Category Archives: Legends

Listen Up! The Band’s “Life Is A Carnival” Live (Previously Unheard)

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band_acadamy

As I posted earlier, Capitol/UME will release a The four-CD, one-DVD set of The Band from the last week of 1971 and is entitled ‘Live at the Academy of Music 1971′ (Sept. 17)

During the four live shows at New York’s Academy Of Music, guests with them like Allen Toussaint and Bob Dylan were invited to sit in.

Below is a perviously unheard soundboard mix of “Life Is A Carnival” from the set. Live At The Academy Of Music comes packaged with a 48-page hardbound book featuring previously unseen photos, a reproduction of Rolling Stone’s Rock Of Ages review, an essay by Robbie Robertson, and notes of appreciation from both Mumford & Sons and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. preorder Live at the Academy Of Music 1971 [4CD/1DVD]

Watch Out! Zoe Muth – Country Blues [VIDEO]

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Zoe Muth

Here’s a great video of Zoe Muth covering Dock Boggs classic “Country Blues” at WAMU’S Bluegrass Country.

The Seattle based songwriter has a forlorn voice lends a weariness to this song of regret and sorrow looking toward the sweet hereafter.

Zoe Muth and the Lost High Rollers are currently on tour. See them if your lucky enough to have a chance.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 13 Line-Up Announced

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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 13

The good people at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass have released the roster for this years event and it’s another winner.

For those uninitiated, HSB is one of the premier Americana and roots music festivals in the world.
The annual event is held on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday in October on 5 stages stretching across a location in Golden Gate Park formerly named Speedway Meadows but renamed Hellman Hollow in 2012, to pay homage to the late HSB benefactor, private equity investor and banjo enthusiast, Warren Hellman.

The 13th version of the festival does not disappoint as there is few Americana and roots festivals with this number of quality acts. it also has the benefit of being free. Well, it’s benefit in one sense, but the swelling os not always pleasant crowds in recent years does take a toll.

The 41 confirmed acts offers exciting newcomers like Sturgill Simpson, Trampled By Turtles, Della Mae, First Aid Kit, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside and local favorites Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers and The Devil Makes. Americana and roots stalwarts like Buddy Miller, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock (aka The Flatlanders), Jon Langford, Patty Griffin, Tim O’Brien & Darrell Scott.

The folk-rock pioneers The Waterboys will be appearing as well as the legendary Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys. The whole thing wraps up in traditional fashion with the woman that has closed the event since it’s beginning and embodies the spirit of the event, the extraordinary Emmylou Harris.

Find below the full line-up. The per-day stage schedules will be announced soon and I will update his post with the information.

When: Fri Oct 4th, Sat Oct 5th (11am – 7pm), and Sun Oct 6th, 2013 (11am – 7pm).
Where: Hellman Hollow (formerly Speedway Meadows), Lindley & Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.

Mark Lanegan, Bonnie Raitt, Patty Griffin, Conor Brings Friends For Friday Featuring: Whispertown, The Cave Singers, The Felice Brothers, The Evens, First Aid Kit, Conor Oberst, Pieta Brown, Joy Kills Sorrow, LP, The Handsome Family, Jesse Dee, Alison Brown, Gogol Bordello, Boz Scaggs, Paul Kelly, The Deep Dark Woods, Justin Townes Earle, Emmylou Harris, The Devil Makes Three, Calexico, Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys, Martha Wainwright, The Brothers Comatose, Elvin Bishop, Jon Langford & Skull Orchard acoustic / FREAKONS, Low, Tumbleweed Wanderers, Richard Thompson, Tim O’Brien with Bryan Sutton & Mike Bub, Moonalice, Chris Isaak, Buddy Miller, The Time Jumpers featuring Brad Albin, Larry Franklin, Paul Franklin, Vince Gill, “Ranger Doug” Green, Andy Reiss, Dawn Sears, Kenny Sears, Joe Spivey, Jeff Taylor & Billy Thomas, Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch & Fats Kaplin, The Flatlanders featuring Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock, The String Cheese Incident, Nick Lowe, Mike Scott & Steve Wickham of The Waterboys, Steve Martin and Steep Canyon Rangers featuring Edie Brickell, Freakwater, The Go To Hell Man Clan, Tim O’Brien & Darrell Scott, Billy Bragg, Loudon Wainwright III, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Kate McGarrigle Tribute with Martha & Sloan Wainwright & Special Guests, Holler Down the Hollow: A Hardly Strictly Salute to the Masters, Sturgill Simpson, Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band featuring Yungchen Lhamo, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Shovels & Rope, Seldom Scene, Natalie Maines, Dave Alvin with Greg Leisz, Evolfo Doofeht, Allah-Las, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale, G. Love & Special Sauce, Robert Ellis, Spirit Family Reunion, Bettye LaVette, Supermule, MC Hammer (Friday morning middle school program), Trampled By Turtles, The Warren Hood Band, Della Mae, Los Lobos Disconnected, Father John Misty, Jesse DeNatale, The Wood Brothers, Ryan Bingham, Jerry Douglas, Sonny & The Sunsets, Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, Tift Merritt, Kat Edmonson, Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands, The Forest Rangers with Katey Sagal,
Manchester Orchestra, Poor Man’s Whiskey (Friday morning middle school program), Robert Earl Keen

Slow Jolene Surfaces Dolly Parton’s Sultry Side

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DOLLY PARTON

I tweeted this great clip a few days back and it’s gone quite viral, so I decided to park it here for your amazement. This clip of Dolly Parton’s classic “Jolene” is slowed down 25% to 33 rpm and brings out new layers of beauty that rivals the original.

Was this planed? as it a mistake? Who cares? The result is excellent as Dolly’s lovely trill moves into dusky Nina Simone territory.

Bask in the greatness of technical manipulation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CzYHllLv_IE

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 15 – The Civil Wars, Robbie Fulks, Valerie June

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Twang Nation Podcast

Hey Twangers! Here it is, number 15 podcast. In this special episode we feature the latest from The Civil Wars, currently residing on the top of the Billboard charts. Also excellent new music from Robbie Fulks, Valerie June, Aoife O’Donovan and Trisha Ivy. Also er feature a great cut from the master songwriter himself Guy Clark.

We finish up by featuring an older cut by Jim White that is currently enjoying popularity due to placement on a recent placement on FX’s “Breaking Bad.”

As always. I hope you like this episode of the Twang Nation Podcast and thank you all for listening. If you do tell a friend and let me know here at this site, Google+ , Twitter or my Facebook page.

As always , BUY MUSIC, SEE SHOWS!

Opening Song – Dale Watson – A Real Country Song

1. The Civil Wars – song: I Had Me a Girl – album: The Civil Wars (Sensibility Recordings/Columbia Records)
2. Robbie Fulks – song: I’ll Trade You Money For Wine album: Gone Away Backward ( Bloodshot records)
3. Valerie June – song: Twined And Twisted – album: Pushin’ Against a Stone (Sunday Best Recordings)
4. Jason Isbell and John Paul White – song: Old Flame – album:High Cotton ( Lightning Rod Records)
5. Aoife O’Donovan – song: Briar Rose – album: Fossils (Yep Rock Records)
6. Court Yard Hounds – song: Phoebe – album: Amelita (Columbia Records)
7. Guy Clark – song: The Death Of Sis Draper – album: My Favourite Picture of You (Dualtone Records)
8. Porkchop Express – song: On My Way Down album: Skin Your Smoke Wagon (self-released)
9. Trisha Ivy – song: Talking in Your Sleep – album: Cotton Country (self-released)
10. Jim White song: Wordmule album: “Wrong-Eyed Jesus” (Luaka Bop)

5 Americana Artists the Grand Ole Opry Should Induct

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Old Crow Medicine Show

Following the ongoing trend of Music City tapping Americana music for source material and injecting some vibrant blood to an all but stagnant (but lucrative) genre, the old-time string band, Old Crow Medicine Show was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry by Opry member Marty Stuart during their concert at the Ohio Theatre in Cleveland, OH.

