Category Archives: Texas

Old 97’s to Release new Album, ‘Most Messed Up’

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Old 97s Most Messed Up

Dallas’s own Old 97’s will celebrate their 20th anniversary this year with the release of their ATO Records debit Most Messed Up on April 29.

Sporting an excellent cover of a flaming Saguaro and recorded in Austin with producer Salim Nourallah, features guest appearances from Tommy Stinson from The Replacements and Jon Rauhouse steel & Hawaiian guitar player from Neko Case’s band.

The band have released the first single from the album, “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive” a jaunty ditty giving a whimsical history of the band and showcasing Rhett Miller’s wordplay.

“We’ve been in nightclubs and we’ve been in bars, Honky-tonks and theaters from Memphis to Mars.”

You can stream it over at EW.com and check out the cover art and tracklist below.

Rhett Miller has some solo dates this month and next. Those tour dates are listed below. Old 97’s 2014 tour dates will soon be announced.

Old ’97s – ‘Most Messed Up’ tracklist:
1. “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive”
2. “Give It Time”
3. “Let’s Get Drunk & Get It On”
4. “This Is The Ballad”
5. “Wheels Off”
6. “Nashville”
7. “Wasted”
8. “Guadalajara”
9. “The Disconnect”
10. “The Ex Of All You See”
11. “Intervention”
12. “Most Messed Up”

Rhett Miller – 2014 Tour Dates
Feb 04 Live Oak Fort Worth, TX
Feb 05 Sam’s Burger Joint San Antonio, TX
Feb 06 Continental Club Austin, TX
Feb 07 McGonigel’s Mucky Duck Houston, TX
Feb 07 McGonigel’s Mucky Duck Houston, TX
Feb 27 World Cafe Live Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
Feb 28 Johnny D’s Somerville, MA
Mar 03 City Winery New York, NY
Mar 26 Off Broadway St Louis, MO
Mar 28 Radio Radio Indianapolis, IN
Apr 02 3rd and Lindsley Nashville, TN
Apr 03 Eddie’s Attic Decatur, GA
Apr 04 The Southern Charlottesville, VA
Apr 05 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, NC
Apr 24 South on Main Little Rock, AR

Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard Working on New Album

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willie kris merle

The live (and lively) performance by country legends Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, and Merle Haggard on the 56th Annual Grammy Awards stage to perform the classics “Highwayman,” “Okie From Muskogee” and “Mamma’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” was a magnificent, albeit creaky, moment of music history. It is also a testament to how far off the reservation Music City has veered.

Leaving aside whether Blake Shelton merited a spot alongside such luminaries (cough…Jamey Johnson, Sturgill Simpson…cough) it was a highlight of the event.

Wille mentioned to Billboard.com that a formal collaboration among the three is in the works.

“We’re working on one now, yeah,” Nelson said, adding that they’ll release it “as soon as we get it together.”

Tentatively called “The Musketeers” (SavingCountryMusic.com) this will be the first time the trio has collaborated on the same project. Nelson is the common bond as he recorded the Townes Van Zandt’s classic, “Pancho & Lefty,” with Haggard and worked with Kristofferson in The Highwaymen alongside Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.

Given Kristofferson and Haggard’s recent health concerns a collaboration album released this year might be the last we hear from these gentleman. I certainly hope not.

But going out among friends would be a fine adios.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SspAWnLvUFc

Kris Kristofferson Receives the Grammy for Lifetime Achievement [VIDEO]

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Kris Kristofferson Receives the Grammy for Lifetime Achievement

I was fortunate to attend this emotional honoring of an American music legend.

After a lovely video introduction , National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) president presented Kris Kristofferson with the GRAMMY award for a Lifetime of Achievement.

My only question is, what took so long?

Kristofferson’s acceptance speech is brief, but heartfelt. In it he alludes to the his memory loss from years of head injuries from boxing and football when he was younger.

EDIT: A piece Rodney Crowell wrote for Kris’s lifetime achievement award for the Grammy awards magazine.

