Category Archives: New Releases

The SteelDrivers – ‘Hammer Down’ – Listen Up!

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SteelDrivers - Hammer Down

Adele and i share something in common. We are both SteelDrivers fans. Adele even honored the band by recording a version of their song “If It Hadn’t Been for Love” and included it as a B side to her best-selling “Rolling in the Deep” CD single and has covered that very same song live.

The three time Grammy nominated, Nashville based band are well worthy of such accolades.

The SteelDrivers embody some of the best characteristics of any roots/Americana band performing today. The band fuses often dark lyrics, soul, bluegrass and mature pop to create something new and fresh and somehow comfortably familiar.

The SteelDrivers are banjo player Richard Bailey, bass/vocalist Mike Fleming, guitar / vocalist Gary Nichols, fiddler / vocalist Tammy Rogers and mandolinist Brent Truitt. Produced by Luke Wooton, Hammer Down is a collection of 10 new tunes from Rogers and Nichols as well as original members Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson. The set also includes the songs “I’ll Be There” and “Cry No Mississippi” that Nichols co-wrote with John Paul White of The Civil Wars.

The SteelDrivers’ upcoming Rounder Records’ release “Hammer Down” can be heard below for one week here at Twang Nation.

The SteelDrivers are on the road for much of 2013 and an updated itinerary is at www.steeldrivers.net

Tour Itinerary to Date:

February 6 Music City Roots/Loveless Cafe Nashville, TN
February 8 The Station Inn Nashville, TN
February 16 Joe Val Bluegrass Festival Framingham, MA
February 17 The Iron Horse Northampton, MA
February 18 Joe’s Pub New York, NY
February 28 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI
March 2 Woodlands Tavern Columbus, OH
March 3 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH
March 8 Bluegrass Underground McMinnville, TN
March 9 Mountain View Bluegrass Fest Mountain View, AR
March 21 Carbondale, IL Hangar 9

Willie Nelson And Family Upcoming “Lets Face The Music And Dance” Tracklist and Cover Art

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Willie -Face The Music and DanceLegacy Recordings will release “Let’s Face The Music And Dance,” a collection of new studio performances by Willie Nelson and Family, on Tuesday, April 16.

The album is the first in a series of releases and events celebrating the artist’s 80th birthday on April 30.

From the Press Release “A collection of deep pop country repertoire classics performed with transformative patented ease by Willie Nelson and Family, his long-time touring and recording ensemble, Let’s Face The Music And Dance was recorded at Pedernales Recording Studio in Austin, Texas, produced by Buddy Cannon and mixed by Butch Carr at Budro Music Repair Shop in Nashville, Tennessee.

Willie’s also celebrating more than forty years on the road and in the studio with Family, the band he formed with his sister, Bobbie Nelson (on piano), drummer Paul English and harmonica shaman Mickey Raphael–their name taken from his 1971 studio album Willie Nelson & Family. Rounding out the Family line-up on Let’s Face The Music And Dance are Billy English (Paul’s brother) on electric gut string and snare drum, Kevin Smith on upright bass and Jim “Moose” Brown on B-3 organ with Willie’s son, Micah Nelson, adding percussion on select tracks. Willie Nelson and his guitar, Trigger, appear on all the songs.

Compiling the repertoire for Let’s Face The Music And Dance, Willie chose a range of pop, rock, jazz and country classics drawn from the 1930s (“Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” “Walking My Baby Back Home”), 1940s (“You’ll Never Know,” “I Wish I Didn’t Love You So,” “Shame On You”) and 1950s (“Matchbox”) covering evergreen songwriters Irving Berlin, Mack Gordon, Carl Perkins, Frank Loesser, Django Reinhardt and Spade Cooley, among others. Willie turns in a beautiful new version of his composition “Is The Better Part Over,” a song he introduced on 1989′s A Horse Called Music.”

