Eamon McGrath comes from Canada. He grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canadian Western province, North of the US state of Montana, with lots of prairies. This is where he started to come up with his first songs, recording them in his house and distributing them around on cd-rs to friends and fans. There is about 15 to 20 of those proto albums that he made in very small amount of copies and it is unclear what exactly is contained in those releases. Perhaps some songs repeated in multiple versions, but what we can tell for sure, they were all recorded relatively cheaply in lo-fi technology.
Some of these first recordings appeared on McGrath first official release for an actual label White Whale Records in 2009 on a compilation record 13 Songs of Whiskey and Light. This is when I first heard of McGrath. Although 13 Songs of Whiskey and Light record is technically a compilation, it really flows as a normal release. All songs are fresh and show a great consistency and a talent of a new songwriter. This is also around the time when McGrath moved to Toronto to pursue his musical career more actively.
With a label, growing audience and extremely positive reviews from the British press, McGrath quickly established his name as the greatest new name coming from Toronto. The quality of the songs also showed that some of the current great songwriters, such as Greg Cartwright and Harlan T. Bobo from Memphis TN, got a new challenger from an unexpected place. The race for the greatest contemporary songwriter is on.
This year brought another release for McGrath. As you can see from the title Young Canadians, the record is a patriotic view on the Canada today and the generation to which McGrath belongs to. He is quite young, in his early twenties, and he can already claim to be the poet of his generation. Images of the Canadian life and landscapes fill the lyrics of the songs. This is not an idealized picture of the world around McGrath. It’s similar to Springsteen’s Nebraska or Born In The USA – it’s patriotism with consciousness.
Talking about Springsteen, this is a name that is often quoted as a strong ingfluence on McGrath. But, it is not the only influence. I can also hear a lot of Warren Zevon, particularly when some cynicism springs through some of the lyrics. On the other hand, McGrath also never hides some of the fresher influences. Paul Westerberg is often mentioned in his interviews and Bob Mould from his “poison years” is another one that I hear. Just listen to the screaming vocals of the closing track Saskatoon on this album, and you will understand what I’m talking about. The synthesis of all these influences in McGrath music is for one perfect. He is picking on some of the most wonderful songwriters in the history of rock’n’roll. Also, the synthesis is seamless. He wears the influences proudly, but also brings a lot of new things into the mix.
It would we wrong to understand McGrath purely as a singer songwriter, although this is pretty logical if you are basing your conclusion only on his records. However, the news comes to us that his live shows are totally rocking, and his live trio sounds more like Black Flag than the E Street Band. If you ask me, that’s kind of a surprise I’d love to experience!
McGrath is raw, unpolished jewel that is rare to find. He breathes greatness from every grove on this new record and we can consider ourselves lucky to be his contemporaries. He takes all from the life and experiences around him and fiercely returns it all to us on a record. May the spirit of Bob Stinson be forever with him.
First published on rockxs.com.
Singer singwriters today… some of the greatest ever. Dan Stuart, founding member of the Green On Red is finally back with with his second ever solo album, the first since his excellent debut Can O’Worms in 1995. The new album is called The Deliverance of Marlowe Billings. Italian band Sacri Cuori backs him up for this effort. Then we have Patti Smith who also has a new record out called Banga. Grant Hart is preparing a new solo double album called The Argument based on Milton’s poem Paradise Lost. The album is still not out, but two songs from it came out on a 45. Jon Dee Graham was recently in Cleveland, at Beachland Tavern and he’s in our Live in Cleveland segment. He also has a new album out Garage Sale which I picked at the show. And then there’s the new album from the guy on the picture. We say goodbye to Scott McKenzie, who sadly died recently. Finally, we have an exclusive new tune from a Zagreb band Vex And The Voxtones, who will participate on the upcoming tribute to The Records.
When the story of Husker Du ended in 1988, Grant Hart briefly started a solo career, only to put together a new band in 1990 called Nova Mob with two of his Minneapolis friends: Tom Merkl on bass and Michael Crego on drums. The group’s first album was something nobody wanted from Grant Hart in 1991. It was a rock opera with a seemingly bizarre libretto. It was a make believe story with real life characters about the engineer of the Nazi V8 bomb and one of the leaders of the US space program, Wernher Von Braun. In the opera, Von Braun finds himself towards the end of the World War Two on a losing side with a desire to escape. In a prayer to Germanic god Woton, Von Braun asks for an ability to travel in time, which Woton grants through a gateway. Von Braun first travels in future, he learns out about all the space achievements which he would end up contributing in the 50s and 60s. In his adventures, Von Braun runs into the Roman lawyer Pliny.
