Category Archives: Country Music

Dwight Yoakam To Release Bluegrass Focused ‘Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…’

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Dwight Yoakam

Never one to rest on his laurels country music pioneer Dwight Yoakam will pay homage to his home state of Kentucky with his upcoming ‘Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…’ (September 23 – Sugar Hill Records)

For the album, Yoakam assembled a band of bluegrass luminaries to reinterpret 11-tracks from his extensive catalog.

The new album reflects the love for bluegrass music that Yoakam developed at an early age in Kentucky, and that has inspired him for many years thereafter. Yoakam’s choice to partner with Sugar Hill for this release speaks volumes about the seriousness of this endeavor; Sugar Hill and its sister label Rounder have long been at the forefront of bluegrass, roots, and Americana music.

This project was produced by nine-time Grammy winner Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton), Jon Randall (songwriter of “Whiskey Lullaby”) and Yoakam, recorded at both Southern Ground Studio (TN) and the legendary Capitol Records Studio B in Los Angeles and mixed by Chris Lord Alge. For the recording, the production team gathered together a world-class band of bluegrass’s current greats including Grammy winner and nine-time international Bluegrass Music Association Guitar Player of the Year Bryan Sutton on guitar, Grammy winner Stuart Duncan on fiddle and banjo, 14-time Grammy winner Barry Bales on bass, Adam Steffey on mandolin (Alison Krauss), and Scott Vestal on banjo (Sam Bush). The LP also features harmony vocals by Jonathan Clark, Brian Whelan, Davey Faragher and newcomer Bryan Joyce.

Yoakam has recorded more than 22 albums and sold over 25 million copies worldwide with five reaching the #1 spot on Billboard. He is a 21-time nominated, multiple Grammy Award winner. In 2013 he was awarded The Americana Music Association Award for Artist of the Year. He has collaborated with everyone from Beck to Kid Rock, ZZ Top, Hunter S. Thompson and Jack White. He has toured with the likes of Buck Owens, Johnny Cash and Hüsker Dü. His most recent album, 2015’s critically acclaimed Second Hand Heart is included in NPR’s “Best of 2015” which calls the album “as fresh as anything Yoakam has ever done.” It reached #2 on the Billboard Country chart with Rolling Stone saying the album featured “his best songs in years.”

In 1977, Yoakam left Kentucky for Nashville to embark on a music career but found that the Music City was moving away from traditional country roots to more pop-country. He found himself better suited to the post-Bakersfield movement and became one of the founding fathers of the “LA Cowpunk Scene” influenced by second-wave rockabilly and punk alongside X, Los Lobos, The Knitters, Rank & File and The Blasters.

Yoakam is currently on tour across the U.S. and will play Americanafest NYC on August 7 at Lincoln Center Out of Doors. See full list of dates below.

DWIGHT YOAKAM TOUR DATES

August 5—IP Casino Resort & Spa—Biloxi, MS
August 7—AmericanaFest at Lincoln Center—New York, NY
August 11—KC Live!—Kansas City, MO
August 12—Jaycee’s Bootheel Rodeo Grounds—Sikeston, MO
August 13—Battery Park at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino—Sioux City, IA
August 19—Julie Rogers Theatre—Beaumont, TX
August 20—Whitewater Amphitheater—New Braunfels, TX
August 26—ASU Convocation Center—Jonesboro, AR
August 27—Back Porch at the Creek—Knoxville, TN
August 28—Maymont Park—Richmond, VA
September 1—McGrath Amphitheatre—Cedar Rapids, IA
September 2—South Dakota State Fair—Huron, SD
September 3—Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel & Casino—Deadwood, SD
September 4—Vetter Stone Amphitheater—Mankato, MN
September 9—Turning Stone Resort Casino Showroom—Verona, NY
September 10—Penn’s Peak—Jim Thorpe, PA
September 16—Peppermill Concert Hall—West Wendover, NV
September 17—New Mexico State Fairgrounds—Albuquerque, NM
September 24—Deep Water Amphitheater—Manson, WA
September 30—Norsk Hostfest – All Seasons Arena—Minot, ND
October 1—Seven Clans Casino—Thief River Falls, MN
October 14—La Hacienda Event Center—Midland, TX
October 20—EnCana Events Centre—Dawson Creek, BC
October 21 & 22—River Cree Resort & Casino, The Venue—Enoch, AB
October 24—Art Hauser Centre—Prince Albert, SK
October 25—Canalta Centre—Medicine Hat, AB
October 27—Prospera Place—Kelowna, BC
October 28—Hard Rock Casino Vancouver—Coquitlam, BC
October 29—Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre—Victoria, BC
November 3—The Majestic Ventura Theater—Ventura, CA
November 5—Silver Legacy Hotel Casino—Reno, NV
November 6—Pauma Casino Showroom—Pauma Valley, CA
November 10—Buffalo Run Casion—Miami, OK
November 11—Bluesville Showroom at Horseshoe Casino—Robinsonville, MS
December 8—The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan—Las Vegas, NV

