-rated artists in the last couple of months. If you're dedicated to your craft of lyric and melody writing, here are a few folks that stuck out for me. Some have been at it for 5 years, some for well over 20, and some are more well known than others. Each is well worth a listen:
Dan Mangan: Soulful, easy on the years, artful, metaphorical lyrics, fresh arrangements. This guy's got more musical surprises up his sleeve than David Copperfield has illusions.
Craig Cardiff: I first heard Craig on the Vinyl Cafe - not a music show per-say, but always showing off refreshing artists. Dance Me Outside may be his most well known song, but his clean and passionate lyrics, melodies, and arrangements will speak to your soul, even if your soul is away on vacation. I like Cardiff's approach to marketing his music, pretty DIY and not beholden to any big labels. Hearing him live, I'm thinkin' this is a very humble man.
Ray Bonneville: Ray is a long time hard-working guy who should get a patent on his slow but super-glue strong blues groove. His beats will stick in your ears. I heard Ray on Holger Pertersen's CBC show, Saturday Night Blues, but sadly the show is not available on a podcast (licensing issues, probably). Bonneville is a dual Canadian-American citizen, but we won't hold that against him, especially since that is a great segue into a future post.
For sure there are a lot more unheard of artistic geniuses in Canada. These are just a few I gravitate toward.
Next time: Some of my favourite artists from the US of A.
-dan
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