Record Store Day 2013 – Americana and Roots Music Picks

rsd2013

It’s that time again twangers. Yes, Record Store Day 2013 is upon us. The day when us music fans can snatch up slabs of limited pressing vinyl from our favorite artists and help local independent records store to not become bygone relics. That would stink.

This year’s RSD2013 releases offer some great selections from the roots and Americana side of the fence. Willie Nelson demos? Yes please! Waylon Jennings and Old 97s collaboration? Oh yeah!

Check the hilarious video from RSD1013 Ambassador Jack White below, where he details the shady doings of the music industry, the Masons and the NBA draft (sort of) and on April 20th head to your local independent record store to pick up one of the limited edition goodies below.

Head to the official RSD2013 site to get a complete list of releases and participating stores.

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

Chet Atkins
Black Jack EP
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: SUNDAZED
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
Previously unreleased recordings by this guitar master
Midnight, Boo Boo Stick Beat, Blackjack, Blue Moon of Kentucky

The Avett Brothers/ Randy Travis
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Warner Music Nashville
More Info:
Limited edition split single. Randy Travis covers the Avett Brothers’ “February”, The Avett Brothers covers the Randy Travis song, “Three Wooden Crosses.

The Band
The Last Waltz
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Rhino
More Info:
3 180 Gram LPs, Numbered RSD Edition. All original packaging with Embossing and two foils. All original inner sleeves plus 12-page booklet. Out of print for more than a decade.

Billy Bragg
No One Knows Nothing Anymore / Song of the Iceberg
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Cooking Vinyl

Blitzen Trapper
Blitzen Trapper Deluxe Reissue
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: LidKerCow, LTD
More Info:
Blitzen Trapper’s debut album from 2003 will be available for the first time on vinyl in celebration of it’s 10th Anniversary. The record was remastered by Bruce Barielle and the lacquers were cut by Jeff Powell at Ardent Studios in Memphis, TN. A very limited edition run, the record is pressed on 180g vinyl with a free digital download of the entire record with five previously unheard bonus tracks from the original sessions.

Joe Bussard
Guitar Rag/Screwdriver Slide
DETAILS
Format: 78 rpm 10″
Label: Tompkins Square

Calexico
Spiritoso
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Anti/Epitaph

Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
Rattlin Bones
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill

cookisbell

Elizabeth Cook / Jason Isbell
Tecumseh Valley b/w Pancho & Lefty
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: 31 Tigers
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
“Tecumseh Valley” b/w “Pancho & Lefty”
Studio versions of both artists covering Townes Van Zandt. They originally performed these songs on Late Night with David Letterman

cooley

Mike Cooley
Too Pretty To Work
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Cooley Records
More Info:
Record Store Day 7″ featuring 2 live tracks recorded at shows in 2012.
1 – Self Destructive Zones (3:36)
2 – Get Downtown (3:12)

Bob Dylan
Wigwam
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Columbia
More Info:
A – Wigwam (Unreleased Demo,) B – Thirsty Boots (Previously Unreleased) — Two previously unreleased Bob Dylan recordings from the Self Portrait sessions. Includes a demo version of “Wigwam” and the previously unreleased track “Thirsty Boots.” Taken from the forthcoming release, The Bootleg Series Vol. 10.

Justin Townes Earle
Yuma
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Bloodshot Records
More Info:
Previously released debut EP from Justin Townes Earle, now on vinyl for the first time. 10″ vinyl. Colored vinyl (opaque gold). Limited to 1000 copies, for RSD.
The Ghost of Virginia, You Can’t Leave, Yuma, I Don’t Care, Let the Waters Rise, A Desolate Angels Blues

Alejandro Escovedo/Chris Scruggs
78 rpm 10
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Plowboy Records
More Info:
78 rpm 10″ A/B single release of two covers of Eddy Arnold standards by Alejandro Escovedo (A side) and Chris Scruggs (B side) for upcoming “You Don’t Know Me: Rediscovering Eddy Arnold” album project due in May 2013
a side : “It’s a Sin” by Alejandro Escovedo – B side: “Just A Little Lovin’ (Will Go A Long Way” by Chris Scruggs

