Category Archives: New Releases

Watch Out! – Todd Snider “Talking Reality Television Blues” [VIDEO]

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Todd Snider channels his inner Christopher Allen Bouchillon with his “Talking Reality Television Blues,” The clever animated video below gives us a history lesson in 20th-century media and its effects on culture.

“Talking Reality Television Blues” is on the upcoming “Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3,” and will be released March 15.

Pre-order here.

Track Listing:
1. Working on a Song
2. Talking Reality Television Blues
3. Like a Force of Nature
4. Just Like Overnight
5. The Blues on Banjo
6. Framed
7. The Ghost of Johnny Cash
8. [Dedication]
9. Cowboy Jack Clement’s Waltz
10. [Explanation]
11. Watering Flowers in the Rain
12. A Timeless Response to Current Events

Watch Out! Hayes Carll – Times Like These

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Hayes Carll - Times Like These

It seems these days people are going out of their way to find reasons to divide themselves. Like somehow looking for the common humanity in your neighbor that binds us together is out of style, and choosing identity can only happen in opposition against…well, anything! is the new rule.

Chips on the shoulder are all the rage (oftentimes with actual rage.)

Hayes Carll has the tonic for what ails our wounded soul! His new album ‘What It Is’ is pure Carll – that is heart, wit, a wry smile and brimming with hospitality.

The video starts with Carll laying on a longneck littered dance floor as he’s helped to his feet by a random two-stepper. As an excellent study on contrast Carll wonders the bar singing about division and strife as the camera cuts to joyful couples dancing to the fiddle-fueled boogie blissfully oblivious to the message.

Carll is both onstage and in the crowd trading lyrical duties with various bar patrons as they embody the simple beauty of a Saturday night distraction away from work, bills, life.

In this Age of Outrage, we need a reminder that things, and people, are generally good as long as we take the time away from our grievance fetish to celebrate that fact. ‘Times Like These’ brings perspective and brings us together.

And reminds us to dance.

Buy ‘What It Is’ here.

Let’s all sing along…

In times like these everyone could use a hand
Instead, we stand around losing ground
Fighting for the promised land
It’s so hard to tell if this is heaven or hell
And I could never measure by degrees
But it’s sure gettin’ warm ’round here in times like these
In times like these do I really need a billionaire
Just takin’ all my time tryin’ to tell me I was treated unfair?
Well then I got to pay, it’s the home of the brave
Gets divided into them and the weak
Oh I find I’m a-losing my mind in times like these

Yeah they come and they go
They’re in and then out
Every day I’m getting better at losing something I haven’t got
I just wanna do my labor, love my girl, and help my neighbor
While I keep a little hope for my dreams
But it’s sure getting hard, brother, in times like these

In times like these I wish someone was on my side
Instead of bringing it together we’re just widening the great divide
I hope and I pray at the end of the day
I can somehow get my troubles to ease
But I gotta say, it’s not looking good, not in times like these

Yeah they come and they go
They’re cold then they’re hot
I just try to keep the world from turning me to something I’m not
I’m gonna try to run until the whole thing’s done
And I just hope I don’t end up on my knees
But it’s sure getting hard to stand up in times like these

I just wanna do my labor, love my girl, and help my neighbor
While I’m keeping all my joie de vivre
But it’s sure getting hard, brother, in times like these
I could use just a little bit of help in times like these

Hear Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Perform “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings”

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Gillian Welch & David Rawlings - “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings”

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings wrote “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” for the recent six-part Coen brothers anthology, The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs. If you watched the show you know the original song was sung by Tim Blake Nelson as Buster Scruggs alongside Willie Watson as “The Kid.” Today, Welch and Rawlings share a new version that they will perform at the 91st Academy Awards on 2/24.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings recently garnered a nomination for “Best Original Song” at the 2019 Academy Awards, for “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings.” their version of the song on Acony Records, which they sing in their own lonesome and timeless
style, invoking both the absurd fatalism of the show and their own penchant for a good yodel.

Welch and Rawlings said about their nomination: “We are eternally grateful to Ethan and Joel Coen for giving us the opportunity to write a cowboy duet between the living and the dead, and to Willie Watson and Tim Blake Nelson for bringing it to life.”

The pair confirmed they will perform the song on The Grand Ole Opry on February 16th as well as at the 91st Academy Awards on Sunday, February 24, 2019.

