Author Archives: Baron Lane

Listen Up! ‘Sons Of Anarchy’ Finale Song: The White Buffalo ‘Come Join The Murder’

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The White Buffalo ‘COME JOIN THE MURDER’

There will be no spoilers here just a fond farewell to one of my favorite shows. Not only was ‘Sons Of Anarchy” a complex character study, it was a great source for great music as the shoe’s creator Kurt Sutter and music director Bob Thiele hand-picked the songs that played such a large part of setting mood.

I discovered Jake Smith (aka The White Buffalo) when his haunting reinterpretation of The Animal’s ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ in Season 4, Episode 14: “To Be, Act 2.” Smith went on to contribute 6 more songs to the series.

So it’s fitting that the epic finale be serenaded by Smith and his baritone rumble another stunning tune, ‘Come Join The Murder,’ backed by the series house band the Forest Rangers, with lyrics by Sutter.

Let’s just say it was a great song to evoke Mr. Mayhem.

‘Come Join The Murder’ can be found on Songs of Anarchy: Music from Sons of Anarchy Season 1-4

http://youtu.be/FltfjztIiAU

Asleep at the Wheel To Release ‘Still The King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys’ 3/3/2015

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Still The King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys,

“I think the…Western swing, or whatever you want to call it, will slack off for a little while and then I think some of these younger boys will come out here one of these days with a golden voice and it’ll build again.”—Bob Wills

After attending the Bob Wills Festival and Fiddle contest in Greenville, TX over the winter I developed a deep love for the Western Swing genre and for it’s creator, Bob Wills.

But I’m ready for more.

Luckily early in the new year Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel will again honor the legendary Bob Wills with ‘Still The King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys,’ out March 3 on Bismeaux Records.

Exemplary Americana and country artists like The Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Buddy Miller, Elizabeth Cook, Lyle Lovett, Shooter Jennings, Brad Paisley and George Strait join the band on new interpretations on classics on, what looks like, a release that will best the previous two Will’s tributes from the band.

For over 40 years, Ray Benson & Asleep at the Wheel have been the deft practitioners and caretakers of Western swing craft, carrying Wills’ traditions across generations and the into the 21st century.

This release will be band’s third full-length Bob Wills tribute following 1998’s ‘Ride with Bob’ and 1993’s ‘A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills,’ with four GRAMMY awards and over half a million copies sold collectively.

From the press release:

“The new album features genre-spanning collaborations with critically acclaimed artists, old friends and new favorites including Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Jamey Johnson, Merle Haggard, George Strait, The Avett Brothers, Amos Lee, Old Crow Medicine Show, Lyle Lovett, Kat Edmonson, Robert Earl Keen and Tommy Emmanuel, among many others. The album is available for pre-order via PledgeMusic and iTunes with the track “Tiger Rag,” featuring Old Crow Medicine Show, delivered in advance of the release date as an immediate download. Asleep at the Wheel will be performing at the New York Society for Ethical Culture on March 4 with spring tour dates to be announced. Watch the exclusive video teaser HERE. Please see the full track listing below.

Widely considered “The King of Western Swing,” Bob Wills (1905-1975) and his Texas Playboys performed thousands of shows across the United Sates for nearly six decades and recorded prolifically in the late ‘30s and early ‘40s. Early stars of American country music, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys were a dance band with a country string section that played pop songs as if they were jazz numbers. “After 45 years of traveling and playing, it still amazes me how well this music, born in the 1920s and ‘30s, thrives in the present day,” says Benson. “The artists playing and singing on this collection range in age from folks in their 20s to former Texas Playboys 92-year-old Billy Briggs and 86-year-old Leon Rausch…certain evidence that Western swing music is alive and well as it cruises through the next millennium.” Bob Wills was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1968, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 and the National Fiddler Hall of Fame in 2007.

