Author Archives: Baron Lane

Son Volt To Release Eighth Studio New Album ‘Notes Of Blue’ February 17

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Son Volt - 'Notes Of Blue'

stalwart alt.country pioneers Son Volt will release a new album ‘Notes Of Blue’ on February 17 on the Thirty Tigers label. ‘Notes Of Blue’ will be thw follow-up o he 2013’s acclaimed ‘Honky Tonk.’

The 10 songs on Notes Of Blue are inspired by the spirit of the blues, but not the standard blues as most know it. The unique and haunting tunings of Mississippi Fred McDowell, Skip James and Nick Drake were all points of exploration for Farrar for the new collection. The album opens with the country soul of “Promise The World”, followed by “Back Against The Wall”, a song that could stand alongside the great Son Volt songs of their early albums. However, ‘Notes Of Blue’ reflects the blues as it resides in the folk tradition, but heavily amplified. The primal stomp of “Cherokee St.”, the frenetic guitar on “Static” and the raw slide in “Sinking Down” exude grit and attitude. Conversely, tracks such as “The Storm” and “Cairo and Southern” seamlessly meld blues with hypnotic melodies that add a unique balance to ‘Notes Of Blue.’

Founder Jay Farrar possesses one of the most distinctive voices in roots, rock, country or any genre. He exudes a soulful longing combined with a wise-beyond-his-years command that is as arresting and compelling as ever. As a songwriter, Farrar’s depth and poetic penchant has been the foundation of a thoughtful, deep and intelligent body of work. Both attributes are on full display on Notes Of Blue, as he touches on themes of redemption and the common struggle, both of which are at the core of the blues.

‘Notes of Blue’ will be available to pre-order via the Son Volt website November 29th. The group will announce upcoming live dates in support of the album That same day, while tickets are scheduled to go on sale December 2nd.

Whether you call it alt.country, Americana, roots rock, insurgent country or just good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll anytime Son Volt releases a new album it’s cause for celebration.

Valerie June Sophomore Release ‘The Order Of Time ‘ Out Early 2017

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Valerie June

Americana chanteuse Valerie June will release her follow-up to 2013’s breakout LP, ‘Pushin’ Against a Stone’ on January 27th, 2017 (Concord Records). The Tennessee-bred, Brooklyn-based songwriter ‘weaves electric blues, African rhythms, cosmic atmospherics and delicate soul into an inventive and wholly original rumination on love, family, struggle and the passing of time.’

June will also embark on a North American headline tour in support of ‘The Order Of Time.’ The announcement comes as June wraps up a series of performances this fall with Norah Jones and Sturgill Simpson. Tour dates below with more to be announced in the following weeks.

Produced by Matt Marinelli, ‘The Order of Time’ includes twelve original songs all written by June and features appearances from June’s family, her father, Emerson Hockett and brothers, Patrick and Jason Hockett .

Read June’s conversation with NPR’s Ann Powers here.

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Pre-Order The Order of Time

Tickets go on-sale Wednesday, October 26th at 10am ET via Music Glue. Those who purchase tickets through Music Glue will be able to pre-order ‘The Order of Time’ at a discounted price.

‘THE ORDER OF TIME’ TOUR DATES:
2/7 – Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre
2/8 – Montreal, Quebec @ Club Soda
2/9 – Toronto, Canada @ The Great Hall
2/10 – Cleveland, OH @ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
2/11 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Warhol at Carnegie Lecture
2/13 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Bar
2/14 – Newport, KY @ The Southgate House Revival
2/15 – Louisville, KY @ Bomhard Theater at the Kentucky
2/16 – Nashville, TN @ 3rd & Lindsley
2/17 – Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe
2/18 – St. Louis, MO @ Duck Room at Blueberry Hill
2/20 – Chicago, IL @ Park West
2/21 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
2/22 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
2/24 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
2/25 – Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads Saloon
2/27 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
2/28 – Austin, TX @ The Paramount Theatre
3/1 – Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater
3/2 – New Orleans, LA @ The Republic
3/3 – Birmingham, AL @ Saturn
3/4 – Atlanta, GA @ The Loft
3/5 – Charleston, SC @ Charleston Music Hall
3/6 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel
3/7 – Durham, NC @ Carolina Theatre
3/9 – Washington, DC @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
3/10 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theatre
3/11 – New York, NY @ Town Hall

Watch Out! Jack White & Margo Price – I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet) – 10/15/2016

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Jack White & Margo Price

The post-Garrison Keillor “A Prairie Home Companion” era commenced Saturday evening with the new host and uber-mandolinist Chris Thile filling those shoes nicely.

