Call me a roots music junky. Go ahead. It’s true. I have a pretty eclectic and varied taste in music. I like all genres (and not in that annoying “I like everything” response from people who aren’t really your friends and, in fact, don’t really like music at all. Ahem ). Even with all my synth pop and post rock obsessions, this summer has been a convalescence of spirit brought to you by things called “americana”, or “roots music”, or “alternative folk”. Call it whatever you want, but it’s pushing my buttons and I’m A OK with that. And it seems to be everywhere, kids! Case in point, a couple Saturdays ago I had no real plans at around 5 pm. As Sunday wormed it’s dirty little hands into Saturday night, I found myself at a show listening to the soothing sounds of The Great Unknown . They were new to me.

The Great Unknown / High Grounds
The Great Unknown / Olive Tree
The Great Unknown / Self Portraits

The Great Unknown hail from Western Philadelphia and describe themselves as a four-piece alt-folk band. Now I came to know The Great Unknown through my friend and musician partner, David. He stumbled across them while tuning into the weekend radio show Saturday Morning Light Brigade, aired locally on WRCT. I got an email that afternoon from him saying “Dude. Listen to Olive Tree. Let’s go see these guys at Howlers.” I took a cursory listen to the aforementioned tune and was out there door and ready to go.

That night, The Great Unknown did more than a few things to impress me. First – the songs: Great melodies, ambling percussion, and just an all around tight delivery. They kept me hooked. I wanted more. I wanted to move. Second – musicianship: These guys can seriously play and they’re confident and impressive on the stage. Tender harmonies, tinny vocals, and a seriously impressive lap slide guitar player kept my ears and eyes interested for the entire evening. Third – Spirit: I hate to say this out loud, but the night I saw them at Howler’s, they played for a room full of maybe 6 people. Seriously. Like I had square acreage all to myself and we barely outnumbered the band on stage. My heart ached. Interesting enough, these guys killed it and didn’t think twice about it. They could have played half their set, or spent more time drinking then playing, or cut the crowd banter to a minimum, or just played like they didn’t give a shit. They could have done that. Bands do that…

That thought didn’t even cross their minds and I find that incredibly respectable. A band that loves what they’re doing and are proud of what they’re creating, whether it’s for 10 people or 10 squared people or 10 cubed people. Really terrific thing to see.

So yeah. I like these guys a lot and after spending some time talking with them after the show, I found out that not only are they good musicians, but awesome, down to Earth guys. They come through Pittsburgh pretty often and definitely deserve to play for packed house. Do yourself a favor and check out the songs streamed above. You can pick up their releases via their website and on iTunes. Personally, their New Skin EP is lights out and I find myself coming back to those songs daily. You can even name your own price for it. Do it. Their full length, Tonight Let’s Pretend gets better and better with every listen.

Hit up their myspace (they have a live song from Howler’s and a great cover of my favorite Springsteen song “Spirit in the Night”), their facebook, their official site, and lets all go out and see ‘em the next time they’re here. We can buy them beers! They deserve it!

Filed under: New to Us, New to You?