Category Archives: alt.country

Ryan Adams’ 2000 Debut ‘Heartbreaker’ Re-Released + Special Deluxe Release

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heartbreakerRA

Glide Magazine and JamBase both report that Ryan Adams debut masterpiece get the special re-release treatment as CD and vinyl formats. Look for it worldwide May 26th on Pax-Am (Caroline/Universal). The album will be available for purchase at your local record store as well as online outlets.

The album was recorded over fourteen days at Woodland Studios in Nashville, Tennessee and released September 5, 2000. ‘Heartbreaker’ is heralded as an Americana classic and has been available on always been available digitally on online channels like iTunes but the physical album has been out of print for a few years.

But you might want to hold out for a “special deluxe ‘ version due later this year.

Here’s the classic “Sweet Carolina’ from the album with backup from Emmylou Harris

Jason Isbell Announces New Album ‘Something More Than Free,’ Tour

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Jason Isbell Announces New Album Something More Than Free

Jason Isbell has officially announced the follow-up to 2013’s breakthrough “Southeastern.” “Something More Than Free,” will release July 17 via Southeastern Records. The record was recorded at the Sound Emporium in Nashville, TN and produced by Dave Cobb, who also produced ‘Southeastern.’

‘Something More Than Free’ features 11 tracks of what the press release calls his “most sonically diverse album to date.” The release also details some tracks – “If It Takes A Lifetime” having a “classic country tone.” “24 Frames” (see video below) has an “easy, Laurel Canyon vibe.” “Flagship” is described as “wistful folk balladry” and “Palmetto Rose” has a “bluesy Southern rock timbre .”

Isbell took to twitter on March 14th to declare that “I think these songs are better than the Southeastern batch.”

Sounds pretty great, yes? I for one can’t wait for June to come.

Isbell and his 400 Unit are currently on the road with old and new songs in towa and featuring some fantastic opening acts. The tour ends with a four-night stand at the Mother Church of Country Music, The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, October 23-26. Isbell visits Texas , but both shows are in Austin – June 20th at a sold-out Texas Union Ballroom show and on July 4 where he plays Willie Nelson’s talent-packed 4th of July Picnic.

http://youtu.be/6sh2yxYnma4

tour dates below.

April16 – Chattanooga, TN – Track 29 ^^
April 17 – Charlotte, NC – Tuckfest at U.S. National Whitewater Center
April 18 – Greenville, SC – Horizon Records (Record Store Day 2015 In-Store)
April 18 – Columbia, SC- Music Farm Columbia ^^
May 2­ – Meridian, MS – Jimmie Rodgers Music Festival
May 8 – Richmond, VA – Friday Cheers at Brown’s Island
May 9 – Maryville, TN – The Shed #
May 12 – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre **
May 13 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre **
May 15 – Orlando, FL – The Plaza Theatre **
May 16 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Boots Festival
May 17 – Wilmington, NC – Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre **
May 19 – Westbury, NY – The Space at Westbury **
May 20 – Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre **
May 22 – Albany, NY – Hart Theatre @ The Egg **
May 23 – Cumberland, MD – Del Fest
May 24 – Boston, MA – Boston Calling
May 26 – Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall **
May 27 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues **
May 28 – Bristol, TN – Paramount Center for the Arts **
June 4 – Cincinnati, OH – PNC Pavilion %
June 5 – Dayton, OH – Rose Music Center at the Heights %
June 6 – Black Mountain, NC – Pisgah Brewing Co. Outdoor Stage°°
June 20 – Austin, TX – Texas Union Ballroom – SOLD OUT
July 4 – Austin, TX – Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic
July 9-12 – Winnipeg, Canada – Winnipeg Folk Festival
July 26 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion ✚
July 31 – Fort Smith, AR – Peacemaker Music & Arts Festival
August 14-16 – Lyons, CO – Folks Festival
October 23-26 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
** = Craig Finn opening
^^ = Strand of Oaks opening
# = Anderson East opening
°° = Amanda Shires opening
% = With Amanda Shires, opening for Dwight Yoakam
✚ = Opening for My Morning Jacket
Ryman Auditorium Special Guests:
October 23: Amanda Shires
October 24: Parker Millsap
October 25: Hurray for the Riff Raff
October 26: Chris Stapleton

Watch Out! Raelyn Nelson Band ‘Brother’ [VIDEO]

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Raelyn_guitar_downtown_600

On their new single. ‘Brother,’ Raelyn Nelson and her crackerjack band plays like a hot rod with a cut break line. They swerve and careen near the edge pulling back just in time to ensure safe passage.  The alt.country influenes are undeniable as they brew a hard cow-punk concoction so infectutous and fresh that it would cause the Bottle Rockets and Old 97s to join the mosh pit. 

