Record Store Day 2013 – Americana and Roots Music Picks

rsd2013

It’s that time again twangers. Yes, Record Store Day 2013 is upon us. The day when us music fans can snatch up slabs of limited pressing vinyl from our favorite artists and help local independent records store to not become bygone relics. That would stink.

This year’s RSD2013 releases offer some great selections from the roots and Americana side of the fence. Willie Nelson demos? Yes please! Waylon Jennings and Old 97s collaboration? Oh yeah!

Check the hilarious video from RSD1013 Ambassador Jack White below, where he details the shady doings of the music industry, the Masons and the NBA draft (sort of) and on April 20th head to your local independent record store to pick up one of the limited edition goodies below.

Head to the official RSD2013 site to get a complete list of releases and participating stores.

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

Chet Atkins
Black Jack EP
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: SUNDAZED
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Previously unreleased recordings by this guitar master
Midnight, Boo Boo Stick Beat, Blackjack, Blue Moon of Kentucky

The Avett Brothers/ Randy Travis
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Warner Music Nashville
More Info:
Limited edition split single. Randy Travis covers the Avett Brothers’ “February”, The Avett Brothers covers the Randy Travis song, “Three Wooden Crosses.

The Band
The Last Waltz
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Rhino
More Info:
3 180 Gram LPs, Numbered RSD Edition. All original packaging with Embossing and two foils. All original inner sleeves plus 12-page booklet. Out of print for more than a decade.

Billy Bragg
No One Knows Nothing Anymore / Song of the Iceberg
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Cooking Vinyl

Blitzen Trapper
Blitzen Trapper Deluxe Reissue
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: LidKerCow, LTD
More Info:
Blitzen Trapper’s debut album from 2003 will be available for the first time on vinyl in celebration of it’s 10th Anniversary. The record was remastered by Bruce Barielle and the lacquers were cut by Jeff Powell at Ardent Studios in Memphis, TN. A very limited edition run, the record is pressed on 180g vinyl with a free digital download of the entire record with five previously unheard bonus tracks from the original sessions.

Joe Bussard
Guitar Rag/Screwdriver Slide
DETAILS
Format: 78 rpm 10″
Label: Tompkins Square

Calexico
Spiritoso
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Anti/Epitaph

Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
Rattlin Bones
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill

cookisbell

Elizabeth Cook / Jason Isbell
Tecumseh Valley b/w Pancho & Lefty
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: 31 Tigers
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
“Tecumseh Valley” b/w “Pancho & Lefty”
Studio versions of both artists covering Townes Van Zandt. They originally performed these songs on Late Night with David Letterman

cooley

Mike Cooley
Too Pretty To Work
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Cooley Records
More Info:
Record Store Day 7″ featuring 2 live tracks recorded at shows in 2012.
1 – Self Destructive Zones (3:36)
2 – Get Downtown (3:12)

Bob Dylan
Wigwam
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Columbia
More Info:
A – Wigwam (Unreleased Demo,) B – Thirsty Boots (Previously Unreleased) — Two previously unreleased Bob Dylan recordings from the Self Portrait sessions. Includes a demo version of “Wigwam” and the previously unreleased track “Thirsty Boots.” Taken from the forthcoming release, The Bootleg Series Vol. 10.

Justin Townes Earle
Yuma
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Bloodshot Records
More Info:
Previously released debut EP from Justin Townes Earle, now on vinyl for the first time. 10″ vinyl. Colored vinyl (opaque gold). Limited to 1000 copies, for RSD.
The Ghost of Virginia, You Can’t Leave, Yuma, I Don’t Care, Let the Waters Rise, A Desolate Angels Blues

Alejandro Escovedo/Chris Scruggs
78 rpm 10
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Plowboy Records
More Info:
78 rpm 10″ A/B single release of two covers of Eddy Arnold standards by Alejandro Escovedo (A side) and Chris Scruggs (B side) for upcoming “You Don’t Know Me: Rediscovering Eddy Arnold” album project due in May 2013
a side : “It’s a Sin” by Alejandro Escovedo – B side: “Just A Little Lovin’ (Will Go A Long Way” by Chris Scruggs