Welch revealed the story behind the song and working with the Coen Brothers in a recent Rolling Stone interview:

“They [The Coen Brothers] gave David and I the script, and they gave us the script of maybe two other of the shorts in the collection so we could gauge the darkness [laughs]… And then there was just a really basic conversation [with Joel Coen]. He was like, “Look, there’s the singing cowboy — he’s been around for a while. Now here comes the new guy. He’s cuter, he’s faster and he sings better. He’s just better. It’s the new model. He’s coming for him.”… Joel just said, “Here’s the specifics of it. They have to be able to sing it together. They have to be able to sing it once Tim has been shot and is dead and is floating up to heaven.”

Gillian also spoke to Variety about her and Rawlings’ process writing the song:
“It was a pretty straightforward thing: ‘Well, we need a song for when two singing cowboys gun it out, and then they have to do a duet with one of ‘em dead. You think you can do that?’ ‘Yeah, I think we can do that’”… “The more peculiar restraints you put upon a song, the more fun it is, so this was kind of a dream assignment,” Welch says. “And they didn’t tell us to do this, but if you’re writing a gunfight song between two singing cowboys, who wouldn’t love the opportunity to put some yodeling in?”

Buy the single “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” here.

The Felice Brothers Announce New Album ‘Undress.’ Hear the Title Cut

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The Felice Brothers - Undress

Few contemporary bands embody what Greil Marcus coined as “Old. weird America” as well as The Felice Brothers and a new release by this Upstate New York rustic-core collective is always welcome news.

The new album, “Undress,” the follow-up to 2016’s “Life in rhe Dark,” will be released on May 3rd from Yep Roc Records.

Cut live to tape with very little overdubbing, Undress was recorded in the late summer of 2018 in Germantown, New York. Band members Ian Felice, James Felice, Will Lawrence (drums) and Jesske Hume (bass) teamed up with producer Jeremy Backofen to record their most personal and reflective album to date.
 
“Many of the songs on the new album are motivated by a shift from private to public concerns,” says songwriter Ian Felice. “It isn’t hard to find worthwhile things to write about these days, there are a lot of storms blooming on the horizon and a lot of chaos that permeates our lives.  The hard part is finding simple and direct ways to address them.”
 
Since the band’s last 2016 album release the group in a very different place. Between personnel changes, families growing and the political landscape, the result is a tighter, more-paired down release. “Every song is a story,” said James Felice. “On this album everything was a bit more thoughtful, including the arrangements, the sonic quality and the harmonies.”

Listen to title cut “Undress”

Pre-order “Undress” Here
 
Ian and James Felice grew up in the Hudson valley of upstate NY. Self taught musicians, inspired as much by Hart Crane and Whitman as by Guthrie and Chuck Berry, they began in 2006 by playing subway platforms and sidewalks in NYC and have gone on to release nine albums of original songs and to tour extensively throughout the world. Following the release of Life in the Dark, The Felice Brothers served as the backing band for Conor Oberst’s 2017 release Salutations and the subsequent tour. 

The band kicks off a US tour starting on April 27 in Albany. Tickets go on sale on February 12 at www.thefelicebrothers.com.
 
Tour Dates:           
4/27: Albany, NY – TBA                                   
4/28: Syracuse, NY – The Westcott Theater            
4/29: Buffalo, NY – The 9th Ward at Babeville           
4/30: Toronto, ON – Legendary Horseshoe Tavern           
5/2: Chicago, IL – Sleeping Village                       
5/3: Lexington, KY – On The Rail Roots Festival                       
5/4: Columbus, OH – Rumba Cafe                                   
5/6: Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe                                   
5/7: Lancaster, PA – Tellus 360                                   
5/9: Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s                       
5/10: Brooklyn, NY – The Bell House                       
5/12: Hopewell, NJ – Hopewell Theater                       
5/15: Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artspace                                   
5/16: Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre                       
5/18: Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair 
5/23: Virginia Beach, VA – Elevation 27 
5/24: Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall                               
5/25: Vienna, VA – Wolf Trap – with The Avett Brothers                              
6/6: Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle Tavern                       
6/7: Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic                                   
6/8: Nashville, TN – Exit/In
6/9: Birmingham, AL – Avondale Brewery
6/10: New Orleans -Gasa Gasa
6/12: Austin, TX – Barracuda
6/14: Santa Fe, NM – Tumbleroot
6/15: Tucson, AZ – 191 Toole
6/16: San Diego, CA – The Casbah
6/17: Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theater
6/19: San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
6/21: Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
6/22: Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
6/24: Garden City, ID – Visual Arts Collective
6/25: Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
6/27: Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater

John Paul White Readies “The Hurting Kind” For Spring Release; Hear New Single Now

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John Paul White Readies "The Hurting Kind"

There are many ways to describe the work of master singer-songwriter John Paul White. If forced to distill to a single word to describe his aesthetic it would be bittersweet.

