New York area country fans should head down to the Bowery Ballroom this Saturday the 28th to catch Austin’s own Kelly Willis as she comes to the Big Apple to promote her excellent new release Translated From Love. Tell her the Twang sent ya.
Category Archives: Concerts
Drive By Trucker News
Because I’m a DBT fanboy I’ll just post Patterson Hoods recent release from planet Trucker:
HEY Y’ALL:
Just wanted to touch base.
First off, i would like to thank everyone who came out last week and supported our band.
It was a great tour for us with a minimum of bumps and some amazing highlights.
Thanks to everyone who extended hospitality and made us feel so welcome in their towns.
Coming up we are playing Chattanooga this weekend and in a couple of weeks are playing 3 nights opening for the Allman Brothers.
I have some solo dates in late august and a trip out to the west coast and to Texas in September.
Next week we will be in the studio completing our next studio album.
We’re already about 2/3 done and it has gone exceptionally great, as we’ve cut a ton of new songs and the bar is really high on this one.
Many folks have already heard some of the new songs (although we’ve kept a few under wraps too) and we’ve been really happy with the response we’ve been getting out there. I think Cooley has really outdone himself this time.
In September (25) Anti Records is releasing a new album by Bettye LaVette. She is a soul legend who scored her first hit in 1962.
In 1972 she recorded an album at my Dad’s old studio that featured The Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section.
The album was supposed to come out on Atlantic Records and everyone seemed to think that it was going to be her long-awaited breakthrough.
Instead the album was shelved for over 30 years, stalling her career and causing her much personal and professional anguish.
When the album was finally released a few years ago, it was received as a lost soul classic and led to her current great fortunes and record deal with Anti (who also have released great albums by Tom Waits, Merle Haggard, Nick Cave, Mavis Staples and Porter Wagoner).
Bettye LaVette’s new album is called “The Scene of the Crime” and it was co-produced by David Barbe, myself and Bettye.
For this record we took her back to Muscle Shoals (hence the title) where she was backed up by members of Drive-By Truckers along with my dad ( David Hood) and legendary keyboardist Spooner Oldham.
Work on this album led directly to Spooner’s current involvement with DBT.
We recorded it at the legendary FAME Studios there (where we had recorded much of The Dirty South).
I am extremely proud of this album and can’t wait for it to come out.
While we’re on the subject of album releases, I’d like to remind everyone who hasn’t already grabbed it, Jason Isbell’s long awaited solo album is out now and getting rave reviews from all over. I am listed as a co-producer and most of the band plays on it in various forms.
The album is called “Sirens of the Ditch” and is out now on New West Records.
He’s playing about a thousand dates so go check out his great band and show.
In October we will play the third and final leg of our “The Dirt Underneath Tour” which puts us in a mostly acoustic and somewhat stripped down mode for an evening of stories and songs.
Tour dates are up now and the tour will take us to some of our favorite towns and maybe a couple of new ones also.
After this tour it will probably be a really long time before we do this again, so I highly recommend you checking it out if you haven’t already.
It’s been a really special thing for us and has had an incalculable influence on our next album which will be coming out on New West Records in the very first part of 2008.
Guess that does it for now. Thanks again for everyone’s continued support and love.
See you at The Swamp Show.
Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers
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Note from Jenn:
Hey guys, a couple of things:
First off, please go buy some art from the Sabina Art Auction! There are lots of DBT-related pieces of art there (even some pottery done by my mama!), plus a photo by Michael Stipe, a print by Clive Barker, and much more – and all proceeds go to an excellent cause.
Back to DBT –
I put up new DBT dates for October! All of these will be The Dirt Underneath shows except for the Texas date, which will be ROCK. Also posted a bunch of new Patterson Hood solo dates!