Giant Giant Sand
Return to Tucson
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Fire / Cargo
More Info:
limited to 1000 copies. 12″LP featuring 8 remixes by John Parish and Ali chant from tracks that featured on 2012’s ‘Tucson’ LP.
SIDE A: Lost love (John Parish + Ali Chant Remix); Undiscovered Country (John Parish Remix); Wind Blown Waltz (John Parish + Ali Chant Alternative Mix); Thing Like That (Ali Chant Extended Version) SIDE B: Carinito (Ali Chant Alternative Mix); Not The End Of The World (Ali Chant Alternative Version); Hard Morning in a Soft Blur (Chris Schultz Extended Version(; Forever & A Day (John Parish + Ali Chant Alternative Mix)

Golden Gunn (Steve Gunn + Hiss Golden Messenger)
Golden Gunn
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Three Lobed / Thrill Jockey
More Info:
Golden Gunn is a collaboration between Steve Gunn and Hiss Golden Messenger. LP comes with a download code. Only 870 made.

Jackie Greene
Love Is A Shining Catastrophe/Sweet Somewhere Bound 7
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: self-released
More Info:
7″ Vinyl Single in 4/c jacket with 2 “A” Sides and 5 song digital download.

Patty Griffin
Ohio
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: New West
More Info:
This is a single A-side 7” pressed on heavyweight vinyl. The vinyl is black, hand-numbered 1-500, and Patty will sign Side B on 25 of the records, which will be randomly distributed. This song is from her forthcoming album, American Kid, due out 5/14/13. This will come in an all white sleeve with a stamped logo and a stickered UPC.

IMAGINATIONAL ANTHEM VOL. 6 : ORIGINS OF AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GUITAR
Format: Gatefold Vinyl Ltd 1500
Label: Tompkins Square
If American Primitive Guitar begins with John Fahey and the Takoma School, then the actual origins of this sound is found within this collection of fourteen classic solo guitar performances. Recorded between 1923 to 1930, this set is the “Rosetta Stone” of style and repertoire tapped into deeply by Fahey, Basho & Rose, among many others. Sam McGee, Riley Puckett, Bayless Rose, Sylvester Weaver, Lemuel Turner, Frank Hutchison and Davey Miller are the rural artists included in this anthology. Each one of these showcases a particular technique and sensitivity sourced from the earlier 19th century parlor guitar tradition. Several of these sides are reissued for their first time including Sylvester Weaver’s “Guitar Blues” which is the first solo finger picked guitar solo ever recorded. Stunningly remastered and annotated by Christopher King.

Iron and Wine
Next to Paradise/Dirty Ocean
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Warner Bros.
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release

Sarah Jarosz
Live At The Troubadour
Label: Sugar Hill

tift

Tift Merritt
Markings
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Yep Roc
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
4-song 12″ featuring an unreleased track, a live track and two acoustic tracks from Traveling Alone. Covered with a tactile cross-stitched/embroidered record cover.

Mumford & Sons
Live at Bull Moose
DETAILS
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Glassnote
More Info:
“””I Will Wait”” “”Ghosts That We Knew”” “”Where Are You Now”” “”Awake My Soul”” — 3 or 4 songs from their bull moose instore – 10″” version”

WillieNelsonCrazyVinyl.indd

Willie Nelson
Crazy: The Demo Sessions
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill
More Info:
When Willie first got to Nashville he cut some demos for Ray Price and Hal Smith’s publishing company, Pamper Music. Though these cuts were used to pitch songs to artists (including ‘Crazy’ for Patsy Cline) and producers, many weren’t released. These 1960-1966 tracks are raw, real and really good, clearly the work of an artist/songwriter headed for stardom.

Willie Nelson
Someday My Prince Will Come
Label: Legacy

Waylon

Waylon Jennings / Old 97s
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Omnivore Recordings
More Info:
2 x 7″
Two tracks from Old 97s sessions with Waylon Jennings, and two additional Old 97s demo tracks. Cover art by Jon Langford of the Mekons and Waco Brothers, and famed painter of country icons.
Iron Road The Other Shoe, Visiting Hours (1996 demo), Fireflies Take 2 (1996 demo)

Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels-Live 1973 7
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: SIERRA
More Info:
Originally released in 1982 as a bonus 7″ EP to Sierra Records “Live 1973” LP release of Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris with full color sleeve.
Side One: Medley- Bony Moronie, 40 Days, Almost Grown Side Two: Conversations, Doing It in the Bus, Broken EBS Box, Hot Burrito #1

Phosphorescent
Aw Come Aw Wry
Label: Misra Records
More Info:
Previously released title from Phosphorescent, and one of the best-selling, on Misra. This will be the first time that it is available on vinyl.