So, to learn that White’s upcoming third solo release is entitled “The Hurting Kind” made perfect sense. The king of melancholy is back in the saddle.

Then you hear the single ‘The Long Way Home’ (listen below) from the album and, damn if it isn’t jaunty, defiant even. The cover displays White in his usual dark suit casual dapper persona and tassel of hair, his briskly strummed acoustic guitar strides right into a backbeat and, what’s that, pedal steel! But just behind the sonic rhinestones are weary miles of separation from loved ones, and hope and longing intertwin to lead him back to hearth and home. I’ve read that this song brought White’s youngest child to tears. That’s the power and humility of art.

I have no inside knowledge of this, but it’s been a theory of mine that the isolation of the road was once os the main reasons the Civil Wars called it a day at the height of their popularity. We all see the glamour of the working musician with no thought to the grind that it can be,

But this is no woe-is-me lament. This is a song with a higher intention. To celebrate and focus, on the big portrait of the loved ones that make the cookie-cutter hotels and stale-beer bars tolerable.

‘The Hurting Kind’ is out April 12 on Single Lock Records. Pre-order it here.

The Hurting Kind Tracklist:
01. The Good Old Days
02. I Wish I Could Write You a Song
03. Heart Like a Kite
04. Yesterday’s Love
05. The Long Way Home
06. The Hurting Kind
07. This Isn’t Gonna End Well (featuring Lee Ann Womack)
08. You Lost Me
09. James
10. My Dreams Have All Come True

Wanted! – Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2019

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2018 is now in the pages of history and as America shifts (lurches?) into an uncertain future. Americana and roots music, unlike many other genres, continues to be true to its legacy and addresses our times with art that refuses to chase the charts and churn out reflexively commercial product and, lucky for us, refuses to treat the audience as mindless consumers.

That’s not to say that Americana and roots music is merely a barometer for political and social conditions and change. No sane person wants their favorite artists to be righteous yet starve. As the music industry continues to reflect changing consumer demands artists are also finding opportunities to reach audiences and generate revenue in movies and video games.

Some albums I’m  personally looking forward to because I’ve heard some cuts, or on my faith in the artist,  are Hayes Carll’s  â€œWhat It Is,” Feb. 15: Dale Watson’s Call Me Lucky and Ryan Bingham – “American Love Song” , all on February 15th,  Mandolin Orange’s “Tides of a Teardrop” on February 1st, and Joshua Ray Walker’s “Wish You Were Here” on January 25th as well as Son Volt’s “Union’ on March 29th.

As more dates come throughout the year I will be updating the list. If you know of an actual release not listed yet please leave it in the comments.

As always I appreciate your visiting the site and hope you join me in another great year for Americana and roots music.

January: Jan. 18th: Danny Burns – “North Country”
Jan. 25th: Lula Wiles – ‘What Will We Do’
Jan. 4th: Balsam Range – “Aeonic”
Jan. 18th: Alice Wallace – “ Into the Blue”
Jan. 18th: Ronnie Milsap – “Ronnie Milsap: The Duets”
Jan. 18th: Greensky Bluegrass – “All for Money”
Jan. 18th: The Steel Woods – “Old News”
Jan. 18th: Whitehorse – “The Northern South Vol. 2”
Feb. 22: Vandoliers – “Forever” 

