Category Archives: News Round Up

News Round Up: Kris Kristofferson is Open for Football Draft

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Kris Kristofferson reminisces about his days playing football. The days before he was pulled because of too many head injuries, that is.

CMT interviews the Texas Yoda, Willie Nelson about his new T Bone Burnett produced album, Country Music.

Dwight Yoakam & Merle Haggard will perform together June 18 & 19 at Oregon’s Chinook Winds Casino Resort.

Speaking of Brother Hag, the LA Times Pop & Hiss get’s on the bus with the Merle while in town for the Stagecoach Festival.

Dwight Yoakam & Merle Haggard Perform June 18 & 19!

News Round Up: George Strait Breaks Billboard Charts Records

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  • Listen to a stream of Merle Haggard’s  I Am What I Am, his upcoming release Vanguard Records.
  • Everyone knows that Music City big label country music is more pop than country, and some takes many pages from classic rock playbook, but PopMatter.com’s Steve Leftridge does a fine job of connecting the dots. (Pour Some Sugarland on Me.)
  • George Strait has set a Billboard record by charting a top 10 hit on the Country Songs survey in an unprecedented 30th consecutive year! No artist in the history of Billboard has had such a lengthy streak of top 10 titles. The Country Music Hall of Fame singer’s most recent song, I Gotta Get to You jumped from No. 12 to No. 9 on the radio airplay list. Strait first hit the top 10 on Country Songs in 1981 with Unwound.  His current album titled Twang has sold 551,000 copies since it’s August release.
Steve Leftridge

News Round Up: New Releases by John Prine, Johnny Cash Art Collective

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  • In true DIY fashion The Johnny Cash Project is a “global collective art project” that allows fans from all over the world to contribute to a arrogated, user-generated video for the title track from the latest Johnny Cash recording American VI: Ain’t No Grave. The single images are then threaded together into a one-of-a-kind labor of love. I only wish the Man in Black has lived to see this.
  • John Prine fans are about to hit pay-dirt. On May 25th, 2010, Oh Boy Records (founded in 1981 by Prine and manager Al Bunetta) will release the live In Person & On Stage, which will draw from performances spanning the past several years and covering songs from as far back as Prine’s 1971 debut and as recently as 2005’s acclaimed Fair & Square. Then Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine will be released on on June 22nd (Oh Boy) and will feature Prine compositions interpreted by devotees such as My Morning Jacket, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, The Avett Brothers, Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band, Old Crow Medicine Show, Lambchop, Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick featuring Liz Isenberg, Justin Townes Earle, Those Darlins, and, reprising their respective tracks from In Person & On Stage, Nickel Creek’s Sara Watkins and Josh Ritter. Oh Boy will begin a pre-sale for In Person & On Stage on April 20thand for Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows on April 27th at www.musicfansdirect.com.
  • The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum has announced it will pay tribute to the legendary Tammy Wynette with an exhibit titled Tammy Wynette: First Lady of Country Music. Presented by Great American Country (GAC) the exhibit will open in the Museum’s East Gallery on August 20, 2010, and run through June 2011.
  • More news from the The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. An upgrade to the Hall’s core collection, Sing Me Back Home: A Journey Through Country Music, are expected to be completed next month. The updates, which focus on country music’s last five decades, will bring the story of country music forward in time and conclude with a glimpse of the future. They will highlight the country-rock, pop-country, southern rock, full-strength classic country and the “Urban Cowboy” craze. The upgrade includes new oversized portraits, video clips and artifacts such as Dolly Parton’s handwritten lyrics to Jolene, Tom T. Hall’s acoustic guitar he purchased from songwriter Merle Kilgore, and items from Ronnie Milsap, Kenny Rogers, Mel Tillis, and Tanya Tucker. Other updates focus on the mid-1980s arrival of artists like Dwight Yoakam, Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell, Randy Travis and Steve Earle. New exhibits celebrate contemporary bluegrass and Americana artists, ranging from Alison Krauss and Del McCoury to Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale.

