Anyhoot – we have a few GREAT videos that we are so excited to finally get to share with you guys! While in Austin in the Spring we got to spend some time with the magnificent Joe Purdy. It was my first time ever seeing this man play live, and I stood there kicking myself for allowing it take so long for me to see him perform. Purdy has made quite the name for himself in music and if you haven’t heard of him yet, it’s time to hop on the bandwagon – you won’t be disappointed with the ride.

Oh! and the other great thing that makes Joe Purdy even more phenomenal is that he works with this really great non-profit called The Voice Project, a organization that raises money for Northern Uganda through a unique “cover chain,” in which artists cover their favorite songs in video episodes, and create a chain connecting each artist. You can learn more about what they’re doing by checking out Purdy’s interview below.

Also, I can’t tell express how beautiful Purdy’s new record, 4th of July, is … you have to head over to his site and check it out yourself. Its the perfect summer album!

Enjoy the videos… we love you all!

PWTV Interview:

PWTV Live Session:

These sessions brought to you by Future Sounds & American Songwriter Magazine

Most often, singer songwriters who forgo band names for their own can lull the mind into a passive state and their music can be just as unforgettable, but NATHANIEL RATELIFF is an exception. The music scene seems to be littered with this mediocrity due to the over saturation that the internet enables and this fact alone allows the true gems to shine even brighter. Nathaniel Rateliff is as bright and pure as they come and his authenticity shone brightly at his July 29th performance at The Echo, so much so that I can’t shake it from my memory.

With ease, Rateliff’s limpid and impassioned vocals filled the room while his band played every note methodically and ardently, as if performing each song were their sole purpose in life. The double bass, piano and earnest vocals brought his most recent album In Memory In Loss to life. His vocals traveled from calm to loud, rising into thunderous harmonies as choral voices joined in. It seemed as if the crowd was floating, blissfully, in a sea of their sound.

Just as it does on the record, the song “Early Spring Till” was the stand out masterpiece of the evening. The slow acoustic strum and distant echo of an electric guitar in the background sets up the moment perfectly for Rateliff’s crisp and intent vocals to enter the scene. With each line it seems as if another voice joins him until the entirety of The Echo was full of lush and loud harmonies declaring;

“Are you tired
Do you feel wrung out
Have you fallen from where glory sprouts
Are you cut off in fields
And pressed down
Like an early spring till
That dont come around
I think Ive been there.”

The surge of emotion was delivered so powerfully that it left you fatigued and grateful for the ease back into tranquil strums and quiet voices that followed it.

All of us in the room that night were enraptured, Rateliff’s presence drew us in as if were all sitting at his feet, with our legs crossed Indian style in a small living room somewhere in his native Missouri. Rateliff was a captivating story teller, that masterfully crafted his narratives full of abandoned hope, all the while assuring the audience that he was keeping us safe and warm.

Post by Kelsea Olivia

We are so very excited to share with you our most recent finished video from our SXSW extravaganza. While in Austin we participated in a great party with American Songwriter Magazine, XO Publicity & Future Sounds… the result was a beautiful experience with some of the most incredible artists that played the festival.

Lissie was by far one of our favorite performers we saw that week, there is a strikingly honest passion that exudes from her presence and its no doubt you will see exactly what we are talking about when you watch the videos below. She was an absolute joy to interview, being one of the most warm, kind, and open artists we’ve met in a long time.

Please enjoy what you see and hear and please spread the word!

Lissie Performs Live at Stompin’ Grounds @ SXSW 2010

Interview w/Lissie @ SXSW 2010

Check out the interview below, please let us know what you think!

We know its been quite a while since any of us on the Plays Well team has blogged and we do apologize for the lapse in content…. things got a little crazy at SXSW and left us all pretty wiped out. Be expecting though, you’ll see things pick back up here starting now

Below is a live session that we were fortunate enough to be a part of a little while back with our new friends The Antlers. Today we’ll be sharing a video of their heartbreakingly beautiful song “Bear”, which happens to be one of our favorite tracks off their most recent record Hospice. Check back here tomorrow as we share with you an intimate interview with the band!

Please support the band by picking up their record here.

http://www.antlersmusic.com

http://www.myspace.com/theantlers

Plays Well With Others + Future Sounds & Swinghouse Studios Present: The Antlers performing Bear Live:

You can check out her music here: www.myspace.com/ebonybones

The Organization Global Fast has just launched a new initiative called Offset The Water Crisis  to raise money and awareness about the clean drinking water crisis in much of the world today. March 22nd is World Water Day . Global Fast is making it a National Day of Sacrifice where students and community activists will sacrifice a meal, movie, or something else that day and donate the saved cash to end this crisis! If you want to learn more and donate, visit: http://www.giveh2o.org/