Tag Archives: alt.country

Those Darlins on Tour

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Ever wonder what it would been like if Anita, June, and Helen Carter had been reared on pop-punk,  kept their respect for old-school country  and looked great in shorts? Well wonder no longer friends, Tennessee-based Those Darlins combine Pentecost earnestness with riot girrl spirit that delivers a sound both reverent and brazen. Fresh off  sharpening their chops  on a holiday run with O’Death and Boss Hog these Southern gals are raring to get back on the road. Go listen to their EP on their MySpace page (and then buy one!) then go see ’em live and show some love.

Those Darlins – Tour Dates

Jan 8 – Off Broadway + St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 9 – Radio Radio + Indianapolis, Indiana
Jan 10 – The Hideout (early show 7pm) + Chicago, Illinois
Jan 13 – The Toad (early show at 8PM)  +  Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jan 14 – Johnny Brenda’s +    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 15 – The Mercury Lounge  *  New York, New York
Jan 16 2009 – The Mercury Lounge ++     New York, New York
Jan 17 2009 – Union Pool ++ New York, New York

Feb 28 – 9:30 Club ** Washington, DC
Mar 1 – Paradise Club ** Boston, MA
Mar 2 – Music Hall of Williamsburg ** Brooklyn, NY
Mar 3 – Bowery Ballroom ** New York, NY
Mar 5 – Beachland Ballroom ** Cleveland, OH
Mar 6 – Metro ** Chicago, IL
Mar 7 – First Avenue ** Minneapolis, MN
Mar 10 – The Showbox ** Seattle, WA
Mar 11 – Wonder Ballroom ** Portland, OR
Mar 13 – Bimbo’s ** San Francisco, CA
Mar 14 – El Rey Theatre – Los Angelos, CA

+ headline
* w/Ida Marie
++ w/The Soft Pack & The Browns
** w/ Dan Auerbach

Those Darlins – Wild One

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0oZ38g_P7U[/youtube]

Jason Isbell Announces 2009 Tour

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit announce their first tour in support of their new self-titled album (Release date: February 17, 2009 on Lightning Rod Records). Presented by Paste Magazine, the tour will begin in Birmingham, AL on February 12 and continue through the band’s mid-March SXSW showcase in Austin, TX. Benji Hughes, Deer Tick, and Sons of Roswell will support select dates.

Fans can pre-order concert tickets through Front Gate Tickets from now until December 19. Pre-order ticket buyers will also receive a one-year subscription to Paste Magazine and an MP3 of “Seven-Mile Island” (You can hear the cut on Isbell’s MySpace page)   from the new album.

Pre0Order:  http://jasonisbell.frontgatetickets.com/

Tour Dates:

Thu-Feb-12 Birmingham, AL Workplay
Sat-Feb-14 Florence, AL Shoals Theater
Tue-Feb-17  Athens, GA Georgia Theatre
Wed-Feb-18 Atlanta, GA The Earl
Fri-Feb-20 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theatre
Sat-Feb-21 Richmond, VA  The National
Sun-Feb-22 Harrisonburg, VA The Pub
Tue-Feb-24 Boston, MA TT the Bears
Thu-Feb-26 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Fri-Feb-27 Philadelphia, PA    World Café Live
Sat-Feb-28  Pittsburgh, PA Club Cafe
Sun-Mar-01 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Mon-Mar-02 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
Wed-Mar-04 Toronto, ONT  Horseshoe Tavern
Thu-Mar-05 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place
Fri-Mar-06 Columbus, OH The Rumba Café
Sat-Mar-07 Cincinnati, OH Southgate House
Sun-Mar-08 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
Fri-Mar-13 Louisville, KY Headliner’s
Sat-Mar-14 Nashville, TN The Mercy Lounge
Mar 18 – 22 Austin, TX SXSW

Sons of Roswell support 2/12 and 2/14
Benji Hughes supports 2/17 – 2/ 22 and 3/8
Deer Tick supports 2/24, 2/27 – 3/14

James McMurtry and Band First Tour of Europe

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

In 2009, James McMurtry and his band will tour Europe for the first time. McMurtry is touring in support of his new album, Just Us Kids, which has received “Best of the Year” accolades from publications such as The Washington Post, Mojo, Los Angeles Times, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  Legendary musician, Ian McLagan (Faces), will join McMurtry’s band on keyboards for the tour. Austin singer/songwriter, Jon Dee Graham, will open most of the dates. Both McLagan and Graham appear on Just Us Kids.

