Twang Nation Podcast Episode 2

I am humbled by the responses to the first episode of my Podcast and the kind and encouraging emails, tweets and conversations from readers and musicians. So before the holidays kick into full gear I bring you, friends and neighbors,Twang Nation episode 2.

Fresh off  the interview with the Civil Wars, upstairs at the historic Fillmore theater in San Francisco, I wanted to include their extraordinary title song from the current album Barton Hallow. If there is a super group and mainstream representatives for the Americana/roots music genre it’s Joy Williams and John Paul White. Also Houston’s own brings his own sweet brand of honky tonk as a chaser for those bittersweet beers. Mat D and the profane Saints and Jeannette Kantzalis were kind enough to send me some great unreleased cuts to include on the episode. Also I have also decided to end to the Podcast with a classic country song, on this episode David Allan Coe’s classic barroom number You Never Even Called Me by My Name.

It continues to be fun. Thanks for listening and please share with friends and family and leave any comments or requests below.

Dale Watson – A Real Country Song
The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
Robert Ellis – What’s In it For Me
Lydia Loveless – Steve Earle
Mat D and the profane Saints – Red Ball
A Brokeheart Pro aka (Jeannette Kantzalis) – When The Killing’s Done
Porkchop Express – War W00t
Rita Hosking – My Golden Bull
Possum Jenkins – New Brand Of Misery
Joe Whyte – Please Believe Me
Somebody’s Darling – Another Two-Step
David Allan Coe – You Never Even Called Me by My Name

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 2

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 1

Yes friends, after all these years of talking (and posting the occasional clip) about great music I decided to just into the fray and get out a Twang Nation podcast. Why now? Two reasons. I came back from the Americana Music Association Conference with some great experiences and the technological opportunity fell into my lap. there you have it.

How does it stack up with excellent productions like Freight Train Boogie, 9 Bullets or Country Fried Rock ? I’ll leave that up to you dear listener.There’s a lot of great Americana and roots music out there and I hope I am able to cover just a bit more of it to bring you great music. The production is excellent thanks to my friend (and bartender) Franklyn, the “uh” and “um”marred patter between songs is less smooth (Sorry Brett Deter, at least I got you name in there after the song!)but I take the same license I do as a blogger, you get what you pay for. And it’s untimely not about my sterling delivery, it’s about the music. By chance this maiden episode happen to coincide with the 70th birthday of Guy Clark so I’ve included his classic Dublin Blues to end the program.

Best of all, this was fun and I look forward to doing it again soon. I hope you like it and find some great music , and if you like it please leave your comments below and forward it to friends. Most importantly go buy music and get out and see live shows. if you don’t our greatest fears might be realized,  great music will go away.

  1. Dale Watson – A Real Country Song
  2. Hymn For Her – Slips
  3. Hellbound Glory – Better Hope You Die Young
  4. Amanda Shires – Shake The Walls
  5. Austin Lucas – Sleep Well
  6. Wagons – I Blew It
  7. Sunday Valley  – Sometimes Wine
  8. Nikki Lane – Gone, Gone, Gone
  9. Brett Deter – The Devil’s Gotta’ Earn
  10. Lindi Ortega – Angels
  11. Scott H_ Biram –  Dontcha Lie To Me Baby
  12. Truckstop Dalrlin’ – Down
  13. Guy Clark – Dublin Blues

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 1

On iTunes

Twang Nation Halloween Mix 2011

Ah October. When the freshly fallen snow and turned leaves fall to cover your tracks by the river bottom where you lured your dear heart with the promise of warm cider and sweet kisses. I guess she didn’t realize you knew she could not be true. This list of contemporaneity and classic murder ballads and general Southern-Gothic debauchery and misery is just the thing for carving pumpkins and ex-lovers. You can hear this at Twang Nation Halloween Mix 2011 mix on Spotify.

Got a favorite grim ditty? Post it below.

