Arty Hill

Arty Hill - Bar of Gold (2008)
Apropos of nothing really, a friend recently described Oakland as the Baltimore of the West Coast. Arty's MySpace describes his music as "Bakersfield meets Baltimore." Not sure what all means but this is a really great album. In the liner notes, Jason Ringenberg lays down the gauntlet and dares you to find a better country record this year. Hard to argue.

He's out playing some shows and he puts on a good one. We recently saw him at the Austin Grill in Baltimore and will be checking him out again at the Johnstown Folk Festival.