Category Archives: Country Music

Listen Up! Matthew McNeal – “Alonely”

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Mattew McNeal

Hang on to your Stetsons kids. Fort Worth-based roots-rocker Matthew McNeal has delivered a sizzling track to deliver us into the hot Lone Star spring.

Pure guitar tone sets up McNeal’s soulful, jubilant croon as galloping drums and pedal steel belies this forlorn testament of the self-inflicted isolation of the road.

Of the song McNeal says: “One of the prevalent concepts on the album is the idea of feeling lonesome, even when there’s no reason to feel that way. I always wanted ‘Alonely’ to tell a story- packing up and hitting the road to chase this music-man dream, realizing that love doesn’t always come easy when you’re chasing that dream, then finally seeing that you can’t fulfill those dreams without other folks around. It’s probably one of my favorite studio stories- when we were tracking the tune, we changed the groove of the entire song about ten minutes before actually recording it. I remember looking at my drummer right afterwards and laughing, thinking ‘why didn’t we think of making it this rowdy sooner?!” It’s definitely a fun one to play live, plus I really enjoy telling the story of winning the war against those lonesome feelings.”

“Alonely” is the latest single from McNeal’s upcoming sophomore album, ‘Compadre,; slated for a June release. ‘Compadre’ was recorded at Redwood Studios in Denton, Texas, and produced by Midlake members Joey McClellan (Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Israel Nash) and Grammy award winner McKenzie Smith (Regina Spektor, St. Vincent and John Grant).

Listen Up! Lindi Ortega – ‘Tell It Like It Is” [VIDEO]

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Lindi Ortega - Tell It Like It Is

‘Tell It Like It Is” is a new cut by Nashville-by-way-of-Toronto chanteuse Lindi Ortega.

The song blends a slow, torchy waltz with a simmering rock-blues request for her lover to stop playing games and shoot straight. Ortega’s shimmering trill is on full display in this rousing cut. Her pleas dip and soar as the band builds to a full rock swagger.

‘Tell It Like It Is” is from an untitled new album. Details on the album will be revealed in April.

Ortega will play the Stagecoach in April and the Live Oak in Ft. Worth on May 6.

Buy ‘Tell It Like It Is” – iTunes.

Music Review: Andrew Combs – ‘All Theses Dreams”

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Andrew Combs - 'All Theses Dreams"

A young artist harkening to the past walks the tightrope between influence and imitation. On “all These Dreams” Andrew Combs has the balance of his extraordinary talent and songwriting chops to establish his troubadour bonafides and put to rest any calls of an acoustic derivative.

That song craft, production combined with Combs’ easy-going vocals on songs ‘Rainy Day Song’ and ‘Nothing to Lose’ feel lifted from the Jim Croce legacy of understated acoustic pop brilliance. This is not a knock. This is a daring, almost nuts, move where irony and beats glut the popular music landscape.

The self-conscious tension of ‘Foolin’ is countered by a spritely, soulful Doug Sahm-meets-Roy Orbison arrangement. The finger-picking intro to “Strange Birds’ gives way to a breezy shuffle in this song masking search for love akin to bird watching (complete with a whistle break.) ‘In The Name Of You’ is a velvet-gloved gut punch string-swelling confessional that would make Harry Nilsson crack a smile.

‘Slow Road To Jesus’ is a title-fitting waltz that follows the narrator down the hard path of trial, tribulation toward the path of deliverance. That path isn’t easy as ‘Bad Habits,” a yearning bluesy number, recount of worldly temptations that thwarts the best of intentions.

The path continues on ‘Suwanee,’ a song of distilled emotional and style directness in the style of Guy Clark, that sends an invitation of natural and spiritual beauty as waypoints pointing to paradise.

‘All Theses Dreams” has Andrew Combs panning for 70’s FM gold and teasing out three minute nuggets of pop-folk riches that reminds us that not all pop is soulless pyrite. Combs is working within a nostalgic framework and creating vibrant work. He knows what he’s doing, there’s a hunger for this kind of music.

Here’s hoping for a deep and bountiful creative vein.

Official Site | Buy

Record Store Day 2015 – Americana and Roots Music Picks

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130424-record-store-day

Record Store Day, the annual celebration of local record stores for aficionados of the antiquated data storage device known as vinyl will be taking place as always on the Third Saturday in April. For 2015 that means Saturday, April 18.

The crew behind Record Store Day have been the driving force for 8 years on what we’re now seeing as the explosive, and surprising, resurgence of vinyl releases. The most public example of this is last year’s Record Store Day ambassador Jack White’s the recent sales of his latest ‘Lazaretto’ setting a record for first-week sales by moving 40,000 vinyl copies. This eclipsed the previous long-standing record of about 33,000 held by Pearl Jam’s ‘Vitalogy.’

As overall music sales continue to decline , vinyl sales increased to 6.1 million in 2013, up from 4.6 million the year before. By comparison, total vinyl sales failed to reach even one million units in 2007.

As vinyl grows in popularity there’s is pressure on vinyl manufacturers, who like us all were caught off-guard by the resurgence. But shops like United Record Pressing based in Nashville, TN, the shop responsible for manufacturing White’s best-seller are expanding to meet the growing demand.