Not bad for a uke slinger.

Raelyn’s father was Billy Nelson, the third child from Willie’s first marriage to Martha Matthews. She shows that the outlaw gene might just be hereditary as she blazes her own path with such confidence that she’s been placed on Grandad’s stellar 4th of July Picnic alongside other newbloods like uncle Lukas Nelson and Sturgill Simpson.

She’ll fit right in.

The iPhone shot video for ‘Brother’ displays just the right amount of social media twitch to match the song’s frenetic pace. The theme of fraternal revenge and firearms might be a bit rough for those with tender sensabilities, but it rings as true as the music.

Of the song, video and her unique take os releasing music Raelyn says: “The song came about when I was watching a tv show and got inspired by the story of a girl getting her three older brothers to track down her unfaithful boyfriend. JB (producer Jonathan Bright) and I got together and wrote it and we were trying to come up with a video concept that we could do on our own. It was DIY in every sense, and we shot it all with one gopro camera. The “band side” was done with a tripod, some cheap workshop lights and a clear shower curtain as a light “diffuser”. The other side was just JB running around with the gopro strapped to his head. Then with some tips from friends,YouTube tutorials, and editing software we managed to pull it off. And we came in right on budget! Which was zero….

“As far as part of a larger project, I think we’ve decided this year to skip the traditional “cd release” and just release a single every month or so, with a video and new t-shirt to go along with it. We have the songs, but it makes more sense to us to release them as singles and have something new to offer each month, instead of beating a record to death for a year.”

Ryan Adams Announces Live at Carnegie Hall LP – Out April 21

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ryan_ch

Ryan Adams has announced his first live album, ‘Ryan Adams: Live at Carnegie Hall,’ will be released April 21 via his own label Pax-Am in partnership with Blue Note.

The digital / 6xLP 180G Deluxe Box Set, 42 track release captures a two-night run at Carnegie Hall last November. Included on the release will be “This is Where We Meet in My Mind” and “How Much Light”—that which have never been officially released. Adams will also release a condensed 10-song version of the live event on June 9, titled Ryan Adams: Ten Songs From Live at Carnegie Hall 0 available as a digital download, CD, or LP.

You can check out the full tracklisting at Adams’ website.

Here’s Adams performing “Oh My Sweet Carolina” from night two at Carnegie Hall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP7-DbzCdUs

Ryan Adams: Ten Songs From Live at Carnegie Hall:
01 Oh My Sweet Carolina (11/15)
02 Nobody Girl (11/15)
03 New York, New York (11/15)
04 Sylvia Plath (11/15)
05 This is Where We Meet in My Mind (11/15)
06 My Wrecking Ball (11/17)
07 Gimme Something Good (11/17)
08 How Much Light (11/17)
09 Kim (11/17)
10 Come Pick Me Up (11/17)

Watch Adams perform “Oh My Sweet Carolina” from his second night at Carnegie:

Record Store Day 2015 – Americana and Roots Music Picks

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130424-record-store-day

Record Store Day, the annual celebration of local record stores for aficionados of the antiquated data storage device known as vinyl will be taking place as always on the Third Saturday in April. For 2015 that means Saturday, April 18.

The crew behind Record Store Day have been the driving force for 8 years on what we’re now seeing as the explosive, and surprising, resurgence of vinyl releases. The most public example of this is last year’s Record Store Day ambassador Jack White’s the recent sales of his latest ‘Lazaretto’ setting a record for first-week sales by moving 40,000 vinyl copies. This eclipsed the previous long-standing record of about 33,000 held by Pearl Jam’s ‘Vitalogy.’