For the next two hours, Thile kept dancing guests Lake Street Dive’s folk-soul. He ripped through Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”

One undeniable highlight was when guest Jack White invited Margo Price on stage to play ‘I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet) ‘ from the White Stripes’ album ‘Get Behind Me Satan.’ Along with backing band Lillie Mae Rische, Dominic Davis, and Karl (Fats) Kaplin the two turn the originally piano-driven ballad into a heartbreaking country duo weeper.

Enjoy the moment below.

Steve Earle’s Iconic Guitar Town To Be Celebrated With 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

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Steve Earle's Guitar Town

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of Earle’s iconic Guitar Town, MCA Nashville/UMe will release a deluxe edition of the album on CD and digital on October 14. The two-disc set will feature the classic album remastered from the original tapes by Robert Vosgien along with a previously unreleased 19-song live show recorded on the Guitar Town tour at the Park West in Chicago in 1986 and expanded liner notes. Pre-order and stream Guitar Town: 

The concert will also be available on its own as a double LP on 180-gram vinyl exclusively at UDiscover. A remastered vinyl edition of Guitar Town, cut for vinyl by Ron McMaster at Capitol Mastering and also remastered by Vosgien, was released in May along with Earle’s other MCA studio releases: Exit 0, Copperhead Road and The Hard Way.

Steve Earle’s status as a pioneer of the second wave Outlaw country movement and a founding father of alt.country and the resulting Americana movement didn’t come easy.

Songwriter sessions with Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark provided a wet stone where Earle sharpened his craft. Later he ended up in Nashville, playing bass in Guy Clark’s band and working at a publishing house as a staff songwriter with some mid-level chart success. Few imagined the long haired gruff San Antonian would release a watershed debut that shook up the typically staid Music Row machine and introduced the “great 80’scredibility scare” that included, among others Lyle Lovett and k.d. Lang.

Released on March 5. 1986, and produced by Emory Gordy, Jr. and Tony Brown  Guitar Town fused country heart and twang with hard-edged rock n’ roll and created something startling fresh and crakeling with rebellion.

Eventually though, the album, which was inspired by seeing Bruce Springsteen on his “Born To Run” tour, was discovered by rednecks, punks and headbangers alike. Like Willie and Waylon a generation before Earle brought together disparate music factions typically not used to occupying the same space in the record store. Drawn by the universal subjects of small-town aspirations, the demise of the American dream, hard living and songs about life on the road away from one’s family spoke to them. 

Guitar Town went on to hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart and garnered two GRAMMY® Award nominations for Earle – Best Male Country Vocalist and Best Country Song for the album’s title track, which reached No. 7 on Billboard’s Country Singles chart. Earle, who several months before had been slogging away trying to get his break, received comparisons to such celebrated songwriters as Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, John Fogerty and Tom Petty as the album became one of the most acclaimed of the ‘80s. It topped Rolling Stone’s Critic’s Poll for Country Album Of The Year and later was included in both the magazine’s 100 Best Albums Of The Eighties and their esteemed 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time lists. In their rave review, the Los Angeles Times hailed it as “one of the most endearing and exciting American debuts” in recent years, adding, “an album of this quality in a more mainstream country style would be hailed as the discovery of the year in country music.” The record, which also spawned the No. 8 Country Single, “Goodbye’s All We Got Left” as well as “Hillbilly Highway” and “Someday” is certified platinum in Canada and gold in the U.S.

