Category Archives: Bands

Listen Up! The Civil Wars – “The One That Got Away”

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CW One That Got Away

All right Civil Wars fans, this is what we’ve been waiting for. Proof of the upcoming album that might not have been.

While riding high on the wave of their best-selling, Grammy award winning, Barton Hollow the pop-roots duo abruptly canceled a amidst a UK tour, citing “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.”

Then last month the Civil Wars revealed that they’d completed a new self-titled album, a result of a Nashville recording session last fall with Barton Hollow’s producer Charlie Peacock.

Now a single “The One That Got Away,” (no, it’s not a Katy Perry cover.) It’s got the typical Civil Wars dramatic vibe but with more of an edge. What stands out is Joy Williams is more up in the mix with John Paul White as supporting in contrast to their more equally handling of vocal duties on their earlier EP and album.

“I wish I’d never ever seen your face,” Williams sings convincingly “I wish you were the one that got away.”

The band’s labels, Sensibility Music/Columbia Records, give some context to the song in the accompanying press release “The [new] album was recorded amidst a grueling touring schedule, exhausting workload and a growing disconnect from their families.”

More omens abound with the video for “The One That Got Away,” and the new album’s cover, features nothing more than a billowing cloud of black smoke.

Can all the bad blood be overcome to allow the band to embark on a tour to support the sure to be a huge selling new release? Stay tuned when it’s release August 6th.

Look Out! The Black Lillies – “The Fall” [VIDEO]

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TBL-55752

The new video for the “The Fall,” by the Knoxville-based roots band The Black Lillies, sand being shifted a shimmering ocean , much like the lives being shifted and changed by the innocent youths that walk the windy beach and simmering landscape. The spare, atmospheric instrumentation builds slowly as we follow the boy and girl to adulthood and union in this tale of modest love.

“The Fall” is from the Black Lillies’ new release Runaway Freeway Blues, out now. they are currently on a national headlining tour in support.

Americana Music Association Announces Initial Showcase Line-up

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Americana Conference Lineup

Nashville-based Americana Music Association has released an excellent initial artist line-up for showcase portion of the conference, festival and awards show. the selections show a broad range of diversity and excellence the of the genre. Great to see many Casa Twang favorites represented as well.

Artists include: Black Prairie, Billy Bragg, Rosanne Cash, The Devil Makes Three, Frank Fairfield, Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors, John Fullbright, JD McPherson,
The Lone Bellow, Aoife O’ Donovan, Darrell Scott & Tim O’Brien, Richard Thompson, The White Buffalo, Holly Williams and The Wood Brothers

The 14th annual event will take place in Nashville, Sept. 18-22. I’ll be there. hope you are too!

Showcase artists confirmed to perform include:

Black Prairie
Billy Bragg
Rosanne Cash
The Del-Lords
The Devil Makes Three
Sam Doores, Riley Downing & the Tumbleweeds
Frank Fairfield
Field Report
John Fullbright
Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors
Hurray for the Riff Raff
The Infamous Stringdusters
Kruger Brothers
Pokey LaFarge
Nikki Lane
The Lone Bellow
Luella & the Sun
JD McPherson
Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
Aoife O’Donovan
Old Man Luedecke
Lindi Ortega
Darrell Scott & Tim O’Brien
Shakey Graves
Sturgill Simpson
Sons of Fathers
Spirit Family Reunion
Steelism
The Stray Birds
Richard Thompson
Holly Williams
The White Buffalo
The Wood Brothers

Watch Out! Pokey LaFarge – “Central Time” [VIDEO]

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Pokey LaFarge

St. Louis-based Jazz-roots traditionalist Pokey LaFarge teamed up with Old Crow Medicine Show front man Ketch Secor to produce his new self-tilted release on Jack White’s Third Man Records.

“Central Time” proves Pokey LaFarge is not merely a retro act. Sure he reaches back to a time when distinct the genres of jazz, country blues and western swing blurred together into one glorious cultural mash-up, but there is a timelessness and vibrancy displayed in this ode to his Midwestern home.

Pokey LaFarge is out now.

Watch Out & Listen Up! The Defibulators – Cackalacky [VIDEO] and Pay For That Money

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defibulators

The time I spent living in New york taught me some things. One, New Yorkers aren’t rude they just don’t have time for your dumb ass, and New York has is a great market for roots music.

Brooklyn’s The Defibulators have been creating tunes some time and garnering a lot of praise by mashing their throwback honky-tonk with frenetic bent. Think of them as the perfect soundtrack for a family picnic, or a meth lab. Yes that’s a compliment.

