Twang Nation – The Best In Americana Music
Americana & Roots Music & Culture
I haven’t done a showcase in a while but this gal came across my radar and I had to get something out there on her. Jessie Lee Miller sounds like Patsy Cline raised by gypsies and sent out to play USO shows with Bob Hope for the boys. Trail dust mixed with cafe smoke. Nice stuff. Check this spunky Austin gal out!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua7i27B96Sc[/youtube]
I love discovering roots/country music from across the world. Baskery does their thing in Stockholm, Sweden with such passion and fire that you could be forgiven for mistaking them for Tennesseans or Texans reared on equal parts Carter Family and Tanya Tucker.
Think a Swedish version of the Dixie Chicks…wait…what was I saying? Oh yeah…great arrangements and sweet harmonies make Baskery shine. Check ’em out.
When most folks in the States think of great country music they don’t think of Canada. Now that could all change.
The Divorcees, one of Canada’s premier ambassadors of all things Honky Tonk, hammer out their brand of renegade country music…New Brunswick style.
The Divorcees wear their heroes on their tattered, flannel sleeves – Willie, Johnny, George, Buck, Merle, Dwight, Steve, Hank, Charlie, and Waylon – as well as Southern Rockers Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynryd.
Alex Madsen, Vocals and Lead Guitar, Jason Haywood, Vocals and Guitar, Danny Roy, Lap Steel, Dobro, and Lead Guitar, Denis “TurTle” Arsenault, Bass and Brock Gallant, Drums are obviously playing music they love and they sound like the kind of band I’d like to see live.
Today’s feature is old school at it’s finest. Jake Penrod comes to us by way of Brownsboro, Texas and has a sound that he describes as “Hank Williams’ and Kitty Wells’ love child.” Sounds about right to me. Like something you’d hear out of your Grandpas old Zeneth or down at the honky-tonk off the interstate. Check ’em out.
Unlike most of the MySpace showcase artists I feature I didn’t unearth Elizabeth Cook on MySpace but through a pre-release copy of her upcoming CD “Balls (May 1 – Thirty Tigers), but I had to get this ladies name out there after giving her CD an initial spin (I’ll give it a proper review soon). Ms. Cook is Dolly, Loretta and Crystal wrapped into one sweet, souful package. She’s got the sass, the pipes and the wisdom to keep it real near the roots. Twang gives Elizabeth Cook a big “hell yeah!”
This Toronto, Canada based band describe themselves as Death Country and there are definitely Southern gothic undertones to some of Elliot BROOD‘s tunes. Reminiscent of the high lonesome sound of William Elliot Whitmore if he had joined a rock band instead of opting for the lone gun motif. Band members Casey Laforet Guitar/vocals/bass/pedals, Stephen Pitkin – percussion/vocals, Mark Sasso – Guitar/Banjo/ukulele/lead vocals plays a brand of country that draws as much on timeless themes as it does contemporary sounds. Twang says check ’em out.
The Sundogs are a 4 piece band from Atlanta GA. brings to mind what the Sticky Fingers era Stones might have sounded like if The Band’s Garth Huson had sat in on keyboards. The three singers and songwriters– brothers Lee and Will Haraway along with lead guitarist Matt Ulmer– have a boozy-soul infused swagger that makes them a damn fine listen. Check ’em out.
MySpace on Friday! What the heck? Lay off! I have a cold and started a new job! Now on wid it….
Today all the way from Australia I bring you The Fuelers. The Fuelers (On fender electrical guitbox Blindboy Murray. On traps, there’s Thingamy Bob. On Bullfiddle, that’s Caltex Star and on fiddle, it’s Steel City Su.) serve up a potent brand of Dieselbilly that has you tapping your toe and slam-dancing all at once. Check ’em out, ya hear?
San Jose’s Shitkickers can be lonesome and somber or can rip it up and whip your ass. I’ll let their site say the rest: From the humble beginnings of a three-piece, three-song side show act, ShitKickers have blossomed into a six-piece, whiskey-bent, banjo-pluckin’ jamboree. Influences run the gamut from Buck Owens to the Beastie Boys, David Allan Coe to the Dead Kennedys, and all three Hanks. They have shared the stage with the likes of Mojo Nixon, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, Mr. T Experience, The Faction, Flogging Molly, The Real Mackenzies, X, Fang, and Dr. Know. Propelled from tracks included on several Thrasher Magazine DVD’s as well as recognition from radio and podcast play, Shitkickers hit the road in 2006, almost ten years after striking their first note. They toured the southwest and festival circuit leaving a trail of hung over fans in their wake. 2007 promises more of the same including Hootenanny with the Stray Cats and another North American tour of every juke-joint, honky-tonk, and living room floor they can point a van at.
Cheech Holler is the sound of sin and redemption of another time when such matters were taken as gospel and music was the stories that frightened children and set them on the path to rightousness. Like a ghost hillbilly band you hear playing from the bottem of that long dry water well, you know the one, it’s where that little Jackson girl drowned back in the 40’s. Cheech Holler is both joyous and spooky in their particular brand of lonely gothic Americana. Twang says check ’em out.