Let’s Face The Music And Dance Track List:

1. Let’s Face the Music and Dance (Irving Berlin, 1935)
2. Is the Better Part Over (Willie Nelson, 1989)
3. You’ll Never Know (Mack Gordon, 1943)
4. Vous Et Moi (Claude Francois-Jean Bourtayre)
5. Walking My Baby Back Home (Fred Ahlert-Roy Turk, 1930)
6. Matchbox (Carl Perkins, 1957)
7. Twilight Time (Al Nevins-Morty Nevins)
8. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (Dorothy Fields-Jimmy McHugh)
9. I’ll Keep On Loving You (Richard Coburn-Vincent Rose)
10. I Wish I Didn’t Love You So (Frank Loesser, 1947)
11. South Of The Border (Jimmy Kennedy-Michael Carr)
12. Nuages (Django Reinhardt)
13. Marie (The Dawn Is Breaking)
14. Shame On You (Spade Cooley, 1944)

Music Review: Daniel Romano – Come Cry With Me Normaltown Records]

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NTR1006-DanielRomano-REDPeople often wondered why Gram Parsons, a member of a 60’s generation that cast off the past so dramatically, would choose to perform music so informed by country music clad in the garish uniform of the institution, a Nudie suit. Granted the suit was adorned in spangled by pot leaves. But still, what gives? Was he a novelty act? But then you heard “Hickory Wind” and you knew this wasn’t hippie irony. This was reverence.

Ontario-based singer/songwriter Daniel Romano stares at you from his latest release ‘Come Cry With Me” donned in a brown, Nudie-style, bespangled suit. Stetson, hipster ‘stache and sideburns. Like a retro Instagram filter set to Country Gold. Romono dares you not to ask “is this dude kidding?”

By music don’t lie. ‘Come Cry With Me” is as real as anything that’s come out as country music scene since it moved from the porch to the studio mic.

Like Chuck Ragan and Austin Lucas, Romano spent his youth in punk and hard rock msuic founding the indie-rock outfit Attack in Black. Like them his journey led him to the music he grew up listening to A music with stylistic and thematic ties to punk and hard rock. Country and folk music.

Hank (Williams and Snow) Gram, Willie, Waylon, Billy Joe, Ernest, George Jones – they would all identify Romono’s fourth solo record as spiritual and melodic kin.

Weepers like “The Middle Child” and “Two Pillow Sleeper” used to spend weeks at the top of the jukebox charts and brings to mind long-forgotten smokey bars, broken hearts and cheap beer.

But it’s not all tales of the misbegotten and downtrodden. “Chicken Bill” takes a page out of the Cash book of Boom Chicka Boom and pulls the chair out with a mysterious ending. The wry humor and double entendre soaked “When I Was Abroad” sound like a result of a Roger Miller and Shel Silverstein amphetamine-fueled songwriting session at the Playboy Mansion.

And the excellent celebration of 3/4 waltzes “Just Before The Moment” would make Lefty Frizzell smile and cause Music Row execs the night sweats.

The rebellion that shapes punk and hard rock music has led Romano to one of the most rebellious acts he could undertake in today’s cultural environment. Creating an honest-to-God country music record.

four-rate

Official Site | Buy

[soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/crashave/sets/daniel-romano”]

Son Volt Announces New Album, April Tour Dates

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son volt honky tonkAlt.country/Americana music pioneers Son Volt will release Honky Tonk, their highly anticipated follow-up to 2009’s American Central Dust.

According to a received press release, the 11-track album features a mix of classic honky tonk and acoustic-based songs about “heartache, heartbreak, and the road.” Sounds like a winning combination.

According to a press release, the 11-track album us described by band leader Jay Farrar thus, “Honky tonk music is about heartache, heartbreak, the road.” He reflects that as he wrote and recorded the songs so deeply steeped in tradition, “I wanted these songs to sound more contemporary and modern. There was no strict adherence to methodology of the past. You never want to be a nostalgia act.”

“I was always averse to using certain words in songs, including ‘love’ and ‘heart,’” frontman Jay Farrar explained. “But I started using them on American Central Dust, and now I guess the floodgates have opened.”

The album is said to “dwell on affairs of the heart with album’s opener, “Hearts and Minds,” a speedy Cajun waltz which assays the delicate balance between love’s steadfastness and its caprice, the plaintive “Brick Walls,” and “Barricades,” which affirms the necessity of pushing forward in the face of overwhelming despair and defeat.”

Farrar also learned a new instrument as an inspiration for the sound of the record and ” inspired an intense exploration of honky tonk music.” “In the time between Son Volt records, I started learning pedal steel guitar. I play with a local band in St. Louis now and then called Colonel Ford. So I was immersed in honky tonk music, the Bakersfield sound, in particular. And it was almost second nature when I started writing the songs for this record.”

“Honky Tonk and Farrar’s forthcoming book, Falling Cars and Junkyard Dogs (Counterpoint Press, 2013) both continue his ongoing exploration of America’s landscape through the redemptive power of its music. Yet for all its hearkening back to a classic sound, Farrar and company make Honky Tonk feel vital, fresh, and new.”

Son Volt has national tour dates for April 2013 starting at Nashville’s Mercy Lounge.

Honky Tonk will be released via Rounder Records on March 5. Check out the track list and tour dates below.

Honky Tonk Tracklist:
1. Hearts and Minds
2. Brick Walls
3. Wild Side
4. Down the Highway
5. Bakersfield
6. Livin’ On
7. Tears of Change
8. Angel of the Blues
9. Seawall
10. Barricades
11. Shine On

Son Volt Tour Dates:
April
10 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Mercy Lounge
11 – Asheville, N.C. @ The Orange Peel
12 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Terminal West
13 – Carrboro, N.C. @ Cat’s Cradle
14 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Bijou Theatre
16 – Birmingham, Ala. @ WorkPlay Theatre
17 – New Orleans, La. @ The Parish
18 – Houston, Texas @ Continental Club
19 – Austin, Texas @ Old Settler’s Music Festival
20 – Dallas, Texas @ Sons of Herman Hall

Got news tips for Twang Nation? Email holler(at)twangnation.com

Song Spotlight – The White Buffalo “House of Pain” from the “West of Memphis” Soundtrack

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West_of_Memphis_poster“You never know how much you need music until you don’t have it.” -Damien Echols, Life After Death

Damien Echols, ason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. were convicted in 1994 of the 1993 reportedly ritual satanic murders of three 8-year old children in West Memphis. In 2011 thee men entered Alford pleas, which allowed them to assert their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict them. Their pleas were accepted the the men and sentenced to time served. They were then released with ten-year suspended sentences, having each served 18 years and 78 days behind bars.

“West of Memphis: Voices for Justice” is music from and inspired by West of Memphis, the documentary film written and directed by Academy Award nominated filmmaker, Amy Berg and produced by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh (the Lord of the Rings triology), Damien Echols and Lorri Davis.

In every instance of involvement, the artists on the soundtrack decided which song they felt reflected their personal feelings about the case. There’s a connection between the music and the man remaining at its center, Damien Echols.

The soundtrack features Henry Rollins and Johnny Depp each lending their voices to excerpts from Damien Echols’ letters from death row recited over a Nick Cave / Warren Ellis score featured in the film.

Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks covers of Pink Floyd’s “Mother.” “Satellite” is covered by Eddie Vedder which was written for Lorri Davis, Damien Echols’ wife, as part of a collection of songs Eddie recorded for the couple in 2000. Artists also featured are Lucinda Williams, Band of Horses, Patti Smith, Citizen Cope and others each bringing particular stories around the songs that represent them on this collection.

My favorite cut on the album is from The White Buffalo (aka Jake Smith.) He lends his baritone vibrato, and moody melodic stye, to the Faster Pussycat 1989 ballad that kept Damien company while sitting on death row.