As overall music sales continue to decline , vinyl sales increased to 6.1 million in 2013, up from 4.6 million the year before. By comparison, total vinyl sales failed to reach even one million units in 2007.

As vinyl grows in popularity there’s is pressure on vinyl manufacturers, who like us all were caught off-guard by the resurgence. But shops like United Record Pressing based in Nashville, TN, the shop responsible for manufacturing White’s best-seller are expanding to meet the growing demand.

The demand for vinyl is partially due to it’s described ‘warmer’ sound, BUt the real drive behind Record Store Day is uniqueness and scarcity. Maay of the releases come on colored vinyl or as picture discs and many of the releases are produced in very limited runs, some totaling no more than a few hundred.

This stands in direct contrast to digital music’s hemogeny of sound and structure. an MP3 might be convenient, but it’s never scarce or unique.

Check out the Americana and roots selections below and take a look at the full list. Get to your favorite indy record early on April 18 (I’ll be at Good Records in Dallas) and share those great finds with me on Instagram and Twitter.

Asleep At The Wheel (with Willie Nelson and The Blind Boys of Alabama) – Unreleased single from ‘Still The King: Celebrating The Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Bismeaux Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
RSD Exclusive single featuring bonus Asleep at The Wheel performances with Willie Nelson and The Blind Boys of Alabama not included on the Still The King album. Signed by Ray Benson, and numbered.
TRACKLIST: “New Spanish Two Step”/”The Devil Ain’t Lazy”

Bob Dylan – ‘The Basement Tapes’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Other Peoples Music
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info: The Basement Tapes recorded in 1967 while Bob Dylan recuperated and features many Dylan songs that had appeared on bootleg records prior to the “official” release in 1975. The recording took place in Woodstock and features four members of the Hawks (Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson – and one American, Levon Helm) better known today as The Band. Individually autographed and numbered by Garth Hudson.

Bob Dylan – ‘The Night We Called It A Day’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Columbia
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Limited Edition blue vinyl single featuring two songs from Bob Dylan’s newest release “Shadows In The Night”

Brandi Carlisle – special 7”
single of the new song “Wherever Is Your Heart” + B-side cover of Graham Nash’s “Simple Man”

Johnny Cash – Koncert v Praze (In Prague–Live)
Format: 12″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Johnny Cash playing his greatest hits behind the Iron Curtain in 1983. Limited edition heavy weight vinyl release pressed on Soviet Red 180 gram vinyl.

Steve Earle & The Dukes – ‘Terraplane’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: NEW WEST RECORDS
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Steve Earle A-side version of Terraplane (a song not on the record) and a b-side of Robert Johnsons “Terraplane Blues”. Will be mastered at the level of Robert Johnson’s original recording. Most of the versions you hear today are remastered and the db’s are brought up. This one will be as close to the original 78 as possible. Includes download card.
TRACKLIST: A: Steve Earle “Terraplane” B: Robert Johnsons “Terraplane Blues”

Father John Misty – ‘I Love You, Honeybear’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: SUB POP
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Father John Misty presents a lovely, acoustic version of the title track of his latest album, I Love You, Honeybear, along with a new, exclusive B-side, truthfully-entitled “Never Been a Woman,” on a colored-vinyl, heart-shaped 7”. This release is exclusive to Record Store Day, and it is limited to 5,700 copies worldwide. Includes download card.
TRACKLIST: “I Love You, Honeybear (Acoustic Version)”/”Never Been a Woman”
TRACKLIST: Side A: “The Night We Called It A Day” Side B: “Stay With Me”

Charlie Feathers – ‘Charlie Feathers’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Sundazed Music
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Crazy, coveted rockabilly recordings from legendary wildman Charlie Feathers! Includes all eight of his King sides as originally issued in ‘56 & ‘57 – now rare and pricey 45s and 78s – with new notes from Colin Escott.
TRACKLIST: “One Hand Loose” / “Can’t Hardly Stand It” / “Bottle To The Baby” / “Everybody’s Lovin’ My Baby” / “Too Much Alike” / “When You Come Around”

