Photo by Abi Reimold

Recent Philly transplants Literature previewed four new tracks in this week’s Key Studio Session. With a sound made for indie dance club nights, Literature are a surf-y, high energy bunch of polished musicians with well-coiffed songs. Stream and download “Court Date” below and check out the full session here.

• Court Dateby Literature from The Key Studio Sessions, May 15, 2013Download

In anticipation of their upcoming Children of Summer LP, local pop group Market East shared a new song called “Evergreen” this week.  Market East will celebrate the album’s release at MilkBoy on June 8th with a great support line-up including Joey Sweeney and the Long Hair Arkestra, Night Panther, Mohican and Former Belle.  Tickets and information can be found here.

Folkadelphia rolled out two new sessions this week: last Sunday featured Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers‘ delightful rootsy pop while Thursday highlighted the new release from Morning River Band called To Suzie.  Listen to a pair of tracks from the sessions below and get the full sessions here.

Local psych pop / shoegaze outfit Weekender is the latest incarnation of The Tweeds, with brothers Derek and Nic Sheehan rejoining drummer Tom Anthony and calling in bassist Emily Cahill for their new Spanish Peaks EP.  They’ll be opening for breaking UK band PEACE at Johnny Brenda’s on  June 10th.  Get a name-you-own-price download of the EP on Weekender’s Bandcamp.

Folk / bluegrass band Trampled By Turtles teamed up with Noisetrade for a free sampler that includes songs from their recent Stars and Satellites release.  The Minnesota group will be in town for the XPoNential Music Festival on July 26-28 at Wiggins Park in Camden, NJ.  Tickets and information can be found here.  Get the free sampler below in exchange for your email address.

XPN welcomes Charles Bradley to Union Transfer tonight.  The “Screaming Eagle of Soul” entertained the crowd during a recent Free at Noon performance with his exuberant showmanship and knock-out funk / R&B songs.  Following up his 2011 full-length debut, the 64-year-old crooner released Victim of Love earlier this year.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show with Paul & the Tall Trees can be found here.  Watch the former James Brown impersonator perform “Why Is It So Hard?” live on the Public Radio Rocks stage at SXSW below.

Morning River Band celebrate the debut of their new album at MilkBoy tonight.  The Philadelphia-based country group recorded To Suzie at Gradwell House in New Jersey and will release it on May 21st as the follow-up to 2011′s Between the Ocean and the Blues.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ release show with The Miners and John Train can be found here.  Stream “Lefty’s Last Blues” below and check out their Folkadelphia session here.

XPN welcomes Mary Chapin Carpenter to the Keswick Theatre tonight.  With her long-time friend and cohort Shawn Colvin by her side, Carpenter continues to tour in support of her 2012 LP Ashes and Roses.  The singer-songwriter made a name for herself with a string of of successful country / folk crossover records in the nineties and five Grammy Awards over the course of her career, resulting in her induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame last October.  Tickets and information for tonight’s show can be found here.  Below, watch a performance of “Chasing What’s Already Gone.”

MAD Dragon Records caps off its 10th anniversary festivities with a show at The Trocadero tonight.  The Drexel University label has been celebrating all week with block parties, free live music and a special 10th anniversary compilation featuring bands that will be performing at tonight’s event.  Among those scheduled are Cheers Elephant, Wild Rompit and Matt Duke.  Tickets and information for the 18+ concert can be found here.  Check out the compilation here and watch Cheers Elephant’s video for “Doin’ It, Right” below.

I always thought Philly to be more of a bluegrass town, what, with its West Philly front porch jam sessions and train terminal busking, but that sweet-and-sour country style is alive and well in our fair city and giving us cause to celebrate. We have here a session from local twang connoisseurs Morning River Band, who came to us on the verge of releasing their brand new LP To Suzie.

For me, Morning River Band serve up just what the doctor told you not to order, but goddamn, you’re gonna order it anyway — songs of hard luck, hard times, and harder liquor. You may be sent goin’ down the road feelin’ bad, but you’ll have some fine tunes to whistle courtesy of the Morning River Band.

Head over to Milkboy Philly tomorrow, Friday, May 17th for the Morning River Band’s record release show for their new album To Suzie. The bill features fellow homebodies The Miners and John Train. Don’t forget to tip your bartender.

Philly country outfit Morning River Band perform at Kung Fu Necktie upstairs tonight.  When we last heard from the no-frills Americana four-piece they were appearing on Folkadelphia to perform a few songs off of their 2011 effort Between the Ocean and the Blues.  Since that time, Jeffrey Fields and his bandmates have been holed away in Gradwell House where they worked with Steve Poponi and Matt Weber to record their upcoming record To Suzie, slated for a release on May 21st.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Quiet Hollers can be found here.  Below, stream “Drinking Blues No. 2 (Drinking in Heaven with George Jones)” from their Folkadelphia appearance.