CHARLIE POOLE & THE HIGHLANDERS : THE COMPLETE PARAMOUNT & BRUNSWICK RECORDINGS, 1929
Vinyl w/ Poster Ltd 1500
From 1926 to 1930 one of the most popular rural string bands on record was Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers. Through their 78 RPM discs and their various performances, Charlie Poole was second only to Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. Poole’s uniquely syncopated three finger banjo picking style coupled with his Piedmont vocal inflections eventually colored and defined much of what we consider “old-time” music. The classic configuration of banjo, fiddle and guitar with vocals was encouraged by the main label that promoted Poole but he also wanted to record instrumentals featuring twin-fiddle and piano. As renaming his group The Highlanders, Poole was able to actualize this musical vision. This collection contains all of the sides that Poole made with Roy Harvey, Lucy Terry, and twin-fiddlers Lonnie Austin & Odell Smith. Remastered in beautiful sound by Christopher King and with notes written by old-time musician and scholar Kinney Rorrer.

Punch Brothers
“Ahoy!” – 33 1/3 rpm Vinyl EP
Label: Nonesuch Records
For the first time, the EP has been pressed on 10″ vinyl for Record Store Day, and includes songs by Josh Ritter (“Another New World”), Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (“Down Along the Dixie Line”), Punch Brothers (“Squirrel of Possibility”), and Mclusky (“Icarus Smicarus”), along with one traditional tune, arranged by Punch Brothers (“Moonshiner”). Originall yrecorded during the Nashville sessions for their 2012 album Who’s Feeling Young Now?,

Richard Thompson
Salford Sunday
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: New West
More Info:This is a single A-side 7” pressed on heavyweight vinyl. This song is off of the release Electric (2/5/13). The vinyl is black, hand-numbered 1-500. Richard will sign Side B on 25 of the records, which will be distributed randomly

Frank Turner
Recovery
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Interscope

Various Artists
Yep Roc Hearsay / They Call It Rock
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Yep Roc
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
2 Song 12″ on clear vinyl, 24 Yep Roc Artist performing, DVD of recording session, hand made cover

Yonder Mountain String Band
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard

Listen Up! Neko Case – “That’s Who I Am” from Ghost Brothers of Darkland County

GhostBros_cover_5x5_rgbI haven’t seen the Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the collaboration by horror author Stephen King and , roots-rocker John Mellencamp and Americana godfather and singer/songwriter T Bone Burnett, but if the soundtrack gives us any insight into the Southern Gothic musical it’s going to be a killer.(heh)

I already posted an Elvis Costello cut from album. Now we have a sweet cut from Neko Case. A femme fatale reels off a long list of libido-fueled plays over a shuffle. I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that Neko’s character is not one of the good guys.

It’s been years since I’ve heard this country music tinged sound from Neko and I am a fan. What do you think? Leave it in the comments below.

June 4th, 2013 as the project’s new release date. Check the trailer for the soundtrack below.

Jason Isbell to Release New Solo Album, “Southeastern” June 11

jason isbell southeastern

Jason Isbell will release Southeastern on June 11 via Southeastern Records/Thirty Tigers. This will be his second solo album since 2007’s debut Sirens of the Ditch released shortly after his split from the Drive-By Truckers. Southeastern contains 12 new Isbell compositions and reportedly has “some of the most personal songs of self-reflection and discovery he has written to date.”

Southeastern is a more personal release from Isbell as he deals with new beginnings, like the recent marriage to Amanda Shires and his now yearlong sobriety, without being mawkish pr getting on a soapbox.

The album will offer a duets with Amanda shires Traveling Alone and Stockholm with Kim Richey and will feature 400 Unit members Derry deBorja (keyboards) and Chad Gamble (drums.) The album was produced by Dave Cobb (Jamey Johnson, The Secret Sisters).

Southeastern Track Listing

Cover Me Up
Stockholm
Traveling Alone
Elephant
Flying Over Water
Different Days
Live Oak
Songs That She Sang In The Shower
New South Wales
Super 8”
Yvette
Relatively Easy

Listen Up! EXCLUSIVE Amy Black “Live at Johnny D’s”

Amy Black Live

Amy Black is a personal friend and favorite here at Casa Twang, She’s a fantastic singer/songwriter with a sound that harkens back to country music’s soulful golden age and a smart and savvy self-promoter.

