Watch Out! Whitehorse – “Sweet Disaster”

Whitehorse - "Sweet Disaster"

Canadian folk rock duo Whitehorse (Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland) has released a spellbinding video for their Spaghetti-Western-meets The Zombies’ “Time Of The Season” cut “Sweet Disaster.”

The video, directed by Ken Cunningham, features delicate overlayed images with washed-out white. The images fit perfectly with this song the band describes as ” a story about one rich man’s quest to send a couple to Mars. It’s fitting subject matter for Melissa’s first ever love song to Luke, and for a band described thus far as “space cowboy lovebirds” (Now Magazine, Toronto).”

Whitehorse’s song “Sweet Disaster” from the album Leave Kickstarter-funded “No Bridge Unburned,” out February 17, 2015 on Six Shooter Records.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB3IQcorMLY

Music Review – Lucinda Williams – “Where The Spirit Meets The Bone” [Highway 20 Records]

Lucinda Williams - "Where The Spirit Meets The Bone"

It seems with every Lucinda Williams release there is a cry of “her most personal album so far.” Allow me to carry on a tradition. Williams’ latest, her 11th studio album and the first for her own label Highway 20 Records, at least appears to be Lu’s most personal to date. Or at least her most personal album she could release that reflects where she finds herself in life

Of course if you’ve been following Lu for any length of time you’re used to her pentiant for starkly honest, take-no-prisoners songs. Much like the cover of “Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone’ each release is like a slice from her heart as it takes it’s own unique journey.

“Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone’ stretches across two bruised and battered discs/albums, delving deeply, and with clear-eyed gaze, into the human psyche, A place that few songwriters are brave enough, or wise enough, to travel. Little on to document and share.

But this is where the good stuff is.

If there’s a theme, no overt one but a wide marking, reflected in Williams’ adaptation of a poem by her father, Miller Williams. It comes in the sparse Spanish-guitar opener “Compassion.” Williams’ voice bares the marks of a hard truths. The gliding tempo frames a simple, earthly parable – In spite of perceptions have compassion for everyone you meet, because “you do not know what wars are going on/ Down there where the spirit meets the bone.”

Other stand outs are “Protection,” a swampy-soul plea for refuge against encroaching menace. SImilar steamy style saturates the territorial tales of “West Memphis .”

‘Cold Day in Hell’ is a lovely cut from the POV of a scorned lovers’ lament of lessons learned that stops just short of the damage of bitter resentment.

Burning Bridges , with it’s jaunty beat and shimmery guitars, kicks off like a Steely Dan- style FM radio staple as a tale of regret gives way to resignation and a wash of roaring guitars.

“Wrong Number” is a sort of doo-wop book-end to her “Change The Locks” and her version of J.J. Cale’s ‘Magnolia’ gives an extra dimension of longing and carries Lu’s love of New Orleans.

‘Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone’ is a result of a singer/songwriter crafting songs wrought from their life, not following a formula towards sales and charting. It’s an honest and sometimes brutal work, but it’s never dour as Williams describes much of the pain as a wizened observer setting markers and warnings created by a life lived.

Of course people being what they are all warnings and advice will be ignored and forgotten. And Lu will be right there with more great songs to beautifully, soulfully, remind us of what we already know.

Official site | Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone

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Ryan Adams covers Bryan Adams’ “Run To You” [VIDEO]

RyanAdams2

Ryan Adams has displayed some, um, irritation at being mistaken for Canadian pop-rocker Bryan Adams. He’s also been known to get bent out of shape when Bryan Adams songs are called out at his shows.

Well they’re nothing to be done about the former confusion the latter seems to have been remedied. During a Santa Barbara gig Adams (Ryan not Bryan) covered Adams (Bryan not Ryan) hit “Run To You.”

After some playful banter about tempo-changes, fitted jeans and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Adams launched into the cover with no mention of what was to come.

And like most of his covers he not only nails it, he improves the song.

Via Consequence of Sound

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGL4thD5nYQ

Watch Out! Lucinda Williams – “Protection” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

 Lucinda Williams - "Protection" on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

Lucinda William took to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, clad in badass black leather, to perform her new soul-soaked song “Protection.”

Lu gave a swaggering performance along her guitar-slinger the Wallflower’s Stuart Mathis. And as if it couldn’t get any better they were backed by Fallon’s house band, The Roots.

