Junip

Jose Gonzales has been a influential artist to me because of the beauty in his voice and of course his undeniable talent with a guitar. His solo career is amazing, but I recently rediscovered Junip - a Swedish band Jose Gonzales is a part of. The band also includes Elias Araya and Tobias Winterkorn and is incredible for raining days or just chilling out because of the softness of their harmonies and the "indie folkness" of their style. I can't get enough of these guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7yaHnUPJLE

They recently were at Bonnaroo, a festival in Manchester, Tennessee, and I hope people get to check them out at festivals in the future. As great as Jose Gonzales is on his own, Junip is a great transition in his musical career.

Speaking of amazing festivals though - the live music scene in the United States right now is unreal. Sure, I imagine there are always great bands and great festivals regardless of what year it is, but I am dying over the lineups for August 2011 alone -

Hard Summer in Los Angeles, California
Outside Lands in San Francisco, California
Pacific Festival: Oak Canyon Ranch, Orange County, California

They look incredible - so if you are on the west coast or anywhere near the west coast for the remainder of the summer - go shake your ass in some neon short-shorts to Chromeo for me. Epic.