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS DATES
ALL OF THE FOLLOWING SHOWS ARE ROCK SHOWS unless otherwise noted:
Sat July 28 – Chattanooga, TN – K Fest @ Ross Landing
Fri Aug 10 – Charlotte, NC – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre w/ The Allman Brothers Band
Sat Aug 11 – Raleigh, NC – Alltel Pavilion w/ The Allman Brothers Band
Sun Aug 12 – Virginia Beach, VA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre w/ The Allman Brothers Band
The following dates are part of THE DIRT UNDERNEATH unless otherwise noted:
Oct 12 – Birmingham, AL – WorkPlay Theatre
Oct 13 – New Orleans – Tipitina’s
Oct 14 – College Station, TX – Big State Festival at the Texas World Speedway (this will be a ROCK SHOW)
Oct 16 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
Oct 17 – Lawrence, KS – Granada Theatre
Oct 18 – Iowa City, IA – Englert Theatre
Oct 19 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Oct 20 – Madison, WI – Barrymore Theatre
Oct 22 – Chicago, IL – Park West
Oct 24 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom & Tavern
Oct 25 – State College, PA – The State Theatre
Oct 26 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Oct 27 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Oct 28 – Baltimore, MD – Ram’s Head Live
Patterson Hood Solo Dates:
Fri Aug 24 – Birmingham AL – Birmingham Museum of Art – Art On The Rocks
Sat Aug 25 – Athens GA – Melting Point with Bo Bedingfield
Thu Sep 6 – Seattle WA – Tractor Tavern
Fri Sep 7 – Bellingham WA – NightLight Lounge
Sat Sep 8 – Portland OR – Dante’s (Part of Big Fest)
Tue Sep 11 – San Francisco, CA – Swedish American Hall
Wed Sep 12 – Los Angeles, CA – The Hotel Cafe
Sun Sep 16 – Austin TX – Austin City Limits Festival
Cool! See you at the shows!
Drive By Truckers – Daddy’s Cup (Live at Red Rocks)
Lucinda Willimas to Play Complete Albums in Fall
From Billboard – Lucinda Williams fans will soon have a chance to hear the songwriter perform five of her eight studio albums in their entirety, one night at a time. On Sept. 5-6 and 8-10, Williams headlines at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles and will perform in New York Sept. 29-30 at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza and Oct. 2-4 at Town Hall.
The first night of each five-night run will kick off with a performance of 2003’s “World Without Tears.” “Essence” from 2001, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” from 1998, “Sweet Old World” from 1990 and “Lucinda Williams” from 1988 will be played on subsequent nights.
The album-focused sets will be followed by a more traditional set from Williams and her band (guitarist Doug Pettibone, bassist David Sutton and drummer Butch Norton), including cuts from her most recent album, “West.” Tickets for all shows go on sale tomorrow (July 21)
“West” bowed at No. 14 on The Billboard 200 and topped the Tastemakers tally in March.
I hope Lu is running the board tapes on these show and releases them by Christmas.
Drive By Truckers, Jason Isbell, Juston Townes Earle – New York City – 7/19
This last Thursday the planets lined up just right above the New York skyline and the night was graced by not one, but three excellent performances for a yearning for some fine alt.country faire.
The mighty Drive By Truckers dropped into the city to perform a free show at Clinton Castle national monument at Battery Park to play a free show for the River to River festival. The rainstorms that had come down all week held off but provided a cool, cloudy evening for the show.  Â
I arrived at 8:00 to the capacity show that was already in progress and in the middle of the song of sexual discord “Panties In Your Purseâ€. The crowd was a mix of hipster, Wall Street workers that had strolled over from work a few blocks away and folks that look like they had taken their motorcycles or pick-ups from the nether regions of the East to catch the show.
With the “extremely amicable†departure of singer /songwriter/guitarist Jason Isbell I had some trepidation that the remaining band would be lacking in some significant way. I should have known better than to question the resiliency of mighty Truckers. With Athens, Georgia’s John Neff added in as guitarist and pedal steel and did a fine job brandishing his yellow metal flake Telecaster and the legendary Muscle Shoals keyboardist Spooner Oldham was joining the Truckers on some of the dates and added a layer of funk and rhythm I had yet heard at a DBT show.