They will formally be inducted into the Opry at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on Tues., Sept. 17.

In recent years Music Row has been looking to Americana music for new ideas, market trends and extending demographic appeal.

Sure the Opry has lost cred for ignoring great performers and casting out key members of the country music community (Hank Sr. anyone?) but it is an institution that provides a stage for broad exposure and, rightly or not, credibility.

There’s is no magic formula the Opry uses to choose who is asked to join. It’s a mix of sound, commitment, (gasp) popularity and what the Opry calls “relationships.” Relationships like backing Darius Rucker on the Orey stage for Bob Dylan’s “Wagon Wheel.”

Here are 5 Americana artists that, like Old Crow Medicine Show, would fit comfortably on the Opry stage.

The Dixie Chicks – Yeah I know, but the Chicks were always an Americana band to me. I know they and the country music industry had disagreements, but there’s no denying their positive (and lucrative) impact on the genre.

in 1986 Dwight Yoakam rescued country music from the Urban Cowboy blight and reminded people why it was fun, heartfelt and brave in the first place. Rarely has there been a better meeting of traditional and mainstream success then Yoakam? And he’s still going strong, though his new album, 3 Pears, isn’t up for CMA awards it’s up for Americana Music Awards.

Does any contemporary performer embody the sound, style and spirit of all that is great in country music more than Elizabeth Cook? The answer is no way. She’s a fan favorite and has been asked by the Opry to perform on their stage over 100 (!) times. It’s time to make it official.

For 11 albums over a 20-year career Robbie Fulks has been playing smart trad-leaning country music. Sure he hd some choice words for music row (made plain in his song “Fuck This Town.”) But Fulks disdain for the industry and love for the musical heritage is exactly what the Opry needs to gain cred.

As a member of The Byrds Gram Parsons played the Opry stage on March 1968. The band was asked to play play two Merle Haggard songs (“Sing Me Back Home” and “Life In Prison.”) The first song song won over the skeptical crowd (LONGHAIRS!) And Parsons (who was a big Merle Haggard fan) substituted “Life In Prison” for his own “Hickory Wind,” from The Byrds then current album “Sweethearts of the Rodeo,” in honor of his Grandmother, a huge Opry fan. As expected the management were pissed but the crowd and some of that night’s performers, loved it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWjGtEmQ5Co

Listen Up! Johnny Cash – (Ghost) Riders In The Sky (Live) from ‘LIFE Unheard: Johnny Cash’

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cash life unheard

If this cut of Johnny Cash spirited (heh) rendition of Stan Jones’s classic “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” before a rowdy crowd at Nashville’s storied Exit Inn club in indicative of the recently released “LIFE Unheard: Johnny Cash” then this to be a must-have.

‘LIFE Unheard: Johnny Cash,’ is a joint collaboration between LIFE and Sony Music Entertainment. The CD offers solo acoustic songs recorded at his House of Cash’s home studio studio in Hendersonville, Tenn., as well as live songs from the White House and Newport Folk Festival. The 12-song album also features a previously unreleased studio version of Ben Dewberry’s ‘Final Run,’ and ‘Movin’ Up,’ both recorded for Cash’s 1981 made-for-TV movie, ‘The Pride of Jesse Hallam.’

A separately sold book offers illustrated 192-page biography features many rare and never-before seen photos.

I never get enough of more Cash.

Buy

https://soundcloud.com/legacyrecordings/johnny-cash-ghost-riders-in/s-qceDF

Legendary Engineer/Producer/Singer/Songwriter “Cowboy” Jack Clement Dies

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"Cowboy” Jack Clement

Few people have held such a pivotal place in music history as “Cowboy” Jack Clement had. He worked with some of the greatest rock and country performers of the twentieth century and helped shape the genres at key points in music history.

Clement died August 8th after a long bout with liver cancer, just a few months before being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

He was 82.

