Available at the Weary Boys website.

Andrew Vladeck, self-titled

New York City banjo icon, Andrew Vladeck's vivid story-songs are made of the best elements of rock, soul and American roots music. In his shaky but cutting vocals and graphically descriptive lyrics you can hear a little Dylan, a little Springsteen, and some blue-eyed soul a la Leon Russell ("3,000 Miles," "What We Gonna Do!"). "Ringaleevio," named after a run-and-hide game I haven't thought about since third grade, sounds like Lou Reed (and he's even got a song called "Coney Island Baby.") One could go on picking out specific influences in other songs too, but that wouldn't do Vladeck justice because they stand on their own. His "Coney Island Baby" is an intense paean to the ancient beach and amusement strip that never ceases to inspire songwriters, novelists and other romantics. Vladeck is a musical citizen of the world with an original voice, crafting appealing songs that twist and turn in surprising ways, both musically and storywise. Imagine if Dylan's "Hurricane" had a happy ending, and you might get Vladeck's "Justice Is Served." These lyrics from "Chinatown" encapsulate both his New York-centric sense of place and the universality of his stories and images: "You can go to China/or wherever you think will do/But you're not gonna find happiness unless you bring it with you/You got a long way to China and I got Chinatown."

Available with extended clips at CD Baby.

OUT AND ABOUT: Heard a story the other day about an indie artist, who shall remain unnamed, being shopped to a major label A&R person (who shall remain unnamed) by an artist rep (who shall remain, etc.) The first question the A&R person asked was not "How old is he?" or "What does he look like?" - which, sadly, are what we'd expect - but rather, "How many Myspace friends does he have?" Now, we all know that people at major record labels don't have a clue about music, and are concerned instead with looks and with whether a band has gotten a good-sized fan base on its own. But this particular A&R lackey didn't seem to have a clue about promotion and popularity either. It should be common knowledge among those in the business of popular culture that anyone who has a litle persistence and a bunch of time to sit in front of a computer can amass tens of thousands of Myspace "friends" faster than you can say "Love Potion Number Nine." No wonder signed artists are fleeing the labels just as fast as their contracts end, while up-and-coming bands are avoiding them like the plague... Speaking of indies, last night folk-blues master Pat Wictor brought a group from his Manhattan Songwriters' Circle to my local Brooklyn haunt, Night and Day.  And while Pat's and Meg Braun's sweet music was no surprise, the discovery of the night was the solo performance by singer/songwriter and Dobro player Abbie Gardner, known to me previously only as part of Red Molly. Gardner has an arch bluesiness, and a voice that's warm as ice and cool as a New York summer, but she can sure write a song too. (Note: her dad is jazz trombonist Herb Gardner who is affiliated with the Smith Street Society Jazz Band. When I was a kid my own dad used to take us to Nathan's in Oceanside, NY - the huge old Nathan's with the separate counters for each item of food - to see that very band on Dixieland Night. How 'bout that!)... The Animators rocked up the Living Room last week. A band to seriously watch... Katell Keineg, whose praises I've been singing, mostly unheard, for years, has suddenly leapt from playing the aforementioned Living Room to the much bigger Bowery Ballroom, all because of this New York Times Magazine profile (unfortunately it's "Times Select" so you have to pay for it if you don't subscribe to that service). I'd be there on August 18 to see Katell if I didn't have a gig the same night with my band, Whisperado, at the legendary Hank's Saloon. 9 PM, by the way.