Based in Austin, Asleep at the Wheel formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia in 1970. Since their inception, the band has won nine GRAMMY awards, released more than 20 studio albums and charted more than 20 singles on the Billboard country charts. In 1971, the band signed their first record deal after Van Morrison mentioned they “play great country music” in an interview in Rolling Stone. Their debut record, Comin’ Right At Ya, was released in 1973 on United Artists. The release of Texas Gold in 1975 brought the band national recognition, with the single “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read” becoming a top-ten country hit. The band has been awarded “Touring Band of the Year” (CMAs, 1976) and the “Lifetime Achievement in Performance” (Americana Music Awards 2009). In 2010, they earned a GRAMMY nomination in the newly minted Best Americana Album category for their critically acclaimed Willie & The Wheel, on Bismeaux Records.

Owned by Ray Benson, Bismeaux Records has won “Best Local Record Label” three years consecutively in the Austin Music Awards. Between 2005 and 2012, Ray Benson wrote, produced and starred in the Bob Wills musical A Ride With Bob. The production sold 70,000 tickets in 18 cities nationwide including the Kennedy Center in 2006. In 2007, Benson performed with Carrie Underwood & Johnny Gimble on the GRAMMY Awards Telecast in a special GRAMMY Salute to Bob Wills.”

Pre-order here

‘Still The King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys’ tracklist:

1. Intro—Texas Playboy Theme (with Leon Rausch)
2. I Hear Ya Talkin’ (with Amos Lee)
3. The Girl I Left Behind (with The Avett Brothers)
4. Trouble In Mind (with Lyle Lovett)
5. Keeper Of My Heart (with Merle Haggard and Emily Gimble)
6. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (with Kat Edmonson)
7. Tiger Rag (with Old Crow Medicine Show)
8. What’s The Matter With The Mill (with Pokey LaFarge)
9. Navajo Trail (with Willie Nelson and The Quebe Sisters)
10. Silver Dew On The Bluegrass Tonight (with The Del McCoury Band)
11. Faded Love (with The Time Jumpers)
12. South Of The Border (Down Mexico Way) (with George Strait)
13. I Had Someone Else Before I Had You (with Elizabeth Cook)
14. My Window Faces The South (with Brad Paisley)
15. Time Changes Everything (with Buddy Miller)
16. A Good Man Is Hard To Fine (with Carrie Rodriguez and Emily Gimble)
17. Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas (with Robert Earl Keen and Ray Benson)
18. Brain Cloudy Blues (with Jamey Johnson and Ray Benson)
19. Bubbles In My Beer (with The Devil Makes Three)
20. It’s All Your Fault (with Katie Shore)
21. Three Guitar Special (with Tommy Emmanuel, Brent Mason and Billy Briggs)
22. Bob Wills Is Still The King (with Shooter Jennings, Randy Rogers and Reckless Kelly)

Listen Up! Tyller Gummersall – ‘The Makings Of A Man’ Song Premier

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Tyller Gummersall - 'The Makings Of A Man'

Simple acoustic picking accompanies ‘The Makings Of A Man,’ a contemplative piece that fits these winter days.

it’s sparse instrumentation, stark existential imagery and Gummersall’s phrasing, supported by Kate Willyard’s lovely background vocals, bears a strong resemblances to a contemporary Guy Clark.

Of the song and Gummersall says “Honestly, I wrote that song for myself more than anything. It was probably the most cathartic song I’ve ever worked on (laughs.) I wasn’t planning on doing much with it, but I played it for a small group of friends and they really loved it. Since then it’s become a staple at all my shows.””

“My dad is an abstract painter and he always says the viewer (or listener in my case) has the final creative addition, which is their unique viewpoint of the painting (or song). So, I like to leave a little bit of room for the listener.”

“That said, from MY viewpoint in writing the song it’s largely about how our experiences from the past, good or bad, shape how we act in the world. Or the deeds we did seemingly lifetimes ago catching up with us in some sort of Karmic way. But, at the very end of the day we are not the sum of what’s happened to us or what we’ve done, there is some sort of inherent selfness. Separating the baggage from who you really are is a challenge.”

Pick up The Makings Of A Man here.

2014 Grammy Nominees – Americana and Roots Music

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grammy

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Science tried something new to announce the nomineews for the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards. The nomniees were announced piecemeal, per catagory, via twitter exclusively starting at 9am.

Ths staggared apprach was odd but, if you kept on top of thier account, not terrible. A social media strategy is to garner attention for the nomination process and let musicians and other personalties announce via video tweets and the nomninees and fans to organically respond in kind. In that context this was a win.