Giant Giant Sand
Return to Tucson
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Fire / Cargo
More Info:
limited to 1000 copies. 12″LP featuring 8 remixes by John Parish and Ali chant from tracks that featured on 2012’s ‘Tucson’ LP.
SIDE A: Lost love (John Parish + Ali Chant Remix); Undiscovered Country (John Parish Remix); Wind Blown Waltz (John Parish + Ali Chant Alternative Mix); Thing Like That (Ali Chant Extended Version) SIDE B: Carinito (Ali Chant Alternative Mix); Not The End Of The World (Ali Chant Alternative Version); Hard Morning in a Soft Blur (Chris Schultz Extended Version(; Forever & A Day (John Parish + Ali Chant Alternative Mix)

Golden Gunn (Steve Gunn + Hiss Golden Messenger)
Golden Gunn
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Three Lobed / Thrill Jockey
More Info:
Golden Gunn is a collaboration between Steve Gunn and Hiss Golden Messenger. LP comes with a download code. Only 870 made.

Jackie Greene
Love Is A Shining Catastrophe/Sweet Somewhere Bound 7
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: self-released
More Info:
7″ Vinyl Single in 4/c jacket with 2 “A” Sides and 5 song digital download.

Patty Griffin
Ohio
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: New West
More Info:
This is a single A-side 7” pressed on heavyweight vinyl. The vinyl is black, hand-numbered 1-500, and Patty will sign Side B on 25 of the records, which will be randomly distributed. This song is from her forthcoming album, American Kid, due out 5/14/13. This will come in an all white sleeve with a stamped logo and a stickered UPC.

IMAGINATIONAL ANTHEM VOL. 6 : ORIGINS OF AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GUITAR
Format: Gatefold Vinyl Ltd 1500
Label: Tompkins Square
If American Primitive Guitar begins with John Fahey and the Takoma School, then the actual origins of this sound is found within this collection of fourteen classic solo guitar performances. Recorded between 1923 to 1930, this set is the “Rosetta Stone” of style and repertoire tapped into deeply by Fahey, Basho & Rose, among many others. Sam McGee, Riley Puckett, Bayless Rose, Sylvester Weaver, Lemuel Turner, Frank Hutchison and Davey Miller are the rural artists included in this anthology. Each one of these showcases a particular technique and sensitivity sourced from the earlier 19th century parlor guitar tradition. Several of these sides are reissued for their first time including Sylvester Weaver’s “Guitar Blues” which is the first solo finger picked guitar solo ever recorded. Stunningly remastered and annotated by Christopher King.

Iron and Wine
Next to Paradise/Dirty Ocean
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Warner Bros.
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release

Sarah Jarosz
Live At The Troubadour
Label: Sugar Hill

tift

Tift Merritt
Markings
DETAILS
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Yep Roc
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
4-song 12″ featuring an unreleased track, a live track and two acoustic tracks from Traveling Alone. Covered with a tactile cross-stitched/embroidered record cover.

Mumford & Sons
Live at Bull Moose
DETAILS
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Glassnote
More Info:
“””I Will Wait”” “”Ghosts That We Knew”” “”Where Are You Now”” “”Awake My Soul”” — 3 or 4 songs from their bull moose instore – 10″” version”

WillieNelsonCrazyVinyl.indd

Willie Nelson
Crazy: The Demo Sessions
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Sugar Hill
More Info:
When Willie first got to Nashville he cut some demos for Ray Price and Hal Smith’s publishing company, Pamper Music. Though these cuts were used to pitch songs to artists (including ‘Crazy’ for Patsy Cline) and producers, many weren’t released. These 1960-1966 tracks are raw, real and really good, clearly the work of an artist/songwriter headed for stardom.