February:
Feb. 1st: Mandolin Orange – “Tides of a Teardrop”
Feb. 1st: Abigail Lapelle – “Getaway”
Feb. 8th: Gurf Morlix – ‘Impossible Blue’
Feb. 15th: Hayes Carll – “What It Is”
Feb. 15th: Dale Watson – “Call Me Lucky”
Feb. 15th: Ryan Bingham – “American Love Song”
Feb. 15th: Joey McGee – “El Camino Real”
Feb. 15th: Kalyn Fay – “Good Company”
Feb. 22nd: Dearling – “Silver and Gold” (EP)
Feb. 22nd Vandoliers – “Forever”
Feb. 22nd – Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell – ‘Songs of Our Native Daughters’ March:
March 1st: Mary Bragg – “Diamonds as Camouflage”
March 1st: The Cactus Blossoms – “Easy Way”
March 1st: Dave Ernst – “Hickory Switch”
March 2nd: The Honey Dewdrops – “Anyone Can See”
March 7th: Townes Van Zandt – “Sky Blue”
March 8th: Patty Griffin – “Patty Griffin” March 8th: Clara Baker – “Things To Burn”
March 22nd: Allison de Groot & Tatiana March 22nd: Orville Peck – “Pony” March 22nd: Luther Dickinson and Sisters of the Strawberry Moon – “Solstice” March 29th: Son Volt – “Union”

April: April 2nd: John Paul White – ‘The Hurting Kind” April 5th: Molly Tuttle – “When You’re Ready.” April 5th: Megg Farrell -“Megg Farrell” April 12th: Shovels & Rope – “By Blood” April 12th: Taylor Alexander – “Good Old Fashioned Pain” April 19th: Daniel Norgren – “Wooh Dang” May:
May 3rd: Pete Seeger – ‘The Smithsonian Folkways Collection’ May 3rd: Caroline Spence – “Mint Condition” May 10th: The Shootouts – “Quick Draw” May 24th: Willard Gayheart – “At Home in the Blue Ridge”

June:
June 14th: Hank Williams – ‘Health & Happiness Show’ June 21st: Buddy and Julie Miller -‘Breakdown on 20th Ave. South’ June 28th: Chuck Mead – “Close To Home” August 16th The Messenger: A Tribute to Ray Wylie Hubbard August 23rd Esther Rose – ‘You Made It This Far’ Erin Enderlin – ‘Chapter Three: Whatever Gets You Through The Night’ Tanya Tucker – ‘While I’m Livin’ ‘ Vince Gill – ‘Okie’ Dalton Domino – ‘Songs From the Exile’ Jason Hawk Harris – Love & the Dark The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys – ‘Toil, Tears & Trouble’ Leslie Stevens – ‘Sinner’ Croy and the Boys – ‘Howdy High-Rise’ Seth James – Midland – ‘Let It Roll’ September 7th The Highwomen – Self-Titled’ Terri Hendrix – ‘Talk To A Human’ Jason Tyler Burton – ‘Kentuckian’ Paul Cauthen – ‘Room 41’ Cut Throat Francis – ‘This Garden’s Never Gonna Grow’ Ana Egge – ‘Is It the Kiss’ NRBQ – ‘Turn On, Tune In’ Amy Speace – ‘Me and the Ghosts of Charlemagne’ These Wild Plains – ‘Thrilled To Be Here’ Trailerpark Idlers – ‘Ghost Town Nights September 13th Jeremy Ivey – ‘The Dream And The Dreamer’ September 27th Hot Club of Cowtown – ‘Wild Kingdom’ October 4th The North Mississippi Allstars – “Up and Rolling” October 13th Cody Jinks – ‘After The Fire’ North Mississippi Allstars – ‘Up and Rolling’ Corb Lund – ‘Cover Your Tracks’ Jonah Tolchin – ‘Fires for the Cold’ Marti Brom – ‘Midnight Bus’ Ted Drozdowski – ‘Learn To Love The Moon’ Jeremy Ivey – ‘The Dream And The Dreamer; Janiva Magness – ‘Change In The Weather: Janiva Magness Sings John Fogerty’ October 18th The Milk Carton Kids – ‘The Only Ones’ Darin Aldridge & Brooke Aldridge – ‘Inner Journey’ Driftwood Soldier – ‘Stay Ahead Of The Wolf’ The Drunken Hearts – ‘Wheels of the City’ Rory Ellis – ‘Inner Outlaw’ EmiSunshine and The Rain – ‘Family Wars’ Jimmy “Duck” Holmes – ‘Cypress Grove’ Jake La Botz – ‘They’re Coming For Me’ New Copasetics – ‘Twang-Ucopia’ David Newbould – ‘Sin & Redemption’ Karen & the Sorrows – ‘Guaranteed Broken Heart’ Zachary Lucky – ‘Midwestern’ October 25th Allison Moorer – ‘Blood’ Neil Young & Crazy Horse – ‘Colorado’ Craig Cummings – ‘Absolute Surprise’ Karen & the Sorrows – ‘Guaranteed Broken Heart’ Van Morrison – ‘Three Chords and the Truth’ Jackson Stokes – ‘Jackson Stokes’ Zack Walther Band – ‘The Westerner’ November 20th Bill Scorzari – ‘Now I’m Free’ January 31st Dustbowl Revival – ‘Is It You, Is It Me?’