Recorded at the Park West in Chicago in 1986 while on tour in support of Guitar Town, the live album is a new unearthed treasure that brims with the palpable energy and excitement that can only come from a band feeling on top of the world as its music connects with a fervent crowd. The high-quality sounding recording captures a watershed night as Earle realizes the dream he’s had since moving to Nashville at 19 has finally came true. Earle and his band – Bucky Baxter and Michael McAdam on guitars, Reno Kling on bass, Ken Moore on keyboards and Harry Stinson on drums – barrel through 19 songs including the entirety of Guitar Town, several tracks from the then-unreleased sophomore album, Exit 0, and a cover of Springsteen’s “State Trooper.” Nearly out of songs with an insatiable audience screaming for one more, Earle takes the stage for the third encore of the night with just an acoustic guitar for “No. 29.” As the crowd cheers wildly, Earle exclaims, “This has been the thrill of my life and that’s no shit.” It’s a poignant snapshot of an artist being genuinely overwhelmed that he had finally got what he was seeking, and just a sneak peek at what was to come.

https://youtu.be/_dyxvskkQwQ

STEVE EARLE – GUITAR TOWN 30TH ANNIVERSARY
DISC ONE – ORIGINAL ALBUM
1. Guitar Town
2. Goodbye’s All We’ve Got Left
3. Hillbilly Highway
4. Good Ol’ Boy (Gettin’ Tough)
5. My Old Friend The Blues
6. Someday
7. Think It Over
8. Fearless Heart
9. Little Rock ‘N’ Roller
10. Down The Road
 
DISC TWO – LIVE AT PARK WEST, CHICAGO, IL – AUGUST 15, 1986
1. Guitar Town
2. Sweet Little ‘66
3. Goodbye’s All We’ve Got Left To Say
4. Hillbilly Highway
5. My Old Friend The Blues
6. Good Ol’ Boy (Getting’ Tough)
7. Someday
8. Think It Over
9. Little Rock ‘N’ Roller
10. State Trooper
11. The Week Of Living Dangerously
12. Angry Young Man
13. Nowhere Road
14. Fearless Heart
15. I Love You Too Much
16. San Antonio Girl
17. The Devil’s Right Hand
18. Down The Road
19. No. 29
 
STEVE EARLE – LIVE AT PARK WEST, CHICAGO, IL – AUGUST 15, 1986
VINYL EDITION
 
SIDE A
1. Guitar Town
2. Sweet Little ‘66
3. Goodbye’s All We’ve Got Left To Say
4. Hillbilly Highway
5. My Old Friend The Blues
 
SIDE B
6. Good Ol’ Boy (Getting’ Tough)
7. Someday
8. Think It Over
9. Little Rock ‘N’ Roller
 
SIDE C
10. State Trooper
11. The Week Of Living Dangerously
12. Angry Young Man
13. Nowhere Road
14. Fearless Heart
 
SIDE D
15. I Love You Too Much
16. San Antonio Girl
17. The Devil’s Right Hand
18. Down The Road
19. No. 29
 
STEVE EARLE ON TOUR
October 4 – Telluride, CO @ Sheridan Opera House #
October 6 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater #
October 8 – Kansas City, MO @ Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts %
October 9 – Lincoln, NE @ Rococo Theater %
October 11 – St. Louis, MO @ Sheldon Concert Hall %
October 12 – Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theater @
October 13 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater @
October 14 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall @
October 16 – Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center @
October 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Merriam Theater @
October 21 – Washington, DC @ Lisner Auditorium @
November 2 – Calgary, AB @ Grey Eagle Resort & Casino ^
November 3 – Regina, SK @ Casino Regina-Show Lounge ^
November 4 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre ^
November 5 – Minneapolis, MN @ Pantages Theatre ^
November 7 – Cleveland, OH @ Music Box ^
November 8 – Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Center Theatre ^
November 10 – St. Johns, NL @ Holy Heart Theatre ^
November 11 – St. Johns, NL @ Holy Heart Theatre ^
November 13 – Halifax, NS @ Casino Nova Scotia ^
November 14 – Halifax, NS @ Casino Nova Scotia ^
November 16 – Kingston, ON @ The Ale House ^
November 17 – London, ON @ London Music Hall ^
November 18 – Niagara Falls, ON @ Scotia Bank Convention Center ^
December 2 – Annapolis, MD @ Maryland Hall For The Creative Arts ^
December 5 – New York, NY @ Town Hall – John Henry’s Friends Benefit w/ Graham Nash, Shawn Colvin, Matt Savage and Steve Earle & The Dukes performing Guitar Town

