Usually with Free Music Friday we like to keep it local. Why? It’s because Nashville is unlike any other city in the US. We have one of the most vibrant indie music scenes in the country! I’ll argue that fact with you till I’m blue in the face & it’s because of bands like our featured artist this week, Humming House, that I’ll gladly do so!

Humming House is one of those bands that has been firmly placed on my radar every since I had a chance to catch them at Musicians Corner. There unique blend of folk, gypsy jazz, bluegrass and even a little soul keeps their audiences well entertained and coming back for more. Justin Wade Tam’s voice has a nostalgic tone, almost vaudeville esque and when blended with Kristen Rogers’ soulful voice they bring something unique to Nashville’s diverse indie scene.

H Maher Design

You can catch Humming House at the Rutledge on October 29^th at 8pm for their EP release/Halloween party. $5 gets you in the door but if you’re looking for something more than just your typical concert and EP release party, Humming House has put together a unique scavenger hunt with a company called Raven Chase. $20 will get you into the scavenger hunt, a free copy of Humming House’s EP and into the show. It all starts at 6pm, visit RavenChase.com for more details.

Download other songs at briterevolution.com

1. Bear Cub “Pulling Me Apart” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
2. Admiral Fallow “Subbuteo” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
3. Peter Bradley Adams “Full Moon” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
4. Alexis Marceaux’s “Fox” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
5. Gabe Dixon “Running On Fumes” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
6. The Head & The Heart “Down In The Valley” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
7. Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors “Chasing Someday” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
8. Ben Rector “When A Heart Breaks” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
9. Andrew Ripp “You Will Find Me” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
10. Jake Ousley “Wait On Love” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Honorable Mentions (Artists I could not leave off the list)

1. Thad Cockrell “Great Rejoicing” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
2. Parachute Musical “One More Song” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
3. Amy Stroup “Love You Strongly” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
4. The Vespers “Tell Your Mama” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]

Lastly, we have created a youtube playlist with all of our “Free Music Friday” songs for you to listen all the time!

Check it out and enjoy. If you are digging what we are doign here, make sure you share this!

Mali Woods

Grabbing influences from pop, R&B, and folk, Mali’s sound is earthy and warm. Opener “Love Is” splashes with a hook that’s immediately catchy, but is reciprocated by a comfy groove that’s as pleasing as a summer breeze. There’s a bounce to each song, allowing the instrumentation to shine. However, the highlight of the album is it’s personality. On her website, Mali writes about her new album: “Well it’s finally here, the baby I’ve carried for 8 long years. I’m sorry for the delay, but perfecting my new sound and new album has been one of the most challenging task of my life.” With that in mind, this album sounds like it’s been nurtured, grown, and found its own identity.

“Step Lightly” takes the album toward more mellow moods, where acoustic guitars calmly pluck behind soft piano chords and strings. With the opening notes of “We Are One,” Mali’s folk influences are more candid, with strings and wind instruments mixed up front. It’s a simple song, but its meaning makes a larger impact than the tonal under-bed. On through “Face Again” and “Reversing,” Mali’s songwriting finds a perfect balance between the message in her lyrics and the music that supports it. The enchanting “Until We Love” uses a homogeneous blend of jazz and folk styles to calmly whisk the listener away, following Mali’s whispered melodies until their echoes finally decay.

Although “Outta The Woods” contains magnanimous undertones as a whole, the songs themselves are light-hearted and a lot of fun. They nod toward the California sunshine-vibe in records like Sheryl Crow’s “Tuesday Night Club Music” while drawing from the sentimental songwriting of folk music. It’s evident that Mali is a forward thinking musician, whose mission to seek change through music won’t dwindle. Listen to the album teaser below to see for yourself.

Mali Woods Outta The Woods Teaser from Uneon on Vimeo.

Upon meeting lead singer and guitar player, Josh Clifton, he informed me that their band was a Christian rock band.  It surprised me because the scope of their influences reach far beyond religious based music.  Not to say that the message is not there, but the band has figured out what so many others before them have not: the music is just as important in faith-based music as the lyrics if you wish to reach a secular audience.

