Damien Jurado is on of my favorite songwriters. His ability to capture moments in songs is simply incredible, not many people can do what he does, and do it so well. His upcoming album caught me completely by surprise, as I didn’t even realize there was a new one in the works. I was checking out the Secretly Canadian website and sure enough, And Now That I’m In Your Shadow will be released on October 10th.

On his new album And Now That I’m In Your Shadow, Jurado once again is calling us out to meet him. With the help of now permanent members Eric Fisher and Jenna Conrad, Damien has taken on a new side to his career. No longer is Damien Jurado just another solo artist but a band. Rarely from now on will any live performance just include a man with his ideas and guitar but a continuous collaboration in lyrics and sound creating a backdrop to a world that is filled with desperation and blessings, life discovered and life that is lost.

Together they will lead you into the lyrical world of the forgotten faces that you once knew. The songs are old friends and close relatives, quarreling loves and love lost, the very thoughts that cross your mind when you are alone or among the crowd. Forever in your shadow and trapped between the lines that you write down, Damien Jurado is still here and going nowhere.

I’ve yet to hear the whole album, but Secretly Canadian has an MP3 of the first single, “What Were The Chances,” that I think is absolutely beautiful. Check it out, and let me know what you think. If that song isn’t enough to keep you satisfied, Damien has set up a blog that features demos in the form of audio posts.

Check out Bob’s video for “When The Deal Goes Down” right here, and let me know what you think.

Rachael from the Underrated Magazine was kind enough to include me on a piece she did called Meet The Bloggers for Breakthru Radio.

Make sure to check it out.

There are a ton of great albums that come out today, plenty of good choices that will make you very happy for the rest of the year, and perhaps even longer. One release that may not appear on your radar, but very well should be is Song of the Blackbird by William Elliott Whitmore. Once again I have to take my hat off to Kyle at More Cowbell for this post which turned me on to William’s music for the very first time almost a month ago.

If you head over to his myspace site you’ll get a great glimpse of an artist who writes beautiful and tragedy laden music which I can’t help but compare to the man in black himself. There’s not enough whiskey in the world that could soothe the pain and raw emotion you’ll find within William Elliott Whitmore’s music. William will be hitting the road with MoB favorites, Lucero next month, so make sure you get there early to catch this guy. Here’s what Lucero’s drummer, Roy had to say about seeing William perform:

I’ve seen him silence an entire room full (300 or so) of gossip prone drinkers/hipsters/rock-n-rollers/show-goers/tattooees and etc. types of folks in Chicago and put a good many of them on the verge of tears, with exuberant applause after every song. It was beautiful. Just one guy, one instrument and his songs captivating a large audience. Gave me the chills.

Horse Feathers are a band that could fit nicely on a tour alongside Iron & Wine or Calexico. I really enjoy their recent release, Words Are Dead, in fact, I’ve liked it so much I’ve played it twice this morning. The masterwork of one Justin Ringle, whose open mic moniker Horse Feathers lead him to be discovered by Peter Broderick who shared a similar interest in music leading to the formation you’ll find and hopefully enjoy.

I can fully put our stamp of approval on this album, and urge you to seek it out. If you don’t want to take my word for it, there are a slew of other great music blogs willing to back up my admiration.

The album will be released on September 26th on Lucky Madison.

Art Brut and We Are Scientists will co-headline a show at the Metro on October 12th.

I’d like to start including Chicago in the territory that we report on here, so you will also start to see some Chicago dates/reviews/announcements as well. If anyone would be interested in covering shows and reviews in the Chicago area, hit me up and I’ll get you hooked up.

The rest of the tour dates are as follows:

Sept 18 / Cat’s Cradle / Carborro, NC
Sept 19 / The Roxy / Atlanta, GA
Sept 20 / The Social / Orlando, FL
Sept 21 / Studio A / Miami, FL
Sept 22 / Club Downunder / Tallahassee, FL
Sept 23 / One Eyed Jack’s / New Orleans, LA
Sept 24 / Warehouse Live / Houston, TX
Sept 25 / Emo’s / Austin, TX
Sept 26 / Gypsy Tea Room / Dallas, TX
Sept 28 / Brickhouse Theatre / Phoenix, AZ
Sept 29 / House of Blues / San Diego, CA
Sept 30 / Henry Fonda Theatre / Los Angeles, CA
Oct 02 / The Fillmore / San Francisco, CA
Oct 04 / WOW Hall / Eugene, OR
Oct 05 / Hawthorne Theatre / Portland, OR
Oct 06 / Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver, BC
Oct 07 / Neumo’s Crystal Ball / Seattle, WA
Oct 09 / In The Venue / Salt Lake City, UT
Oct 10 / Bluebird Theatre / Denver, CO
Oct 11 / The Granada / Lawrence, KS
Oct 12 / Metro / Chicago, IL
Oct 13 / Magic Stick / Detroit, MI
Oct 14 / Opera House / Toronto, ON
Oct 15 / La Tulipe / Montreal, QC
Oct 16 / Middle East / Cambridge, MA
Oct 17 / Black Cat / Washington, DC
Oct 18 / Warsaw / Brooklyn, NY
Oct 19 / Irving Plaza / New York, NY
Oct 20 / Starlight Ballroom / Philadelphia, PA
Oct 21 / Cornell University / Ithaca, NY

I’m just getting to my feet after a long weekend.  Here are a couple of newly announced concerts for you Madison kids.

10/16 - Cold War Kids - The Annex, Madison
11/4 - Alejandro Escovedo Trio - High Noon Saloon, Madison

I can’t say enough good things about Cold War Kids.  I first saw them in June opening for Tapes ‘N Tapes, and they stole the show.  I saw them again at Lollapalooza and had a blast.  Don’t miss this show as they come back to town as headliners for the first time.

Alejandro Escovedo is another one of my favorites, and I’m so happy he’s coming back to the High Noon Saloon.  If you haven’t had a chance to get his new album, The Boxing Mirror then start gathering your currency and pick it up.  I posted some MP3’s from the album back in April, check them out.

Jeff Tweedy of Wilco turned 39 yesterday. If you didn’t already know the name of this site was taken from a Wilco song. Wilco has a new album in the works and they’ve been debuting a lot of the new songs on their recent tours. I’ve posted some live tracks for your enjoyment below, some of the quality is better than others, but if you’re a fan I guess you’ll take what you can get.

Fans of Jeff Tweedy’s solo work can look forward to October 24th, when the Sunken Treasure DVD is released with MP3’s of songs included for those who buy the DVD.

Wilco - Let’s Fight (live)

Wilco - Impossible Germany (live)

Wilco - Is This The Thanks I Get? (live)

Wilco - There’s A Light (live)

Wilco - The Good Part (live)