Category Archives: alt.country

Concert Review – Reckless Kelly, Hang Jones – Slims- San Francisco CA – 12/8/2010

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As a Texan expat living in the Bay Area I jump at any chance to catch a great Lone Star band coming through the area playing music that transports me back and reveling in the joy of raucous music and being in a crowd indulging in the spirit of the event.

Last night I braved the rain and jumped at the chance to see Austin’s red dirt heroes Reckless Kelly as well as the open and best Bay Area Americana band, Hang Jones.

Stephen Grillos has always been one of my favorite performers in this area since I first made his and hos lovely wife’s acquaintance in Nashville a couple of years back. Since adding his excellent full band – Scott Sneddon on Mandolin, Mike Andersonon doghouse Bass and Vocals, Marisa Martinez on Fiddle and Diana Lerwick on Accordion and vocals – a few months back the music has taken on a new dimension and the songs from his exceptional debut “The Ballad of Carlsbad County” as well as new numbers all sound fresh.

The crowd was a mix of Bay Area hipsters and extras from Friday Night Lights but everybody was loving the honky-tonk mood, wooting and boot stomping, created by the band.

Reckless Kelly and Cross Canadian Ragweed were mainstream face of the red dirt music movement. With the recent demise the CCR Reckless Kelly carries on the tradition with passion and love of the craft of a great song.

The show started with The Ballad of Elano de Leone from their newest Somewhere In Time and moved on to Micky & The Motorcars’ Nobody’s Girl. The set was tight, spirited and the croed was moved by the music.

One of my favorite songs, Wicked Twisted Road was on the set and it did not disappoint. Singer/guitarist Willy Braun and the band worked the club crowd like it was an arena show.

and band can also be judged by the covers it chooses and Reckless Kelly chose a couple of greats. “Castanets” by fellow Austin musician Alejandro Escovedo, “52 Vincent Black Lightning” by Richard Thompson and , in the spirit of the season, Chuck Berry’s “Run Rudolph Run,” and #
The Beatles Happiness Is a Warm Gun as an encore.

A great night of music shared with people that love it is a wondrous thing and there is no better way to end 2010 than with this one. See both of these bands whenever you get a chance.

Introducing Your GRAMMY Community Blogger for Americana

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All right, it’s time to let the horse out of the barn. By some gross overnight of quality control by the folks putting on the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards® I have been asked to join their community of music bloggers to cover the Americana goings-on, though they now have me listed as covering folk on this badge and on their site, the events leading up to, and the the event itself on February 13th, 2011 in Los Angeles.

Now what qualifies me as the sanctioned GRAMMY Awards® blogger when there are certainly more qualified writers on this genre (Kim Ruehl is a sterling example.) Well besides a willingness to read the official GRAMMY style-guide (notice the all caps for the name?) I’ve passionately been doing this for a long time and, Malcolm Holcolm said to me during an interview in Nashville last year “… if you hang around the barber shop long enough you’re gonna get a haircut.’” A little off the top if you please.

Even though the Americana and folk awards are not announced at the televised event  at L.A.’s Staple Center, and there won’t be a performer in those categories anywhere near the stage, I will be attending the awards show. I will spend my time stalking Miranda Lambert and trying to get Justin Bieber drunk.

So keep your eye on this space, Grammys.com and the Twang Nation Twitter feed for news, views and occasional smart-alecky spews.

Nominations for the 53rd GRAMMY Awards

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The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) announced the nominees for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards (to be held February 13th, 2011.) Here listed are the nominees in the Americana, Roots categories as well as similar artists in other categories (for a full list of nominees ho the Grammy.com)  Any surprises? Who’s missing?

BEST AMERICANA ALBUM
Rosanne Cash – The List
Los Lobos – Tin Can Trust
Willie Nelson – Country Music
Robert Plant – Band of Joy
Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone

BEST BLUEGRASS ALBUM
Sam Bush – Circles Around Me
Patty Loveless – Mountain Soul II
The Del McCoury Band – Family Circle
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band – Legacy
The Steeldrivers – Reckless

BEST TRADITIONAL FOLK ALBUM
Carolina Chocolate Drops – Genuine Negro Jig
Luther Dickinson & the Sons of Mudboy – Onward and Upward
The John Hartford Stringband – Memories of John
Maria Muldaur – Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy
Ricky Skaggs – Ricky Skaggs Solo: Songs My Dad Loved

BEST CONTEMPORARY FOLK ALBUM
Jackson Browne & David Lindley – Love Is Strange – En Vivo Con Tino
Mary Chapin Carpenter – The Age of Miracles
Guy Clark – Somedays the Song Writes You
Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs – God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise
Richard Thompson – Dream Attic

BEST COUNTRY INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMANCE
Cherryholmes – “Tattoo of a Smudge”
The Infamous Stringdusters – “Magic #9”
Punch Brothers – “New Chance Blues”
Darrell Scott – “Willow Creek”
Marty Stuart – “Hummingbyrd”