Their upcoming ssophomore album “Debt’ll Get’em” (August 27) was recorded in Woodstock, NY, at The Isokon with D. James Goodwin and Eli Walker, and Sunset Park, Brooklyn, at Motherbrain with co-producer Brian Bender (Langhorne Slim, Jose James), ‘Debt’ll Get’em’ is a 10-track and if the below tunes are typical i look forward to an amped-up take on classic country classic.

The video for “Cackalacky,” directed by Alexis Boling, follows a hayseed as he finds his way in the big city looking for music success.And “Pay For That Money” is a sassy swagger of a song about fiscal responsibility and moral comeuppance.

Kick back and enjoy the ride, pilgrim.

Watch Out! Hymn For Her – Lucy Fur [VIDEO]

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Hymn For Her

Yesterday, fittingly on 6/6 at 6am, the roots psychedelic duo Hymn For Her released a video for thier deomically funky Lucy Fur. The single is from their newly released second album “Lucy & Wayne’s Smokin Flames” (Buy it at CD Baby)

The video stars Wayne Waxing as the victim as he and Lucy Tight’s darling daughter is transformed into a a hellion trickster. Inter-cut with scenes of Tim Curry as Lord of Darkness, from the 80′s cult fantasy “Legend,” Waxing suffers a myriad of indignities inflicted by the masked prankster in this cranked-up, funked-out, roots number. Suffering never sounded this good.

Watch Out! – The Handsome Family – “Woodpecker” [VIDEO]

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The Handsome Family - Woodpecker

When Greil Marcus coined the phrase “Old Weird America” in his book Invisible Republic, he wasn’t describing The Handsome Family. The line that Marcus drew from Harry Smith’s Anthology of American pre-World Folk Music to Bob Dylan and his work with The Band could easily continue it’s sonic trajectory to the husband and wife songwriting duo Brett and Rennie Sparks.

The video for the single Woodpecker, from their new release Wilderness, is shot in moody greys by director Chris Hefner. Acoustic guitar and mandolin delicately accompany this tale of Mary Sweeny, a woman who has a irrepressible obsession with smashing windows lands her in a state institution, where the remedies do more harm than good. Woodpecker follows The Handsome Family’s Gothic-folk style and narrative that harkens back to folk tales brought over by our ancestors.

Wilderness is out now on LP, CD, and as a deluxe box set.

A companion book of original artwork and essays by Rennie Sparks, also titled Wilderness, will expand on the meticulously researched and little-known enigmas of the natural world explored on the album: immortal jellyfish, woodpecker tongues, dancing octopi, fly royalty, the secret language of crows, and mysterious ant spirals. A 72-page, 12”x12” full-color edition of the book will be included with the deluxe box set, along with an 11”x17” color poster and a six-postcard set, all with original art by Rennie. A black and white edition of the book will be available separately.

Wilderness Track Listing
1. Flies
2. Frogs
3. Eels
4. Octopus
5. Owls
6. Caterpillars
7. Glow Worm
8. Lizard
9. Woodpecker
10. Gulls
11. Spider
12. Wildebeest

HANDSOME FAMILY TOUR DATES

6/20 – Cambridge, MA @ Club Passim
6/21 – Fall River, MA @ Narrows Center for the Arts
6/22 – New Haven, CT @ Café Nine
6/23 – Hudson, NY @ Club Helsinki
6/27 – New York, NY @ The Slipper Room
6/28 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
6/29 – Brooklyn, NY @ The Knitting Factory
7/19 – Friday, Minneapolis, MN at The Cedar Cultural Center with Azita
7/20 – Madision, WI, @ The High Noon Saloon, EARLY SHOW (with Azita)!
7/22, – Chicago, IL @ Pritzker Pavillion – 6:30pm*
7/24 – St. Louis, MO, @ Off Broadway with Danny Barnes
7/25 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop with Danny Barnes
7/26 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners with Cathy Irwin and Danny Barnes
7/27 – Athens, OH @ The Union with Danny Barnes
7/28 – Ann Arbor @ The Ark with Danny Barnes

*Free Show

phrase “Old Weird America” as described in his book Invisible Republic, which deals with the lineage connecting the pre-World War II folk performers on Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music to Bob Dylan and his milieu.

Americana Awards Nominees Announced: Shovels and Rope, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller Shine

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The nominees for the Americana Music Awards and Honors was announced today from the Grammy Museum’s Clive Davis Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. The one-hour ceremony was carried live on AXS TV and featured performances by Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller (with a tribute to the late George Jones) Lisa Marie Presley backed by T Bone Burnett, Elizabeth Cook, and Emerging Artist of the Year nominees The Milk Carton Kids.