“Protection” is from her latest Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone

Watch Out! Ryan Adams: “Gimme Something Good” on David Letterman

Ryan Adams: "Gimme Something Good" - David Letterman

Entering his final year as host of the Late Show, it’s hard to imagine anyone taking David Letterman’s place as a mainstream supporter of roots music.

Ryan Adam and his and band The Shining stopped by to treat Dave and the audience with his latest single “Gimme Something Good” from his self-titled 14th studio album.

Once Adams the band were done with a rousing performance, Letterman reverted to fanboy mode — “Come on!”, “What do you want?”, “Oh my God is taht nice! Can you do just a little bit more?” An obliging Adams kicked into the opening chords as the credits rolled.

Can you recall Letterman requesting an encore? I can’t. Damn, I’m going to miss that man and how much he’s supported great music.

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

Listen Up! Sid Griffin – “Blue Yodel No. 12 & 35″

Photography by Philip Grey

‘Blue Yodel No. 12 &. 35′ has its boots in country music’s present and past.

The song’s bluegrass spirit evokes the best best of front-porch, foot-stomping rollicks. The song’s clever wordplay throws some of best hillbilly shade ever at the spurned (or spurner) and brings it into the present.

The title of “Blue Yodel No. 12 & 35″ may seem familiar. Griffin sheds some light on the song’s title and it’s spirit “Blue Yodel No. 12 &. 35’ refers to two of the great icons of present day guitar music. One is Jimmie Rodgers and the other is Bob Dylan. Rodgers was known for his gentleness even when being frank and Dylan is known for the frankness of his break-up songs so when you hear Blue Yodel No. 12 & 35 you hear a composition crossing their two lyrical styles, a song which is also sung in mid-point between their two musical styles. Why it came out sounding like one if these hip, young bearded bands from Brooklyn or maybe Texas I do not know! But the song swings spritely and with warm humour and I just love that.”

“Blue Yodel No. 12 & 35″ is from ‘The Trick Is To Breathe,’ the first solo album from Sid Griffin (the Coal Porters, the Long Ryders) in a decade. Known as a founder of today’s Americana/Alt-Country genre for his groundbreaking work Sid Griffin has never been far from the cutting edge. Few who could honestly claim to be a Godfather to the current roots music scene have made their mark in so many ways; bandleader, songwriter, instrumentalist, author of four books and broadcaster.

So why did it take a decade for ‘The Trick Is To Breathe’ to happen. ”I was waiting for the right combination of songs and the right place to record”, says Griffin, ‘I got the songs, I found the place just outside Nashville, and I found the right pickers. It was a heavenly experience”. Twelve tracks featuring ten new Sid originals, one cover song and a spoken word poem combine to equal what Sid describes as ”the best album of my long career”.

‘The Trick Is To Breathe,’ will be released on September 16, 2014

Official site

Bob Dylan to Release Complete Sessions of Legendary “Basement Tapes”

bob-dylan-basement-tapes

According to Consequence of Sound

The entire collection of work by Bob Dylan and The Band (then known as the Crackers) Basement Tapes sessions will be available to the general public. Coming November 4th via Legacy Recordings, the six-disc collection covers an impressive 138 tracks, 30 of which were never of known to exist until today’s announcement. Several other tracks have only existed as mediocre bootleg recordings.

The Basement tapes are the Rosetta Stone of modern roots and Americana music. These sessions occurred in the wake of Dylan’s post motorcycle crash recovery in 1966. Dylan and the band holed up in the basement of a Woodstock, New York house known as the Big Pink, where members of the Band were using as their base. They proceeded to record over 100 tracks together, including “This Wheel’s on Fire”, “I Shall Be Released” and “Tears of Rage” which appeared on The Band’s debut album, “Music from Big Pink.” Other cuts included “Quinn the Eskimo,” which Manfred Mann recorded and charted in the UK , “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” recorded as a single by the Byrds as well as “Nothing Was Delivered”, which appeared on “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.”

Rolling Stone posts that the unreleased material includes an “epic, apocalyptic rocker” called “Wild Wolf”; an early version of “I Shall Be Released” with slightly different lyrics; a cover of Hank Williams’ 1949 song “My Bucket’s Got a Hole In It”; and “country-fied” versions of “Blowin’ in the Wind”, “It Ain’t Me Babe”, and “One Too Many Mornings”, featuring keyboardist Richard Manuel handling lead vocals on the first verse. “”The stuff that people haven’t heard justifies, in every way, shape and form, all the hype, hubris and myth that surrounds these tapes,” says folk musician and writer Sid Griffin, who wrote the liner notes for this new collection (which is also being released as a two-disc version and three-LP set). “Some of this stuff is mind-boggling.”