^ performing Guitar Town
# Steve Earle Solo Acoustic
% Lampedusa: Concerts For Refugees w/ Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, Milk Carton Kids
@ Lampedusa: Concerts For Refugees w/ Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, Milk Carton Kids and special guest Robert Plant

Sturgill Simpson Is Right, and Rightous

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sturgill-simpson

Sturgill Simpson is not known for pulling punches. Though he’s been absent or toned down on social media in recent times  when he was active there were plenty of criticisms on the music industry.

So the recent dust up should not be a surprise. Except it’s surprising that there’s anyone in the media spotlight that still gives a damn for country music.

Though he names Nashville, I don’t believe ire is not with the Athens of the South. Nashville is not the city Merle and Willie left behind. And, though it’s more than to market it, the city is not the mainstream music industry. These days you’re just as likely to catch your favorite Americana act at the 5 Stop than the hat acts whooping the tourists at Tootsie’s.

Music Row, the self-appointed monopoly of Country Musicâ„¢ has been exploiting, but not reflecting, the legacy of passing legends, many of which wouldn’t receive a return phone call from the executives when they were alive, for decades.
Not enough units in it, don’t you know.

From Buck to Waylon to Cash hollow post-mortem accolades has been a reality for years. the crass, commercial canonization will continue when the next wave of greying Outlaws head off to the great honky-tonk in the sky. This is be expected for an institution bereft of even the thinnest reverence for the legacy they’ve built their sprawling Central Tennessee ranches on. An industry so risk intolerant and money focused (i.e greedy) that they graft whatever popular trend onto what’s left of the country music corpse just to wring out a few more hard-earned dollars from their audience.

If anyone mainstream deserves an award named after Merle Haggard, Miranda Lambert would be one of a select few. Tabloid drama aside her music has trended toward the gritty, sassy and independent side is the country music tracks her entire career.

But part of me thinks that of Lambert, or anyone else deserving of an award bearing The Hag’s name, would just tell the American Country Music Association thanks but no thanks.

I’d bet Merle would approve.

Whether you agree with him or not Simpson did something that Music Row has never done. Put the legacy of country music above personal commercial interest. He writes offhandedly in his post that he will be “blackballed” from that side of the industry. Unless he was willing to change everything about his songwriting and suddenly became enamored with celebrity, I’m not sure there was the risk of his name being included on that list. As I’ve said Music Row has a reluctance toward artist bent on self-determination.

Sturgill spoke out because he felt a mentor, a friend’s, legacy was being exploited in a cynical way. This bothered him personally and he took time from his current successful tour to express that sentiment at length. This doesn’t have the markings of a PR stunt (though the media has since run with it) and is very much in line with the Sturgill I’ve spent time with on a number of occasions. Warm, thoughtful, direct and fiercely loyal to his ideals.

The new rank of outlaws, and I use that term in the way established by Willie and Waylon – artists that take their own road to establishing their carriers – are here to bear witness to the Giants that came before and the profound debt owed. By them, by us, and by an industry that helped create.

Luckily Music Row isn’t the only game in town.

Americana and the thriving roots music movement where Simpson’s early career thrived has provided a creative vehicle for the new as well as the old guard that  couldn’t, nor would want to, get a meeting  on music row. 

Screw ’em. There’s a force of artists and fans hungry to create, and financially support those taking an independent road.
Read the original post here.

Merle-Haggard-and-Sturgill-Simpson

Dwight Yoakam To Release Bluegrass Focused ‘Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…’

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Dwight Yoakam

Never one to rest on his laurels country music pioneer Dwight Yoakam will pay homage to his home state of Kentucky with his upcoming ‘Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…’ (September 23 – Sugar Hill Records)

For the album, Yoakam assembled a band of bluegrass luminaries to reinterpret 11-tracks from his extensive catalog.