Dom Flemons – ‘What Got Over’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Music Maker
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
10″ record with nine new tracks. “Included here on What Got Over, there are also a few alternatesto the main tracks I picked for Prospect Hill – versions in which I experimented with the sound and instrumentation but in the end they didn’t make the final cut. I sequenced this EP to be record two of two in conjunction with Prospect Hill. When you reach the end of this album you will have heard the whole Prospect Hill Omnibus! If you take both albums and make them into a playlist it will be a full hour of music.” – Dom Flemons
TRACKLIST: “Big Head Joe’s March”/”Milwaukee Blues”/”Clock On The Wall”/”Keep On Truckin'”/”Hot Chicken”/”Have I Stayed Away Too Long”/”Going Backward Up The Mountain”/”Til’ The Seas Run Dry”/”What Got Over”

Gram Parsons/Lemonheads – ‘Brass Buttons’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Rhino
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
7″ 45 RPM Vinyl is Circle swatch splatter Bronze on Baby Pink. Part of Rhino’s now celebrated RSD exclusive Side By Side 7″ singles series. Two artists perform the same song. Surprising and unusual performances and repertoire.
TRACKLIST: “Brass Buttons”/”Brass Buttons”

Justin Townes Earle – ‘Live at Grimey’s’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Vagrant
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
TRACKLIST: Side A: Call Ya Momma, When the One You Love Loses Faith, Worried Bout the Weather, Single Mothers
Side B: Today and a Lonely Night, Burning Pictures, White Gar

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – ‘A Little Something From The Road, Vol. 1’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Concord
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
12″ vinyl featuring live smokin’ versions of classics from the recent Goin’ Home project as well as a couple extra blues nuggets.
TRACKLIST: 1. “Looking Back” 2. “House Is Rockin’” 3. “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover” 4. “Woke Up This Morning” 5. “You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now”

Robert Earl Keen – ‘Gringo Honeymoon’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Much anticipated vinyl issue of the Texas troubadour’s breakout 1994 release.

Lucero – ‘Jukebox Series #3’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Liberty & Lament
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
TRACKLIST: “Boom Boom”/”Midnight Special”

Mumford & Sons – ‘Believe’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Glassnote
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Bootleg style 7″ hand numbered and hand stamped. First physical release of music from the upcoming album.
TRACKLIST: “Believe”/”The Wolf”

Willie Nelson – ‘Teatro’
Format: 2 x 12″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Modern Classics/Light in the Attic
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
* First time ever issued on vinyl for Record Store Day 2015
* Features duets with and backing vocals by Emmylou Harris
* Produced by Daniel Lanois (U2 Joshua Tree; Bob Dylan Time Out Of Mind; Emmylou Harris Wrecking Ball)
* Record Store Day exclusive featuring deluxe gatefold “tip-on” uncoated jacket and gold vinyl
* Limited to 5,000 copies

Location is everything. When Willie Nelson and album producer Daniel Lanois set out to create a cinematic-sounding album, Teatro, they took over a disused movie theatre in Oxnard, California, and pictured its dusty glory on the LP sleeve. Recorded as-live in situ amid the red velvet seats, Teatro sees Nelson working extensively with his frequent collaborator Emmylou Harris, who joins him for duets and on backing vocals on 11 of the 14 tracks. The other major player is U2 and Paul McCartney collaborator Daniel Lanois (producer of Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball), who produces the album, plays guitar and bass, took the cover photo and wrote one of the album’s songs, “The Maker”, a stunning performance with glacier-thick vibe.

Originally released by Island Record in 1998, Teatro is issued here as a special Record Store Day release. LA and Seattle-based Light In The Attic present the album as it’s never been seen before – on vinyl. Pressed on gold vinyl with a deluxe, gatefold, ‘tip-on’ uncoated jacket, this is a chance to own this unique album in its most beautifully presented form.
TRACKLIST: Side A: “Ou Es-Tu, Mon Amour? (Where Are You, My Love?)”, “I Never Cared for You”, “Everywhere I Go”, “Darkness on the Face of the Earth”
Side B: “My Own Peculiar Way”, “These Lonely Nights”, “Home Motel”, “The Maker”
Side C: “I Just Can’t Let You Say Goodbye”, “I’ve Just Destroyed the World (I’m Living In)”, “Somebody Pick Up My Pieces”
Side D: “Three Days”, “I’ve Loved You All Over the World”, “Annie”

Okkervil River – ‘Sleep and Wake-Up Songs’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: JAGJAGUWAR
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Sleep and Wake-Up Songs is now being rereleased for Record Store Day, it’s first time pressed ever on vinyl. Including a demo of the EP track “You’re Untied Again” and the never before released song “Knocking Myself Out,” the EP reveals Okkervil River in-between the monumental albums Down The River of Golden Dreams and Black Sheep Boy. Band leader Will Sheff looked back to this EP, remarking, “I can hear in it somebody who is actually getting comfortable with singing, with playing the guitar, with letting music happen naturally.”
TRACKLIST: SIDE A: 1. A Favor 2. You’re Untied Again 3. And I Have Seen the World of Dreams 4. Just Give Me Time
SIDE B: 5. No Hidden Track 6. You’re Untied Again [Solo Sketch] 7. Knocking Myself Out [Home Recording]”

Reverend Horton Heat – ‘It’s A Rave-Up/Beer, Write This Song’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Victory Records
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Two brand new, previously unreleased tracks from Reverend Horton Heat on solid red 7″ vinyl with 150 randomly distributed clear pink copies.
TRACKLIST: “It’s A Rave-Up”/”Beer, Write This Song”

Simon & Garfunkel – ‘Homeward Bound/Leaves That Are Green’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
This collectible 7” 45rpm vinyl releases recreates the origina 1966 “Homeward Bound” single, pairing two essential Simon & Garfunkel cuts from that year: “Homeward Bound” (from Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme) and “Leaves That Are Green” (from Sounds of Silence). A Top 5 single in the US, “Homeward Bound” became a worldwide phenomenon reaching #4 in the Netherlands and #9 in the UK while going Top 20 in Australia and Sweden (where it hit #12). The cover for this RSD 2015 release is based on the German single artwork.

Dolly Parton – ‘The Grass is Blue’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Dolly’s seminal 1999 bluegrass debut, available for the first time on vinyl.
TRACKLIST: “Homeward Bound”/”Leaves That Are Green”

Todd Snider – ‘Impending Doom’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Aimless
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
The A-side of this RSD exclusive 7″ is a Rolling Stones cover, the B-side is an unreleased Todd Snider original.
TRACKLIST: “Shattered”/”Backlash”

st paul

St. Paul and the Broken Bones – Live From The Alabama Theatre
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Single Lock
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Covers of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song” and David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” recorded live at the Alabama Theatre on 11/14/14. Released on a 12″ transparent crimson record SHAPED LIKE THE STATE OF ALABAMA.
TRACKLIST: “Sing a Simple Song”/”Moonage Daydream”

Doc and Merle Watson – ‘Ballads from the Gap’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Fan-voted vinyl re-issue of the iconic release, re-mastered from the original tapes and presented in ‘exact replica’ packaging.

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Broeder Dieleman – Split 7″
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Snowstar Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Bonnie ‘prince’ Billy & Broeder Dieleman cover and translate each other, after having toured together in the Netherlands in 2014. Broeder Dieleman is from the south of the Netherlands, and sings in Dutch. He translated Bonnie prince Billy’s ‘Three Questions’, while Will Oldham does his (translated) take of ‘Gloria’
TRACKLIST: 1: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Gloria 2: Broeder Dieleman – Drie Vragen

Junior Brown – Better Call Saul: Theme 7″
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: SPACELAB9
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
TRACKLIST: “Better Call Saul”/”Better Call Saul (Instrumental)”

Giant Sand – ‘Valley of Rain (30th Anniversary Edition)’
Format: 2 x 12″ Vinyl
Label: Fire America
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Marking the 30th anniversary since Giant Sand’s debut album “Valley of Rain,” Fire America brings you this limited edition 2xLP 30th Anniversary Edition. The first disc is the lovingly re-mastered “Valley of Rain” in its entirety, with the addition of the track “Torture of Love,” which was added by Howe Gelb himself. The second disc features extra material recorded as Giant Sand and the pre-Giant Sand line up “Giant Sandworms,” including a “Valley of Rain” remix, a “repaired” version of “Tumble and Tear” along with five fascinating bonus tracks compiled from live and radio recordings from the time period.
• Limited to 500 copies for North America
• Liner notes from Howe Gelb.
TRACKLIST: Disc One: 1. Valley Of Rain, 2. Tumble & Tear, 3. October Anywhere, 4. Barrio, 5. Death, Dying & Channel 5, 6. Torture Of Love, 7. Down On Town / Love’s No Answer, 8. Black Venetian Blind, 9. Curse Of A Thousand Flames, 10. Artists, 11. Man Of Want
Disc Two: 1. Valley Of Rain – Remixed Instrumental, 2. Tumble And Tear – Repaired, + Five bonus tracks

Lydia Loveless & Cory Brannan - 'Prince Covers Split Single'

Lydia Loveless & Cory Brannan – ‘Prince Covers Split Single’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Bloodshot
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Two never before released tracks. Physical Only, Purple Vinyl
TRACKLIST: Lydia: “I Would Die For You” Cory: “Under The Cherry Moon”

Lee Ann Womack – ‘Trouble in Mind’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
a limited edition 3-Song 12” vinyl – blues classic “Trouble in Mind,” Roger Miller’s demi-obscure “Where Have All The Average People Gone?” and Ralph Stanley’s bluegrass gospel “I’ve Just Seen The Rock of Ages.”

Various Artists – ‘Music To Drink Beer To’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Music To Drink Beer To is a limited-edition compilation put together by longtime friends Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Adam Block of Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings. Sam, who’s in the beer business and a raging music geek, and Adam, who’s in the music business and a raging beer geek, sat down over a few beers and a stash of well worn vinyl and picked some of their favorite tracks.
TRACKLIST: 01. “Please, Mrs. Henry”/Bob Dylan & The Band, 02. “Fishin’ Blues”/Taj Mahal, 03. “I Put A Spell On You”/Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, 04. “Gimmie Danger”/Iggy And The Stooges, 05. “Whiskey Bottle”/Uncle Tupelo, 06. “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”/The Byrds, 07. “What Good Can Drinking Do”/Janis Joplin, 08. “Mannish Boy”/Muddy Waters, 09. “Scuttle Buttin’”/Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble, 10. “Surrender”/Cheap Trick, 11. “Juicy Fruit”/Mtume, 12. “Electric Relaxation”/A Tribe Called Quest

The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – ‘You Can’t Judge A Book…’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Daddy Kool Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band has been creating a whirlwind with their riveting and unconventional elixir of muscular and high voltage country blues capped by gritty growling vocals and striking finger picking. Inspired by the likes of Charley Patton, Furry Lewis and John Hurt, Reverend Peyton is steeped in the great blues tradition but is catapulting its roots into a new era.
TRACKLIST: “You Can’t Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover” B/W “Some These Days I’ll Be Gone”

Chris Stapleton – ‘IN STEREO’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Mercury Nashville
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
TRACKLIST: “When the Stars Come Out” “Fire Away” “Tennessee Whiskey”

The Waterboys – ‘Puck’s Blues’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Harlequin & Clown
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Home demos and acoustic tracks recorded in advance of the new album.
TRACKLIST: A1-November Tale, A2-I Can See Elvis
B1-The Girl Who Slept ForScotland, B2- Destinies Entwined

The Mavericks – ‘Mono’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: The Valory Music Company
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
Early vinyl release for Record Store Day, includes digital download

John Prine – ‘September 78’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Oh Boy Records
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
A live record of John playing with a full band. There are loud guitar solos, funky organ playing and a couple of unreleased covers that will really surprise some folks.

Various Artists – ‘Sawyer Sessions Vol 1’
Format: CD
Label: Yep Roc Records
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
The Sawyer Sessions started simple enough: new town, new building, new vibe. When the Yep Roc Music Group moved to Hillsborough, North Carolina two years ago, they wanted to find a way to integrate themselves into the creative juices flowing just beneath the surface of this historic, southern town. Named after their nearly 100-year-old office building, The Sawyer Sessions are one part video series, one part mobile recording lab, one part way to introduce the music group to their neighbors. But instead of bringing by a pie, they bring a collection of artists with diverse backgrounds and styles – Grammy Award winners, noted international songwriters, all legendary performers. They drop them into to everyday life situations and record them at restaurants, galleries and private homes – the only rule is that it has to be within the roughly 4.3 square miles of their new hometown. This record documents the best of those first year of performances and serves as a “map” of Hillsborough, North Carolina. Limited Edition Record Store Day Exclusive with hand-drawn cover art.