Below, stream an alternate take of the original “Odds and Ends”

The deluxe edition of the album also includes a 120-page companion book featuring extensive liner notes and previously unseen photographs and memorabilia. Also available will be a more concise version dubbed, The Basement Tapes Raw, featuring 38 tracks on two discs or three LPs. See the full tracklist below.

Pre-order The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11(Deluxe Edition) vinyl or CD

The Basement Tapes Complete serves as the 11th installment in Dylan’s ongoing “The Bootleg Series.” The release also coincides with the release “Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes” featuring a whos’who of roots-rockers – My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Mumford and Sons’ Marcus Mumford, Elvis Costello,Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rhiannon Giddens, and shephareded by T-Bone Burnett.

The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Tracklist:

CD 1
Disc: 1
01. Edge of the Ocean
02. My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It
03. Roll on Train
04. Mr. Blue
05. Belshazzar
06. I Forgot to Remember to Forget
07. You Win Again
08. Still in Town
09. Waltzing with Sin
10. Big River (Take 1)
11. Big River (Take 2)
12. Folsom Prison Blues
13. Bells of Rhymney
14. Spanish is the Loving Tongue
15. Under Control
16. Ol’ Roison the Beau
17. I’m Guilty of Loving You
18. Cool Water
19. The Auld Triangle
20. Po’ Lazarus
21. I’m a Fool for You (Take 1)
22. I’m a Fool for You (Take 2)

Disc: 2
01. Johnny Todd
02. Tupelo
03. Kickin’ My Dog Around
04. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 1)
05. See You Later Allen Ginsberg (Take 2)
06. Tiny Montgomery
07. Big Dog
08. I’m Your Teenage Prayer
09. Four Strong Winds
10. The French Girl (Take 1)
11. The French Girl (Take 2)
12. Joshua Gone Barbados
13. I’m in the Mood
14. Baby Ain’t That Fine
15. Rock, Salt and Nails
16. A Fool Such As I
17. Song for Canada
18. People Get Ready
19. I Don’t Hurt Anymore
20. Be Careful of Stones That You Throw
21. One Man’s Loss
22. Lock Your Door
23. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby
24. Try Me Little Girl
25. I Can’t Make it Alone
26. Don’t You Try Me Now

Disc: 3
01. Young but Daily Growing
02. Bonnie Ship the Diamond
03. The Hills of Mexico
04. Down on Me
05. One for the Road
06. I’m Alright
07. Million Dollar Bash (Take 1)
08. Million Dollar Bash (Take 2)
09. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 1)
10. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread (Take 2)
11. I’m Not There
12. Please Mrs. Henry
13. Crash on the Levee (Take 1)
14. Crash on the Levee (Take 2)
15. Lo and Behold! (Take 1)
16. Lo and Behold! (Take 2)
17. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 1)
18. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (Take 2)
19. I Shall be Released (Take 1)
20. I Shall be Released (Take 2)
21. This Wheel’s on Fire
22. Too Much of Nothing (Take 1)
23. Too Much of Nothing (Take 2)

Disc: 4
01. Tears of Rage (Take 1)
02. Tears of Rage (Take 2)
03. Tears of Rage (Take 3)
04. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 1)
05. Quinn the Eskimo (Take 2)
06. Open the Door Homer (Take 1)
07. Open the Door Homer (Take 2)
08. Open the Door Homer (Take 3)
09. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 1)
10. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 2)
11. Nothing Was Delivered (Take 3)
12. All American Boy
13. Sign on the Cross
14. Odds and Ends (Take 1)
15. Odds and Ends (Take 2)
16. Get Your Rocks Off
17. Clothes Line Saga
18. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 1)
19. Apple Suckling Tree (Take 2)
20. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
21. Bourbon Street

Disc: 5
01. Blowin’ in the Wind
02. One Too Many Mornings
03. A Satisfied Mind
04. It Ain’t Me, Babe
05. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 1)
06. Ain’t No More Cane (Take 2)
07. My Woman She’s A-Leavin’
08. Santa-Fe
09. Mary Lou, I Love You Too
10. Dress it up, Better Have it All
11. Minstrel Boy
12. Silent Weekend
13. What’s it Gonna be When it Comes Up
14. 900 Miles from My Home
15. Wildwood Flower
16. One Kind Favor
17. She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain
18. It’s the Flight of the Bumblebee
19. Wild Wolf
20. Goin’ to Acapulco
21. Gonna Get You Now
22. If I Were A Carpenter
23. Confidential
24. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 1)
25. All You Have to do is Dream (Take 2)

