We are happy to announce that T.V. Mike and the Scarecrowes made Nate Seltenrich of East Bay Express top ten favorte records of 2009
Here is what he had to say.
With Devendra Banhart, the Freight & Salvage, and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass commanding national spotlights, why shouldn’t the Bay Area be a bastion of self-styled folk revivalism? But a banjo and a stash of Pete Seeger records does not a 21st-century folkie make. There must be a broader vision — something to warrant trotting out the old familiar tropes. Rooted as surely in the West Oakland warehouse that frontman TV Mike calls home as in the timeless continuum from Seeger to John Fogerty to the Avett Brothers, TV Mike & the Scarecrowes excel on vision and execution alike. Part string band, part cow-punk (at times recalling fellow locals the Trainwreck Riders), and gently transcendent through and through, their debut reveals no shortage of ideas, nor of skill to see them through. The whole thing, from TV Mike’s alluring drawl to Toby Oler’s slow-stepping banjo, resonates to a frequency all its own. (Brave Scarecrow Records)
See who else made the cut here
