New Johnny Cash Photos Found

Gene Beley was Ventura Star-Free Press reporter when he, and the newspaper’s chief photographer, Dan Poush, were invited to accompany Johnny Cash to Folsom Prison for his landmark 1968 concert. New pictures taken at that event recently surfaced  when Beley returned to the prison a few months ago to participate in a BBC radio documentary marking the 40th anniversary of the concert. Beley brought along the photos to give to Jim Brown, a retired correctional officer and operations manager of the Retired Correctional Peace Officers Museum at Folsom Prison.

Beley was with Cash’s party in a room at West Sacramento’s El Rancho Hotel the night before the concert when Rev. Floyd Gressett, asked Cash to listen to a tape recording by Folsom Prison inmate Glen Sherley. Gressett was a friend of Cash’s who ministered to California inmates, had worked with the prison’s recreation director, Lloyd Kelley, to set up the concert.

Copies of these new photos are available only at the Museum at Folsom Prison and a shop in Billings, Mont. (The Sacramento Bee)

It Burns When I Pee – “Carnies Are A Girls Best Friend”

The only real country music podcast, It Burns When I Pee, brings in 2009 the only way they know how…great music, funny skits and questionable moral standards. Episode 23 “Carnies Are A Girls Best Friend,” features an interview with Bob Wayne of Bob Wayne and The Outlaw Carnies and includes music from all three of his albums. Blake and Norma Jean discuss Creepy Guy’s fantasy football Super Bowl Championship, how Norma Jean likes her Christmas present, and the IBWIP trip to Champaign IL to see Split Lip Rayfield.

During the live feed they try to get listeners to donate to the show so Norma Jean would take her top off but it was a no go (sorry Norma Jean!), so Blake dropped his pants. I think the money would have rolled in if they asked for donations to keep Blakes pants on!

Go listen to IBWIP and get yer 2009 Hank on!

Music Review – The Mickeys: Walk Along (Riverbeat Music)

I’ve read the hype. Country music’s latest flavor-of-the-week writes or helps write her own songs…she’s the biggest selling artist of 2008…she’s like 12 years old…I get it. Don’t care…

To me it’s the music and not the hype. The more hype I see the more I assume it’s smoke and mirrors compensating for something that might not be able to stand on it’s own, stripped of shiny gowns, pumps, make-up and pro-tools. I sat through Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” once and that was once too many. As the father of a daughter I’m always on the look out for female role models to introduce into my daughter’s world giving her a larger view of her potential and how she might impact the world. Giving my little girl a copy of Swift’s “Fearless” would be the cultural equivalent of giving her a box of Lucky Charms complete with a toy Barbie that spouts things like “Math is hard!”

In contrast, I would have no problem handing her The Mickeys’ “Walk Along.” These beautiful young twin’s second release is a country/roots act affair that strikes a fine balance of celtic/country/roots music deftly blended with just the right touch of pop.

And you can use the this Kalamazoo, MI  based group as a great example musical AND business excellence. In 2000 Amy and Julie (their maiden name Mickey) completed a minor in music business from Nashville’s Belmont University and then formed their own label, RiverBeat Music, to release their music through, secured nationwide distribution for the first record and co-produced their new release Walk Along.

The album opens with the dreamy Caroline. The song is a graceful stretch of country road beautifully displaying the magical close harmony that can, like theLouvin Brothers and the Everly Brothers, only be achieved by siblings. The title song is a Dobro-backed swagger of country gospel.

Like Swift, these women and sing about things many young women think about. Love, romance, magic, angels, unicorns (okay, not unicorns).
The floating I Believe is about the foundation of faith that can hold a relationship together and Greatest Thing is a song of the power of love and how it trumps all other earthly achievements. Sure these sound like these are worked out in a girls diary but their also universal themes that, in the right hands, don’t come off as maudlin but ‘ as declarative statements against of the worlds cynicism.

The calypso-laced soft rock of Take It Slow sounds like a adult-pop page out of Carole King’s Tapestry. They do one cover of a Tom Petty song “Alright For Now”, the rest are all original written by different configurations of Amy and Julie and friends and husbands.

Country music with a pop sensibility is a shiny but rustic thing, proud but not preening, lovely but simple – think Dolly Parton. Pop music that adds “country” elements – fiddles, steel guitar, references to trucks and horses – comes off as well, pop music. The Mickey’s know the difference.

Official Site |  MySpace |  CC Now

PlayStation 2 Hopes to Cash In on Country

  • Cindy Watts at the Tennessean posts about SingStar, a new Playstation 2 karaoke-type game which will include country music starts Faith Hill,  Willie Nelson and Brad Paisley….also Taylor Swift for some reason. Troy Gentry from Montgomery Gentry tried SingStar and is quoted as saying “singers could use the game to help fine-tune their vocals.” I’m just ready for Grand Theft Auto – Hazzard County, Georgia.
  • Pitchfork.com posts that there are message board and blog rumors that “Silver Jews” leader David Bermanwill call it quits and that “the band’s January 31 performance at McMinnville, Tennessee’s Cumberland Caverns (to be broadcast on Nashville’s famed WSM radio station), will be their last. “

JD Wilkes Side Project – The Dirt Daubers

Jessica Cassyle Carr at Alibi.com holds a Q&A with Denver based former 16 Horsepower frontman and current Gothic Americana singer/songwriter David Eugene (aka Wovenhand.)

