Category Archives: Concerts

Justin Townes Earle Readies ’09 Release

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NoDepression.com reports that Bloodshot Records recording artists, and son to Steve Earle and namesake of Townes Van Zant, Justin Townes Earle, will be releasing a follow up to the excellent Bloodshot debut The Good Life. The new disc is called Midnight at the Movies, and is due out in March of ’09.

If you’re in Texas get yer ass out and see one of the best bar bands in America , The Supersuckers.

Nov 14 2008 – Jacks Patio Bar  –   San Antonio, Texas
Nov 17 2008  – Vortex  –   Beaumont, Texas
Nov 18 2008   – Continental Club  –   Houston, Texas
Nov 19 2008  -  Continental Club   -  Houston, Texas
Nov 20 2008   – Lakewood Bar and Grill  –   Dallas, Texas
Nov 21 2008   -  Scoot Inn  –   Austin, Texas

If you’re in my neck of the woods, San Francisco, CA. get yer ass out and see the one and only Texas Yoda, Willie Nelson at the legendary Fillmore Auditorium. Willie plays Friday, Jan 16,  Saturday, Jan 17, PM Sunday, Jan 18, Monday, Jan 19, and Tuesday, Jan 20. Must be all that good medical marijuana here in town.

Bloodshot Records CMJ Showcase

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If you’re in the New York City area for the CMJ be sure to head out to Union Pool in Brooklyn next week for the Bloodshot Records showcase. No invites or badges needed, but you will need a ticket. $8 advance / $10 door, free w/CMJ badge – come early for FREE beer & tacos – Sponsored by Blurt Online & Oskar Blues Brewery.

Saturday Afternoon, October 25
Union Pool – 484 Union Ave. at Lorimer in Brooklyn
12:30 doors
1:00 – 1:40: Dexter Romweber Duo
1:50 – 2:30: I’m Not Jim
2:40 – 3:20: Ben Weaver
3:30 – 4:10: Ha Ha Tonka
4:20 – 5:00: Cordero
5:10 – 5:50: Charlie Pickett
6:00 – 6:40: Justin Townes Earle

Hang Jones and Band of Annuals at Hotel Utah, Earl Pickens and Family to Perform “The Country-Fried Joshua Tree”

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It’s Friday night and I’m still sober so I’m gonna get a couple of show announcements out here before things take a bad turn…

My good friend Hang Jones (AKA Stephen Grillos) will be playing Hotel Utah here in beautiful San Francisco Tuesday next 10/21st at 9pm. Hang will be sharing the stage with Utah’s Band of Annuals. This is a show not to be missed so grab the Missus, crank over the Fury and head on into town to catch this.
This next show seems so brazen that I was sure it was going to be a car wreck, but the YouTube video convinced me otherwise. Earl Pickens and Family will perform “The Country-Fried Joshua Tree” Saturday, November 1st at Cherry Alley Cafe (c’mon Cherry Alley! Get a damn web site I can link to!)  in Lewisburg, PA at 7 PM. Jessie Yamas, Bruce W. Derr, Bob Albin, Jake Kline and Earl will perform an acoustic, countrified rendition of the classic U2 album The Joshua Tree, in its entirety. Yeah, I know that’s what I thought…

    Cherry Alley Cafe
    21 N. 3rd Street / Lewisburg, PA
    Tickets $8, $5 for students
    tickets available at Cherry Alley Cafe
    You out-of-towners can buy tickets for the Country Fried Joshua Tree show by mail if you so desire. Send a check, made out to Earl Pickens, to PO Box 82, Lewisburg, PA 17837. Shoot Earl an email at earl@earlpickens.com letting him know that you’re ordering by mail.

    Earl Pickens and Family – Where The Streets Have No Name

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tin4_L9WLCE[/youtube]

    Concert For The (Texas) Coast

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    This goes out to my home state: Concert For The Coast is a Texas-wide event on Oct. 26, 2008, featuring 10 venues in 10 cities with over 100 artists ( like Band of Heathens, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Gary P Nunn, Rodney Parker and many others), with both acoustic and full band performances, coming together for one cause, to help the recovery process of the millions hit hard by Hurricane Ike.

    All events have a suggested donation of $10 per person to enter.  Each event will also feature raffles as well as auctions
    of artist merchandise, autographed memorabilia and other items donated by local merchants.  There will also be an online auction concurrent with the events.

