Did you catch that? Visalia's Brim featured on season 3 premiere of 'Fire Country'
Plus, there's a new Fay Wrays album(?), plus Kathy Kallick Band gets a re-do and a check in on the new Ragin' Records.
Here’s some cool news coming out of the Brim camp.
The Visalia country band had a song featured on the season three premiere of “Fire Country,” last month. That’s the CBS/Paramount Plus drama that follows the lives of a Cal Fire crew battling wildfires in Northern California.
Looking to parlay any publicity perhaps, the band’s label, Royal Oakie Records, has released the song as deluxe single.
“Oleander,” features the album version of the song (released in 2022) plus a new, unreleased acoustic version, which has also been added as a bonus track for anyone buying the album on Bandcamp.
For reminder, Brim is the country-rock family band from Westing/ Sun Umbra front man Daniel Rice.
The band’s debut, “California Gold,” was dedicated to Huell Howser as an ode to the overlooked nooks and crannies of rural California. “Not the postcard views of Malibu sunsets and sandy beaches, but the California landscape of walnut orchards, rolling hills, and tule fog.”
Fay Wrays drop new album ‘Luxury Beliefs’
It’s been a year since The Fay Wrays released what would have been its final album.
“g g d g d# d” represented the last batch of songs the post-punk duo had worked on prior to the death of its drummer, Eli Reyes, in 2020.
So, there was some surprise when guitarist/vocalist Benjamin McEntee dropped “Luxury Beliefs” on his Bandcamp page. The seven tracks appear under the name Fay Wrays (dropping the the, which could be mean something? Or nothing at all). Credit for all music is given to McEntee.
The songs hold true to the the Fay Wrays overall tone (they are dark and full of thick guitar fuzz) but McEntee never seems to fall into his full scream and there are moments that feel like the stretching of wings if not quite experimentation (“Little Kids” and the closer “Song for Ben”).
Fresno Folklore Society, Kathy Kallick Band redux
The Fresno Folklore Society is hosting a re-do with the Kathy Kallick Band.
The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter was slated to play in August, but had to cancel due to illness. The show was rescheduled Friday, Nov. 15 at the University Presbyterian Church as part of a three-day mini-tour that also includes shows in Pasadena and Kernville.
Kallick has been performing, recording and releasing albums both as a solo artist and with her band for four decades and is well known in folk, bluegrass and old-timey music circles.
What’s in the rack: Ragin’ Records
I didn’t get out to Ragin’ Records opening last weekend, but I did manage to stop in this week and ended up leaving with a couple of good records, including Masters of Reality’s 1992 classic (it is a classic, trust me) “Sunrise on the Sufferbus.”
The store is still in its opening period and things need some organizing, but those in for the dig will find a bunch of cool local stuff hidden in the racks. I am told they will be pulled into a “local” section soon.
I spotted releases from:
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. Follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com