Trevor Nikrant and Joe Kenkel of Styrofoam Winos on Roy Warren and Karen Beth

A double shot of Hidden Gems today from two members of RSTB faves Styrofoam Winos. The Winos latest finds strength in malleability and sharpens their charms through a constant sense of adventurousness. The band has been carving out their sound; as a trio, as solo artists, as an integral part of The Roadhouse Band. Here Trevor and Joe give some insight into their own influences with a pair of gems that explore works from Roy Warren and Karen Beth.

Joe digs into the lesser known of the pair, the sole album from Roy Warren. “I found this LP in the private press section at End of an Ear Records in Austin, TX,” exclaims Joe. “That bin has been stocked with some real wild ones every time I’ve dug through there. Here we have The Singing Hobo and His Hobos on Hobo Records doing all original songs. The cover photo suggests a possible family band? And one guy is holding a Teisco guitar. So you can see why I sprung $3.”

“The songs are all nicely arranged country rockers, but the recording has a really satisfying punk-y crunch. It sounds like they’ve got nothing to prove, but also like they have a natural tightness just flowing between them. It’s a clear labor of love going on with this crew. There is basically no information anywhere about this record, and the brief liner notes say:

Hello Out There Music World!
We love you Everyone — we
hope you like us too!! Roy Warren

There is also an address in Jonesboro, Arkansas. What a mystery!”

On whether it’s seeped into his own sound, Joe notes, “I wouldn’t say that the sound of my music has been affected by the contents of this record. But it’s always exciting when something that was made in an apparently scrappy and heartfelt way makes its way to you. Especially with all original songs that you can’t hear anywhere else! The brief message on the back really does it for me. Big love to Roy W and his gang for sending this message in a bottle out into the world.”

Joe, for his part, digs into the ’75 Buddah Records treasure from Karen Beth. “I found this album in 2017 at a record and comic book store in Nashville called the Great Escape,” he recalls. “I bought the record mostly because of the slick cover (it’s just a circular photo of Karen in the middle of a field, made to look like a crescent moon) and also the fact that it was a Buddah records release, which are usually good bets. That was a period of time when me and the other Winos were doing a lot of dollar bin record shopping and finding lots of obscure 70s songwriter records. This record is definitely my favorite of what I found during that period. Karen has such a singular voice and writing style. Her voice goes all over the place, effortlessly. Her lyrics are great and delivered with a sort of roll-off-the-tongue cadence. Songs are insanely catchy and all of the production choices serve them well, while incorporating a lot of unexpected instruments.”

“I never see or hear anything about Karen Beth, which is wild to me. There are no weak songs on this record and, listening through, you’d think any or all of them should be well known. I think it’s an achievement lyrically, too, with really personal songs that balance heartbreak (“as I sit here by these flaming mountains, I wish you were here by me”) and lightness (“sometimes I feel like a xerox copy machine”). I haven’t seen this record at any record stores since I found it, so I’m grateful I got it when I had the opportunity.”

Joe too doesn’t feel the record’s direct influence, but feels its presence. “I wouldn’t say New Moon Rising directly seeped into my music, necessarily. But Karen is definitely in a category of singers that embody a sort of freedom in delivery–it sounds like she’s having fun and not overthinking it in the slightest. That’s something that is important to me in music, both as a listener and performer. My favorite song on the album is probably the title track ‘New Moon Rising’, which should be an all time classic. A close second though is ‘Flying,’ which is a cover of another obscure artist, Lamb, who were a psychedelic band from San Francisco featuring Barbara Mauritz and none other than Jerry Garcia as an auxiliary member. I love how records can introduce you to other bands and songwriters and so on.

I recommend visiting Karen’s website, which is amazing and includes her quote: “Singing means everything to me. It’s who I am. It comes through me like energy coming through the earth up into a tree. Singing is freedom, expression, emotion, communication, joy, love, passion, and power.”

Both records are worth digging out, though you may have to do more digging to find Roy’s record. Not all are blessed with the serendipity of the private press bin. In the meantime, the Winos’ latest is one of the years’ best, and highly recommended!

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.