Friday, July 28, 2006

The Best Singer/Songwriter You've Never Heard Of

Last night we went to the incredibly intimate Mississippi Studios to hear, for the second time, an amazing musician named Jon Dee Graham. Granted, we were sitting less than 10 feet from him both times, but this guy completely blows a room away. Just an older guy in baggy pants, a pork pie hat and his acoustic guitar. He's got the voice of an old, sagging truck that's been down more than a few dusty, rutted roads and a delivery that breaks your heart with its sincerity and hurt.

His music has echoes of his upbringing in the tiny border town of Quemado (which he translates as "burnt"), Texas, where he learned to speak fluent Spanish as a self-defense mechanism. It rings with the inflections of Mexican corridos and rock anthems. You can get his latest album, "Full," from Amazon, and he has several tracks at the iTunes music store (I'd recommend "Swept Away" and "Volver") and on Pandora. He's funny, touching, powerful and you've got to check him out. You won't regret it.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous10:26 PM

    I couldn't have said it better.

    ReplyDelete