After the major categories, best pop album, country album and the like , were out of teh way – with nominee reactions tweeted in reponse (which really is the only up side to the Twiiter  approach) the Best Americana Album nominees were released just before noon.

That the catagory was tweeted with the other major categories, along with fancy graphic of the nominee album covers , was like hanging with the cool kids – well, the popular kids,  as the other roots categories like folk and bluegrass – had to wait for the full nomninee list to be released later in the day.

I was three for 7 for my Americana Album of the Year predictions. Rosanne Cash, one of my safe bets (and still my choice to take the prize) and, suprisingly two of my dark horse choices, Nickel Creek and Sturgill Simpson, made the list.

My quibbles are with John Hiatt, inclusion for ‘Terms of My Surrender,’ a solid but not exceptional release. Keb’ Mo’ is nominated for ‘Bluesamericana.’ Mo is a legendary blues performer , and Blues Grammy winner, and should be represtented in that esteemed category. NARAS includes blues as a formal component to the category and though I agree with that the blues are a major part of Americana as a award category it is already represented as a formal genre. In that sme vein Dave & Phil Alvin’s rootsy jam ‘Common Ground’ is puzzlingly nominated in the Blues category. I say swap ’em.

Another head scratcher is the inclusion of Old Crow Medicine Show. Their latest effort ‘Remedy’ is certainly worthy of a nomination, but in folk? They would be better reprsented in Americana or even Bluegrass as these are their true styles.

NARAS continues to not care about the endless echo chamber of country music awards shows by making two sprising nominations. One being my top pick of 2013, Brandy Clark’s ’12 Stories as well as Lee Ann Womack’s ode to old-school aethsetic  ‘The Way I’m Livin’ ‘ Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and Miranda Lambert round out the list. The Acadamy is daring, but not totally deaf to the county mainstream market. 

Who will win? Well, Kasey Muagraves won the trophy last year for her irreverent ‘Same Trailer Different Park,’ so anything could happen.

Brandy Clark is also up against some stiff competition for New Artist, but she certainly deserves to win. 

Beck is nominated for his wonderfully melencholy folk ‘Morning Phase’ and for Best Rock Song and Rock Performance (still unsure of the distincion here) for the spacey ‘Blue Moon.’ Ryan Adams is up in the same categories with his latest self-titled album and song/performance for his retro-rock ‘Gimme Something Good.’

Alison Krauss, The women with the most Grammy wins, could increase her Grammy count to 28 with a win in the American Roots Performance category. She, Billy Childs & Jerry Douglas are nominated for their collaborative effort on ‘And When I Die’ from the tribute ‘Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro.’ This is her 42nd nomination.

Congratulations to all the nominees. Keep an eye on GRAMMY.com and CBS February 15, 2015 to see who takes home the trophy.

My choices are in BOLD.

EDIT – It was a major oversight that Mike Farris was not originally included as a nominee for the Best Roots Gospel album for his ‘Shine For All The People.’ He is one of the best performers, and human beings, I’ve ever had the privilege to know. Congratulations to Mike and all the good people at Compass Records.

Best Americana Album
‘The River & the Thread’ – Rosanne Cash
‘Terms of My Surrender’ – John Hiatt
‘Bluesamericana’ – Keb’ Mo’
‘A Dotted Line’ – Nickel Creek
‘Metamodern Sounds in Country Music’ – Sturgill Simpson

Best country album
‘Riser’ – Dierks Bentley
‘The Outsiders’ – Eric Church
’12 Stories’ – Brandy Clark
‘Platinum’ – Miranda Lambert
‘The Way I’m Livin’ ‘ – Lee Ann Womack

Best rock song
‘Ain’t it Fun’ – Paramore
‘Blue Moon’ – Beck
‘Fever’ – The Black Keys
‘Gimme Something Good’ – Ryan Adams
‘Lazaretto’ – Jack White

Best rock albums
‘Ryan Adams’- Ryan Adams
‘Morning Phase’ – Beck
‘Turn Blue’ – The Black Keys
‘Hypnotic Eye’ – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
‘Songs of Innocence’ – U2