Watch Out! Ryan Adams Revisits “Oh My Sweet Carolina” on Colbert

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Ryan Adams Revisits “Oh My Sweet Carolina”

Ryan Adams took time away from his classic rock persona to revisit his earlier incarnation of roots-rocker. Taking to the Late Night stage in an intimate setting Adams turned the focus toward his 2000 solo classic debut ‘Heartbreaker.’

Adams was joined by Infamous Stringdusters and Nicki Bluhm, sitting in for Emmylou Harris, who provided harmony on the original.

Adams revisit is to shed light on the re-issue of ‘Heartbreaker,’ which had a deluxe version reissued earlier this year.

https://youtu.be/YgP1J34D8LA

John Prine Will Release New album ‘For Better, Or Worse’ This Fall

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John Prine - For Better, Or Worse

The other day John Prine teased some upcoming music by posting a picture on his Facebook page of he and long-time collaborator Iris DeMent laying down some tracks in his home studio.

Now the great news is out. On September 30, Oh Boy Records will release John Prine’s latest, ‘For Better, Or Worse,’ a thematic bookend to his classic, Grammy nominated ‘In Spite of Ourselves. Produced by Jim Rooney, John performs duets with country and roots luminaries like the aforementioned Iris DeMent, as well as Alison Krauss, Miranda Lambert, Kathy Mattea, Kacey Musgraves, Fiona Prine, Amanda Shires, Morgane Stapleton, Susan Tedeschi, Holly Williams, and Lee Ann Womack.

Wow, indeed.

The classic songs on ‘For Better, Or Worse,’ originally recorded by artists such as Hank Williams, George Jones, Ernest Tubb, Buck Owens and others, are in John’s blood. “I cut my teeth on Hank Williams songs,” he says. “When I sing these songs there is a small pipeline straight from my heart to my lips.” The tracks take listeners through the universal cycle of love’s pull, love’s bend, love’s life, and love’s end.

The toe-tapping first single, “Who’s Gonna Take The Garbage Out,” originally done by Loretta Lynn with Ernest Tubb, features Iris Dement, is available now when you pre-order the new record. Hear it below.

This fall, John will celebrate both the new album and his approaching 70th birthday with two shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Sept. 30th & Oct. 1st, where he will be joined by some of the duet partners from ‘For Better, Or Worse.’

John Prine took time to talk to NPR’s Jewly Hight about the album.

