The Americana Music Association conference and Awards Show is shaping up to be the best so far. Legendary rocker Gregg Allman, Dobro master Jerry Douglas, Fame Studios producer Rick Hall, BBC radio host Bob Harris and Grammy-winning queen of alt.country Lucinda Williams will be recognized with Lifetime Achievement awards at the Americana Honors and Awards show on Oct. 13. The ceremony will take place at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Allman will be honored in the performer category, Douglas will receive his honor as an instrumentalist and Hall will be recognized as a music executive. Also, Harris will receive the Trailblazer award and Williams will be honored for her songwriting. Tickets are available at the Ryman box office and website. The Americana Festival and Conference will take place Oct. 12-15 in Nashville.
Category Archives: Country Music
Americana Music Association’s Honors and Award to be Televised on Austin City Limits
The 10th annual Americana Music Association’s Honors and Award Show at the Ryman Auditorium will be broadcast live Thursday October 13th on Nashville Public Television. Confirmed to attend include Jim Lauderdale, Robert Plant, Lucinda Williams, Gregg Allman, Elizabeth Cook, Hayes Carll, The Secret Sisters, Justin Townes Earle, Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Civil Wars and many more.
An edited version of the award show will be aired November 19, 2011 as a special episode of the new season of the highly-acclaimed PBS series Austin City Limits, (check local listings for exact local day and time). “ACL PRESENTS: AMERICANA MUSIC FESTIVAL 2011” will reach approximately 98% of American TV households via PBS stations nationwide.
“It was time to bring the Americana Honors to another level,” said Jed Hilly Executive Director of the Americana Music Association. “We could not have better partners in Nashville Public Television President and CEO Beth Curley for our Middle Tennessee premiere and Austin City Limits Executive Producer Terry Lickona to take this to a national audience.”
The program, described by Emmylou Harris as “the shining star of Nashville and music everywhere,” will be filmed by High Five Entertainment and co-produced by its President Martin Fischer along with Lickona, Courtney Gregg, Holly Lowman and Hilly.
The Honors and Award Show is the capstone event of the Americana Music Festival and Conference presented by Nissan that will take place October 12-15, 2011 in Nashville, TN. A limited number of tickets are available at ryman.com. For more information go to americanamusic.org
Ryan Adams Confirms New Album ‘Ashes & Fire’ – October 10th.
Americana enfant terrible Ryan Adams has confirmed his new album ‘Ashes & Fire’ will be released on October 10th. It will be his his 13th(!) solo release. Adams has in recent times moved away from the country-based music in which he made his bones and worked on a couple of books electronic and heavy metal music. He’s also taken the occasional opportunity to dump on the heritage of country music.
The album was recorded in California with producer Glyn Johns, who helmed iconic records like the Who’s Who’s Next and engineered music for the Bob Dylan, Clash, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. Appearing on the album will be previous collaberator Norah Jones, who appears on three songs — Come Home, Save Me, and Kindness — and keyboardist Benmont Tench, a longtime member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Adams will set out on a solo acoustic tour this Fall, hitting cities in California and the Pacific Northwest; dates are forthcoming. Hardly Strictly perhaps?
Ashes & Fire tracklisting:
Dirty Rain
Ashes & Fire
Come Home
Rocks
Do I Wait
Chains of Love
Invisible Riverside
Save Me
Kindness
Lucky Now
I Love You But I Don’t Know What to Say
This clip from his surprise opening stop for Emmylou Harris at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, on April 21, 2011 gives me hope that the album will be a great one.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wfBDJLUVeE[/youtube]
The National Barn Dance Documentary Coming to PBS this Fall
Before the Internet, hell before TV, radio held great sway over American culture and nothing introduced Great Depression and World War II era Americans to country and roots music like national “barn dance” packages like the Grand Ol’ Opry and the Louisiana Hayride. These programs drew on a rural and Southern cultural heritage of the listeners and made millions for thier spnsors. I was not aware of the National Barn Dance broadcast from Chicago on WLS-AM which was a direct predecessor of many of these country music radio shows including the Grand Ole Opry.
This Fall PBS and ITVS will present The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance (1924 – 1960.) Narrated by Garrison Keillor (no stranger to radio and roots music himself) will document of the history of the program and will feature “rare performance footage, home movies, and candid photographs with firsthand accounts from fans and performers. Interviews with historians, folklorists, and media experts reveal historical and cultural perspectives of this unique period in America’s history.”