The demand for vinyl is partially due to it’s described ‘warmer’ sound, BUt the real drive behind Record Store Day is uniqueness and scarcity. Maay of the releases come on colored vinyl or as picture discs and many of the releases are produced in very limited runs, some totaling no more than a few hundred.

This stands in direct contrast to digital music’s hemogeny of sound and structure. an MP3 might be convenient, but it’s never scarce or unique.

Check out the Americana and roots selections below and take a look at the full list. Get to your favorite indy record early on April 18 (I’ll be at Good Records in Dallas) and share those great finds with me on Instagram and Twitter.

Asleep At The Wheel (with Willie Nelson and The Blind Boys of Alabama) – Unreleased single from ‘Still The King: Celebrating The Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Bismeaux Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
RSD Exclusive single featuring bonus Asleep at The Wheel performances with Willie Nelson and The Blind Boys of Alabama not included on the Still The King album. Signed by Ray Benson, and numbered.
TRACKLIST: “New Spanish Two Step”/”The Devil Ain’t Lazy”

Bob Dylan – ‘The Basement Tapes’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Other Peoples Music
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info: The Basement Tapes recorded in 1967 while Bob Dylan recuperated and features many Dylan songs that had appeared on bootleg records prior to the “official” release in 1975. The recording took place in Woodstock and features four members of the Hawks (Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson – and one American, Levon Helm) better known today as The Band. Individually autographed and numbered by Garth Hudson.

Bob Dylan – ‘The Night We Called It A Day’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Columbia
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Limited Edition blue vinyl single featuring two songs from Bob Dylan’s newest release “Shadows In The Night”

Brandi Carlisle – special 7”
single of the new song “Wherever Is Your Heart” + B-side cover of Graham Nash’s “Simple Man”

Johnny Cash – Koncert v Praze (In Prague–Live)
Format: 12″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Johnny Cash playing his greatest hits behind the Iron Curtain in 1983. Limited edition heavy weight vinyl release pressed on Soviet Red 180 gram vinyl.

Steve Earle & The Dukes – ‘Terraplane’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: NEW WEST RECORDS
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Steve Earle A-side version of Terraplane (a song not on the record) and a b-side of Robert Johnsons “Terraplane Blues”. Will be mastered at the level of Robert Johnson’s original recording. Most of the versions you hear today are remastered and the db’s are brought up. This one will be as close to the original 78 as possible. Includes download card.
TRACKLIST: A: Steve Earle “Terraplane” B: Robert Johnsons “Terraplane Blues”

Father John Misty – ‘I Love You, Honeybear’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: SUB POP
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Father John Misty presents a lovely, acoustic version of the title track of his latest album, I Love You, Honeybear, along with a new, exclusive B-side, truthfully-entitled “Never Been a Woman,” on a colored-vinyl, heart-shaped 7”. This release is exclusive to Record Store Day, and it is limited to 5,700 copies worldwide. Includes download card.
TRACKLIST: “I Love You, Honeybear (Acoustic Version)”/”Never Been a Woman”
TRACKLIST: Side A: “The Night We Called It A Day” Side B: “Stay With Me”

Charlie Feathers – ‘Charlie Feathers’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Sundazed Music
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Crazy, coveted rockabilly recordings from legendary wildman Charlie Feathers! Includes all eight of his King sides as originally issued in ‘56 & ‘57 – now rare and pricey 45s and 78s – with new notes from Colin Escott.
TRACKLIST: “One Hand Loose” / “Can’t Hardly Stand It” / “Bottle To The Baby” / “Everybody’s Lovin’ My Baby” / “Too Much Alike” / “When You Come Around”

Dom Flemons – ‘What Got Over’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Music Maker
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
10″ record with nine new tracks. “Included here on What Got Over, there are also a few alternatesto the main tracks I picked for Prospect Hill – versions in which I experimented with the sound and instrumentation but in the end they didn’t make the final cut. I sequenced this EP to be record two of two in conjunction with Prospect Hill. When you reach the end of this album you will have heard the whole Prospect Hill Omnibus! If you take both albums and make them into a playlist it will be a full hour of music.” – Dom Flemons
TRACKLIST: “Big Head Joe’s March”/”Milwaukee Blues”/”Clock On The Wall”/”Keep On Truckin'”/”Hot Chicken”/”Have I Stayed Away Too Long”/”Going Backward Up The Mountain”/”Til’ The Seas Run Dry”/”What Got Over”

Gram Parsons/Lemonheads – ‘Brass Buttons’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Rhino
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
7″ 45 RPM Vinyl is Circle swatch splatter Bronze on Baby Pink. Part of Rhino’s now celebrated RSD exclusive Side By Side 7″ singles series. Two artists perform the same song. Surprising and unusual performances and repertoire.
TRACKLIST: “Brass Buttons”/”Brass Buttons”

Justin Townes Earle – ‘Live at Grimey’s’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Vagrant
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
TRACKLIST: Side A: Call Ya Momma, When the One You Love Loses Faith, Worried Bout the Weather, Single Mothers
Side B: Today and a Lonely Night, Burning Pictures, White Gar

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band – ‘A Little Something From The Road, Vol. 1’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Concord
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
12″ vinyl featuring live smokin’ versions of classics from the recent Goin’ Home project as well as a couple extra blues nuggets.
TRACKLIST: 1. “Looking Back” 2. “House Is Rockin’” 3. “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover” 4. “Woke Up This Morning” 5. “You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now”

Robert Earl Keen – ‘Gringo Honeymoon’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Much anticipated vinyl issue of the Texas troubadour’s breakout 1994 release.