Best new artist
Bastille
Iggy Azalea
Brandy Clark
HAIM
Sam Smith

Best American Roots Performance
Gregg Allman & Taj Mahal – ‘Statesboro Blues’
from: ‘All My Friends: Celebrating The Songs & Voice Of Gregg Allman’ [Rounder]
Rosanne Cash – ‘A Feather’s Not A Bird’ from: ‘The River & The Thread’ [Blue Note Records]
Billy Childs Featuring Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas – ‘And When I Die’ from: ‘Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro’
[Masterworks]
Keb’ Mo’ Featuring The California Feet Warmers – ‘The Old Me Better’ from: ‘Bluesamericana’ [Kind Of Blue Music]
Nickel Creek – ‘Destination’ from: A Dotted Line [Nonesuch]

Best American Roots Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk or regional roots songs. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)
– ‘A Feather’s Not A Bird’ – Rosanne Cash & John Leventhal, songwriters (Rosanne Cash) from: ‘The River & The Thread’ [Blue Note Records; Publishers: Chelcait Music admin. by Measurable Music LLC, a Notable Music Co./Lev-A-Tunes]
– ‘Just So Much’ – Jesse Winchester, songwriter (Jesse Winchester) from: ‘A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble’ [Appleseed; Publisher: Bug Music]
– ‘The New York Trains’ – The Del McCoury Band
Woody Guthrie & Del McCoury, songwriters (The Del McCoury Band)
Track from: My Name Is New York: Deluxe Audio Book [Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc.]
– ‘Pretty Little One’ – Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers Featuring Edie Brickell
Edie Brickell & Steve Martin, songwriters (Steve Martin And The Steep Canyon Rangers Featuring Edie Brickell) from: Live
[Rounder; Publishers: LA Films Music/Brick Elephant Music]
– ‘Terms Of My Surrender’ – John Hiatt songwriter (John Hiatt)
from: ‘Terms Of My Surrender’ [New West Records; Publisher: So Not That Music]

Best Folk Album
(For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental folk recordings.)
– ‘Three Bells’ – Mike Auldridge, Jerry Douglas & Rob Ickes [Rounder]
– ‘Follow The Music’ – Alice Gerrard [Tompkins Square]
– ‘The Nocturne Diaries’ – Eliza Gilkyson [Red House Records]
– ‘Remedy’ – Old Crow Medicine Show [ATO Records]
– ‘A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble’ – Jesse Winchester [Appleseed]

Best Blues Album
(For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental blues recordings.)
– ‘Common Ground – Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin Play And Sing The Songs Of Big Bill Broonzy’ – Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin
[Yep Roc Records]
– ‘Promise Of A Brand New Day’ – Ruthie Foster [Blue Corn Music]
– ‘Juke Joint Chapel’ – Charlie Musselwhite [Henrietta Records]
– ‘Decisions’ – Bobby Rush With Blinddog Smokin’ [Silver Talon Records]
– ‘Step Back’ – Johnny Winter [Megaforce Records]

Best Bluegrass Album
(For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental bluegrass recordings.)
‘The Earls Of Leicester’ – The Earls Of Leicester [Rounder]
– ‘Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe’ – Noam Pikelny [Compass Records]
– ‘Cold Spell’ – Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen [Compass Records]
– ‘Into My Own’ – Bryan Sutton [Sugar Hill Records]
– ‘Only Me’ – Rhonda Vincent [Upper Management Music]

Best Roots Gospel Album
– ‘Forever Changed’ – T. Graham Brown [MCM World Media]
– ‘Shine For All The People’ – Mike Farris [Compass Records]
– ‘Hymns’ – Gaither Vocal Band [Gaither Music Group]
– ‘A Cappella’ – The Martins [Gaither Music Group]
– ‘His Way Of Loving Me’ – Tim Menzies [Grace Records]

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
– ‘Cities Of Darkscorch’ – Leland Meiners & Ken Shipley, art directors (Various Artists) Label: The Numero Group
– ‘A Letter Home (Vinyl Box Set) – Gary Burden & Jenice Heo, art directors (Neil Young) Label: Third Man Records
– The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume One (1917-27)
Susan Archie, Dean Blackwood & Jack White, art directors (Various Artists) Label: Third Man Records/ Revenant Records
– ‘Sparks’ (Deluxe Album Box Set) Andy Carne, art director (Imogen Heap) Label: RCA Records/ Megaphonic Records
– ‘Spring 1990 (The Other One)’ Jessica Dessner, Lisa Glines, Doran Tyson & Steve Vance, art directors (Grateful Dead)
Label: Rhino