Willie Nelson
Someday My Prince Will Come
Label: Legacy

Waylon

Waylon Jennings / Old 97s
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Omnivore Recordings
More Info:
2 x 7″
Two tracks from Old 97s sessions with Waylon Jennings, and two additional Old 97s demo tracks. Cover art by Jon Langford of the Mekons and Waco Brothers, and famed painter of country icons.
Iron Road The Other Shoe, Visiting Hours (1996 demo), Fireflies Take 2 (1996 demo)

Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels-Live 1973 7
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: SIERRA
More Info:
Originally released in 1982 as a bonus 7″ EP to Sierra Records “Live 1973” LP release of Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris with full color sleeve.
Side One: Medley- Bony Moronie, 40 Days, Almost Grown Side Two: Conversations, Doing It in the Bus, Broken EBS Box, Hot Burrito #1

Phosphorescent
Aw Come Aw Wry
Label: Misra Records
More Info:
Previously released title from Phosphorescent, and one of the best-selling, on Misra. This will be the first time that it is available on vinyl.

CHARLIE POOLE & THE HIGHLANDERS : THE COMPLETE PARAMOUNT & BRUNSWICK RECORDINGS, 1929
Vinyl w/ Poster Ltd 1500
From 1926 to 1930 one of the most popular rural string bands on record was Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers. Through their 78 RPM discs and their various performances, Charlie Poole was second only to Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. Poole’s uniquely syncopated three finger banjo picking style coupled with his Piedmont vocal inflections eventually colored and defined much of what we consider “old-time” music. The classic configuration of banjo, fiddle and guitar with vocals was encouraged by the main label that promoted Poole but he also wanted to record instrumentals featuring twin-fiddle and piano. As renaming his group The Highlanders, Poole was able to actualize this musical vision. This collection contains all of the sides that Poole made with Roy Harvey, Lucy Terry, and twin-fiddlers Lonnie Austin & Odell Smith. Remastered in beautiful sound by Christopher King and with notes written by old-time musician and scholar Kinney Rorrer.

Punch Brothers
“Ahoy!” – 33 1/3 rpm Vinyl EP
Label: Nonesuch Records
For the first time, the EP has been pressed on 10″ vinyl for Record Store Day, and includes songs by Josh Ritter (“Another New World”), Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (“Down Along the Dixie Line”), Punch Brothers (“Squirrel of Possibility”), and Mclusky (“Icarus Smicarus”), along with one traditional tune, arranged by Punch Brothers (“Moonshiner”). Originall yrecorded during the Nashville sessions for their 2012 album Who’s Feeling Young Now?,

Richard Thompson
Salford Sunday
DETAILS
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: New West
More Info:This is a single A-side 7” pressed on heavyweight vinyl. This song is off of the release Electric (2/5/13). The vinyl is black, hand-numbered 1-500. Richard will sign Side B on 25 of the records, which will be distributed randomly

Frank Turner
Recovery
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Interscope

Various Artists
Yep Roc Hearsay / They Call It Rock
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Yep Roc
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
More Info:
2 Song 12″ on clear vinyl, 24 Yep Roc Artist performing, DVD of recording session, hand made cover

Yonder Mountain String Band
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard

Listen Up! Neko Case – “That’s Who I Am” from Ghost Brothers of Darkland County

GhostBros_cover_5x5_rgbI haven’t seen the Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the collaboration by horror author Stephen King and , roots-rocker John Mellencamp and Americana godfather and singer/songwriter T Bone Burnett, but if the soundtrack gives us any insight into the Southern Gothic musical it’s going to be a killer.(heh)

I already posted an Elvis Costello cut from album. Now we have a sweet cut from Neko Case. A femme fatale reels off a long list of libido-fueled plays over a shuffle. I’m willing to go out on a limb and say that Neko’s character is not one of the good guys.