Tracklist:
John Prine/Iris DeMent – Who’s Gonna Take The Garbage Out
John Prine/Lee Ann Womack – Storms Never Last
John Prine/Alison Krauss – Falling in Love Again
John Prine/Susan Tedeschi – Color of the Blues
John Prine/Holly Williams – I’m Telling You
John Prine/Kathy Mattea – Remember Me (When Candlelights Are Gleaming)
John Prine/Morgane Stapleton – Look At Us
John Prine/Amanda Shires – Dim Lights, Thich Smoke and Loud, Loud Music
John Prine/Lee Ann Womack – Fifteen Years Ago
John Prine/Miranda Lambert – Cold, Cold Heart
John Prine/Kathy Mattea – Dreaming My Dreams With You
John Prine/Kacey Musgraves – Mental Cruelty
John Prine/Iris DeMent – Mr. & Mrs. Used to Be
John Prine/Fiona Prine – My Happiness
John Prine – Just Waitin’

Dr Ralph Stanley Funeral – Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, and Ricky Skaggs [VIDEO]

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Dr Ralph Stanley funeral - Vince Gill, Patty Lovelace, and Ricky Skaggs

YouTube member tdcat26 uploaded this video from Ralph Stanley funeral. It gives us an intimate glance of what it was like to be in attendance with all those paying tribute.

Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, and Ricky Skaggs were on hand to do the same.

After a beautiful eulogy Vince Gill performs ‘Go Rest High On That Mountain,’ a song Gill began writing in the tragic aftermath of Keith Whitley’s death in 1989, but did not finish the song until a few years later following the death of his older brother Bob, in 1993, of a heart attack.

As in the original recording Patty Loveless and Ricky Skaggs lend their backing vocals in moving tribute.

In memory Gill said ‘The first time I heard Ralph’s voice it was life-changing. ,,, It was the most mournful, it was the most soulful, and it reached deep inside me more than any other voice I had heard in Bluegrass.”

Patty Loveless remembering her performance of ‘Pretty Polly’ live with Stanley “It means so much to me,,,I had a career but this raised even further.”

Americana Music Association and Record Store Day Announce AMERICANA MUSIC MONTH

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AMERICANA MUSIC MONTH

Record Store Day always offers great limited edition Americana/folk/country/Bluegrass as well as other genres, but now it seems that June is all about the twang.

The good folks at Nashville-based Americana Music Association and Record Store Day have joined forces to make June AMERICANA MUSIC MONTH. More than 100 independent record stores are participating throughout the month providing free music samplers, special deals on new and classic Americana albums, and special in-store performances all month long.

Check the RSD site for participating indy record stores and chaeck back for more information.

Third Man Records to Release Dwight Yoakam Blue Series “Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day”

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Dwight Yoakam "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day"

It looks like Third Man Records will continue further down the Lost Highway they began earlier this year with the release of Margo Price’s breakout debut ‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter’ with a release from a true country music icon – Dwight Yoakam.

As part of their next Blue Series the Nashville-based label/shop/live music venue will feature a true country music icon , Dwight Yoakam. Yoakam stopped by the studio with Jack White to record songs by one of Yoakam’s biggest non-country influences – “Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day” (Boyce/Venet, popularized by The Monkees, as well as the flip-side “High On The Mountain of Love” written by Harold Dorman, popularized by Kenny Lynch, Charley Pride, Johnny Rivers, the Beach Boys and others.

“Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day” will be released June 10th on 7” vinyl and digitally on itunes.

Hear samples below and pre-order here.

Watch Out! Robert Ellis – “How I Love You” [VIDEO]

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Robert Ellis - "How I Love You"

Texas folk/country singer travels the big lonely in his new video “How I Love You.”

The track is from Ellis’ forthcoming self-titled LP, drums shuffle over a swelling piano with condensed electric guitar squeezing out sadness that fills the abandoned city Ellis traverses with dread and glimpses of hope embodied by a woman from the past? The future?

Ellis tells Consequence Of Sound – “Cullen (Kelly – the video’s diector) came to me with the concept of shooting a video in a major metropolitan area and making it feel completely empty,” Ellis explains to Consequence of Sound. “I think the city is the third character in this video. The idea is that falling in love has the power to bring a whole world into existence that wasn’t there before.”