Song Spotlight: Brett Detar – “A Soldier’s Burden”

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A Soldiers Burden - Brett Detar2013 is fresh out of the oven and I’ve already got some great music for you kids!

L.A. based/Pennsylvania native Brett Detar has spent the time between his last album, 2010’s excellent Bird in the Tangle (Ravensong Records) in his words “…holed up like a hermit in the recording studio, emerging only occasionally for coffee or to walk my dog Waylon.”

What he really means is he has written the score for a #1 box office films (Paramount Picture’s The Devil Inside) has the makings for a new album as well as odds, sods and “b-sides and rarities that may or may not see the light of day.”

One gem mined from this self-imposed seclusion is the new cut “A Soldier’s Burden.” Detar’s gently picked guitar and drum and fiddle accompaniment gently ebbs toward a lush arrangement belying it’s dark message. That of a soldier confronting the harrowing and cold realities of battle. Fittingly the song’s finale echos strains of the Civil War era classic “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

“A Soldier’s Burden” shows us Detar’s time away has been reflective and fruitful. I look forward to the release of a full album later this year. Pick up the mp3 of “A Soldier’s Burden” for free over at brettdetar.com/ and pick up a t-shirt while you’re over there.

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 10 – Chris Knight, Buddy Miller,Jim Lauderdale, John Fullbright, Gurf Morlix

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podcastEpisode #10 (alright double digits!) of Twang Nation Podcast pulls from my first 10 of a list of 21, Cream of the Crop selections from 2012. It’s been a great year for Americana and roots music. T Bone Burnett has done a fine job of sliding roots artists like Lindi Ortega and Shovels and Rope within a Music Row soap opera with ABC’s Nashville. The Americana Music Association continues to burnish the brand and their conference and wards show set attendance and submission records. Even that bastion of Music Row glitz, CMT, saw crossover potential and launched CMT Edge which has featured artists like Jason Isbell and Justin Townes Earle.

2013 shows no signs of slowing down with upcoming releases from Kris Kristofferson, Dale Watson as well as joint releases from Kelly Willis and her hubby Bruce Robison and Emmylou Harris and ex Hot Band member and legendary songwriter Rodney Crowell.

As the Americana music culture and industry grows and becomes more of a mainstream staple, with bands like Mumford and Sons and the Avett Brothers leading the way, I applaud the advantages and the opportunities for musicians and we who cover them. As I’ve said, I want the performers I cover to get more prestigious gigs, better recording facilities, more gear and to leave their touring vans behind and be bale to afford the relative comfort of a touring bus. I don’t believe musicians should suffer for tier craft (much!) Here’s to mutually rising boats.

In the new year I resolve to do my best not to follow the hyped path most traveled and do what I’ve always done, follow my heart and my ear to places more interesting and authentic for the love of music. I hope you come with me in and enjoy what I discover.

Thanks you for reading the site, following on twiiter , Facebook, Google+ and my work over at Grammy.com.

Happy holidays and a safe and happy New year to you all.

Opening Song – “Mr. D.J” – by Dale Watson
1.Chris Knight– song:”Little Victories”- Album: “Little Victories” (Drifter’s Church Productions)
2.Malcolm Holcolmbe – song: “Gone Away at Last”- Album: “Down the River” (GypsyeyesMusic – out now )
3.Darrell Scott – Song: Hopskinville – Album: Long Ride Home (Full Light Records)
4.Corb Lund – song: Gettin’ Down on the Mountain Album: Cabin Fever (New West Records)
5. Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale That’s Not Even Why I Love You. – Album: Buddy and Jim (New West Records)
6.Iris DeMent – song:Sing The Delta- Album:Sing The Delta (Flariella Records)
7.Dwight Yoakam – song:A Heart Like Mine- Album:3 Pears (Warner Bros. Records)
8.Turnpike Troubadours Song: Gin, Smoke and Lies- Album:Goodbye Normal Street (Bossier City Records)
9.John Fullbright song:Satan and St. Paul- Album:From The Ground Up (Bossier City Records)
10. Shovels & Rope– song:Fire On The Hill- Album:O’ Be Joyful (Dualtone Records)
11. Gurf Morlix – song:Present Tense- Album: Gurf Morlix Finds the Present Tense – Out March 5, 2013)
12.Robert Earl Keen– song:Merry Christmas from the Family- Album: Gringo Honeymoon