Other Americana/roots/indie/alt/whatever artists nominated in assorted other categories:

  • Dailey & Vincent – “Elizabeth” (Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals)
  • Dierks Bentley – Up on the Ridge (Best Country Album)
  • Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert & Jamey Johnson – “Bad Angel” (Best Country Collaboration with Vocals)
  • Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury & the Punch Brothers – “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (Best Country Collaboration with Vocals)
  • Ryan Bingham & T. Bone Burnett – “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart (Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Johnny Cash – “Ain’t No Grave”/ The Johnny Cash Project (Best Short Form Music Video)
  • Crazy Heart (Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Steve Earle – “I See You” from Treme (Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Patty Griffin – Downtown Church (Best Traditional Gospel Album)
  • Buddy Holly – Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings and More (Best Historical Album)
  • Elton John & Leon Russell – “If It Wasn’t for Bad” (Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals)
  • Jamey Johnson – “Macon” (Best Male Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Album for The Guitar Song)
  • Miranda Lambert – “The House That Built Me” (Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song, Best Country Album for Revolution)
  • Ray LaMontagne – “Beg, Steal, or Borrow” (Song of the Year)
  • Los Lobos – “Do the Murray” (Best Rock Instrumental Performance)
  • Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man” (Best Rock Song, Best New Artist)
  • Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Mojo (Best Rock Album)*The Steeldrivers – “Where Rainbows Never Die” (Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals)
  • Robert Plant – “Silver Rider” (Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance)
  • Pete Seeger with the Rivertown Kids and Friends – Tomorrow’s Children (Best Musical Album for Children)
  • Ricky Skaggs – Mosaic (Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album)
  • George Strait – “The Breath You Take” (Best Country Song)
  • Marty Stuart & Connie Smith – “I Run to You” (Best Country Collaboration with Vocals)
  • Treme (Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Hank Williams – The Complete Mother’s Best Recordings…Plus! (Best Historical Album)
  • Lucinda Williams & Elvis Costello – “Kiss Like Your Kiss” from True Blood (Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media)
  • Neil Young – “Angry World” (Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Album for Le Noise)

Lucinda Williams To Release New Album – Blessed

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On March 1, the first lady of Americana Lucinda Williams will release Blessed, her first album since 2008’s GRAMMY nominated Honey. The record is produced by Don Was, and, according to American Songwriter, “features some of Williams’ strongest writing to date.” Blessed will also be available in a deluxe edition, which will include a bonus disc of the album in demo form, called The Kitchen Tapes.
Shortly after the album’s release, Williams will hit the road. Dates so far:

March
4-5 – Toronto @ Massey Hall
11-12 – New York @ Webster Hall
May
5 – New Orleans, La. @ New Orleans Jazz Festival
7 – Austin, Texas @ Stubb’s
8 – Houston, Texas @ The Houston International Festival

5 Off the Top – Thanksgiving Edition

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A great song is like a turducken, layers of goodness and mystery built to baffle as well as satisfy. …or something. Here are some rib-sticking selection for this day of thanks. A big THANK YOU to the men and women in uniform.

Kris Kristofferson – The Pilgrim Chapter 33

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NAaiRYUBos[/youtube]

Patterson Hood  (Drive-By Truckers) – The Thanksgiving Filter – Acoustic

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ope-TwQ1doc[/youtube]

Mark Jungers and The Whistling Mules – We Talk

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wjfRsrFoWA[/youtube]

Johnny Cash – Thanksgiving Prayer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA7ujUJCIdE[/youtube]

Todd Snider – Beer Run (’cause every Thanksgiving needs beer!)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIDSsY6C9Dw[/youtube]

Music Review: Truckstop Darlin’ – Truckstop Darlin’ [self-released]

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It still amazes me that in these terminally-bored-too-hip-to-care times any band would brandish that most maligned and unhip of genres; Southern rock. Broken hearts and barroom bloodstains on a plaid shirtsleeve, earnest stories of hard times begetting harder men backed by an accompaniment more akin to Black Oak Arkansas than the Black Keys. This music is not going to get you cred at your hoody-wearing hipster PBR bar (unless you’re being ironic.)

But like redneck culture (of which I count myself a member) Oregon’s Truckstop Darlin know they’re unrefined and take pride in stories well told, the hard beauty of sentimentality and the ragged craft of a well executed rock song.  And they’re more n’  happy to shove your smirking peckerwood mug in it.

How a scene built around this halfbred genre is being forged in the rainy green climes of the Pacific Northwest is even more of a head-scratcher. Portland Oregan seems like the last place you’d hear amped-up twang of Truckstop Darlin’ and partners  I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House, Root Jack, the recently relocated Riviera as well as the literate roots-rock of  Kasey Anderson  For a place not marinated in the legacy of Dixie or the neo-brutal beauty of Cormac McCarthy this is fertile ground for great Southern rock.

