Category Archives: Country Music

News Round Up: Elizabeth Cook in the Studio

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  • Head over to Elizabeth Cook’s Facebook page to see inside pics of EC working on her new album with her ace live band (including her guitarist and husband Tim Carroll),  producer Don Was and engineer Krish Sharma. Also sitting in with Cook was the producer of her lest record, Balls, Rodney Crowell.
  • USA Today talks to John Fogerty about making his new 36-years in the making roots-rock album The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again.
  • If you’re in the Bay Aarea head over to the Elbo Room for Hang Jones, Casey Prestwood & the Burning Angels and Misisipi Rider.

Lyle Lovett’s New Album $3.99 Today Only!

News Round Up: Welcome Back Garth

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  • Terry Clark follows Gretchen Wilson and Tim McGraw with frustration with the management and distribution practices of the Nashville big label system. I keep hoping this new found independence will result in these undeniably talented performers taking some risk with their material. Bit after hearing Wilson’s bland ‘Work Hard, Play Harder‘ (produced on her own label Redneck Records) I don’t hold out much hope.
  • Billboard.com has six questions for Son Volt’s Jay Farrar about his collaberation with Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard album based on the Jack Kerouac’s 1962 novel “Big Sur” due Oct. 20.
  • I used to hate Garth Brooks. As far as I was concerned his glossy sound and circus-spectacle  concerts was in direct conflict with everything I loved about country music. In the years since his 2001 retirement to tend to family responsibilities a revisit to Garth’s material is almost, dare I say, Waylonesque (well, perhaps more Conway Twitty-esque)  Steve Wynn has made a deal with Brooks that addresses a promise he made to his daughter’s to be there with them until they head off to college and a jet plane to make sure he’s there Monday morning and Friday  afternoons. In Vegas this is a deal that only somebody with Brook’s appeal can fetch. I respect Brooks for sticking to his principles. Wynn has also given Garth a format for return that I have to respect, just him on stage with a guitar.  I repct anyone that can step onstage without the net of a backing band. I want to say something snarky, but all I can say is welcome back Garth.

News Round Up: Terry Allen Discusses Influences

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  • Legendary Texas singer/songwriter Terry Allen talks to the Austin Chronicle’s Robert Faries about his colorful life that led to his skill as a storyteller and his  new solo play, Dugout III, written and directed by Allen playing at Austin’s State Theater.
  • The New York Times‘ Charles McGrath interviewed bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley before a recent performance at Carnegie Hall with Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. My favorite line from the interview:  “It used to be said that when you heard a Ralph Stanley tune, you either wanted to get drunk or go to church and get saved.” Dr. Stanley’s autobiography, Man of Constant Sorrow: My Life and Times, will be released tomorrow.
new solo play, Dugout III, written and directed by Allen playing at Austin’s Sate Theater.

New Round Up: Austin’s Rusty Wier Dies

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  • Austin singer-songwriter Rusty Weir died October 9, after two years of struggling with cancer. Wier was considered a country legend and he was inducted into the Austin Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.
  • The New York Times reviews the Jamey Johnson show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Johnson played two new songs, Back to Macon and Nothing Is Better Than You from hos upcoming release.
  • The New York Times also features a review of the Roseanne Cash’s sold-out concert at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. Cash performed many songs from her stellar career as well as from her newest album, The List.
  • Peter Cooper at the Tennessean celebrates geezerdom by detailing the steller and ongoing careers of country music legends Kris Kris Kristofferson, Bobby Bare, Loretta Lynn, Bill Anderson, Tom T. Hall, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. What other genre  has artists over 70 making some of the best music of their careers? I mean besides Blues, R&B, Gospel and Jazz that is
  • As you can see there have been some changes here at Ranch Twang. Not all the kinks are ironed out so I will be working on them this week. Let us know what you think of the new look and , as the sign says, pardon our mess.