The National Barn Dance launched the careers of Gene Autry, Patsy Montana, Bradley Kincaid, George Gobel, Pat Buttram, Andy Williams, and Lulu Belle and Scotty. Produced and directed by Stephen Parry with supervisory producer Bob Hercules,The Hayloft Gang will premiere on PBS nationwide beginning September 1, 2011
In addition to the national broadcast, The Hayloft Gang Video Contest allows participants and viewers to experience a fresh take on the popular music of the times. Audiences can watch performance videos, interpret the songs themselves, and upload their videos for prizes. Participants will urge friends and family to vote for them via email, Facebook, and Twitter. To coincide with the broadcast, the contest launches at on August 15th, 2011. Winners will be announced in October.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_TI1o0XEa8[/youtube]
New Compilation Unheard Hank Williams Songs To Be To Be Released
Rollingstione.com posts that a compilation of unheard Hank Williams songs will be released on October 4th. The songs come from a rescued from notebooks of  lyrics and song ideas  left behind in a leather briefcase by Williams after he died in 1953 at the age of 29. These notes and fragments were then finished by the 13 artists who contributed to the disc. These artists include Americana music and rock music greats – Bob Dylan (who’s  imprint Egyptian Records is putting out the album)  Levon Helm, Alan Jackson, Lucinda Williams, Merle Haggard and, and this is where my concern arises, Jack White . Norah Jones and Sheryl Crow. What? Was Kid Rock busy?
And though William’s granddaughter Holly Williams is included where is her brother Hank Williams III? For that matter where is Bocephus?  I would have scratched the last three, who are here for sales purposes only, and added new traditionalists like Wayne Hancock and Joey Allcorn that truly reflect the spirit of ol’ Hank.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKPHJslYNkk[/youtube]
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 11 – Confirmed Acts (so far)
The good folks over at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass have using some clever audio teases to reveal acts confirmed for the upcoming 11th Americana festival. the event takes place in San Francisco’s beautiful Golden Gate Park and is put on by friend of Americana music, banjo player and investment banker Warren Hellman (Fri Sep 30, Sat Oct, & Sun Oct 2, 2011)
Here are the confirmed acts from reveals so far:
Dr. John, Punch Brothers, Gomez, Dark Star Orchestra, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussein & Edgar Meyer , The Civil Wars, Bob Mould, The Devil Makes Three, John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch + David Rawlings, Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses, Robert Plant & the Band of Joy, Del McCoury & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Cass McCombs, Fitz & the Tantrums, The Jayhawks, Abigail Washburn, Robert Earl Keen, Buckethead (!), The Flatlanders, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Chris Isaak, Frank Fairfield, Irma Thomas, Elbow, The Mekons, Earl Scruggs, Patty Griffin, Old Crow Medicine Show…
There is also word, though no confirmation, that Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson will also be there. Sta tuned for more from what is shaping up to be the best Hardly Strictly Bluegrass yet.
Kris Kristofferson
News Round-Up: Dwight Yoakam Cast in Upcoming Lone Ranger Movie
- Looks like Dwight Yoakam will adding to his acting resume which currently includes excellent turns in Sling Blade, Panic Room and Crank. Yoakam has been cast to play Butch Cavendish, the villain of Disney’s The Lone Ranger joining Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale and director Gore Verbinski.
- Loretta Lynn’s 2004 LP Van Lear Rose will be released on Jack White’s Third Man Records.The album will be available on August 9 on standard black vinyl, there will also be a special blue version limited to 300 copies. A hundred of these limited editions will be sold on release day at the Third Man store in Nashville, TN. The label hasn’t yet revealed where the other 200 will be available, but the announcement said, “We haven’t done a contest in a while… Hmmmm…”
I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive. – ragid Deaths in Americana & Country Music
Neo-soul chanteuse Amy Winehouse’s death at 27 was a tragedy everyone had predicted for years. Some say that the self-imposed drama and lack of self-control fed the creative muse that led to great art. Mostly it saps the performer’s soul and robs them, and their fans, of their future greatness. Country music has no shortage of self destruction and many, Waylon, Haggard, Cash, Jones to name the most famous names gave it their best shot but lived a while longer to tell their tale. Here are a few that pushed it so far to led them to the last round-up.
- Keith Whitley’s drinking habits rivaled his influence on Music City. Whitley was a longtime alcoholic beginning before he was of of legal age and continuing through his early career as a bluegrass performer. Many times he had tried to overcome his alcoholism, but failed. While married to country singer Lorrie Morgan she would try and hide alcohol from him, even going as far tying their legs together before bed to ensure Whitley would not wake up in the middle of the night to drink. She would discover later that he was drinking perfume and nail polish to get get loaded. At the time of his death his blood alcohol level was .477 (the equivalent of 20 1-ounce shots of 100-proof whiskey and almost five times over the then Tennessee level of 0.1 legal intoxication limit (wikipedia)
- Gram Parsons not only brought country music to the 60’s culture that had largely shunned it, he also was was one of the first to die from a a occupational hazard of living the high-life of the era including being a jamming, and heroin using, buddy of Keith Richards. Parsons was a founding member of the Americana movement and his solo work, work with the Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers and his collaborations with protege Emmylou Harris is legendary. Parson’s career was plagued by drugs and alcohol use and before a tour was scheduled to commence in October 1973, Parsons decided to go to Joshua Tree National Monument in southeastern California. Less than two days after arriving at the park, Parsons died on September 19, 1973 at the age of 26 from an overdose of morphine and alcohol
- Hank Williams did more that just lay down the template for all country music to follow, but also the hard living that has become it’s legacy. An undiagnosed case of spina bifida occulta is beloved to have caused of his life-long abuse of alcohol and drugs. Dispute warnings from his boss and co-writer Roy Acuff, William’s demons worsened and led to his firing from the Grand Ole Opry for habitual drunkenness and, ultimately leading to his death at the age 29 on on January 1, 1953Â in the back of his ’52 Cadillac on his way to a show in Charleston, West Virginia.