The Arizona Daily Star gives us a peak at the A-list alt.country artist packed tribute album for the Hacienda Brothers leader Chris Gaffney. Joe Ely, Los Lobos, Dave Alvin, Tom Russell, James McMurtry, Robbie Fulks, John Doe, Dave Gonzales and members Calexico and more  appear. The Hacienda Brothers‘ final album, “Arizona Motel,” came out last June, two months after Gaffney’s death.

I’m a huge fan of the Psychobilly/Gothic sideshow that is Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers so I was pleased that LeighAbsinthia over at the Hank III cussin’ board brought to my attention JD Wilkes roots music side project, along with his wife Layne Hendrickson. Ladies and gentleman I bring you The Dirt Daubers.

The Dirt Daubers – “Sugar Baby”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFVy9R3UsCA[/youtube]

Willie and the Wheel Website Launched

The always knowledgable Juli Thanki gives us a history lesson of the banjo (Happy-Go-Plucking) at ther new Torch & Twang column at PopMatters.com.

Andrew Gilstrap, also at PopMatters.com reviews the excellent 2008  Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson release Rattlin’ Bones.

The Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel collaboration Wille and the Wheel has launched thier new website. The site allows pre-orders for the CD and lists tour dates. (via stillisstillmoving.com)

Dolly Parton to Play Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon for Charity

No Depression’s Lloyd Sachs looks for reasons for Americana/Roots leaning folks to tune into the Grammy Awards on February 9. Maybe it’s reasons not to tune in…either way it’s pretty darn funny.

Americana music blog Music Fog posted interviews and performances by Cross Canadian Ragweed, Jack Ingram, Gary P. Nunn, Dale Watson and Sunny Sweeney. (via the 9513)

On February 2nd Country music legend Dolly Parton will play a charity show at Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon to benefit the W.O. Smith Nashville Community Music School.  Other Sony BMG artists will also perform – Ronnie Dunn, Kellie Pickler and Keith Anderson. Tickets are only $45 for this general admission event.  (via Music City TV)

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville is partnering with Ford Motor Company Fund for the second consecutive year to offer free admission to the Hall on Saturday, Jan. 24. (via Country Weekly)

Pitchform.com‘s  Stephen M. Deusner really, really does not like the newly released Johnny Cash Remixed.

Willie Nelson – The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA. – 1/17/09

If you’ve attended a solo Willie Nelson show you know what’s coming. Just as sure as a Texas Summer is hot and that your enchiladas at El Fenix will begin with chips and salsa, the Redheaded Stranger will deliver a canon of some of the best and most loved American songs spanning his 40 year career. The Johnny Bush and Paul Stroud penned Whiskey River, Good Hearted Woman – written by Willie and his partner in outlaw brotherhood Waylon Jennings, Crazy – the Willie penned 1962 #2 country hit for Patsy Cline that was originally written for, and turned down by,  Billy Walker, Funny How Time Slips Away – a song Walker did record and had a hit, the Kris Kristofferson penned Help Me Make It Through The Night and Me And Bobby McGee (made famous by fellow Texan Janis Joplin), Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain – the Fred Rose penned song that was originally performed in 1945 by Roy Acuff , later by Hank Williams but made into a hit by Willie on his thematic masterpiece Red Headed Stranger. The list goes on but you get the idea.

Even after a reprieve in 2004 due to a bout with carpal tunnel syndrome (well not much of a reprieve, Willie wrote two current song list staples, Superman and You Don’t Think I’m Funny Anymore – during the 4 months he was supposed to take it easy) Willie still plays the weathered Martin N-20 with now defunct Baldwin pickups (aka Trigger) in his signature syncopated style that made him too jazzy for 60’s era Nashville but endeared him to an audience that weren’t typical country music fans back in Austin. Trigger bares a ragged hole in it’s body right where decades of downstrokes have landed blows – surrounded by signatures of Johnny Cash, Roger Miller, Kris Kristofferson and others this singular instrument has transcended it’s original intent. It now stands as a talisman as well as, as it’s name suggests, a trusted and loyal friend.

Very few artists have achieved the status of American icon. It’s a short and select group that have one thing in common, they transcend the level of working musician and become a representation of the music itself. 40’s pop, Frank Sinatra, Jazz, Louie Armstrong – Country Music in the minds of many Americans born in the last 40 years is Willie Nelson.