The new album reflects the love for bluegrass music that Yoakam developed at an early age in Kentucky, and that has inspired him for many years thereafter. Yoakam’s choice to partner with Sugar Hill for this release speaks volumes about the seriousness of this endeavor; Sugar Hill and its sister label Rounder have long been at the forefront of bluegrass, roots, and Americana music.

This project was produced by nine-time Grammy winner Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton), Jon Randall (songwriter of “Whiskey Lullaby”) and Yoakam, recorded at both Southern Ground Studio (TN) and the legendary Capitol Records Studio B in Los Angeles and mixed by Chris Lord Alge. For the recording, the production team gathered together a world-class band of bluegrass’s current greats including Grammy winner and nine-time international Bluegrass Music Association Guitar Player of the Year Bryan Sutton on guitar, Grammy winner Stuart Duncan on fiddle and banjo, 14-time Grammy winner Barry Bales on bass, Adam Steffey on mandolin (Alison Krauss), and Scott Vestal on banjo (Sam Bush). The LP also features harmony vocals by Jonathan Clark, Brian Whelan, Davey Faragher and newcomer Bryan Joyce.

Yoakam has recorded more than 22 albums and sold over 25 million copies worldwide with five reaching the #1 spot on Billboard. He is a 21-time nominated, multiple Grammy Award winner. In 2013 he was awarded The Americana Music Association Award for Artist of the Year. He has collaborated with everyone from Beck to Kid Rock, ZZ Top, Hunter S. Thompson and Jack White. He has toured with the likes of Buck Owens, Johnny Cash and Hüsker Dü. His most recent album, 2015’s critically acclaimed Second Hand Heart is included in NPR’s “Best of 2015” which calls the album “as fresh as anything Yoakam has ever done.” It reached #2 on the Billboard Country chart with Rolling Stone saying the album featured “his best songs in years.”

In 1977, Yoakam left Kentucky for Nashville to embark on a music career but found that the Music City was moving away from traditional country roots to more pop-country. He found himself better suited to the post-Bakersfield movement and became one of the founding fathers of the “LA Cowpunk Scene” influenced by second-wave rockabilly and punk alongside X, Los Lobos, The Knitters, Rank & File and The Blasters.

Yoakam is currently on tour across the U.S. and will play Americanafest NYC on August 7 at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. See full list of dates below.

DWIGHT YOAKAM TOUR DATES

August 5—IP Casino Resort & Spa—Biloxi, MS
August 7—AmericanaFest at Lincoln Center—New York, NY
August 11—KC Live!—Kansas City, MO
August 12—Jaycee’s Bootheel Rodeo Grounds—Sikeston, MO
August 13—Battery Park at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino—Sioux City, IA
August 19—Julie Rogers Theatre—Beaumont, TX
August 20—Whitewater Amphitheater—New Braunfels, TX
August 26—ASU Convocation Center—Jonesboro, AR
August 27—Back Porch at the Creek—Knoxville, TN
August 28—Maymont Park—Richmond, VA
September 1—McGrath Amphitheatre—Cedar Rapids, IA
September 2—South Dakota State Fair—Huron, SD
September 3—Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel & Casino—Deadwood, SD
September 4—Vetter Stone Amphitheater—Mankato, MN
September 9—Turning Stone Resort Casino Showroom—Verona, NY
September 10—Penn’s Peak—Jim Thorpe, PA
September 16—Peppermill Concert Hall—West Wendover, NV
September 17—New Mexico State Fairgrounds—Albuquerque, NM
September 24—Deep Water Amphitheater—Manson, WA
September 30—Norsk Hostfest – All Seasons Arena—Minot, ND
October 1—Seven Clans Casino—Thief River Falls, MN
October 14—La Hacienda Event Center—Midland, TX
October 20—EnCana Events Centre—Dawson Creek, BC
October 21 & 22—River Cree Resort & Casino, The Venue—Enoch, AB
October 24—Art Hauser Centre—Prince Albert, SK
October 25—Canalta Centre—Medicine Hat, AB
October 27—Prospera Place—Kelowna, BC
October 28—Hard Rock Casino Vancouver—Coquitlam, BC
October 29—Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre—Victoria, BC
November 3—The Majestic Ventura Theater—Ventura, CA
November 5—Silver Legacy Hotel Casino—Reno, NV
November 6—Pauma Casino Showroom—Pauma Valley, CA
November 10—Buffalo Run Casion—Miami, OK
November 11—Bluesville Showroom at Horseshoe Casino—Robinsonville, MS
December 8—The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan—Las Vegas, NV

