Kathleen Sieck

Emotive intelligence, place-setting compositions and a gorgeous, silky voice are Kathleen Sieck’s greatest allies – and they serve her very well on the live stage. Powered by a quiet urgency I imagine most of her songs as the backdrop for cathartic moments in a dramatic film or love stories performed on stage. She’s on to something, for while Sieck has been performing for years, her latest material – this newest incarnation – is the strongest of her career.

Kathleen entered our musical lives a little more than a year ago, having played a few dates with Outlaw Roadshow regulars on the West Coast. She was won over by their stories and she wrote to Adam and I with an idea – that she would travel east in October to play The Outlaw Roadshow New York. The only problem, she said, was most of her songs were not new. And consequently, her email was not a request – it was a challenge to herself. She vowed to write and record songs from the heart that were worthy of an invitation.. I had never received an email quite like it.

Upstate New York songwriter Jon Lewis made an inspired appearance at The Outlaw Roadshow New York this fall, appearing in this worthy-watch video. In the session Lewis is joined by frequent collaborator Dave Drago Tallahassee, Hallelujah The Hills, The Lawsuits, Smith & Weeden, The Grownup Noise, INFJ). The pair are flanked on all sides by original art by painter Felipe Molina.

Jon is as prolific as he is artistically driven. Having released three albums in the last four years (his latest are Out To Lunch and Panic Rock) Lewis is a music technician, a full-time children’s performer – and, he works in film. The results, while varied, are truly inspired.
One To Watch –  I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see a new set of songs from Jon Lewis in 2017. In fact, you shouldn’t either. Definitely give his albums (click ~music~ below) a solid listen. He’s a solid songwriter and working with some sensational talent.

Every creative scene needs fresh blood flowing through it and there’s just so much magic here in this new Outlaw Roadshow video session, I think you might find yourself surrendering to it on first listen. Sean McMahon isWorkman Song. The Northampton, MA songwriter – the star of this set is someone on the rise. And certainly someone you are going to want to be watching on the path ahead in 2017.

McMahon challenges listeners on faith, he unveils secrets with his audiences – and figuratively emerges like a butterfly. What exactly powers him remains to be seen.

Sean entered our lives this fall in New York and immediately mesmerized his audiences and we became fast friends. He’s wildly gifted – far beyond his years. With lyrics that transfix and spell the audience, his presentations are essentially incarnations. Having sharpened his teeth in Streets of Laredo, an act he still plays bass guitar with, his wild heart truly emerges with each note as Workman Song.

Yahooo! Some cowboys wear black hats and some where white. Others wear ironic fishing caps and those dudes also play with exceptional New York City rock bands..

It was incredible to be surrounded by so many musical friends in NY; we’re lucky that it’s always so good like that. Well wasn’t I surprised to see our friend Matt Bartlett (from Outlaw mainstays Skunkmello) walk in to play on his lonesome!

Best Live Acts – In all seriously, Skunkmello are one of the most entertaining sets in New York City these days. After residencies and capacity shows in some of the city’s favorite venues, they released one of the year’s best country-rock fusion efforts in Hot Chicken. And whether unplugged or rocking – this is probably one of the most fun live acts to see in the country, they are witty and engaging from the first note to the very last.

Nashville blue-collar heartthrob Corey James Bost has been a journeyman player for most of his years, traveling across the country to play with some of music’s biggest names before settling into the country’s music capital and calling it home.

Bost is an honest, embracing storyteller. Often the fiery protagonist in his own stories, Bost sometimes writes about the lessons learned in youth – education that can only understood, however, with time. Several of his songs focus on his relationship with family and place. Raised in Florida as a boy, Bost can just as easily be found writing about the journeys on the musical road.

In-between songs, he stops and shares a laugh with folks about anecdotes from the road and life’s foibles. Moments later, he launches into a song with dramatic narratives so deep he causes audience members (who are nodding along with lyrics they have never heard before) with tears in their eyes. This is unique talent.

