Twang Nation – The Best In Americana Music
Americana & Roots Music & Culture
Ray Wylie Hubbard is one of my country music heroes and he’s one funny son of a bitch! Here Hubbard tells about the inspiration behind his classic song “Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother”. This was filmed at Jerry Jeff Walker’s Birthday Bash at the Paramount Theater in Downtown Austin Texas. You can see Jerry Jeff laughing behind him. Classic!
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=E24C4NY0ga8[/youtube]
Do yourself a favor next Saturday (1/19) and head over the Baggot Inn and catch Marc Silver and the Stonethrowers serve up their potent brand of urban bluegrass. Get on down to the East side, hoist a pint with Marc and the boys. The show starts at 9:45.
Baggot Inn – 82 W 3rd St (bet Sullivan & Thompson), Greenwich Village, NYC 212-477-0622
The fine folks at the 9513 have done a fine job of reviewing the new Willie Nelson cut “Gravedigger” from Willie’s forthcoming release “Moment of Forever” (Lost Highway – January 22nd) and I have to admit though a Dave Mathews penned and Kenny Chesney produced song doesn’t look promising to me on paper, I’ll be damned if the Texas Yoda doesn’t pull it off!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDgoHBxEJro[/youtube]
So I’m standing in line at the Starbucks near my work (yes, I do need a day job to supplement by blog) and as I’m in front of the register making small talk with the lady (making fun of all the “soy-half-caf-dry-upside-down” doofus’) and I see a DVD/CD combo entitled “The Best of the Johnny Cash Show.” Now the cover is different from the one I’ve seen on the notoriously difficult to find version (at least difficult to find in Manhattan, where all the store are sold out. No country music fans in New York? HA!) so I’m a little suspicious, but I’ve had a hard time finding the other version and it was the last one, so I snatched it up with my Grande of the day.
The Starbucks version has only one DVD where the Sony Columbia Legacy has two. So, the Starbucks version omits some pretty tasty bits like Creedence Clearwater Revival playing “Bad Moon Rising” and Waylon Jennings doing “Only Daddy That’ll Walk The Line” and “The Singing Star’s Queen” with Johnny (Waylon’s “Brown Eyed Handsome Man” did make the SB cut.) But the Starbucks version does come with CD containing some performances not found on the original DVD. Brenda Lee doing “Johnny One Time” and Johnny Cash, The Carter Family and The Statler Brothers doing “Belshazzar” are some highlights. Alas, the Starbucks version comes in a cheapo snap-case with no liner notes and I haven’t watched the DVD yet, so i don’t know if there are any interviews or features left out, but if you like me and finding it hard to find the original and want a CD of some of the selections, the Starbucks version is a nice make-due while waiting on the other to arrive in the mail.
James McMurtry is one of my favorite performers and I’m really looking forward to this release!
AUSTIN, Texas — Lightning Rod Records will release singer/songwriter James McMurtry’s new CD, titled Just Us Kids, on April 15, 2008. McMurtry’s ninth album, which features 12 new songs, is a follow-up to 2005’s critically acclaimed and award-winning project, Childish Things.
McMurtry has long been known as fine storyteller, but he has lately received nationwide attention for his role as a musical activist. On Just Us Kids, McMurtry picks up where he left off with his controversial anthem “We Can’t Make It Here.†On “Cheney’s Toy,” McMurtry once again reminds us that the war in Iraq is still going on, with veiled references to Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and the stark image of a soldier who returned from the conflict, blind and brain damaged. The lyrics of “God Bless America†call out the corporate profiteering and cronyism of the heads of state who led the country to war. McMurtry’s songs introduce the listener to characters that exist on the fringes of society. Drug addicts, murderers, crooked politicians, and other unsavory folks all play a part on Just Us Kids.
The self-produced album shows that McMurtry has developed a skill as producer that matches his songcraft. The songs on Just Us Kids vary widely in texture and instrumentation. The Faces’ Ian McLagan’s piano playing is all over the album while Timbuk3’s pat mAcdonald’s harmonica peppers several tracks. Austin singer/songwriter John Dee Graham contributes a wailing guitar solo to “Fireline Road.†Grammy-nominated Louisiana rocker, C.C. Adcock, adds a swampy guitar part to the album opener, “Bayou Tortous.†The rhythm section is McMurtry’s longtime road band, Daren Hess and Ronnie Johnson.
Just Us Kids will be the first release for Nashville-based Lightning Rod Records, distributed by Thirty Tigers/RED. Label president Logan Rogers previously worked as director of A&R for Compadre Records on the release of McMurtry’s last two albums. “Working with James McMurtry has been a career highlight for me. He is a phenomenal artist with tremendous integrity, and I can think of no better debut release for Lightning Rod Records,†said Rogers.
Author Stephen King described Ft. Worth native McMurtry as “the truest, fiercest songwriter of his generation†in Entertainment Weekly. The son of acclaimed author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment), James grew up on a steady diet of Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff records. His first album, released in 1989, was produced by John Mellencamp and marked the beginning of a series of acclaimed projects for Columbia and Sugar Hill. In 2003, McMurtry released the universally lauded Live in Aught-Three (Compadre Records). 2005’s Childish Things garnered some of the highest critical praise of McMurtry’s career and spent six weeks at number one on R&R’s Americana Music Radio Chart in 2005 and 2006. In September 2006, Childish Things and “We Can’t Make It Here” won the Americana Music Awards for album and song of the year, respectively.
In 2007, McMurtry performed on PBS’ long running music program, “Austin City Limits,†for the second time in his career. This year, McMurtry and his band will launch a national tour in support of Just Us Kids.
Willie Nelson joined his big sister and the rest of the family band on a two-night stand at the House of Blues in New Orleans as they begin their typically daunting tour schedule, playing two weeks a month from now through Thanksgiving 2008.
Bobbie Nelson just recently released her own CD “Audiobiography” (Justice Records) which traces her life back to her early years in Abbott, Texas when she and Willie would play at thier home for family and playing solo gigs in piano bars, supper clubs and hotels.
Mississippi native and Country music legend Charley Pride will receive a lifetime achievement award at the 2008 Mississippi Gov.’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts on Feb. 8.
The annual awards honor individuals and organizations for outstanding work in visual, literary and performing arts, community development through the arts, and arts patronage.
“The Mississippi Arts Commission together with the Gov.’s Office, is honored to celebrate this incredible group of artists, arts patrons and arts-based institutions. This year we had approximately fifty nominations, which made the selection process very difficult for the judges,” commission director Malcolm White said Wednesday in a statement.
Other 2008 recipients are Natasha Trethewey of Gulfport, for literary excellence; Lallah Miles Perry of Jackson, for artistic excellence; Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson for Leadership in the Arts; Emma McCain of Meridian, for arts patron.
Pride, born in Sledge, Miss., has sold more than 70 million records in his career. He is best known for his million-selling crossover single “Kiss an Angel Good Morning” recorded in 1971. The song earned Pride the Country Music Association’s Top Male Vocalist and the prestigious Entertainer of the Year awards in 1972.
The only artist to sell more albums at RCA Records is fellow Mississippian Elvis Presley.
Charley Pride – All I Have To Offer You Is Me
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5x1TASCcN4[/youtube]