Tag Archives: Dwight-Yoakam

Americana Awards Nominees Announced: Shovels and Rope, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller Shine

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The nominees for the Americana Music Awards and Honors was announced today from the Grammy Museum’s Clive Davis Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. The one-hour ceremony was carried live on AXS TV and featured performances by Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller (with a tribute to the late George Jones) Lisa Marie Presley backed by T Bone Burnett, Elizabeth Cook, and Emerging Artist of the Year nominees The Milk Carton Kids.

The 2013 Americana Music Association Festival and Conference is scheduled for September 18-22, with the awards ceremony being held at the historic Ryman Auditorium on Thursday, Sep. 18. The event awards six member voted annual awards and with Lifetime Achievement Awards, to be announced as the event approaches. Jim Lauderdale is a natural as the proceedings host and Buddy Miller leads the always exemplary house band.

Can’t make to to the event? Understandable as it has sold out in recent years. But do not despair, the Americana Honors and Awards show will shown live on AXS TVa nd an edited version will show up on PBS at a later date. It will also be broadcast via SiriusXM Radio, BBC2, WSM and Voice of America.

South Carolina newcomers Shovels and Rope will lead the field with four nominations, followed by legendary Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller each with three nods. I’m happy to report that a few of my choices made it on the list this year(Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison, YES!) and John Fullbright is up for Emerging Artist of the Year. Well if being nominated for the Americana Album of the year Grammy, as Fullbright was before losing to Bonnie Raitt, isn’t emerging the I don’t know what is. Dwight Yoakam’s dominance of the Americana charts earlier this year with his new release Three Pears (my review) also garnered him an Artist of the Year nod.

Here is the full list of the 2013 Americana Music Award nominees. Are your choices here?

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Buddy & Jim, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
Cheaters Game, Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison
From The Ground Up, John Fullbright
O Be Joyful, Shovels and Rope
Old Yellow Moon, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Buddy Miller
Dwight Yoakam
Emmylou Harris
Richard Thompson

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
JD McPherson
John Fullbright
Milk Carton Kids
Shovels and Rope

SONG OF THE YEAR
Birmingham – Shovels & Rope
Good Things Happen to Bad People – Richard Thompson
Ho Hey – The Lumineers
North Side Gal – JD McPherson

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell
Shovels & Rope

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Doug Lancio
Greg Leisz
Jay Bellerose
Larry Campbell
Mike Bub

Elizabeth Cook and Lisa Marie Presley announce the nominees

Milk Carton Kids Live performing “Hope of a Lifetime”

Who’s The Greatest Voice in Country/Roots Music Now? [VIDEO]

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George Jones and George Strait

George Jones was arguably the greatest male voice in country music. He set the standard for feeling and inflection that is still considered the standard today. In the wake of his death USA Today asks “Now who’s the greatest living (male) country singer?”

So what are the standards for measure? Longevity and legendary status? Range and feeling? Stage presence? I’m going with technique and style and depth over legacy and stage presence. With the former a distinct style is a given with any legendary performer and as for sage presence , I could care less i they never move on stge if they move me emotionally with their lyrics.

Here are my 6 possible contenders. I’ve stretched country music boundaries to include Americana and roots music overall as some of the best singers, in my opinion, reside there.

If the crown for best country voice was based on chosen successor then Merle Haggard was George Jones’ choice as his favorite country singer.

If your criteria is individual style few could stand up against the nasal vibrato of Willie Nelson.

When Darrell Scott would take his turn at the mic to sing Joe “Red” Hayes and Jack Rhodes’ classic “Satisfied Mind” as a member of Robert Plant’s “Band of Joy” plant had the good sense to step back into a supporting role.

Though more of a soul and gospel, singer Mike Ferris deftly mines the veins that feeds country music’s soul.

Like Jones Dwight Yoakam put a lasting stamp on country music with his intonation and hillbilly hiccup.

George Strait’s baritone is like a warm day and he makes you believe in the song.

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 10 – Chris Knight, Buddy Miller,Jim Lauderdale, John Fullbright, Gurf Morlix

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podcastEpisode #10 (alright double digits!) of Twang Nation Podcast pulls from my first 10 of a list of 21, Cream of the Crop selections from 2012. It’s been a great year for Americana and roots music. T Bone Burnett has done a fine job of sliding roots artists like Lindi Ortega and Shovels and Rope within a Music Row soap opera with ABC’s Nashville. The Americana Music Association continues to burnish the brand and their conference and wards show set attendance and submission records. Even that bastion of Music Row glitz, CMT, saw crossover potential and launched CMT Edge which has featured artists like Jason Isbell and Justin Townes Earle.