Best Album Notes
– ‘Happy: The 1920 Rainbo Orchestra Sides’ David Sager, album notes writer (Isham Jones Rainbo Orchestra)
Label: Archeophone Records
– ‘I’m Just Like You: Sly’s Stone Flower 1969-70’ Alec Palao, album notes writer (Various Artists) Label: Light In The Attic Records
– ‘Offering: Live At Temple University’ Ashley Kahn, album notes writer (John Coltrane) Label: Resonance/Impulse
– ‘The Other Side Of Bakersfield: 1950s & 60s Boppers And Rockers From ‘Nashville West’ ‘ Scott B. Bomar, album notes writer (Various Artists) Label: Bear Family
– ‘Purple Snow: Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound’ Jon Kirby, album notes writer (Various Artists) Label: The Numero Group
– ‘The Rise & Fall Of Paramount Records, Volume One (1917-27)’
Scott Blackwood, album notes writer (Various Artists) Label: Third Man Records/Revenant Records

Best Historical Album
– ‘Black Europe: The Sounds And Images Of Black People In Europe Pre-1927’ Jeffrey Green, Ranier E. Lotz & Howard Rye, compilation producers; Christian Zwarg, mastering engineer (Various Artists) Label: Bear Family
– ‘The Garden Spot Programs, 1950’ Colin Escott & Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Hank Williams) Label: Omnivore Recordings
– ‘Happy: The 1920 Rainbo Orchestra Sides’ Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer (Isham Jones Rainbo Orchestra) Label: Archeophone Records
– ‘Longing For The Past: The 78 RPM Era In Southeast Asia’ Steven Lance Ledbetter & David Murray, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists)
Label: Dust-To-Digital
– ‘There’s A Dream I’ve Been Saving: Lee Hazlewood Industries 1966 – 1971 (Deluxe Edition)’ Hunter Lea, Patrick McCarthy & Matt Sullivan, compilation producers; John Baldwin, mastering engineer (Various Artists) Label: Light In The Attic Records

Twang Nation Worthy Provisions and Shopping Guide

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old-store

Tis the season for family and giving. But that personal wish list ain’t going to fill itself out. Here are a few ideas to make your stockings, and music loving mind, much more jolly.

Grain Audio OEHP | Solid Wood Over-Ear Headphones

Headphones have become celebrity endorsed, candy-colored bass crankers over the last decade. Their popularity means more of the same. Where to look for stylish and great sounding headphones for acoustic instruments and, uh hmm, REAL, vocals? Grain Audio OEHP headphones are the answer to those needs, friends. The enclosures are made from grain-matched solid walnut and cushioned with plush, form-fitting ear cushions and a cushioned headband for a great look and fit. And the sound…THE SOUND! Each enclosure sports a proprietary driver that features a Neodymium magnet and a CCAW voice coil. That’s a fancy way of saying Sturgill Simpson’s growl or Allison Krause’s breathy trill are delivered in their full-range splendor. Buy

Old 97's debut ‘Hitchhike to Rhome.’

When Omnivore Recordings does reissue they don’t do it halg-assed. Like the new Old 97′s debut ‘Hitchhike To Rhome’ 20th Anniversary reissue, with 12 rare and unreleased tracks, mixed from the original multi-tracks for the first time by longtime Old 97’s engineer Rip Rowan featuring rare photos, memorabilia and notes. Available on 2-CD, Digital, and—for the first time—on double orange colored vinyl. Trust me, you want the vinyl! Buy

peer

Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music by Barry Mazor is the definitive profile of a music industry visionary. Best known for being the guiding hand behind the “big bang of country music” Bristol sessions, that brought Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family to mainstream attention, Mazor does a superb job of showing the A&R man and music publisher’s full life in shaping popular music.
Buy

Midnight Rider

Looking for a well-made Waylon or Towns Van Zandt shirt? How about a Gram Parsons-style Nudie dress? L.A’s Midnight Rider has what you’re looking for and manufactures all their apparel in L.A. , U.S OF A. Buy

Watch Out! Willie Nelson, Bobbie Nelson – ‘Who’ll Buy My Memories’ [VIDEO]

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Willie Nelson, Bobbie Nelson - 'Who'll Buy My Memories'

It’s a bumper year for Willie Nelson fans. The best selling ‘Band of Brothers” was released over the summer and as reported earlier, his second album of 2014, December Day, a collection cut with his sister and longtime musical partner Bobbie Nelson will be released next week .

Nelson has just releases a video for an updated version of his song “Who’ll Buy My Memories,” from his 1992 ‘IRS Tapes’ which helped pay of his well-publicized tax debt at the time.

The video is a quiet and intimate look at the Nelson siblings doing what they’ve been doing for over 40 years. Playing in beautiful harmony.

The Last Waltz -Reflections and Alternate Footage

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On November 25th, 1976, Thanksgiving Day, San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom was the setting for the end of an era. One that had started seventeen years earlier when Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Robbie Robertson aligned as The Hawks, a backing band for rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Hawkins.

The concert most famously known as ‘The Last Waltz,’ from the Martin Scorsese documentary and resulting best-selling soundtrack, was part fan’s, friend’s and peer’s celebration of a legendary band and a grand and final statement mandated by Robertson, who unilaterally wanted to end The Band as a touring entity.

Through Scorsese’s studied gaze, and his love of music, the film delivers an intimate and exuberant slice of music history But off-screen business maneuvering, lawyers and a fair amount of paranoia and hubris tainted the celebration and drove a wedge between Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson that time, and lawyers, never remedied.

As Helm recalled in his book ‘This Wheel’s on Fire’ Robertson “… was saying he was sick of it all. He wanted to keep on recording with us, but not go on the road. ‘We’re not learning anything, man. It’s not doing anything for us, and in fact it feels dangerous to me. Look what’s happening, Levon. I’m getting superstitious. Look at Dayton Stratton (a friend and associate of The Band who had died in an air crash). Every time I get on the plane I’m thinking about this stuff. The whole thing just isn’t healthy anymore.’

Set designer Boris Leven lent a deft hand in creating a cozy yet grand stage aesthetic. Using stored props from Opera Company of San Francisco’s production of Verdi’s opera ‘La Traviata’ – columns, chandeliers, crimson wall hangings – Leven grandly melded lavish pomp with living room comfort to set a fitting au revoir.

Contrast this with the ‘Cocteau Room.’ A backstage space painted white walls to ceiling, with white carpeting. Also furnished was a glass table strewn with razor blades for the express purpose of cocaine use for the gathered guests. Helm remembers Scorsese being so wired that “he talked so fast I barely understood a word he said.”

Though there’s no denying the talent and magic of some of the performances, I’m left wondering if this was a bit of thunder stealing. After a spirited full set by The Band, complete with horns arranged by Allen Toussaint, the latter portion of the bill relinquished The Band to back-up positions. Not only of their former frontmen Ronnie Hawkins and Bob Dylan but also for Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison and others who performed their own songs.

Though this no doubt broadened the marketing potential for the movie and soundtrack I personally believe it was taking the spotlight from its proper focus, The Band and their musical legacy. Wouldn’t it have been more fitting, and appropriate if these artists were brought on to support the group in their own songs and them maybe then given one of their own? I believe so.

But it’s all history now, and the music remains. This was even more poignant to me after I happened across this great raw footage of the event. Footage that shows the performances like the crowd that night experienced it.

Let us give thanks that The Band was with us, no matter how briefly, and left a rich musical trail-blazing legacy still followed, and celebrated today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiEWeaM-D78

Steve Earle To Release His 16th Studio Album, “Terraplane,” and Memoir in 2015

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Steve Earle "Terraplane"

2015 is looking pretty bright roots music people. Steve Earle is again working with the current version of The Dukes – Kelly Looney, Will Rigby, Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore – and will release his 16th studio effort “Terraplane” on February 17th. The album will also feature another great cover by longtime Earle collaborator Tony Fitzpatrick.

Earle will also release his memoir ‘I Can’t Remember If We Said Goodbye,’ published by Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group.