    Many are struggling without the basic necessities of food, water and shelter. Radio Free Texas has proven that it is a community that cares.  In this spirit, the idea for Concert For The Coast was born.  Radio Free Texas has partnered with others in the Texas Music community to bring a multi city, multi venue benefit event that will help bring much needed relief to the coastal communities and those that call it home.

    For more information about the Concert For The Coast benefit event, please contact Nate Smith by calling 512-912-6082 or emailing at nate@tx-live.com

    Tim McGraw is Apologizing to Fans for Latest Release

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    • PopMatters.com has a nice posting on Lucinda Williams’ new Lost Highway release “Little Honey” and on Columbus, Ohio’s Two Cow Garage.
    • If you’re in Nashville this Friday October the 17th totally blow off mall-country teeny-bopper Taylor Swift’s show and head down to see Justin Townes Earle with Caitlin Rose and Chris Scruggs at the Exit/In. Rose’s mom, Liz, has penned a few of Taylor Swift’s biggest hits so it’ll kind of be like being there but without the crappy music (Rose’s mom’s cuts excluded, of course.)
    • As if that weren’t enough Junior Brown will bring his guit-fiddle wizardry to Nashville on the same night (9/17) at the Station In.
    • Tim McGraw is apologizing to his fans for the labels decision to put out his third greatest hits collection. “I am saddened and disappointed that my label chose to put out another hits album instead of new music. I’ve only had one studio album since my last hits package. It has to be just as confusing to the fans as it is to me. I had no involvement in the creation or presentation of this record.” Hey Time, now how about apologizing for the rest of the crap you’ve put out in your career (excluding the cuts penned by my uncle, of course.)
    • The Times Colonist of Canada has a nice write up of Kris Kristofferson’s show at the McPherson Playhouse in Victoria, British Columbia “…last night, before an adoring sold-out crowd at the McPherson Playhouse, a huge dose humility is what worked best for veteran singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson. The native of Brownsville, Texas, opened his Victoria debut with Shipwrecked in the 80’s, which he delivered in a plainspoken manner befitting of a folk singer. Dressed in black jeans with a black shirt, an acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder and harmonica rack around his neck, Kristofferson, 72, cut quite a figure. The giveaway to his country past? Dusty cowboy boots. Pure Kristofferson.”

    8th Annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Day 1.5

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    Yeah day 1.5, I missed Friday’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass featuring Mr. Plant and Ms. Krauss show so on with this one.

    Beautiful weather (despite some early afternoon mist), the crowd grew throughout the day into huge throngs of passionate fans.  You want crazy hippy dancers still bummed about the Dead’s….er death, yeah they were there too.

    The day started for me with Tift Merritt. Tift put on a spirited show with a crack band. Moving to Paris (and losing her record deal) has certainly agreed with her. Guy Clark & Verlon Thompson were next. I’ve never see a full set my Clark (and at one hour sets I still haven’t) but he and Thompson did a great job of covering a lot of Clark ground as well as a couple of  Thompson originals.

    Austin’s Bad Livers came back from the dead to play a their first show after an 8 year hiatus.  They sounded great and glade to be in the thick of all their punk-bluegrass Texas sized gully-washer.  The Gourds followed with their Texas brand of hillbilly world music mash-up stew that satisfied just fine. Texas legend Jerry Jeff Walker followed with a raucous show that belied the man’s age.  Thankfully Redneck Mother was on he menu and Mr. Bojangles was not.

    The blissful gospel sounds of Odetta was next and wooed the crowd with her majestic voice and presence. Steve Earle & The Bluegrass Dukes eneded the night with a great rendition of the 10-year old Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band collaboration The Mountain as well as blugrassed up verions of Earle originals “An American Boy” and the show closer “Cottonhead Road.”

    i need to thank my partner in crime (and daughter) Isobel for accompanying me from stage to stage while I covered this.

    Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 8

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    Head up Northern Californians, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival is on for this weekend (Fri, Oct 3rd – 10:30am – Noon & 2:30pm – 6:45pm & Sat Oct 4th 10:45am – 7:15pm – Sun Oct 5th, 2008 – 11am – 7pm) at the Speedway, Lindley & Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.

