There’s a great article/review on Waylon Jennings and the newly released box set, Nashville Rebel, At PopMatters.com.  From the article:

The “outlaw country” thing was always as much about camaraderie as anything else. It was a reason to stick with his pals, to make music with those who understood. And that feeling of walking in the same footsteps as other like-minded musicians stretched back to the past, as all of these outlaws wore on their sleeves their debt to the giants of country music. In the mid-’70s two Waylon Jennings singles, written by the man himself, made this point clear as day. First “Bob Wills Is Still the King”, a tribute that puts Wills on the highest pedestal (”it don’t matter who’s in Austin / Bob Wills is still the king”) while also declaring Waylon’s own love for the Texas tradition of honky-tonks and western music. And then its flip side, the lament “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way”. As an anti-Nashville-showbiz statement it set up Jennings as an outlaw, but it’s also a statement of solidarity with the simple, from-the-gut approach of Hank Williams.
 

There a great article on Sugar Hills Records CEO, and recipient of the 2006 Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement Award, Barry Poss in today’s Wall Street Journnal. poss does a great job describing his vision in championing artists “with one foot planted firmly in the traditional world, but were young enough to be exposed to pop music of the time. These artists include Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Tom O’Brian and Marty Stuart. I believe Poss best underscores that the recording industry will need to get back to it’s, pardon the pun, roots when he says “If you stay close to your fan, if you work hard and are passionate about the marketplace and the music, you can be fine at this (market) level, even with all the changes that may seem a threat for some of the recording industry.”   Amen brother! 

Rilo Kely bandmember Jenny Lewis, and her backing singers The Watson Twins, will perform at New York’s
Town Hall on October 12 and 13, in support of her 2006 debut solo album ‘Rabbit Fur Coat’.

Opening the show is up and comer Norah Jones and her band the Little Willies. Yes, that is a joke.

Rhino celebrates the 20th anniversary of Dwight Yoakam’s ‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’ with a remastered version of his 1986 debut expanded with demos for the album recorded five years earlier. The double-disc set also features a live recording of Yoakam playing the Roxy shortly after the album’s release and includes several unreleased live cuts. The deluxe edition  of ‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’ will be available October 17th for a suggested list price of $24.98.  A digital version of the album will also be available for download at all digital outlets.

Dwight Yoakam will play at the Concert Hall at the New York
Society for Ethical Culture, New York, NY on Thusday Oct 12, 2006 08:00PM

This is shaping up to be a great season for concerts! After a busy year of touring the States and Europe, Calexico has announced several new tour dates in December to finish out the year.

Dec 2 - Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre (w/ Annuals)
Dec 3 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad (w/ Annuals)
Dec 4 - Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre (w/ Annuals)
Dec 5 - Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse (w/ Annuals)
Dec 8 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore (supporting Los Lobos)
Dec 9 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore (supporting Los Lobos)

The Tucson show on December 2 continues Calexico’s annual tradition of throwing a year-end hometown benefit concert. A portion of the proceeds will go to KXCI, a local community-sponsored radio station. Proceeds will also go to Humane Borders who, along with other organizations like No More Deaths and Border Angels, offer humanitarian assistance to those in need through more than 70 emergency water stations on or near the US - Mexico border, ultimately trying to quell the hundreds of deaths every year in the Arizona desert due to dehydration.

A representative from Humane Borders will be at all Calexico’s headlining Southwestern shows to answer questions or provide insight into their cause. Also, the tour as a whole will be presented in association with Music for America, an organization connecting concert-goers with social justice organizations and political issues they might not be aware of both nationally and in their own local communities.

Kirk Rundstrom, front man for slamgrass quartet Split Lip Rayfield has been fighting esophageal cancer for quite a while. And though he’s cheated death for a spell and has continued to tour he, like most musicians, could use help with bills. Go to the groups site and lend a hand.

And go see the boys while they’re out on the road.

11.02 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
11.03 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
11.04 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
11.05 Champaign, IL High Dive
11.10 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
11.11 Portland, OR Ash St. Saloon
11.12 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
11.14 Eugene, OR John Henry’s
11.15 Santa Cruz, CA The Attic
11.16 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
11.18 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour

After winning the best album for “Childish Things” and best song for “We Can’t Make It Hear”
at the Americana Music Awards a few weeks ago James McMurtry is throwing his fans another
another tasty slice of rockin-roots dissent.

McMurtry is making the rough mix of “God Bless America” available for free on his website. “I had meant to wait until I was finished overdubbing before putting this song out, but our brave legislators have once again outdone themselves in their acquiescence to the executive by passing the detainee bill,” said McMurtry. “We refer to foreign governments that employ all-powerful executive branches as dictatorships, but we’re still supposed to think of our own government as democratic. I’m appalled at the spinelessness of Republican legislators. I guess they still think they’ll be invited to the feast. They will be, but only if they continue to watch their mouths.”

The Drive-By Truckers celebrate their favorite month with a harvest of live tracks and studio outtakes. Act fast — each track will only be available for a limited time but at the end of the month you’ll have a nice compilation. Let There Be ROCKtober!