The album follows fellow roots artist like Ray Wylie Hubbard and Lucinda Williams into more blues focused territory.

From the press release:

” ‘Terraplane’ takes its title from the 1930s Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit model, which also inspired the Robert Johnson song “Terraplane Blues.” … As its title suggests, the album is very much a blues record, a third of which was written while Earle toured Europe alone for five weeks with just a guitar, a mandolin and a backpack. Earle, who was raised outside of San Antonio before migrating to Houston, offers about Texas blues, “There was Fort Worth where the model was Freddy King, and there was the Houston scene which was dominated by Lightnin’ Hopkins. Two very different styles.” He saw both of these giants, and was also exposed to Johnny Winter, Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Billy Gibbons, all of which make their influence heard here within Earle’s masterful storytelling. ”

“Earle states in the Terraplane album liner notes, “…the blues are anything but superficial. In fact, they run so deep and dark and close to the bone that folks walk around everyday with the blues as though it were perfectly natural for a human being to go on living with a broken heart (apologies to Tony Kushner).” He continues, “For my part, I’ve only ever believed two things about the blues: one, that they are very democratic, the commonest of human experience, perhaps the only thing that we all truly share and two, that one day, when it was time, I would make this record.” ”

The album was produced by R.S. Field (Buddy Guy, John Mayall), engineered by Earle’s longtime production partner Ray Kennedy, and recorded at House of Blues Studio D in Nashville, TN.

‘Terraplane’ will be available as a compact disc, deluxe CD/DVD combo as well as as 180g vinyl. The deluxe version of the album will include 24-bit high-res audio of the album as well as a long-form interview between Earle and acclaimed journalist Mark Jacobson, three live, acoustic songs filmed on the porch of House of Blues Studio D, and a behind-the-scenes short film about the making of the album.

2015 will also see the publication of Earle’s memoir ‘I Can’t Remember If We Said Goodbye,’ published by Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group. Earle has been a featured actor on the HBO Original Series “The Wire” and “Treme,” and also appears in the upcoming films “The World Made Straight” and “Dixieland.” He can be seen in many episodes of the Foo Fighters HBO Original Series “Sonic Highways” and also co-wrote the title track with Marianne Faithfull for her new studio album Give My Love To London.

Steve Earle & The Dukes – Terraplane Track Listing:
1. Baby Baby Baby (Baby)
2. You’re The Best Lover That I Ever Had
3. The Tennessee Kid
4. Ain’t Nobody’s Daddy Now
5. Better Off Alone
6. The Usual Time
7. Go Go Boots Are Back
8. Acquainted With The Wind
9. Baby’s Just As Mean As Me
10. Gamblin’ Blues
11. King Of The Blues

Earle announced four January residency performances at the City Winery in New York City, where he resides :

January 5 – New York, NY @ City Winery *
January 12 – New York, NY @ City Winery +
January 19 – New York, NY @ City Winery
January 26 – New York, NY @ City Winery

* With Willie Watson
+ With Shawn Colvin

Watch Out! Hiss Golden Messenger: “Southern Grammar” – Late Show with David Letterman

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Hiss Golden Messenger: "Southern Grammar" - David Letterman

Davis Letterman and his crew continue to take a last lap in part by continuing to support great roots music.

Hiss Golden Messenger makes the most out of their network television debut by bringing out the big guns.

Usually North Carolina soulful folky M.C. Taylor woks solo or in small accompaniments when playing live. Not this time. Taylor makes an impression with full band complete with horn section and background singers,

Taylor looks right at home fronting this larger assembly, delivering a Muscle Shoals-style swaggering arrangement of “Southern Grammar.” The cut is from his latest, snd one of the best releases of the year, “the Lateness Of Dancers.”

Or as Dave so enthusiastically puts it “Oh my god…this is all you need right here!”

http://youtu.be/CI1BE48lYBo

Live Review: Sturgill Simpson – Club DaDa – Dallas, Tx – 11/15/14

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Sturgill Simpson - Club DaDa - Dallas, Tx - 11/15/14

Music is not a static thing. There is no such thing as a pure form of music.

The current hand-wringing around the state of country music implies that there’s some pure, better form of the music that we are denying at best, losing at worst. It;s not new. The same worry of a lost way is a constant topic around most genres. Rock is dead. Punk is head. Hip-Hop has sold out. Bro country is the new satan.