Lucero – ‘Jukebox Series #3’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Liberty & Lament
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
TRACKLIST: “Boom Boom”/”Midnight Special”

Mumford & Sons – ‘Believe’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Glassnote
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Bootleg style 7″ hand numbered and hand stamped. First physical release of music from the upcoming album.
TRACKLIST: “Believe”/”The Wolf”

Willie Nelson – ‘Teatro’
Format: 2 x 12″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Modern Classics/Light in the Attic
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
* First time ever issued on vinyl for Record Store Day 2015
* Features duets with and backing vocals by Emmylou Harris
* Produced by Daniel Lanois (U2 Joshua Tree; Bob Dylan Time Out Of Mind; Emmylou Harris Wrecking Ball)
* Record Store Day exclusive featuring deluxe gatefold “tip-on” uncoated jacket and gold vinyl
* Limited to 5,000 copies

Location is everything. When Willie Nelson and album producer Daniel Lanois set out to create a cinematic-sounding album, Teatro, they took over a disused movie theatre in Oxnard, California, and pictured its dusty glory on the LP sleeve. Recorded as-live in situ amid the red velvet seats, Teatro sees Nelson working extensively with his frequent collaborator Emmylou Harris, who joins him for duets and on backing vocals on 11 of the 14 tracks. The other major player is U2 and Paul McCartney collaborator Daniel Lanois (producer of Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, Emmylou Harris’ Wrecking Ball), who produces the album, plays guitar and bass, took the cover photo and wrote one of the album’s songs, “The Maker”, a stunning performance with glacier-thick vibe.

Originally released by Island Record in 1998, Teatro is issued here as a special Record Store Day release. LA and Seattle-based Light In The Attic present the album as it’s never been seen before – on vinyl. Pressed on gold vinyl with a deluxe, gatefold, ‘tip-on’ uncoated jacket, this is a chance to own this unique album in its most beautifully presented form.
TRACKLIST: Side A: “Ou Es-Tu, Mon Amour? (Where Are You, My Love?)”, “I Never Cared for You”, “Everywhere I Go”, “Darkness on the Face of the Earth”
Side B: “My Own Peculiar Way”, “These Lonely Nights”, “Home Motel”, “The Maker”
Side C: “I Just Can’t Let You Say Goodbye”, “I’ve Just Destroyed the World (I’m Living In)”, “Somebody Pick Up My Pieces”
Side D: “Three Days”, “I’ve Loved You All Over the World”, “Annie”

Okkervil River – ‘Sleep and Wake-Up Songs’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: JAGJAGUWAR
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Sleep and Wake-Up Songs is now being rereleased for Record Store Day, it’s first time pressed ever on vinyl. Including a demo of the EP track “You’re Untied Again” and the never before released song “Knocking Myself Out,” the EP reveals Okkervil River in-between the monumental albums Down The River of Golden Dreams and Black Sheep Boy. Band leader Will Sheff looked back to this EP, remarking, “I can hear in it somebody who is actually getting comfortable with singing, with playing the guitar, with letting music happen naturally.”
TRACKLIST: SIDE A: 1. A Favor 2. You’re Untied Again 3. And I Have Seen the World of Dreams 4. Just Give Me Time
SIDE B: 5. No Hidden Track 6. You’re Untied Again [Solo Sketch] 7. Knocking Myself Out [Home Recording]”

Reverend Horton Heat – ‘It’s A Rave-Up/Beer, Write This Song’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Victory Records
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Two brand new, previously unreleased tracks from Reverend Horton Heat on solid red 7″ vinyl with 150 randomly distributed clear pink copies.
TRACKLIST: “It’s A Rave-Up”/”Beer, Write This Song”

Simon & Garfunkel – ‘Homeward Bound/Leaves That Are Green’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
This collectible 7” 45rpm vinyl releases recreates the origina 1966 “Homeward Bound” single, pairing two essential Simon & Garfunkel cuts from that year: “Homeward Bound” (from Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme) and “Leaves That Are Green” (from Sounds of Silence). A Top 5 single in the US, “Homeward Bound” became a worldwide phenomenon reaching #4 in the Netherlands and #9 in the UK while going Top 20 in Australia and Sweden (where it hit #12). The cover for this RSD 2015 release is based on the German single artwork.

Dolly Parton – ‘The Grass is Blue’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Dolly’s seminal 1999 bluegrass debut, available for the first time on vinyl.
TRACKLIST: “Homeward Bound”/”Leaves That Are Green”

Todd Snider – ‘Impending Doom’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Aimless
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
The A-side of this RSD exclusive 7″ is a Rolling Stones cover, the B-side is an unreleased Todd Snider original.
TRACKLIST: “Shattered”/”Backlash”

st paul

St. Paul and the Broken Bones – Live From The Alabama Theatre
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Single Lock
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Covers of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song” and David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream” recorded live at the Alabama Theatre on 11/14/14. Released on a 12″ transparent crimson record SHAPED LIKE THE STATE OF ALABAMA.
TRACKLIST: “Sing a Simple Song”/”Moonage Daydream”

Doc and Merle Watson – ‘Ballads from the Gap’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Fan-voted vinyl re-issue of the iconic release, re-mastered from the original tapes and presented in ‘exact replica’ packaging.

