Scott H. Biram – New Years Eve – Emo’s, Austin TX.

Want to bring in the New Year on a real low-down and rowdy note? Then your best bet in the Austin, TX area is to head over to Emo’s New Years Eve to catch the Dirty One-Man Band with 9-lives Scott H. Biram. Flame Trick Subs and Hotrod Hillbillies Support.

Tickets available at Waterloo records.

Best Releases of 2007

Music sales are down in most genres but the Americana and roots sales look strong for 2007. The labels still sue fans, bitch and whine about online piracy which is only half of the story. The other half is the cultivation of mediocre talent that produces “music” with the shelf life of nachos. If you look at the mainstream Country music field it’s as if we are in the 70’s and all we have is the Monkees or the Bay City Rollers and there were no Hendrix or Dylan to balance it all out.

Luckily there’s the borderland of Americana and roots music that brings creativity, diversity as well as a respect for history and a calculated abandonment for rules in equal amounts. Americana is the genetic mutation that makes the musical breed heartier, healthier and more of a mutt.

2007 brought in some great new talent and allowed a legend to bid a proper goodbye. All picks are my own and reflect my taste and bias in all it’s wondrous white-bred glory. Now on with the list…

10. Southern Culture On The Skids – “Countrypolitan Favorites” – Featuring 15 tunes typically associated with other artists SCOTS burns a hole through their hillbilly shtick to show the exceptional band they really are. SCOTS deliver the Kinks “Muswell Hillbilly,” T. Rex’s “Life’s a Gas,” and the Byrds‘ “Have You Seen Her Face” with respect and passion and the cover of George Jones’ ode to the joys of wife swapping, “Let’s Invite Them Over” is a classic reinterpretation on an old infamous chestnut. This release is a country-fried delight!

9. Ridley Bent – “Buckles and Boots” – Canadian hick-hop gone country traditionalist Ridley Bent came out of left field for me. I was aware of his fellow countryman and partner in rhyme (rap humor, heh!) Buck 65 but had not heard of the Halifax born, Alberta bred singer/songwriter blends the right amount of Bakersfield and Texas outlaw to tell clever stories for the head and the heart.

8. Jason Isbell – “Sirens of the Ditch” – Riding with the Drive By Truckers during their move from the country-rock fringes into what amounts to as close to mainstream success, Jason Isbell decided to take his own path. Many of the catchiest and heartfelt songs on recent DBT releases have been Isbell penned, Outfit, Dank/Manuel and the classic Decoration Day. It then comes as no surprise that Isbell carried through that keen-eyed and passion onto his solo debut and features DBT bassist Shonna Tucker, drummer Brad Morgan, and DBT founder/front man Patterson Hood, who also co-produced this release on almost every track.

7. Robert Plant / Alison Krause – “Raising Sand” – When I got word that Robert Plant was kicking around Nashville and working with bluegrass chanteuse and John Wait duet partner Alison Krauss I met the news with trepidation and dread. Would Plant approach American roots music with the historical revisionism Led Zeppelin brought to Delta blues or would it be a gilded palace of cheese? Happily Plant channels the spirit of the hills and prairies and let’s the crystal voiced Krauss set the tone for the surprisingly wonderful release.

6. Th Legendary Shack Shakers – “Swampblood” – Still one of the best live bands crisscrossing America today, Th Legendary Shack Shakers last installment of their “Tentshow Trilogy” has the band going all out with Pentecostal ferver and Dixie-core abandon. Most American genres from the past century are poured into a grinder and rendered into a frantically dark-Gothic elixir for the restless soul.

5. John Fogerty – “Revival” – A boy born in the Bay Area (not on the bayou) certainly earned his roots cred wailing his backwoods caterwaul fronting Credence Clearwater Revival. As the title makes apparent, “Revival” harkens back to the CCR days more then any other Fogerty solo work (due mostly to litigious reasons) and the man sounds more newly fired-up and impassioned, comfortable as a well-worn flannel shirt, and shows Fogerty as the roots-rock master he is.

4. Kelly Willis – “Translated From Love” – Somewhere between Americana and British pop Kelly Willis’ “Translated From Love” is a country pop masterpiece. Tight, smart hooks coupled with traditional instruments compliment Willis clear stream vocals to make this the best release for her so far.