Billy Joe Shaver Acquitted of 2007 Shooting

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In a case that will go down in Country Music Outlaw history, a Waco, Texas jury has acquitted 70-year-old Texas Country Music Hall of Fame member Billy Joe Shaver of aggravated assault in the shooting of a man outside a Lorena, Texas bar in 2007. the incident came after Shaver had played a show.Willie Nelson and actor Robert Duvall had been at the trial to show their friend moral support.

My favorite parts of  the released testimony were: during cross examination by the prosecuting attorney Shaver was asked if he might have pulled a gun on Billy Coker in the bar’s parking lot because  Coker (who had first allegedly pulled a knife to which Shaver pulled a gun from his truck and famously asked him “Where do you want it?” ) was talking to talking to Shaver’s wife, Wanda, Shaver said “I get more women than a passenger train can haul. I’m not jealous.”  When asked why he didn’t leave the bar without his wife after realizing his argument with Coker was escalating. Shaver replied, “Ma’am, I’m from Texas. If I were chickenshit, I would have left, but I’m not.” Classic.

Texas singer/songwriter wrote a song entitled “Where do you want it?” shortly after the incident.

Lorena, Texas

News Round Up: Twang Nation Approved SXSW Showcases

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The extraordinary Elizabeth Cook talks to the Utne Reader about her irreverent career, influences and her upcoming Don Was produced album Welder.

Jim Lauderdale takes time from his South-By-Southwest appearance talk to Spinner.com about, well, his career, influences and her upcoming album Patchwork River, which was produced by longtime production partner Tim Coates and Doug Lancio,. Lauderdale also answers the timless question, “Beatles or Stones?”, in a diplomatic fashion that shows why he’s Mr.Americana.

South-By-Southwest has some great showcases, but I want to highlight three that I would love to attend.The

  • Roots music blog ninebullets.net is holding the party I wish I was organized enough to pull off. On Wednesday., March 17 at Opa! (2050 South Lamar Blvd.)  featuring; American Aquarium, Austin Lucas, Kasey Anderson, Glossary and Joe Pug.
  • No Depression Showcase will take place on Friday, March 19 at the Continental Club will feature Deadstring Brothers, Elliott Brood, Chatham County Line and more.
  • Not sure who’s putting this one on but on Friday 19 March the Red Eye Fly club will host Lucero. Deer Tick, Justin Townes Earle, Glossary, and Trampled By Turtles.
  • Also at the Red Eye Fly (man, I want to hot this club next ime I’m in Austin) Legendary alt.country/roots record label Bloodshot Records will hold their 15th SXSW party Friday, March 19th. Included in the line up are label mates Ha Ha Tonka, Justin Townes Earle and Waco Brothers, Rosie Flores and more.

News Round Up: Pickathon Line-Up Announced

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  • Pickathon has announced an impressive lineup for for 12th year. Bonnie Prince Billy, Heartless Bastards, Billy Joe Shaver. Langhorne Slim, Frazey Ford, The Cave Singers, T-Model Ford, Roadside Graves, Chatham County Line and many many more. Pickathon will take place on August 6-8 at Pendarvis Farm near Portland, Oregan.
  • The New York Times follows the long road of Crazy Heart from Thomas Cobb’s 1987 novel to Academy Awards nominated movie that was nearly straight to DVD. and the post-modernist writer that was the inspiration for Bad Blake. (Bad Blake, Post-Modernist Country Crooner?)
  • The Court Yard Hounds (Dixie Chicks sisters Emily Robison and Martie Maguire) are taking pre-orders for their new album (Standard and Deluxe edition with extra goodies) on their web site.  Folks ponying up for pre-orders will gain immediate access 4-song download and and get first crack at tickets for their upcoming tour. The tou will include a atop at SXSW for their first live concert as Court Yard Hounds. The sisters will take the also take the stage during the Americana Music Association showcase at Antone’s on Thursday March 18th and will go on to do a string of intimate shows across the country. The CD will be released on Columbia Records, on shelves May 4, 2010.
  • In more new release news Gothic-country punkers Th ‘ Legendary Shack Shackers will release their seventh full-length album, Agridustrial, on April 13th on their own Colonel Knowledge label. Get the first single from the release below.