Ryan Bingham To Release ‘American Love Song’ in 2019. Hear the Song “Wolves.”

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Southwestern spirit chaser Ryan Bingham will release his sixth studio album “American Love Song” on February 15th, 2019.

That will mark a four year stretch between his latest and the criminally overlooked “Fear and Saturday Night.” That’s a long time for fans, like me, to wait. Though there was a pretty sweet live album to hold me over.

Like Bingham’s last three albums “American Love Song” will be released on his own label, Axster Bingham Records. The album is co-produced by Austin music legend Charlie Sexton, fresh off his extraordinary portrayal of Townes Van Zandt in Ethan Hawke’s “Blaze.” The album was recorded at Austin’s Arlyn Studios and Public Hi-fi. Additional recording was done at Matter Music in Los Angeles.

Listen to Bingham play his ode to personal strength “Wolves” live on The Off Camera Show. (That glorious voice!) “Wolves” is available to download now with all pre-orders.

Pre-order “American Love Song” here.

Bingham is currently touring across America on a sold-out solo acoustic tour. He hits the road with a full band in March in Salt Lake City, UT. See full dates below.

Bingham has also announced his own curated music festival “The Western.” The festival looks like a winner right out of the gate featuring the Old 97s, Margo Price, Jamestown Revival, and Colter Wall already booked. The event will feature an exclusive “Campfire Jam,” highlighting an acoustic song-swap with Bingham and Price.

The festival will take place April 12th and 13th, 2019 at the storied outdoor venue Luckenbach, TX. Visit www.thewesternfestival.com for more information.

Ryan Bingham – “American Love Song” Tracklist:

1. Jingle and Go
2. Nothin Holds Me Down
3. Pontiac
4. Lover Girl
5. Beautiful and Kind
6. Situation Station
7. Got Damn Blues
8. Time for My Mind
9. What Would I’ve Become
10. Wolves
11. Blue
12. Hot House
13. Stones
14. America
15. Blues Lady

U.S Tour 2019 (Full Band)
March

19 – Salt Lake City, UT
21 – Phoenix, AZ
23 – San Diego, CA
24 – San Luis Obispo, CA
26 – Santa Cruz, CA
28 – Los Angeles, CA
29 – San Francisco, CA
30 – Petaluma, CA

April

2 – Denver, CO
3 – Lincoln, NE
4 – Springfield, IL
5 – Chicago, IL
6 – Minneapolis, MN
7 – Milwaukee, WI
9 – Kansas City, MO
12 – Luckenbach, TX – THE WESTERN
13 – Luckenbach, TX – THE WESTERN
16 – New Orleans, LA
17 – Atlanta, GA
19 – Philadelphia, PA
20 – Boston, MA
21 – Washington, DC
22 – Asbury Park, N
23 – Brooklyn, NY

Video Premiere – Grain Thief – “Colorado Freeze”

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Today Twang Nation is proud to exclusively premiere the video for Grain Thief’s “Colorado Freeze” from their full-length debut “Stardust Lodge.” (out now – order below) The song is perfect road song and the video fitfully follows the band as they perform on their tour bus on the way to visit a Colorado amusement park. The VHS camcorder gives the whole thing a nice washed-out grainy aesthetic.

Grain Thief is a 5-piece americana string band from Boston, MA. The group comprises Patrick Mulroy (guitar, vocals), Zach Meyer (mandolin, vocals), Michael Harmon (bass, vocals), Tom Farrell (lead guitar), and Alex Barstow (fiddle).

Prior to the formation of the band, Grain Thief was used as a moniker for Mulroy’s solo project from 2011-2014. Mulroy toured the East Coast sporadically after recording two EPs and moving back to Boston from Washington, DC where he had worked in a Korean Restaurant and played bass in a heavy metal jam band called Thundertyts.

