Drive-By Truckers, Go Go Boots

“Go Go Boots” is their eleventh studio recording, the latest effort highlighting the songwriting talents of co-leads Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley…  It is described in one review as: “…dirty, brooding and thoughtful Southern rock…a raw, wholesome and warm vintage sound. The guitars are imbibed with raunchy slides and heart-wrenching fire. The banjoes are plucked in a corner, behind the spoons. Each song on the album has the feeling of a live, one-take performance.” (Popstache.com)

This video is from their appearance on Austin City Limits a couple of years back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FthiOls0w4I

Tedeschi Trucks Band, Revelator

As Rolling Stone said, “…the debut of an 11-piece troupe co-led by guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi…. the best Dixie-funk family band since Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. Trucks’ serpentine curls slither alongside Tedeschi’s supple cries over crosscurrents of The Meters and The Band in “Bound for Glory” and “Midnight in Harlem.” And she glows with fighting desire in the swamp-Stax plea “Until You Remember,” like a female Otis Redding armed with the reincarnation of Duane Allman.”

This video is from their appearance at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7czlanjaObs

David Murray Cuban Ensemble Plays Nat King Cole en Español

As The Guardian said, Jazz virtuoso David Murray “sets his broad-chested sax sound alongside the rasping Argentinian tango vocalist and arranger Daniel Melingo and Cuba’s Sinfonieta of Sines ensemble, to reprise Nat King Cole’s Latin America recordings, made in Spanish and Portuguese in 1958 and 1961. … These swaying songs glow with knowing life: the vivacious arrangements for strings and horns buoy up Murray’s rich tenor sound… It’s pretty smooth, of course, but Murray’s superb slow solo on No Me Platiques – easing from rich long notes to quietly squally double-time – delivers enough jazz surprises for the whole album inside eight minutes.

David Murray and the Royal Flemish Orchestra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwYQYXTpYxk&feature=related

Nick Lowe, The Old Magic

As  Paste Magazine  says…“…it’s hard to imagine a soul so hard-hearted and melody-challenged who wouldn’t find a lot to love in The Old Magic, Lowe’s first collection of new songs in four years.  If you didn’t know any better, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to hear songs like “Checkout Time” or “Stoplight Roses” and think you were listening to recently discovered treasures from the Sun Records vault or outtakes from a lost Johnny Cash recording from the ’50s. As hyperbolic as that may sound, the eight originals and three covers that Lowe has recorded this time out are as good as pop music gets.”

From a performance on Elvis Costello’s Spectacle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNeg_pkmjRk&feature=related

Destroyer, Kaputt

According to Pitchfork: “Bejar’s essential complexity ultimately feels human. It seems absurd to look for genuine wisdom in music in 2011, when we’re constantly gorging ourselves on the all-you-can-eat buffet of post-modern web culture. But Kaputt feels wise. Like a mirror that actually points back at something better. Something you can jam and let wash over you, but also something you can use. It feels funny, tragic, artful, and ultimately true.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf-ONpLXzGs

Fleet Foxes,  Helplessness Blues

Pitchfork says: “Amidst the chaos, the record showcases the band’s expanded range and successful risk-taking, while retaining what so many people fell in love with about the group in the first place. And once again, a strong sense of empathy is at the heart of what makes Fleet Foxes special. Much has been made of American indie’s recent obsession with nostalgic escapism, but Robin Pecknold doesn’t retreat. He confronts uncertainty while feeling out his own place in the world, which is something a lot of us can relate to.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O0mAhWraNY&feature=player_embedded

Low Anthem,  Smart Flesh

The Los Angeles Times music blog writes: “Smart Flesh” is a gorgeous, inventively arranged set of reverb-rich roots ballads in which the music’s frayed edges add emotional weight… Give hushed, slow-rolling songs like “I’ll Take Out Your Ashes” and “Apothecary Love” time to properly unspool and you’ll find yourself swept up in the band’s old-fashioned tales of romance and mortality.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpadm5i_CKU

