Twang Nation – The Best In Americana Music
Americana & Roots Music & Culture
Yahoo! Music has an exclusive in-studio performance of West Texas ex-rodeo cowboy Ryan Bingham performing “Southside of Heaven†and a video interview.(via 9513)
Ryan Bingham – Southside Of HeavenÂ
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjtdByC1_lM[/youtube]
In the South we sometimes forget about our kindred spirits way up North. Alaskans have many of the same qualities as Southerners. A strong sense of independence, a yearning for wide open spaces and a tendency to raise hell when the opportunity arises and a deep appreciation of American Southern musical heritage.
Straight outta Anchorage The Whipsaws sound like they could be from anywhere South of the Mason-Dixon instead of a few thousand miles to the North where for the past five years, they have traveled the vast isolated miles playing smoke-filled saloons and paying their dues on cold winter nights cultivating a uniquely Alaskan brand of country-rock.
Cribbing from the best that Southern rock offers – Neil Young, The Band, The Allman Brothers and Uncle Tupelo, singer/songwriter/guitarist Evan Phillips, bassist Ivan Molesky, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Aaron Benolkin and drummer James Dommek, Jr. blend melodies, harmonies and sonic blasts in measures that make each song inspired with passion and not merely the aping of past glory.
The Whipsaws first full-length since their 2006 debut,Ten Day Bender, which reached #133 on the AMA chart, #28 on the Roots Music Report for Roots Rock, and debuting at #12 on the Euro Americana chart., 60 Watt Avenue carries the saound forward and has all their wares on display in fine form. The title track busts out big and then settles into a smooth vibe with crying bottle-neck guitar and Dommek’s clockwork drum work. As the song concludes Phillips screams out “I believe in rock and roll!” the band has left you no doubt that the sentiment is true.
Jesse Jane is a rollicking shuffle about wayward, boozy love that may or may not be about the porn star. The lonesome steel and fiddle laced Coming Home hearkens back to Uncle Tupelo’s Anodyne and Stick Around a love song with an askew melody that sound like it was written with a bottle a bottle of whiskey and a piano with the excellent “There are mysteries that surround you, that I don’t want to solve.” chorus of surrendering to ambiguity.
High Tide brings us to Allman Brothers wide-open road song terrain with a story of small-town woes featuring some great harmonica work. Lonesome Joe is a banjo and steel driven narrative of sage advice and life lessons from a Harley riding vet that is forged with beauty and sorrow. And The War continues the Allman-tinged aesthetic protest song that carries on the fine folk/country tradition of telling small stories to make a big point about humanity. Sinferno and Bar Scar blistering barroom brawlers right out of the hard-rock boogie Lynyrd Skynyrd playbook.
The band addresses one of their influences directly by covering Buffalo Springfield’s Mr. Soul – which was originally a great reworking of “(Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” the cover proves to be a worthy addition scorching wah-pedal leads sure to make Neil Young smile. Ode To Shakey is a moody analogue textured piece with a sloppy-jammed up lead that could have been lifted from a Mr. Young sound check. Seven Long Years is a dobro and harmonica blended gospel tune about temperance and redemption which features New West’s Tom Easton.
The Whipsaws can comfortably take their rightful place among current Southern Rock standard bearers like The Drive By Truckers and Alabama’s Caddle as they blaze a trail into the sunset.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKB55wKeBJ0[/youtube]
Austin’s Yard Dog Gallery will host a showing by El Paso resident and renowned singer/songwriter and painter, Tom Russell.
The majority of the paintings in the show pay tribute to a group of jazz musicians from Juarez, Mexico. They were premier musicians who played in the top night spots of Juarez in its heyday, even backed Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee, but lost their lives when their bus went off a cliff in 1953.
Opening reception is Friday February 15th 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Tom will play a few songs at the opening. Afterward, he will be playing at the Cactus Café.
Yard Dog
1510 S Congress Ave
Austin, TX 78704
512.912.1613
The 15th annual Johnstown Folkfest, August 29-31 in Johnstown, PA, has released their featured line-up.
Del Castillo, Tom Russell, Webb Wilder & The Beatnecks, Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers, Shannon Whitworth (former of the Biscuit Burners), Big Sam’s Funky Nation (formerly trombonist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band), Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-Fonics, Barrence Whitfield, Stacie Collins, Amy LaVere, Dallas Wayne, and Farmer Jason (Ringenberg, in his children’s musician mode).
Speaking of Jason Ringenberg, this years Folkfest will feature the first performance by Jason & The Scorchers outside of Nashville in five years.
Sure most genres deal with topic of love but few can work all the angles like country and roots music. Courting, marriage, sex, cheating, fighting, break-ups, shooting, disposing of bodies… it’s all there in all its heart-wrenching glory.
Some old, some new, all guaranteed to get to you some when mixed with tequila and memories.
I’m sure I let some beauties sip so feel free to add your own.