Born and reared in Memphis, Clement was performing with guitar and Dobro at an early age. After a stint in the Marines he cut his first record for the Sheraton label in Boston, Massachusetts in 1953,

The nicknamed ‘Cowboy’ Clement earned in his student days while playing pedal steel guitar with a local band. His real step toward fame came in 1956 when he joined Sam Phillips at Sun Records as a producer and engineer.

While there Clement helped shape American music history by working with Carl Perkins Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. He also fielded and recorded a curly haired kid from eastern Louisiana by the name of Jerry Lee Lewis while Sam Phillips was away on a trip to Florida. The initial session included Ray Price’s “Crazy Arms” and his own composition “End of The Road”. Later the pair would record the smash hit “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and the demise of the 50’s America was sealed.

in 1959, Clement began work as a producer at RCA in Nashville. After some time in Beaumont, Texas as producer and publisher Bill Hall in opening Gulf Coast Recording Studio . By 1965 he had become a significant figure in the country music business by starting a publishing business and a recording studio, where he recorded Charley Pride and Ray Stevens. In 1971, he co-founded the J-M-I Record Company.

Clement wrote many well-known and successful songs recorded stars such as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, Carl Perkins, Bobby Bare, Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, Jerry Lee Lewis, , Charley Pride, Tom Jones, Dickey Lee and Hank Snow. He also produced albums by Townes Van Zandt and Waylon Jennings.

He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973.

George Jones Posthumous Album “Amazing Grace” To Be Released

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george jones gospel

Before he could complete his final “The Grand Farewell Tour” tour, country music legend George Jones died last April. Travis Tritt, Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless, Vince gill and others paid tribute to Jones during his funeral at the Ryman auditorium and and Randy Travis and Joe Nichols have released tribute tracks in tribute. Now we can look forward to a new release from The Possum himself.

On September 10, two days before what would have been his 82nd birthday, “George Jones – Amazing Grace.” will be released. Jones recorded all the gospel songs on the album in 2002 with producer Billy Sherrill with the exception of “Great Judgment Morning,” which was produced by Brian Ahern in 1994. “Great Judgment Morning” includes vocals by Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Travis Tritt, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart and Connie Smith.

The album will be released on Bandit Records, which Jones established in 2000 with his widow, Nancy. The country music star had to convince longtime collaborator Sherill to come out of retirement to make the recordings. One song on the album, Great Judgement Morning, featuring guest vocals by Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Travis Tritt, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart and Connie Smith, was produced by Brian Ahern in 1994.

“I’ve always said that if I could have made a living some way in gospel music, I would have loved to had that break,” Jones said in early 2000, “but it never was offered to me, a job in that field, so naturally, I got lost on that other road.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1pb11N4eo4

Tompkins Square to Release ‘Live At Caffè Lena: Music From America’s Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967-2013’

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Live at Caffe Lena

Since 1960 the tiny performance space of  Caffè Lena, located in Saratoga Springs, New York, has played host to some of  of the most influential artists across diverse genres of music; traditional folk, blues, singer-songwriters, jazz and bluegrass. 

Many of these decades-spanning performances were fortunately caught on tape and will be made available as ‘Live At Caffè Lena.’ The collection is  a 3-CD box set, containing 47 never-before released tracks by Dave Van Ronk, Mary Gauthier, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Kate McGarrigle, Rick Danko, Anais Mitchell, Sleepy John Estes, Arlo Guthrie, Sarah Lee Guthrie, and more. Included are unpublished photographs. Images include selections from the archive of esteemed photographer Joe Alper, who captured many iconic, intimate portraits from the folk era of the 1960s.

From the press release: “‘Live At Caffè Lena’ documents an important folk universe that was and is still happening in upstate New York, a story heretofore largely untold. The release of this collection comes at an auspicious time in light of renewed interest in the New York folk scene of the 60s as depicted in the forthcoming Coen Brothers film, ‘Inside Llewyn Davis.’ The film is loosely based on Dave Van Ronk’s 2005 memoir ‘The Mayor of Macdougal Street.’ Van Ronk, a Caffè Lena regular, served as a mentor to many artists, some who would go on to eclipse his fame. His 1974 recording of “Gaslight Rag”featured on the box set references the Gaslight Café, a famed Greenwich Village venue that along with Caffè Lena was a catalyst for the folk music revival.

Caffè Lena embodied the spirit of the folk boom, the era and its artistry, building a reputation as a hotbed of creativity and connection. It was also a safe haven and nurturing space for artists, its atmosphere cultivated personally by Lena Spencer herself. She would graciously house wayward artists, sometimes for months at a time. But she was not merely a host. She championed artists, from Bob Dylan as early as 1961 all the way through the 80s until her passing. Her passion for identifying and promoting talent is evident throughout this 3-CD set. That Caffè Lena is still open for business tonight is a testament to her legacy.”

‘Live At Caffè Lena.’ will be available Worldwide on Tompkins Square, September 24, 2013 – Pre-order here.

‘Live At Caffè Lena: Music From America’s Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967-2013′

DISC ONE 
01 Intro  – Lena Spencer / Guy Carawan Cripple Creek 1970 
02 Hedy – West Shady Grove 1968 
03 Intro by Lena Spencer / – Sleepy John Estes Holy Spirit 1974 
04 Frank Wakefield and Friends - Will The Circle Be Unbroken 1971 
05 Jean Ritchie - West Virginia Mine Disaster 1969 
06 Billy Faier - Hunt The Wren 1967 
07 Greenbriar Boys - Hit Parade of Love 1968 
08 Mike Seeger - O Death 1971 
09 Jacqui and Bridie - Hello Friend 1974 
10 Tom Paxton - Morning Again 1968 
11 David Amram - Little Mama 1974 
12 Patrick Sky - Reality Is Bad Enough 1971 
13 Rosalie Sorrels - Travelin’ Lady 1974 
14 Smoke Dawson - Devil’s Dream 1968 
15 Utah Phillips - The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia 1974 
16 Michael Cooney - Thyme It Is A Precious Thing 1974 
17 Kate McGarrigle and Roma Baran - Caffè Lena 1972 
 
DISC TWO 
01 Intro by Lena Spencer / Dave Van Ronk - Gaslight Rag 1974 
02 Jerry Jeff Walker - Mr. Bojangles 1968 
03 Barbara Dane - Mama Yancey’s Advice / Love With a Feeling 1968 
04 Roy Book Binder  - Ain’t Nobody Home But Me 1974 
05 Intro by Lena Spencer / David Bromberg - The Holdup 1972 
06 Ramblin’ Jack Elliott - Pretty Boy Floyd 1992 
07 Arlo Guthrie - City of New Orleans 2010 
08 Aztec Two Step - The Persecution and Restoration of Dean Moriarty 1989 
09 Happy And Artie Traum - Trials Of Jonathan 1974 
10 Rick Danko-  It Makes No Difference 1988 
11 Paul Geremia –  Something’s Gotta Be Arranged 1989 
12 Robin and Linda Williams –  S-A-V-E-D 1987 
13 John Herald –  Ramblin’ Jack Elliott 1991 
14 Pete Seeger-  Somos El Barco (We Are the Boat) 1985
 
DISC THREE 
01 Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion - Folksong 2013 
02 Anais Mitchell - Wedding Song 2013 
03 Bill Morrissey - The Last Day Of The Furlough 1990 
04 Patty Larkin - Island Of Time 1992 
05 Greg Brown - Flat Stuff 1989
06 Mary Gauthier - I Drink 2013 
07 Sean Rowe - Old Black Dodge 2013 
08 Tom Chapin - Cats In The Cradle 1987 
09 Intro by Lena Spencer / Christine Lavin - It’s A Good Thing He Can’t Read My Mind 1987 
10 Bill Staines - Sweet Wyoming Home 1990 
11 Bucky and John Pizzarelli - I Like Jersey Best 1989 
12 Rory Block - That’s No Way To Get Along 1989 
13 Chris Smither - Killing The Blues 1989 
14 Tift Merritt - Traveling Alone 2013 
15 John Gorka - Down In The Milltown 1990 
16 Lena Spencer-  Dear Little Cafe 1972Â