Gentlemen Take to the Road

Written by Jon Williams

I recently had the great pleasure to attend a Gentlemen of the Road Tour stopover event. British folk rock band Mumford & Sons put together these stopovers to bring an event to smaller towns that rarely see big-name musical acts come through. In this case, it was a two-day music and culture festival that took over the entire downtown area, with more than 30,000 people cramming into the high school football stadium to check out a wide variety of bands.

The music kicked off Friday evening with Half Moon Run, a Canadian rock band whose debut album, Dark Eyes, came out earlier in 2013. They brought a folky sound of their own, and their hit “Call Me in the Afternoon.” They were followed by deep-voiced singer-songwriter Willy Mason,whose most recent album is 2012’s Carry On. Then came Phosphorescent, aka Matthew Houck, whose atmospheric vibe began garnering acclaim with his 2007 release Pride, carrying it through Muchacho, which came out in March of this year.

Friday night’s headliner hit the stage around 9:30. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros managed an intimate performance despite the size of the venue, with singer Alex Ebert jumping down into the crowd to share the experience with fans and hear their stories. The twelve-member collective were joined by Marcus Mumford for “All Wash Out,” from their second album Here, and they finished up with the emotional “Home,” from their debut, Up from Below. Their self-titled latest album was just released in July.

Saturday was a full day of music, with the stadium opening to the public at noon and the first band, the up-and-coming Bear’s Den, taking the stage at 1:45. The second band, Those Darlins, brought a Nashville-tinged rock sound with them, playing songs from their two albums, Screws Get Loose and Blur the Line. One act that I particularly enjoyed was Justin Townes Earle (son of outlaw country singer Steve Earle, and named for singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt), who played a mellow brand of bluesy country-rock. His most recent album, Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, was released in March of 2012; he mentioned during his set that he’s working on a new one.

Afterwards, the Vaccines performed the most straightforward rock music heard during the weekend, which can be found on their albums  What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?  and Come of Age, and whose song “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)” is included on the soundtrack for the hit HBO series Girls. They were followed by Americana favorites Old Crow Medicine Show, who performed their hit “Wagon Wheel” (from their full-length debut O.C.M.S.) to the extreme delight of the crowd, which sang along at the top of their lungs.

And then it was time for the headliners. Mumford & Sons themselves took to the stage around 8:30 and played for nearly two hours. They played fourteen songs from the albums Sigh No More and Babel (the 2013 Grammy Winner for Album of the Year) in their main set, with the rain coming down during “Thistle and Weeds” being a nice touch. After leaving the stage briefly, they then came back out for a five-song encore which included covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” and the Beatles’ “Come Together.”

All in all, it was two incredible days filled with phenomenal music—some from bands I knew, and some from bands I’m eager to hear more from. If your patrons like Mumford & Sons (and trust me, they do), be sure to treat them to CDs from this wide range of artists invited to perform with them at these rare, amazing stopover events.

Mumford & Sons Return (Finally!)

Written by Kyle Slagley

After waiting for three years, Mumford & Sons fans finally got a second round of the folk-rock-Americana that has carried the band to fame since Sigh No More was released in October 2009.

Babel, the album some listeners have been craving since before the boys performed at the Grammy Awards in 2011, was released on Tuesday. As expected, it contains heart-wrenching laments and instrumentals that sometimes sound like a runaway steam engine.

Although the musical formulas for both Sigh No More and Babel are fairly simple, the area where frontman Marcus Mumford really shines is in his lyrics. A close review of the text reveals references to Shakespeare, the Bible, and even Steinbeck while calling on the listener to maintain faith in ideals like love and redemption. Combine those themes with Mumford’s fiercely passionate vocals and the swelling instrumentals and it’s no wonder the group has exploded into multi-platinum territory in little more than three years.

Babel has been met with reviews on both sides of the spectrum. Those touting the success of the band’s second full-length album are clearly fans of the gritty formula that put Sigh No More at the top of half a dozen Billboard charts. The main criticism being that Babel’s sound does not deviate from Sigh No More at all. As far as I’m concerned, Mumford & Sons have a good thing going with a formula that clearly works; if it ain’t broken…

For those who logged on or ran out on Tuesday to snag a copy of Babel, it won’t be too long before we hear the familiar cry for more. Will Mumford really make us wait another three years? How will we manage? Rest assured there are other artists out there that can give listeners their folk fix in the meantime. Here are a few of my favorites to supplement your playlist.

Graceland by Paul Simon: Simon put this album out after spending a great deal of time in South Africa in the mid eighties. It’s a hodgepodge of musical styles, but the blend of South African mbaqanga on “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” makes this track one of the best on the album.

Gord’s Gold by Gordon Lightfoot: No folk collection would be complete without at least one of Lightfoot’s albums. As a die-hard Lightfoot fan, I can say that Gord’s Gold is a good collection that showcases his talent as a songwriter and contains some of the lesser-known tracks like “Don Quixote” and “Carefree Highway” that happen to be my own favorites.

Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes: This is the first full-length album by the Seattle group and it contains some of the best baroque-folk I’ve heard. Fleet Foxes enjoyed local success around the Northwest but received quite a bit more acclaim in Europe than the U.S. I recommend them as one of the best indie-folk groups you’ve never heard.

Flaws by Bombay Bicycle Club: Lead singer Jack Steadman has a voice reminiscent of Iron & Wine as is evident on the first track, entitled “Rinse Me Down.” While Bombay sports a different tone than Marcus Mumford, it’s still a good choice for when a mellower sound is wanted.

Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down by Noah and the Whale: The best part about this English quintet is by far the feel-good tone. On this debut album, listeners get a chance to hear the uplifting nature of the band’s music. Interesting fact: Laura Marling, former girlfriend of Marcus Mumford, was a member of the band until 2008, when she left to pursue a solo career a few months after this album was released.