Category Archives: Festivals

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

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • 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.

News Round Up: Taylor Swift Attends Miranda Lambert’s Revolution

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓
  • Vince Vaughn is not only hilarious, and tall, but he loves country music. Or is it Americana music…hell I can’ keep up.
  • The Americana extravaganza that is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is next weekend people. John Prine, Lyle Lovett, Boz Scaggs, Steve Earle, Ricky Scaggs, Gillian Welch, Booker T and the Drive By Truckers as his backing band, Mavis Staples, Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson, Aimee Mann and Little Feat. And it’s FREE!
  • Taylor Swift showed up at the Ryman last night to watch Texas’ own Miranda Lambert play her new release Revolution (I wonder if she has to pay Steve Earle royalties on that too?) That’s right Taylor, that’s how it’s done! During her performance Lambert knelt down and kissed the historic wooden stage of the hallowed Mother Church of Country Music. No mics where taken from any performers as far as I know…

News Round Up: Twitter Your Way to an Avett Bros. Deluxe Box Set

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • William Michael Smith’s latest Houston Press column Lonesome Onry and Mean finds kinship and flattering things to say about the new releases from Texas songwriting legends Guy Clark and Kris Kristofferson.
  • Of you tweet between 9/23-9/28 with @theavettbros and #Avett in the text you will be entered in a for a chance to win a Deluxe Box Set of The Avett Brothers’ new release I & Love &You.
  • The latest Rolling Stone features Jason Fine’s article on Bakersfield legend Merle Haggard sordid history (Issue 1088 – Merle Haggard: The Fighter.) Rollingstone.com has a photo gallery of Haggard tracing his early years to his rise as one of Country Music’s greatest singer/songwriters.
  • A film caturing a special evening at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis playing the Music of Ray Charles  can be seen in select cinemas from October 15 and will arrive in-stores, just in time for Chrstmas,on both Blu-Ray and DVD on October 20 from A&E Home Entertainment for $19.95 (SD) and $29.95 (BD). The concert event, including a half-hour backstage, behind-the-scenes interview special, airs on HDNet in true high definition on October 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET and on SIRIUS XM’s Real Jazz channel, SIRIUS channel 72 and XM channel 70 on October 18 at 8:00 pm ET. Blue Note Records will release a live album of the concert in Spring 2010.
  • Thanks to @kimruehl at No Depression and About.com Folk Music for the “official” Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival Twitter hash tag #hsbf. Let’s trend it up people!

News Round Up: Americana Gets Some Love

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • You know Americana as a genre has arrived when not only do they have their own Grammy category (or is that the death knell?) but also the Americana Music Conference is written up in the Wall Street Journal, Paste Magazine and CMT.com. With great power…
  • When in Nashville I always find time to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The place displays and represents the historic roots of country music in a tasteful and engaging way that I never get tired of. Where else can you see Mother Maybelle Carter’s 1028 Gibson and Elvis’ Gold Cadillac? But the place seems to be at capacity for a genre that is still making history. Now it seems that there’s a possibility that the Hall could double its size in the near future.
  • San Francisco’s free (!) Americana and Roots festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, has published a down-loadable daily schedule, as well as a map of the Golden Gate Park festival grounds and artist’s bios.

News Round Up: Kanye and Swift Give MTV Some Press

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • Scottish-Canadian country singer Johnny Reid was in the running for six awards, including Album of the Year for his latest release Dance With Me.The singer took home five trophies including Album, Songwriter, Video and Male Artist of the Year from the Canadian Country Music Awards. Dean Brody won Single of the Year for Brothers, Crystal Shawanda won Female Artist of the Year and Corb Lund won Roots Artist or Group of the Year
  • Son Volt’s Jay Farrar & Death Cab for Cutie’s Benjamin Gibbard are set to perform four special concerts to support their collaberation on the album One Fast Move Or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur.  Other surprise material will be performed at four concerts in October, underscoring the influential author’s enduring legacy 40 years after his death on October 21, 1969. The band features Jay Farrar (Son Volt), Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie, Postal Service), Nick Harmer (Death Cab for Cutie), Mark Spencer (Son Volt) and Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Bob Mould, The Mountain Goats).

Tour dates:
10/23 – El Rey Theatre – Los Angeles, CA (on sale 9/16)
10/24 – Bimbo’s 365 Club – San Francisco, CA (on sale 9/16)
10/26 – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL (on sale 9/25)
10/28 – Webster Hall – New York, NY (on sale 9/1Cool

  • Billboard.com has a nice feature on the Avett Brothers and their upcoming major label debut I and Love and You.
  • After fuming with the multitudes on twitter about the whole Kanye West / Taylor Swift Female Video of the Year diss dust-up at the MTV Awards, I’m convinced the whole thing was staged for media controversy. Kanye seems to be willing to do this every time he needs ink. He shot his mouth off at the the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards in Denmark, when Touch The Sky lost out to Justice Vs Simian’s We Are Your Friends, Swift  has a repackaged Fearless coming out soon and more press couldn’t hurt, and MTV  gets press (and tweets) from any controversy. Remember the infamous 2003 Madonna/Britney Spears kiss?
  • Happy birthday to Bill Monroe is (98)!
  • Starting tomorrow I will be posting intermittently from the Americana Music Association conference and festival in Nashville. For more constant (and dubiously sober) posts check out my twitter profile.
Roots Artist or Group of the Year

