From Hem's forum:


Who's eager? Me, that's who. You know Keith, if you're interested in a potential new obsession, they're playing a show at The Makor in NYC on Saturday (3/20). D/L the mp3's, homey's. Hem

Thankfully, I'm busy this weekend. Chuck (from the CJs board) has been trying to get me to listen to Rabbit Songs for months, but I refuse to listen to them. I really couldn't deal with another musical obsession.

Oh man. Listen to it. They're excellent. Sailor is one of my favorite songs in recent memory.

I love Hem - and I'm excited about that news! Thanks for sharing!

Wait, they don't have a label? I thought they signed with DreamWorks.

ok, since there is some interest in hem...somebody check out the vine section.

From Hem's website, 3.15.04:



Sucks, don't it? Drop the quality so you can pump out the same crapola everyone else is putting out. *sigh*


And thanks for the head's up, Bill. I'll jump over to vines in a minute.

glad you are a man of such strong conviction keith.

HEM is so good, I like her rendetion of The Cukoo. I like Bob Dylan's better, but she is definetly second.

From Rabbit Songs:




Pleeeeease let him have gotten a new label... pleeeeease...

What's with the name? Hem is Swedish for home, just wonderin'...

Wow, they sound intense. Must. Get.

Hem, just checked them out. Need to listen more but are they country? Well I am leaning towards a big like!

You know, I don't want to call them country and I've never been good at the "they're like this..." stuff. All I can say about Hem is that when I first heard them, I felt like I was in another time...? The olden days, the good ol' days, a time that was before I was born... somewhere else. (told you I wasn't good at this)

And I think their name came from a lyric in one of their songs called Lazy Eye: I can still see the hem of your dress and the comb as it's parting your hair... don't quote me on that though.

That's terrible! DreamWorks probably would've been a good home for them. Is this why Rufus Wainwright's Want Two was delayed as well? And maybe that's why Lifehouse hasn't put out anything new in so long.

Is Hem's website just hem.com? I need to check that out.

I did some searching, and here's what that fellow Chuck from the CJ's message board had to say after seeing them:

"There are no weak links in this band. In addition to Sally's haunting voice, Bob Hoffnar on pedal steel and dobro, Steve Curtis' guitar, and Gary Maurer's mandolin really shine. Catherine Popper's double bass anchors the whole show. Steve Curtis' backing vocals add a nice edge, and Catherine Poppers soft voice complements Sally's nicely. Let's not forget Dan Messe brought the whole shebang together."




They do remind me of the Cowboy Junkies a bit, particularly The Trinity Session and The Caution Horses. I missed seeing the Junkies until relatively recently, so I'm delighted that I saw Hem at the start. I'm distressed to hear that they are having problems getting a label. I look forward to hearing their new CD (the unreleased stuff I've heard live is very nice!) and seeing them again.

The logic here leaves me speechless, of course I drove to Guelph to watch Jeff Bird play this week and have him sign my Riki Gee CD, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask, but avoiding great music seems more than a little odd to me...

From www.rabbitsongs.com


YEE-freaking-HAW!

my favorite version is by the be good tanyas

just got my first hem album, rabbit songs...liked it right away!!!

hey, this stuff isn't too shabby!

thanks, michelle!

Eveningland... I like the title. Now I'm all excited.

Go to Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour and download the Hem show... It's amazing. You can see and hear them. Sally even explains the meaning of the band's name.

from Rabbit Songs



Yeeeeeees!!!

Mama rolled a SEVEN!

Thanx for the update, Michelle.

"Hollow" is a gorgeous piece of music. I've got a pretty good recording of it from a show in Detroit; I can't wait to hear the studio version.

I think we have the same show, Chuck. And I agree, Hollow is lovely. So is Beautiful Sea. And Carry Me Home. Then there's Pacific Street... Yeah. I'm excited. I do a several times a day sweep of their site with crossed fingers for new information. I've been looking forward to this album more than any other release this year.

heh. ha ha ha. You just cracked me up, Michelle.
And this is really good news you posted ... hope this album comes out reeeal soon!

from Sacks & Co


Halle-freakin-lujah!!!

sighing happily...

Wow.

I have a feeling this might be the album of the year.

Oh Yeah, Baby...

A pre-order with bonus downloads and a t-shirt option.

Bring. It. On.

Mmmm... I can almost taste it.

Tour dates!

More to come....

NOVEMBER
08 Northampton, MA - Iron Horse http://www.iheg.com
09 New York NY - Bowery Ballroom http://www.boweryballroom.com
10 Philadelphia PA - Tin Angel http://www.tinangel.com
11 Philadelphia PA - Tin Angel http://www.tinangel.com
12 Arlington VA - Iota Club & Cafe http://www.iotaclubandcafe.com/

Eveningland <-- soundclips from the whole album

Ok folks, today's the day. Eveningland is in stores.

