Category Archives: Americana

5 Off the Top – Thanksgiving Edition

Posted on by — 2 Comments ↓

A great song is like a turducken, layers of goodness and mystery built to baffle as well as satisfy. …or something. Here are some rib-sticking selection for this day of thanks. A big THANK YOU to the men and women in uniform.

Kris Kristofferson – The Pilgrim Chapter 33

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NAaiRYUBos[/youtube]

Patterson Hood  (Drive-By Truckers) – The Thanksgiving Filter – Acoustic

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ope-TwQ1doc[/youtube]

Mark Jungers and The Whistling Mules – We Talk

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wjfRsrFoWA[/youtube]

Johnny Cash – Thanksgiving Prayer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA7ujUJCIdE[/youtube]

Todd Snider – Beer Run (’cause every Thanksgiving needs beer!)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIDSsY6C9Dw[/youtube]

Music Review: Truckstop Darlin’ – Truckstop Darlin’ [self-released]

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

It still amazes me that in these terminally-bored-too-hip-to-care times any band would brandish that most maligned and unhip of genres; Southern rock. Broken hearts and barroom bloodstains on a plaid shirtsleeve, earnest stories of hard times begetting harder men backed by an accompaniment more akin to Black Oak Arkansas than the Black Keys. This music is not going to get you cred at your hoody-wearing hipster PBR bar (unless you’re being ironic.)

But like redneck culture (of which I count myself a member) Oregon’s Truckstop Darlin know they’re unrefined and take pride in stories well told, the hard beauty of sentimentality and the ragged craft of a well executed rock song.  And they’re more n’  happy to shove your smirking peckerwood mug in it.

How a scene built around this halfbred genre is being forged in the rainy green climes of the Pacific Northwest is even more of a head-scratcher. Portland Oregan seems like the last place you’d hear amped-up twang of Truckstop Darlin’ and partners  I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House, Root Jack, the recently relocated Riviera as well as the literate roots-rock of  Kasey Anderson  For a place not marinated in the legacy of Dixie or the neo-brutal beauty of Cormac McCarthy this is fertile ground for great Southern rock.

Truckstop Darlin’s new, self-tiled album- mastered by Jon Burbank from  I Can Lick Any SOB In The House -  has all the ingredients for a classic Southern rock (or country for that matter) album – name-dropping Southern states (Kentucky, Alabama, South Carolina)  musical legends (Merle Haggard) Saturday nights, hard times, copious whiskey, broken hearts – it’s there but done in ways that are both comfortable and draws from current rock music to inject a freshness.

The comparisons to early Drive By Truckers (back when they were full of piss, vinegar and Jack Daniels)and Uncle Tupelo are apparent, but there is a classic sound there as well. Tired Old Prom Queens is a Billy Joe Shaver-inspired song imagined for the Marshal Tucker Band.

Bluegrass State beings to mind early Southern-Gothic era REM and Anna Lee sound like it’s a lost B-side from The Band. King of the Highway’s lonesome asphalt-paved heartache that is as close to a straight-up country tune found here.  Down snakes along with a epic Big Rock sleaze that mixes gunpowder and melancholy to great results.

Broken Valentine is a revved-up post-punk-county song that is one of my favorites.  John Phelan’s gravel-throated delivery and stuttering buzz-saw guitar, the driving rhythm section of Eric Kotila’s drums and Nick Foltz’s  bass and Michael Winter pedal steel cry.

Truckstop Darlin’ shows what old can be made new and vital and can, for damn sure, kick your ass all over again.

Buy | Facebook | Twitter

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZhb5oNrHsY&feature=related[/youtube]

Drive-By Truckers to Release New Album Go-Go Boots 2/15th 2011

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

The mighty Drive-By Truckers will release their 10th studio record Go-Go Boots, on February 15, 2011, the first on their own label  ATO Records.  Go-Go Boots was produced by their longtime producer, David Barbe (Deerhunter, Bettye LaVette, Sugar). In conjunction with the new album they’ll also be releasing their documentary The Secret to a Happy Ending on DVD.

The band will show their appreciation for vinyl and independent record stores by releasing a special 10” 45 with Thanksgiving Filter and Used To Be A Cop on Record Store Day, November 26th. Both songs will be on Go-Go Boots and the release will be a limited pressing of only 2,500 copies and will feature a special sleeve designed by Wes Freed as well as a download card.