Watch Out! Sarah Jarosz – “Over The Edge” on Conan [VIDEO]

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Sarah Jarosz

Sarah Jarosz made her stunning television debut last night on the Conan O’brien show.

Sarah donned a little black dress and cowboy boots, and her spectacular band, fiddler Alex Hargreaves and cellist Nathaniel Smith, killed it in this performance of “Over The Edge from her current release “Build Me Up From Bones”

Ken Burns’ Country Music Documentary Coming to PBS in 2018

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Ken Burns

I’ve been hearing about Ken Burns’ new project focusing on Country Music for over a ear. Now PBS has made it a realty b announcing that the anticipated documentary, succinctly called called “Country Music,” will air in 2018.

That will be about 5 years worth of work on the one series. Sure that’s a long time
but it helpes to keep in mind that it’s a year less than he spent on his ten-episode miniseries detailing jazz. And given Burn’s attention to detail ranging from The Civil War and the history of baseball it’s satisfying to see that there is care being applied ot a genre we all love.

The origins and fundamentals of roots, folk and country music are vast . deep at least as deep and vast as many of the topics Burns has tackled before. I have faith that this is going to be a fascinating (and lengthy) series.

From the release “The country series explores the question, “what is country music.” It will track the careers of the Carter family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bob Wills, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and others.”

“For over a century, country music has been a pivotal force in American culture, expressing the hopes, joys, fears and hardships of everyday people in songs lyrical, poignant and honest,” said PBS President Paula A. Kerger. “It is fitting that we have two of America’s master storytellers, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, tell the story on film of an art form that for generations has told America’s story in song.”

The documentary will follow the rise of bluegrass music with Bill Monroe and note how one of country music’s offspring – rockabilly – mutated into rock and roll in Memphis. It will show how Nashville slowly became not just the mecca of country music, but “Music City USA.” All the while, it will highlight the constant tug of war between the desire to make country music as mainstream as possible and the periodic reflexes to take it back to its roots.

That;s the part that will be interesting to me, how Burns handles the splinter threads of the genre. The aforementioned Bluegrass The Outlaws, Bakersfield and, as Steve Earle helped shepherd and deemed, “Great Credibility Scare of the Mid-1980s.”

Country Music Pioneer Ray Price Dead at 87

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RIP Ray Price

After some initial confusion the day before regarding the health of country music legend Ray Price, his death was confirmed today by veteran country disc jockey Bill Mack, a spokesman for Mr. Price’s family. Price passed away Monday at his home in Mount Pleasant, Texas, from complications stemming from the pancreatic cancer he was diagnosed with in 2011. He was 87.

Price honed his craft at the heels of his friend and once roommate Hank Williams, who’s band he inherited, and rechristened the Cherokee Cowboys, in the wake of William’s death.

Price was an early practitioner of the 4/4 beat, later called the “Ray Price beat,” that then went on to become a standard of the genre.

with songs like “Crazy Arms” and Kris Kristofferson’s “For the Good Times” Price was also a pioneer in bringing country music to a wider audience. With 109 songs charting between 1952-89, His history on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart spans more than 37 years with 46 top 10 entries, eight of those reaching No. 1.

Price last charting album was the collaboration with Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson “Last of the Breed.”

“I have fought prejudice since I got in country music and I will continue to fight it,” he told The Associated Press in 1981. “A lot of people want to keep country music in the minority of people. But it belongs to the world. It’s art.”

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Grammy Hall of Fame member was a staunch advocate for the dignity of classic country music. Last year price responded on Facebook to Blake Shelton’s classic-country “Old Farts” & “Jackasses” slam.
The ruckus played out on the Internet and introduced Price to a new generation of country fans.

“You should be so lucky as us old-timers,” Price said in a happily cantankerous post in all capital letters. “Check back in 63 years (the year 2075) and let us know how your name and your music will be remembered.”

Price follows George Jones as country music legends that have passed this year.

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 17 – Amy Black, Jimbo Mathus , Jason Eady and Lucinda Williams

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Twang Nation Podcast

Step right up ladies and gents. What you have before you is the latest Twang Nation podcast with the latest and best of Americana and roots cuts.

