Blake and the fine folks at “It Burns When I Pee” closed oot 2007 with another fine podcast featuring the Handsome Cash, lead guitar and lap steel player for the German country band “Hank Cash” (twang is universal, baby!)  talking about, and playing some cuts off the bands newly release CD.

Then there is the reularly debauched tomfoolery (Jeb & Billy) and above the fray great tunes (Christian Williams, Lefty Frizzell,  and David Allan Coe).

Think of it like the Grand ‘OL Opry with a Mosh Pit.

There is also details about ordering IBWIP’S 1st ever compilation cd “Pee-A-Palooza” which helps support the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabam.

Stay Thirsty Media has a great interview with the Legendary Shack Shakers front man Colonel JD Wilkes. It it the Colonel dicusses his new movie Seven Signs, and the latest LSS release “Swamp Blood.” A sample:

Do you feel like you are becoming more popular in the mainstream media?

JD: Yeah, I feel like we’re sort of maintaining. We’re sort of a staple on the scene that people can rely on. You know we never got a major label deal, so we couldn’t really coast on that momentum. We had to build our own momentum by creating the legend that’s in our name. We have to toot out own horn more. We have to work harder, tour harder, scream louder because we don’t have big bucks behind us. We just have a lot of road miles and blood and guts and sweat invested in this , that’s what drives us. That’s what makes us more authentic . That’s what gives us more credibility than some flash in the pan, you know, emo band that here today gone tomorrow . We plan to age with this thing as we go and it will morph into who knows what the next record, cause it’s a living, breathing thing, like the Constitution of the United States. It’s a living document. It’s alive!

Texas expat and roots rock legend will take time from promoting his latest album, Washington Square Serenade (9/25) and shooting HBO’s The Wire, where he stretched and portrays an ex-junkie, and heads uptown from his Greenwich Village residence (near where Bob Dylan’s Freewheeling cover photo was taken) to drop into the 92nd Street Y (1395 Lexington Avenue @ 92nd Street New York, NY) on October 9th and take a spin class….er I mean talk with music journalist Anthony DeCurtis about, what else, music and activism (tickets).

Earle joins a roster of politically active artists who have appeared at the Y including Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Tony Kushner and Alec Baldwin(!).The event probably won’t be as interesting (or contentious) as it might be if he held it in Lubbock Texas, but whether you agree with him or revile him, Steve Earle is anything but uninformed

Earle will also appear in concert at Town Hall on September 26 and also hosts a weekly radio show, Hardcore Troubadour Radio, on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Hank Williams III took time from the road to talk to KNAC.COM about his new CD, “Damn Right and Rebel Proud” (Curb - early 2008 release) his early inspirations, his country royalty legacyand the sorry state of Nashville.

KNAC.COM: Don’t you think there are still plenty of people out there who don’t have the two-story house and the car payment and botoxed wife? I mean, there are still people who live on the edge, don’t you think? Day to day with a lot of obstacles who just do what they do to get by?

HANK III: Yep. Right. The lawyers outsmarted all the musicians in Nashville, and that’s when it totally changed. We just do what we do. I’m going through the same fuckin’ bullshit on the new record that I just turned in. “There’s no country song for radio on here.” Well, it’s not my fuckin’ fault that I’m too country for radio or that my topics aren’t pristine or picture perfect. I just stick to my guns. “This is my record. These are my songs. If it’s not good enough for radio, that’s your problem—not mine. Our fans will still be here and we’ll still be doin’ what we’re doin’ with or without you, man.

KNAC.COM: This will be your fourth record though. At this point why would they expect that you had changed at all? I mean, you aren’t Rascal Flatts.