First half of the show is filled with the fresh end-of-summer singles for King Louie’s Missing Monuments, Turf War and new the band from San Diego Plateaus lead by the singer songwriter Jon Green. Other new bands today are Mrs. Magician also from Sand Diego, Rat Colums from San Francisco and Future Primitives from South Africa. Left Lane Cruiser joins forces with James Leg in a cover of Sway. The show closes another new name here, soul singer Etta Britt from Nashville who has a nice new duet with legendary Delbert McClinton.
Today we say goodbye to two rock’n’roll artists from two different eras, but equally revered here at the Little Lighthouse. Bill Doss, one of the founders of Olivia Tremor Control and Elephant Six collective passed away on July 30th this year. He was only 43. Also, legendary Motowon bassist Bob Babbitt passed away on July 16th from the damages caused by brain cancer. He was 74. John Hiatt is here with the new record and we also have two more new artists today. Snowgoose is a band from Scotland, fronted by their wonderful singer Anna Sheard. Christian Bland from Black Angels and Lee Blackwell from Night Beats have a new duet out there in Austin called The UFO Club.
Today’s show is dedicated to all meteor observers in the occasion of the annual Perseid meteor shower that happened last weekend. We have a large block of songs about meteors, falling stars… We also have a new single for Bob Mould which represents his return to the his synthless past. Thee Oh Sees also have a new album, which is quite conventional in form. Whispering Pines is a new band also from Cali that we check out today. They are inspired by The Band. Another premier at the Little Lighthouse is the Cincinnati band Buffalo Killers.
Today we start with two Alicias. Actually, one Alicia and one Alicja. Alicia Gbur is a well known photographer from the Detroit area and a former member of Von Bondies. She also has a new band called Fawn. Their debut album Coastlines came out recently. Alicja Trout is also a multi-talented artist, but she’s from Memphis, TN. Her new band River City Tanlines has a new album Coast To Coast. Susanna Hoffs, from The Bangles has a new solo record out and it has a sweet retro sound, produced by Mitchell Froom. Amy Allison joined forces with David Scott of the Pearlfishers for their new album together called Turn Like The World Does. Bob Mould’s Sugar had put out reissues of nearly their entire catalog, including some live recording that are out for the first time.
Today we begin with the ladies. Treasa Levasseur is a new name at the Little Lighthouse from Canada. Her new album Broad is a strong blues/soul offering. Rumer is a British singer with an exotic background. Her new album Boys Don’t Cry is an exquisite selection of intricate covers from the history of fine rock’n’roll songwriting. Parlor Snakes is a French and American new band, lead by Eugénie Alquezar and we have them for the first time today. Then we have some interesting new anthologies, one for Epic Soundtracks and the other one for R. Stevie Moore. Then we dwell deep into South and we check out the new traditional offerings from two Southern super-trios: South Memphis String Band and a nameless trio of the Louisiana musicians Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy.
Unfortunately, today we say goodbye to two great rock musicians who died recently. First of all, Tim Mooney who was in American Music Club passed away on June 15th. Then, most recently, Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord also passed away a month later, on July 16th. We remember them both today. Lil’ Band O’ Gold are also back with a new record after 12 years, this time dedicated to the good old Fats Domino. Redd Kross are back rocking their heads off with the new record called Researching The Blues. Luther Dickinson is quite busy recently. First he prepared a collection of live recordings that he and his brother recorded with his father Jim Dickinson shortly before his death. Also, there’s a new band for Luther himself, a supergroup The Wandering that consists of Shannon McNally, Amy LaVere, Valerie June and Sharde Thomas. Kevn Kinney is also busy. After his great solo record earlier this year, he also reformed his old band Drivin n’ Cryin’. Kelly Hogan, who we know from Jody Grind and as a backup singer for  is also back. She has a new record I Like To Keep Myself in Pain. And let us not forget Turf War – a new band from Atlanta, live in CLE!