Category Archives: Americana

Record Review – Spindrift: The Legend Of God’s Gun (Tee Pee Records)

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If you’re a fan of Sergio Leone’s Italiano decomposition of American West mythology and its Ennio Morricone heat-induced sound-scapes accompaniment  then Spindrift’s new release The Legend Of God’s Gun (July 21st -  Tee Pee Records) might be up your shot of mescal.

I haven’t seen the movie that this record soundtracks and probably wouldn’t have to to get the gist. Lone gunman enters a lawless town of frontier anarchy,  blood and whiskey spills in copious quantities, sexy senorita will betray and be dispatched, roll credits. To fill in the details there are narrations of a “land untamed and riddled with lust, greed, debauchery and bullet holes” and “Speak up you rusted .45,  How many can you name that you faced and left to die.” Nice!

There are the aforementioned Morricone-esque nervy spaghetti Westerns serenades (In the Beginning, Titoli, Speak to the Wind), heat-shimmering reverberated art rock (The New West, Speak to the Wind, Burn the Church, Blessing the Bullets) and even quasi-electronica (The Scorpions  Venom) and ending with the warpath horse-gallop of Indian Run .

Now I have to see the movie and hope it’s half as entertaining as Spindrift’s soundtrack.

MySpace | Official Site | Buy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYWaoOlea9I[/youtube]

RIP Stephen Bruton

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  • The fine folks at the 9513 brought to my attention the sorry news that Kris Kristofferson’s longtime guitarist Stephen Bruton has succumbed to throat cancer.
  • Country music legends Charley Pride and Marty Stuart and bluesman Pinetop Perkins will headline the third annual Mississippi Grammy gala.
  • Recycle your cell phones to support Nuci’s Space and get free merch coupons from the Drive-By Truckers official Store!
  • The New York Times has a piece on Steve Earle and his course in recording his trubute to his mentor Texas singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt.

First Ever No Depression Festival Lineup Announcement

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The news of No Depression’s death have been  greatly exaggerated. In the wake of their widely successful community website the purveyors of all things Americana/roots/alt.country will hold the first ever (that’s hard to believe) all-day festival Featuring Patterson Hood & The Screwtopians, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Seattle Roots-Music All-Star Revue, and Zee Avi. The festivities take place Saturday, July 11 at Marymoor Park, Redmond, WA.

Tickets, $45.00 (not including applicable fees), are on sale Friday, May 15th at noon at all Ticketmaster outlets.

Poodies Locke Tributes, Jeff Tweedy Sued

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  • Jay Bennett, a former Wilco member, is suing band leader Jeff Tweedy in Cook County Circuit Court, claiming Tweedy owes him money from the band’s 2002 documentary and royalties on songs written during Bennett’s seven years with the group.

William Elliott Whitmore made a stop on the Jools Holland Show in England to perform Old Devils.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVJXa19w3W4[/youtube]

Is Bob Dylan is an Honorary Texan?

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I think all those Stetson’s have gone to Bob Dylan’s head (badda boom!) In the current issue of Rolling Stone Bob Dylan, a Minnesotan, says that President George Bush, a Connecticutian…er born in Connecticut, bestowed on him the title of “Honorary Texan.” From the article:

“I think you really have to be a Texan to appreciate the vastness of it and the emptiness of it,” Dylan says. “But I’m an honorary Texan.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Well,” he says, “George Bush, when he was governor, gave me a proclamation that says I’m an honorary Texan [holds hand up in pledge, laughs]. As if anybody needed proof. It’s no small thing. I take it as a high honor. ”

Could it be that in some bizarro singer/songwriter world Steve Earle now lives on the street in Greenwich Village where the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was taken and now Dylan wants to be a Texan?

No Depression Debuts First Live Chat with Justin Townes Earle

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If your part of the No Depression community (and if you’re not and your at this site more that 5 minutes then you ought to be) then you know that chat function on the bottom panel if the online equivalent of Siberia. Well no more friends.

