Somebody's Darling Talks Music, CMJ

Opening up with "Bad Bad," from their just released Adult Roommates album, Somebody's Darling began an afternoon set of a CMJ Music Marathon showcase. The Dallas based band, featuring the bold, bluesy vocals of Amber Farris have paid their dues over the past seven years. With a heavy touring schedule as both openers and headliners, an appearance at SXSW, and now CMJ in New York, Somebody's Darling have followed a path which offers them a sustained shelf life in a business of blink-and-you-missed-it bands.

If the new album has a different sound and feel to it credit the collaborative writing of the band, and the willingness to try every musical suggestion offered in an effort to hit that point of nirvana when you step back and say "yeah, that's it." The process seems to be working.

For some time now there has been a resurgence of the blues, though the form is evolving through the new blood who have taken their influences from other genres as well. Somebody's Darling takes up the neo-blues flag and throws in a ballsy rhythm section, guitar licks refined just enough from a garage band feel to appreciate the skill behind them, and keys that punch in just when you want them to. Mix all that together, throw in those big vocals, and what you end up with is a grinding, no-holds barred southern rocking blues band. Tasty indeed.

Before their afternoon performance, I sat down with Amber Farris and bass player Wade Cofer to talk about the long road they travel.

For the full interview jump over to "Somebody's Darling Talks Music, CMJ" over at onstagemagazine.com

CMJ Music Marathon Opens in NYC

As if the New York City music scene wasn’t already in overdrive, 1400 band performances are about to drive the city’s noise ordinances into the red zone as the CMJ Music Marathon opens its five day run beginning tomorrow. In over eighty venues spread out across Manhattan and Brooklyn, CMJ will host artists from every musical genre.

After picking up a press pass and checking out the press party at the CMJ Penthouse, it will be time to get to work. With an overwhelming amount of music from which to choose, figuring out a game plan is the hard part. The mobile CMJ Music Marathon app has been extremely helpful, searching by artist, venue, or date brings up all the info you could need. While not every band I’ve been listening to has been exciting enough to check out their show, I’ve found more than enough music to keep me busy watching and writing about for the entire five days of the marathon.

I’m looking forward to a couple of interviews set up through Big Picture Media, the official media company for CMJ. The first is with a bluesy band out of Dallas, Somebody’s Darling. With the release of their third album, the band is fast becoming a favorite in the neo-blues tide rolling up from the south. Another band I am excited to talk with and watch is The Suffers, a wild ten piece band out of Houston. Behind the huge vocals of Kam Franklin, are horns, percussion, guitars, and keys, all throwing down a rock-soul-r&b gumbo. So much fun to be had, and that is only part of one day.

OnStage will be covering the CMJ Music Marathon and reporting on what’s good and what’s not. It’s now 34 years running for CMJ, which is not only a music party of epic proportions, it’s a meeting place for people within the industry to get an intense primer into what is happening right now. Starting on Tuesday, each band in the CMJ Music Marathon lineup has a chance to be the one everyone talks about. OnStage will have ongoing reports on which bands are worth a listen.

.