     

    1. Tenderloud – Shadow Red Hand
    2. Those Poor Bastards – Nightmare World
    3. The Handsome Family – The Lost Soul
    4. Reverend Glasseye – Blood O’ Lambs
    5. Nina Nastasia/Jim White – The Day I Would Bury You
    6. Jay Munly – Old Service Road
    7. Strawfoot – The Lord’s Wrath
    8. Neko Case – Things That Scare Me
    9. Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers – Blood on the Bluegrass
    10. The Pine Box Boys – Arkansas Killing Time
    11. Sons of Perdition – Blood In The Valley
    12. Rachel Brooke – This Painful Summer
    13. Willie Nelson – I Just Can’t Let You Say Good-Bye
    14. The Walkabouts – Lover’s Crime
    15. Those Poor Bastards – Family Graveyard
    16. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Cranston
    17. Trailer Bride – Graveyard
    18. Midnight Choir – Poisoned Veins
    19. C. Gibbs – Devil’s Water
    20. Christian Williams – You Ain’t Exempt
    21. Slackeye Slim – Judgment Day
    22. Muleskinner Jones – Come Inside, Stranger
    23. O’Death – Ghost Head
    24. Steve Von Till – A Grave Is A Grim Horse

    Americana Music Association Conference & Festival 2011 Wrap Up

    On the night of the 10th annual Americana Music Association Awards, the director of the organization, Jed Hilly, recounted from the stage of the historic Ryman Auditorium a few of the key accomplishment te genre had enjoyed over the last few years. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences included a separate Americana Grammy category and Miriam-Webster added the word Americana to their dictionary: “a genre of American music having roots in early folk and country music.” I was fortunate to be chosen to cover the Grammys as the official Americana blogger this year and so was personally appreciative of that part formal industry recognition and I think the Miriam-Webster definition is imprecise but Hilly’s assessment is correct, movement now feels like progress.

    The nearly 50 panels ranged from topics better suited for barroom debates  (Is  Blues Americana?) to tips and insights in booking shows, using Cloud-based, digital distribution,  steaming music services and tips on using social media to expand your fan base.

    As great as the America Music Awards program and panels were the real action was around Nashville. A neat definition of Americana was made even more futile by the contemporary variations on display by the 100 bands showcased at five of the city’s best live music clubs throughout the dates of the conference.

    Wednesday night started with Austinite power-couple Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison at the Station Inn. I had see their show several months ago at my home in San Francisco and they had honed the songs and patter over the miles. The married pair emanated a presence and rapport that can only be delivered from two people that have been in the thick and thin together. Jokes about marriage counseling followed by numbers laced with classic country was reminiscent of John and June or George and Tammy. Then across town to catch Blind Boys of Alabama and another Austin resident Hayes Carll at the Mercy Lounge. The BBoA are simply one of the most amazing live acts I’ve ever seen. Their version of Amazing Grace performed over the familiar lonesome strains of House of the Rising Sun will give you hope while making you weep. Hayes Carll delivered his learned honky-tonk with spirit and a Texas crooked smile to charged crowd that hung on every word, even when that song was as wordy as KMAG YOYO.

    Thursday was all about the 10th annual awards Americana Music Association Honors and Awards held at the Mother Church of Country Music, the Ryman Auditorium. Once again Jim Lauderdale performed MC duties and Buddy Miller led the house band once again and also triumphed by winning two awards, Artist of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year. Miller showed the utmost humility by stating after the second hand-made folk-art trophy was handed to him  “Well this is just embarrassing. I feel like I get away with murder,” he said. “I’m really, really not that good. … But I get to play with some wonderfully incredibly talented people.” Emmylou Harris quipped that they should just name the hand-made trophies “The Buddy.” I think she’s on to something.

    Robert Plant and his Band of Joy took home the trophy for Album of the Year took acceptation to Miller’s assessment. Saying of his Raising Sand and Band of Joy collaborator “I stole a great deal with my old companions, and I was very fortunate, the last few years, to be welcomed by some spectacular people, especially in this town,” Plant said. “”I’m never going anywhere without Buddy Miller. “ Regarding the Band of Joy win, I would argue that a covers album should not be in the running for album of the year, but if one is Gurf Morlix’s album of Blaze Foley covers “Blaze Foley’s 113th Wet Dream” should have been that album.

    Musical highlights included the Civil Wars’ Barton Hollow, the Avett Brothers’ The Once and Future Carpenter and soul singer Candi Staton’s tribute to Rick Hall, founder of Fame Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals, Ala. with Heart on a String.

    Song of the Year winner Justin Townes Earle delivered on an up-tempo Harlem River Blues, the Secret Sisters represented country tradition with Hank Williams’ Why Don’t You Love Me and Scott and Seth Avett of the Avett Brothers provided background vocals during Jessica Lea Mayfield’s For Today.  Other performers included Lucinda Williams (Blessed), Amos Lee (Cup of Sorrow), Elizabeth Cook (El Camino), Buddy Miller (Gasoline and Matches), and Jim Lauderdale (Life by Numbers).