It’s been years since I’ve heard this country music tinged sound from Neko and I am a fan. What do you think? Leave it in the comments below.

June 4th, 2013 as the project’s new release date. Check the trailer for the soundtrack below.

Watch Out! David Mayfield Parade – “Human Cannonball” [VIDEO]

Good Man Down

Some musicians sound like they are moving Americana music, into new directions, and David Mayfield is one of them. Mayfield paid his dues playing bass for his family’s bluegrass band, alongside his younger sister, the singer/songwriter, Jessica Lea Mayfield. He handled bass on her debut record, Blasphemy So Heartfelt and performed same in her touring band.

Mayfield was also been a “gun-for-hire” for pick-up gigs in the tourist filled honky-tonks on Nashville’s lower Broadway and was also the lead guitarist and contributing songwriter for roots band Cadillac Sky, currently on indefinite hiatus.

He has also toured with The Avett Brothers, Mumford & Songs and Willie Nelson.

Mayfield’s self-titled debut was pretty much unremarkable, straight-ahead bluegrass fair. His upcoming Kickstarter funded release Good Man Down things get a bit more daring.

Mayfield said in a recent press release. “I feel like this record is more mature. Now that I’ve been touring so much I have had the chance to try new songs live and see how they are accepted, and to construct an album that is more of a cohesive thought.”

On the song Human Cannonball (below) Mayfield’s high-tenor meshes well with the melancholy, love-lost theme and the bluegrass influenced sound that are steeped in country music tradition. But the arrangement, and soaring chorus, shifts the song into the pop-folk territory of R.E.M, the Avetts and Mumford and Co.

It speaks well of that maturity Mayfield spoke of that he doesn’t get trapped in the saccharine mechanizations of the last two and comes closer to the best of the former.

Good Man Down is will be released April 1 on Beautywood Records.

Elizabeth Cook on the Late Show with Georgia Southern University Marching Band

Elixabeth Cook on Letterman 3-14-13Elizabeth Cook stopped by the Late Show for her third visit to explain the Australian country music scene to David Letterman. Just what makes the Best Bush Ballad!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOTJ5q53R6A

Cook also performed Tear This Building Down from her current EP Gospel Plow. She was joined by the Georgia Southern University “Southern Pride marching band. Cook is a 1996 graduate of Georgia Southern with dual degrees in Accounting and Computer Information Systems.

Ryan Adams to Preview New Album in Live , Full-Band , Performance

RyanAdams2Consequence of Sound reports that Ryan Adams has announced his first show backed by a full band since The Cardinals split up in 2009. The show will take place March 19th at London’s Royal Albert Hall and is part of the Noel Gallagher-curated Teenage Cancer Trust benefit concert series.

COS has done some on-line sleuthing and posts “…the Royal Albert Hall ticketing site describes Adams’ “The show will feature the debut of new songs from his as-yet-untitled new album due for release in the autumn alongside classics from his extensive catalogue.”

So, if the program’s details of “new songs” and “new album” correct there appears to be a new album on the horizon. The record reportedly has Adams reuniting with 2011′s Ashes & Fire producer/legend Glyn Johns (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Clash), and COS reports that the band accompanying him on March 19th is expected to be the same as in the studio.
Check Adams’ recent appearance on Conan, sporting Buck Owen’s red, white and blue acoustic guitar, below.

Muscle Shoals Celebration – Percy Sledge, Brittany Howard and John Paul White and More

Muscle Shoals

An all-Star Concert in support of the film “Muscle Shoals” was held on February 27th, 2013 at the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Conference Center.

On hand was John Paul White (The Civil Wars), Candi Staton, Delbert McClinton, Ed King (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes), Christine Ohlman (Saturday Night Live Band), Donna Jean Godchaux (Grateful Dead) and many other legendary Muscle Shoals Musicians joined together to celebrate the great music that came from the area and specifically from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

Here’s some video of the event. Special thanks to @johnamacie for bringing the White videos to my attention.

