Wayne “the Train” Hancock in New York

Neo-traditionalist and purveyor of honky-tonk, western swing, blues, Texas rockabilly and Juke Joint Swing, Wayne “the Train” Hancock is bringing his tour in support of his Bloodshot Records latest “Tulsa ” to the
Big Apple. October 26th at the Rodeo Bar.

Sure it’s not as cool as having one of your CDs taken aboard a space shuttle, but it is pretty great!

See ya’ll there!

Reckless Kelly Heads West

Those rafter-shaking country-rockers, Reckless Kelly, are actually leaving the comforting arms of Mother Texas to travel Westward for a spell.
Go out and check these boys out, ya’hear?

10.24      Tucson, AZ              Plush
10.25     Scottsdale, AZ          Martini Ranch
10.26     West Hollywood, CA  The Viper Room
10.27     Santa Cruz, CA         Moe’s Alley
10.31     Eugene, OR              John Henry’s
11.1     Portland, OR              Doug Fir Lounge
11.2     Seattle, WA               The Tractor Tavern
11.3     Garden City, ID          Shorty’s Saloon
11.4     Hailey, ID                  The Mint
11.7     Park City, UT             Suede
11.8     Fort Collins, CO         Aggie Theatre
11.10     Denver, CO             Quixote’s True Blue

Shooter Jennings – Live at Irving Plaza 4.18.06

::Shooter Jennings and the .357s
::Live at Irving Plaza 4.18.06
::Universal South

I was lucky enough to attend this show at Irving plaza in New York City and I’m happy to report that this release includes most of the songs played and captures the beer soaked rowdy recklessness of the night.

What Shooter does here, with his fine band the .357s, is country-rock his way. In the fine tradition of the Allmans and Skynard he mines the sprit of rebellion of both genres instead of the blandness that might occur (Eagles anyone?). The balls-out approach to tales of Texas drug busts (“Busted in Baylor County” with a nice tip-of-the-hat to Black Sabbath “Sweet Leaf,” in the bridge and “Steady at the Wheel” and the smooth and steady “Gone to Carolina” and “Southern Comfort” show the wide palette Shooter uses to paint his own musical landscape.

I don’t know if Shooter will ever rise to the legendary level of his daddy but he’s already on his wayto blazing his own outlaw trail.

Shooter will be returning to the scene of the crime, Irving Plaza N.Y.C., on 11/4 with The Watson Twins (as in “Jenny and…” and Brooklyn neo-folkies Oakley Hall.

EDIT – On mutiple listens my one gripe is that the CD is too brief and should have been 2 CDs. That is all.

Freddy Fender (June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006)

I remember as a kid in Texas in the 70’s you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing “Wasted days and wasteed nights” and “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.” Both made it to #1 on both the pop and country charts.

Fender recently won a Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album in 2002 for “La Musica de Baldemar Huerta.” He also shared in two
Grammys: with the Texas Tornados, which won in 1990 for best Mexican-American performance for “Soy de San Luis,” and with Los Super Seven in the same category in 1998 for “Los Super Seven.”

He said in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press that one thing would make his musical career complete — induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

“Hopefully I’ll be the first Mexican-American going into Hillbilly Heaven,” he said.

RIP Freddy. I hope you got there. You certainly earned it.

Waylon Jennings Featured on Popmatters

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.
 

Sugar Hill CEO Barry Poss Featured in the Wall Street Journal

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! 

Rhino to Release Deluxe Dwight Yoakam’s ‘Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.’

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