    The show closed out with Greg Allman on Hammond B-3 organ leading Plant, Griffin, Miller, Lee, Cook,  and others on an extended version of the gospel standard, “Glory, Glory Hallelujah.”

    Post awards activities too place primarily in the Basement under Grimey’s Record Store. I walked in on the winsome Amanda Shires mid-set, decked in a lovely dress and monogrammed boots her fluttering vibrato held the packed house in silence. Malcolm Holcombe followed with a two-piece accompaniment that in no way fenced in his frenetic guitar picking as he strolled the stage and growled songs of love and hope. On advice of a friend I stuck around for Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three. Their country-swing-blues sound was a perfect to close a late night.

    Friday I was fortunate enough to catch the great Henry Wagons at the Second Fiddle Australian/Americana lunch showcase. Wagons is one of these guys that was born to perform, and it works to his favor that he’s cool to be around. Later that night I headed over to the Mercy Lounge to catch Robert Ellis playing the opening bill at the Mercy Lounge, “I thought I had gotten the shitty slot.” Ellis said grinning at the nearly packed room. He and his band then proved why they are the one to watch in the coming. years. It reminded me of when I first saw Ryan Bingham in New York City in 2007, great things to come. Amy LaVere followed playing her jazzy folk renditions  with winsome charm and playing, and seeming waltzing, with her stand-up bass. I then spent time catching Elizabeth Cook doing her always excellent set and heading downstairs to the Cannery Ballroom to see Jim Lauderdale & Buddy Miller show how it’s done. Did I mention this is the best Americana conference/festival in the world? Then across to catch the Bottle Rockets do an acoustic show at the Rutledge, where the band proved that even unplugged they are one of the best live acts in America.

    Saturday I decided to hit the the Americanarama in the parking lot of Grimey’s Preloved Music Record Store to see a current favorite, Nikki Lane,  perform her blend of 60’s surf rock and country noir. Lane charmed the crowd and then wowed them. She also won extra style points from me for sporing a Waylon Jennings logo tattoo on her forearm. I was suprised by the band Hymn For Her that I judged by their name to be a wispy folk duo. They were anything but as they tore through their set of hillbilly garage-rock with Lucy Tight on cigar-box guitar & Wayne Waxing on guitar, kick drum and harmonica. They blew me away with their cover of Morphine’s Thursday.

    Overall this year’s conference seems like the community has come into their own with old friends and new mingling to laugh , argue and celebrate the thing that brings us together. Great music.

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3skEpvi09Pc&feature=related[/youtube]

    Music review: Dale Watson & The Texas Two – The Sun Sessions [Red House Records]

    On his new release Texas country music traditionalist Dale Watson goes back to the roots of by recording in the historic Sun Studios of Memphis, TN. It was here that owner and chief producer Sam Phillips changed the face of 20th century music by manning the board for the likes Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, B.B. King, Joe Hill Louis, Rufus Thomas, and Howlin’ Wolf, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis among many others.

    Dale scales down his band for the sessions to drummer Mike Bernal and Chris Crepps on upright bass, or as they have been christened the “Texas Two.” This band title is not the only     testimonial to Johnny Cash’s 1954 to1958 sessions with his Tennessee Two.”   The spirit of Cash is also evoked on nearly every song with the use of his trademark boom-chicka-boom sound  as well as the class atmospheric “slap-back” production that helped make the Sun Studios famous.

    This is not the first time Dale has gone to hallowed ground to summon the spirit of Cash. His 2007 album, from the Cradle to the Grave was recorded in a cabin near Nashville formally owned by Cash and  graciously loaned to him by his friend and current owner Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame.

    Wason and his Texas Two peer from the cover with the iconic beaming sun set above them. These days Watson is looking less like Paulie Walnuts from the Sopranos and more like an older Unknown Hinson.

    Also in line with Cash’s Sun Studio sessions is each songs brief duration. The 14 songs here clock in at less than a half-hour overall with the longest song, an ode to love and Southern cooking My Baby Makes Me Gravy, at 2:45. A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach but apparently it doesn’t take long to get there.

    The songs are mostly all new with the exception of Johnny at the Door from Watson’s album People I’ve Known, Places I’ve Been (1999) and Elbow Grease, Spackle And Pine- Sol, which is a renamed version of Holes in the Wall from the Watson’s first album Cheatin’ Heart Attack (1995)

    The genesis of the album began on Watson’s 16-ton Eagle tour bus bus after learning that the gig they were headed to in Memphis had fallen through. He then called up Sun Studios to see if they had an opening and they said “Come on in.” Watson then used his iPhone to record his voice as he worked out some songs while sitting behind the wheel.