HANK III: I guess it’s just like the same reason Creative Artist Agency let me go eight months ago. They were like, “Are you gonna take the next step and go to the next level?” I’m like, “I’m gonna keep playing the bars—they’ve been supporting me since day one. If you have a couple of big shows, I’ll open for a band if the situation is right, but I’m not gonna say “Fuck y’all, see ya later!” to the bars that have kept us alive.” They fired me. I guess it’s the same mentality at the record label that I have to deal with now. Maybe they figure, “Hank’s getting older now—maybe he’s got this rebellious bullshit out of his system and do it our way.” Thank God that I’ve got a good manager and a good lawyer who believes in what I do.

Hank Williams III - Dick In Dixie

Country music’s legend, Porter Wagoner, sits down with MTV Urge for an interview and discusses his start as well as serious health problems he had to overcome to record his new album, Wagonmaster.

You can find the interview here. You’ll need to download the Urge software first, but it’’s worth it.

An excerpt: URGE: Your first big break came on Red Foley’s “Ozark Jubilee” show, the first nationally televised country music program. How did you develop your trademark flashy, Nudie-suit image there?

Porter Wagoner: Nudie [Cohn] came to the Ozark Jubilee one day, and I didn’t know who he was. It was in the real early ’50s. He said he made suits for cowboys and people in the movies. And he had a new idea for suits that included rhinestones and sequins … people hadn’t seen anything like that. My answer was, “It’ll probably cost so much I can’t afford it,” because I was barely getting by then. He said, “If this don’t work, they won’t cost you anything. If it does, then I’ll make some money off of making clothes for you throughout your career.” About three or four weeks later I got a big package that had a suit of clothes in it, and a shirt to match it and a pair of boots. It was a peach-colored suit, and it had a big covered wagon across the back of it. It was just unbelievably beautiful. It was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. That weekend I wore it onstage, and boy, people just went “wow.” That was the first one he’d made for anybody. He had made a lot of different clothes for cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, but they didn’t have the sparkle or the glitz.

URGE: You had a life-threatening illness shortly before recording Wagonmaster. How did you bounce back?

Wagoner: I had surgery this past year, July the 14th. I had an aneurysm I had to have taken care of. It got into my kidney. We was talkin’ about doin’ an album at that time, and of course that stopped everything. I started healin’ up, but it took me a long time to get my strength back. Marty [Stuart, album producer] talked to me in the hospital several times [saying], “Let’s get together with a couple of guitars and we’ll sit down and pick some together, and I’d like it if you sang some for me, too.” That really gave me a lot of encouragement, knowing that he was still interested. On the first day, I think we worked 30 to 45 minutes, maybe. He said, “Let’s don’t do too much the first few times here.” And that’s the way we did it. I got to singing and pretty much got my voice back. I was so thrilled to be able to sing again that it really just gave me new inspiration. I was just very fortunate to have somebody like him. Marty loves me like a brother. I had no idea how brilliant he was in the studio. I produced a lot of records, and produced Dolly’s records all the time when she was with me, but he knew new things that I didn’t know. He made a believer out of me. If you could imagine how proud I am of the project. I feel like it’s a touch of brilliance, I really do.

Porter Wagoner - Committed To Parkview

The New York Time has a interview video posted featuring Jay Farrar. Jay discusses the newly released Son Volt album, “The Search,” his relationship with ex-Uncle Tupelo bandmate Jeff Tweedy and magic of alternate guitar tunings. I still haven’t made myself listen to all of “The Search,” the whole “getting away from the alt.country” sound thing surrounding the release has me a bit spooked.

A nice conversation with banjo picker and soul and whiskey voiced William Elliot Whitmore. An excerpt:

HH:: You have very diverse musical influences. Most people wouldn’t expect someone who plays the banjo to be into Minor Threat and Public Enemy. Are there any artists you still hope to play with?
WEW:: There’s lots of great music to soak up isn’t there? I’ve had the good fortune of having been exposed to a wide variety. Everything from Ralph Stanley to The Coup. The Coup’s new record is great. Another one of my new favorites is that Lupe Fiasco record. I would love to play shows with him. My dream list of bands to tour/collaberate with would be; The Evens, Lupe Fiasco, Animal Collective, Mike Watt and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.