Cato Falls

I came across a mention of this band in the local newspaper a few years back and it somehow caught my attention. I had heard of the lead singer, Bethany, knew she was a friend of my niece, knew my nephew had played some percussion for some of her acoustic performances. But there was something I read in the article—what exactly, I no longer remember—that put this band on my radar. So I asked my nephew if he knew anything about Cato Falls, and was surprised to find he was part of the band. That was fortunate for me, because it helped me to find out about a lot of their gigs.

The first time I saw them was at a local sandwich wrap shop. They did an acoustic set, but the essential style of the band was evident. There’s something about hearing something you really like for the first time. You get a sense that what you are hearing is both something new and at the same time something that has deep roots.

I saw them many times since then, but not often enough. I’d love to see them again, but they are sadly defunct. If you want to hear them, you’ll have to find their CD or check out whatever they have that is floating around the internet.

There was something pure and honest I heard in their music. I’m pretty confident that a decent percentage of you will hear it too. I’ve been thinking about posting about them, but I’ve had a hard time deciding what I could find on YouTube that would best epitomize Cato Falls. Yesterday I came across this video, which I found worthy of sharing. I wouldn’t call it their best song, because they’re one of those bands whose songs are almost all equally strong. But this is the first really well recorded and mixed song I’ve found on YouTube. There are a lot of other videos out there, but various imperfections in sound make them, in my opinion, nothing more than a pleasant memory of seeing them live. I really hope you give them a listen as they are very near and dear to my heart. The fact that my nephew plays drums on this video is merely a happy accident.

Here is a link to their album available on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Cato-Falls/dp/B00H6A340K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412646927&sr=8-1&keywords=cato+falls

And On iTunes: <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/cato-falls/id774274031?uo=4" target="itunes_store">Cato Falls - Cato Falls</a>

While my nephew is not on it, I can still say it has been on steady rotation on my CD player. I just really like this band. Hope you do too.

Dan Groat

If you're going to do someone else's song, make it your own. Dan Groat does that quite well in this video, investing his personality into it in order make it something new, making it very much a vessel for his unique talents. Unfortunately, Mr. Groat has no nothing for sale, as far as I can tell. But please help me to get this video to at least a 1,000 views. There is definite craftsmanship evident here, we're not talking about a cute puppy video (nothing against cute puppies, my point is that they don't have to work hard at what they do). What's it take to get people to throw a few pennies to a talented performer, anyway?

Isto

YouTube is a wonderful opportunity to come across unheard of talent. I chanced upon this singer/guitarist today that I'm absolutely thrilled by while looking for the best version of (It's Only A) Paper Moon. On a performance by Nat King Cole, someone left the comment that "Isto" does a fine version. I typed it in and this is what I saw.

Good, good stuff. He's got a ton of videos out there, including my favorites, covers of "Stardust" and The Kinks' "She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina."

Please, if you have a singer/performer/artist/writer/etc. you really like, send me some info and if I like it I'll be sure to feature it here. I want this place to be somewhere where people can gather to discover what lies beneath the ocean of mediocrity that is mass media.

Update: I've been going through videos of this guy and love just about everything he does. Thought I'd share his other YouTube account, which has him doing all original stuff and is perhaps better than his covers: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUmumOYO4ZlwR6Doa594Oo9g