Disc: 6
01. 2 Dollars and 99 Cents
02. Jelly Bean
03. Any Time
04. Down by the Station
05. Hallelujah, I’ve Just Been Moved
06. That’s the Breaks
07. Pretty Mary
08. Will the Circle be Unbroken
09. King of France
10. She’s on My Mind Again
11. Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad
12. On a Rainy Afternoon
13. I Can’t Come in with a Broken Heart
14. Next Time on the Highway
15. Northern Claim
16. Love is Only Mine
17. Silhouettes
18. Bring it on Home
19. Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies
20. The Spanish Song (Take 1)
21. The Spanish Song (Take 2)

The Basement Tapes Raw: Bootleg Series Vol. 11 Tracklist:

Disc: 1
01. Open the Door, Homer
02. Odds and Ends
03. Million Dollar Bash
04. One Too Many Mornings
05. I Don’t Hurt Anymore
06. Ain’t No More Cane
07. Crash on the Levee
08. Tears of Rage
09. Dress it up, Better Have it All
10. I’m Not There
11. Johnny Todd
12. Too Much of Nothing
13. Quinn the Eskimo
14. Get Your Rocks Off
15. Santa-Fe
16. Silent Weekend
17. Clothes Line Saga
18. Please, Mrs. Henry
19. I Shall be Released

Disc: 2
01. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
02. Lo and Behold!
03. Minstrel Boy
04. Tiny Montgomery
05. All You Have to do is Dream
06. Goin’ to Acapulco
07. 900 Miles from My Home
08. One for the Road
09. I’m Alright
10. Blowin’ in the Wind
11. Apple Suckling Tree
12. Nothing Was Delivered
13. Folsom Prison Blues
14. This Wheel’s on Fire
15. Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
16. Don’t Ya Tell Henry
17. Baby, Won’t You be My Baby
18. Sign on the Cross
19. You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Glen Campbell “I’ll Be Me” Official Movie Trailer

GLEN CAMPBELL I'LL BE ME Official Movie Trailer

One of the most heart-breaking moments of my life was seeing Glen Campbell accept his lifetime Achievement Grammy due to the already evident effects of his Alzheimers. Talking to him and his wife, Kim Woollen, afterword gave me hope. As dire as his future looked he was still in good spirits and was surrounded by people who love him.

Below is the trailer for the Glen Campbell documentary, ‘Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me,’ which will be released on Oct. 24 in New York and Nashville.

‘I’ll Be Me’ features footage from Campbell’s Goodbye Tour mixed with stories from artists and celebrities who know and love him, including Blake Shelton, Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Vince Gill, Steve Martin, Bruce Springsteen, Bill Clinton, the Edge, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webb and Jay Leno.

The documentary won the Gibson Music City/Music City Films Grand Jury Prize at the 2014 Nashville Film Festival, where it premiered. It was directed by James Keach and produced by Keach and Trevor Albert.

More information can be found at the film’s official site.

Ryan Adams -“Gimme Something Good” Live On “Fallon Show”

Ryan Adams -"Gimme Something Good" Live On "Fallon Show"

“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” welcomed Ryan Adams and his band the Shining as their musical guest last night. He and the band did “Gimme Something Good”, the single from his forthcoming self-titled album (September 9 via his label Pax-Am).

Alas Adam’s and the other night’s guest, Taylor Swift, did not perform together. But perhaps a backstage meeting might result in something in the future

Watch Out! Ryan Adams “Gimme Something Good” [VIDEO]

Ryan Adams “Gimme Something Good”

The last few years has seen Ryan Adams dabbling in computer music and metal and producing for Jenny Lewis.

Now Adam’s is in a rock-and-roll phase with his new self-titled solo album, his 14th, which will hit stores on September 9 via Pax-Am Records.

The video for the fist single, “Gimme Something Good,” is a nice balance of brooding rocker and B-movie camp, represented onscreen by super-vamp mistress of the night Elvira. Adams stares menacing and Elvira preens and dances around a candelabra. It’s serves just the right amount of cheese and oomph to make for a cool vid.

Get spooky with “Gimme Something Good” below.