2013 shows no signs of slowing down with upcoming releases from Kris Kristofferson, Dale Watson as well as joint releases from Kelly Willis and her hubby Bruce Robison and Emmylou Harris and ex Hot Band member and legendary songwriter Rodney Crowell.

As the Americana music culture and industry grows and becomes more of a mainstream staple, with bands like Mumford and Sons and the Avett Brothers leading the way, I applaud the advantages and the opportunities for musicians and we who cover them. As I’ve said, I want the performers I cover to get more prestigious gigs, better recording facilities, more gear and to leave their touring vans behind and be bale to afford the relative comfort of a touring bus. I don’t believe musicians should suffer for tier craft (much!) Here’s to mutually rising boats.

In the new year I resolve to do my best not to follow the hyped path most traveled and do what I’ve always done, follow my heart and my ear to places more interesting and authentic for the love of music. I hope you come with me in and enjoy what I discover.

Thanks you for reading the site, following on twiiter , Facebook, Google+ and my work over at Grammy.com.

Happy holidays and a safe and happy New year to you all.

Opening Song – “Mr. D.J” – by Dale Watson
1.Chris Knight- song:”Little Victories”- Album: “Little Victories” (Drifter’s Church Productions)
2.Malcolm Holcolmbe – song: “Gone Away at Last”- Album: “Down the River” (GypsyeyesMusic – out now )
3.Darrell Scott – Song: Hopskinville – Album: Long Ride Home (Full Light Records)
4.Corb Lund – song: Gettin’ Down on the Mountain Album: Cabin Fever (New West Records)
5. Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale That’s Not Even Why I Love You. – Album: Buddy and Jim (New West Records)
6.Iris DeMent – song:Sing The Delta- Album:Sing The Delta (Flariella Records)
7.Dwight Yoakam – song:A Heart Like Mine- Album:3 Pears (Warner Bros. Records)
8.Turnpike Troubadours Song: Gin, Smoke and Lies- Album:Goodbye Normal Street (Bossier City Records)
9.John Fullbright song:Satan and St. Paul- Album:From The Ground Up (Bossier City Records)
10. Shovels & Rope- song:Fire On The Hill- Album:O’ Be Joyful (Dualtone Records)
11. Gurf Morlix – song:Present Tense- Album: Gurf Morlix Finds the Present Tense – Out March 5, 2013)
12.Robert Earl Keen- song:Merry Christmas from the Family- Album: Gringo Honeymoon

Grammy Award for Best Americana Album – Predictions

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Live on CBS this Wednesday the Grammy organization will announce it’s nominees for all categories at The Grammy Nominations Concert Live!! concert from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

The Music City event will be the first time the Grammys have hosted an official awards programs since the 1973 Awards was held there. Wednesday’s eclectic offering of Pop, rappers, rockers and country singers will reflect the Nashville Grammys that brought together Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Ringo Starr, Curtis Mayfield at the former Tennessee Theatre on Church Street.

The event will also feature a tribute to the legendary Johnny Cash. So far The Band Perry and Dierks Bentley also have been confirmed to take part in the tribute, though I argue that the manner in which Cash was treated by Music City late in his career a more fitting tribute would be populated by those on the Americana side of the fence. Hank III and Shooter Jennings anyone?

Though not reflected in performers on the stage that day (boo!) the Grammys nominees for the Best Americana Album of the Year will be announced. Personally I have no inside knowledge of who’s names will be called, but am willing to use what I can from over all three years of the the category’s existence. There are two obvious patterns that emerge, the nominees are well-known veterans in the music industry and all have been nominated for or won Grammys in the past.

But then there’s the Linda Chorney wild card from last year that blows away the first two patterns. So what do I know?

Set those DVRs for Dec. 5 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Then tune back in on Feb. 10, 8 p.m. ET (CBS) for the 55th annual Grammy awards show.

Let’s address the obvious two choices first. Mumford and Sons are the indisputable kings of contemporary roots-based music. Sure they were beat out by Adele for the coveted Record Of The Year Grammy last year but their prime-time performance with roots cohorts The Avett Brothers and vet Bob Dylan significantly raised their awareness. This higher-profile status has resulted in impressive sales for their sophomore offering, Babel.

The Avett Brothers have enjoyed an expanded fan base for all the reasons detailed above, as well as benefiting from being around longer and having their latest, The Carpenter, being their second to be produced by Rick Rubin.

