Ha Ha Tonka is a great new band from Springfield MO. newly signed to the mighty Bloodshot Records. Their album Buckle in the Bible Belt is available now.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8rdHuqYBJQ[/youtube]
Category Archives: alt.country
Steve Earle Speaks on Music and Activism
Texas expat and roots rock legend will take time from promoting his latest album, Washington Square Serenade (9/25) and shooting HBO’s The Wire, where he stretched and portrays an ex-junkie, and heads uptown from his Greenwich Village residence (near where Bob Dylan’s Freewheeling cover photo was taken) to drop into the 92nd Street Y (1395 Lexington Avenue @ 92nd Street New York, NY) on October 9th and take a spin class….er I mean talk with music journalist Anthony DeCurtis about, what else, music and activism (tickets).
Earle joins a roster of politically active artists who have appeared at the Y including Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Tony Kushner and Alec Baldwin(!).The event probably won’t be as interesting (or contentious) as it might be if he held it in Lubbock Texas, but whether you agree with him or revile him, Steve Earle is anything but uninformed
Earle will also appear in concert at Town Hall on September 26 and also hosts a weekly radio show, Hardcore Troubadour Radio, on Sirius Satellite Radio.
Poco Drummer Fundraiser
George Grantham, drummer, vocalist and founding member of the seminal 70’s West Coast country-rock band Poco (“Crazy Love,” “Heart of the Night”), recently suffered a severe stroke. The stroke took him off the road permanently–making him incapable of enjoying or continuing his music career.
John McEuen from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Timothy Schmit, Kentucky Headhunters, Scotty Moore, Steve Wariner, DJ Fontana, Don Henley, Richie Furay, Chris Hillman, Graham Nash, the band Orleans ands others have all joined Grantham’s daughter Gracie to begin a campaign Putting Heads Together to raise money for her father by contributing items for an eBay auction and to establish a fund to pay for George’s medical and living expenses.
For the latest news, to donate cash, something to sell or want to buy something from the auction visit the Putting Heads Together site.
“It Burns When I Pee” – Episode #0006 – Get Your Hank On!
“It Burns When I Pee” displays their fine upbringing by dedicating their episode #0006 to an 84th year birthday tribute to the legend Hiram “Hank” King Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953).
The episode features such great interview with Beth Birtley from the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. IBWIP also plays some of Hank’s song preformed by the likes of Joey Allcorn, Hank III, Andy Norman, Hank Cash, and Jake
Penrod and by Hank the the man himself. They also feature Jared Morningstar on the show and he will be reading an essay he wrote about the late great Hank Williams.
Head over to the Section 86 store for all your “It Burns When I Pee” merch.
Hank Williams Sr.- Honky Tonk Blues
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af9bbRTFPUY[/youtube]
CMA / AMA Best Artists – My View
So the Country Music Association and the Americana Music Association have recently released their nominees list for their respective awards and in an attempt to figure what passes for country music nowadays and what the heck “Americana” means I am going to compare a category they share…sort of.
CMA Entertainer of the Year
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Rascal Flatts
George Strait
Keith Urban
CMA Male Vocalist of the Year
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
George Strait
Josh Turner
Keith Urban
CMA Female Vocalist of the Year
Alison Krauss
Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire
Carrie Underwood
AMA Artist of the Year
Joe Ely
Lucinda Williams
Patty Griffin
Todd Snider
Being good, progressive minded folk the Americana place the boys and the girls in one “artist” category. The CMA naturally plays it like a broken record with Chesney and Rascal Flatts nominated for the millionth time. I have a question, to qualify for EOTY shouldn’t you be entertaining? And I don’t mean in a comedic sense. And what is the difference between “Entertainer of the year” and Vocalist of the year” I mean all the nominees are vocalists,that’s what they do to entertain, sing. Is the CMA rewarding acrobatics, ripped biceps and hair gel as a separate category?
I like George Strait and think his 07 release “It Just Comes Natural” is good but not great. I like Brad Paisley somewhat but think he’s choosing the corn-ball and schmaltz cuts that are beneath him and his fine guitar playing to chase the dollar. I think Miranda Lambert is the best thing to happen to country in a long time and she has the good sense to cover excellent songwriters like Gillian Welsh. Alison Krauss is the one crossover artist here but she had to soften her bluegrass roots and get a make-over to get acceptance by the CMA crowd. Britney 2…er..I mean Carrie Underwood has the pipes but not the soul or courage to be interseting.
Joe Ely is a Texas legend and should when in any category he’s in. And even though I love Lucinda, I think “West” was a weak effort and shows that moving to L.A. will kill even a dignified soul.
