Outstanding Alt-folkish/whatever show at the Coffeehouse

Regina Hexaphone: "Ethan's Dream"
(from The Beautiful World, 2004. Buy or download.)
[File taken down, but "Radiate" is not a bad substitute in this mix]
The Strugglers: "The Cascade Range"
(from You Win, 2005. Buy)
The Zincs: "Bad Shepards"
(from Dimmer., 2005. Buy or download.)
Edith Frost: "Cars and Parties"
(from demos, 2004. Download the whole thing free here, buy other things here.)

Holy crap, what a great show tonight at the Duke Coffeehouse! The lineup of Regina Hexaphone, the Strugglers, the Zincs, and Edith Frost won't shake the rafters, but there will be more than enough folk(ish) rock goodness to go around. I think the lineup of songs above gives a nice sense of the common stylistic thread that connects these bands -- low-key, acoustic, with at least a touch of strings. "Ethan's Dream" features some the lovely violin of Sara Bell, and "The Cascade Range" adds Randy Bickford's wonderfully dusty voice to another fine piece of fiddling. Brit-by-way-of-Chicago Jim Elkington leads the Zincs, and his baritone on "Bad Shepards" follows comfortably after Bickfords', though he's considerably smoother. I don't really know Edith Frost, so I'm not sure how representative "Cars and Parties" is of her overall sound, but her intimate voice is a perfect capper for this set of music.

I've written about Regina Hexaphone and the Strugglers before. The Hex are working on recordings for a new album, though when it'll be completed is anyone's guess. The Strugglers relased a fine album, You Win, since the last time, and it looks like they have a pretty extensive European tour planned for later this year. Here's an interesting interview with Bickford about the, well, struggles he's faced getting his music distributed.