The 2013 Americana Music Association Festival and Conference is scheduled for September 18-22, with the awards ceremony being held at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Thursday, Sep. 18. The event awards six member voted annual awards and with Lifetime Achievement Awards, to be announced as the event approaches. Jim Lauderdale is a natural as the proceedings host and Buddy Miller leads the always exemplary house band.

Can’t make to to the event? Understandable as it has sold out in recent years. But do not despair, the Americana Honors and Awards show will shown live on AXS TVa nd an edited version will show up on PBS at a later date. It will also be broadcast via SiriusXM Radio, BBC2, WSM and Voice of America.

South Carolina newcomers Shovels and Rope will lead the field with four nominations, followed by legendary Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller each with three nods. I’m happy to report that a few of my choices made it on the list this year(Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison, YES!) and John Fullbright is up for Emerging Artist of the Year. Well if being nominated for the Americana Album of the year Grammy, as Fullbright was before losing to Bonnie Raitt, isn’t emerging the I don’t know what is. Dwight Yoakam’s dominance of the Americana charts earlier this year with his new release Three Pears (my review) also garnered him an Artist of the Year nod.

Here is the full list of the 2013 Americana Music Award nominees. Are your choices here?

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Buddy & Jim, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
Cheaters Game, Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison
From The Ground Up, John Fullbright
O Be Joyful, Shovels and Rope
Old Yellow Moon, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Buddy Miller
Dwight Yoakam
Emmylou Harris
Richard Thompson

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
JD McPherson
John Fullbright
Milk Carton Kids
Shovels and Rope

SONG OF THE YEAR
Birmingham – Shovels & Rope
Good Things Happen to Bad People – Richard Thompson
Ho Hey – The Lumineers
North Side Gal – JD McPherson

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell
Shovels & Rope

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Doug Lancio
Greg Leisz
Jay Bellerose
Larry Campbell
Mike Bub

Elizabeth Cook and Lisa Marie Presley announce the nominees

Milk Carton Kids Live performing “Hope of a Lifetime”

The Civil Wars Annouce New Album This Summer

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The Civil Wars New Album

The Civil Wars were holed up working on a new album in Nashville last fall with Barton Hallow producer Charlie Peacock. But last February fans were jarred by news that Joy Williams and John Paul White cancelling all of their concerts citing “irreconcilable differences of ambition,” but they left the door open for more music soon.

The band worked with T Bone Burnett for new music for the soundtrack for “A Place at the Table.” the pair also seems unconformable sharing the stage with T Bone and Taylor Swift to accept a Grammy for their contribution to the Hunger Games soundtrack.

All this time the band’s Facebook page has been flooded with well-wishing fans begging for new music. They’re going to get their wish this summer.

The best-selling folk pop duo announced today via Twitter, Facebook and their site (which crashed from the traffic on the news) that they will release their their self-titled sophomore album in “late summer” on Sensibility Music/Columbia Records.

“Patience is a virtue,” White writes to fans in a letter posted on the duo’s official website. “Yours has been appreciated. Here’s to the hope you consider it rewarded.

So far there is no official news on public appearances or performances planned around the release.

Listen Up! The Builders and the Butchers “Dirt in the Ground”

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The Builders and the Butchers - Western Medicine

Dark roots band The Builders and the Butchers, (Ryan Sollee – vocals/guitar; Harvey Tumbleson – guitar/banjo/mandolin; Ray Rude – drums/organ/piano; Willy Kunkle – bass; Justin Baier – drums), are known for their for their rowdy live shows and their proclivity toward folks musics darker subject matter.

The Alaska-born / Portland-based and band’s new release, Dirt in the Ground , trods through similar stylistic territory. The chugging intro is a study in stark mortality said to be inspired by the Southern Gothic writings Cormac McCarthy. Sollee’s frantic wail threads symbolism of a patriarchal graveyard jig , fire, fear and guilt and our collective end as he wails as a matter-of-fact “one day soon you’ll be the dirt in the ground.” The song’s pressure-cooker conclusion is like a Mumford and Sons show gone off the rails.

Western Medicine is The Builders and the Butchers fourth release and will be released on July 2nd. Pre-order will be available soon through Badman Records site.

The Builders and the Butchers upcoming dates:

May 10 Austin TX-Anotnes
May 11 Denver CO-Bluebird Theater (w-The Thermals)
May 23 San Fransisco Ca-Cafe Du Nord
May 24 Visalia Ca-Cellar Door
May 25 Santa Cruz Ca-Crepe Place
May 26 Sacramento Ca-Harlow’s (w-Murder By Death)
June 8 Spokane Wa-Elkfest
June 22 Portland Or-Mississippi Studios ( CD release show)