Tag Archives: Todd May

Video: New Lydia Loveless song “Chris Isaak” on Sound Opinions

Last winter when I interviewed Lydia Loveless for Columbus Monthly, she was already thinking about her next album, saying, “I was thinking like a Chris Isaak-type album…. I have this plot to get [guitarist] James Wilsey. He did all the Wicked Game guitar parts. Now he just plays weird, instrumental desert music. I think that would be pretty awesome.”

Well, guitarist Todd May (Lilybandits, Mooncussers) is still in tow, but apparently Loveless still has Isaak on the brain. Here’s a new tune she and her band have been road-testing. This performance comes from a Sound Opinions session on Chicago’s WBEZ. And unlike “Steve Earle,” “Chris Isaak” isn’t a tongue-in-cheek stalker song. Give it a listen.

Video: Two Cow Garage – “Gerri” (Quiet Country Audio session)

Two Cow Garage recently recorded a live session for Quiet Country Audio, debuting new song “Gerri.” Watch above, and stream the tunes from the full session:


Continue reading

MP3 premiere: Shane Sweeney – “When I am Empty”

MP3: Shane Sweeney – “When I am Empty”

Donewaiting has been a big supporter of Two Cow Garage since forever. The guys even played DW’s 6-year anniversary show. For those who share our 2Cow enthusiasm, we’ve got the premiere of “When I am Empty,” the second track off Two Cow Garage bassist Shane Sweeney’s debut album, The Finding Time, out next week on Last Chance Records (Little Rock, Ark.). Like his bandmate Micah Schnabel, Sweeney went the minimalist route for his first solo record — just acoustic guitar, creaky chairs and Sweeney’s baritone thumping the bedroom walls. It’s what people talk about when they talk about an “intimate record.”

Shane Sweeney’s Columbus release show is Friday at the Rumba Cafe (10pm, $6) with Todd May (Lilybandits, Mooncussers), Jeff Fernengel (Tree of Snakes) and Nate Linek (The Proms, Raise the Alarm).

The Finding Time is available digitally on iTunes, Amazon and Last Chance Records’ website, where you can also pre-order clear or blue vinyl (includes digital download).

Friday: Happy hour show with The Mooncussers, others

The Mooncussers sound makes total sense when you take a look at the resumes of the guys who make up the band. While a few of them played in noisier rock outfits in the early ’90s up and down High Street, as everyone grew a little older/a little grayer, the good ol’ Americana sound so prevalent in the midwest (is Ohio REALLY in the midwest?) started to creep into the different projects that these guys were involved with.

The end result, which I think was sort of a stroke of luck that originally was conceived as a Todd May (Lilybandits) solo album, is The Mooncussers whose backroom, late-night bar sound isn’t so much alt.country as it is “tractor rock” (ie rock music that sounds like it was written by rural boys who grew up listening to Tom Petty, Skynyrd, Jackson Browne, Rolling Stones and Gram Parsons records).

Not sure if the EP is getting a physical release or if you’ll just have to settle for digital, but The Mooncussers will be playing these tracks (and others) during a special happy hour show on Friday at Rumba Cafe.

The Mooncussers happy hour show runs from 6pm – 9pm at Rumba Cafe. Tom Evanchuck and The Mallards (formerly Big Back Forty, minus Barry Hensley, plus Jason Sturgis) will perform before The Mooncussers hit the stage.

Video: The Mooncussers – “Lowlight”

YouTube Preview Image

This went out yesterday, a new video from Columbus band The Mooncussers, fronted by ex-Lilybandit Todd May. It’s off the band’s EP, Demo, available here for free. MOKB liked it. Reaction among Donewaiting staffers has been, well, mixed:

“I kinda like the Mooncussers EP, but thinking this video is shoddy/corny”

“that video is horrible also, so is the song”

“not their best, but it’s what they got so far”

“The video’s appeal is that it has a hooker in it and is filmed in a really low-grain. raw reality way. The intro almost looks like a juxtaposition between noire starlet/camera phone picture and an electraplay session. i’ve seen worse things on the net. of course perhaps maybe i was looking at the hooker before i knew she was a hooker.”

“the casting in this video is all wrong….If Crow Ontologica had played the hooker, it would be gold.”

“Dang. I like these guys, I like the song, but the video … um …”

So… whatchu think?