DBT will be releasing a series of Go-Go Boots episodes directed by Patterson Hood and Jason Thrasher.  As a preview to the episodes they’ve released a video for Used To Be a Cop.

The band will kick off a month long tour in Europe this week and will end the year with a bang playing New Year’s Eve in New York city at Terminal 5. The Go-Go Boots tour will be announced soon.

Friday Video Rodeo: Whitey Morgan

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

What’s better than Whitey Morgan singing Waylon Jennings with Dale Watson?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa7NAjfOJSU&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

…how about Whitey Morgan singing a song written by Dale Watson about Billy Joe Shaver’s shooting incident outside of Waco, Texas?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ek6QLhz7Ao[/youtube]

Happy Birthday Gram Parsons

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Gram Parsons probably had more to do with the current state of Americana music that any one individual. Like another Americana great Townes Van Zandt, Gram was a child of privilege that chose not to take the easy path and instead blase their own trail. Also like Van Zand this path were often pitted with emotional turmoil and addiction that seemed to just fuel the creative fire. Two of my favorite Gram momnets have little do do with his own music but his influence on the lives of Emmylou Harris , whom as a single mother he plucked out of the Washington DC folk music circuit to work on some duet work on his upcoming release recorded in LA. The other instance is his influence in Keith Richard during, what I consider, the Rolling Stones most fruitful period. I think it’s commonly agreed if not for Gram there would be no Wild Horses or Dead Flowers.

Even in death Parson’s path was, to use an overused and little understood word, epic and . A promise with his road manager led to his body being diverted from the Los Angeles International Airport where it was on its way to Louisiana to be placed in his estranged families burial plot, and driven into California’s Joshua Tree Nation Park where he had stated he wanted his ashes scattered over Cap Rock. His road manager and a friend then attempted to cremate him by pouring five gallons of gasoline and a lti match tossed inside the open coffin. As I said, epic.

These are my favorite Gram moments. Leave yours below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cmUWNO_YSs[/youtube]

News Round Up: Charlie Louvin Celibrates the Troops in The Battles Rage On

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Legendary country musician Charlie Louvin, along with his late brother Ira a member of the Louvin Brothers,  celebrates  his new studio record The Battles Rage On with an appearance at the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium on release day Tuesday, November 9, 2010. The Opry can be heard on 650 WSM-AM, SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio and at opry.com.

Louvin is a veteran of the Korean War and he drew from this experience for his new record The Battles Rage On. The 12 tracks are a tribute to the thousands of men and women in service. Special guests on The Battles Rage On include fellow lauded country/bluegrass stars Del McCoury and Jamie Dailey.The Battles Rage On will be released worldwide digitally and in stores on November 9, 2010 on True North Records.

Charlie Louvin (83) had surgery for stage 2 pancreatic cancer last summer. Hi last album was an homage to the granddaddy of Americana music Gram Parsons titled Hickory Wind: Live at the Gram Parsons Guitar Pull Waycross, GA.  Recorded during the 2009 Pull in Parsons’ hometown of Waycross, Georgia, which served as Louvin’s tip of his hat to an old fan.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me-HIad4xpw[/youtube]

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass – Saturday Picks

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

this is a quick one; Sun Oct 3 (11am – 7pm)

Banjo Stage
•    12:35pm Hazel Dickens
•    1:45pm Earl Scruggs
•    3:00pm Doc Watson & David Holt
•    4:20pm The Del McCoury Band
•    5:45pm Emmylou Harris
Rooster Stage
•    11:00am Kevin Welch & Kieran Kane & Fats Kaplin
•    2:10pm Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women
•    3:25pm Rosanne Cash
•    5:55pm Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Star Stage
•    11:40am Martin Sexton
•    3:05pm Elvis Costello and The Sugarcanes
Towers of Gold Stage
•    11:00am Lucero
•    12:25pm James McMurtry
•    2:05pm Randy Newman
Arrow Stage
•    11:00am The Felice Brothers
•    1:30pm Railroad Earth
•    4:20pm Yonder Mountain String Band
•    5:45pm The Avett Brothers
Porch Stage
•    11:50am Citigrass
•    12:40pm Heidi Clare & AtaGallop
•    1:40pm Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer
•    4:35pm Kate Gaffney
•    5:35pm Wendy Bird
•    6:25pm Anderson Family Bluegrass