Gretchen Peters is no stranger to the Grammys. In 1995 Peters received both a Grammy nomination and a Country Music Association Song of the Year award, for Martina McBride’s version of her song “Independence Day.” Her latest “Hello Cruel World’ is arguably some of her best work and has a great chance of catching the Grammy voters attention.

Dwight Yoakam has said that he doesn’t just want to appeal only to the smaller audience from his superstar heyday, I’m certain these days Nashville has little room for his signature Bakersfield sound. though I’m sure he won’t balk at his current perch at #1 on the current Americana charts. Yoakam won the Grammy Award for “Best Male Country Vocal Performance” in 1993 for the song “Ain’t That Lonely Yet”.

Willie Nelson has been nominated in this category before, in 2011 for the T Bone Burnett produced Country Music. Hos latest, Heroes, is a wonderful if uneven body of work that could find no better home than here. Personally, this is my favorite dark horse.

ON EDIT:

After a day of reflection I’m compelled to add a couple of more contenders that had slipped past me while writing this post.

Marty Stuart’s collection of country memorabilia is legendary, but his songs are his greatest contribution to the legacy.Stuart snagged his 5th Grammy at last year’s 54th annual event for Best Country Instrumental Performance for his”Hummingbyrd,” a musical tribute to the Byrds’ guitarist Clarence White, Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives came out with the excellent release Nashville, Volume 1: Tear the Woodpile Down.

Chris Thile was a national mandolin champion at 12, a Grammy winner at 16 and one of this year’s MacArthur “genius grant” recipients. He can really screw up the bell curve for other musicians. His newest venture, The Punch Brothers, which I consider like Mumford and Sons with more depth and better chops, were nominated at the 54th Grammys for Best Country Instrumental Performance on the tune “New Chance Blues,” a bonus track on their second record Antifogmatic. They were also nominated for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for the song “Pride” with Dierks Bentley and Del McCoury.

Music Review: Dwight Yoakam – 3 Pears [Warner Bros.]

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It’s been seven long years since Dwight Yoakam’s last proper release, 2005′s Blame the Vain. Since then he of painted-on jeans and low-hanging Stetson has done some acting – most notably the opening scene in  The Wedding Crashers and as the manic Doc Miles in the hilariously over-the-top Crank films. Yoakam has done some music producing an an excellent tribute to his mentor Buck Owens, but for the most part, for a man you couldn’t escape in his heyday, Yoakam’s been MIA.

His newly released album 3 Pears neatly connects a path of trajectory Yoakam’s career. The road he’s been traveling since the early 80′s L.A. cow-punk scene where he was perfected his craft in clubs like Club Lingerie and The Roxy opening for local bands like The Blasters and Los Lobos. Almost as soon as he set foot on SoCal soil Yoakam became part actor – taking the cowboys imagery from 60s films like Paul Newman’s Hud and Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, and part honk-tonk disciple – taking his sound from the 50s Bakersfield sound of Merle Haggard and his mentor Buck Owens. Yoakam always appeared assured and to be a man embodying s place he had planned to be all along.

3 Pears has all the trademarks you’d expect of a Yoakam work. Skillful performances within taught arrangements The hillbilly vocals topped-off with a hiccup finish. The swagger that won him legions of fans. All here without a skip or a a thought to ape modern trends. Even where on paper you’d think he might be a buckling toward commercial pressures -  like inviting Kid Rock to co-write the album opener Take Hold of My Hand – with it’s brash bass moving toward a spirited sock-hop snap resulting in no discernible trace of Rock’s Southern /classic rock regurgitation influence at all.

Waterfall is a lingeringly paced cut skirting between whimsey and DaDa showing Yoakam’s not afraid to throw out the classic handbook of country music themes. The song achieves a level of absurd imagery that would make Roger Miller smile. ” If I had a waterfall, It might not make no sense at all, But that won’t matter much to you and me.’

Yoakam shows his Guitars, Cadillacs Etc. Etc. roots with Joe Maphis’ honky-tonk take on the Honky-Tonk angel theme  Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, which was also extensively covered by The Flying Burrito Brothers. Yoakam’s Trying moves into sweet Memphis soul territory with a “Dock of the Bay” vibe and a lovely Wurlitzer accompaniment.

Indy rocker Beck co-produces two tracks; the bittersweet Missing Heart is great rendition of a classic pedal steel weeper but Mr Hanson’s pastiche sensibilities are most apparent on A Heart Like Mine with it’s guitar lick echoing I’m a Believer from one of Yoakam’s stylistic influences, the Monkees.  ” The slow rocking Rock It All Away cribs a bit close the melody of The Who’s  Baba O’Riley for me to just enjoy the song on it’s own merits.