• Drinking Blues No. 2 (Drinking in Heaven with George Jones)by Morning River BandDownload

ECOMOG will share their sharply crafted hip hop with fans at The Trocadero Balcony tonight.  Always the innovators, the Philadelphia-based trio of Entity, Tonik and Epidemic have released a number of non-traditional albums including one that was comprised entirely of Kanye West samples (2009′s 808s & ECOMOG) and another that referenced and sampled several decades of television favorites (2010′s As Seen on TV).  ECOMOG jumped into the spotlight once again earlier this month with “Who Will Survive In America?” – stream and download the track below.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Kim Jong Ill, Killer Whale and Milton can be found here.

All the way from Japan, Acid Mothers Temple headline Johnny Brenda’s tonight.   The unconventional psych band has released dozens of records and has appeared in many configurations and off-shoots over their 15+ year career with an ever-changing cast of musicians anchored by founder Kawabata Makoto.  Orbiting the styles of noise rock, ambient rock, space rock and all things freak rock Acid Mothers Temple will release In Search of Lost Divine Ark in May via Important Records.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show with Tjutjuna can be found here.  Below, watch the band perform “Pink Lady Lemonade” during their 2011 Johnny Brenda’s appearance.

Still riding high from the release of their debut full-length a few weeks ago, Philly’s Bleeding Rainbow headline Johnny Brenda’s tonight.  The duo-turned-quartet signed to Kanine Records last fall and though the release date was pushed back several months, the noise-punk band put out their gloriously shoe-gazey Yeah Right LP in January.  Yeah Right is The Key’s featured album for this week’s Unlocked series, which means you can dig into it with a review here (and an interview later today).  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show at Johnny Brenda’s with Pet Milk and Ghost Light can be found here.  Watch a new video for “Waking Dream” from Yeah Right below.

On the other Kung Fu Necktie stage tonight, you’ll find local harpist Mary Lattimore performing with Jeff Zeigler. This collaboration is but one on each musician’s long list of projects, Lattimore’s including work with Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile and Meg Baird and Zeigler’s expanding with his band Arc in Round and production work for The War on Drugs, Ape School and others.  When the two pair up for nights like tonight, though, the result is about as far away from those other projects as possible.  Lattimore’s dreamy harp compositions and Zeigler’s warpy but gentle synth layers froth with emotion and understanding.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show with Trummors, Fred Thomas and Morning River Band can be found here.  Stream Mary Lattimore and Jeff Zeigler’s improvised Folkadelphia session below and learn more about Lattimore’s debut full-length The Withdrawing Room here.

Philebrity and BITBY.TV have teamed up to bring you the hoppin-est Valentine’s Day variety show in town at Underground Arts tonight.  WIth love-themed sets by Juston Stens & The Get Real Gang, Blayer Pointdujour, Katie Frank & The Pheromones, J.M.M. Sweeney Jr. (Mr. Philebrity himself) and others, the event lays claim to being “the city’s only destination for old school-style slow dancing,” with the groove being set by DJ Langor.  More information for the 21+ show can be found on the Facebook event page here.  Stream and download “Strange Love” by Juston Stens & Jessica Lea Mayfield (part of the With Love, From WXPN Philly Local sampler).

Also happening:

XPN welcomes New Jersey rockers The Smithereens to World Cafe Live in support of their 2011 self-titled record.  At The Sellersville Theater, XPN welcomes long-standing rock ‘n’ roll act Soul Asylum.  And finally at The Fire, XPN welcomes the Northern Liberties Winter Music Fest with American Babies, The Fleeting Ends, Ross Bellenoit, Joe D’Amico Band and Miz.  Tickets and information for all shows can be found here.

Paintings by Loren Dann | lorenldann.blogspot.com

When we were swapping e-mails this week, singer Jeffrey Fields of Morning River Band shared a simple musical truth: “It’s tough being a country band in Philly.”

It got me thinking about how overlooked of a style it can be. You’ll still hear people talking about country in terms of “Oh, I like everything except…” Or maybe they’ll say they like Johnny Cash, but nothing new. Or whatever the excuse happens to be. I’d urge those folks to open their ears and their minds a bit, because there is a lot of talent in this distinctly American style of music right in our own backyard. Include, for certain, Fields’ own group of players.

A couple months back, Morning River Band made an appearance on XPN2′s Folkadelphia in a four-piece ensemble configuration, and man did they sound sweet. Dennis Bonfiglio’s pedal steel playing was warm and nimble, the rhythm section of Denny Barron and Philip Kunkle was taut and snappy, and Fields’ vocals were yearning. The vibe of the room hinted at the big touchstones – Willie Nelson, Gram Parsons, The Louvin Brothers – but in a reverential way, not something that attempted to falsely recast the style for city folk.

You can download two performances (both part of their “Drinking Blues” suite) from that appearance below. And, if you’re up for sharing your own drinking blues with them, Morning River Band appears tonight over at The Fire – one of Philadelphia’s havens for rustic overtones, for sure. Morning River Band plays with The Miners, Great Elk and Old Rival Hope at The Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave., tonight at 8 p.m. Admission to the 21+ show is $5

• Drinking Blues No. 2 (Drinking in Heaven with George Jones)by Morning River Band from the Folkadelphia ArchiveDownload

• Drinking Blues No. 5 (Drinking Every Day)by Morning River Band from the Folkadelphia ArchiveDownload