Truckstop Darlin’s new, self-tiled album- mastered by Jon Burbank from  I Can Lick Any SOB In The House -  has all the ingredients for a classic Southern rock (or country for that matter) album – name-dropping Southern states (Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina)  musical legends (Merle Haggard) Saturday nights, hard times, copious whiskey, broken hearts – it’s there but done in ways that are both comfortable and draws from current rock music to inject a freshness.

The comparisons to early Drive By Truckers (back when they were full of piss, vinegar and Jack Daniels)and Uncle Tupelo are apparent, but there is a classic sound there as well. Tired Old Prom Queens is a Billy Joe Shaver-inspired song imagined for the Marshal Tucker Band.

Bluegrass State beings to mind early Southern-Gothic era REM and Anna Lee sound like it’s a lost B-side from The Band. King of the Highway’s lonesome asphalt-paved heartache that is as close to a straight-up country tune found here.  Down snakes along with a epic Big Rock sleaze that mixes gunpowder and melancholy to great results.

Broken Valentine is a revved-up post-punk-county song that is one of my favorites.  John Phelan’s gravel-throated delivery and stuttering buzz-saw guitar, the driving rhythm section of Eric Kotila’s drums and Nick Foltz’s  bass and Michael Winter pedal steel cry.

Truckstop Darlin’ shows what old can be made new and vital and can, for damn sure, kick your ass all over again.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZhb5oNrHsY&feature=related[/youtube]

Drive-By Truckers to Release New Album Go-Go Boots 2/15th 2011

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The mighty Drive-By Truckers will release their 10th studio record Go-Go Boots, on February 15, 2011, the first on their own label  ATO Records.  Go-Go Boots was produced by their longtime producer, David Barbe (Deerhunter, Bettye LaVette, Sugar). In conjunction with the new album they’ll also be releasing their documentary The Secret to a Happy Ending on DVD.

The band will show their appreciation for vinyl and independent record stores by releasing a special 10” 45 with Thanksgiving Filter and Used To Be A Cop on Record Store Day, November 26th. Both songs will be on Go-Go Boots and the release will be a limited pressing of only 2,500 copies and will feature a special sleeve designed by Wes Freed as well as a download card.

DBT will be releasing a series of Go-Go Boots episodes directed by Patterson Hood and Jason Thrasher.  As a preview to the episodes they’ve released a video for Used To Be a Cop.

The band will kick off a month long tour in Europe this week and will end the year with a bang playing New Year’s Eve in New York city at Terminal 5. The Go-Go Boots tour will be announced soon.

Happy Birthday Gram Parsons

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Gram Parsons probably had more to do with the current state of Americana music that any one individual. Like another Americana great Townes Van Zandt, Gram was a child of privilege that chose not to take the easy path and instead blase their own trail. Also like Van Zand this path were often pitted with emotional turmoil and addiction that seemed to just fuel the creative fire. Two of my favorite Gram momnets have little do do with his own music but his influence on the lives of Emmylou Harris , whom as a single mother he plucked out of the Washington DC folk music circuit to work on some duet work on his upcoming release recorded in LA. The other instance is his influence in Keith Richard during, what I consider, the Rolling Stones most fruitful period. I think it’s commonly agreed if not for Gram there would be no Wild Horses or Dead Flowers.

Even in death Parson’s path was, to use an overused and little understood word, epic and . A promise with his road manager led to his body being diverted from the Los Angeles International Airport where it was on its way to Louisiana to be placed in his estranged families burial plot, and driven into California’s Joshua Tree Nation Park where he had stated he wanted his ashes scattered over Cap Rock. His road manager and a friend then attempted to cremate him by pouring five gallons of gasoline and a lti match tossed inside the open coffin. As I said, epic.

These are my favorite Gram moments. Leave yours below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cmUWNO_YSs[/youtube]

News Round Up: Charlie Louvin Celibrates the Troops in The Battles Rage On

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Legendary country musician Charlie Louvin, along with his late brother Ira a member of the Louvin Brothers,  celebrates  his new studio record The Battles Rage On with an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium on release day Tuesday, November 9, 2010. The Opry can be heard on 650 WSM-AM, SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio and at opry.com.

Louvin is a veteran of the Korean War and he drew from this experience for his new record The Battles Rage On. The 12 tracks are a tribute to the thousands of men and women in service. Special guests on The Battles Rage On include fellow lauded country/bluegrass stars Del McCoury and Jamie Dailey.The Battles Rage On will be released worldwide digitally and in stores on November 9, 2010 on True North Records.

Charlie Louvin (83) had surgery for stage 2 pancreatic cancer last summer. Hi last album was an homage to the granddaddy of Americana music Gram Parsons titled Hickory Wind: Live at the Gram Parsons Guitar Pull Waycross, GA.  Recorded during the 2009 Pull in Parsons’ hometown of Waycross, Georgia, which served as Louvin’s tip of his hat to an old fan.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me-HIad4xpw[/youtube]