TOUR DATES:
1/16 Nuremburg, DE K4
1/17 Lauchhammer, DE Real Music Club
1/18 Berlin, DE Cafe Zapata
1/20 Hamburg, DE Knust
1/21 Leipzig, DE Nato
1/22 Heilbronn, DE Red River Saloon
1/23 Eppstein, DE Wunderbar Weite Welt
1/24 Geislingen/Steige, DE Rätsche
1/25 Zürich, CH El Lokal
1/27 Amsterdam, NL Paradiso
1/28 Den Haag, NL Paard van Troje
1/29 Den Bosch, NL W2
1/30 Diksmuide, BE Club 4AD
1/31 Bristol, UK Polish Club
2/01 Glasgow, UK Oran Mor (Celtic Connections Festival) *
2/02 Belfast, IE Errigle Inn
2/03 Dublin, IE Whelan’s
2/04 Leeds, UK Brudenell Social Club
2/05 Newcastle, UK The Cluny
2/06 Nottingham, UK The Maze
2/07 London, UK Luminaire
2/08 London, UK Luminaire

*Jon Dee Graham opening all dates on tour except Celtic Connections Festival

Jason Isbell Readying 2009 Release

Posted on by — 4 Comments ↓

Former Drive By Trucker Jason Isbell is readying the self-titled release of his second solo album. The release was recorded at the renowned FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. and will be the first to feature the 400 Unit, which has been Isbell’s band for over 200 shows in support of irens Of The Ditch.

The 400 Unit features Derry deBorja on keyboards, Jimbo Hart on bass and Browan Lollar on guitar. Isbell co-produced the album with Matt Pence, who also lends his dumming talents to the lineup.

The release has a Feb. 17, 2009 drop date, but tracks can be heard now on Isbell’s MySpace page.

Tracklist:

1.  Seven-Mile Island
2.  Sunstroke
3.  Good
4.  Cigarettes and Wine
5.  However Long
6.  Coda
7.  The Blue
8.  No Choice in the Matter
9.  Soldiers Get Strange
10. Streetlights
11.  The Last Song I Will Write

Album Review – The Wildes – Ballad of a Young Married Man (Release Date 3/09)

Posted on by — 3 Comments ↓

Ever since seeing the darkly striking Australian western The Proposition I’ve been fascinated with the similarities between the Land Down Under and the American South and West of the nineteenth century, both good (confronting a wild frontier to achieve independence and establish a society) and bad  (attacking and displacing an indigenous people.) Now due to The Wildes, an Americana/alt.country band from Victoria, Australia, I am now just as fascinated with roots music as interpreted in the land of Oz.

Some of the cuts on Ballad of a Young Married Man take an old-testament page from fellow countryman Nick Cave (and script writer for the aforementioned movie The Proposition). The title song, “Jack the Blacksmith,” “Nothing” and the tribal drum-beat brooder “Slap-Back Mary” could have all come from Cave if was inclined to pen country-hued songs.

The chugging “Streets of My Hometown” carries the DNA of Steve Earle’s Hometown Blues and the sweetly melancholic “Sue-Ellen” sounds like a lost Waterboys cut. “If I’ve Done You Wrong” is a organ backed barroom weeper that basks in its unrepentant spirit and the wonderfully reflective “Loverman” is a rustic beauty. The bonus track Broken Blossoms is a piano and banjo bawler that I imagine could have been penned by that trash can troubadour Tom Waits. The Wildes cover a wide expanse of Americana dirt roads and wear their influences proudly on their sleeves, but their interpretation on these styles are uniquely their own.

Official Site |  MySpace

Sweet Teresa.mp3

James McMurtry and Lucinda Williams Get Political

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

As the 2004 2004 Presidential Election was drawing near James McMurtry gave away a free download of his state of the union anthem, “We Can’t Make It Here.” The song seemed to strike a chord with the public and went on to win Song of the Year at the Americana Music Honors and Awards. Author Stephen King described it as the “best American protest song since ‘Masters of War'” in his Entertainment Weekly column. On the brink of the 2008 election, McMurtry is now giving away a previously unreleased live version of “We Can’t Make It Here” from his 2008 concert at Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY.