Yoakam is nothing if not the American ideal of the self-made man and 3 Pears proves that  we are all, ultimately,  a product of his influences. Yaokam has taken those influences and composed one of the best albums of his career.

Choice cuts – Dim Lights, Thick Smoke , Wateerfall , Trying

Official Site | Buy

 

Stagecoach 2013 Lineup Announced

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If somebody said that Justin Townes Earle and Lady Antebellum would be appearing on the same bill you would not be remiss in thinking “You’re nuts.”

Then you haven’t been to Stagecoach.

The above is indeed correct. The Goldenvoice-produced festival, now in it’s seventh year, takes a broad, historical view of country music. Contemporary country staples Toby Keith and Trace Adkins with country legends Charley Pride and Don Williams and Americana music favorites Old Crow Medicine Show and Hayes Carll are all included.

I’m a fan of this cross-influence dynamic. That a Toby Keith fan could check out Hayes Carll is good for both fan bases that tend to be a bit musically and culturally insular. Americana acts in front of these huge audiences gives them a big opportunity to grow their audience.

And if Keith and Carll break into a rendition of “Beer for my Horses” I’ll be the first to applaud.

The festival place the weekend of April 26-28 in Indio California. Tickets go on sale Oct. 20 at 10 a.m. via the official Stagecoach site. A new pricing structure is in place for 2013, and a three-day festival pass will cost $239.

Friday, April 26:
Toby Keith, Hank Williams Jr., Trace Adkins, Jeff Bridges & the Abiders, Roger McGuinn, Old Crow Medicine Show, Joe Nichols, Connie Smith, Maggie Rose, Hayes Carll, Wylie and the Wild West, Commander Cody, the Steel Wheels, Haunted Windchimes, Alissa Griffith

Saturday, April 27:
Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley, Rodney Atkins, Dwight Yoakam, Phil Vassar, Nick 13, John Anderson, Marty Stuart, Jana Krama, Justin Townes Earle, Suzy Bogguss, the Honky Tonk Angels Band, Sons and Brothers, the Westbound Rangers, Robert Ellis

Sunday, April 28:
Zac Brown Band, Darius Rucker, Thompson Square, Lonestar, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charley Pride, Don Williams, Tanya Tucker, Blue Sky Riders, John Reilly and Friends, Riders in the Sky, Waddie Mitchell, Florida Georgia Line, Brown Bird, Becky Stark, Gabriel Kelley

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 12 Full Schedule / Picks / Spotify Playlist

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The 12th year of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival shows the premier showcase for great (and FREE!) Americana and roots music is showing no signs of slowing down. This year might prove to be the best yet as old friends like Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Ralph Stanley are joined by event newcomers like punk-turned-folkie Chuck Ragan, Texas sweethearts The Trishas and Americana darlings The Civil Wars, who pulled out of last year’s HSB.

Have fun, and remember to wear layers and stay hydrated out there (and upwind.)  Below find the schedule with my picks in bold.

 

http://open.spotify.com/user/baronlane/playlist/5cC4q83KrbGnddmvRbxO5O

 

Friday Oct 5 (10:00am – 7:00pm)

Star Stage
10:00am Poor Man’s Whiskey and Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Banjo Stage
12:00pm John Reilly and Friends (featuring Becky Stark and Tom Brosseau)
    1:15pm Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys
    2:40pm The Jerry Douglas Band
    4:15pm The Time Jumpers (Vince Gill, Dennis Crouch, Paul Franklin, Larry Franklin, Andy Reiss, Dawn Sears, Kenneth Sears, Joe Spivey, Jeff Taylor & Billy Thomas)
    5:45pm Elvis Costello Solo

Arrow Stage
12:00pm Chuck Ragan
1:00pm Pickwick
2:10pm Chris Carrabba
3:20pm Patterson Hood & the Downtown Rumblers
    4:45pm Jon Langford & His Sadies feat. Sally Timms
6:15pm Reignwölf

Rooster Stage
12:00pm Simone Felice
    1:00pm Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
2:20pm Beachwood Sparks
3:25pm Ben Kweller
4:25pm Jenny Lewis
5:45pm Conor Oberst

Saturday Oct 6 (11:00am – 7:00pm)