Girls, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

Pitchfork nails it… “The first listen to Father, Son, Holy Ghost brings with it an almost eerie sense of familiarity, like these are songs you’ve been hearing your whole life even when you can’t place them…. this is one of the best-sounding rock records in years…  the record comes alive with color and personality largely thanks to Girls’ singer and songwriter Christopher Owens. He has a preternatural gift for turning clichés into deeply affecting songs, and as they jump from one style to the next, from delicate acoustic balladry to noisy rave-ups, Owens’ voice and point of view ground the record and make it distinctive. He is the center.”

The surf rock start of the album is Honey Bunny…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuDoYhQI2o

Noam Pikelny, Beat The Devil and Carry A Rail

Friends trained in classical music have been recommending the Punch Brothers for years, an “Americana country-classical chamber music group.”   This year, banjoist Noam Pikelny sets out this wonderful set of songs on his own.  He’s won the $50,000 Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass, and it is easy to hear why on songs including “My Mother Thinks I’m a Lawyer.”   He’s toured with Paul Simon, has the appeal of Bela Fleck, and has us enchanted.

See him and Steve on Dave Letterman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOCM-WsBnXQ

2010

Mavis Staples, You are Not Alone

Keith Jarrett and Charlie Hayden, Jasmine

Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More

Colin Gilmore, Goodnight Lane

Nathaniel Raitliff, In Memory of Loss

Los Lobos, Tin Can Trust

http://www.amazon.com/Tin-Can-Trust/dp/B003Y3HLL6/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299512&sr=301-1

2009

Dave Rawlings Machine, A Friend of a Friend

http://www.amazon.com/A-Friend-Of/dp/B002X09TCA/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299510&sr=301-1

Allen Toussaint, The Bright Mississippi

http://www.amazon.com/The-Bright-Mississippi/dp/B0026E9IDS/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299508&sr=301-1

Drive-By Truckers, Austin City Limits Live

http://www.amazon.com/Live-Austin-Texas-DVD-COMBO/dp/B0027ZGZSC/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323298953&sr=1-1-catcorr

Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca

http://www.amazon.com/Bitte-Orca/dp/B002BGJ91M/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323298977&sr=301-1

Todd Snider, The Excitement Plan

http://www.amazon.com/The-Excitement-Plan/dp/B0028EYO58/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299503&sr=301-1

2008

McCoy Tyner, Guitars

http://www.amazon.com/Guitars-CD-DVD-McCoy-Tyner/dp/B001D84S0Q/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299026&sr=1-1-catcorr

Jackie Green, Giving Up the Ghost

http://www.amazon.com/Giving-Up-Ghost-Jackie-Greene/dp/B0013FYT9Y/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299047&sr=1-1-catcorr

Buddy Guy, Skin Deep

http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Deep/dp/B001CDWSBS/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299073&sr=301-2

2007

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminal, Lifeline

http://www.amazon.com/Lifeline-Ben-Harper-Innocent-Criminals/dp/B000VIJTVM/ref=sr_1_cc_1_digr?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299092&sr=1-1-catcorr

Betty LaVette, The Scene of the Crime

http://www.amazon.com/Scene-Crime-Bettye-LaVette/dp/B000X6XC0G/ref=sr_1_cc_1_digr?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299113&sr=1-1-catcorr

Jorma Kakounen, Stars in My Crown

http://www.amazon.com/Stars-In-My-Crown/dp/B0010W7F5K/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299127&sr=1-2-fkmr0

Mavis Staples, We’ll Never Turn Back

http://www.amazon.com/Well-Never-Turn-Back/dp/B000X6ZB7I/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299499&sr=301-1

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights

http://www.amazon.com/100-Days-Nights/dp/B000W0V8BS/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299497&sr=301-1

2006

Citizen Cope, Every Waking Moment

http://www.amazon.com/Every-Waking-Moment/dp/B0014LV25Q/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299492&sr=301-1