1. He Stopped Loving Her Today – George Jones
2. I Walk The Line – Johnny Cash
3. Angel Flying Too Close the Ground – Willie Nelson
4. Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain – Willie Nelson
5. Always On My Mind – Willie Nelson
6. Valentine’s Day – Steve Earle
7. Still I Long For Kiss – Lucinda Williams
8. Marry Me – Drive By Truckers
9. Arlington – Ridley Bent
10. Dale Watson – Every Song I Write For You
11. Before The Next Teardrop Falls – Freddy Fender
12. Behind Closed Doors – Charlie Rich
13. Oh My Sweet Carolina – Ryan Adams
14. Carrying Your Love With Me – George Strait
15. Cowboy Take Me Away – Dixie Chicks
16. Crazy – Patsy Cline
17. Gentle on My Mind – Glen Campbell
18. Lovin You Against My Will – Gary Allan
19. Golden Ring – George Jones and Tammy Wynette
20. He’ll Have To Go – Jim Reeves
21. Hello Darlin – Conway Twitty
22. Melissa – Allman Brothers Band
23. Hello Walls – Faron Young
24. Help Me Make It Through the Night – Sammi Smith
25. I Cross My Heart – George Strait
26. Kiss An Angel Good Mornin’ – Charley Pride
27. It Only Hurts When I Cry – Dwight Yoakam
28. Please Break My Heart – Thad Cockrell and Caitlin Cary
29. Lovesick Blues – Hank Williams
30. I’m So Lonesome, I Could Cry – Hank Williams
The Grammys are like a championship dog show. The awards go the the best behaved, the best bred to exacting standards and not to the the idiosyncratic mutt. Okay, sometimes there is the occasional gnarly crossbreed – The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day – but not until long after they’ve lost their edge or if an artists sales are so large there really is no risk in putting them on the carpet. Personally, I use it as a check list of music to avoid.
Country/Roots/Americana (hereafter referred to as C/R/A) is the unwashed cousin of the show. With a longer pedigree that metal or rap C/R/A always lurks on the perimeters of the ceremony even though much of the music being celebrated would exist without those roots.
Unless there is a anomaly like the million-plus selling “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou” soundtrack you can bet artist like Gillian Welch and Ralph Stanley will be sparse, And artists as brilliant and groundbreaking as the Drive By Truckers and the Avett Brothers, well there;s a saying about snowball in Hell…
With the music and showcases so tightly choreographed the only drama comes from the nominees extracurricular activities (I’m looking at you Winehouse!) The show is it pull in the lowest common denominator market with the least context for musical excellence in order to sell them things from thesponsors – Delta Airlines, Google, iTunes, Starbucks, eBay, XM and Hilton. Delta – not to showcase the best music available.
All said here are my predictions for the Grammys, or my own Grammys if I ran them. I’ve taken liberties to disagree if I thought the nominees are not the best representation of the work that’s out there. that’s what having your own blog allows you, complete disregard for the powers that be.
Best New Artist – Ryan Bingham (Taylor Swift and Winehouse can kiss my ass)
Song of the Year – Jason Isbell – Dress Blues
Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album – Went with an actual nominee here. Billy Joe Shaver – Everybody’s Brother
Best Female Country Vocal Performance – Patty Griffin – Burgundy Shoes
Best Male Country Performance: I like George Strait but I’m giving this to Dale Watson for Justice For All
Best performance by a Duo or Group: Hands down, the Avett Brothers – Shame
Best country collaboration: I go with an actual nominee for this onetoo – I Need You by Tim McGraw & Faith Hill. It’s a great song and it was co-written by my uncle, Tony Lane
Best country song: I Need You by Tim McGraw & Faith Hill. See above.
Best country album: This is easy, Dale Watson for From the Cradle to the Grave.
Now bring on the dogs….
Originally released in 1961 as Five Minutes to Live, this low-budget crime drama was later re-released as Door-to-Door Maniac. It’s a bit cheesy but is worth watching for Johnny Cash’s performance as a sadistic hit-man. The entire movie is on YouTube and is cut into 8 segments.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IkcXWC43C0[/youtube]
A previously unreleased and unknown recording of Bob Wills has been discovered by a fan and former musician is available for purchase on bobwills.com.
From takecountryback.com:
An unknown recording of Western Swing legend Bob Wills has been discovered that has never been released to the public. Austin resident Dwight Adair, owner of www.bobwills.com learned of the recording’s existence through an email message sent to him by a Bob Wills fan and former musician Gary Frietag of Florida. Mr. Frietag revealed to Mr. Adair that the recording was made on a reel-to-reel tape deck by a musician friend, Ray Riggs, also of Florida. Mr. Riggs made the recording in a hotel in Fresno, California, in 1949/50 when Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys were appearing there. Mr. Riggs has kept the tape recording, for all these years, hoping to find the appropriate person(s) or organization to which he could entrust the recording for posterity.
Mr. Riggs states, “I tried to contact the Wills estate but never heard back from them. So I just kept it, hoping that someday it would see the light of day.â€
It’s been over fifty years since the recording was made.
“I was dumbfounded when I learned of the recording,†Mr. Adair says. “To think this recording has existed all these years and has never been released is absolutely amazing.â€