On May 17th (2pm Pacific) that all changes as No Depression hosts its  first live chat with Justin Townes Earle. So tune in and dial up and make the first ND chat session a great one.

Austin Children’s Shelter Fundraiser

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(from Gallywinter) The Austin Children’s Shelter will be holding a concert to raise some much needed funds. The shelter is an emergency safe haven for children who are removed from their homes due to life-threatening abuse or neglect.

The line up is Josh Abbott Band, Brian Burke Band, Curtis Grimes Band.

Ace’s Lounge on 6th Street in Austin, TX
Monday,May 11th 9:00pm
$10 at the door

Record Review – Sometymes Why – Your Heart Is a Glorious Machine (Signature Sounds)

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Formed sometime (sometyme?) around 2005 Sometymes Why (not to be confused with the Canadian alt.rock band, and better spellers, Sometimes Why) – Kristin Andreassen (vocals, harmonica, guitar, glockenspiel, tambourine), Aoife O’Donovan (voice, baritone ukulele, Wurlitzer, piano, guitar, soprano ukulele, glockenspiel) and Ruth Ungar Merenda (voice, fiddle, soprano ukulele, guitar, baritone ukulele, glockenspiel) – work territory currently being staked out by Uncle Earle, The Waifs, the currently on hiatus Nickel Creek and also in the hushed-delivery styling the Cowboy Junkies’ Margot Timmons.

Less sawdust-covered floors and canned beer and more tasteful rugs crafted by indigenous peoples and a nice Chablis, the folky-Americana sound of Sometymes Why displays a DIY aesthetic of making music they feel in their soul. The sound and production (a la José Ayerve) is warm and even a cover of Concrete Blonde’s Joey works well (and I’m not a fan of the original.)

The blessing and curse of the Americana genre is that the tent tends to be so big that it’s hard to pin down what it is but that is only a result of contemporary marketing trickery. Many of those various musical strains share a common ancestry of American immigrants and many are reflected and synthesized here to great effect. At 35 minutes Your Heart Is a Glorious Machine is a brief example of what it’s like when the cutting edge is both brave and beatific.

Official Site | Buy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggk_u3t6V6I&feature=related[/youtube]

Record Review – Betse Ellis Don’t You Want to Go? – Free Dirt Records

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Fiddle fans prepare for a diaper change. Betse Elles first solo outing is a humdinger, yeah you heard me. My dinger was hummed….

Ms. Elles, best known as fiddler and vocalist Kansas City MO. roots band The Wilders, and Don’t You Want To Go is here first solo outing and it shows a level of skill and bravado only within reach of an accomplished musician. The type of musicians that can move between genres with grace…sometimes within the same song, and make it all cohesive and shimmer with beauty. Old time Ozark mountain music, smokey-hussy blues, classical…all here and seamless.

White River is  a traditional Ozark fiddle piece that would nicely set the mood for a Kenneth Burns sepia-soaked documentary. The traditional ode to that “The Steel Driving Man” John Henry is an impassioned voice and fiddle piece that swerves and dives at you like a jay bird. Run is a Elles original instrumental that you can imagine sparks flying off the gut strings and Looking The World Over is a Memphis Minnie sourced pout-and-swagger blues wailer that is unfortunately void of any fiddle (!). Bear Creek Sally Goodin‘ makes up for the lack of fsawin‘ in the previous piece by taking me back into the Mountains for some stompin‘ and some ‘shine. Another Night is and original Elles alt.folk piece that sounds like it could have been written for Cat Powers.

The rustic vibe is broken with Jean Gabriel Marie composition La Cinquantaine and we are taken to the  drawing room for some tasteful chamber music,chamber but then we are shooed out the back and into a barn dance with the taditional Walk Along John.

This a fine solo outing for an already accomplished musician. Let’s hope it’s not the last.

MySpace | Buy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0nIF_fXZFk[/youtube]