James Jackson Toth

I like artists who sound a little like a lot of people but always like themselves.

James Jackson Toth fits that category: he sounds at once like himself but at times like Tanya Tucker, Jim Ford, Tommy Bolin, Keef Hartley Band, Peter Ivers Band, Throbbing Gristle, Rusty & Doug Kershaw, Vietnam Veterans, Conway Twitty, George Brigman, Buff Medways, Violent Femmes, Alex Chilton, Ron Wood, John Carpenter, Bobby Womack, Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan, Roxy Music, Souled American, Junior Kimbrough, Godz, Fushitsusha, Dead Moon and Black Oak Arkansas (all of whom he lists on his MySpace Music page.)

What? No Carpenters? No Ozzy? No Charles Ives?

I learned about him from an ad I saw in Mojo last Friday while I was playing hooky from work, sneaking off behind the bosses back. (I should mention that I’m self-employed. Sneaking off behind the bosses back involves a degree of denial largely unachievable to the common man.)

I downloaded his record and I liked it so here’s a little taste of his stuff (plus a few others from my eMusic file).

James Jackson Toth – Nothing Hides
Giant Sand – Stranded Pearl
The Sacred Shakers – John the Revelator
Matthew Sweet – Time Machine

All For One, One For All

As Chevy said on the always fun Oh Heavenly Dog, “if you have three hours and 15 minutes to kill, why not kill them with some disco?” Everything from Sergio Mendes to the Pointer Sisters to Herbie Hancock. Big fun!

Artwork: House (wax and oil over watercolor on paper, 14 x 20, 1998) by Marilyn Kirsch