It’s also the last podcast of 2013 and the last to be done exclusively in San Francisco. Number 18 will be a cross-country effort.

This episode has some gems from the ending year by an unlikely and excellent collaboration of Norah Jones and Billy Joe Armstrong doing Everly Brothers covers. There is also new cuts from Doug Balmain and Ocean Carolina.

There are also some choice cuts from upcoming releases by Jason Eady, Jimbo Mathus and a new live cut from the upcoming reissue of Lucinda Williams’ self-titled 1988 album.

I hope you like this episode of the Twang Nation Podcast. if you do tell a friend and let me know here at my site, Google+, Twitter or my Facebook.

Happy holidays and thanks to all of you for supporting great music! Remember band shirts and show tickets to shows make great gifts.

Dale Watson – A Real Country Song

1. Norah Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong – Song: “Long Time Gone ” – album: “Foreverly” Out now on Reprise Records
2. Doug Balmain – Song: “I’ll Lay Down in the Rain ” – album: “Troubled Mind” Out now Released Independently
3. Amy Black – Song: “Layin It Down ” – album: “This Is Home” Out now Released Independently
4. Grace & Tony – Song: “Layin It Down ” – album: “November ” Out now via Rock Ridge Music
5. Jason Eady – Song: “OK Whiskey” – album: ‘Daylight And Dark’ Out Jan 21
6. Lori McKenna – Song: “Take Me With You When You Go” – album: Massachusetts on 1-2-3-4-go records – out now
7. Ocean Carolina – Song: “Women and Wine” – album: “All The Way Home” Old Hand Records 1/14/14
8. Star Anna – Song: “Mean Kind of Love ” – album: “Go To Hell” Spark & Shine out now
9. Jimbo Mathus – Song: “Hawkeye Jordan” – album: “Dark Night of the Soul” Fat Possum Records out February 15.
10. Lucinda Williams – Song: “Something About What Happens When We Talk (Live at KCRW) ” – album: “Lucinda Williams,” to be released on January 14

George Jones Tribute Concert Videos

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george jones

Last night’s George Jones tribute held in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena featured 40 performances honoring The Possum by artists , many of home, might not be where they are without him.

Jamey Johnson, Jim Lauderdale, Shooter Jennings and his mom Jessi Colter, Trisha Yearwood & Garth Brooks, George Strait and Alan Jackson – they all played on honor of the “greatest voice in country music.”

Billboard has a nice post on the event featuring a list of all performances.

Not sure of there’s going to be a formal network showing or DVD release of the event, but The Triggerman from Saving Country Music informed me via Twitter that “….they (the event producers) were broadcasting video feed outside and there was a camera crew, so we know the footage exists.”

That’s great news, but until that day I will post fan-made videos below.

Eric Lee Beddingfield, Mandy Barnett, Teea Goans, Chad Warrix, Greg Bates – “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes”

Tommy Shaw (Styx) – “She Thinks I Still Care”

Vince Gill – “Bartender’s Blues”

Oak Ridge Boys – “Same Ole Me”

Marina McBride & George Strait – “Golden Ring”

Jamey Johnson – “Tennessee Whiskey”

Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert – “These Days I Barely Get By”

Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood – “Take me”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3phmPLY1iZo

Patty Loveless – “Color Of The Blues”

Montgomery Gentry – “The Race Is On”

Brad Paisley – The One I Loved Back Then (The Corvette Song)

Jamey Johnson and Megadeath – “Wild Irish Rose”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GjtJczbZfc

George Strait – “The Grand Tour”

Alan Jackson – “He Stopped Loving Her Today”

10 Country Music Awards Moments to Remind Us It Didn’t Always Suck

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charlie-rich-envelope-john-denver-cma-1975

Remember when Loretta Lynne won CMA Awards with Loretta Lynn announced as Entertainer of the Year? How about when johnny Cash hosted the event.

Of course you don’t. It was decades ago and most of you weren’t even born yet.