    Down, Down, Down, Down sets the pace with a boom-chicka-boom fright-train-like opening as Watson’s baritone breaks down a song of a life misspent on woe, sorrow and hell-raising ultimately asking for redemption. The Cash vibe is strong on Johnny at the Door, a tribute to a “good ol boy” Austin-area bar doorman and Drive, Drive, Drive that often echos Cash’s own Cry, Cry, Cry. Elbow Grease, Spackle And Pine- Sol is a guide to man’s reaction to being served divorce papers by his wife through aggression, he apologizes but sound like he does it with a smirk and doesn’t sound like he’s sorry at all for the “holes in the wall.”  Her Love has Watson conjuring one of the other ghosts of Sun Studio. The sentimental , heartfelt ballad has the mark of Elvis Presley running all through it.

    Watson continues to be the cure for the contagion of  Music City pop-country.

    Be sure to check out the Facebook campaign to get Dale Watson on the legendary Austin City limits show.

    Official Site | Buy

    Dale Watson & The Texas Two- My Baby Makes Me Gravy

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnyYwdFQJgk[/youtube]

    News Round-Up: Hayes Carll and Ryan Bingham Leave Lost Highway

    • The latest news from the wasted trailer-park that is music industry; Hayes Carll and Ryan Bingham have parted ways with their label the Universal Americana imprint Lost Highway. Mike Crowley, Carll’s manager, said in response to Carlls’ departure “Being part of Universal Music, we’ve watched as the corporation has tightened the reins on Lost Highway…The requirements that Universal imposes just make less and less sense for artists like Hayes and Ryan, who are never going to be something that can be marketed like Lady Gaga.”
    • Johnnie Wright, Country Singer, Bandleader, manager and husband of Kitty Wells, had died at the age of 97. (New York Times)
    • The current King of Country, George Strait, has been added to an already stellar lineup for the Fire Relief:
      The Concert for Central Texas event, which already booked Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, the Dixie Chicks and
      Asleep at the Wheel, Eric Johnson, Steve Miller, Joe Satriani, Shawn Colvin, the Texas Tornados and the Court Yard Hounds will make guest appearances, and Turk Pipkin and ‘Friday Night Lights’ star Kyle Chandler will host the event.. The benefit show, which is slated for October 17 at the Frank Erwin Center in the capitol city of Austin, Texas, will raise money to help replace the estimated $250 million loss in damages.   Tickets range from $25-$250, with the higher end being VIP tickets that allow concert-goers close access to the stage as well as an exclusive lounge area.
    • Looking forward to seeing Merle Haggard today ay Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with that youngster Kris Kristofferson. Here is the The Hag discussing his recent bout with cancer and his take on the current political climate. Here’s a hint, he recently penned a anti-government cut entitled “Shut It Down.” Take that Steve Earle.

    :happy trails

    Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Michael Martin Murphey To Appear at the Americana Music Association Conference

    • The newest additions to the Americana Music Association Conference is Texas Legend Jimmie Dale Gilmore backed by the critically acclaimed Wronglers (featuring Hardly Strictly Bluegrass benefactor Warren Hellman in banjo) and are iconic American songwriter Michael Martin Murphey.
    • Speaking of The Americana Music Association Conference, day panels have been postedat the AMA site. I’m most looking forward to seeing a live broadcast of Mojo Nixon doing his SiriusXM Outlaw Country with  the Bottle Rockets, North Mississippi Allstars and Kenny Vaughan. The Americana Music Association Conference is held October 12th – October 15th in Nashville, TN. Look for my reports for the conference while I’m there.
    • How is it that a Texas legend like Dale Watson hasn’t appeared on another Texas legend, Austin City Limits? Head over to the “We Want Dale Watson on Austin City Limits” Facebook page . “Like” it and get Dale on there!

    Dale Watson & The Texas Two “My Baby Makes Me Gravy” (from the Sun Sessions)

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnyYwdFQJgk[/youtube]

     

    Among the artists making plans to perform in Nashville during the annual Americana Music Association Conference are Iconic American Songwriter Michael Martin Murphey and the critically acclaimed Wronglers with Texas Legend Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

    Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire (Acoustic)

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4VGlkcBtfw[/youtube]

    The greatness of last week’s cover of Iron Maiden’s Wasted Years was just the beginning. Until Ryan Adams’ new release Ashes & Fire arrives on October 11 on Pax-Am/Capitol, here is an acoustic version of the title track. This along with the first single Lucky Now and live performances from an L.A. show from April of this year. This is shaping up to be a must have.