Ravenhill clearly draws inspiration from Ray Charles and The Rolling Stones.  And it is that passionate soul sound that makes the delivery of what they believe so powerful.  When I saw the band in concert late last month, the conclusion to their show was spectacular.  While part of the band is rocking, two guitar players go grab tribal hand drums and come back out on stage and then the whole group breaks into a hymn.

Rock ‘n roll has been called “devil music”, but Ravenhill proves that it doesn’t have to be.  Christian and gospel music have been labeled “preachy”, but Ravenhill proves that it doesn’t have to be.  Ravenhill is a rock band with substance that is not ashamed of who they are or what they believe.  They are artists who refuse to compromise-even if it challenges conventional ways of thought.

This is a smart and talented band who makes great music!  I look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

The most arresting aspect of the album is Asa’s sensual voice, but it’s her presence within these songs that gives it meaning. Mixed up front and often with little to no reverb or delay, she effectively defies the conventional production techniques common in most modern records. In fact, it’s the innovative production that binds the album together so tightly. On songs like “The Way I Feel,” soft strings and brass chords slide over a downtempo hip-hop groove, perfectly melding the strongest aspects of soul music with the authoritative beats present in records by The Roots and Talib Kweli. Even during songs with complicated instrumentation, there’s always some breathing room; where dryness is normally a setback in most recordings, Asa turns it into the most purposeful aspect in her songs.

“Maybe,” “Why Can’t We,” and “Be My Man” stand out as the most welcoming tracks, evoking elements of reggae and jazz while sentimentally drawing from soul and R&B influences. The instruments associated with these styles of music are carefully peppered throughout the album as well. “Dreamer Girl,” a beautifully arranged piece, contains a detuned Mellotron reminiscent of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever,” while “Questions” shifts vibes entirely to showcase a gloomy saxophone. Asa’s penchant for catchy melodies comes through the best on these tracks, but her words also have the tenacity to pull tightly on your heart strings. “Baby Gone” is a song about losing a love you thought you’d keep forever, and the combination of lyrics and melody is strong enough to break anybody’s guard down. As she sings “I feel just like a fool to let you walk away,” Asa tones back her voice slightly to give room to a stunning string arrangement that would make most Nashville songwriters jealous.

What’s really enjoyable about this record is the sense of familiarity to the songs, even though they come from halfway across the world. That’s because Asa’s songs capture what it means to be an artist, taking your innermost feelings from the heart and putting them into song. In this case, she’s singing about life’s good and bad surprises. Some tracks, such as the upbeat, hand-clapping swinger “Broda Ole,” aren’t even sung in English (they’re in Nigerian), but her sentiments are felt all the same. Visit her website to find out more, or if you happen to be at a Starbucks this month you’ll most likely hear it on rotation.

Tha Carter IV

Where Wayne’s unpredictably was once an attribute, it is now a hindrance.  While skimming the surface of IV, it sounds like a natural extension of III.  However, upon closer inspection, Wayne sounds lazy and all the energy he is able to muster sounds forced.  Gone are the days of syrup and ganja, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to relive those times vicariously through his music (“So high, I get star-struck”, “Ashed my blunt in my Grammy Award”).  Not to say that Tha Carter IV doesn’t deliver, it does.  It is just that the highlights of the album rarely feature Wayne.  Other than the solo song “President Carter”, the set’s standout material all comes courtesy of its various features.

The album’s best cut, “Interlude”, doesn’t even feature a verse from Wayne.  Instead, Kansas City’s Tech N9ne and the legendary, also unique (and unexplainably uncredited) Andre 3000 drop show-stopping verses.  I’ll bet that Tech N9ne benefits from Tha Carter IV more than Lil Wayne does.

Lil Wayne always struck me as an artist’s artist.  His wordplay, flow and image never failed to be somewhat abstract.  And Tha Carter IV was supposed to be Wayne’s victory lap.  But it instead hints that his reign may be over…for now.  Considering it took him five solo albums in six years to hit his stride while remaining relevant through the height of Roc-A-Fella Records, Eminem and 50 Cent, Nelly, and, most notably, the tension at his own Cash Money Records, I’ll be the last one to ever count him out for good.

President Carter

Interlude (feat. Tech N9ne)