Following the release of her new album Little Honey, Lucinda Williams has just released a politically-charged, digital only, four-song Live EP titled Lu in 08. The EP features three covers and one Williams original. The tracks will be Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” Bob Dylan’s “Masters Of War,” Thievery Corporation/Flaming Lips collaboration “Marching The Hate Machines” and the unreleased “Bone Of Contention.” The three covers were recorded live in Greensboro, NC in September 2007 and “Bone Of Contention” in Milwaukee, WI of July 2008.  Here the EP streaming here.

Howe Gelb, Patty Loveless, Hoots & Hellmouth and Hank III

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • Philly.com has a Q&A with Philadelphia’s own roots group Hoots & Hellmouth.
  • South Carolina’s TheState.com has a Q&A with Patty Loveless who will be performing at the Newberry Opera House this Saturdsay October 25th.
  • Howe Gelb talks to 3news in New Zealand music, politics and his place as the “reluctant godfather of alt-country.”
  • I recently reviewed the excellent Hank III release “Damn Right Rebel Proud.”  Some other folks seemed smitten by the release as well (here, here, here, here, and here.)

Free Lucinda Williams Audio Webcast TONIGHT

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Three-time Grammy Award-winner, Lucinda Williams, will make her October 23rd concert at the legendary First Avenue in Minneapolis available to all as a fee audio webcast.

Fans can chat live while listening to the show by going to www.lucindawilliams.com where listeners can tune in as Williams performs her new album, Little Honey in its entirety, followed by a second set of songs from her extensive catalogue.

Lucinda Williams to Release Protest EP

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • Hot on the heels of her new release “Little Honey” Lucinda Williams will release “Lu in 08,” a digital-only EP of protest songs just before the presidential elections (Oct. 28.) The EP will feature four live tracks, three of which are covers: Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War,” Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” and the Thievery Corporation/Wayne Coyne collaboration “Marching the Hate Machines Into the Sun.” The fourth cut is the Williams original “Bone of Contention,” which was originally intended for inclusion on “Little Honey.” Williams is currently on the road in support of “Little Honey.”
  • Sure Ryan Adams can be a pretentious dick (I hate, HATE, country music), but he’s an undeniable talent especially live. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals will play a hometown Halloween show Oct. 31 at New York’s Apollo Theatre. The groups next Lost Highway album, “Cardinology,” will arrive Oct. 28. Fans who pre-order through iTunes will receive an immediate download of first single “Fix It.”

Record Review – The Moonshine Sessions – Solal (Indent Series)

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Much of my wayward youth was spent journeying through various musical genres. Like the geographical type, musical travel helps impede bigotry, in this case musical bigotry. This experience has helped me to look at the music I hear more fully and not to reflexively dismiss something just because it doesn’t for some rigid idea of what I should like.

One genre (sub-genre really) I still love is, for lack of a better term, World electronica. Old world sounds mixed with laptop beats that meld into a surprisingly great thing. One artists that did this melding particularly well was the tango/electronica focused Gotan Project stewarded by  dj, producer and Frenchman Philippe Cohen.

If you mentioned to me that this Parisian was now not only jumping genres by another border altogether by packing up his laptop and heading to Nashville I would have told you it was a recipe for disaster, and I would have been dead wrong.

Cohen had solid instincts to hire some of Nashville and Texas’ best – Jim Lauderdale, David Olney, Sam bush, Melonie Cannon and Rosie Flores to name a few – and to hire Bucky Baxter (Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams) to co-produce. Like with the Gotan Project works, the songs here are lush and custom made for early morning brunch or relaxing late night listening, but the soul is still intact and beauty undeniable. Atmosphere is scattered throughput the songs in the form of musicians chewing fat, crickets and distance dog barking and train whistles. What could have easily been ham-handed is an outsiders’ loving snapshot of country music and culture.

From the pedal steel and banjo flecked opener of Jim Lauderdale sung “The Academy of Trust” to the unlikely covers of
Abbas “Dancing Queen” (featuring Melonie Cannon) and the Sex Pistols “Pretty Vacant” (featuring the amazing Rosie Flores.) All this with the warm, organic production of a front-porch guitar pull with the slightest tinge of electronic wizardry.

Cohen has proven himself to be a true connoisseur of sound and annihilator of boundaries with this fine release.

Moonshine Sessions Main Site |  MySpace

The Moonshine Sessions – Luna’s Song

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-CLoJYs2s[/youtube]