Pernice Brothers, Live a Little

http://www.amazon.com/Live-A-Little/dp/B000S9CEZ2/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299490&sr=301-1

Jim Lauderdale, Country Super Hits, Vol. 1

http://www.amazon.com/Country-Super-Hits-Vol-1/dp/B000QZYY0Q/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299488&sr=301-1

Tom Russell, Love & Fear

http://www.amazon.com/Love-And-Fear/dp/B0026XXSDU/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299485&sr=301-1

Jerry Lee Lewis, Last Man Standing

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Man-Standing-Jerry-Lewis/dp/B000GRUQYW/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299269&sr=1-2-catcorr

Ray Baretto, Standards Rican-ditioned

http://www.amazon.com/Standards-Rican-ditioned/dp/B000QZSKEM/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299308&sr=1-1-fkmr0

2005

Eddie Palmieri, Listen Here!

http://www.amazon.com/Listen-Here/dp/B000UBRQYM/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299458&sr=301-1

Spoon, Gimme Fiction

http://www.amazon.com/Gimme-Fiction/dp/B000U7TZYK/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299444&sr=301-1

John Hiatt, Master of Disaster

http://www.amazon.com/Master-of-Disaster/dp/B000UOMRY8/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299422&sr=301-1

North Mississippi All Stars, Electric Blue Watermelon

http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Blue-Watermelon/dp/B001E59XJY/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299368&sr=301-1

James McMurtry, Childish Things

http://www.amazon.com/Childish-Things/dp/B004B5W3HI/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299385&sr=301-1

2004

Is It Rolling Bob, A Reggae Tribute to Bob Dylan

http://www.amazon.com/Reggae-Tribute-Bob-Dylan-Rolling/dp/B00021LSNK/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299676&sr=1-1-catcorr

Todd Snider, East Nashville Skyline

http://www.amazon.com/East-Nashville-Skyline/dp/B000R04THS/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299697&sr=301-1

Joe Pass, Virtuoso in New York

http://www.amazon.com/Virtuoso-In-New-York/dp/B000UAYDDK/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299712&sr=301-1

Nellie MacKay, Stay Away from Me

http://www.amazon.com/Get-Away-Me-Nellie-McKay/dp/B00138EWK2/ref=sr_1_cc_1_digr?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299724&sr=1-1-catcorr

2003

Johnny Cash, The Essential Johnny Cash

http://www.amazon.com/The-Essential-Johnny-Cash/dp/B00136LURC/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299759&sr=301-1

Warren Zevon, The Wind

http://www.amazon.com/The-Wind/dp/B0026GIDZU/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299778&sr=301-1

The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow

http://www.amazon.com/Chutes-Too-Narrow/dp/B000YN68RC/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299791&sr=301-1

Lucinda Williams, World Without Tears

http://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Tears/dp/B000W1Q6AK/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299803&sr=301-1

2002

Mana, Revolucion de Amor  

http://www.amazon.com/Revolucion-de-amor-Audio-only/dp/B0029DAKTW/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299816&sr=301-1

Solomon Burke, Don't Give Up On Me

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Give-Up-On-Me/dp/B0014ESYJA/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299836&sr=301-1

Patty Hurst Shifter, Beestinger Lullabies 

http://www.amazon.com/Beestinger-Lullabies-Patty-Hurst-Shifter/dp/B000254PBS/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1323299851&sr=1-1-catcorr

Spoon, Kill the Moonlight 

http://www.amazon.com/Kill-the-Moonlight/dp/B000U7ZX4Q/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323299864&sr=301-1

Dave Alvin, Live in California 

http://www.amazon.com/Out-California-Dave-Alvin/dp/B000065DVN

2001

Blind Boys of Alabama, Spirit of the Century

http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Of-The-Century/dp/B00122Z4VA/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323300010&sr=301-1

Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn, Swan Song

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TDIEIS/ref=mu_dm_alb_dp

Jay Ferrar, Sebastopol

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002CFUAXI/ref=mu_dm_alb_dp

Carlos Santana, Magic of Carlos Santana

http://www.amazon.com/MAGIC-OF-CARLOS-SANTANA/dp/B00006I4W1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323300139&sr=8-1

Since he joined our firm in 1997, David Dreyer has served as a communications and policy strategist, media trainer and speech writer for TSD’s domestic and global clients.