One of the great things about having so many talented music friends is they never cease to amaze you. Such is the case with Alan Wourinen, the singer of The Longwalls. While we weren’t able to get the whole band in the New York City lineup this year, Alan did make the trip and performed a stellar set of solo numbers for us on stage and in this video. Crowds were impressed.

One of the East Coast’s best sounds / Sneaky Good! – Alan and the band play dark pop songs influenced by cultural tides, historical figures and social ephemera and this set was no different. The Longwalls last two full-length albums, The Gold Standard and Kowloon are two sides of the same study of coins – demonstrating just how good they really are. This January, The Longwalls dropped a live album you need to hear (here!)

Alan, who just so happens to be one of my favorite radio show guests (The Outlaw Roadshow radio program airs weekly) plays four songs in this amazing video session. It begins with Sargasso of Space, a song celebrating a 1955 sci-fi novel by Andrew North (the pen name of Alice Mary Norton – a woman way ahead of her time.) In the video Wourinen is surrounded by the paintings of artist Felipe Molina.

THE LONGWALLS
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The scene you are about to see was written a full year ago but unfolded just this fall in New York City. Let that sink in for just a bit while I offer up some mood music.

Brandy Zdan dropped one of America’s best full-lengths in 2015 after many years of performing and working with and for others. For the better part of the last decade, the native Canadian — now living in Nashville, TN— has garnered acclaim as half of the gothic folk/roots duo Twilight Hotel, with two albums, 2008’s Highway Prayer and 2011’s When the Wolves Go Blind, nominated for prestigious Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammy), as a formidable multi-instrumentalist (touring and recording with the Americana all-girl band the Trishas), and even as a solo artist (with LoneStarMusic hailing her 2013 Lone Hunter EP as “a one-woman tour de force.”)

Brandy appeared at last year’s Outlaw New York with Texas legend K Phillips (the Counting Crows national opener who also now calls Nashville home) and she was immediately invited back to perform. It was utterly amazing to see how much the music from her 2015 album evolved and grew in that span. What you are watching here is one of the best music acts in America performing for friends – it doesn’t get ANY better than this.

As a music writer and an event promoter, there is no greater satisfaction than to discover, to curate, or to foster a moment that true happiness occurs in. You are about to share in such a memory today.

James Maddock is one of contemporary music’s greatest storytellers. That’s likely because the soul at the center of his artistic storm is completely unique.. his voice is the conduit from someplace deep. Since 1999, James Maddock’s boldly vulnerable songwriting, honeyed rasp, and distinct folk and Americana aesthetic have garnered acclaim from icons, peers, and tastemaking outlets like NPR, American Songwriter, Relix Magazine, and CMT Edge.

It’s been an absolute pleasure becoming friends with David Immerglück, the brilliant Counting Crows anchor player, who fans lovingly call “Immy.” One of the best strings man I have ever seen, he is certainly one of the top mandolin players in the game today, effortlessly taking any song to a special place. Flanked by a number of young musicians, Maddock and Immerglück watched the video sessions unfold before stepping up to perform themselves. The results are stunning.

Songwriter Seán Barna has become a steadfast supporter of The Outlaw Roadshow and like so many of our musically-inclined friends, he has journeyed to each of our cities and elected to take part in the tradition, time and again. New York this year was no different. Except, well, maybe it was. Barna is at a creative crossroads. Having shifted his focus inside the last year to new goals and a new set of songs, he arrived for his Garden session video shoot excited to report his long-awaited new album is now, finally, ready.

Pictures of An Exhibitionist will be unveiled in February. The release marks a fresh start for the talented singer who has a chameleon soul and an absolutely huge heart. A mesmerizing story-teller, you can picture Barna here or in a different time. His songs and presentation are classic tellings of the human experience. We’re mighty glad to have him in the Outlaw family. For the first time ever, check out this session!