The classis were mixed with the new cuts from the latest “A Blessing and a Curse†– “Heathensâ€, “Sounds Better In The Songâ€, “Sink Holeâ€, “Puttin’ People On The Moonâ€, “Bulldozers and Dirtâ€, “The Night G.G. Allin Came To Townâ€, “Where The Devil Don’t Stayâ€, “The Living Bubbaâ€, “Sands Of Iwo Jimaâ€, “Zip Cityâ€. There was a nod to New York City with the frequent set standard by the musician, author and poet Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died.” They night finished off with the night with a rousing rendition of Bruce Springteen’s harrowing song of alienation and violence State Trooper.
After the show I headed uptown to the Mercury lounge to catch Ex-Trucker Jason Isbell, but first opening the show was a man whose moniker sets a dizzyingly high level of expectations, Justin Townes Earle.
Being Steve Earle’s first born means growing up under difficult conditions (read the book Hard Core Troubadour for more details on this) and having some big boots to fill. And Justin’s middle name is, of course, in honor of Steve Earle’s musical and chemical, mentor Townes Van Zandt. Even bigger boots.
And judging from this evening’s show Justin is well on his way to being his own man. With only an acoustic guitar and a backing ukulele (didn’t catch the musician’s name) Donning a silver specked western shirt Justin covered quite a bit of his folk-ragtime tinged EP Yuma (which he himself went out front and sold at the door for $10.) The Ghost of Virginia. You Can’t Leave Yuma, Let the Waters Rise, A Desolate Angels Blues – as well as a Buck Owens cover that I did not recognize – All in all a splendid performance from a man with an impeccable Americana pedigree, but doesn’t just ride his namesakes shirt tales. Â
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During the show Jason Isbell was mulling about in Mercury Lounge’s sold out small space. Now it was his turn to be the man in the front and not off to the right side of Patterson Hood.
Isbell and his Muscle Shoals area band the 400 Unit: Jimbo Hart (bass), Ryan Tillery (drums) and Browan Lollar (guitar) got right down to it with the searing blues-rock “Try†from the newly released Sirens of the Ditch, most of which was covered in this show.
Isbell then launched into a tribute to his former band mates by playing a song he cut with the Drive By Truckers the wrenching “God Damn Lonely Love†– he later made a kin-hearted reference to the truckers earlier show by saying – “I hope you got to catch those guys tonight. I was stuck here getting ready for this.â€
Then came “The Assassin†and the excellent “Hurricanes and Hand Grenades†and the coming of age “Grown.â€
As with his former band playing the distinctly New York song  “People Who Died†Isbell’s band – specifically guitarist Browan Lollar sang the Talking Heads “Psycho Killer.â€
The band then played the band then played the weakly poppy “New Kind of Actressâ€, which seeing it live didn’t make me like it any more then I did before. Then another nod to the DBT days with “Decoration Day.†The show ended with a blasting version of Thin Lizzy’s  “Jailbreak†which left me exhilarated as well as drained from the long, delirious, night.
Zan Campbell @ The Rodeo Bar 7/21
Calling all New York City hillbillies and cowgirls! Zane Campbell will be performing with Kid Davis and the Bullets backing at the Rodeo Bar (corner 27th St/3rd Ave) tonight, Saturday night, 7/21, @ 10 P.M. See you there!
Scott H. Biram on Tour This Summer
The Dirty Old One Man Band from Austin, TX, Bloodshot Records recording artist and friend of the House of Twang here, Scott H. Biram is taking time away from working in the studio and raising his chickens to bring his First Church of The Ultimate Fanaticism to a town near you. The tour includes a gig with fellow Texas hero Dale Watson at the Rhythm Room Phoenix, AZ. and a show with Nashville Pussy in Asbury Park, NJ.
Check the man out, and tell him Twang Nation sent you.