Th ‘ Legendary Shack Shackers – Sin Eater

News Round Up: Levon Helm Documentary Coming to SXSW

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  • The will of the late singer/songwriter Stephen Bruton, is being contested by his possibly estranged widow. Bruton provided the inspiration for the Crazy Heart character Bad Blake played by Jeff Bridges and worked with T. Bone Burnett on the movie’s soundtrack in his days of fighting cancer.
  • And for more in Crazy Heart news, the good folks at the 9513.com have a great interview with Ryan Bingham. Bingham. reflects on his Golden Globe winning and Academy Award nominated song The Weary Kind.
  • PopMatters debuts a new monthly country music column, Kickin’ Up Dust. First up? Willie Nelson!
  • The CMT blog has a nice run down of early 2010 Americana releases. Looks to be another bumper year!
  • Speaking of great 2010 releases, seminal 80’s cowpunk band, and the 2008 Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Jason and the Scorchers will release their first album in 14 years. Halcyon Times will be released in February 2010 and was co-produced by Scorcher member Warner E. Hodges and Brad Jones, and features guest contributions from Dan Baird and Tommy Womack.

Merle Haggard Signs With Vanguard Records, Drive By Truckers Announce Dates

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  • Merle Haggard has penned a deal with independent label Vanguard Records- home pf Levon Helm – ans will release hos label debut I Am What I Am, his first album on April 20. The project, featuring 12 new songs he has written, was co-produced by Haggard and Lou Bradley.
  • Six members of Willie Nelson’s band and crew were cited for misdemeanor possession offenses after of marijuana wafting from the window of a The Texas Yoda’s tour bus led to six members of the country singer’s entourage getting busted in Duplin County for possession of marijuana and three-fourths of a quart of moonshine. Nelson later that day canceled a North Carolina concert due to a hand that was husrting him – what may be a result from carpal tunnel surgery in 2004 – according to a posting on his Web site.
  • The mighty Drive By Truckers have announced tour dates to suppert their upcoming release The Big To-Do (March 16, 2010 – ATO Records) DBT and ATO Records are also offering up the first single, “This Fucking Job”, from The Big To-Do for free: Drive By Truckers – This Fucking Job

News Round Up:Help Austin Help Haiti Benefit January 24

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  • A Help Austin Help Haiti benefit will be held on Sunday, 1/24 at Austin Music Hall in Austin, Texas. All proceeds go to the Clinton / Bush Fund and Oxfam. Lineup: Asleep At the Wheel, Band of Heathens, Bruce Robison, Charlie Sexton, The Flatlanders, The Gourds, Guy Forsyth, Jack Ingram, Joe Ely Band, Kelly Willis, Kinky Friedman, Patricia Vonne, Paula Nelson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Reckless Kelly, Robert Earl Keen, Shawn Colvin with more TBA.
  • The 14th  Annual Suwannee Springfest to be held March 25-28, 2010 at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL. and will feature more than 30 of the finest performers in Americana & Roots Music to appear – including Robert Earl Keene, Leftover Salmon, Ruthie Foster, Jim Lauderdale and while the Duhks take a brief hiatus two Duhks spin-offs will appear at the festival, band leader Leonard Podalak will introduce a new trio called the Turtle Duhks and a brand new project featuring former original Duhks vocalist Jesse Havey will debut.
  • Port Arthur, TX native guitarist Jimmy Wyble, who played with Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, died on Jan. 16, 2010 in Los Angeles, California.
  • Master fiddler, honky-tonk hero, unapologetic American and Geico spokesperson Charlie Danials is recovering from a mild stroke he suffered last week in Colorado while snowmobiling. Daniels is reported to be doing well, and is able to play fiddle and guitar just fine. (TheTennessean.com)
  • Chris Neal at the Nashville Scene argues that Kris Kristofferson has grown into this unique, unvarnished vocal style. (via the 9513.com)

News Round Up: Dixie Chicks Split For New Album

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  • Sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison (born Erwin) will record an album together without their Dixie Chick partner Natalie Maines. Manine’s father reports that the split is “temporary.”
  • It appears that the appearance at Ft. Worth’s Bass Hall of Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson on February 17th won’t be a solitary outing. The two legends will also appear at in  Houston, TX on Norman, OK on the 6th, Norman, OK on February 18th, Bossier City, LA on the 19th, Robinsonville, MS on the 20th and Chicago, IL on the 21st.