There have been several great folk releases this year. What may come as a surprise, however, is that many of these are standard, clean folk artists playing standard, clean folk music. Nothing fancy, nothing new, but plenty good. At first glance, Dylan Trees appear to fit this category with their EP, Charlie Horse.

We music obsessors, in the search to find the next big craze, to be the first to hype the next it artist, often tend to overlook the little guys — those who create great music without all the bells and whistles. It’s kind of like buying a car. Sure, I could go for the Mercedes SLR McLaren, or even something a bit less costly like the Volvo C30, but my Nissan Versa does the job just as well.

So tomorrow, as I stretch out in my Versa’s roomy interior (which is probably much more roomy than that of the SLR, and which has more back seat foot room than my 90s Volvo 850 wagon), I’ll put on Charlie Horse and drive north to a lovely little town called Edison. And the folk-country sounds in “Long Night’s Journey”, with psychedelic hints, will fit right in.

And next Friday when I drive down to Seattle, I’ll long for the twangy elements of Dylan Trees folk-pop styling in “Charlie Horse” and “Henry Collapsed”, and the similarities both have with country towns like Edison, while the bastards in their Mercedes GLK SUVs cut me off in the dark, pouring rain.

Stream Charlie Horse, in all its four song splendor, here.

*Side note: While I prefer to post about bands where I can include a bonus mp3, I’m posting this anyway, because it’s good. For those out there reading this, I am also a strong proponent of purchasing music. Despite this being a bit of an mp3 blog, I always encourage you readers to go out and support the artist by purchasing their music. How couldn’t I? I spend, on average $50 per week on LPs and CDs.