Notes: |
"Sail Away"
"Late Night Radio"
"Faster Sooner Now"
"Flame Turns Blue"
"Babylon"
"Please Forgive Me"
http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/artists/program14.html
David Gray -- born in England and raised in Wales -- experienced acclaim from the get-go with his debut album A Century Ends in 1993. Yet despite two well-received follow-ups in 1994 and 1996, commercial success eluded him. In 1999, his future uncertain and lacking a record deal, Gray set-up in a London flat and cut his fourth record with funds he scrounged-up himself.
Apparently, lorries rumbling by outside and interruptions by neighbors had no negative effect on the project. White Ladder, the resulting album, takes Gray's acoustic folk and embellishes it with modern, synth samples and programmed drum tracks. With his warm, soothing pop pipes surviving intact, the record not only jump started Gray's career, but kicked it into high gear.
Of the album Q Magazine wrote: "White Ladder recasts Gray's signature windswept balladry against the programmed beats: His distinctive emotion-soaked voice, two parts Van Morison, and one part Kevin Coyne, soars to new heights."
After the record went multi-platinum and he established himself as a solid live draw in Europe, Gray set his sights on this side of the Atlantic. And the task of conquering America should be less daunting now that he has the support of a verifiable Yank superstar. An ardent admirer since hearing Gray's debut record A Century Ends, Dave Matthews made him the first artist on his new label ATO Records.
Dar Williams is the quintessential female, folk-rock singer-songwriter. The New England-native has worked the coffeehouse circuit diligently since the early '90s. Her success, according to the Washington Post, is ?a combination of innovative storytelling and a voice that has earned comparisons to Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris.?
With Green World, Williams is set to breakthrough to a much wider audience. Like her four previous records, this one is carefully crafted and lyrically sophisticated. Whether on record or in concert, Williams is commited as an artist to inform and entertain: "I'm just holding up mirrors at interesting places," she says. "I'm trying to capture life at strange angles."
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