David has worked here and abroad on assignments that included the Sydney and Athens Summer Olympic Games, communications reviews for public and private sector organizations in the U.S. and Europe, advising the Ecumenical Patriarch of Eastern Orthodoxy, providing strategic counsel for a continuing public education campaign to change U.S. policy toward Cuba, and helping Qatar 2022 win the right to host the World Cup.

David provides strategic advice to senior leaders in the fields of finance, technology, and policy development. He has prepared corporate leaders, authors and actors, policy advocates and public figures for speeches, presentations, and media interviews in a host of challenging settings.

Before joining TSD, David served as Deputy White House Communications Director for President Bill Clinton and as Senior Advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin. For fourteen years, David was an advisor to Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress, including Senator Gary Hart, Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, and Majority Whip Tony Coelho.

David Dreyer is a graduate of Hampshire College. Married to Elizabeth Vandivier, a public school librarian, they have four children: Alessandra, Erika Rose, Jesse, and Sam.

Eric joined TSD Communications in September 2001, bringing wide-ranging communications and policy experience from his work in the public and non-profit sectors. He has worked for many TSD clients, including Google, XM Satellite Radio, The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, The Open Internet Coalition, and the Hartford.

Before arriving at TSD, Eric served as the Director of the Office of Public Affairs of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. In his role at the FTC, Eric managed press for several major matters before the agency, serving as lead spokesman for AOL/Time Warner merger regulatory review as well as for investigations into marketing of violent material by the record, video game, and movie industry to youth audiences, and violation of customer privacy policies by e-commerce providers. Eric also served as a strategic advisor to Chairman Robert Pitofsky on a variety of policy and press issues.

Prior to joining the Federal Trade Commission, Eric served as Deputy Communications Director to House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt. Eric wrote the widely praised speech Leader Gephardt delivered on the day of the impeachment vote in the House – a speech Vice-President Al Gore called the finest speech he had heard in the House in his 22 years in Washington.

In addition to his role as speechwriter, Eric also coordinated the daily Democratic message with the Democratic Caucus, and helped develop Leader Gephardt’s technology policy.

Eric has worked on a variety of political campaigns on the state and national level. He is a graduate of Brandeis University and the George Washington National Law Center.

Jane is a business and communications strategist with a legal background and broad based domestic and international experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, specializing in the development of long and short-term communications strategies, reputation management, crisis communications and litigation support.
Since joining TSD in 2001, Jane has worked for a number of TSD’s clients, primarily in the corporate, financial services, and retail sectors. including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Farallon Capital Management, Interpol and the International Food and Beverage Alliance.

Prior to joining TSD, Jane worked with The Body Shop International plc in England, a global specialty retailer of personal care products and cosmetics, and a pioneer of corporate social responsibility. She served as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee, and Company Secretary of The Body Shop Foundation, which she established in 1991. She joined the company in the newly-created position of General Counsel and Company Secretary, and later assumed the position of Strategic Development Director, responsible for the strategic direction of the company, new business ventures, and the development and exploitation of The Body Shop brand on a global basis. Jane received a L.L.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Ontario, and joined the Toronto law firm of Holden, Murdoch & Findlay in 1985, specializing in the fields of media and entertainment, corporate finance and securities. From 1974-1984, she worked in the entertainment industry, managing and producing more than fifty theatre and television productions in Canada and the USA.

