100 Best Living Songwriters

Did Neil make the list?

I ran across this while reading about Lyle Lovett's new album It's Not Big, It's Large (which is probably worth looking in to!). Apparently, I'm behind the times as Paste Magazine came up with this list back in 2006, but it's interesting anyway (coincidentally, doesn't the title imply that these people are living their lives well?). I really like that it's a list of living songwriters. It gets rid of all the non-sense involved with of all time crap. You have to still be kicking it to make it on this list. I'm not going to comment on how I agree or disagree with the list, but it is fun to read about each artist and why Paste likes their lyrics. Unfortunately, I believe you can only read about #100 -81 on the website, so I've gone so far as to order the back issue paper copy. I'll let you know how it reads. Otherwise, check out the list and let me know what you think!

Paste Magazine's 100 Best Living Songwriters

AG

Ryan's Webcast 3 - Third time's a charm???

In this fantastic installment of my webcast series, I've decided to take a look at some singer-songwriter's I've been paying attention to recently. But while we're partaking of this musical adventure together, I'd like us to ponder our own personal definition of the phrase "singer-songwriter". I guess, technically, all one has to do is write the music they sing. But if this is the case, then why isn't everyone this side of Eddie Vedder considered a singer-songwriter. As is turns out, in the past, I had typically considered a singer-songwriter to have a particular sound about them (i.e. they wrote, sang, and played their own music on an acoustic guitar). And I don't think I'm the only one that's ever felt like this. However, the technology associated with today's recording industry has rendered this definition essentially useless. Now, if a person was so inclined, they could play a number of instruments for one song and have these recorded over each other to produce the finished product, becoming a virtual one-man band. So, now an artist can played a myriad of instruments over the course of an album, and thus still be considered a singer-songwriter.

Not the kind of one-man band I'm talking about

I'm always fascinated when reading an album booklet and I see a particular artist played all the instruments. So, here is my tribute to the ever-changing definition of singer-songwriter. I hope you enjoy......

Also, a big shout out to whichever of my comrades discovered this wonderful StreamPad. Now, you KGB listeners can listen to the webcasts and single mp3 posts while browsing and reading the articles, without opening a new window. Anyways, onto the webcast:

Ryan KGB Webcast 3 - The Art of the One Man Band

1. Nick Drake - Pink Moon
2. Nick Drake - Place to Be
3. Alexi Murdoch - Wait
4. Alexi Murdoch - Breathe
5. Vandaveer - Marianne, You've Done it Now....
6. Vandaveer - However Many Takes it Takes
7. Andrew Bird - Heretics
8. Andrew Bird - Cataracts
9. Ola Podrida - The New Science
10. Ola Podrida - Day at the Beach
11. Damien Rice - Cannonball
12. Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter
13. Jack Johnson - Better Together

RR