The struggle between art and commerce is the core of this discussion. In order for a performer to continue to make music they need the freedom, creative freedom as well as freedom from starvation.

Since Bristol folk music been driven from the fields and porches and into commodity. It’s a reality and there’s no turning back, and it’s or the best. If not for commodification and musicians being monetarily rewarded for producing music we as fans would not have much of the music that’s become a part of our lives.

In country music Music Row has long been the standard to adhere to and rail against. Music Row’s push toward mitigation of risk by driving standardization and homogeny is a page right out of the Henry Ford and McDonalds book of business. This makes lot’s of money but leads to mediocre music. Sometimes the pendulum swings too far.

The slick Nashville Sound of Eddy Arnold led to the harder Bakersfield Sound with Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Outlaw Country was a latter reaction to the controlled, top-down production of the Music Row studio system. The neo-traditional wave of the 80’s – Randy Travis, Lyle Lovett, Rosanne Cash, Keith Whitley, Marty Stuart, Nanci Griffith, Steve Earle and Dwight Yoakam was a salvo against the cultural and economic juggernaut known as Urban Cowboy movement.

When George Strait and Alan Jackson joined forces to chastise the industry on “Murder on Music Row,” they were setting their sights directly on that savvy self-promoter Garth Brooks.

So is the midst of bro-country brouhaha we have a new country music savior. Like these other, dare I say, outlaws Sturgill Simpson is the ultimate outsider. Exacting in his sound and themes, indifferent about current style (music and fashion) Sturgill’s working his variation of 70’s hard country music that 30 years before was mined by neo-traditionalists like Dwight Yoakam. And there appears to be a new audience hungry for a similar sound.

A stark contrast to the Merle Haggard show I attended a few days before, the crowd was young but no less reverent. 20 and 30 somethings arrived at Dallas’ storied Club DaDa to catch a sound that their grandparents might enjoyed at Billy Bob’s decades before.

The pendulum swings.

After some last minute changes by the local promoter due to chilly weather and to accommodate grumbling fans left ticketless from the small venue (I believe Sturgill could have sold out The Granada) the crowd was packed, primed and a little pickled.

Baltimore native opener Cris Jacobs had a daunting task confronting this rowdy crowd. But his Chris Stapleton-like soulful croon and dexterity on the acoustic and cigar box guitar quickly won us all over.

Once Jacobs set ended within minutes Simpson enters the stage to the roar of the crowd, which was the only signal that something had happened. No big announcements or set changes, just…Sturgill Simpson lead guitarist, a bassist and a drummer. It’s startling in the world of entertainment big entrances how effective this was.

And without pomp and choreographed gyrations to distract a crowd you need to deliver, and Simpson and band did just that. Estonian-born guitarist Laur Joamets is a present day Don Rich. His throwback Travis Tritt looks and mastery of that staple of country music , the fender Telecaster, showed why Simpson, no slouch on the guitar himself, gave him the gig.

Simpson looks menacingly into the crowd with a crooked smile and sang his songs about hillbillies and mind-altering substances and the crowd responded in dizzying accord. The audience’s singing was so enthusiastic that during the hits ‘Turtles All The Way Down ” and “Living the Dream,” the band was barely decipherable and many passages Simpson just the crowd at it, and smiled.

Which makes me wonder, is it a hit if radio refuses to play it? The crowds response gives me all the answer I need.

This night, this show, this crowd – it all had a feeling of once in a lifetime event. Like you’ll never see this man in a venue this small again. with the late-night show appearances and sold-out shows he’s moving on to bigger places.

But no matter how big this becomes Simpson is keeping it all in perspective. On his bus after the show show Simpson confesses ‘This has been a wild year , and I’m thankful. But I remember those nights when nobody came. you can’t take this for granted.”

Simpson is a tipping point of other traditionally like-minded folks like Jamey Johnson and Kacey Musgraves that are at the right place, at the right time. And more importantly, with great songs and a sense of history, but without a dogged allegiance it it.

Is Simpson country music’s savior? No, it’s doesn’t need saving. bUt he and his fans are having a hell of a tie riding the pendulum as it swings.