In Boston, he continued to use the name Grain Thief and brought in a revolving group of drummers, percussionists, guitarists, and bass players. Rhode Island born Tom Farrell joined the coalition early on as a lead guitar player–he and Mulroy met in a dark basement in Brighton somewhere around 2008. For a time, the band featured 2 drummers, with Farrell on bass allowing Mulroy to play his newly purchased blonde telecaster.

After much prodding, saxophonist, Zach Meyer reluctantly joined the band on mandolin. The two had met through a mutual friend in the Cambridge competitive beer-drinking scene and vaguely knew that the other could play an instrument. However, this quartet (Mulroy, Meyer, Farrell, and South Shore Joe Angellis on drums) would not last. Dissatisfied with the project’s direction, Mulroy dissolved it.

The new Grain Thief reformed almost immediately at Meyer’s apartment in Lower Allston, where the 3 former members (Mulroy, Meyer, and Farrell) worked on acoustic arrangements of some new and old songs to prepare for a one-off show in a converted Brooklyn warehouse.

Meyer’s then roommate was future fiddle-player Alex Barstow. Barstow was trained as a classical violist, but was soon dragged into jamming on old time tunes by Meyer who grew up in the old-time fiddle community in Washington state. Barstow never made it to that show in Brooklyn, but he did wind up at the band’s next rehearsal and first two shows at the Rosebud Diner in Davis Square.

Meanwhile, acquaintance of the band and recording engineer Mike Harmon was building a studio out by Wachusett Mountain in Central Massachusetts. Mulroy, a carpenter, seeing the opportunity to score some free recording time for his fledgling band, spent countless hours with Mike building out the studio. However, the free recording time would never come to pass, as Mike would soon join the band. With Mike’s bass, third vocal harmony, and Trident series 65 console, the band was now complete. Their union was solidified after Mulroy accidentally dropped Harmon’s 1939 Kay Bass down the stairs, snapping the headstock clean off, resulting in a costly repair and lifelong friendship.

Their debut EP Animal was recorded and released in November 2015. The record showcases the band’s roots in folk, bluegrass, and old time music. In 2017, the band began a residency at the Burren pub in Somerville and continues to entertain the Wednesday crowds to this day. From their perch in Massachusetts, the band has toured heavily in New England and made forays in the West, South, and East Coast.

The recording of Animal’s follow up Stardust Lodge began in April 2016 and finished a year and a half later. Mulroy’s lyrical approach to the album is met equally with songs of loss and regret, and the struggles of the everyday working man with a satirical twist. The arrangements and instrumentation represent a departure from Animal’s bleak simplicity with the band showing a bit more leg. With a new record out and shows booked throughout the country, the band has a long road ahead to cruise.

Reflecting on the inspiration behind the song, Mulroy has this to say:

“The song was co-written by myself (Patrick Mulroy) and a good friend, Connor McGinnis, a Nashville songwriter, formerly of the Zuni Mountain Boys, who is currently working on a new record down there.

He started the song, and I finished it is the short answer. It’s sourced from both of our memories of old flames and cold mornings. It deals with looking back on mistakes or memories from far into the future after the dust has settled.”

The song is the first single off of our record Stardust Lodge, which came out on August 24th.

In preparation for the release, the band did a 7 date tour of Colorado, hitting all four corners. They filmed the video on the road, and at various stops along the way– our bass player Mike handled the editing duties.

Buy “Stardust Lodge” here.

Official Site: grainthief.com

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Record Store Day Black Friday 2018 Americana and Roots Recommendations

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Record Store Day's Black Friday

Just as the weather turns crisp and the Halloween candy gluts the store isles you know that Record Store Day Black Friday event is right around the corner. The event, that results in indy record store around the world making a good chunk of their yearly take, has been expanded to take place over two days, Black Friday (November 23) and Small Business Saturday (November 24).

Among the vinyl delights offered is a Legacy Edition of The Byrds – landmark “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” with lots of goodies to top off the album’s 50th anniversary. Also offered is Lone Justice – The Western Tapes 1983, early Marvin Etzioni produced demos of these alt.country pioneers.

Check the full list at the Record Store Day site. I’ll be buying a stack from the good people at Dallas’ own Good Records. Remember to tweet a pic of your bounty to my twitter account and I’ll share it with those foolish enough to stay home.

The Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo (Legacy Edition) – 4 x LP

By the time Sweetheart Of The Rodeo was released in 1968, The Byrds had already changed the sound of rock music twice; from jangling folk-rock to experimental acid-rock, they constantly sought to push the boundaries of what rock music could be. The 1967 departure of David Crosby left a creative void filled quickly by country music-loving Gram Parsons, whose addition led Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman and company to record an album comprised mostly of authentic country material in Nashville, with the aid of local session aces (including future Byrd Clarence White). For the first time on vinyl—and on the heels of a 50th anniversary tour of the album by original members McGuinn and Hillman—this Legacy Edition of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo showcases this country-rock masterpiece alongside 28 bonus tracks, including demos, outtakes, rehearsal versions and tracks by Parsons’ pre-Byrds outfit, The International Submarine Band.

Bobbie Gentry – Ode To Billie Joe – LP

Ode to Billie Joe is the 1967 classic debut album by singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry. The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard charts, and was the album that displaced the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from its 15-week reign at the top. This deluxe 180g LP reissue on Elemental Music was cut and mastered by the renowned audiophile mastering engineer Kevin Gray direct from the original tapes, with packaging that includes all original artwork and liner notes.

SIDE A 01 Mississippi Delta (3:05) 02 I Saw An Angel Die (2:56) 03 Chickasaw County Child (2:45) 04 Sunday Best (2:50) 05 Niki Hoeky (2:45)
SIDE B 01 Papa, Woncha Let Me Go To Town With You (2:30) 02 Bugs (2:05) 03 Hurry, Tuesday Child (4:52) 04 Lazy Willie (2:36) 05 Ode To Billie Joe (4:15)

Robert Johnson – Cross Road Blues/Ramblin’ On My Mind – 10″ Vinyl

Eric Clapton is quoted as saying that “Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived”. A special 2018 Black Friday offering of Robert Johnson’s iconic 1936 recordings of “Cross Road Blues” / “Ramblin’ On My Mind” reproduced on the Vocalion label with sleeve as a 10″ single.

Blind Lemon Jefferson – Black Snake Moan/Matchbox Blues – 10″ Vinyl

Blind Lemon Jefferson, “The Father of Texas Blues,” was the best-selling malevblues artist of the 1920’s, recording 92 sides for Paramount Records and one released 78 for Okeh Records: “Black Snake Moan / Matchbox Blues”. Jefferson produced an original, driving, unpredictably advanced guitar style and a distinctive booming high-pitched, two-octave voice that no one could imitate. Legends of his prowess as a bluesman abound among the musicians who heard him, and sightings of Jefferson in different regions of the United States are plentiful. B.B. King stated, “His touch is different from anybody on the guitar—still is. He was majestic and played just a regular little six-string guitar with a little round hole. It was unbelievable to hear him play. And the way he played with his rhythm patterns, he was way before his time, in my opinion. Blind Lemon was my idol.” A special 2018 Black Friday offering of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s 1927 Okeh recording of “Black Snake Moan” / “Matchbox Blues” is reproduced on the original label with an Okeh sleeve as a 10-inch 78 single.

Ray LaMontagne – Spotify Singles – 7″ Vinyl

Limited edition glow in the dark 7” vinyl of Ray LaMontagne’s Spotify Singles session recorded at Sound Stage Studios. Features live recordings of “Such A Simple Thing” and a cover of “Blue Canadian Rockies” originally performed by Gene Autry

“Such A Simple Thing” and “Blue Canadian Rockies” recorded at Sound Stage Studios Nashville

Lake Street Dive – Freak Yourself Out – LP

A new EP of five songs recorded during the Free Yourself Up sessions!
1. Daryl 2. Young Boy 3. Jameson 4. Angioplast 5. Who Do You Think You Are

Lone Justice – The Western Tapes 1983 – 12″ Vinyl

Musician and producer Marvin Etzioni first saw Maria McKee and Ryan Hedgecock in a club in 1982, playing George Jones and Hank Williams covers. He convinced them they needed original material. After working and writing, the band added Dave Harrington (bass) and Don Willens (drums), the band worked up material with Etzioni and cut 5 of the 6 tracks at the famed Record Plant. An earlier session provides the 6th track. The Western Tapes: 1983 exhibits the genesis of this highly-infl uential band. While the original demo version of “Drugstore Cowboy” has appeared on various compilations, the remainder of the other tracks from the sessions have remained in the can. Two of the tracks appear in their earliest demo form and wound up landing on the classic 1988 Lone Justice debut, “Working Late” and “Don’t Toss Us Away” (written by Maria’s half-brother, Bryan MacLean of the classic band, Love) which would eventually become a top 5 smash for Country superstar Patty Loveless. Released in conjunction with the band, the EP was mastered by Bernie Grundman (who also cut the 45 RPM lacquers). It’s a look into where they started and foretells where they would go.
As Etzioni (who would later join the band) says in his liner notes: “With countless hours together, it was a fun and innocent time. I believed we were creating a 21st century country band.”
They created much, much more. PLAY LOUD AT 45 RPM!