Tour Dates & Newsletter Summer 2007
Jul 21 2007- Riley’s Tavern Hunter, Texas
Jul 24 2007- Rhythm Room Phoenix, Arizona w/ Dale Watson
Aug 3 2007- Hole In The Wall Austin, Texas
Aug 8 2007- Martin’s Downtown Bar and Grill Roanoke, Virginia
Aug 9 2007- Ottobar Baltimore, Maryland
Aug 10 2007- Asbury Lanes Asbury Park, New Jersey w/ Nashville Pussy
Aug 11 2007- Luna Lounge Brooklyn, New York
Aug 13 2007- Mohawk Place Buffalo, New York
Aug 14 2007- Smiling Moose Bar Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Aug 15 2007- Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, Ohio
Aug 16 2007- Lager House Detroit, Michigan
Aug 17 2007- Schubas Chicago, Illinois
Aug 18 2007- Deep Blues Fest River Falls, Wisconsin
Aug 19 2007- 7th Street Entry Minneapolis, Minnesota
Aug 20 2007- The Waiting Room Omaha, Nebraska
Aug 22 2007- Davey’s Uptown Kansas City, Missouri
Aug 23 2007- Off Broadway St. Louis, Missouri
Aug 24 2007- Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack Little Rock, Arkansas
Aug 25 2007- Rubber Gloves Denton, Texas
Aug 31 2007- Continental Club Austin, Texas
Sep 1 2007- Continental Club Houston, Texas
There’s no earthly way of knowing / Which direction we are going
I never thought about it before, but once I got notice that Lost Highway was giving away two golden tickets in select copies of Ryan Adams new release Easy Tiger (6/25) in copies sold around the New York area (winners get to attend a concert the Ryan Adams show that night at the Hiro Ballroom) I now see the remarkable similarities between Willy Wonka and Ryan Adams.
No word yet on if the Oompa-Loompas will be opening the show.
New Yorkers try your luck at either Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ or Looney Tunes in West Babylon, Long Island.
Hey, you never know….
Porter Wagoner Opens for White Stripes at the Garden
From Country Standard Time – Wednesday, June 6, 2007 – Fresh off his just released brand new CD, “Wagonmaster,” Porter Wagoner can look forward to playing Madison Square Garden in July. With a band featuring Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, Wagoner will open for White Stripes July 24.
Stuart produced Wagoner’s new release for L.A.s Anti-label. His video for the Johnny Cash-penned “Committed To Parkview” is getting some play on CMT. He also recently celebrated his 50th anniversary as a member of the Grand Ole Opry with Dolly Parton and Patty Loveless participating.
Nelson, Mellencamp Bring Farm Aid To New York
Billboard reports that Willie Nelson (the Texas Yoda) is hauling his do-gooding music festival to New York’s Randall’s Island.
Unlike Willie holding his 4th of July picnic outside the Lone Star (heresy!) Farm Aid has moved around since it’s birth 22 years ago, but having it on Randall’s Island is nice since it’s a subway ride away!
From Billboard: Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp joined New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and a host of local farmers today (June 11) amid the Union Square Green Market to announce a Sept. 9 date for the annual Farm Aid benefit at Randall’s Island. As usual, the artists will be joined by fellow Farm Aid board members Neil Young and Dave Matthews at the event.
“This will be the first Farm Aid that provides 100% homegrown food at the concert,” Mellencamp said proudly. Acknowledging the organic market just a few hundred feet away, Nelson said, “This is a great example of what can be done in the big cities.”
Farm Aid, which is now in its 22nd year, will dovetail with a new biofuel initiative in New York. Beginning next summer, 30% of the city’s heating oil purchases will be required to contain 5% biofuel, with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. Â
New York Upcoming Concerts – Elizebeth Cook, Drive By Truckers and Jason Isbell
For all you hillbillys in and around New York City (they’re out there!) there’s some fine summer music coming your way.
The lovely and talented Elizebeth Cook will bring her brand of sass and twang to the Living Room, Tuesday, June 26th – 8pm
And the mighty Drive By Truckers will be at Castle Clinton National Monument for a FREE SHOW, Thursday, July 19th – 7pm
And speaking of the Drive By Truckers, ex-trucker Jason Isbell will be playing at the Mercury Lounge on the same night,
with Steve Earle’s boy Justin Townes Earle opening the show. I can only hope that some truckers and somebody’s daddy shows up to the show.
See you at the show!