Jane has also served as advisor to a number of start-up businesses in the consumer products and retail sectors. She was a member of the Board of Advisors of Ethos, LLC, a bottled water company whose mission is to donate part of its profits to fund humanitarian safe water and sanitation projects in the developing world, from the time of its formation until the company was acquired by Starbucks, in April 2005. Jane is a former trustee of the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Company, a nationally recognized dance company, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Rapture Project, a not-for-profit art project consisting of a series of large-scale dance installations performed on Frank Gehry buildings worldwide.

Ricki Seidman, a senior principal at TSD Communications, is a seasoned veteran with broad experience in communications and general strategy. Her specialties include solving short and long term communications challenges, developing public affairs strategies, campaign planning and execution, crisis management, litigation support, media training, and reputation management. The wide range of clients that Ricki has advised includes Google, Bechtel, News Corp/MySpace, Napster, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the American Constitution Society, and Shawn Fanning.

Ricki took a leave of absence in 2008 to work for President Obama’s general election campaign, serving as Vice President Joe Biden’s communications director. In the spring and summer of 2009, she assisted the White House in the successful confirmation effort for President Obama’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor.

Prior to joining TSD, Ricki focused primarily on public service and political advocacy. She held several senior White House positions during the Clinton Administration, including White House Deputy Communications Director, Counselor to the Chief of Staff, and Director of Scheduling and Advance for the President; and she subsequently served as Deputy Associate Attorney General in the Department of Justice. She headed the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign’s “War Room”, and directed a similar effort for the successful passage of the Clinton economic plan in 1993. Prior to joining the Clinton campaign, Ricki was Senator Kennedy’s chief investigator on the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. Her experience in the non-profit sector included senior positions at Rock the Vote and People for the American Way.

Ricki was a fellow at the Harvard University Institute of Politics. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio and a J.D. from the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.

Mark Steitz founded TSD Communications in 1993. Mark directs strategic communications efforts for a wide range of businesses, progressive organizations and campaigns. Mark’s current clients include financial firms, research organizations, and foundations.

Mark is a leader in the field of political testing and targeting. He is a founding Board member of the Analyst Institute, which conducts randomized controlled experiments for progressive campaigns and causes. He is a Senior Advisor to Catalist, the progressive voter database company which he helped found, and works with the Political Division of the AFL-CIO. He co-founded Copernicus Analytics (now part of Catalist) and QRS New Media. He is also on the advisory board of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research.

Mark and TSD developed international communications strategy for the Athens 2004 Olympics from the bidding process in 1997 through the Games. Mark oversaw international and crisis communications for the global retailer The Body Shop between 1993 and 1996.

Mark was Director of Communications and Research at the Democratic National Committee under Ron Brown, developed the free media and scheduling targeting system for the 1992 Clinton campaign, and previously worked on the Presidential campaigns of Reverend Jesse Jackson and Senator Gary Hart.

An economist by training, Steitz was Chief Economist in the office of Senator Hart and worked at the Congressional Budget Office from 1978 to 1986 as an industrial and tax policy analyst.

Mark has an MA in Economics from Yale University and a BA from St. John's College in Annapolis.

John Coletti joined TSD Communications in 1994. He is a Principal at the firm, and has worked as business manager for the firm in addition to his work consulting for clients. He led TSD's Athens office and managed all TSD work for the Athens 2004 Olympics Organizing Committee. 

Prior to joining TSD, John worked with the Democratic National Committee's finance staff. He also served as a member of the Clinton-Gore Presidential Campaign's communication team during the 1992 election where he coordinated local television interviews of Governor Clinton, Senator Gore and Democratic spokespeople. He was responsible for selecting television stations in key media markets and securing interviews for the candidates by contacting news directors. 

Following the successful election campaign, John served as transition staff for the White House National Economic Council, where he prepared Research and briefing material on budget issues for White House staff directors and economists. He also organized daily meetings for National Economic Council members with the President and Vice President. 

John began his career as a Legislative Assistant and intern for former US Congressman Nicholas Mavroules where he worked on education, small business and environmental issues. 

He received a BS in Political Science from Northeastern University in 1992.