The Avett Brothers, one of the hardest working bands in Americana music, announced today via their Facebook page that they have picked a title and release date for their next album.
Titled The Carpenter, the Avetts’ sixth album will be released on September 11 via Universal Records. Like their 2009 breakout album “I And Love And You” the album was once again produced by Rick Rubin.
So far two songs have surfaced that I presume will be on the tracklist, “The Once and Future Carpenter†(below) and “Live and Die,†which is currently streaming at NPR Music.
Look for the Avetts on the road near you this Summer and at the Austin City Limits Festival, the New Orleans’ Voodoo Experience and Florida’s Clearwater Jazz Festival in October.
Pop music has gotten a bad rap. Pop has gone from being “popular” to engineered mass appeal and style over all especially substance blotting out all pretension of song-craft or, HA! , longevity
Great songs by such luminaries as Elton John and Fleetwood Mac in the 70s and Squeeze and XTC in the 80s, took the music around them and refined it into a polished work of studio perfection. With hooks big enough to hang the moon on and wry lyrics that hinted at bigger things without mired in the ponderous, these musicians proved you could be popular and create music for the ages.
Seymour Stein knows a thing or two about this. As the cultural chaos of punks ripped through the fabric of music Stein saw pop beauty by The Ramones , Talking Heads and the Pretenders and others who he signed as co-founder of Sire Records.
Stein signed the six-piece band from North Carolina Delta Rae after a mutual friend set them up for an acoustic performance at his office. He must have been impressed as he called more people into his office to hear the band play for 45 minute audition.
Like the other bands Stein has signed, Delta Rae resonates the trends around them, in this case Americana, and amke it appealing to a larger ausince that might wince at a claw-hammer style banjo.
On “Holding On To Good” acoustic guitar and piano burst “Carry The Fire” open with such assurance it’s surprising this is a debut album. Brittany Holljes is a woman who can belt out or sing delicately as she does here with harmonies in response “In the morning…” along with her like a tide rolling in an back out. In this opening the bar is set high. “Is There Anyone Out There” follows with Brittany’s brother Ian Hölljes handling vocals (half the band are siblings with brother Eric Hölljes on vocals, guitar, piano and keys.) Like the former this song also mixes bombast with lovely hushed melody.
“Morning Comes” has a gospel soul as an acapella start and hand clap accompaniment give Eric Holljes lot of room to soar. Though nowhere near as nimble the style brings to mind Freddy Mercury and the sound of the song overall makes me think the band has been had Queen’s greatest hits on heavy play for some time.
Gospel is also the influence in my favorite track “Bottom of the River.” I like things dark and gritty and, even though the production is crisp, there’s a Southern Gothic quality in the song that is brought out in the video for the song. Big vocals of of Brittany and the band and percussion is a central instrument of the number that is accentuated in the a mid-song interlude. The darkness is also reflected in “Fire” with it’s controlled cacophony of sound and forgoing the pop elements momentarily to drive toward pure passion.
The infusion of pop in Americana is not new. Delta Rae join their contemporaries The Civil Wars, Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers in bringing a folk, country and soul hybrid to the masses. Carry the Fire joins there ranks as a great example of how pop music can also be excellently crafted and and not seemingly focused on hits. I applaud Delta Rae for this fine first release and for bringing a larger audience into the Americana fold.
Rolling Stone reported that dobro master Jerry Douglas invited a surprise NYC local, Paul Simon, onto the Times Square B.B. King Blues Club stage during his performance on Friday night. Douglas has opened up for Simon past tours and covers the Simon and Garfunkel classic The Boxer, which they performed on this night, on his new CD Traveler.
This is the only video I’ve been able to find from the event.
North Carolina’s Delta Rae is a excellent new addition to a growing pop-folk field of performers that are almost single-handedly bringing the Americana music genre into the mainstream. They join their contemporaries The Civil Wars, Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers and others embodying a branch of the Americana family tree that is attracting a significant number of fans that wouldn’t typically give twang and roots a listen. While these bands share the music on a larger stage, and bring more people into the genre tent, the soul remains intact.
Header over to my twitter page and for a chance to win a copy of their debut “Carry The Fire” and ook for a review of the album on Twang Nation soon. In the meantime you can stream the entire album over at Rolling Stone. The band has also been busy participating recently in Billboard’s “Under Cover” program by covering Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” as well as playing their single, “Bottom Of The River.”
Delta Rae will also be in LA on Tuesday celebrating the release of their album with a sold out show at the Troubadour. They’ll also be performing at the GRAMMY Museum in LA on Monday, June 18th as part of an event with Seymour Stein. They are also currently on tour and, if that wasn’t enough the band will also be performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno June 25th.
Here’s Elizabeth Cook, with husband Tim Carroll on guitar and Bones Hillman (Midnight Oil) on bass, performing a great rendition of “Hear Jerusalem Calling: from her recent Gospel =Plow EP (review here) on the David Letterman Show 6/14/12.
She even makes Dave a believer! (in great music!)
You can also see a CBS web only performance of Cook and Jason Isbell covering two songs by the late, great Townes Van Zandt, “Tecumsah Valley” and “Pancho and Lefty. As I always say, covering Townes is a brave and futile endeavor. But they pull it off more brilliantly as many I’ve heard.