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Broeder Dieleman – Split 7″
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Snowstar Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Bonnie ‘prince’ Billy & Broeder Dieleman cover and translate each other, after having toured together in the Netherlands in 2014. Broeder Dieleman is from the south of the Netherlands, and sings in Dutch. He translated Bonnie prince Billy’s ‘Three Questions’, while Will Oldham does his (translated) take of ‘Gloria’
TRACKLIST: 1: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Gloria 2: Broeder Dieleman – Drie Vragen

Junior Brown – Better Call Saul: Theme 7″
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: SPACELAB9
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
TRACKLIST: “Better Call Saul”/”Better Call Saul (Instrumental)”

Giant Sand – ‘Valley of Rain (30th Anniversary Edition)’
Format: 2 x 12″ Vinyl
Label: Fire America
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Marking the 30th anniversary since Giant Sand’s debut album “Valley of Rain,” Fire America brings you this limited edition 2xLP 30th Anniversary Edition. The first disc is the lovingly re-mastered “Valley of Rain” in its entirety, with the addition of the track “Torture of Love,” which was added by Howe Gelb himself. The second disc features extra material recorded as Giant Sand and the pre-Giant Sand line up “Giant Sandworms,” including a “Valley of Rain” remix, a “repaired” version of “Tumble and Tear” along with five fascinating bonus tracks compiled from live and radio recordings from the time period.
• Limited to 500 copies for North America
• Liner notes from Howe Gelb.
TRACKLIST: Disc One: 1. Valley Of Rain, 2. Tumble & Tear, 3. October Anywhere, 4. Barrio, 5. Death, Dying & Channel 5, 6. Torture Of Love, 7. Down On Town / Love’s No Answer, 8. Black Venetian Blind, 9. Curse Of A Thousand Flames, 10. Artists, 11. Man Of Want
Disc Two: 1. Valley Of Rain – Remixed Instrumental, 2. Tumble And Tear – Repaired, + Five bonus tracks

Lydia Loveless & Cory Brannan - 'Prince Covers Split Single'

Lydia Loveless & Cory Brannan – ‘Prince Covers Split Single’
Format: 7″ Colored Vinyl
Label: Bloodshot
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Two never before released tracks. Physical Only, Purple Vinyl
TRACKLIST: Lydia: “I Would Die For You” Cory: “Under The Cherry Moon”

Lee Ann Womack – ‘Trouble in Mind’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
a limited edition 3-Song 12” vinyl – blues classic “Trouble in Mind,” Roger Miller’s demi-obscure “Where Have All The Average People Gone?” and Ralph Stanley’s bluegrass gospel “I’ve Just Seen The Rock of Ages.”

Various Artists – ‘Music To Drink Beer To’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Music To Drink Beer To is a limited-edition compilation put together by longtime friends Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head and Adam Block of Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings. Sam, who’s in the beer business and a raging music geek, and Adam, who’s in the music business and a raging beer geek, sat down over a few beers and a stash of well worn vinyl and picked some of their favorite tracks.
TRACKLIST: 01. “Please, Mrs. Henry”/Bob Dylan & The Band, 02. “Fishin’ Blues”/Taj Mahal, 03. “I Put A Spell On You”/Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, 04. “Gimmie Danger”/Iggy And The Stooges, 05. “Whiskey Bottle”/Uncle Tupelo, 06. “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”/The Byrds, 07. “What Good Can Drinking Do”/Janis Joplin, 08. “Mannish Boy”/Muddy Waters, 09. “Scuttle Buttin’”/Stevie Ray Vaughan And Double Trouble, 10. “Surrender”/Cheap Trick, 11. “Juicy Fruit”/Mtume, 12. “Electric Relaxation”/A Tribe Called Quest

The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – ‘You Can’t Judge A Book…’
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Daddy Kool Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band has been creating a whirlwind with their riveting and unconventional elixir of muscular and high voltage country blues capped by gritty growling vocals and striking finger picking. Inspired by the likes of Charley Patton, Furry Lewis and John Hurt, Reverend Peyton is steeped in the great blues tradition but is catapulting its roots into a new era.
TRACKLIST: “You Can’t Judge A Book By Looking At The Cover” B/W “Some These Days I’ll Be Gone”

Chris Stapleton – ‘IN STEREO’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Mercury Nashville
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
TRACKLIST: “When the Stars Come Out” “Fire Away” “Tennessee Whiskey”

The Waterboys – ‘Puck’s Blues’
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Harlequin & Clown
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:
Home demos and acoustic tracks recorded in advance of the new album.
TRACKLIST: A1-November Tale, A2-I Can See Elvis
B1-The Girl Who Slept ForScotland, B2- Destinies Entwined

The Mavericks – ‘Mono’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: The Valory Music Company
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
Early vinyl release for Record Store Day, includes digital download

John Prine – ‘September 78’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Oh Boy Records
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
A live record of John playing with a full band. There are loud guitar solos, funky organ playing and a couple of unreleased covers that will really surprise some folks.