News Round Up: Re-releases from Waylon Jennings / New Release from Hank Williams

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  • Country music legend George Jones seems to be popping up on all the TV shows recently to promote his new Cracker Barrel exclusive album, A Collection of My Best Recollection. This Sunday morning the Possum will make another appearance on CBS Sunday Morning this Sunday October 11, 2009. Host and interviewer Bob Schieffer visits George’s Nashville home and stops by Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium late this summer to talk about life, love and a lot of musical history, as well as all that he  is up to today. Jones has said that the new release might be his last album and has tour dates through the rest of the year and early next.
  • The follow up to last year’s Mother’s Best radio show recordings Hank Williams: Unreleased Recordings will be released November 3rd. Revealed: Unreleased Recordings will feature 50 new tracks including some new songs and dialogue between Hank and the emcee of the show and his band. The release will also include the first public performance of  Cold, Cold Heart.
  • Collectors’ Choice has chosen six of Waylon Jennings’  RCA albums from 1966-’70 and will release them as three double CDs: Folk Country/Waylon Sings Ol’ Harlan, Love of the Common People/Hangin’ On and Waylon/Singer of Sad Songs. The CDs will be available on November 24. Grammy Award-winning annotator/historian Colin Escott wrote the liner notes.
  • Rosanne Cash will premieres her new album, The List, live at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY October 9th and 10th as part of  the St. Ann’s Warehouse 30th Anniversary Season.
  • Ranch Twang now has a LastFM group. Join up and help share great music with other folks.

News Round Up: Jamey Johnson Pays Respect

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  • Country Music Neo-Outlaw Jamey Johnson shows his respect for the classics by covering Vern Gosdin, George Jones, George Strait and, his most obvious influence, Waylon Jennings, at the Chicago Country Music Festival.
  • Break out a jar of granny’s skull rattle folks, Juli Thaki at the 9513.com has given us her top 26 songs about moonshine.
  • Tom Russell has written what could be considered a companion piece to his new release Blood and Candle Smoke at the Rumpas (Where God and the Devil Wheel Like Vultures: Report from El Paso.) The dispatch reflects Russell’s style he cultivated by hanging with American underground great Charles Bukowski and similar threads from this and previous releases about his home in El Paso, TX,  the culture, people and the drug wars.
  • The Flower Pickin’ festival (October 16-19)will feature Carlene Carter, Justin Townes Earle, Jimmy Tittle, John Francis and more. The festival celebrates the day that Johnny Cash was arrested for public drunkenness in Starkville, MS in the early morning of May 11, 1965 following a performance at Mississippi State University. He spent one night in jail and paid a fine of $36. Cash sang about his run-in with “the law” in Starkville on his album, “At San Quentin (The Complete Live Concert),” recorded in 1969.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 9 Round Up

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100_0825The crowds were large  an estimated 750,000  – more than Coachella, Lollapalooza and All Points West combined – urbane, hippies, street buskers and hipsters all in Golden Gate Park and under mostly warm Indian Summer skies. The bill on all 6 stages (one more added this year) were all impressive and walking from stage to stage through the huge crowd to stave off any regrets of missing something can wear you out.

On top of the advertised bill there were some cool surprises – Robert Plant and Emmylou Harris made an appearance with Buddy Miller on Saturday morning. Steve Earle and Allison Moore joined Tom Morello (in his acoustic Nightwatchman persona) for a rousing version of Woody Guthrie’s This Land is your Land. John Prine joining Lyle Lovett onsatge for  a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s Loretta.  Emmylou Harris joined Gillian Welch and David Rawlings for a rendition of Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack and then they were joined by Old Crow Medicine Show for a rousing cover of The Band’s The Weight. Emmylou Harris also received an  honorary doctorate of music from the Berklee College of Music at her close out the festival on Sunday night. Dr Harris performed at the very first HSB headliner back in 2001.