Here’s to one of the saviors of country music and the pride of Littlefield, Texas, Waylon Arnold Jenning, who would have been 75 today. Be sure to check out the local cerebrations in your town, like the first annual Waylon Jennings Birthday Bash starting today to be held in Whiteface, Texas. Featuring Shooter Jennings, Whiskey Meyers, Jackson Taylor & the Sinners, William Clark Green, Rowdy Johnson Band, Jimmy Miles, Sergio and the Outta Luck Band, and Tommy Jennings. The event will benefit the Waylon Fund for Diabetes Research at TGen.
Here’s 5 of the finest from “The Hoss.” Hoist a cup and give proper respect.
“Lonesome, On’ry And Mean” on the Cowboy jack Clement’s TV show.
Willie & Waylon – “Good Hearted Woman”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNHg_dUSeMs
Travis Tritt & Waylon Jennings – “I’ve Always Been Crazy.”
Waylon Jennings & Jessi Colter – “Storm Never Last”
“A Better Place,†the second video from Glen Campbell’s critically acclaimed album “Ghost On The Canvas†has premiered. The video features a special guest appearance from Joshua Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age, Kyuss, Them Crooked Vultures), and is directed by Kii Arens and Jason Trucco.
Legendary singer, picker, television star, Country Music Hall of Fame member and one-time session man for the Beach Boys, Glen Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease last year and is currently supporting his final studio album “Ghost On The Canvas†(Surfdog Records) his “The Goodbye Tour†to say a fond thank you to his loyal and loving fans.
Joshua Homme comments on being featured in Glen Campbell’s latest (and possibly , last) video, recalls, “The video director, Kii Arens, is a friend and collaborator. He asked me outta the blue and I jumped at the chance. I believe his exact words where “Do you want to play the bartender from The Shining in the last Glen Campbell?†and mine were “Of course I do!†He continues, “I’m ecstatic. I’m humbled. I’m lucky. I’m honored. I’d have carried lights and cameras to do it.â€
Like a generation, Homme home grew up with Campbell’s songs as a big part of his musical diet at home “â€Rhinestone Cowboy†was already a huge hit, “Wichita Lineman†and his work with Anne Murray was being played around the house. It was just part of my soundtrack to being a kid at home. When I got a little older and into picking my own music, I realized Glen Campbell was in The Beach Boys, started hearing his earlier music and seeing the full scope of what an incredible guitar player and recording artist he was too. The amount of sessions and songs is incredible. He is a superstar of music. Between that and his TV show, I began to get a clue that being a musician is more than just playing an instrument.â€
This farewell video features Campbell looking back at his life and career. He also sends a personal message to his wife, Kimberley, a former Radio City Music Hall dancer that the Rhinestone Cowboy met on a blind date in 1981. “My love goes out to Kim, my amazing grace. You’ve been by my side through these changing times, and it means the world to me.â€
I got to briefly speak to Campbell after he picked up his Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award (his 8th GRAMMY) and he appeared to be in great spirits joking with the crowd and dotting over his lovely wife Kim Woollen. He then went on to perform at the official GRAMMYs show covering several of his best known hits and causing Paul McCartney to bob his and clap along. It makes sense that he too would be a fan. Here’s to a fine man and a lasting legacy.
The larger bodies of country music and blues music have always fed from a stream of gospel music. Musicians reared in the Bible Belt, from Hank Williams to Blind Willie Johnson, stylistically moved deftly from Saturday night revelry to Sunday morning revelations mirroring the actual behavior of many of their fans. Hell even Elvis, the poster boy for over-indulgence, took time to record no less than 8 gospel and Christmas albums over his career.
Influenced by a recent performance at the Strawberry Music Festival’s Sunday morning gospel brunch, the recent passing of both her mother and father, and ongoing family strife detailed in her last album’s bittersweet “Heroin Addict Sister†has Elizabeth Cook getting right with Jesus. Or at least feeling enough of the spirit move her to release this wonderful seven song EP.
Blind Willie Johnson’s “If I Had My Way, I’d Tear This Building Down” is foot-stomper straight from the good book of Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
The title cut a traditional American folk song also known as “Hold On,” and refers to the Gospel According to Luke 9:62. In the passage Jesus replied to the
reluctant disciple in the face of his wavering faith “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.†This song and “Hear Jerusalem Calling” by Jerry Sullivan & Tammy Sullivan has Cook and band, husband Tim Carroll on guitar and Bones Hillman (Midnight Oil) on bass, as a bluegrass romping breakdown
“Every Humble Knee Must Bow” borrows a swampy vibe from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Heard It Through The Grapevine,” Hammond organ, barrel-house piano and electric guitar steep the tune in sweet Southern soul.
Vern Gosdin’s “The Other Side of Life’ is a beautiful song as it is, but Cook, along with an accompanying church organ, unveils a vulnerability in it that transcends.
Cook showed her inclination for the Velvet Underground by cutting a beautiful version of “Sunday Morning’ on 2007’s “Balls.” Here she she rounds out the out the EP with an understated and elegant cover of VU’s “Jesus,” keeping just enough of Lou Reed’s somber, woozy, psychedelic tone in this tale of a lost soul looking for redemption.
The only drawback is the brevity of the release. Though it’s a brief affair it’s long on excellence and, unlike the church with the long-winded preacher, you’ll wish the sermon would list a bit longer