Various Artists – ‘Sawyer Sessions Vol 1’
Format: CD
Label: Yep Roc Records
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
The Sawyer Sessions started simple enough: new town, new building, new vibe. When the Yep Roc Music Group moved to Hillsborough, North Carolina two years ago, they wanted to find a way to integrate themselves into the creative juices flowing just beneath the surface of this historic, southern town. Named after their nearly 100-year-old office building, The Sawyer Sessions are one part video series, one part mobile recording lab, one part way to introduce the music group to their neighbors. But instead of bringing by a pie, they bring a collection of artists with diverse backgrounds and styles – Grammy Award winners, noted international songwriters, all legendary performers. They drop them into to everyday life situations and record them at restaurants, galleries and private homes – the only rule is that it has to be within the roughly 4.3 square miles of their new hometown. This record documents the best of those first year of performances and serves as a “map” of Hillsborough, North Carolina. Limited Edition Record Store Day Exclusive with hand-drawn cover art.

Bruce Springsteen – ‘Nebraska’
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
• Newly remastered on LP!
• Packaged in faithful recreation of original LP sleeves.
• Remastered from the original source tapes
• 180-gram audiophile vinyl
TRACKLIST: “Nebraska”, “Atlantic City”, “Mansion On The Hill”, “Johnny 99”, “Highway Patrolman”, “State Trooper”, “Used Cars”, “Open All Night”, “My Father’s House”,”Reason To Believe”

Watch Out : Whitey Morgan’s – “Waitin’ ‘Round To Die” (Townes Van Zandt) [VIDEO]

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Whitey Morgan’s “Waitin’ ‘Round To Die”

It takes guts to cover Townes Van Zandt. A musician will fall short of the original can take comfort that though they get leads of cred for choosing the legendary songwriter.

“Waitin’ ‘Round To Die” is one of Van Zandt’s darkest songs in a discography brimming with melancholy. A nameless drifter recalls abusive from his father, abandonment of his mother, drug and alcohol abuse, fast women and then a stretch in prison. All leading to a husk of man waiting for his new companion, codeine, to take his wretched life.

This is not a tailgate party ditty.

Townes’ first wife, Fran Petters, stated in the Townes documentary, “Be Here to Love Me, that “Waiting ‘Round To Die” was the first song Van Zandt composed during their marriage in Houston, Texas. My favorite version of the song was done Van Zandt on the extraordinary documentary of 1970’s roots music, :Heartworn Highways.” Townes lays the song his Austin, Texas home picking his guitar picking in his signature style as his neighbor and friend Seymore Washington sits nearby. At one point during the performance 75 year old Washington begins to weep.

This is the power of music.

Where’s Townes original was spare and spacious, Whitey Morgan fills the space with a Ennio Morricone-style arrangement swirling around his his Southern-soul baritone.

Whitey Morgan’s “Waitin’ ‘Round To Die” from forthcoming ‘Sonic Ranch’ – May 19th

Sony Music Nashville CEO Gary Overton is Right (And So What?)

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GaryOverton

When Sony Music Nashville CEO Gary Overton told the Tennessean, “If you’re not on country radio, you don’t exist.” it caused a minor kerfuffle between country music bloggers and country artists, like Aaron Watson and Charlie Robison, that felt they , and country msuic’s integrity, were in his contemptuous crosshairs.

I even took it apon myself to decry Overton’s statement on Twitter and retweet links to essays taking him to task.

But after some reflection, I am willing to concede that Overton is correct in his statement.

First context.

Overton made his incendiary remarks while attending the annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, where 2,424 attendees, exhibitors, panelists and sponsors came to discuss the future of the industry. That’s the Country Radio industry. Not the roots americana industry. Not the historical preservation of country music.

As with any trade convention quality was not the focus, unless there is a direct line between it and profits.

It’s about return on investment. Period.

No more clear symbol of this was the surprise appearance of Garth Brooks to announced the year’s Country Radio Hall of Fame inductees in both the Radio and On-Air categories.

Whether you like Brooks’ music, or believe he’s the beginning of genre cross-over hell and the end of everything that was good about country music (he wasn’t), with 8 Academy of Country Music awards and a RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) listing of as the best-selling solo album artist of all-time (surpassing Elvis Presley) with 135 million units sold, he is the the gold standard by which radio play, record sales and concert attendance is measured.

Jimmy Rodgers mights be the father of country music, but Garth is it’s first superstar.

This is the ontological existence of which Overton refers. The world made possible by Garth.

When your music is no longer a nuanced craft and becomes a replicable commodity, you exist. If your personality and looks are a marketers dream, you exist. If your income far exceeds the label’s output, you exist. If you’re willing to run that gilded hamster wheel ad infinitum until the end of your short days, you exist.

If you’re willing to use your talents to grease the music row production machine, to achieve potential fame and admiration of millions, you exist.

Short of that piss off.

It’s not all gloom. When an industry behemoth refuses to adapt to customer tastes and industry trends alternatives spring up.

The Nashville Sound led to Buck, Merle , Willie and Waylon. The Urban Cowboy fab resulted in Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett and kd Lang.

Though these rebels were never fully integrated into the machine itself they did send waves into record sales and radio execs had take notice.

