Austin Texas based roots musician, Gurf Morlix, is finishing up his new release Last Exit To Happyland. A noted producer of the Americana elite (Lucinda Williams, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Mary Gauthier, and Robert Earl Keen, Tom Russell, Blaze Foley, Ian McLagan, and the Hot Club of Cowtown), delivers some great new songs. Backed by the mighty Rick Richards on drums, and with vocal support from Patty Griffin, Ruthie Foster and Barkara K, he explores the territory where folk and blues and country intersect, a place he likes to call “The Muddy”. Last Exit To Happyland will be released on Rootball Records on February 17th, and marks his evolution from sideman (Lucinda Williams’ band leader for 11 years) and producer to world class singer-songwriter in the spotlight.
Month: November 2008
James McMurtry and Band First Tour of Europe
In 2009, James McMurtry and his band will tour Europe for the first time. McMurtry is touring in support of his new album, Just Us Kids, which has received “Best of the Year” accolades from publications such as The Washington Post, Mojo, Los Angeles Times, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Legendary musician, Ian McLagan (Faces), will join McMurtry’s band on keyboards for the tour. Austin singer/songwriter, Jon Dee Graham, will open most of the dates. Both McLagan and Graham appear on Just Us Kids.
TOUR DATES:
1/16 Nuremburg, DE K4
1/17 Lauchhammer, DE Real Music Club
1/18 Berlin, DE Cafe Zapata
1/20 Hamburg, DE Knust
1/21 Leipzig, DE Nato
1/22 Heilbronn, DE Red River Saloon
1/23 Eppstein, DE Wunderbar Weite Welt
1/24 Geislingen/Steige, DE Rätsche
1/25 Zürich, CH El Lokal
1/27 Amsterdam, NL Paradiso
1/28 Den Haag, NL Paard van Troje
1/29 Den Bosch, NL W2
1/30 Diksmuide, BE Club 4AD
1/31 Bristol, UK Polish Club
2/01 Glasgow, UK Oran Mor (Celtic Connections Festival) *
2/02 Belfast, IE Errigle Inn
2/03 Dublin, IE Whelan’s
2/04 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
2/05 Newcastle, UK The Cluny
2/06 Nottingham, UK The Maze
2/07 London, UK Luminaire
2/08 London, UK Luminaire
*Jon Dee Graham opening all dates on tour except Celtic Connections Festival
Ray Davies Goes Country
Yahoo Music’s Rock’s Backpages post “Cry Me A River: The 20 Most Heartbreaking Songs Of All Time!” a while back. Aside from how ridiculous and random a list like this is, I have to agree with their #1 choice, George Jones: “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”* (thanks to my lovely wife, Barbara for this find.)
From Dave Paulson at the The Tennessean: It looks like the brit-pop legend and Kink’s front man Ray Davies is following the lead of his ex-wife, the Pretenders Chrissie Hynde’s, by channeling his inner cowpoke on his next release. Davies’ new album Working Man’s Café was recorded in Hermitage (near Nashville) with producer Ray Kennedy and a top notch teamof Nashville session players over 14 days — in what he calls “classic Nashville style.” Davies says he was taken by the musical culture of Nashville by a visit to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium in 2001.
You know you’ve achieved immortality when you have a knife designed for you. Gerald Myatt, owner of Standing Stone Cutlery in Cookeville, Tennessee, has been commissioned to create a collectable knife for the family of A.P. Carter, the founder of the legendary country music group, the Carter Family.
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride
I’m really pleased with the recent crop of westerns that have hot the big screens as of late – 3:10 To Yuma, Appaloosa, No Country for Old Men – but there’s one in particular I’m looking forward to.
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride, co-written by Texas music legend Ray Wylie Hubbard, is a violent Western (the studio says it’s going to be “Sam Peckinpah meets Quentin Tarantino†) set in the early 1900s about a woman trying to bring her lover, a murdered outlaw, home to Glory, Texas for burial.
Scott Speedman (Underworld) plays the title character in flashbacks, country music legends Dwight Yoakam and Kris Kristofferson portray villain, W. Earl Brown (Al Swearengen’s right-hand man Dan Dority from HBO’s too-soonly defunct Deadwood), Lizzy Caplan (from HBO’S vampire series True Blood)Â and Beverley Hills 90210’s Jason Priestley are all on the roster. The film is in post production and is slated to be out in early 2009.
I’ll be paying $10. for this one.
The 32nd Annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival Line-up
The Annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival, a fundraiser for Ann Arbor’s famous Ark Coffee House , will celebrate its 32nd year with some of the finest in traditional and contemporary artists. The Festival returns to Hill Auditorium for two nights of folk and roots music on Friday, January 30, and Saturday, January 31, beginning at 6:30 p.m. each night. In keeping with the Festival’s longstanding reputation, each night will feature a blend of renowned and up-and-coming performers, providing audiences with the opportunity to hear popular artists working at the top of their field while discovering terrific new talent. All funds raised through the Festival benefit The Ark, Ann Arbor’s non-profit home for folk, roots, and ethnic music.
Friday evening will feature Jeff Tweedy as headliner and will also feature Old Crow Medicine Show along with a host of artists who are known for pushing the boundaries of their art, bringing a progressive sound to the folk music scene. Saturday night will delve into the heart of folk and roots traditions showcasing styles well known to folk and roots audiences. Headlining on Saturday night is Kris Kristofferson. Also featured is the legendary Pete Seeger.
The 32nd Annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival
Friday, January 30 & Saturday, January 31, 2009
at Hill Auditorium
The 32nd Annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival Line-up
Friday
Jeff Tweedy
Old Crow Medicine Show
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Ryan Montbleau Band
Katie Herzig
Chelsea Williams
The Ragbirds
Jim Lauderdale, MC
Saturday
Kris Kristofferson
Pete Seeger
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Girlyman
Luke Doucet & The White Falcon
Claire Lynch Band
Misty Lyn & The Big Beautiful
Jim Lauderdale, MC
**Program subject to change**
Happy Thanksgiving
Roots of Country Music and Hip-Hop
I’ve often contended that the thematic similarities between country music and hip hop (as well as punk) – poverty, faith, community, rebellion, redemption, love, an insanely loyal fan-base – have always been there bubbling just under the superficial stylistic surface. Juli Thanki over at PopMatters.com does a great job of fleshing out this concept in her story Who Says Country Can’t Hip-Hop?
Though I’m less impressed with the use of Kid Rock, Cowboy Troy and the Big and Rich creation, the “Muzik Mafia†as well as her “Screwed-Up Genius Who Died Before His Time” theory to tie the two genres -represented here by Tupac Shakur and Hank Williams – to be dubious, and the oversight of excellent artists that represent an appealing mix of the two cultures in their work like Ridley Bent and Buck 65 – I do applaud the article’s direction overall and the focus on House of Pain’s Everlast, the Gourds cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice†and Snoop’s own work with Willie Nelson and his expressed respect for the Man in Black, Johnny Cash.
With full knowledge of the level of loyalty of both genre’s fans, Thanki anticipates much hate mail from her article. If the email assailing does come to be it will just prove that no one hates quite as hotly as close brothers.
Buck 65 – Wicked and Weird
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oFVlcXEHkI[/youtube]
Ridley Bent – The Devil And Coltrane Henry
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw0K0GviZg4[/youtube]
Jason Isbell Readying 2009 Release
Former Drive By Trucker Jason Isbell is readying the self-titled release of his second solo album. The release was recorded at the renowned FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. and will be the first to feature the 400 Unit, which has been Isbell’s band for over 200 shows in support of irens Of The Ditch.
The 400 Unit features Derry deBorja on keyboards, Jimbo Hart on bass and Browan Lollar on guitar. Isbell co-produced the album with Matt Pence, who also lends his dumming talents to the lineup.
The release has a Feb. 17, 2009 drop date, but tracks can be heard now on Isbell’s MySpace page.
Tracklist:
1. Seven-Mile Island
2. Sunstroke
3. Good
4. Cigarettes and Wine
5. However Long
6. Coda
7. The Blue
8. No Choice in the Matter
9. Soldiers Get Strange
10. Streetlights
11. The Last Song I Will Write
Colbert Christmas to Feature Willie Nelson and Toby Keith
That bastion of righteous irony, Stephen Colbert, will celebrate the impending consumer slump this Sunday with A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All.
Colbert fights the “war on Christmas” with this surreal bit of spiked nog that sxews Christmas specials of the past. Think Andy Williams in a cabin in rural Michigan and the town nearby has a gas leak that’s making eveyone act strangley. The strangeness is offered by the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, John Legend, Toby Keith, and Feist.
I have to say, I’m not a big fan of Toby Keith, but after seeing him do a send up of, well, himself singing a song about Santa dropping nukes from his sleigh on heretics who don’t believe in Jesus or Santa, who Keith explains are actually the same person, Keith might have a new fan.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTzbm5E_qq4[/youtube]
The Charlie Daniels Band To Perform Christmas For Kids Benefit Concert
The Charlie Daniels Band will perform at the Mother Church of Country Music – Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium – for the 12th Christmas For Kids benefit concert with Montgomery Gentry, Phil Vassar, Rodney Atkins, and Heidi Newfield. The concert is November 24th and will begin at 7:00 PM and proceeds from the event will go to the Christmas for Kids organization, which funds holiday shopping excursions for underprivileged children.
Prior to the show (5:30PM) Charlie Daniels will meet fans and sign autographs in celebration of his recent DVD release, Preachin’, Prayin’, and Singin’ (Blue Hat/Koch Records) at The Charlie Daniels Museum (110 Second Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee.)