Trampled by Turtles on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

The pride of Duluth, Minnesota – Trampled by Turtles – brought their frenetic brand of bluegrass to CBS’ “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” Wednesday night. The band tore through the song “Walt Whitman” from their latest album, “Stars and Satellites.

The band made their network TV debut late April on “Late Show with David Letterman,” where the band performed “Alone,” also from “Stars and Satellites.” The album has been on Billboard’s bluegrass charts for the past 13 weeks and currently is in the top spot. It’s also No. 14 on the folk albums chart.

The band is currently on tour. Go see ’em.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CJodfZ3htY&feature=player_embedded

Red Eye Junction CD Release Party

San Luis Obispo. CA.’s home-grown honky-tonkers Red Eye Junction gets some local ink (pixels?) on a release party (Saturday, Jan. 03, 2009 – Downtown Brewing Co.) for their current work “In the Shadows” and their upcoming  8-day tour of Belgium and Holland .

Road and Track’s Peter Egan and Richard Mayer set out to cover Hank Williams last ride in a ’53 Powder Blue Cadillac on what they christin a “Near Miss Tour of Historical Authenticity.” (Hank’s Caddy was a ’52) (via 9513.com)

Apparently Jack Black has discovered Bluegrass and sings the traditional ditty “Old Joe Clark” on his father-in-law Charlie Haden’s Grammy-nominated CD “Rambling Boy.”

Split Lip Rayfield Preparing New Release “I’ll Be Around”

Witchita, Kansas based Bloodshot Records recording artists Split Lip Rayfield are gearing up for the group’s fifth studio album “I’ll Be Around” is its first collection of new material since 2004’s “Should Have Seen It Coming”and their first since losing their friend and collaborator Kirk Rundstrom to cancer. Lawrence Kansas’ Lawrence.com reports that the album is “vintage Split Lip: blazing-fast banjo  licks balanced by high-lonesome ballads and a healthy sense of humor.”

Split Lip Rayfield – Aces High(mp3)
Split Lip Rayfield – Heart of Darkness(mps)

Split Lip Rayfield – Red Neck Tailgate Dream

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK2LL3Enuro[/youtube]

Cadillac Sky Announces “Gravity’s Our Enemy” Listening Parties

To celebrate the August 19th release of “Gravity’s Our Enemy” Cadillac Sky and Skaggs Family Records will be holding two, count ’em, two release parties.

The first takes place in  Nashville, Tennessee where those C-Sky’s boys will take the stage at the prestigious Grand Ole Opry. The show starts at 9pm. The second will take place Wednesday, August 20th in Fort Worth, Texas, hometown of the band, at Lola’s.  The party gets started at 7:30pm (admission is free with purchase of the cd), so get there early to get your place in line!

If you can’t make it to a show in person Cadillac Sky will bring the party to you. Just log on to www.skaggsfamilyrecords.com on Tuesday at 9:00pm (Central) and witness the birth of “Gravity’s Our Enemy” live on the webcast as it happens.

Cadillac Sky – “Born Lonesome”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXrblHqXod8[/youtube]

Chrissie Hynde Goes Country

Popmatters.com has a review of the DVD “Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music” which they discribe as “Informative and educational, intriguing and entertaining, part American history lesson, part biography and part concert film…”

The good folks over at The 9513 brought to my attention that current Twang Nation favorite Jamey Johnson will be joining Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, and Kenny Chesney (?!) for the 2008 Farm Aid music festival in New England on Sept. 20. Nashville Scene (High Lonesome Sound) and CMT.com(Don’t Tell Jamey Johnson That He’s “Too Country”) both offer features on Johnson.

The guardian.co.uk Music Blog has a brief run down of the current state of American alt.country/Americana scene (Are you ready for (more of) the country?)

Chrissie Hynde of the bad the Pretenders states that the bands first new album in six years (“Break up the Concrete”) will be “moving in a country direction.” Of all the country music carpet bagging that has been happening recently I have to say that a musician with Hynde’s credibility makes me think she’ll do it right, but she is a vegitarian, so does this mean that Jessica Simpson has to get another t-shirt?

Gangstagrass

When It comes to music I am not purist, and unless your advocating musical purity you better be talking about music created by banging on logs in a forest or your idea of musical purity is warped. The fine folks at Ninebullets.net came across a Rench genre mash-up of “Underground hip-hop vocals with Rench beats and tons of uncleared samples from early bluegrass, folk ballads, and blues as well as some modern bluegrass as well.”

The samples offered sound surprisingly good for being so opposite on the musical culture spectrum.

New York Times on the City’s Growing Roots Music Scene

The New York Times has a nice piece on something I’ve seen first hand. the rising popularity of Roots Music here in New York. The city that gave you the smoky Greenwich Village folk clubs from the 60’s seems posed to offer the same proving ground for roots and Americana music.

From the article: “There’s another generation of people who want to hear music that’s accessible, that’s not a prefab product, that’s lyric based but not preachy,” said Adam Levy, a guitarist and singer-songwriter who has played on all of Ms. (Norah) Jones’s albums. “If there’s a roots movement in New York now, I think of it in those terms.”