Now the so-called Bro-Country fad has Kacey Musgraves, Brandy Clark, Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell rocking the mainstream country boat.

But like McDonalds facing a healthier eating public, or Budweiser facing a less people willing to swill their sun-par product, Music Row can only partially assimilate. The assimilation will also lead to the application of the Garth standard of success, of existence, so songs will be optioned and the same flavorless production sauce will be slathered over extraordinary songs rendering them worthy of mainstream radio play and consumptions of an always shifting, faceless and fickle demographic.

So Overton is correct. By the Garth standard of rendering cultural artifacts into mass consumption radio fodder, most musicians don’t matter. Thier work or image doesn’t fit into the already prefabbed sonic and stylized containers.

But luckily the Garth standard is not the only one that counts.

There the already mentioned Bakersfield /Outlaw standard of creatively seeing untapped opportunities and bucking (hehe) conventional (and played out) trends.

There’s the model of artists like Buddy Miller, Jim Lauderdale, Gretchen Peters, Vince Gill, Chris Knight, Guy Clark and others that straddle the commercial and artistry territories without compromise.

There’s the vibrant and thriving Americana model that cultivates and champions the best of country music, and country music sourced genres , new and older talents. And has created a thriving , and lucrative, community.

And then there’s the Hank III model of giving the finger to Music Row and bringing in a whole new demographic from the ground up, to build a loyal, enthusiastic and sustainable fan base.

Some say the Garth standard of mega sales, and celebrity status, is dead, or dying, in a music industry in transition.

I certainly have no crystal ball telling me where all this is headed. But I take comfort is knowing that Overton and his ilk are on their heels as their concept of existence crumbles beneath them.

Or as singer/songwriter, and one-time potential Voice contestant, Jason Isbell so eloquently tweeted:

“Of course major-label execs are saying crazy things these days. Have you ever heard the kinds of things people say when they’re dying? ”

Listen Up! Sarah Gayle Meech – ‘Loneliest Place In Town’ Premier – Interview

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Sarah Gayle Meech
Photo by Amanda Van Sandt

Dont think of Sarah Gayle Meech as a country music revivalist. Like her musical peers Kacey Musgraves and Sturgill Simpson she’s the contemporary version of classic spirit. The spirit of honesty, human complexity and a little ass kicking bravado.

This is a spirit that Music City, in an effort to produce, replicate and deliver mass consumable cultural products, has abandoned by design. Too risky. If there’s anything big business hates it’s risk. But Sarah Gayle Meech is not afraid of risks. She appears to feed off of them.

Her inked physique, and rockabilly-ready style, puts her aesthetically at odds with the blonde cheerleader Music Row clones. She’s disruptive in looks and in talent, not willing to back down from hard topics and hard twang. She’s taking on the mainstream Bro-Country the way that Dwight Yoakam and Nanci Griffith took on the 80’s Urban Cowboy fad. Great songs, well played, that feel real.

Meech took time from preparing for her newest album release, ‘Tennessee Love Song’ March 31st, to answer a few questions.

Listen to ‘Loneliest Place In Town’ below.

Pre-order Tennessee Love Song

Twang Nation: With your shows at stages like Robert’s Western World and Layla’s Bluegrass Inn, you’ve become the honky-tonk queen of lower Broadway. This is not an easy crowd to impress. Take me through your music journey from California to this point.

Sarah Gayle Meech: Honky tonk queen, I love it! I’ve been in Nashville now 5 years from LA. Started playing lower Broadway almost 4 years ago. I dove into the Broadway shows because I wanted to learn more and play music for a living. When I saw the level of skill the lower Broadway musicians had, I was pretty floored. At any given time of the day, some of the best players in the world are down at those honky tonks playing a 4 hour show for tips. Pretty unreal, definitely like no other place in the world. I had done a good deal of singing and playing before moving to Nashville, but I was nowhere near the level of these musicians. After a lot of persistence and getting to know players, I started landing my own shows, that eventually turned into residencies at Layla’s Bluegrass Inn and Robert’s Western
World. I have tremendous respect for the players down there, and feel fortunate to have a home base.

TN: You were awarded the Female Outlaw of the Year 2nd Annual Ameripolitan Awards in Austin earlier this month. I know the awards founder (and your friend) Dale Watson’s interpretation of ‘Ameripolitan.’ do you think it’s distinct from country or Americana music?

SGM: Winning this award was a great honor. It’s so inspiring to see the passion of the fans and creators of this movement. I think what Dale is trying to establish with Ameripolitan is what country music used to be. When country music was defined by the sounds of Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, steel guitars, fiddles. Nowadays, “country” music is stuff like Florida Georgia Line and Taylor Swift,
which is clearly pop/rock music. It seems a lot of fans are confused and are wondering what happened to “country” music, so many lines have been blurred. Ameripolitan is staying true to the traditional sounds and roots of country music by embracing the styles of honky tonk, rockabilly, western swing, and outlaw. In case you’re wondering what happened to real country music, Ameripolitan is the new home.

TN: “Tennessee Love Song,” your follow up to your debut ‘One Good Thing,’ was partially supported by Kickstarter campaign which was funded, and then some, by your fans. Why did you decide to go the crowd funding route, and would you do it again?

