It’s that time again. Time for bbq, fireworks, sunburns and Willie’s picnic. This 4th of July, get yourself to the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas. Advance tickets will be available for $30; otherwise, they’ll cost $35 at the door.

So far, the following artists are on board: Willie Nelson & Family, Kris Kristofferson, Stoney Larue, Shooter Jennings, Del Castillo, Pauline Reese, Noel Haggard, Titty Bingo, James Hand, Jimmy Lee Jones, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Johnny Bush, The Geezinslaw Brothers, Ray Price, No Justice, Randy Rogers Band, Billy Joe Shaver, The Mother Truckers, Mike Graham, Leon Russell, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, David Allan Coe, Freddy Powers, Bonnie Bishop, Bill McDavid, and Heather Myles.

From Reuters - NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Country singer Loretta Lynn underwent successful shoulder replacement surgery on Thursday after injuring herself in a fall, her agent said.Lynn, 71, has canceled nine concerts scheduled for this month and next month since falling as she tried to get into a chair at her home in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee on Sunday.

“The surgery went very well,” said her agent, William Smithson, adding that she will be released from the hospital next week.

Lynn, a legend in country music, is best known for her song, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” and has rebounded from a career slump following the death of her husband, Mooney. Her latest album, “Van Lear Rose,” was produced by White Stripes frontman Jack White.

Isn’t it great that even from the grave that the Man In Black is being sold using cool technology.

From Lost Highway Records - These songs are from the July 4th release “American V: A Hundred Highways” produced by Rick Rubin. These songs were recorded by Johnny just prior to his death in the summer of 2003. One of the songs, “Like The 309,” is the last song that Johnny wrote before his death. These are great songs - enjoy!

The Cash Myspace page is at: http://www.myspace.com/johnnycash

Neko Case and the band will be taping The Late Show with David Letterman on June 14th. Check out your local listings for show time, etc… The taping will help kick off Neko’s west coast tour which begins with an appearance at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival on June 15th.

I really would prefer that this series would last forever (at least another 2 years), but I’ll settle with a couple of two hour specials over nothing. From the New York Times - “Deadwood” is a counterintuitive western; instead of wide open spaces and men of few words, the town where it is set is a cramped, muddy ghetto peopled by gabby merchants and jabbering prospectors. Everyone spews obscenities, but even the humblest characters do so in declamations that have a Shakespearean ring. And all that prolixity reaches new heights as the town delves into the electoral process.The series’ end is near; its creator, David Milch, has reached an agreement with HBO to bring “Deadwood” to a close with a four-hour, two-part finale. As it lurches to its conclusion, the politics of “Deadwood” keep growing more dense and colorful, and that magnificent obsession crowds out other primal forces. Death is still common in “Deadwood.” It is sex that has taken a holiday.

PopMatters features a nice interview with alt-country chanteuse (and Steve Earl’s main squeeze) Allison Moorer. An excert:

How do you feel about mainstream country?
I don’t know. What’s happening there? I have no idea. I don’t keep up just because I don’t belong there. I never did. It’s unfortunate that I didn’t because, truly, when I started making records I hoped that I did belong there because I really love traditional country. It’s a really great thing when it’s done with heart. I just don’t keep up with it anymore because I don’t live there, hardly. Steve and I have a place there, but we spend most of our time in New York. I just can’t put up with it because most of it is just so cheesy it makes me want to run for the hills.

There’s a great article on the Dixie Chicks fracas from Dave White at MSNBC. The gist is that if you were offended by what Natalie Maines said in London three years ago and are still carting a grudge even though now a majority of Americans now agree with her, well, tough noogies!

As much as their new CD “Taking the Long Way” initially left me cold with it’s more adult contemporary sound, the lyrics and the defiant spirit has me coming back to listen to it again and again. I even plunked down a hefty fee to see the Chicks at Madison Square Garden this August.

Release Date - 06/20/2006

THE COMPLETE ATLANTIC SESSIONS contains remastered versions of Nelson’s two groundbreaking Atlantic releases — Shotgun Willie, his 1973 debut and “possibly his finest album ever” (All Music Guide), and Phases And Stages, his 1974 follow-up and “one of the great concept albums overall” (All Music Guide) — expanded with studio outtakes, alternate versions, and unreleased music. The third disc, Live at The Texas Opry House, features rare and unreleased performances recorded in Austin in 1974.

Recorded in New York, Shotgun Willie marked Nelson’s break with Nashville and the city’s monolithic sound. Touching on everything from redneck rock and Texas swing to “Sad Songs And Waltzes,” the album’s freewheeling spirit helped spark the outlaw country movement with songs like the horn-punctuated title track, a cover Bob Wills’ “Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer)” as well as “Whiskey River,” Nelson’s customary show opener for more than 30 years. The expanded version of Shotgun Willie features 12 bonus tracks, half of which are previously unreleased including alternate takes of “Whiskey River” and “A Song For You” along with outtakes of “Save Your Tears” and “I Drank All Of Our Precious Love Away.”

Nelson’s follow-up, Phases And Stages, was one of country’s earliest concept records and remains one of its best. Telling the story of a failing marriage, the first side of the album is dedicated to songs from his perspective while the other is devoted to songs from her point of view. Recorded in Muscle Shoals by legendary producer, Jerry Wexler the album featured some of Nelson’s most poignant writing including “Pretend I Never Happened,” “I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone,” and “It’s Not Supposed To Be That Way.” The expanded version of Phases And Stages features ten bonus tracks including eight previously unreleased songs such as an alternate versions of “Bloody Mary Morning,” “No Love Around,” and “Heaven And Hell.”