News Round Up: Willie Nelson Works with T Bone Burnett

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓
  • For a man in his 70s Willie Nelson is showing no signs of slowing down. The Texas Yoda is reportedly working with producer T Bone Burnett (O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Walk the Line soundtracks, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant – Raising Sand, Elvis Costello’ s -  Secret, Profane and Sugarcane and much more) in Nashville on his very first bluegrass album. Some of the songs being considered are Sixteen Tons, Dark as a Dungeon, and the oft covered Joe “Red” Hayes and Jack Rhodes classic Satisfied Mind. (via stillisstillmoving.com)
  • Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut Whip It is about roller derby in Austin, Texas. Sound like boxoffice gold to me! Ms. Barrymore was also instrumental in choosing the music for the soundtrack which includes Dolly Parton’s Jolene and .38 Special’s Caught Up in You as well as less twangy work by the Ramones, Peaches and Go Team! (Billboard.com)
  • The Americana Music festival and conference is next week in Nashville TN (Sept 16-19) and the early bird registration price has been extended to Sept. 14th. Get in on what is sure to be a great conference and excellent showcases all over the city.
  • Congratulation to Patterson Hood from the Drive By Truckers and his wife Rebecca on the birth of their son Emmett Hood!
Willie Nelson

News Round Up: The Glossary is Giving Their 2007 Album, The Better Angles of Our Nature

Posted on by — 3 Comments ↓
  • PopMatters.com has Juli Thanki’s newest Torch & Twang post (Louisiana Woman, Texas Troubadour)  Thanki bypasses the standard view that Loretta Lynn’s best duet partner was Conway Twitty and makes her case for Ernest Tubb.
  • Best Buy is offering an exclusive EP from Miranda Lambert today which  includes her new single “ Dead Flowers” from her upcoming album Revolution. The EP includes three bonus tracks from her prior album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The cost of the EP is $1.99, or you can pre-order Revolution and get the EP free. (via My Kind of Country and the 9513.com)
  • Kris Kristofferson, Ray Price, Bobby Bare Jr. and My Morning Jacket are some that will pay tribute to writer, artists , country music songwriter and Playboy mansion resident Shel Silverstein on Turnable, Twistable Man which is produced by Silverstein ‘s friend Bobby Bare.
  • Murfreesboro, Tennessee-based quirky indy Southern rock band the Glossary is giving their new 2007 album, The Better Angles of Our Nature, free from their official site and in different quality formats.  I’ll review it soon, but after a couple of passes on the iPod it’s a great one.
  • Happy birthday Patsy Cline  (Sept 8 1932)
  • Another use for texting? Apparently looking for the country crooner that stopped in your town and might have knocked you up is now on that list.  A certain lady with a Wisconsin phone number is currently looking for this Rodeo Romeo. (via NashvilleScene)

News Round Up: Cross Canadian Ragweed 4th Annual Red Dirt Roundup

Posted on by — 2 Comments ↓
  • The line-up for Cross Canadian Ragweed’s 4th Annual Red Dirt Roundup has been announce,  and the roster is filled with names that make any Texas music lover proud – CCR, Charlie Robison, Robert Earl Keen, Johnny Cooper, The Gourds as well as the alt rock of The Wallflowers. The festival will be held on two stages at the Historic Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas on Sunday, Sept. 6. on the former cattle pens – the “North Forty” fields just east of Billy Bob’s Texas. Check the Red Dirt Roundup site for ticket and time information.
  • The Americana Music Association conference is right around the corner (Sept 16-19) and it’s shaping up tto be a great one. Amy Speace is the newest addition to the already excellent roster (The Station Inn -  Sept 16 @ 10 PM) You can nor keep up with the AMA on twitter for up to the minute information about the Festival and Conference, including ticket giveaways and behind the scenes info. If you’re going drop me a line!
  • Southern-rock stalwarts  the Kentucky Headhunters will release The Kentucky Headhunters Live/Agora Ballroom – Cleveland, Ohio – May 13, 1990 (Mercury/UMe) on on September 22, 2009, the 20th anniversary of 1989 debut album, Pickin’ On Nashville.

Willie Nelson Premieres New Video for Shoeshine Man

Posted on by — 2 Comments ↓
  • Willie Nelson premiered his new video covering Tom T. Hall’s Shoeshine Man (below) The song is not on his upcoming covers album American Classics so I have no idea whay he made this video, but he seems to be having a ball. The Texas Yoda has taken a page from the DIY codger goofing around in front of a video camera recently used by Neil Young for his video Fork in the Road.
  • The Americana Music Association announced the lineup for its 2009 festival,  Sept. 16-19 at around several of  Nashville’s best venues – The Mercy Lounge, The Cannery Ballroom, 3rd & Lindsley, The Station Inn and The Basement.  On the roster is Cross Canadian Ragweed, Angela Easterling, Asleep at the Wheel, The Bottle Rockets, Jim Lauderdale, Buddy Miller, Joe Pug, Charlie Robison, Marty Stuart, Patrick Sweany, Those Darlins and many more.
  • Popmatters.com has posted an mp3 for Chain, a cut off Vic Chesnutt’s upcoming release At the Cut (Constellation) to be released 22 September (US)
  • Randy Travis, Martina McBride and Ray Price join an International  line-up of over 60 International, UK and Irish acts performing on three separate stages at the UTV CountryFest ’09  August 1st – 2nd  at the Kings Hall in Belfast.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDtaJmrVfx8[/youtube]

RIP Stephen Bruton

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • The fine folks at the 9513 brought to my attention the sorry news that Kris Kristofferson’s longtime guitarist Stephen Bruton has succumbed to throat cancer.
  • Country music legends Charley Pride and Marty Stuart and bluesman Pinetop Perkins will headline the third annual Mississippi Grammy gala.
  • Recycle your cell phones to support Nuci’s Space and get free merch coupons from the Drive-By Truckers official Store!
  • The New York Times has a piece on Steve Earle and his course in recording his trubute to his mentor Texas singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt.