Patty Griffin To Release New Album ‘Servant Of Love” This Fall. Hear The New Song “Rider Of Days”

ServantofLoveCover

A great year of roots and Americana music just got a whole lot better with the announcement of a new Patty Griffin release.

On September 11 in Europe and September 25th in the US (and the rest of the world) Patty Griffin will release ‘Servant Of Love.” This will be her tenth album, and her first to be released on her new self-owned imprint in conjunction with Thirty Tigers. It marks the third time she has collaborated with producer Craig Ross.

From the release:

In Servant of Love, Patty Griffin digs deep into folk and roots tradition with its grounding in the experience and rhythms of the everyday, but she also writes in the vein of another tradition, less often mined: the transcendentalism of writers like Emerson and Whitman. Grounding itself in the natural world and finding patterns there which speak both to human experience and to the call of the spirit, Griffin’s new album weaves an elemental spell out of the stuff of life.

Griffin suggests that there are twin mysteries at work: the Love that underpins all our human movements-our passions, our desires, our mistakes, our neuroses; and the symmetry in nature that we don’t understand, yet shows up repeatedly, as in the mathematical structure of a seashell or a sunflower. In the vernacular of folk tales, blues cants, and jazz exploration, Servant of Love creates of these seemingly disparate notions a larger narrative of the human place in nature, in society, and in time. Griffin brings her genius for character-driven storytelling to bear on this overarching narrative of mystery. The same transmigrated soul seems to inhabit the characters in these songs, all different, yet all speaking from the same source: the storyteller herself, of course, but also, the album suggests, a greater source, a mysterious source.

Hear the new song “Rider Of Days” below.

Griffin also announces the first leg of her North American tour, starting on September 22 and running through October 17. Featuring great openers like John Moreland and Sam Lee and more dates will be announced soon. The confirmed dates are below, for more information and tickets please go to her tour page.

North American Tour Dates
Sept 22 – Waco, TX – Common Grounds*
Sept 23 – Austin, TX – Paramount Theater*
Sept 25 – Louisville, KY – Headliners#
Sept 26 – Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room at Old National Centre#
Sept 27 – Pittsburgh, PA – Byham Theater#
Sept 29 – Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere
Oct 1 – New York, NY – Town Hall
Oct 2 – Boston, MA – Somerville Theater
Oct 3 – Orono, ME – Collins Center#
Oct 4 – Montreal, QUE – L’Astral
Oct 6 – Northampton, MA – Academy of Music
Oct 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Keswick Theater^
Oct 9 – Ithaca, NY – State Theater^
Oct 10 – Ann Arbor, MI – Power Center^
Oct 11 – Columbus, OH – Lincoln Theater^
Oct 13 – Chicago, IL – The Vic^
Oct 14 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium^
Oct 15 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse^
Oct 17 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel^

* – John Moreland opens
# – Sam Lee opens
^ – Darlingside opens

Watch Out! Kacey Musgraves Performs “Biscuits” On Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon

Kacey Musgraves Performs “Biscuits” On Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon

Kacey Musgraves is hitting the late night circuit ahead of her much-anticipated release ‘Pageant Material’ to be released later this month.

Musgraves treated fans to her steaming hot latest single “Biscuits.” The song reflects Kacey’s own no nonsense spunk and charm, and she and the band sported their cosmic country and western finery as they always do on her road performances.

‘Pageant Material’ is the follow-up to 2013’s 2-time Grammy-winning ‘Same Trailer Different Park’ and is sure to top the country and Americana charts.

In a separate video Musgraves reveals the song’s writing session with Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark and how “Biscuits,” how the recording session took advantage of some authentic bakeware as instrumentation and why the song wasn’t included on ‘Same Trailer Different Park’

Catch the replay and song background below.

Musgraves also gave some background on how she, Brandy Clark and

Listen Up! Chris J. Norwood – “How Am I Gonna Be Your Rock?”

Chris J Norwood

Chris J. Norwood and his wife Carrie are expecting the birth of their first child. But this happy occasion came after a long, hard stretch of fruitless attempts and, after success, a heartbreaking miscarriage.

Now a month away from becoming a father the Dallas area singer/songwriter guitar-slinger, and hired gun for locals like Ronnie Fauss and Cole Risner, has used those experiences and worked it through the healing catharsis of music.

The cut’s breezy delivery belies the frustration, fear and hope that the couple grappled with. Norwood plays acoustic guitar, bass and lovely organ flourishes. Steve McClure soulful pedal steel and Josh Rodgers shuffling beat fit the intimate feel beautifully.

The lyrics give a glimpse of what those were like. Fittingly Carrie joins Chris in recalling their hope against hopelessness that resulted in this lovely song of devotion.

Turnpike Troubadours To Release Self-Titled Album

Turnpike Troubadours

I still don’t know what Red Dirt Music is, but if the Turnpike Troubadours is it give me more!

The dynamic Oklahoma band will release their self-titled third album, September 18th on Bossier City Records/Thirty Tigers. The album will contain 12 songs – like the raucous “The Mercury” and “Bossier City” and the melodically tender “Down Here”, “How Do You Fall Out Of Love” and “A Little Song”.

‘The Turnpike Troubadours’ is the follow up to the band’s breakthrough 2012 sophomore release ‘Goodbye Normal Street,’ which debuted at #57 on the Billboard Top 200 and #14 on the Billboard Country Chart.

I predict this’ll be a great one.

Watch Out! Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard – ‘Missing Ol’ Johnny Cash’ [VIDEO]

Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard - Missing Ol' Johnny Cash

Another charming, behind-the-scenes music videos in a series showing Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard working on their new collaboration ‘Django and Jimmie’ at Willie’s studio in Luck, Texas.

Thats Django as in the legendary gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and Jimmie as in Jimmie Rodgers, the vaudevillian dandy turned mythic “Singing Brakeman.”

Each a personal musical influance to the respective Willie and Merle.

Featured in the video are the main men along with Willie’s longtime producer, collaborator and friend Buddy Cannon. Bobby Bare joins his old friends as a recording on the song ‘Missing Ol’ Johnny Cash’ is a honky-tonker that allows the men to reminiscence about the times with the Man in Black.

Merle describes his approach to writing the song like this ‘It was just some words that I had some chords to. Not really a melody to it, just kinda rapping.”

I sounds more like talking blues to me but I’m hardly one to argue with The Hag.

There’s some great stories throughout including a NSFW one at the end told by Merle.

‘Django and Jimmie’ is out now.

Listen Up! Sara Rachele – ‘Rebecca’ [PREMIER]

Sara Rachele - 'Rebecca'

‘Rebecca,’ the new affecting cut from Atlanta native, NYC-based Sara Rachele, allows her to work within the sparse production, provided by Kristofer Sampson, using her voice (situated somewhere between Emmylou Harris and Stevie Nicks) to soar across an acoustic guitar while softly serenaded by songbirds and field crickets.

About the song she says ‘My name is Sara Rachele, and I live with regret,’ that’s the way I introduced this song the first time I played it live on stage… ‘Rebecca’ is a story about choice, and consequence. And recovery… The recovery you do when you look yourself in the mirror and don’t really like that person. The part during that.

We recorded this to a two track tape machine as I sat outside in the evening of a hot day in Madison County… Just the three guys and I from my band at the time. I sat in the yard in the tall grass alone, with the cicadas and the truth.

The B side to this single is a piece of one of my favorite hymns, ‘It Is Well,’ it deals with finding comfort after loss, and I’m interested in understanding that… As a writer, and in life.

Sara Rachele’s ‘Madison County,’ out on limited run 7” vinyl, and digital-only, will feature ‘Rachele’ on the A side. The B side is a duet with Andy Leon Appling, ‘It Is Well with My Soul,’ first published in 1876 is public domain. Both songs were recorded live to 1/2 inch tape, in Danielsville GA, of Madison County.

Pre-order here.

Watch Out! Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz & Aoife O’Donovan “Be My Husband” [Video]

Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz & Aoife O'Donovan  "Be My Husband"

The elegant simplicity of the video for Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan’s “Be My Husband” mirrors in production the song’s simple beauty in this acapella vow of love and devotion.

Deftly directed by Watkins’ husband, Todd Cooper, the video was filmed in March on the deck of the A Prairie Home Companion cruise (they have a cruise for everything ) through the windy Carribean. Accompanied only by the percussion of foot stomps and claps the song highlights these extraordinary women’s vocal prowess to the song written by Andrew Stroud for his then wife, Nina Simone’s 1965 album Pastel Blues.

The performance brings to mind that singular moment of Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch performing ‘Go To Sleep You Little Baby’ off the “Oh Brother Where Art Thou?” soundtrack.

“Be My Husband” is the B-side off their 7″ single release Crossing Muddy Waters, available now. “Be My Husband” will be digitally available on May 26.

Fittingly the connection with A Prairie Home Companion will continue as the girls will be appearing on the May 22nd show and May 23rd broadcast in Vienna, VA to launch their US “I’m With Her Tour” dates. (Full dates below).

The 7 inch vinyl can be found here.

Tour Dates
2015-05-22 Vienna, VA – A Prairie Home Companion
2015-05-23 Vienna, VA – A Prairie Home Companion
2015-07-10 Katonah, NY – Caramoor
2015-07-11 Mt. Solon, VA – Red Wing Roots
2015-07-18 Vancouver, Cananda – Vancouver Folk Music Festival
2015-07-25 Lyons, CO – Rockygrass
2015-08-29 Fayetteville, AR – Fayetteville Town Center
2015-09-05 Pagosa Springs, CO – Four Corners Folk Festival
2015-09-19 North Adams, MA – FreshGrass

Iris Dement To Release Ode to 20th Century Russian Poet Anna Akhmatova – ‘The Trackless Woods’ (August 7)

Iris Dement - 'The Trackless Woods'

To many Iris DeMent is an authentic poet working in the Americana roots medium. This August DeMent will follow up 2012’s ‘Songs of the Delta’ with her loving tribute to 20th century Russian poet and activist Anna Akhmatova.

From the press release “Hailed as one of Russia’s finest poets, Akhmatova survived the Bolshevik Revolution, both World Wars and Stalin. She lost family, friends and fellow writers to political killings and labor in the gulags. When Iris randomly stumbled upon Akhmatova’s work in a book of poetry a friend sent as a gift, she was immediately taken by the sorrow and burden of the poems, juxtaposed with Akhmatova’s lightness and transcendence in the face of inhumanity.”

“Anna’s gift of song is so strong, about alI I had to do was get really quiet and listen,” says Iris. After reading that first poem the melodies began pouring out of her, and before she even fully understood what was driving her, Iris was gathering musicians and friends, including co-producer Richard Bennett (Emmylou Harris, Neil Diamond, Steve Earle), to record ‘The Trackless Woods’ in her living room over a five-day period.

“The result is a breathtaking pairing of piano and voice in Iris’ sui generis style with timeless melodies that are deeply rooted in the American South. The project also fulfilled a long yearned-for desire to connect with her adopted daughter’s culture and history. Iris and her husband adopted their daughter from Siberia in 2005, and she says “I’d never have made this record were it not for her.”

Pre-order
iTunes
Amazon
Official Store

Tour Dates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCRB1uhXeCw

TRACK LISTING
1. To My Poems
2. Broad Gold
3. And This You Call Work
4. From An Oriental Notebook
5. Prayer
6. Not With Deserters
7. All Is Sold
8. Reject The Burden
9. From An Airplane
10. Oh How Good
11. Like A White Stone
12. Song About Songs
13. Listening To Singing
14. Lot’s Wife
15. Upon The Hard Crest
16. The Souls Of All My Dears
17. Last Toast
18. It’s Not With a Lover’s Lyre/ Anna Akhmatova Recitation of “The Muse”

Lucinda Williams , Sturgill Simpson and Shakey Graves Lead 2015 Americana Awards Nominees

americana-fest

The Americana Music Awards just announced their 2015 nominees, and Lucinda Williams, Shakey Graves and Sturgill Simpson lead the pack with 3 nominations apiece. All were nominated for Album of the Year and Song of the year. Williams and Simpson share the Artist of the Year category with Lee Ann Womack, Rhiannon Giddens and Jason Isbell. Shakey Graves shares the Emerging Artist of the Year category with First Aid Kit, Houndmouth, Nikki Lane and the man behind one of the great stories of the year, Doug Seegers.

The awards will again be presented at the Mother Church of Country Music, the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

As impressive as it is the full list of nominees below is it offers just a glimpse of the diverse and strong field of Americana and roots artists building this sustainable genre and cultural force. There are no outliers, surprises or dark horses in the nominees, but that’s not the point of award shows. It’s to reward and display some of the most marketable of the genre to a larger public in order to grow a sustainable fan base for these artists and the next coming up, many of whom can be found playing the week-long festival at local clubs.

As mainstream country starts to take notice of Americana celebration each year in Music Row’s back yard I can’t help but feel that some of that influence (and, yes, proven success. It’ s still a business) won’t have some positive effect on roots music as a whole.

2015 Americana Honors & Awards Nominees

Album of the Year (Award goes to Artist and Producer)
‘And The War Came’ – Shakey Graves; Produced by Alejandro Rose-Garcia and Chris Boosahda
‘Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone’ – Lucinda Williams; Produced by Lucinda Williams, Tom Overby and Greg Leisz
‘Metamodern Sounds In Country Music’ – Sturgill Simpson; Produced by Dave Cobb
‘The Way I’m Livin” – Lee Ann Womack; Produced by Frank Liddell
‘Tomorrow Is My Turn’ – Rhiannon Giddens; Produced by T-Bone Burnett

The surprise the this category is the quirky, less rootsy ‘And The War Came’ by Alejandro Rose-Garcia aka Shakey Graves. I love that country superstar Lee Ann Womack has been so warmly embraced by the community for her great work on ‘The Way I’m Livin’ ‘ and Rhiannon Giddens more than deserves to be here fit her wonderful release. I believe it’s going to a photo finish between Lucinda Williams and Sturgill Simpson.

Artist of the Year
Rhiannon Giddens
Jason Isbell
Sturgill Simpson
Lucinda Williams
Lee Ann Womack

A Lee Ann Womack win would be badass and I believe likely winner Sturgill Simpson would agree.

Duo/Group of the Year
Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn
The Lone Bellow
The Mavericks
Punch Brothers
Shovels & Rope

Can’t quibble with anything here but it would be cool if Brooklyn’s The Lone Bellow walked away with it.

Emerging Artist of the Year
First Aid Kit
Houndmouth
Nikki Lane
Doug Seegers
Shakey Graves

Love Doug Seegers but I have to go with Nikki Lane on this one. Though I would have her in Artist of the Year as she’s now on her second excellent release (which should be up for AOTY)

Instrumentalist of the Year
Hubby Jenkins
Laur Joamets
Greg Leisz
John Leventhal
Stuart Mathis

Great performers all but I have to go with Lucinda’s axw\e-master Stuart Mathis here. The man’s a genius of nuance and a really nice guy as well.

Song of the Year (Award goes to Artist and Songwriter)
“Dearly Departed” – Shakey Graves; Written by Alejandro Rose-Garcia and Esme’ Patterson
“East Side Of Town” – Lucinda Williams; Written by Lucinda Williams
“Terms Of My Surrender” – John Hiatt; Written by John Hiatt
“Turtles All The Way Down” – Sturgill Simpson; Written by Sturgill Simpson
“You’re The Best Lover That I Ever Had” – Steve Earle & the Dukes; Written by Steve Earle

Song of the Year is where I have plenty of conflicts. No Nikki Lane “The Right Time?” No American Aquarium ‘Man I’m Supposed To Be?’ No Cory Branan ‘Missing You Fierce’
9 or Old 97s ‘Longer Than You’ve Been Alive’ Oh well, I don’t program for radio and am looking at (and voted) this category differently than my contemporaries.

Kacey Musgraves Announces New Album ‘Pageant Material,’ Out June 23rd

Kacey Musgraves 'Pageant Material,"

The wait is over Kacey Musgraves fans. A tweet from Musgraves official twitter feed has announced that her follow up to 2013’s major label, Grammy-winning debut ‘Same Trailer Different Park’ is entitled ”Pageant Material’ and it will be released from Mercury Nashville on June 23.

The cover suggests more wry observations from the heartland, with Kacy in profile with a tiara and a not-quite smile.

See the track list and hear the cut ‘Biscuits’ below.

Pre-Order ‘Pageant Material”

Track Listing:
1. High Time (KM, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally)
2. Dime Store Cowgirl (KM, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally)
3. Late To The Party (KM, Brandy Clark, Josh Osborne)
4. Pageant Material (KM, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally)
5. This Town (KM, Luke Laird, Brandy Clark)
6. Biscuits (KM, Shane McAnally, Brandy Clark)
7. Somebody To Love (KM, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne)
8. Miserable (KM, Josh Osborne, Brandy Clark)
9. Die Fun (KM, Luke Laird, Shane McAnally)
10. Family Is Family (KM, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne)
11. Good Ol’ Boys Club (KM, Luke Laird, Natalie Hemby)
12. Cup Of Tea (KM, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne)
13. Fine (KM, Ashley Arrison, Shane McAnally)