Highlights for me – Lyle Lovett, Hayes Carll, The Flatlanders, Rosie Flores, Guy Clark, Robert Earl Kee, Todd Snider, Rodney Crowell keeping Texas proud. Seeing Booker T with the mighty Drive By Truckers. Neko Case, Gillian Welch, Elizabeth Cook and Aimee Mann – four of my favorite female singers. A chilly day,  chili and corn bread lunch serenaded by Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs on the Banjo Stage. Dave Alvin dedicating a song to his recently deceased band mate Amy Ferris. The big one for me was meeting my hero Texas legend Billy Joe Shaver.

Disapointments – Turing around at the Elizabeth Cook Porch Stage performance and finding Steve Earle standing right behind me with a YANKEES CAP! C’mon dude, you’re killing me!

A tip of the Ranch Twang hat to banjo player, creator and benefactor of  Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Warren Hellman for picking up the tab for this extraordinary free event!

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

News Round Up:Billy Joe Shaver / Ray Wylie Hubbard’s The last Rites of Ransom Pride

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  • Country Music Prisde has a great interview with this indie sweethearts of country punk Those Darlin’s.

News Round Up: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Begins

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  • The winners of the 20th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards went to: Dailey & Vincent : Entertainer of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper : Instrumental Group of the Year, Dan Tyminski – Male Vocalist of the Year, Dale Ann Bradley – Female Vocalist of the Year, Wheels : Dan Tyminski, (artist/producer) Album of the Year, Don’t Throw Mama’s Flowers Away : Danny Paisley & The Southern Grass (artist) – Song of the Year (via BlueGrassJournal.com) See photos from the award show, held at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn (The Bluegrass Blog)
  • London-based Americana (Euro-Americana?) band The Dog Roses have a new EP, Just Another Saturday, scheduled for release next month. It is discribed as “foot tapping country-bluegrass mix with hints of celtic thrown in for good measure.” Download Let the Bottle Take the Heartache from the forthcoming EP: Let The Bottle Take The Heartache Away.mp3
  • Go pick up the new podcast from NineBullets.net featuring tracks from upcoming cds by Lucero,  Strawfoot and Micah Schnabel (Two Cow Garage) as well as new material from Drivin’ & Cryin’ and Chuck Ragan.
  • Sounds Country takes a look back at Jerry Jeff Walker’s 1975 release Ridin’ High
  • Hardly Strictly Bluegrass begins today and goea on until Sunday in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park Speedway Meadow. The 9th year of this free annual Americana and roots festival features 5 stages featuring John Prine, Lyle Lovett, Ricky Skaggs, Gillian Welch, Steve Earle, Billy Joe Shaver, Elizabeth Cook, Buddy Miller and many, many more. You can follow HSB on twitter. And you can follow Twang Nation tweets from the festival all weekend.

News Round Up: Lucero Releases New Videos ; RIP Amy Ferris

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  • I learned yesterday from a post on Twitter by Austin singer/songwriter Kelly Willis alerted me that Austin native fiddle player Amy Farris had been found dead at her residence in Los Angeles at the age of 40. Suicide is suspected, but an investigation is currently underway. Farris was a talented fiddle player and had recently been part of the group Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women. Her only solo release, Anyway, was produced by Alvin in 2003. Farris was scheduled to play Saturday with the Guilty Women at San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. As of this writing her name is still on the schedule.
  • Hear Rosanne Cash’s new release The List at NPR, including an iTunes exclusive cut featuring Neko Case, Satisfied Mind.
  • Miranda Lambert will appear on the Jimmy Fallon show tonight. Lambert also tweets that Jimmy Fallon is cute and sweet. Aww!
  • PopMatter’s Bob Proehl posts a nice piece on the legacy of Kris Kristoffersson.
  • Memphis, Tennessee-based Alt.country band Lucero commissioned a music video for each song on their upcoming record 1372 Overton Park– making 12 videos total. The level of sophistication of each fan-turned-videographer ranged from “some holding only handy-cams, others with years of training under their belt.” Ceck out the first two videos for What Are You Willing To Lose? and Goodbye Again.