Black was named by Alternate Route as one of the top 30 Female vocalists and her local paper The Boston Globe described her latest album, “One Time” as “Americana in its broadest definition. It’s rooted in folk and country but with tinges of Southern soul and blues.” Oh yes, she’s all that and more.

TN is proud to present an EXCLUSIVE first listen of her upcoming live album.

The release was recorded on January 4th, 2013 at a packed Johnny D’s Uptown, a historic live music space in Somerville, MA, that started as a Country/Western honky-tonk in 1969. The historic venue plays host to performers such as Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis, Hayes Carll, Eileen Jewell, Junior Brown and many others when they pass through town.

The recording features songs from Black’s most recent studio album plus three new originals, Make Me an Angel, Brick by Brick and Other Side of Heartache.

Out March 23, pre-order CDs purchased before noon ET on Friday will be signed.

Listen Up! Shovels and Rope Cover Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits for Jack White’s Third Man Records

Shovels and Rope Johnny 99It looks like Jack White;s adopted home of Nashville is starting to reflect in the music being released by his Third Man Records label.

The latest is from Charleston indie-folk duo Shovels and Rope. The 7-inch will be released on April 2nd and features a jaunty cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Johnny 99” (off the extraordinary Nebraska, hear it below) on the A side, with a version of Tom Waits’ “Bad As Me” on the B.

The release is on on Third Man’s Blue Series, where singers and bands traveling through Nashville are invited to stop by to record one or two songs at Third Man Studio produced by White. The songs are then, as soon as possible, made available on 7” vinyl and digitally on itunes. The series also includes releases by Brittany Howard and Ruby Amanfu, Seasick Steve, Chris Thile with Micheal Daves , The Secret Sisters, Wanda Jackson and others.

The release will be available on iTunes and vinyl. It;s a measly $6 and you can pre-order here.

Watch Out! David Mayfield Parade – “Human Cannonball” [VIDEO]

Good Man Down

Some musicians sound like they are moving Americana music, into new directions, and David Mayfield is one of them. Mayfield paid his dues playing bass for his family’s bluegrass band, alongside his younger sister, the singer/songwriter, Jessica Lea Mayfield. He handled bass on her debut record, Blasphemy So Heartfelt and performed same in her touring band.

Mayfield was also been a “gun-for-hire” for pick-up gigs in the tourist filled honky-tonks on Nashville’s lower Broadway and was also the lead guitarist and contributing songwriter for roots band Cadillac Sky, currently on indefinite hiatus.

He has also toured with The Avett Brothers, Mumford & Songs and Willie Nelson.

Mayfield’s self-titled debut was pretty much unremarkable, straight-ahead bluegrass fair. His upcoming Kickstarter funded release Good Man Down things get a bit more daring.

Mayfield said in a recent press release. “I feel like this record is more mature. Now that I’ve been touring so much I have had the chance to try new songs live and see how they are accepted, and to construct an album that is more of a cohesive thought.”

On the song Human Cannonball (below) Mayfield’s high-tenor meshes well with the melancholy, love-lost theme and the bluegrass influenced sound that are steeped in country music tradition. But the arrangement, and soaring chorus, shifts the song into the pop-folk territory of R.E.M, the Avetts and Mumford and Co.

It speaks well of that maturity Mayfield spoke of that he doesn’t get trapped in the saccharine mechanizations of the last two and comes closer to the best of the former.

Good Man Down is will be released April 1 on Beautywood Records.

Ryan Adams to Preview New Album in Live , Full-Band , Performance

RyanAdams2Consequence of Sound reports that Ryan Adams has announced his first show backed by a full band since The Cardinals split up in 2009. The show will take place March 19th at London’s Royal Albert Hall and is part of the Noel Gallagher-curated Teenage Cancer Trust benefit concert series.

COS has done some on-line sleuthing and posts “…the Royal Albert Hall ticketing site describes Adams’ “The show will feature the debut of new songs from his as-yet-untitled new album due for release in the autumn alongside classics from his extensive catalogue.”

So, if the program’s details of “new songs” and “new album” correct there appears to be a new album on the horizon. The record reportedly has Adams reuniting with 2011′s Ashes & Fire producer/legend Glyn Johns (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Clash), and COS reports that the band accompanying him on March 19th is expected to be the same as in the studio.
Check Adams’ recent appearance on Conan, sporting Buck Owen’s red, white and blue acoustic guitar, below.

