So farewell then Merv Schrock, though we hardly knew you at all. Yes, the Nadine revolving door spins apace, drummer Schrock departing after just a few months in the seat. "The band is currently rehearsing candidates for a new drummer, and a permanent replacement will be announced shortly," they state confidently but "due to this little delay, we've had to push back our extensive touring plans until April." First up, however, is the band's SXSW showcase where sticks duty will be handled by Will Johnson who's already got two bands of his own, the mighty Centro-matic and it's drowsier off-shoot South San Gabriel. This Nadine/Centro-matic connection is getting pretty incestuous; CM's Matt Pence produces the long-promised Strange seasons album, a sample track from which has been available for a while. A cherry-ripe slice of Mayflies-Eagles rootsy jangle, Different kind of heartache contains the line 'The boombox plays a South San Gabriel tune...'

...which may or may not be a tune from the brand new South San Gabriel album, Welcome, convalescence which just happens to be imminent (March 11, to be precise). Listening to Smelling medicinal the dotted lines to the likes of Nadine don't take that much joining...

Also coming soon is the second album from Caitlin Cary via Yeproc Records. I'm staying out is slated for April 22: "“We made what I believe is a big, colorful record," she says. "There’s a purple song and for sure a red song, and yellow, and several shades of green." So now you know...

Cutting easily through reallyrather's flu-infected senses, Denison Witmer turned in a fine UK debut set at the 12 Bar. Tho' he'd apparently picked up a bit of a throat himself there was nothing sub-par about the quality of this solo acoustic show which laid bare his debt to the classic '70s singer-songwriter generation. He doesn't seek to hide this; in amongst perfectly-weighted gems of his own - Steven, Leaving Philadelphia, Closer to the sun, etc - Witmer dropped Jackson Browne's These days, the join being barely visible. (This song is one of a whole album of covers he's releasing soon via Fugitive Records of Seattle.) Though essentially voice and guitar, many of the finest moments on Witmer's albums come with the sparingly-but-tellingly applied blushes of bass, keys, percussion, and reallyrather anticipated having to do those bits in my head. But slightly suprisingly Witmer left aside numbers like Miles and Over my head and took on some of his 'full band' tracks like 24 turns 25 and Chestnut Hill, realising a satisfyingly full sound with some dextrous chording of his Guild guitar.
In promoting this show, Rare Pleasures (three cheers!) were the latest to pin Dension with the 'new Elliott Smith' tag. This blog has no idea whether Witmer is pumped/amused/bothered in the slightest by this (not very accurate) comparison but one thing's for sure, it ain't gonna go away so long as he continues to dodge a date with the barber! [DW | ES]

That was last week's highlight, what's up next? Praise be!, it's The Be Good Tanyas. All over the place over the next couple of weeks (despite Frazey's six-month pregnancy), the Ts have already been busy scattering their fabulously husky flutterings across the BBC airwaves. If you're not going to a show (shame!) check their great session for Andy Kershaw; Bob Harris follows suit on Feb 27...

..and for anyone curious about founder-Tanya gone solo Jolie Holland (who wrote The littlest birds), there's a big feature on her in this week's SFWeekly...

"We didn't want to tour for three weeks with a Math Rock band. Because there's a weird legion of people who feel like they can't enjoy anything, and they would be at those shows." Scott from Wheat explains why they're going out on the road with Toad the Wet Sprocket...