    Live Review: Ry Cooder – Great American Music Hall – San Francisco 8/31/11

    As of late a Ry Cooder live performance is as rare as hen’s teeth. So it was a treat that in support of his current current collection of neo-depression serenades “Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down” Cooder booked two quickly sold-out shows at the legendary Great American Music Hall in the seedy Tenderloin section of San Francisco. Since there seems to be no other dates to follow these so it was not surprising that I ran into fans that came as far away as New York and Texas to catch the event. The crowd in the long entrance line skewed boomer and they reminisced abut the various incarnations of Cooder they has experienced live over the years.

    It’s easy to overuse hyphens when describing Ry Cooder’s sound.  Cooder is a musicologist of sorts, but it’s not all theory, he then puts his discoveries to work in songs. Wikipedia has his sound as “dust bowl folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel, rock. Yet somehow he fuses it all together to make great songs. His eclecticism is born out of his career of great solo work but also collaborations with artists as divers as Taj Mahal, Captain Beefheart, Randy Newman, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones (when, according to Keith Richards bio “Life,” Cooder let Keef in on the magic of open G tuning) , Little Feat, Van Morrison, Judy Collins and African multi-instrumentalist Ali Farka Toure and the conduit for forming the Buena Vista Social Club. And then there is the 15 soundtracks he’s created or contributed to. Yeah, you could say the man is diverse.

    On this night Cooder staples Terry Evans and Arnold McCuller helping out with soulful vocals. San Antonio’s own Flaco Jimenez was on hand to lend his Tejano-style accordion to the occasion. The rest of the band skewed to a younger generation with a rhythm section featuring Cooder’s son Joachim on drums and Robert Francis on bass. Then there was the ten-piece brass section Cooder brought with him from So-Cal, which included tuba and bass-saxophone, that stretched the limits of space and had to be positioned in the balconies flanking the stage.

    The night kicked into gear with the slinky funk of Crazy Bout An Automobile, then Boomer’s Story followed as a personal request of bassist Francis (“Youth must be served Cooder quipped.) A soulful rendition of Why Don’t You Try Me followed, then there was a lively version of Woody Guthrie’s Do Re Mi highlighted by Jimenez’s dazzling accordion work and a ode to Sam the Sham’s Wooly Bully (“I saw Sham and the Pharaohs pull up that hearse and thought” Man, that’s weird.” said Cooder)

    Cooder’s new album carries through with the theme he followed recently of socio-political commentary done through contemporary folk numbers that are biting in their message but tempered by excellent song-craft and a wry (sure, pun) sense of humor. This was done to excellent effect by his performance of the new song El Corrido de Jesse James, which Cooder introduced as a fable told as a conversation between the outlaw James and God. Jesse James asks for his .45 colt peacemaker back to revisit Earth and introduce the Wall Street fat-cats to some old-style justice. It’s never made clear why an outlaw would suddenly turn law enforcer but it ‘s a fine tune nonetheless.

    The show was a feast of sound and visuals but the moments that made you catch your breath was when Cooder took a solo or slide intro and made seemingly disparate notes alchemically transcend and glue the song together. The subtle mastery that Cooder brings ti the guitar put him in a rare class which might include Bill Frisell, Mark Ribot and Dave Rawlings.

    San Pablo’s Los Cenzontles (The Mockingbirds) opened the show with authentic Mexican-influenced dance songs which set a tone of festivities and delighted the packed house.

    Why Don’t You Try Me

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2Oewi7cCa8[/youtube]

    Wooly Bully

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTzLsmlvqiU&NR=1[/youtube]

    Introducing Twang Nation Nights at the Starry Plough Pub

    It has been said that “Americana” is how middle class liberals listen to Country music without feeling inferior.” Casa Twang is pleased to put that theory to the test with the first ever Twang Nation Nights showcase at the legendary Starry Plough Pub in beautiful South Berkeley California. = Yhis first show a pistol so y’all come out and make it a great one!

    Thursday, September 8th
    Doors at 8pm/Show at 9pm, $6-10 sliding scale

    Maurice Tani & Mike Anderson from the excellent local Bay Area band of 77 el Deora
    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8WbQLUs-Ps[/youtube]
    Rod Picott & Amanda Shires from Nashville by way of Texas
    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEoWv1xwmIc[/youtube]

    Loretta Lynch a great Americana and country folk band from Oakland