Listen up! Amanda Shires Single Premier – “Bulletproof”

amanda shires

With her newly released single, Bulletproof, Amanda Shires continues to explore a variety of musical influences – folk, blues and jazz -she began in her last release “Carrying Lightening.

The song sets Shires warm-honey vibrato and fine fiddling against a Tom Waits-like junkyard orchestral accompaniment. The song details potential supernatural impenetrability against a litany of physical and emotional armaments. Like a whimsical protective talisman set to a cha-cha beat

No word on an upcoming album title or release date came with the press release. but when I know , you’ll know

Bulletproof was released to coincide with Shires showcases at South-By-Southwest. Catch her at one of the performances below:

THURS MARCH 14 @ 11 PM
St. David’s Episcopal Church
Historic Sanctuary
hosted by Utne and Thirty Tigers
official SXSW showcase!

FRI MARCH 15 @ 7 PM
Wyndam Garden Hotel
on the patio @ the bar area!
3401 IH 35 Austin, TX 78741
free! open to the public!!

SAT MARCH 16th 6 PM
Omni Austin Hotel Downtown
700 San Jacinto & 8th Street
lobby lounge located @ the atrium!
free! open to the public!!

Patty Griffin to Release New Album, “American Kid,” on May 7th

AmericankidSinger/songwriter and 3 Girls & Their Buddy , Band of Joy band member, Patty Griffin will release a new album of original material titled American Kid on May 7 through New West Records.

The follow up to 2007’s Children Running Through was written to honor her father, whose exceptional life included working as a high school science teacher, fighting in World War II, raising seven children and living in a Trappist Monastery.

This will be the first album of Griffin’s that’s completely rooted in the Americana sound. “It was recorded in Memphis,” Griffin said. “Part of the reason was the chance to get away from what I’d been doing.”

The album includes appearances from the North Mississippi Allstars’ guitarist Luther Dickinson and drummer Cody Dickinson, and was co-produced by Craig Ross.

You can take a look at American Kid’s track list below.

1 – Go Wherever You Want To Go
2 – Don’t Let Me Die In Florida
3 – Ohio
4 – Wild Old Dog (See video below)
5 – Mom & Dad’s Waltz
6 – Faithful Son
7 – Highway Son
8 – That Kind of Lonely
9 – Irish Boy
10 – Get Ready Marie
11 – Not A Bad Man
12 – Gonna Miss You When You’re Gone

Album Review – Son Volt: Honky Tonk [Rounder Records]

son volt honky tonk

From the ashes of one of the pivotal harbingers of the late 80’s alt.country movement, Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar’s Son Volt has continued to carry the torch of classic country and rock music for seven albums now. Each album blending, progressing, and sometime faltering, but always staying true to course. This time around, Farrar seems content to ease off of the rock influence and focus in classic country nuance. Picking up the pedal steel in his spare time he’s uses ot deftly spanning 11 songs that display economy (clocking in at just over 36 minutes) as well as expansiveness in influence.

This incarnation of Son Volt appears well suited to provide the Honky Tonk of the album title and theme. The band sets a welcome tone with the 3/4 Waltz of “Hearts and Minds.” Brick Walls is straight from the Lefty Frizzell book of song-craft and heartache. The nightlife lament of “Wild Side” is Farrar’s subtler and more tender take on a theme Hank Thompson tackled with “Wild Side Of Life.”

“Every road is a story to tell, of dreams that have soared and dreams that have fell.” starts off the lovely Celtic-tinged “Down the Highway” that blends the road with life, or perhaps it’s all just life on the road. “Bakersfield” flirts with jukebox fair to compel a dust-bowl migrant to drop a dime to hear it. Languidly paced atmospheric and shimmery electric guitars makes Angel of the Blues’ and “Shine On” gives the album a contemporary conclusion.

Honky Tonk doesn’t slap you in the face with some aural revelation. it’s not a furious album or one trying to prove itself. It lays it out and really couldn’t care what the world thinks. That’s the beauty in it. There is no overt commercial aspirations, just love of music and a celebration of it’s timeless nature. Farrar has always been true to his vision never chasing stylistic trends to broaden his demographic appeal. He’s cultivated and harvesting country music gold throughout his career and with the excellent Honky Tonk, he sounds right at home.

Official Site | Buy

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