SGM: I’m an independent artist, 100%. Making an album can be very expensive. I funded the recording and mastering of the album on my own. When it came time to release the album, I needed help. That’s when I decided to give Kickstarter a try. I sat on the fence about running a Kickstarter campaign for awhile, the idea of failure freaked me out. But the more I thought about failing, the more I wanted to kick it’s ass. It was a successful campaign and has allowed me to launch Tennessee Love Song. The whole Kickstarter campaign was a lot of work, but very worth it. It also gave me a lot of inspiration to have the support of so many people, for which I am truly grateful. Yes, I would do it again.

TN: Like your debut you tapped Andy Gibson (Hank Williams III steel/dobro player) as producer and session man. What does he bring to the table that had you going back for a second helping?

SGM: Andy is a super talented musician and a good friend. I was introduced to Andy by Bob Wayne, heard the album they were recording and thought it sounded fantastic. His style of recording and playing doesn’t sound like anyone else’s, it’s unique with lots of character, exactly what I was looking for. We work well together and I get the creative freedom I need. He has a great ear and is proficient on many instruments.

TN: You co-produced on the new album, how did that change things?

SGM: This time around I chose all the players, wrote and arranged all the songs/ instrumentation…I was more hands on for this album. When I recorded my first album One Good Thing it was a huge learning process. Having one album under my belt helped me navigate better through the process of the 2nd one. I had a clear vision of where I wanted ‘Tennessee Love Song’ to go, and was able to
achieve it.

TN: You have said you are partially inspired by Southern Gothic literature. What
author inspires you most and why?

SGM: I like the characters and themes of Southern Gothic writing. Seriously flawed people in dark situations, but with an underlying charm. I’ve always been drawn to people with immense character and grit, and have the grace to carry it. Tennessee Williams and Flannery O’Connor are among my favorites, their stories and real life struggles resonate with me.

TN: What performer that has passed would you like to go back in time and share the
stage with?

SGM: Big Mama Thornton, that would be something!

TN: You are featured on on the new season on ABC’s Nashville. The programs has done a great job of being Music Row soup while sneaking in songs and cameos of some of underground Nashville’s best. How did that gig come about?

SGM: I was playing at Robert’s Western World one night and the producer of Nashville was there. He got my cd, and about a week later I got a call from the music supervisor saying they were interested in having me perform my ‘song One Good Thing’ on the show. The whole experience was really great, it was a pleasure being part of the show and working with the crew.

TN: You also has a song from your debut, ‘Sound of a Heartbreak’, featured on the FX TV series Justified episode 5, “Shot All To Hell.” Do you see television and movies
as a way to get in front of a different audience?

SGM: Definitely, it exposes you to new fans. As an independent artist, it’s a great way for my music to reach people all over the world. Justified is a great show, I
was really excited to hear my music on it.

TN: You’ll get to share the bill with Merle Haggard, as well as Wanda Jackson and others, at the first annual Ink n Iron convention in Nashville this summer. As the late Chris Farley might say, “That will be
awesome.” I assume that’s your take?

SGM: Ink and Iron is coming up August 7th through 9th…I am honored to be included in that lineup! Just being on the same lineup as Merle Haggard is seriously awesome.

TN: What’s next for you? Any secret projects?

SGM: I’m working on my home recording skills…I’ve got a long way to go, but I want to record an EP on my own, real primitive, stripped down. The wheels are already turning for album #3…oh, and I’m learning to play the drums. The journey continues!

Review: American Aquarium – ‘Wolves’

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American Aquarium

The risk in loving an independent band is facing the fact that one day they may achieve mainstream success.

On the face of it, this is naive and a stupid attitude for fan. What kind of a sadist wants grown people to spend the rest of their professional lives in a cramped van? But the concerns are from a deeper, worried place – Can a love a mainstream band when mainstream bands suck? How many ways can I sneer at new fans? What if they change their sound? Will I still be able to get tickets to their show? And so on…

American Aquarium fans may now be faced with such an existential dilemma. After years of paying blacktop and beer joint dues (and suffering the indignity of having Florida Georgia Line open for them just to watch them explode to mainstream country stardom) BJ Barham , guitarists Ryan Johnson and Colin Dimeo, bassist Bill Corbin, drummer Kevin McClain and Whit Wright on keyboard and pedal-steel guitar might have their breakthrough album on their calloused hands.

Those dues have become fertile source of inspiration resulting in 10 tightly wound roots-rock cuts. ‘Wolves’ shines brightest in it’s darkest corners. With his gravel baritone Barham frets over getting older, missed opportunities, family strife and yes life on that lonesome highway. On cuts like ‘Family Problems’ and ‘Man I’m Supposed to Be,’ the atmosphere builds, the pedal steel wails or the horns swell, the songs elevates into greatness.

BUt sometimes the arrangements on the jauntier cuts, like with ‘Southern Sadness’ and ‘Old North State,’ robs the songs of their emotional punch and the singer/music contrast doesn’t quite mesh. it’s as if Merle Haggard were fronting Pearl Jam, on their own they excel, but together…something gives.

And we can’t forget The Rocking. ‘Wichita Falls and ‘Losing Side of Twenty-Five’ are flat out stompers ripe for the stage and will be fan anthems for years to come.

