LINDI ORTEGA AND JACK BARKSDALE PARTNER FOR TWO TOM WAITS COVERS

ACCLAIMED AMERICANA MUSICIANS LINDI ORTEGA AND JACK BARKSDALE DELIVER TWO FASCINATING TOM WAITS CLASSICS, “HOW’S IT GONNA END” AND “YESTERDAY IS HERE”, EACH WITH THEIR OWN VIDEO 

WATCH / SHARE “HOW’S IT GONNA END” HERE
WATCH / SHARE “YESTERDAY IS HERE” HERE

BUY / STREAM “HOW’S IT GONNA END” & “YESTERDAY IS HERE” HERE

“I honestly think I can't be friends with people who don't like Tom Waits.” – Lindi Ortega

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"Why Tom Waits? The better question is 'Why not Tom Waits?',” states Jack Barksdale. “His songs are really fun to cover, and you can’t really play them like Tom Waits does, so you’re pretty much forced to make them your own.” Listen to their charming renditions of Tom Waits’ memorable tunes, “How’s It Gonna End” and “Yesterday Is Here”, and it’s hard to believe that Lindi Ortega and Jack Barksdale haven’t been performing together for years.  

Ortega, a celebrated roots noir artist, and Barksdale, a roots music wunderkind, met up for this unique collaboration through their mutual friend, Grammy Award nominated multi-instrumentalist/producer Mike Meadows (Willie Nelson, Shawn Colvin, Hayes Carll). When Meadows brought Jack in to play some slide on Lindi’s upcoming record, as she describes it, “Mike noticed a similar thread of commonality in our mutual love of the same artists and the dark subject matter of our songs,” leading her and Meadows to the idea that she and Barksdale should cover Tom Waits tunes together. She picked “How’s It Gonna End” because “it’s super eerie and creepy, and so am I,” quipped Ortega. Barksdale went with one of his favorite Waits numbers, “Yesterday Is Here”, which he felt paired well with Ortega’s selection.

Ortega and Barksdale’s shared love for Tom Waits music arose somewhat serendipitously. Ortega recalls how, years ago, she was randomly given a tape of Waits’ Mule Variations and was knocked out by how amazing the album’s songs were. “I find his words and music transport me to a place that feels like I've been there before, and it’s haunted,” she elaborates. “It feels like a myriad of ghosts are drunk, dancing in the ache of non-existence.” Watching Waits’ Austin City Limits performance on YouTube one night was Barksdale’s introduction to Waits, and he has been listening to him ever since. “Discovering each album is like discovering a new artist; every time, it feels just as magical,” he shares. “The biggest thing I’ve learned from Tom Waits is that art doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect to be beautiful.”

The videos created for each song wonderfully reflect the mood that Ortega and Barksdale create in their performances. The pair will be announcing a run of co-headlining dates soon. 

WATCH / SHARE “HOW’S IT GONNA END” HERE
WATCH / SHARE “YESTERDAY IS HERE” HERE

BUY / STREAM “HOW’S IT GONNA END” & “YESTERDAY IS HERE” HERE

MORE ABOUT LINDI ORTEGA
The Canadian singer/songwriter burst upon the Americana scene in the early 2010s with the release of JUNO Award nominated Little Red Boots and its follow-up, Cigarettes & Truckstops, which earned her Canadian Country Music Associations Awards. Described by Rolling Stone Country as “impossible to ignore,” Ortega’s eclectic twangy sound continued to earn her accolades for the releases to follow, Tin Star and Faded Gloryville. Her last full-length album, Liberty, was characterized by BBC News as “a musical movie noir” and heralded by the NY Times as having “ample echoes of Enno Morricone, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.” After taking some time away from music, 2024 is shaping to be a big year for Ortega. In the spring she released a duet tune with folk singer Tennyson King, and Ortega has been working with Mike Meadows on an upcoming album to be released in the fall leading up to her return to Americana Fest.

MORE ABOUT JACK BARKSDALE
The Fort Worth, Texas native may only be in his teens, but he has already impacted the music world. He was only 11 when he recorded his first album, Live From Niles City, and just 14 when he released his first studio album, 2022’s Death of a Hummingbird. NPR has raved that “Jack Barksdale is special,” and American Songwriter proclaimed, “Barksdale has insights and awareness far beyond people twice his age and he’s able to put them into songs that touch listeners.” Barksdale continues to record music at an impressively prolific pace. In 2023, he released a seven-track instrumental EP, Phantom Trails, with Mike Meadows, who also produced Hummingbird. 

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DONOVAN WOODS’ NEW LP OUT TODAY, SHARES NEW VIDEO

ACCLAIMED SONGWRITER DONOVAN WOODS RELEASES NEW ALBUM, THINGS WERE NEVER GOOD IF THEY’RE NOT GOOD NOW, OUT TODAY VIA END TIMES MUSIC

WATCH / SHARE “WHEN OUR FRIENDS COME OVER” FT. MADI DIAZ

BUY / STREAM THINGS WERE NEVER GOOD IF THEY’RE NOT GOOD NOW HERE

“This emotional and gritty seventh album is his most vulnerable and open…mellow, warming and shot through with genuine emotion" The Sun (UK)

"When things are good and when they’re not, Donovan Woods has a song for it all."
No Depression

“Despite the difficult sentiment, the song itself is imbued with a nostalgic warmth as the artist questions if the person ever really knew him with his signature heartrending honesty." - Exclaim! (on “Rosemary”)

“It is the microscopic observation of ordinary lives that makes Woods, the alt folk equivalent of the writer Raymond Carver” - RnR Magazine

BUY / STREAM THINGS WERE NEVER GOOD IF THEY’RE NOT GOOD NOW HERE

Photo Credit: Brittany Farhat // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, acclaimed songwriter Donovan Woods has released his seventh studio album, Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now, via End Times Music, and shares a video for the record’s latest single, “When Our Friends Come Over” ft. Madi Diaz. Fresh from his debut tour of Australia, Woods continues to perform at select summer festivals across Canada, before returning to the road on a run of headlining dates throughout North America. Full dates can be found below.

Discussing “When Our Friends Come Over”, Woods notes, “Madi Diaz and I wrote this in Nashville the first time we met. I love Madi and I love the ache in her writing. I had this idea about a song that celebrates how nice it is when you and your romantic partner have friends over. Their presence seems to renew something in your coupledom. You see yourself through their eyes, and you appreciate each other more. I don’t think there are enough songs about friendship. Friendship is so much more important than romance throughout your life. I love how Madi extends notes a millisecond longer than I think she’s going to.”

WATCH / SHARE “WHEN OUR FRIENDS COME OVER” FT. MADI DIAZ

Throughout his distinguished career, Woods has built a devoted following who cling to the acclaimed songwriter’s every word. Never one to mince them, Woods is one of music’s most vulnerable storytellers and on Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now, Donovan takes that a step further. Perhaps his most open, honest and self-reflective collection of songs, Woods takes a long look inside himself and isn’t necessarily thrilled with what he sees. For an artist who isn’t afraid to bear his soul, this is as emotionally gritty as he has ever been.

WATCH / SHARE “116 WEST MAIN, DURHAM, NC” HERE

Long known as a masterful storyteller, Woods is at his absolute best on Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now. Across the album’s 11 sparse, intimate songs, Woods finds himself reflecting on the ups and downs he has been through since 2020, when he dropped his acclaimed, award-winning last album, the breakthrough Without People. Through his songwriting, Woods opens up and addresses the complexities of life, and all that he has been going through. He notes, this album serves as “a funeral to the life I was living.”

WATCH / SHARE “BACK FOR THE FUNERAL” HERE

Co-produced with longtime collaborator James Bunton over much of 2023, the album’s delicate nature is reflected in its lyrics. The psychology of people’s actions always fascinated Woods and informs much of the record. Focusing on carefree, celebratory feelings has never necessarily appealed to him. Many of the songs that comprise Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now focus on the intricacies of friendships and relationships, looking at the little moments in life, and hopefully, eventually taking joy in them.

As Donovan continues to work on himself, Things Were Never Good If They’re Not Good Now is the portrait of a songwriter at his creative best. Addressing the truths and pains of life is never easy, and here, he does so in a way that’s brutally honest.

WATCH / SHARE “ROSEMARY” HERE

TOUR DATES // TICKETS
07/25 – Burlington, ON @ Royal Botanical Gardens #
08/03 – Ben Eoin, NS @ Live at the Lake Songwriters’ Circle
09/27 – Palmer Rapids, ON @ Highlands Music Festival
09/28 – Souris, PEI @ Goolaholla! Festival
10/03 – Victoria, BC @ McPherson Playhouse Theatre
10/05 – Vancouver, BC @ The Centre in Vancouver for the Performing Arts
10/06 – Kelowna, BC @ Community Theatre
10/08 – Edmonton, AB @ Winspear Centre
10/09 – Calgary, AB @ Jack Singer Concert Hall
10/11 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
10/13 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
10/15 – Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s Tavern
10/16 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
10/24 – Huntsville, ON @ Algonquin Theatre
10/25 – Peterborough, ON @ Market Hall Performing Arts Centre
10/26 – Ottawa, ON @ National Arts Centre
10/29 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PTB
11/01 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
11/02 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
11/03 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
11/04 – Washington, DC @ The Atlantis
11/07 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
11/09 – Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl
12/04 – Kitchener, ON @ Centre in the Square
12/05 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall

# co-headline w/ Hayden

BUY / STREAM THINGS WERE NEVER GOOD IF THEY’RE NOT GOOD NOW HERE

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THINGS WERE NEVER GOOD IF THEY’RE NOT GOOD NO
01. Rosemary
02. 116 West Main, Durham, NC 
03. Trompsingel (Another Life)
04. It’s Been Like That For A While
05. Living Well 
06. Well Read
07. Back For The Funeral
08. Don’t Talk to Her at Night
09. I’m Just Trying To Get Home (feat. William Prince)
10. When Our Friends Come Over (feat. Madi Diaz)
11. All Raked Flat

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THE SECRET BEACH SHARES ANOTHER THREE NEW TRACKS FROM UPCOMING LP, ANNOUNCES NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

THE SECRET BEACH SHARES “HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEWS?”, “NOT SO BAD”, AND “IF YOU DON’T LOVE ME, LET ME GO”, ALL FROM UPCOMING LP

WE WERE BORN HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?, THE NEW LP FROM THE SECRET BEACH, OUT AUGUST 23, 2024 VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS

WATCH / SHARE “IF YOU DON’T LOVE ME, LET ME GO” HERE
BUY / STREAM “IF YOU DON’T LOVE ME, LET ME GO” HERE

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES RUN JULY 28 TO OCTOBER 12

Photo Credit : Colin Medley // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Today, The Secret Beach, an ever-shifting group of musicians and co-conspirators orbiting around the songs and voice of Prairie-based songwriter Micah Erenberg, is sharing three new songs from the upcoming album, We Were Born Here, What’s Your Excuse, out August 23 via Victory Pool.

“If You Don’t Love Me, Let Me Go” is an alternative version of the previously released “IYDLMLMG”. “The latter was actually the demo, and this one is more so what I had in mind for the production. The difference between that one and this one is the difference between chillin’ and kickin’ it,” claims Erenberg.

WATCH / SHARE “IF YOU DON’T LOVE ME, LET ME GO” HERE
BUY / STREAM “IF YOU DON’T LOVE ME, LET ME GO” HERE

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“Have You Seen the News?” is a reflection on the state of the world. “I guess it’s my take on some sort of introspective social commentary,” says Erenberg. “I wanted to make a song that was different; No real verses or choruses, just movement, energy, power. Hopefully it can allow some listeners to see the forest through the trees a bit; embrace empathy, open mindedness and action, even if small.”

BUY / STREAM “HAVE YOU SEEN THE NEWS?” HERE

“Not So Bad” has two tambourines. “When I showed Rob Fraboni, who helped me mix the album, he said ‘two tambourines?… well that’s a first!’ The guy worked with some serious legends. Him saying ‘that’s a first’ to something I did was cool af, even if he was complaining about how to mix them right.”

BUY / STREAM “NOT SO BAD” HERE

The Secret Beach has also announced an extensive North American tour that begins July 28 and goes to October 12. All dates are listed below and tickets can be found HERE

MORE ABOUT WE WERE BORN HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?
The new LP, We Were Born Here, What's Your Excuse?, is unquestionably a musical delight (more on that later), but it's also a subtle nod to the oft-overlooked Canadian province of Manitoba, lazily known to many as either a landlocked frozen tundra or the butt of a joke on The Simpsons (season 16, episode 6), where a welcome to Winnipeg sign reads 'NOW ENTERING WINNIPEG. WE WERE BORN HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?'" 

WATCH / SHARE “BUYING YOU A GARNET AMP” HERE
BUY / STREAM “BUYING YOU A GARNET AMP” HERE

Musically, one of Erenberg's primary inspirations for this record was the classic Bob Dylan & The Band album Planet Waves. The casual, homespun vibe of that LP had long held a special appeal for the songwriter, and after deep-diving on some of the album's finer details, Erenberg discovered that Planet Waves' producer, Rob Fraboni (also known for his work with the Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, and Tim Hardin, to name but a few) was still active and, as it turned out, still open to working with new projects. After a few phone calls, it was decided that Erenberg would travel to the veteran producer's studio of choice in Connecticut where the two spent five days marinating in the songs. Fraboni offered his enthusiastic perspective on the tunes, shared some of his well-honed musical philosophies, and a friendship was quickly cultivated. The songwriter stuck this experience in his back pocket and used it as fuel to write a few more songs and complete the final mix of the album.