    The three day event has 5 stages featuring artists like Jimmie Dale Gilmore,  the Waco Brothers, Richard Thompson, Three Girls & Their Buddy (Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin & Buddy Miller), The Del McCoury Band, Steve Earle & The Bluegrass Dukes, Guy Clark & Verlon Thompson, Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Jeff Walker, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, Elvis Costello’s High Whines & Spirits, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, The Infamous Stringdusters, Alison Brown Quartet with Joe Craven, Justin Townes Earle and so much more!

    If you see mw at the show make sure t say “Hi” and save me a spot near the stage!

    Americana Update

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    When Bob Lefsetz, of the online music industry screed the Lefsetz Letter, writes about you positively you’re
    probably doing something really cool. This is just what he has done after listening to the Americana Music Awards on XM Radio while driving in his home town of Los Angeles. I was in attendance at the Nashville’s Historic Ryman Auditorium and though his angel was on Robert Plant;s involvement with the Americana movement his point is an importmnat one, it’s about something all but lost in today’s culture, authenticity.

    Sitting in the Ryman is to a country music fan as close to a secular sense of the divine there is to be had. Add a live performances by Ryan Bingham and Joe Ely (together with band leader Buddy Miller), an appearance by Alison Krauss, Robert Plant, Levon Helm, Joan Baez, Steve Earle, James McMurtry and John Hiatt and you’ve achieved, in my opinion, musical nirvana.

    Alison Krauss and Robert Plant took top honors with Album of the Year with Raising Sand. The Band’s drummer/singer,now solo artist, Levon Helm won Artist of the Year. The award was presented by Billy Bob Thorton, who was on hand to promote his Americana/Country band The Boxmasters and thier new self-titled release. I caught Billy Bob and the Boxmasters at at the Cannery last night and was surpirised at how well done the music was and how fully invested he is in this musical endevor. Billy Bob also eaned my repect when he invited Charlie Louvin on stage for al acapella duet of the old Louvin Brothers murder ballad “KnoxvIlle Girl.”

    A quick shout out to some of my fellow bloggers I caught up with -  Larry Karnowski at Hickory Wind, Greg Geil at AmericanaRoots.com, Justin Gage at Aquarium Drunkard.com and Dodge at My Old Kentucky Blog.com.

    Here’s a list of the winners from the awards show …

    Album of the Year: Raising Sand, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant
    Artist of the Year: Levon Helm
    Duo/Group of the Year: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant
    Instrumentalist of the Year: Buddy Miller
    New Emerging Artist of the Year: Mike Farris
    Song of the Year: “She Left Me for Jesus,” Hayes Carll and Brian Keane (songwriters)

    Awards were also given, including …

    Spirit of Americana Free Speech in Music: Joan Baez
    Lifetime Achievement (Songwriting): John Hiatt
    Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement (Executive): Terry Lickona
    Lifetime Achievement (Performance): Jason & The Scorchers
    Lifetime Achievement (Instrumentalist): Larry Campbell
    Trailblazer Award: Nanci Griffith
    Lifetime Achievement (Producer/Engineer): Tony Brown

    Billy Bob Thorton and Charlie Louvin – Knoxville Girl

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Af1DwHeV_c[/youtube]

    Willie Nelson in Saratoga , CA.

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    It was quite a treat for me to see Willie Nelson perform under the Saratoga stars the other night. The Texas Yoda and “the family” played the beautiful Mountain Winery to an a rousingly adoring crowd.  At one point he traded his signature red bandanna for heavy worn and button adorned straw cowboy hat that an elderly gentleman on crutches offered at the foot of the stage.  I can now claim to have seen Willie on all three coasts (Texas, New York and California)!

    The fine folks at the 9513 brought my attention to a great piece by Chris Willman, author of the excellent book Rednecks & Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Music, on the use of the formally exclusive use of Brooks & Dunn’s “Only In America” by the Democrats to cap Obama’s speech at the Democratic convention. Whatever your political stripe, it’s interesting to watch all parties vie for the cultural pulse and show love for the Twang.

    Rosie Flores “The Rockabilly Filly” turns 58 years young and will be celebrating this Wednesday, Sept 10th at Antone’s in Austin. Playing the celebration will be the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash (8:00) James Intveld (9:00) the lady Rosie Flores herself (10:00) and Two Hoots and a Holler (11:00). Doors open at 7:00

    Justin Townes Earle’s excellent release “The Good Life” is available today a vinyl limited edition of 1000 from Bloodshot Records.