Watch Out! Ryan Adams Revisits “Oh My Sweet Carolina” on Colbert

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Ryan Adams Revisits “Oh My Sweet Carolina”

Ryan Adams took time away from his classic rock persona to revisit his earlier incarnation of roots-rocker. Taking to the Late Night stage in an intimate setting Adams turned the focus toward his 2000 solo classic debut ‘Heartbreaker.’

Adams was joined by Infamous Stringdusters and Nicki Bluhm, sitting in for Emmylou Harris, who provided harmony on the original.

Adams revisit is to shed light on the re-issue of ‘Heartbreaker,’ which had a deluxe version reissued earlier this year.

https://youtu.be/YgP1J34D8LA

John Prine Will Release New album ‘For Better, Or Worse’ This Fall

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John Prine - For Better, Or Worse

The other day John Prine teased some upcoming music by posting a picture on his Facebook page of he and long-time collaborator Iris DeMent laying down some tracks in his home studio.

Now the great news is out. On September 30, Oh Boy Records will release John Prine’s latest, ‘For Better, Or Worse,’ a thematic bookend to his classic, Grammy nominated ‘In Spite of Ourselves. Produced by Jim Rooney, John performs duets with country and roots luminaries like the aforementioned Iris DeMent, as well as Alison Krauss, Miranda Lambert, Kathy Mattea, Kacey Musgraves, Fiona Prine, Amanda Shires, Morgane Stapleton, Susan Tedeschi, Holly Williams, and Lee Ann Womack.

Wow, indeed.

The classic songs on ‘For Better, Or Worse,’ originally recorded by artists such as Hank Williams, George Jones, Ernest Tubb, Buck Owens and others, are in John’s blood. “I cut my teeth on Hank Williams songs,” he says. “When I sing these songs there is a small pipeline straight from my heart to my lips.” The tracks take listeners through the universal cycle of love’s pull, love’s bend, love’s life, and love’s end.

The toe-tapping first single, “Who’s Gonna Take The Garbage Out,” originally done by Loretta Lynn with Ernest Tubb, features Iris Dement, is available now when you pre-order the new record. Hear it below.

This fall, John will celebrate both the new album and his approaching 70th birthday with two shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Sept. 30th & Oct. 1st, where he will be joined by some of the duet partners from ‘For Better, Or Worse.’

John Prine took time to talk to NPR’s Jewly Hight about the album.

Tracklist:
John Prine/Iris DeMent – Who’s Gonna Take The Garbage Out
John Prine/Lee Ann Womack – Storms Never Last
John Prine/Alison Krauss – Falling in Love Again
John Prine/Susan Tedeschi – Color of the Blues
John Prine/Holly Williams – I’m Telling You
John Prine/Kathy Mattea – Remember Me (When Candlelights Are Gleaming)
John Prine/Morgane Stapleton – Look At Us
John Prine/Amanda Shires – Dim Lights, Thich Smoke and Loud, Loud Music
John Prine/Lee Ann Womack – Fifteen Years Ago
John Prine/Miranda Lambert – Cold, Cold Heart
John Prine/Kathy Mattea – Dreaming My Dreams With You
John Prine/Kacey Musgraves – Mental Cruelty
John Prine/Iris DeMent – Mr. & Mrs. Used to Be
John Prine/Fiona Prine – My Happiness
John Prine – Just Waitin’

Listen Up! Ronnie Fauss Covers Slobberbone’s “Lumberlung”

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Portrait of musician Ronnie Fauss, photographed in Brooklyn, NY
Portrait of musician Ronnie Fauss, photographed in Brooklyn, NY

There are few songs that move me quite as much as Slobberbone’s “Lumberlung.” I’d put it up there with Ryan Adams’ ‘Oh My Sweet Carolina’ and Drive-By Truckers’ ‘Goddamn Lonely Love’ on my ‘melancholy tales of faded love’ list

Nortex troubadour Ronnie Fauss wisely agrees. He pays honorable tribute on this fine rendition picking up the pace and little giving it an a slightly jauntier spin without losing any of the emotion-wrenching punch.