I will use the CMA boy/girl dichotomy and ignore the useless EOTY category and play nice and not add other deserving artists like Elizabeth Cook and Wayne Hancock into the mix, and say:
Male Artist of the Year: Joe Ely
Female Artist of the Year: Miranda Lambert
Townes Van Zandt To Be Presented with AMA President’s Award
Texas singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt will be remembered with the President’s Award by the Americana Music Association during their annual awards show on Nov. 1 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The award will be accepted by Van Zandt’s friend, songwriter Guy Clark, who will perform one of Van Zandt’s songs in tribute. Emmylou Harris, who recorded Van Zandt’s “If I Needed You” and “Pancho and Lefty,” has also been added to the list of performers for the awards show. The Hacienda Brothers, Elizabeth Cook, the Avett Brothers and Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby will also perform.
Bobby Bare Jr. Tour News
Coming off summer tour dates with The Slip and gearing up for a fall tour supporting Lucero, post-punk-alt.country innovator and Andre The Giant look-alike Bobby Bare Jr will be performing a special daytime Musicfest NW show today with members of the Decemberists appearing as his backing band! Bobby and his crack pickup band will support Cat Power at a special daytime Musicfest NW show. Touring in support of The Longest Meow, his critically acclaimed album on Bloodshot Records, Bare Jr also announces a special reunion of his crack band in previous years, Bare, Jr, which takes place on November 23rd at The Exit in Nashville, TN.
New York Concert Calender Part Deux
Hank III Interview at KNAC.COM
Hank Williams III took time from the road to talk to KNAC.COM about his new CD, “Damn Right and Rebel Proud” (Curb – early 2008 release) his early inspirations, his country royalty legacyand the sorry state of Nashville.
KNAC.COM: Don’t you think there are still plenty of people out there who don’t have the two-story house and the car payment and botoxed wife? I mean, there are still people who live on the edge, don’t you think? Day to day with a lot of obstacles who just do what they do to get by?
HANK III: Yep. Right. The lawyers outsmarted all the musicians in Nashville, and that’s when it totally changed. We just do what we do. I’m going through the same fuckin’ bullshit on the new record that I just turned in. “There’s no country song for radio on here.†Well, it’s not my fuckin’ fault that I’m too country for radio or that my topics aren’t pristine or picture perfect. I just stick to my guns. “This is my record. These are my songs. If it’s not good enough for radio, that’s your problem—not mine. Our fans will still be here and we’ll still be doin’ what we’re doin’ with or without you, man.
KNAC.COM: This will be your fourth record though. At this point why would they expect that you had changed at all? I mean, you aren’t Rascal Flatts.
HANK III: I guess it’s just like the same reason Creative Artist Agency let me go eight months ago. They were like, “Are you gonna take the next step and go to the next level?†I’m like, “I’m gonna keep playing the bars—they’ve been supporting me since day one. If you have a couple of big shows, I’ll open for a band if the situation is right, but I’m not gonna say “Fuck y’all, see ya later!†to the bars that have kept us alive.†They fired me. I guess it’s the same mentality at the record label that I have to deal with now. Maybe they figure, “Hank’s getting older now—maybe he’s got this rebellious bullshit out of his system and do it our way.†Thank God that I’ve got a good manager and a good lawyer who believes in what I do.
Hank Williams III – Dick In Dixie
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC-ZFUC9R-U[/youtube]
Shooter Jennings to Release First Single From the Wolf – Walk of Life
Singer/songwriter and heir to the outlaw tradition Shooter Jennings will introduce the lead single from his third studio album, The Wolf (9/17), a cover of the Dire Straits cut “Walk of Life.”
Now I like Dire Straits, especially “Sultans of Swing”, but “Walk of Life” always seemed pretty lightweight and silly to me.
Jennings says “I’ve loved this song since I was a kid, but when I actually read the lyrics, I was fascinated by the line ‘he do the song about the sweet lovin‘ woman, he do the song about the knife,’ because it’s a struggle that I can relate to as a musician,” explains Jennings. “Hopefully this song will make people let their guards down, and it will open the door to the rest of the album. Then the more personal songs I wrote will speak for themselves.”
Okay I’ll hold all judgement until I hear it for myself.
Jennings also wrote nine of the 13 tracks for The Wolf, produced by Dave Cobb, including the autobiographical country blues tinged title cut, as well as “Slow Train” featuring guest vocals by iconic country music group The Oak Ridge Boys and the tribute to best friends everywhere, “Old Friend.”
Jennigs says “Dave and I were able to live out some of our musical fantasies with this album, which includes horn sections, and some of the Grand Ole Opry background singers,” added Jennings “It’s a country album that shows my influences from guys like Hank Jr. and my dad, and a lot of the country from the 70’s and 80’s. We also got a cool drum sound for the whole record that almost has a disco sound to it, as strange as that may sound. I think my fans are really going to dig it.”