 BUY / STREAM “WHERE DID IT GO?” HERE
BUY / STREAM “BLAME MANNY” HERE

We Were Born Here, What's Your Excuse? is an album teeming with warmth; its 17 tracks casually unfurl spools of intimate texture, hushed melodies, and a wholly inviting atmosphere that puts the listener virtually in the same room as these timeless tracks. The songs – many of them barely cracking the two-minute mark – fly effortlessly by, nodding to many major players in the pop music canon. The spectre of Elliott Smith hovers over many corners of the record, including opener “Beautiful Everything” as well as the achingly tender one-two punch of “Long Distance Gossip” and “Natural Metaphor”. And indeed, whiffs of Dylan and The Band appear throughout, with the latter uniquely evoked in the album's organic, live-band feel, and the former's lyrical mastery mirrored throughout. More contemporary touchstones like Brooklyn indie-folk auteurs Woods and M. Ward (“Where Did It Go?”) are also apparent, and early '00s heroes Grandaddy are called to mind on “LA Haircut”, a cleverly sardonic critique of misplaced ambition.

WATCH / SHARE “22” HERE
BUY / STREAM “22” HERE

While Erenberg played a whole pile of instruments on the album himself, The Secret Beach wouldn't be what it is without the help of the carefully selected crew of fellow travellers tastefully deployed throughout the album. We're talking about the sort of players whose first priority is to shine a light on this collection of songs, seeming almost invisible in the apt-ness of their contributions; but repeat listens will have the listener revelling in the finer details, which include vocals and pedal steel from acclaimed country duo Kacy & Clayton, keys and guitar courtesy of Liam Duncan (aka Boy Golden), and duel backing vocals from Duncan and frequent bandmate Fontine. Erenberg captured the album on a variety of classic vintage tape machines, burnishing the album with a sepia-toned analog patina that makes it sound as if it could have been made any time in the last five decades. And while the spirit of Planet Waves looms large, one would be forgiven for hearing hues of early McCartney solo albums, Big Star's Third, and fellow Canadian DIY legend Chad VanGaalen.

WE WERE BORN HERE, WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE?
01 Beautiful Everything
02 Sunspill
03 Buying You A Garnet Amp
04 22
05 All This Living
06 Have You Seen The News?
07 If You Don't Love Me, Let Me Go
08 Blame Manny
09 Sucked Into It
10 L.A. Haircut
11 Long Distance Gossip
12 Not So Bad
13 Natural Metaphor
14 Where Did It Go?
15 Hat's Way of Walking

THE SECRET BEACH TOUR DATES
July 28 - Edmonton, AB - Secret Show w/ Skinny Dyck
July 29 - Calgary, AB - Ol' Beautiful Brewing Co. w/ Skinny Dyck
July 31 - Langenburg, SK - Flavr w/ Skinny Dyck
August 1 - Winnipeg, MB - Times Change(d) w/ Zoon & Skinny Dyck
August 2 - Saskatoon, SK - Amigos Cantina w/ Skinny Dyck
August 3 - Red Deer, AB - Velvet Olive w/ Skinny Dyck
August 4 - Nakomis, SK - Nokomis Craft Ales
August 31 - Winnipeg, MB - The Leaf
September 5 - Vulcan, AB - Nine In A Line
September 7 - Nelson, BC - The Royal w/ Anna Katarina
September 8 - Enderby, BC - The Small Axe
September 10 - Spokane, WA - Spokane House Show Collective
September 12 - Vancouver, BC - Green Auto
September 13 - Bellingham, WA - Honeymoon Mead
September 14 - Olympia, WA - Cryptatropa w/ Warren Dunes
September 18 - Portland, OR - Turn! Turn! Turn! w/ Tispur
September 19 - Astoria, OR - Obelisk w/ The Hacjkles Music
September 20 - Roseburg, OR - The Green Heron
September 21 - Mt. Shasta, CA - CA
September 25 - Encinitas, CA - House Concert
September 26 - Long Beach, CA - Vine
September 27 - Parkfield, CA - Parkfield Cafe
October 8 - Peterborough, ON - Sadleir House w/ Nick Procyshyn
October 9 - Montreal, QC - Quai Des Brumes w/ KT Laine
October 11 - Hamilton, ON - Collective Arts Brewing
October 12 - Toronto, ON - The Baby G

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