Side 1: 1. working late 2:45 2. don’t toss us away 4:29 3. drugstore cowboy 2:54
Side 2: 4. i see it 2:22 5. train song 2:55 6. how lonesome life has been 2:06

Kacey Musgraves – High Horse Remixes

High Horse Remixes (not available on any physical configuration)

SIDE A: High Horse (Kue Remix)- DJ Kue
SIDE B: High Horse (Violets Remix)- Violents

Hank Williams – The First Recordings, 1938 – 7″ Vinyl

The first EVER recordings made by the legendary Hank Williams. This Record Store Day Black Friday 7″ red vinyl single celebrates the 80th anniversary of their recording, and the labels duplicate the labels on the original acetate.

Side A “Fan It” (F. Jaxon) – Hank Williams
Side B “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (I. Berlin) – Hank Williams & Pee Week Moultrie

Joy Williams Releases Two New Songs, Gets Back To Roots

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Joy Williams - Front Porch

In the wake of the seemingly sudden dissolution while their ascent to superstardom (well, as much superstardom as a nebulous root genre can afford) Americana duo The Civil Wars’ Joy Williams and John Paul White went their separate ways each gravitating to the sounds they explored before uniting in 2008. White to the sparse, gritty side of the tracks his 2016 release “Beulah,” and Williams to the pop side, albeit with a world music bent, on her 2015 solo outing ‘Venus.”

Two newly-released tracks, from Williams’ anticipated new album ‘Front Porch,’ shows her sonically tracking more closely to the path that led The Civil Wars to acclaim. This might be helped along by Milk Carton Kids’ Kenneth Pattengale taking the production helm.

As a sweet side note, Williams worked on ‘Front Porch’ in Nashville while pregnant with her second child. She gave birth to a daughter, Poppy Louise, over the summer.

‘Canary, the more rootsy of the two cuts, is a haunting Gohic-tinged cut of cautioning and resolve.Williams is in fine form here and is in great voice and appears reinvigorated being accompanied with the rustic strings oh acoustic guitar, upright bass, and fiddle.

Joy Williams – Canary (Live)

‘The Trouble with Wanting’ is a guitar-driven lover’s lament featuring glistening harmony by her backing band. The song ebbs and flows in rhythm with William’s expressive sways, as if the music is running through her and aching to be shared.

Joy Williams – The Trouble with Wanting (Live)

From the presser: Produced by Kenneth Pattengale of The Milk Carton Kids and engineered by Matt Ross-Spang, Front Porch represents a new chapter in Williams’ career, who recorded the album in Nashville during the pregnancy of her second child. She reflects, “There is an energy that is very creative in having a baby. It gives a sense of urgency on top of all the creative energy. Cellularly, your body is experiencing something really different. Everything you are feeling is elevated. And you have a time-stamped sense of urgency.” Already receiving critical acclaim, Rolling Stone states the new music, “…is both familiar and new, and explicitly clear that there’s nothing missing when she goes it alone.”

“So much of this is about coming home,” says Williams. “Whether to a physical place or to yourself. The lines on my face, I can see them more clearly now. But a lot of them are laugh lines. This record feels like breathing more deeply into who I am. Come what may.”

I can’t wait to hear the rest of the album.

Joy Williams Tour Dates:

November 1—Birmingham, AL—Workplay
November 2—Athens, GA—The Foundry
November 16—St. Louis, MO—Blueberry Hill Duck Room
November 17—Chicago, IL—Old Town School of Folk Music
November 18—Indianapolis, IN—White Rabbit Cabaret
November 30—Cincinnati, OH—20th Century Theater
December 1—Louisville, KY—Headliners Music Hall
December 2—Lexington, KY—The Burl
December 7—Austin, TX—3TEN at ACL Live
December 8—Dallas, TX—The Kessler Theater
December 9—Houston, TX—The Heights Theater