Song Feature: “White Trash Song” – Shooter Jennings featuring Scott H. Biram

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SJ_White_Trash_SongShooter Jennings is the kind of guy that doesn’t take the easy road. He doesn’t just release a new album, he releases a concept album with a film tie-in. The few details around the concept taken from a the newly launched site from Neltner Creative states “The film explores the themes of self-discovery, temptation, isolation and rebirth and serves as a visual counterpart to the album.” Not the recipe for pop-country confectionery singles ready for rotation between Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift.

The first cut of the album is a rocking country blues number entitled “White Trash Song” featuring Texas’ own Scott H. Biram. The song begins with a serene setting of birds chirping, a rooster crowing and a modern day hillbilly taking stock of his physical and mental landscape. Things rev up considerably and break into some sweet pedal steel, fiddle and piano turns. Biram shines in his introduced part with his signature gritty whoop and holler.

Head over to the site to watch the ominous trailer for the film written and directed by Blake Judd and featuring Slim Cessna’s Auto Club’s Jay Munly, Demonbabies Jesus Rivera, and wife of Hellbound Glory front man Leroy Virgil, Jenn Virgil at www.thislifeisadream.com and follow the project on twitter @The_Other_Life

Cream of the Crop – Twang Nation Top Americana and Roots Music Picks of 2012

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TNtoppicks2012It seems like I say it every year – so here goes, another bumper year for Americana releases blah blah. but it’s true!
I’ve been sitting on a list of about 50 releases all of which could easily be included in a top 10 list of the best of 2012
until the last final minute of the deadline i set for myself to keep from crapping up my holidays. i had to make a stand.
Here it is.

I finally threw the arbitrary “Top 10” structure out the window and doubled down and made it a top 20 21. The selections are lasted in arbitrary order and are not most best to least best. They all stand on their own as some of this year’s. or any year’s, finest examples of songwriting and performance excellence.

A quick word on the exclusion of mainstream heavyweights like Mumford and Sons, The Avett Brothers and their upstart competitors the Lumineers didn’t make the cut. Cards on the table, for all my rooting for mainstream acceptance of the genre I’m still a music snob. Like most other genres, I genuinely think that once a person mines the Americana field below the mainstream examples that is where they will discover the real riches lie. This is my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

Here’s a a happy, healthy and twangny 2013! thanks to all of you for reading, following,commenting. And to all the great musicians that reward us every day with riches that I personally am unworthy of.

Chris Knight – Little Victories
Malcolm Holcombe – Down the River
Darrell Scott – Long Ride Home
Corb Lund – Cabin Fever
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale – Buddy and Jim
Iris Dement – Sing The Delta
Dwight Yoakam – 3 Pears
Turnpike Troubadours – Goodbye Normal Street
John Fullbright – From the Ground Up
Shovels & Rope – O’ Be Joyful
The White Buffalo – Once Upon a Time in the West
Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Going to Change The Way You Feel About Me Now
The Trishas – High Wide & Handsome
Gretchen peters – Hello Cruel World
Lindi Ortega – Cigarettes & Truckstops
Patterson Hood – Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance
Chelle Rose – Ghost of Browder Holler
Derek Hoke – Waiting All Night
Shooter Jennings – Family Man
BlackBerry Smoke – The Whippoorwill
Nick Cave / The Bootleggers / Warren Ellis – Lawless (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)