Barham’s songwriting honors the Southern tradition of embodying and championing the stern struggle of the working poor as they strive to keep things together against the odds. ‘Wolves’ doesn’t offer any glib answers or obfuscate with party anthems. Barham’s world is more complicated, real. It brims of steely contemplation, guts and fighting through.

‘Wolves’ is an album that may not launch Barham and Co. onto Music City arena headliners anytime soon. But it does put them further along their path to being a band that matters.

iTunes | Amazon | Official Site

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BBC Lost Highway: The History of American Country

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Lost-Highway-The-Story-of-Country-Music-Cover

If you haven’t seen the BBC’s “Lost Highway: The History of American Country’ then you’re in for a treat.

This four-part, four-hour documentary follows the musical lineage from the Bristol Sessions to Nashville, from Texas to Bakersfield, and brings it all together in a beautiful story of heritage and style any songwriter would love.

The history of it’s roots in mountain music, through bluegrass it’s first super star Hank Williams and honky tonkers. From the jazz fusion of Western Swing to the dominance of the adult-pop Nashville Sound through the extraordinary and game-changing emergence of female performers and the evolution of newer forms of the genre – country rock to alt.country and Americana.

Featuring contributions from Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, Hank Williams III, Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Dwight Yoakam and Dolly Parton among others. Lost Highway: The Story of Country Music is produced by William Naylor; the series editor is Michael Poole.

Sit back with your favorite drink and enjoy.

57th Annual Grammy Awards – Showing Our Roots

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Brandy Clark & Dwight Yoakam 'Hold My Hand'

The cultural trade show known as the 57th Annual Grammy Awards is now history. 83 golden antiquated media playback device replicas were handed out to some of the most talented musicians in the world.

But the event is anything but antiquated. The Grammys have been pushing the boundaries of social and streaming media for some time, improving every year and rivaling events like The Oscars and The Superbowl for social activity. The Grammys know how to create, and amplify, buzz.

Though I did not take part in the excellent Grammy social program as I had the past 4 years, I was graciously asked by Entertainment Tonight to live blog the event for ETOnline.com. and I did cover the pre-telecast (rechristened the GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony) at the Twang Nation twitter feed. That’s nearly 8 hours of tweeting, blogging, posting in all.

But this is not a social marketing site. Its about the music, and there was lot’s of it. Much of it great.

First , the winners.

The big winner in the Americana and roots category was Rosanne Cash. Cash, who had been an awards presenter earlier in the day, took home awards in all the categories she was nominated in. winning who won best American roots performance, American roots song for ‘A Feather’s Not A Bird’ and Americana album for “The River and The Thread.” “Reagan was president last time I won a Grammy,” Cash beamed, referring to her win for
“I just showed up for work for 35 years and this is what happened.” Cash’s last win was in 1985 for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me.”

Other notable wins were Mike Farris’ first nomination turned into a win for win for Best Roots Gospel Album.

Bluegrass supergroup, The Earls Of Leicester – Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Shawn Camp, Johnny Warren, Charlie Cushman and Barry Bales – won for Best Bluegrass Album for The band’s self-titled release. “We’re very humbled by this,” Douglas said during his acceptance speech. “These guys worked with me — I’ve wanted to do an album like this since the first time I picked up a musical instrument … This is what it’s all about — Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs.” “Proud to bring Flatt & Scruggs to a new audience. I think we now have a mandate to do more.”

Nickel Creek and Punch Brother founder Chris Thile and bassist Edgar Meyer won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for their album, ‘Bass & Mandolin.’ The duo have been performing together sporadically for more than a decade. ‘Bass & Mandolin’ was also nominated for Best Instrumental Composition for the album track “Tarnation” and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.

After an ripping performance of 8 Dogs 8 Banjos on the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony stage, Old Crow Medicine Show encored with a win for Best Folk Album, for ‘Remedy.’

“We started our 18th year of making music together this year, and we want to thank Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie for lighting the way,” singer/fiddler Ketch Secor said from the podium.

Glen Campbell won his sixth Grammy of his extraordinary career for Best Country Song. The ailing country legend won for “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” the bittersweet song Campbell penned with Julian Raymond for the 2014 documentary ‘Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me,’ won against songs by Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Miranda Lambert and Tim McGraw with Faith Hill.

Best Historical Album went to the excellent Hank Williams The Garden Spot Programs, 1950. Colin Escott & Cheryl Pawelski, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer.

One of the most talked about surprises of the evening was Beck’s win for Album of the Year for his 12th album ‘Morning Phase.’ Though I could quibble about Beck’s moody-folk/pop masterpiece
winning a Best Rock Album award earlier in the evening (rock?) there’s no arguing that Beck is a musician with an artistic vision, with little apparent care for the charts and industry. A rare vision richly deserving the honor of a high-profile award.

Apparently after the win twitter spiked with ‘Who is Beck?’ Supposedly by people genuinely unaware of the artist. The rest was Kanye West.

The stand out performance was Best New Artist nominee Brandy Clark sharing the stage with her idol and recent tour mate Dwight Yoakam. The two performed a lovely rendition of “Hold My Hand” from the Best Country Album nominated ’12 Stories.’ Perched on a round stage with no extravagant light show, two simple guitars and two warm voices. It was the most low-key performance of the 2015 Grammys and the one that best personified what most matters, and is often lost, in theses events.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu9-3yC012g