Three must-try young musicians for grown-ups

Whenever I mention the name Music for Grown-Ups, most people immediately get the intended ambiguity. A few miss it completely, and assume I’m referring to Music for Olde Fartes – ‘60s rock or, even worse, the kind of hoary old pop singles endlessly recycled on Gold radio stations.

No, I patiently explain, Music for Grown-Ups can come from any place, and any time – from 15thC Germany to Omaha yesterday. If it withstands critical scrutiny, it’s in.

There’s a constant stream of young musicians refreshing the grown-up core repertoire. At the moment, I’m listening a lot to three very different twentysomething magicians:

* Amy Winehouse – smokey, soulful torch ballads and funky r’n’b

* Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes) – dazzling American singer-songwriter. Just listen to his cover of Dylan’s Girl Of The North Country. My, my, my…

* Jim Moray – nu-folk pioneer, revolutionising the trad English songbook with electronica, and somehow burnishing its core beauty. Moray can’t decide whether he wants to be a folkie or a rock star. Result? Some great art.

All three fulfil all the criteria, especially the major one – they make excellent, original music.


Gerry Smith