Learn more about muscle Shoals the movie, dates and locations here.

Percy Sledge – Dark End of the Street

“Wild Horses” Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

John Paul White – “Outfit” – Drive-By Trucker’s

John Paul White “No One Will Ever Love You”

John Paul performing “I’ll Be There” co-written by him and The SteelDrivers –

Watch Out – Red Molly: “Hello Goodbye” [VIDEO]

Red-Molly

First off, no this is not the Beatles tune. NYC-based Folk/Bluegrass/Americana music trio Red Molly‘s original is a jaunty tune playing on the ups and downs of relationships. The tune offers cracker jack musicianship and crystal-stream harmonies beautifully performed by members Laurie MacAllister (bass), Abbie Gardner (dobro, banjo) and Molly Venter (guitar).

Abbie wrote “Hello Goodbye” with her father Herb Gardner, a swing jazz and stride pianist and dixieland trombonist who has played with Wynton Marsalis, Roy Eldridge, Henry “Red” Allen, Jimmy Rushing, and Doc Cheatham.

The video was shot at the Cape Cod Carousel Funhouse Arcade. A fitting place for a song abut love I think.

The band has scored #3 on Folk DJ’s Top Album list of 2012 with Light in the Sky, and reached #10 on the Americana Music Association’s Top 40 radio chart. They’ve appeared on NPR’s Mountain Stage, MerleFest, RockyGrass, and about 100 other venues per year since their start in in 2004. In 2013, they’ll head to Australia for four major music festivals, and are booked to perform at Denmark’s Tønder Festival. (See full schedule below)

The name Red Molly is taken from a character in the Richard Thompson song “1952 Vincent Black Lightning.”

RED MOLLY TOUR SCHEDULE

March 8-11, 2013: Port Fairy Folk Festival, Port Fairy VIC AUSTRALIA
March 12, 2013: Community Hall, Valencia Creek VIC AUSTRALIA
March 14, 2013: Private Concert, Cadgee NSW AUSTRALIA
March 15-17, 2013: Blue Mountains Music Festival, Katoomba NSW AUSTRALIA
March 18, 2013: Private Concert, Nowra NSW AUSTRALIA
March 19, 2013: Private Concert, Moruya NSW AUSTRALIA
March 21, 2013: Groove Factory, Wagga Wagga NSW AUSTRALIA
March 22-24, 2013:Yackandandah Folk Festival, Yackandandah VIC AUSTRALIA
March 25, 2013: Yea Music Group, Alexandra VIC AUSTRALIA
March 26, 2013: Bendigo Folk Club, Bendigo VIC AUSTRALIA
March 28, 2013: The Quarterdeck, Narooma NSW AUSTRALIA
March 29-April 1, 2013: The National Folk Festival, Canberra ACT AUSTRALIA
April 19, 2013: Irvington Town Hall Theater, Irvington NY
April 20, 2013: Sounding Board, West Hartford CT
April 25-27, 2013: MerleFest, Wilkesboro NC
April 28, 2013: The Hamilton, Washington DC
May 10, 2013: Catherine Cummings Theatre, Cazenovia NY
May 11, 2013: Golden Link Folk Society, Penfield NY
May 17, 2013: Center for Arts at Natick, Natick MA
May 18, 2013: Landmark on Main St., Port Washington NY
May 19, 2013: Susquehanna Folk Music Society, Harrisburg PA
May 31, 2013: Narrows Center for the Arts, Fall River MA
June 1, 2013: Hurdy Gurdy, Fair Lawn NJ
June 29, 2013: Kate Wolf Music Festival, Laytonville CA
July 10, 2013: Lakewood Cultural Center, Lakewood CO
July 11-13, 2013: High Mountain Hay Fever Festival, Westcliffe CO
July 14, 2013: Aspen Bluegrass Series, Aspen CO
July 21, 2013: Bartlett Arboretum, Stamford CT
July 23, 2013: Meeting House Park Summer Music Series, Hampstead NH
July 30, 2013: Boathouse Theater, Schroon Lake NY
August 22-25, 2013: Tønder Festival, Tønder, DENMARK
September 20, 2013: CenterStage, Reston VA
September 22, 2013: Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, Bristol VA/TN
October 4, 2013: BlackRock Center for the Arts, Germantown MD
October 5, 2013: Sanctuary Concerts, Chatham NJ
October 12, 2013: Chenango Arts, Norwich NY
October 18, 2013: Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead MA
October 19, 2013: Circle of Friends, Franklin MA
October 25, 2013: Naked Soul at The Rubin, New York NY
October 26, 2013: St. Paul’s Church, Elkins Park PA
November 3, 2013: University of FL Performing Arts, Gainesville FL
November 4, 2013: Straz Center for the Arts, Tampa FL
November 8, 2013: Riverhawk Music Festival, Brooksville FL
November 9, 2013: Labyrinth Cafe, Fort Lauderdale FL
November 22, 2013: Whiskey Tasting Fundraiser, Fredericksburg TX
November 24, 2013: Winter Wind Concerts, Norman OK
January 25, 2014: Randolph County Community Arts Center, Elkins WV
February 13, 2014: Weinberg Center for the Arts, Frederick MD
March 8, 2014: Music in Corrales, Corrales NM
March 22, 2014: Emelin Theater, Mamaroneck NY
March 29, 2014: Steinman Hall at The Ware Center, Lancaster PA
April 29, 2014: VA Arts Festival, Richmond VA
April 30, 2014: Salisbury University, Salisbury MD
May 9, 2014: River Club Music Hall, Scituate MA
May 10, 2014: Sounding Board, West Hartford CT
May 11, 2014: New Hope Winery, New Hope PA
June 13, 2014: Livermore Valley PAC, Livermore CA
August 30, 2014: Weis Center for the Performing Arts, Lewisburg PA