“How I Love You” was penned by Delta Spirit frontman, Matthew Logan Vasquez anad can be found on Robert Ellis’ eponymous new release, out June 3rd via New West Records. Pre-order here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGtUMfI_1N0

Jaason Isbell Leads Americana Music Award Nominees

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Americana Music Award Nominees
(L-R) Ethan Jodziewicz, Sierra Hull, Kenneth Pattengale, Lucinda Williams, Joey Ryan, Margo Price, Jed Hilly.
Photo by Sarah Como

The nominees for the 15th annual Americana Music Awards and Honors was announced yesterday from the historic Mansion on O Street in Washington, D.C. Aside from the odd elitism that an event from a ballroom of the luxury hotel symbolizes (the Mansion? I wonder if it’s on a hill?) it was an entertaining and fun event.

The event was streamed via Facebook’s new ‘Live’ feature exclusively through NPR Music’s Facebook page. The Milk Carton Kids — Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan – were their usual droll elves. Ryan once making he connection between the event’s DC location and his vow to “Make Americana great again.” While donning a bright red cap emblazoned with that motto. It was huuuuuge.

Stellar performances by Lucinda Williams, Margo Price and Sierra Hull (who should be a nominee next year) with Ethan Jodziewicz put the spotlight on the purpose of the event – exceptional music by extraordinary musicians.

Alabama troubadour Jason Isbell continues his much-deserved success by leading the nominees with 3 nods for Album of the Year, Artist of the Year and Song of the Year. Lucinda Williams, Chris Stapleton and newcomer Margo Price each nominated for two apiece. Mainstream country crossover is reflected not only by Stapleton but also by Texan Kacey Musgraves

The 2016 Americana Music Association Festival and Conference is scheduled for September 20-25, with the awards ceremony being held at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday, September 21. Americana Music Association honors additional distinguished members of the music community with Lifetime Achievement Awards, which will be announced leading up to the event.

Jim Lauderdale is a natural as the proceedings host and Buddy Miller fronts 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 TV and 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
Something More Than Free – Jason Isbell
The Ghosts of Highway 20 – Lucinda Williams
The Very Last Day – Parker Millsap
Traveller – Chris Stapleton

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Jason Isbell
Bonnie Raitt
Chris Stapleton
Lucinda Williams

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Leon Bridges
John Moreland
Margo Price
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

SONG OF THE YEAR
“24 Frames” Jason Isbell
“Dime Store Cowgirl” Kacey Musgraves
“Hands Of Time” Margo Price
“S.O.B.” Nathaniel Rateliff & The Nightsweats

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Alabama Shakes
Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
Lake Street Dive
The Milk Carton Kids
Tedeschi Trucks Band

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Cindy Cashdollar
Stuart Duncan
Jedd Hughes
Sara Watkins

Watch Out! Dixie Chicks Cover Beyoncé “Daddy Lessons” – Manchester, UK 2016

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Dixie Chicks - Beyoncé cover "Daddy Lessons" - U.K. 2016

Much fuss has been made about Beyoncé new release; Lemonade. My social feeds and phone texts have called my attention to one particular cut off the album, “Daddy’s Lessons,” a rootsy number detailing learnings of self-defense and pride any Texan will recognize.

The Dixie Chicks on their current DCX MMXVI tour showed their love for the fellow Texan by wonderfully covering the song live in Manchester, England on April 39th.

The Chicks stayed true to the original adding their beautiful harmonies and making it even more rootsy.

“It painted a country picture in our minds,” Kevin Cossum, the song’s co-writer told Billboard. “It sounded tough. ‘So my daddy said shoot.’ You see the whiskey on the table. You see the rifle. It just had that feel to it. It didn’t take the hip-hop element to make it tough, which I think is very cool especially for Beyonce. And it goes with her being from Texas. Her vibe to it just makes sense for how it all came together.”

The song is motivated by Beyonce’s childhood roots in Texas and the lessons she learned from her father, Matthew Knowles, who has been a driving force not just in Beyonce’s life but in her career—he managed her from the Girls Tyme days through Destiny’s Child and through her early solo career. However, Beyonce fired her father as her manager in March 2011.

Watch the performance below: