Celebrate "Eight Track Day" with something magnetic and new

New Music from new places

By Terry Paquet

Terry Paquet is an award-winning copywriter with more than 20 years’ experience. He is a regular contributor to SideOne.

Aside from Easter and Earth Day, the other big celebration we’re all looking forward to this month is National Eight Track Tape Day. Yes, there’s an actual day set aside for the “space-age technology” that was created by RCA, Motorola and Bill Lear – the same guy who founded the Lear Jet corporation. For those not from this generation, it was wildly popular from the mid ‘60s to the early ‘80s until smaller audio

To help you commemorate this momentous day, I’ve assembled a collection of artists that can collectively be described using the same word that defined the type of recording technology that made 8-track tape possible: magnetic.

TO LISTEN WHILE YOU READ, CHECK OUT THIS MONTH’S SIDEONE SPOTIFY PLAYLIST:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4pSIA6pFouy2Dx9OFKhFRo?si=-zE0Bgm0SxO8rPoGx5S7IQ

MARCUS KING

Marcus King was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and started playing guitar when he was three years old and professionally since he was 11. Those are not typos. This guy was literally born to rock. Today, at the ripe old age of 24, he’s got two gigs going – a solo career and frontman for the Marcus King Band. His influences include the usual suspects like Hendrix, Clapton and Vaughn but also some surprises like Etta James and John Coltrane.

Described as a ”guitar phenom” by The Washington Post, King deftly weaves his six-string wizardry between hardcore blues, straight-ahead rock’n’roll, and southern rock, adding in a liberal dose of jazz every now and then to create his signature sound. Vocally, he’s been blessed with a whiskey-soaked, soulful tone that effortlessly hits all the right feels.

TRACKS TO CHECK OUT

• Beautiful Stranger from El Dorado (2020)

• Turn It Up from El Dorado (2020)

• Welcome ‘Round Here from Carolina Confessions (2018)

• Guitar In My Hands from Marcus King Band (2016)

• Goodbye Carolina from Carolina Confessions (2018)

ANDY SHAUF

If you don’t yet know the music of Andy Shauf, you should be aware that he comes with a Presidential Seal of Approval. For what it’s worth, his 2020 album, The Neon Skyline, was included on former President Barack Obama’s Summer Playlist last year. Depending on where you sit in the musical scale of political recommendations, that distinction is either a blessing or a curse. For this Torontobased, Saskatchewan-raised artist, the honour is welcome. “It’s cool to think that Obama, or the Obamas together, have listened to my music,” said Shauf. “It’s a really nice feeling to think my music has gone that far.”

Shauf wrote, produced, performed and arranged every song on that album, so it’s clear his multitalented musical abilities are paying off. With six albums and four EPs under his belt, the one constant in Shauf’s catalogue is that he excels in delivering complex, emotional, seemingly real stories packaged in an easy-listening format. He’s a songwriter at heart, but the narratives he weaves throughout each song mean he could just as easily be a screenwriter or novelist. He’s one of those rare master storytellers that write lyrics you ”watch,” more than listen to.

TRACKS TO CHECK OUT

• Quite Like You from The Party (2016)

• Neon Skyline from The Neon Skyline (2020)

• You’re Out Wasting from The Bearer of Bad News (2015)

• Try Again from The Neon Skyline (2020)

• Love of Summer from Waiting For The Sun To Leave (2010)

LEIF VOLLEBECKK

When I discovered multi-instrumentalist Leif Vollebeckk through my weekly rabbit-hole dives into random artists, my first thought was that everyone I know has to hear him. He was that good. Then I did a bit more digging into who he was, only to realize I’m like the last man at the buffet table. It appears the whole country has already feasted on the man’s musical smorgasbord. He has four albums to date, over 1.2 million monthly listeners on Spotify, was shortlisted for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize and got nominated for a Juno award in 2018 for Adult Alternative album of the year.

If you’ve never heard his music before (could I be the only one?), by all means, dig in. You’re in for some soulfully introspective, melodically catchy, expertly crafted pop songs. And not ”pop” in the vapid, lightweight, unsatisfying way. Vollebeckk is a self-professed fan of Dylan and beat poets Allen Ginsburg and Charles Bukowski, so that should give you a small indication of where his head is at. Those influences are just some of the ingredients in an exceptional soufflé of self-reflective thoughts and vivid portraits of moments in time. Ottawa born, and currently living in Montreal, Vollebeckk has racked up some serious accolades so far, but given that he’s somewhat early in his career, it’s clear the table is set for even bigger and better things.

TRACKS TO CHECK OUT

• Long Blue Light Single (2020)

• Hot Tears from New Ways (2019)

• Vancouver Time from Twin Solitude (2017)

• Transatlantic Flight from New Ways (2019)

• Never Be Back from New Ways (2019)

FATHER JOHN MISTY

Father John Misty (aka Joshua Michael Tillman) is a multi-instrumentalist and singer out of Rockville, Maryland who was, most notably, drumming with Fleet Foxes when he embarked on a solo career that he’s 10 years into right now. He is not a priest, but you may as well give him a pulpit because he has a large congregation of faithful followers.

To describe his music is no easy feat. Some say indie pop or indie folk, others say ‘70s conceptual rock. Over 5 albums, several singles and one EP, the style never confines itself to one particular genre. His lyrics are personal, self-deprecating, witty, oftentimes feeling like streams of consciousness bubbling from the internal demons that he fearlessly entertains. His choice of words and unique phrasing are the weapons with which he aims to skewer the pitfalls, hypocrisies and obsessions of humanity. On I Love You Honeybear, he sings “I barely know how long a moment is, unless we’re naked, getting high on the mattress, while the global market crashes.”

On songs like Pure Comedy and Everything is Free you will hear Elton John – sometimes in the vocals, sometimes in the arrangements that are orchestral, layered, and expertly nuanced. In fact, in an interview with Stereogum, Sir Elton himself singled out Father John Misty as one of his favourites, stating “he reminds me a little bit of me, the way he writes songs.” At the end of the day, it’s his love of music that best defines his work. As Tillman put it, “If you take away my music from me, all you have left is a mustache and a bad attitude.”

TRACKS TO CHECK OUT

• Real Love Baby Single (2016)

• Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings from Fear Fun (2012)

• Pure Comedy, title track from Pure Comedy (2017)

• Chateau Lobby #4 from I Love You, Honeybear (2015)

• Everything is Free from Spotify Singles (2018)