Bruce Springsteen – ‘Nebraska’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
• Newly remastered on LP!
• Packaged in faithful recreation of original LP sleeves.
• Remastered from the original source tapes
• 180-gram audiophile vinyl
TRACKLIST: “Nebraska”, “Atlantic City”, “Mansion On The Hill”, “Johnny 99”, “Highway Patrolman”, “State Trooper”, “Used Cars”, “Open All Night”, “My Father’s House”,”Reason To Believe”

Review: American Aquarium – ‘Wolves’

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American Aquarium

The risk in loving an independent band is facing the fact that one day they may achieve mainstream success.

On the face of it, this is naive and a stupid attitude for fan. What kind of a sadist wants grown people to spend the rest of their professional lives in a cramped van? But the concerns are from a deeper, worried place – Can a love a mainstream band when mainstream bands suck? How many ways can I sneer at new fans? What if they change their sound? Will I still be able to get tickets to their show? And so on…

American Aquarium fans may now be faced with such an existential dilemma. After years of paying blacktop and beer joint dues (and suffering the indignity of having Florida Georgia Line open for them just to watch them explode to mainstream country stardom) BJ Barham , guitarists Ryan Johnson and Colin Dimeo, bassist Bill Corbin, drummer Kevin McClain and Whit Wright on keyboard and pedal-steel guitar might have their breakthrough album on their calloused hands.

Those dues have become fertile source of inspiration resulting in 10 tightly wound roots-rock cuts. ‘Wolves’ shines brightest in it’s darkest corners. With his gravel baritone Barham frets over getting older, missed opportunities, family strife and yes life on that lonesome highway. On cuts like ‘Family Problems’ and ‘Man I’m Supposed to Be,’ the atmosphere builds, the pedal steel wails or the horns swell, the songs elevates into greatness.

BUt sometimes the arrangements on the jauntier cuts, like with ‘Southern Sadness’ and ‘Old North State,’ robs the songs of their emotional punch and the singer/music contrast doesn’t quite mesh. it’s as if Merle Haggard were fronting Pearl Jam, on their own they excel, but together…something gives.

And we can’t forget The Rocking. ‘Wichita Falls and ‘Losing Side of Twenty-Five’ are flat out stompers ripe for the stage and will be fan anthems for years to come.

Barham’s songwriting honors the Southern tradition of embodying and championing the stern struggle of the working poor as they strive to keep things together against the odds. ‘Wolves’ doesn’t offer any glib answers or obfuscate with party anthems. Barham’s world is more complicated, real. It brims of steely contemplation, guts and fighting through.

‘Wolves’ is an album that may not launch Barham and Co. onto Music City arena headliners anytime soon. But it does put them further along their path to being a band that matters.

iTunes | Amazon | Official Site

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BBC Lost Highway: The History of American Country

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If you haven’t seen the BBC’s “Lost Highway: The History of American Country’ then you’re in for a treat.

This four-part, four-hour documentary follows the musical lineage from the Bristol Sessions to Nashville, from Texas to Bakersfield, and brings it all together in a beautiful story of heritage and style any songwriter would love.

The history of it’s roots in mountain music, through bluegrass it’s first super star Hank Williams and honky tonkers. From the jazz fusion of Western Swing to the dominance of the adult-pop Nashville Sound through the extraordinary and game-changing emergence of female performers and the evolution of newer forms of the genre – country rock to alt.country and Americana.

Featuring contributions from Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Hank Williams III, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Dwight Yoakam and Dolly Parton among others. Lost Highway: The Story of Country Music is produced by William Naylor; the series editor is Michael Poole.

Sit back with your favorite drink and enjoy.

Listen Up! The Ravenna Colt ‘Terminal Current’ [Exclusive Premier]

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‘Terminal Current’ is the second full-length album from The Ravenna Colt (former My Morning Jacket guitarist/engineer Johnny Quaid) and it shimmers like Summer heat waves off a rural blacktop road. Here the full release below.