3b. Patty Griffin – “Children Running Through” – Patty Griffin has never sounded more confident and transcends songwriting to arrive somewhere near artistic perfection.

3a. Dale Watson – “From the Cradle to the Grave” – I published this list and then it occurred to me that I had overlooked one of the best releases of the year. Maybe it was the early 2007 drop date, maybe it was the beer…whatever…so now I’m going to punt with a 3a, 3b (my blog, my rules!) Dale goes old school, old testament school, on this excellent harkening back to country troubadours of the past.

2. Ryan Bingham – “Mescalito” – Ryan Bingham sounds more ragged and rugged than his 25 years on this earth might lead you to believe. “Mescalito” is sun-soaked and West Texas dust choked and nails the right balance between outlaw country and rock and roll swagger.
This is the sound of the lonesome road, the rowdy roadhouse and the front porch in one package.

1. Porter Wagoner – “Wagonmaster” – Marty Stuart has earned a special bar stool in honky-tonk heaven for all he’s created, championed and, not least of all, helping Porter Wagoner create his finale (there’s a stool right near by for Anti records for releasing it when Nashville turned up their noses). I was lucky enough to see Marty and Porter perform in New York City just before “Wagonmaster” was released. Porter was visibly moved and humbled that the sold out show proved that even after 55 years of recording people still held the “Thin Man from the West Plains” in the highest regard. “Wagonmaster” is a crystallization of a what made Wagoner a country music legend, Puritan aesthetic, engaging storytelling of the lost and the hardscrabble. At the age of 80 Wagoner went out with honor and dignity. Unfortunately he had to look outside Nashville, in all their market-tested, plastic wisdom, to do so.

Honorable mention:

Dwight Yoakam – Dwight Sings Buck
Levon Helm – Dirt farmer
Miranda Lambert – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Joe Whyte – Devil in the Details
Pam TillisRhinestoned
Shooter Jennings – The Wolf
Avett Brothers – Emotionalism
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Joe Ely Happy – Songs From Rattlesnake Gulch
Steve Earle – Washington Square Serenade
Old Crow Medicine Show – Big Iron World
Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
Kendel Carson – Rearview Mirror Tears
Cadillac Sky – Blind Man Walking
Willie Nelson -Songbird
Betty LaVette – Scene of the Crime
Chris Knight – The Trailer Tapes
Hackensaw Boys – Look Out
Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Ray Price – Last Of The Breed
Grayson Capps – Wail & Ride
Jim Lauderdale – Bluegrass
Robbie Fulks – Revenge!
Merle Haggard – The Bluegrass Sessions

PopMatters Best of Americana 2007

Adding to their earlier list of country, pop-country  and singer-songwriter albums of 2007, PopMatters.com adds their list of 2007’s best Americana music. Or as I like to call it, the stuff that doesn’t fit the narrow country mold cast by Nashville and usually kicks that woeful genres ass. Where else could the likes of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers (who once opened for Plant on tour) and Bettye LaVette be found on the same list? Like America herself, this is a big tent. Look for Twang Nation’s list of the best of 2997 next week.

Hank Williams Fans in Montgomery, Alabama for New Years Eve.

Sometime between New Years Eve 1952 and New Years Day 1953 Hank Williams Sr, died
in the back of his new cadillac as a hired a chauffeur was taking him to a scheduled show on Canton, Ohio, on Jan. 1. The weather would not permit flying.

Every New Years Eve for the past few years the faithful from all over the world gather at the Hank Williams museum in Montgomery, Alabama, which is home to the Cadillac in which Williams died, to honor the music, legacy and life of Hiram “Hank” King Williams.

PopMatters best of 2007

The ever snarky yet entertaining music site PopMatters are dropping their “Best Of…” lists by genre and their list of 2007’s Best Country is an insightful pick of the crop. My three favorite female  country crooners of the year, Elizabeth Cook, Sunny Sweeney,  and Miranda Lambert made the list as well as some typical Nashville faire. They also take time to take some cheap shots at the Eagles (Linda Ronstadt’s old backing back reinvent itself as the oldest boy band on the planet, HA! ) which always scores points with me.

And then there’s this lyrical insight to Rascal Flatts.

It’s safe to say Rascal Flatts will never make that leap across the firewire because I really don’t see any merit in an outfit that takes ostensibly good ideas, drowns them like kittens in a syrup of glossy good taste, skins them, and then drags them out over four minutes where two-and-a-half would have been more than enough. It’s all enough to make you long for an American Idol or two.