Of his relationship with the band and recording the song Fauss says “I first heard Slobberbone over the speakers at a now defunct record store on lower Greenville in Dallas. It stopped me in my tracks – I went to the counter and said “what in the hell is this?!?” The album was “Everything you thought was right was wrong today” and the song was “Lumberlung”.

I bought the CD on the spot, and listened all the way home. When I got home I went straight to the guitar that was under my bed (and had not been played in years) and started working on a song of my own. It was just my natural response to hearing Slobberbone for the first time – I had to make something of my own.

I became a superfan. I went to see them many times around Deep Ellum and other parts of Dallas…I introduced my buddies to them and they became superfans as well, we bonded like brothers at their shows. Also, I kept on writing my own songs. A few years later, I had a batch of material that I felt good enough about to record. I had read that (Slobberbone lead singer) Brent Best was recording local artists in his spare time in his home studio, so I went to see him at a solo gig he was playing at the Barley House…after a few shots of whiskey I mustered up the courage to approach him, introduce myself, and ask if he would be open to helping me make a record. He gave me a once-over and said “sure”, and that was that.

We recorded my first EP in his house in the Spring of 2008. It was very surreal to be recording with the songwriter who had encouraged me to start writing songs in the first place! It’s an intimate, stripped down recording…tracked over his linoleum kitchen floor. He would stand up between takes, go to the stove and stir something in a pot, and then return to the control board. He said he was cooking a goat. I’m proud of the record we made together, it’s called “New Songs For The Old Frontier Volume 1”.

When I was invited to pick a Slobberbone song to record for this project, I was elated. What an honor! But then a sort of creative atrophy took over. As I listened through their entire catalog in search of a song to cover, I came to realization – I could not improve on anything they had ever done. I only want to offer my own version of someone else’s song if I think I can bring something unique and meaningful to the table…but how could I improve on perfection???

And then it hit me – don’t try to do it better, just do it different. So I went back to “Lumberlung”…the first song I heard by Slobberbone in that record store more than a decade earlier, and an idea hit me. Speed it up a bit, change the tempo, bring in a banjo and a mandolin and a fiddle and turn it into a back porch picking number. Their original verison is perfect and beautiful and haunting, mine is something different.

I’m proud of how it turned out. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever done. I mean come on, I had about the best source material to work with that a man could ask for.’

Fauss joins Luther Dickinson and others that have recorded Slobberbone songs to celebrate the release of Bees and Seas: The Best Of Slobberbone

Ronnie Fauss Official Site | Slobberbone Official Site

Dr Ralph Stanley Funeral – Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, and Ricky Skaggs [VIDEO]

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Dr Ralph Stanley funeral - Vince Gill, Patty Lovelace, and Ricky Skaggs

YouTube member tdcat26 uploaded this video from Ralph Stanley funeral. It gives us an intimate glance of what it was like to be in attendance with all those paying tribute.

Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, and Ricky Skaggs were on hand to do the same.

After a beautiful eulogy Vince Gill performs ‘Go Rest High On That Mountain,’ a song Gill began writing in the tragic aftermath of Keith Whitley’s death in 1989, but did not finish the song until a few years later following the death of his older brother Bob, in 1993, of a heart attack.

As in the original recording Patty Loveless and Ricky Skaggs lend their backing vocals in moving tribute.

In memory Gill said ‘The first time I heard Ralph’s voice it was life-changing. ,,, It was the most mournful, it was the most soulful, and it reached deep inside me more than any other voice I had heard in Bluegrass.”

Patty Loveless remembering her performance of ‘Pretty Polly’ live with Stanley “It means so much to me,,,I had a career but this raised even further.”