On Wednesday, Kathy Mattea parked her massive tour bus at the Paste office for a four-song acoustic set and interview highlighting her new album Coal. She cut through the rainy day in Decatur with welcome cheeriness, repeatedly making fun of herself, pretending to care about hair, make-up and getting her “good-side” while filming. At 49, she looks chic and youthful.

Click above to watch, Crickets from Wild Sweet Orange.

The band's debut full-length album We have Cause to Be Uneasy is available now.


Related links:

Wild Sweet Orange on MySpace

WildSweetMusic.com

Click above to watch "Wagon Wheel" from Old Crow Medicine Show's self titled album. 

Todd Snider's new album Peace Queer has a title that forces you to do a double take. The fan-submitted video for the song Mission Accomplished has that same quality. You can see for yourself above. Peace Queer will be available October 14th.

When the Paste multimedia brigade arrived to catch Hanson's soundcheck at the Variety Playhouse yesterday afternoon, a crowd of twenty or thirty young women were already gathered on the sidewalk in front of the venue. Some were reclining in folding lawn chairs; others were leaning against the building, soaking up the late-afternoon sunlight, settling in for the long haul and shooting us pointed glances as we slipped through the doors that wouldn't technically open for another four hours.

Inside the empty venue, the house lights were all up, band gear was strewn across the floor where hundreds of fans would later gather in fervent droves, and some non-fraternal bandmates were jamming to a thick, funky bassline and intermittent bursts of jokey synth-sax on stage. The brothers emerged (more friendly and less blonde than expected), hands were shaken (one tiny victory for my twelve-year-old self!) and the strange fiddly, tweaky process of sound-check began. There was some issue with a keyboard (it was turned off) but once that was fixed (solution: turn it on), we caught the guys playing a new track, “Follow Your Lead,” plus “Great Divide,” from 2006's The Walk.

As we were wrapping up, a slew of women (plus two guys-- we counted) were being escorted into the middle rows for a photograph of all the participants in a one-mile barefoot walk the band had sponsored that afternoon in Atlanta. Turns out, they host one at almost every tour stop to raise awareness for global poverty, education and AIDS initiatives. Whatever you once thought of “MMMBop,” you've got to applaud a band for using its clout for such serious good.  

Outside, the line was longer than I'd ever seen for any other Variety show, spooling well down the block with three hours to go. We couldn't make it out to the show, but we'll be sharing our sound-check footage with you this week. Our footage of their second take of “Follow Your Lead” is live for your enjoyment today, with “The Great Divide” coming soon. 

Click above to listen to Peace Queer, in stores October 14th!

The Low Anthem's new album Oh My God, Charlie Darwin has been getting plenty of attention here at Paste. The band uses a variety of instruments, (from a World War I era pump organ, and trumpets, to cell phones) to create music that feels both time-honored, and astonishingly innovative. Whether it's the haunting falsetto in the band's title track, "Oh My God Charlie Darwin," to the bar room roar of "Home I'll Never Be," the Low Anthem is sure to resonate.

Paste wishes to congratulate both vice presidential candidates for their impressive performances during last night's debate. However, we were troubled to find one important issue ignored entirely.
"If it were left entirely up to you, what music would you use as your campaign theme song?"
While both Governor Palin and Senator Biden have left such questions unanswered, Paste Magazine asked some of our favorite musicians at Austin City Limits the same question.
Click the image to get the "straight talk" from artists on their picks for a  presidential campaign theme song.

Check out the new self-titled album from The Windupdeads available on iTunes on Oct 7th.

Click above to watch "Murder In the City" from The Avett Brothers' album The Second Gleam, out now on Ramseur Records.

Related Links:
Catching Up With...The Avett Brothers
Myspace Page