The final disc, Live at The Texas Opry House, contains 16 live performances by Nelson and his band — steel guitarist Jimmy Day; fiddler Johnny Gimble; pianist Bobbie Nelson; bassist, Bea Spears; drummer Paul English; and Mickey Raphael on harmonica. Recorded by Wexler June 29 and 30, 1974 at The Texas Opry House in Austin, the album captures the band blazing through “Whiskey River,” “Me And Paul,” and “Good Hearted Woman.” While many of the performances featured here debuted on Rhino’s out-of-print 1993 album, The Classic, Unreleased Collection, five performances are previously unreleased including “Shotgun Willie,” “You Look Like The Devil,” an electric version of “Bloody Mary Morning” as well as a medley of Nelson’s early hits, “Funny How Time Slips Away,” “Crazy,” and “Night Life.”

THE COMPLETE ATLANTIC SESSIONS
Track Listing

Disc 1

1. “Shotgun Willie”
2. “Whiskey River”
3. “Sad Songs And Waltzes”
4. “Local Memory”
5. “Slow Down Old World”
6. “Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer)”
7. “Devil In A Sleeping Bag”
8. “She’s Not For You”
9. “Bubbles In My Beer”
10. “You Look Like The Devil”
11. “So Much To Do”
12. “A Song For You”

Bonus Tracks

13. “I Gotta Have Something I Ain’t Got” — Outtake
14. “I’m So Ashamed” — Outtake
15. “My Cricket & Me” — Solo Outtake
16. “Both Ends Of the Candle” — Outtake
17. “Slowdown Old World” — Alternate Version
18. “Under The Double Eagle” — Outtake
19. “So Much To Do” — Alternate Version
20. “My Cricket & Me — Band Outtake*
21. “Save Your Tears — Outtake*
22. “A Song For You” — Alternate Version*
23. “Whiskey River” — Alternate Version*
24. “I Drank All Of Our Precious Love Away” — Outtake*

Disc 2

1. Phases And Stages (Theme)
   “Washing The Dishes”
2. Phases And Stages (Theme)
   “Walkin’”
3. “Pretend I Never Happened”
4. “Sister’s Coming Home”
   “Down At The Corner Beer Joint”
5. “(How Will I Know) I’m Falling In Love Again”
6. “Bloody Mary Morning”
7. Phases And Stages (Theme)
   “No Love Around”
8. “I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone”
9. “It’s Not Supposed To Be That Way”
10. “Heaven And Hell”
11. Phases And Stages (Theme)
    “Pick Up The Tempo”
    Phases And Stages (Theme)

Bonus Tracks

12. Phases And Stages (Theme) — Alternate Version*
    “Washing The Dishes” — Alternate Version*
13. “Sister’s Coming Home” — Alternate Version*
    “Down At The Corner Beer Joint” — Alternate Version*
14. Phases And Stages (Theme) — Alternate Version*
    “(How Will I Know) I’m Falling In Love Again” — Alternate Version*
15. “Bloody Mary Morning” — Alternate Version*
16. “No Love Around” — Alternate Version*
17. “I Still Can’t Believe You’re Gone” — Alternate Version*
18. “It’s Not Supposed To Be That Way” — Alternate Version*
19. “Heaven And Hell” — Alternate Version/Duet Vocal*
20. Phases And Stages (Theme)
    “Pick Up The Tempo”
21. Phases And Stages (Theme) — Alternate Version*

Disc 3

1. “Whiskey River”
2. “Me And Paul”
3. Medley:
   “Funny How Time Slips Away”
   “Crazy”
   “Night Life”
4. “Stay All Night (Stay A Little Longer)”
5. “Walkin’”
6. “Bloody Mary Morning/Take Me Back To Tulsa”
7. “The Party’s Over”
8. “Truck Drivin’ Man”
9. “She Thinks I Still Care”
10. “Good Hearted Woman”
11. “Sister’s Comin’ Home”

Bonus Tracks

12. “Shotgun Willie”*
13. “You Look Like The Devil”*
14. “Bloody Mary Morning” — Electric Guitar Version*
15. Medley:*
    “Funny How Time Slips Away”
    “Crazy”
    “Night Life”
16. “Willie’s After Hours” — Studio Track*

I can’t believe I’ve lived in New York city for almost 3 years and didn’t know about the Rodeo Bar (375 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10016 (corner of 27th St & Third Ave, NYC). Great vibe (the bar is made of old Texas license plates), food, booze and free country-blugress-folk music from great artists nearly every night. I’ve found my new home. I wonder if my daughter will miss me?

In the wake of freak-folk band Grandaddy’s demise frontman Jason Lytle put some of his “most prized possessions” up for the bidding (one started on May 26, the other starts today). These include trucker hats, as well as sunglasses, books from his library (including Liberace’s biography!), copies of Grandaddy’s latest album Just Like the Fambly Cat with one-of-a-kind hand-drawn cover art, posters, pins, and a needlepoint cat pillow with the inscription “Meow Meow Meow”. Most of this stuff is autographed.

Besides helping Grandaddy fans cope with the loss of the band, the auctions will benefit two charitable causes, the Emmett O’Loughlin Fund and the National Wildlife Federation.