News Round-Up: Merle Haggard and Scott H. Biram Prepare Fall Releases
There are a coupe of new releases upcoming that I am really anticipating…
Legendary country stalwart Merle Haggard will release ‘Working in Tennessee,’ on October 4, his second on the Vanguard Records label.
The Hag penned nine of the 11 tracks on the on the album and jsut as on 2010’s I Am What I Am he invites his wife Theresa to provide vocals on the Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash classic hit, Jackson. Merle’s son Ben Haggard also joins his father by providing his adroit tele work and Willie Nelson joins on an updated version of Merle’s ‘Workin’ Man Blues.’
Despite his 2008 lung cancer diagnosis, with part of his lung being removed, the 74-year-old hasn’t lost his voice. “I’m swinging back in full throttle right now,” he insists. “Music keeps me alive. It makes me breathe better … It’s funny, but I feel better when I come off a tour than when I start out.”
Merle has been confirmed to perform at the legendary Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park on October 1st. Check Merle’s other tour dates:
‘Working in Tennessee’ Track Listing:
1. ‘Working in Tennessee’ (Merle Haggard)
2. ‘Down on the Houseboat’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard, Doug Colosio)
3. ‘Cocaine Blues’ (TJ Arnall)
4. ‘What I Hate’ (Merle Haggard)
5. ‘Sometimes I Dream’ (Merle Haggard, Jenessa Haggard)
6. ‘Under the Bridge’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard)
7. ‘Too Much Boogie Woogie’ (Merle Haggard)
8. ‘Truck Driver’s Blues’ (Merle Haggard, Tim Howard)
9. ‘Laugh It Off’ (Merle Haggard, Theresa Haggard, Doug Colosio)
10. ‘Working Man Blues’ (Merle Haggard)
11. ‘Jackson’ (Billy Edd Wheeler, Gaby Rodgers)
And that Dirty Ol’ One Man Band from Texas, Scott H. Biram, will release his fourth full-length for Bloodshot Records, Bad Ingredients on October 11th on CD, vinyl LP, and digital download. Bad Ingredients was recorded at Biram’s home studio in Austin, Texas and mastered by Jerry Tubb of Terra Nova Mastering (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakam), Bad Ingredients delivers SHB’s classic throat-stomping style (“Dontcha Lie To Me Baby” and “Victory Song”), but showcases a more mature songwriter-both lyrically and musically. It’s Biram at his quietest, but don’t worry, Hiram Biram still raises plenty a ruckus on his ’59 hollowbody Gibson and stomp board. But the best way to experience Biram is live, go check his schedule and see him if you can.
News Round Up – Allman, Plant, Civil Wars Booked For Americana Music Festivial
The 12th Annual Americana Music Festival and Conference will celebrate is genres’ evolution as a bona fide musical force on October 12 -15, 2011 in Nashville, TN.
Confirmed so far are Americana darlings The Civil Wars, Gregg Allman, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, Justin Townes Earle, North Mississippi Allstars, the reunited Foster and Lloyd and the Jayhawks with more to be announced. There will ultimately be nearly 100 performers playing five of Nashville’s best venues during the Festival’s nighttime showcases.
July 31 is the final day to register for the Festival and Conference under the current early bird rate, with priority Honors and Awards show seating going to those who register before the August 1st rate increase. Americana Music Association members receive a discounted rate over non-members. Tickets to the Honors and Awards go on sale July 29 to the general public.
Full Festival and Conference registrants receive entrance to all sanctioned daytime conference music, panels and parties, plus priority access to all evening showcase performances, and a ticket to the critically acclaimed Americana Honors & Awards show on Thursday, October 13th at the historic Ryman Auditorium.
The Honors & Awards will be celebrating ten years and once again Jim Lauderdale will continue his tenure as master of ceremonies, joined for another year by Buddy Miller and his All-Star house band. Over 2,000 artists, music lovers and industry executives attend the annual show, which is broadcast internationally through multiple outlets.
If you love this music this is the event to attend to catch the best and upcoming talents.  I’m still fiddling with the details but I hope to see you all there!