Aren't sure? Well then, listen to some samples.

Yeah, good huh? Thought you'd like them. You should check out a show if you find they'll be in your neighborhood.

I'm so stinking excited. I wanted the tshirt, so I pre-ordered, but not speedy shipping. Hopefully I'll have it by the end of the week. Hey, I've waited this long for their second release, what's a few more days.

Enjoy your Hem!

Hem will be playing a small, SMALL venue for 2 nights here in Atlanta for a whopping $10 a head! I plan on being there, and while I am at Best Buy this evening, will go ahead and pick up the much anticipated Eveningland. Yummy!

While you were typing, I was buying.

I'm quite happy with it. Hope I don't have to travel toooo far to see 'em live again.

Along with the new HEM, I bought the new REM. (It seems like they should rhyme)

Aside from Leaving New York, which I adored as soon as I saw it performed in Cleveland the other night, the new REM hasn't grabbed me, although Eveningland was a tough act to follow this afternoon.

Enjoy Eveningland. Hope it arrives soon.

dang it, russ! i'm booked those nights or else i might've seen you there!! hem in hotlanta. dang it!

but...

it came today.

arrived on my doorstep with my lurvely t-shirt.

i'm a veeeeeeery happy girl.

(very glad i listened to you guys earlier this year and got rabbit songs. thanks, michi!)

Can't wait to buy Eveningland. I think I'm gonna get it with the new Drive-By Truckers album. It's a combination so crazy it just might work.

These guys are very good musicians and Sally has a pleasant voice, but I haven't been able to really get into their music. They just make me want to take a nap.

i swear we must all have the same music tastes

I went to Border's last night to see how much they were charging... $17.99. So much for new-release Tuesdays for HEM, eh? Greedy bazturd stores.

jaem, I'm thrilled you got and love Rabbit Songs. Even more thrilled that you liked it so much you did the tshirt pre-order! I did too. I'm very excited. Thanks for the listening review, Chuck. Russ, buddy, I look forward to the show review.

I'm agreeing with Keith. I like it, but it's so mellow... it'd be nice before bed.
They were on CNN yesterday with Paste Magazine... anyone watch??

Thanks, Michelle.

ok, i havent heard them, but now i am sold.
thanks Keith!
d

alright guys - it was on this forum that I first heard of hem a ways back and so it's here that I'm posting up with judgment on the new record:

I absolutely could not be more impressed - I preordered, it came, it went on last night and I almost couldn't believe what I heard. I see what folks mean about it being mellow, but damn, light FM easy listening this is most definitely not... these guys (and one sultry gal) cooked up one hell of a far-reaching set of songs that are really really incredibly beautiful. I can't recommend this album strongly enough.

here's to more like it --

I love reading this! Welcome to the Orchard, slater.

ps: fabulous first post

hey thanks

what an affirming forum! hope you all dig the new hem as much as I do...

If the new album is on iTunes, I'll invest a couple of bucks on a 2-track test drive tonite. I've certainly been wrong before -- in fact I didn't much like Cowboy Junkies for the first few months. You Hemmies got any recommendations?

That's muh boy, Keith...

From Rabbit Songs:

Betting On Trains
All That I'm Good For
Stupid Mouth Shut
Lazy Eye

What I've heard from Eveningland so far:

Beautiful Sea
Carry Me Home
Hollow (love this one)
Pacific Street

And I'm just dyin' to hear more than 30 secs. of Fire Thief, c'mon USPS!

My recommendations from Rabbit Songs are:
Sailor
Half Acre
When I Was Drinking

All I've heard from Eveningland was Redwing. It was on the radio (!) a couple weeks ago. Columbia MO's "KBXR--quality rock" station is slowly becoming AAA, and they have a "What's New for Dinner" segment where they feature a single from a new album every day at 6PM. Usually when they play songs that long before an album's release date, it means they're going to try and incorporate it into single rotation, but I haven't heard it since. I was hoping it would become a "BXR Hit!" Hey, it happened to The Drive-By Truckers and Sarah Harmer.

Wait, what was I talking about? Oh, Redwing-- EXCELLENT! If it's any indicator this album will be amazing.

Okay, so I downloaded Hollow and Redwing from iTunes last night. Played them a couple of times, really liked them, paid $10 to download the other 14 songs, burned it to CD, put on my headphones, hit play. I remember the first three songs sounding really dreamy, and the next thing I knew my wife was waking me up at 6:30 to get ready for work.

I played most of it in my car on the way to the office this morning, it really is a good album although I could definitely do with less of the Mantovani string and/or mellotron arrangements. And the cover of Jackson seems a little silly. More to come after I've listened a few times.