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass – Saturday Picks

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Sat Oct 2 (11:00am – 7:00pm)
Here’s where it gets tough….
11:45am – Towers Of Gold Stage: Jon Langford & Skull Orchard – Mekons front man’s current alt.country manifestation.
11:00am – Arrow Stage: Kelly Willis – Austin-based singer/songwriter with a voice as clear as a spring creek.
12:00pm – Porch Stage: David Olney with Sergio Webb – Olney is one of the best songwriters of our time and hos recent release Dutchman’s Curve is one of his best.
12:05pm – Rooster Stage: Jonathan Richman Feat. Tommy Larkins – Imagine Lou Reed if he did funny songs.
12:55pm – Banjo Stage: Carolina Chocolate Drops – This African American string band current big deal in Americana music, and for a damn good reason.
1:15pm – Rooster Stage: Guy Clark & Verlon Thompson – Guy Clark is a Texas treasure, and he makes his own guitars!
2:30pm – Rooster Stage: Songwriter Circle with Steve Earle, Robert Earl Keen, John Doe & David Olney – wow.
2:35pm – Arrow Stage: Kinky Friedman – He didn’t get to be Governor of Texas so we get to see him perform a selection of wry and hilarious songs!
3:30pm – Towers Of Gold Stage: Richard Thompson – If you’ve never seen him, SEE HIM!
3:55pm – Arrow Stage: Jerry Jeff Walker – Another Texas-based treasure.
4:15pm – Rooster Stage:  Buddy Miller – A member of Robert Plant’s Band of Joy and the man who appeared on the final printed issue of no Depression magazine. He’s sort of the Keven Bacon of Americana..no telling who will show up.
4:20pm – Banjo Stage: Gillian Welch – An O Brother, Where Art Thou? alum (associate producer, performer and film cameo) and her partner, guitarist David Rawlings perform beautifully somber tunes from the farthest Appalachia.
5:20pm – Arrow Stage: The Flatlanders feat. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock – in Texas this is what is known as an embarrassment of riches. A real Texas suprergroup.
5:45pm -Banjo Stage: Steve Earle & The Dukes & Rooster Stage: Robert Earl Keen – Flip a coin, friend-O

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass – Friday Picks

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

If this years 10th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is anything like last years it will be jammed with people. I guess the word got out that the best Americana and Roots music festival in the country was FREE!

As always there is no shortage of great live music to see, the only problem is getting from one of the 5stage to the other in time to see the. Sometimes an impossibility since performers like the Flatlanders, Steve Earle and Robert Earle Keen, are often playing opposite one another. What’s a Texan to do?!

Here’s my pass at who to see and when. There is some overlap or outright conflicts. i did this list believing that i could time travel and be at any stage at any time,blogger’s license. Look it up. Your mileage may vary so if this doesn’t lift your skirt head over to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and make your own damn list.

Fri Oct 1 (10:30am – Noon & 2pm – 7pm)

The early part of Friday on the Star stage PMW and MC Hammer will perform special educational program for local schools. My daughter is going to this. i hope she comes home singing “Can’t touch this.”

1:45 – Rooster Stage: Jerry Douglas w/ Omar Hakim & Viktor Krauss – A musician’s supergroup. Viktor Krauss (Lyle Lovett, Bill Frisell) on bass, Omar Hakim (Weather Report, Sting, Dire Straits) on drums and the man I consider the Jimi Hendrix on the Dobro Jerry Douglas (Ray Charles, Phish, Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, Ricky Skaggs, Elvis Costello, and Johnny Mathis, performed on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack)
2:00pm – Banjo Stage: The Ebony Hillbillies – billed as the “Only New York City Black String Band.” Being Gotham-based may may not sound like a ringing endorsement for mountain music but this group delivers.
2:45pm – Rooster Stage: Patty Griffin – Fresh from Robert Plant’s Band of Joy where Griffen is pure joy to watch. Will Percy make an appearance?
3:00pm – Banjo Stage: Blue Highway – This band is one of the only real Bluegrass bands on the three-day bill. even though the band if based in East Tennessee heir hot-shot Dobro player,Rob Ickes, is from the Bay Area. Represent!
5:45pm – Arrow Stage: the subdudes – New Orleans’ R&B swamp boogie at its finest.
5:45pm – Rooster Stage: T Bone Burnett Feat. Punch Brothers & Special Guests Karen Elson and The Secret Sisters -  The reigning Americana producer brings a stripped-down version of his Talking Clock Review to the HSB stage.