Kentucky-born musician Johnny Quaid filters his personal Americana dreamscape through The Ravenna Colt, traversing folk-rock territory while “creat(ing) Quaid’s vision of stories and soundscapes as told from the eyes and ears of a carpenter and troubadour.”

In 1998, Quaid joined Jim James on a project that would change their lives – My Morning Jacket. The group worked feverishly touring and recording and has not slowed down since. Quaid lends his guitar licks and engineering style to the first three albums, The Tennessee Fire, At Dawn and It Still Moves.

Quaid departed from the group amicably at the start of 2004. He left his native Kentucky, headed west to California and worked as a carpenter while keeping a writer’s pen at hand. After moving back east to Tennessee, Quaid released The Ravenna Colt’s debut album ‘Slight Spell’ in 2010.

Quaid has since relocated to Boise, where he pulled talent from the city’s fervent indie/roots music scene to assemble the latest incarnation of The Ravenna Colt. Terminal Current was recorded in Boise and Louisville, Ky., at Above the Cadillac and La La Land studios.

The video for “Absolute Contingency,” the lead single off The Ravenna Colt’s (former My Morning Jacket guitarist/engineer Johnny Quaid) forthcoming album Terminal Current (Removador/Karate Body), premiered today via The Alternate Root. Watch the Joe Baughman directed video.

“I take the art of making a record very seriously.” Says Quaid “I don’t rely on number of songs to constitute an album. I approach it more like making a film — I tell a story and create a feeling with the music. All my songs are very personal, despite the titles and themes. Music for me is really a means of therapy. With each album, I’ve really just captured the events that have lead up to it. I’ve had some major life changes between Terminal Current and Slight Spell, and I think you can hear/feel that.”

The Ravenna Colt will host a release party and performance 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, at Neurolux, 111 N. 11th St., Boise. Sleepy Seeds opens the show. Tickets are available in advance atticketweb.com or The Record Exchange, 1105 W. Idaho St., Boise.

The band also will perform on Radio Boise (89.9FM/93.5FM) during the Radio Boise Live Music Hour at 4 p.m. Feb. 20 and at an all-ages release party preview at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 at The Record Exchange.

Listen Up! Chris Smither – ‘Drive You Home Again’ From ‘Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Collection: Favorite and Rarities from the Second Decade’

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Signature Sounds Recordings is an well-repected independent label specializing in singer-songwriter, Americana, and modern folk music. Jim Olsen and Mark Thayer founded the label in 1995 to promote the acoustic artists playing in the Northampton, Massachusetts music scene. The label has grown slowly to signing just 1-2 artists a year and developing them over years. This approach has worked well as the label has served as a home for Lake Street Dive and Zoe Muth and provided a career launching pad for the likes of Josh Ritter, Erin McKeown, Mary Gauthier & Lori McKenna.

On March 3, Signature Sounds will celebrate its 20 years of cultivating great talent with a special compilation ‘Signature Sounds 20th Anniversary Collection: Rarities From The Second Decade.’ The album will feature thirteen unreleased tracks plus eighteen songs in total from Crooked Still, Eilen Jewell, Lake Street Dive, Chris Smither and others.

‘Drive You Home Again,’ a Chris Smither’s unreleased track from the collection, exudes a timeless ramshackle and moody darkness that well reflects Signature Sounds spirit of quality.

Watch Out! Lera Lynn: “Out to Sea” – Late Show with David Letterman 1/5/2015

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Lera Lynn: "Out to Sea" - David Letterman

Last night David Letterman continued championing Americana and roots music in the New Year by inviting Lera Lynn (“From Nash-VEGAS Tennessee!” Letterman announces as a inside joke with his maestro sidekick Paul Shaffer ) to the Late Show stage.

Lynn may make her home in Nash-Vegas now, but she’s a Houston, TX girl by birth.

Lynn and her band deliver a simmeringly lush yet low-key version of “Out to Sea” from her sophomore offering “The Avenues,” which made our 2014 year-end list at #12.

http://youtu.be/ZkZa4OEH-Yc