There was a time that the Country Music Awards, like the industry and culture itself, had an edge and a spirit of danger. Performers would roll off a couch in a studio somewhere in town to accept their award. Sometimes they were drunk and looking for a fight. Below find some great moments from CMA history to help us steel through the glitter-choked tailgate party it’s become.

The one video I wanted o find most of all was one of Charlie Rich burning the piece of paper announcing John Denver as the Country Music Association “Entertainer of the Year” at the 1975 CMA Awards. Alas that little gem of industry spontaneity has been shut down.

Dolly Parton sneaks up on Randy Travis

Waylon Jennings performs “America” on what looks like an ’80’s CMA

CMA’s hosted by Johnny Cash in 1978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkbBJE76KU0

Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge perform Me and Bobby McGee at the 1974 CMA Awards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fujhzkyYias

Sonny James and Bobby Goldsboro present the award for the Country Music Association Instrumentalist to Jerry Reed in 1971.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko39cIFowRY

1974 CMA Awards with Loretta Lynn announced as Entertainer of the Year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8370bQ5Izo

Willie Nelson Induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame by Johnny Cash at the 27th CMA Awards 1993
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMrh7aPaagg

Alison Krauss & Union Station performs ‘My Poor Old Heart’ on the 2005 CMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuGJaU25ZIA

1968 Country Music Awards with an induction of Bob Wills into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Skip over the insipid performance by Bobby Goldsboro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BYNuPL0Te4

In 1999 George Jones, recovering from a near-fatal car accident, was nominated for Single of the Year for his autobiographical ballad “Choices.”
CMA executives asked Jones to sing a shortened version of the nominated song, but he opted to stay home as a sign of his protest against the request.
Alan Jackson showed class and reverence for Jones worked “Choices” into the last portion of his scheduled performance of his current single, “Pop A Top.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_WmbAek0-4

Shooter Jennings announces new label, Black Country Rock – Releases from Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Shooter forthcoming

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Screen-Shot-2013-10-20-at-6.53.29-PM

Shooter Jennings has been hard at work forming his new label Black Country Rock, and now the fruits are being brought to bare.

Shooter Jennings acts as President while Jon Hensley handles Vice Presidentdal dutys. Lee Joines is responsible for Artist & Repetoire (A&R,) Mick Gray heads Promotions and the extraordinarily talented Keith Neltner (Hank III, Unknown Hinson (Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers) wrangles Art & Design

Black County Rock is a ” multi-format recording company is complete with satellite divisions in Los Angeles, CA and Nashville, TN as well as an active online community at bcrmedia.com”

Also from the press release: “BCR does not discriminate against formats and will release music, film and other creative projects by way of vinyl, compact disc, cassette tape, digital download, DVD, VHS and more. BCR fearlessly embraces and supports both the continuing accessibility of the technology of the present and also the preservation of tangible goods, no matter their age or obscurity.”

BCR inaugural releases, available worldwide November 29th, will be :

Waylon Jennings “Right for the Time (Remembered)”, a fully analog remaster of Waylon’s memorable 1996 album “Right for the Time”, available on Limited Edition translucent yellow Vinyl & Cassette, CD & Digital Download (stream “The Most Sensible Thing” from “Right for the Time (Remembered)” below)

Jessi Colter “Live from Cain’s Ballroom”, Jessi’s first live record ever, recorded in September of 2013, shows that soul never fades. This release is available on limited edition baby pink Vinyls & Cassettes, CD & DIgital Download

Shooter Jennings “The Other Live”, Shooter’s 2nd live record featuring unique-to-format tracks spread across translucent blue Vinyl & Cassette, CD and Digital Download. There are at least 2 unique songs on each different format making each version a different experience for the listener. True die hard fans will need to get all three to get them all, and with all of these albums, digital downloads will be included with the analog formats.”

Also to be released are “Mystery Releases.” “Printed on a splattered grey & black vinyl and cassette, this release will definitely be the surprise of the year!
A brand new website and web store will carry each of these items. Digital versions of each record will be available online November 26th, 2013. All physical copies will be available November 29th, 2013.”