Bless you PopMatters….bless your snarky hide!

Dolly Kicks Off Tour – Stops By Radio City Music Hall

Dolly Parton is preparing to launch a major concert tour in 2008, bringing her across the U.S. and Europe and will be performing hr many hits from throughout her extensive career — which includes seven Grammy Awards, 10 Country Music Association Awards, five Academy of Country Music Awards and three American Music Awards. See you all at Radio City!

2.28.08     Minneapolis, MN     Northrup Auditorium
2.29.08     Chicago, IL         Chicago Theater
3.03.08     Pittsburgh, PA         Benedum Center
3.05.08     Boston, MA         Opera House
3.07.08     New York, NY         Radio City Music Hall
3.09.08     Uncasville, CT         Mohegan Sun Arena
3.11.08     Fairfax, VA         Patriot Center
3.12.08     Atlanta, GA         Fox Theater
6.13.08     Stockholm, Sweden     Stockholm Stadion
6.14.08     Malmö, Sweden         Malmö Stadion
6.15.08     Viborg, Denmark     Viborg Stadion
6.17.08     Kristiandsand, Norway     Sør Arena
6.19.08     Rotterdam, Holland     Ahoy
6.22.08     Kilkenny, Ireland     Nowlan Park
6.24.08     Belfast, Northern Ireland   Odyssey Arena
6.27.08     Glasgow, Scotland     SECC
6.28.08     Manchester, England     MEN Arena
6.29.08     Glasgow, Scotland     SECC
7.01.08     Nottingham, England     Nottingham Arena
7.02.08     Birmingham, England     National Indoor Arena
7.04.08     Cardiff, Wales     Cardiff Intl. Arena
7.05.08     London, England     The O2 Arena
7.06.08     London, England     The O2 Arena

“It Burns When I Pee” – Episode 10 with Joe Buck

For some Christmas is not a snowy, candy-coated wonderland. Some folks find themselves on Christmas eve. sitting and staring at some lame stop-animation reindeer, topping off a 5 ft PBR can Christmas tree and putting the stamp on that alimony check to send off to your ex in Texas. Well friends, I got something to put the jingle back in your bells.

The 10th episode of “It Burns When I Pee” offers a talk with that merry elf-from-hell Joe Buck, from Hank III’s Damn Band, as he discusses everything from playing with a legacy legend, his time with The Legendary Shack Shakers, the sorry state of Nashville and how to bake the ideal pumpkin bread. That last one is a lie…

Christoph Mueller talks about his love of authetic country music and about some of the projects he is currently working on. Then that online Daisy-Duke Cheyenne helps stuff fans stocking with tons of great music from folks like Creech Holler, Slackeye Slim, Honky Tonk Special, Justin Otto, and lots more goodies for the tube-sock hanging over the space-burner.

I Like the Wreckers, Damn It!

I really didn’t want to like the Wreckers. On paper they’re everything I despise. Cherub-faced pop-singer (and Madonna label mate) hits a career bump and decides country music would be a wise diversion, enlists backup singer lifelong pal (Jessica Harp) to form a group, cut an album and do a cameo on One Tree Hill. ONE TREE FRIKKIN HILL?!But damn if it doesn’t work. For a pop-tart Michelle Branch has some serious singer-songwriter chops behind her, writing her first song at 14 and being single-minded about her career since then. And after several forced listenings I have to confess, I like the Wreckers.

Now Mss. Branch and Harp woo me further by releasing a recently releasing a live CD/DVD (this after one studio CD, but I will hold my tongue how superfluous this is) by recoding it at the Bowery Ballroom where I’ve spent many a beer-soaked evening abiding great music. I haven’t heard the live CD but I plan to, and if I like it I’ll review it.

I know the ladies have decided to go their separate ways, and this causes me to respect them even further for not chasing the easy money (aside from a superfluous live release that is.)

Track Listing:

1. The Good Kind
2. Love Me Like That
3. Way Back Home
4. Damn That Radio
5. Crazy People
6. Cigarettes
7. My Oh My
8. Different Truck
9. Tennessee
10. Lay Me Down
11. Leave The Pieces
12. Stand Still, Look Pretty
13. Rain

The Wreckers “Leave The Pieces (Live)”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_hVsg4m13c[/youtube]