Watch Out – The Wild Feathers: “The Ceiling” and “Backwoods Company”[VIDEO]

wild feathersSometimes hype is deserved. Nashville by way of Austin band The Wild Feathers have been all over my Facebook feed for the last few weeks and for that reason I’ve avoided them like a friend s request from Blake Shelton. Then people I respect started to “like ” them. I folded and gave ’em a listen. I’m glade I did.

Ricky Young, Joel King, Taylor Burns and Preston Wimberly fuse their influences –
Petty, Dylan, Cash, The Band, Allman Bros, Neil Young and Willie Nelson – into a taunt and furious sound. This has been galvanized by a heavy touring scheduled that has landed them alongside Delta Spirit, Surfer Blood and The Heavy, and even an opening spot on Paul Simon’s 2011 fall tour.

the videos, both directed by Gus Black, prove the broad range of the band. “Backwoods Company” proves the band’s live heat and offers a menacing Southern outlaw theme reminiscent of early Drive-By Truckers.

“The Ceiling” has a mellower, front-porch ramble that swells into a Mumford & Sons-style song-a-long chorus tailor made for audience participation.

If they stay consistent the The Wild Feathers could be Americana and roots music’s next breakout band. We’ll know more when their Interscope comes out later this year.

SXSW goers check out the band at the Nikon Warner Sound Showcase at SXSW on March 14.
Pick up both cuts for an email address at thewildfeathers.com

Happy Texas Independence Day Y’all!

guitar case front open2No my native state of Texas hasn’t seceded from the rest of the U.S (yet!)

Texas Independence Day celebrates the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence on March 2, 1836 officially breaking from Mexico to create the Republic of Texas.

That independent spirit is nowhere better proven then in the music and musicians that come from, or are drawn to, the Lone Star State. Here are a few of my favorite Texas roots and Americana artists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dXR5Dk8YNw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ydFQiSHa9o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL8xnVbj5Ts