After all this time the humility is still there, thanking the audience after songs or an especially dexterous turn on Trigger. The 1000 watt smile, the twinkle in his eye, the humor, the worn bandanas tossed into an adoring crowd. Except for his well-known predilection for ganja (of which some of the Bay Area’s finest found its way on stage tossed up by a fan that abides) the man could have easily had a place in politics.

Seeing Willie is like visiting the Grand Canyon or the giant Sequoias – he’s less a musician and more like a force of nature, you’re awed to be in the presence of a national treasure and, after repeated visits, subtleties arise that are only discernible after a level of familiarity is achieved. The classics begin to expose nuances, phrasing, odd time signatures – once past the initial awe there’s a lasting beauty that emerges. The audience is enthralled and vocal – “yeehaws” and “ahh-haaas” ring out between each song. Not surprising, this is as far west we you can get without getting your boots wet.

Willie’s son Lukas and his band, the Promise of the Real, opened the show with their brand of jamband psychedelic fusion. Playing in this venue where the Grateful Dead performed so many times must have been a dream come true for these guys. I’m not particularly a fan of this style of music but one thing did stand out for me; whether fronting his own band or supporting his dad Lukas Nelson is becoming a master guitar player in his own right.

The night was topped off for me meeting Linda, a fellow blogger with #1 Willie Nelson fan site Still is Still Moving. Linda’s site is the go-to place for all thngs Willie.

And then there was the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angels in VIP seating within the security barrier right in front of us. The outlaw mojo was in full force on this cool, San Francisco night.

Willie Nelson : Stardust – The Fillmore – 1/17/09

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EOqKMlq05I[/youtube]

Wayne Hancock and Scott H. Biram Ready 2009 Releases

  • Wayne “The Train” Hancock announces on his web site that his new release for Bloodshot records “Viper of Melody” is tentatively set to be released in April.  Wayne’s current tour line up of Izzy Zaidman on lead guitar, Huck Johnson on Standup Bass, and Tony Locke on steel guitar will be featured on the release.
  • Scott H. Biram‘s new release, also for Bloodshot records, “Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever” is tentatively set to be released in June. Biram’s past art professor and accomplished artist and graphic designer, Mark Todd, is creating the cover art. Some tracks to be included are “Sinkin’ Down”, “Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue” and “Judgement Day”. The Black Diamond Heavies will appear on a cover of Muddy Waters’ “I Feel So Good” written by Big Bill Broonzy, and John Meyers of The Black Diamond Heavies appears on Biram’s original “Hard Time”. Biram will be touring  Europe  starting on Jan 24th in London and then heading back home to Austin, Texas to play the SXSW festival

It Burns When I Pee Live Stream (heh!) Tonight

  • It Burns When I Pee, the only podcast covering the cutting edge and proud tradition of country music, will be streaming their show live tonight (7:30pm CST) and showing us how the sausage is made. And yes, that is a lewd comment directed towards Norma Jean. The final gussied up and edited edition will be available  on Jan 23rd which will feature an interview and music by Bob Wayne.
  • George Clinton, leader of the psychedelic funk music collective Parliament Funkadelic, is one of the celebrities participating in this season ofCMT’s  Gone Country 3.  Says Clinton: “I wanted to do Gone Country because I wanted to learn how to write country songs. I’ve written a lot of songs before, but I’ve never been validated as country, not even to myself. I’m country. I am a country boy. Johnny Cash, I like his songwriting. I used to watch Roy Clark and all them all the time — Chet Atkins and all those guys are really good songwriters. The lyrics for country songs are miles and miles ahead of almost anybody else’s lyrics. I guess everybody would agree there’s no comparison to it. I’m pretty sure I’ve got to do something that’s pretty challenging. I try not to imagine what it is, so when it happens I’ll just say I don’t have no time to do nothing but get off my ass and do it. I’m funky about doing whatever it takes.” I might have to actually watch it this season in spite of the homophobic midget host John Rich.
  • Mercury Nashville is set to release an LP version of Jamey Johnson‘s Grammy nominated album That Lonesome Song on January 27.  Since That Lonesome Song was released, it has spent 8 weeks in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart and has appeared on numerous 2008 Top-10 lists (including mine.)
  • Ryan Adams has announced a musical hiatus citing health issues and “narcissistic over-indulgent behaviour” as the reason. Really!? Who knew? In all seriousness, I hope Adams finds peace of mind in his reprieve.  (guardian.co.uk)
  • Shooter Jennings talks about to NPR World Cafe host David Dye about Waylon Forever, a collection of songs Shooter recorded with his dad Waylon Jennings in 1995. Shooter then revisited the material with his backing band, The .357s.
  • Joe Whyte is back with his band at the Rockwood on inauguration Tuesday. Aang great show will be had by all: Rockwood Music Hall
    196 Allen St., NYC – 8pm – FREE
  • New York blues guitarist Popa Chubby is readying his foray into country music entitled Vicious Country. The release features his wife Galea on bass. Below is a video shot at New York’s Rodeo Bar of Popa Chubby covering Hank Williams III‘s song Straight to Hell.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbaYETD15yY[/youtube]