Banjo Stage
11:00am World Famous Headliners (Big Al Anderson, Shawn Camp, Pat McLaughlin, Michael Rhodes & Greg Morrow)
12:10pm Alison Brown Quartet with Stuart Duncan
1:25pm Buddy Miller
2:45pm Tribute to the Founding Fathers: Warren Hellman, Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson featuring Alison Brown, Stuart Duncan, Tim O’Brien and Bryan Sutton, with special guests Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris with Heidi Clare & Colleen Browne (from the Wronglers), Peter Rowan, Nick Lowe & more!
4:15pm The Chieftains
5:45pm Steve Earle & the Dukes (& Duchesses)

Rooster Stage
11:00am The Go to Hell Man Clan with Special Guests the Wronglers featuring Jimmie Dale Gilmore
12:00pm Lloyd Cole
1:10pm Guy Clark & Verlon Thompson
2:30pm The Lumineers
  3:50pm Patty Griffin
    5:30pm Robert Earl Keen

Star Stage
    11:00am Roger Knox and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
    12:30pm Dirty Three
    2:10pm Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones
3:45pm Cowboy Junkies
5:45pm Chris Robinson Brotherhood

Towers Of Gold Stage
11:40am Red Baraat
1:20pm Justin Townes Earle
3:00pm Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang
4:45pm The Head & the Heart

Arrow Stage
11:00am The Trishas
    12:05pm Reckless Kelly
1:30pm Bill Kirchen & The Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods
2:45pm Heartless Bastards
4:05pm Jerry Jeff Walker
    5:35pm The Flatlanders feat. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock

Porch Stage
11:00am Joe Pug
12:10pm Sara Watkins
1:25pm Little Green Cars
2:40pm Allison Moorer
3:50pm Robyn Hitchcock
4:50pm Sierra Hull
6:05pm Seasick Steve

Sunday Oct 7 (11:00am – 7:00pm)
Banjo Stage
11:00am Dry Branch Fire Squad
12:05pm Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands
1:20pm Peter Rowan
2:45pm Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
4:15pm Tim O’Brien Party of 7
5:45pm Emmylou Harris

Rooster Stage
11:00am Jim Lauderdale
    12:05pm Kevin Welch & Kieran Kane & Fats Kaplin
1:10pm Jesse Winchester
2:20pm Glen Hansard
3:35pm Nick Lowe
4:50pm Todd Snider
6:10pm The Civil Wars

Star Stage
11:00am Giant Giant Sand
12:40pm The Knitters
2:15pm DOUG SAHM’S PHANTOM PLAYBOYS featuring: dave ALVIN, steve EARLE, delbert McCLINTON, boz SCAGGS, jimmie VAUGHAN… and whoever the cat drags in…
4:05pm The Del McCoury Band
6:00pm Keller Williams, Steve Kimock & Kyle Hollingsworth featuring Bernie Worrell, Wally Ingram & Andy Hess

Towers of Gold Stage
12:00pm The Milk Carton Kids
1:30pm Soul Rebels
3:10pm Dwight Yoakam
5:00pm Patti Smith and her band

Arrow Stage
11:00am Lucero
12:05pm Moonalice
1:25pm Rubblebucket
2:45pm Son Volt
4:10pm Luther Dickinson & the Wandering
5:45pm ALO

Porch Stage
11:00am The New Orleans Bingo! Show
12:10pm Tiny Television
1:25pm The Barr Brothers
2:40pm Amanda Shaw & the Cute Guys
3:55pm The White Buffalo
5:10pm Walter Salas-Humara
6:20pm Jonny Two Bags & Salvation Town

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 2012 Lineup

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The upcoming Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, the 12th annual and the first after the passing of benefactor and spiritual leader Warren Hellman, continues a practice it began last year by teasing us with audio hints to reveal it’s roster.

It’s a fun undertaking that social media helps to uncover the more obscure performers. Once the audio mystery has been solved you find HSB 12, as as it has in recent years, offers a stellar roster of roots and Americana performers with the occasional current rock favorites (Heartless Bastards) and baby boom indy darlings (Patti Smith, Nick Lowe.)

These latter, I’m assured when bemoaning the Americana acts that could have filled the slots, put the “Hardly Strictly” in Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Personally I’d put The White Buffalo (The White Buffalo is now on the bill!) or Corb Lund in any of their places.

As mentioned HSB 12 is the first Hardly Strictly since the festival benefactor Warren Hellman passed away December of last year. Hellman made his bones in private equity investing and, in the truest form of benevolence and love of music (that I share) funded the free festival out of his own pocket every year since its inception, I’ve been told that his will has provided for the event’s continued funding for at least a decade after his death.

The beautiful stretch of Golden Gate Park where the festival’s 5 stages are erected had it’s name changed from Speedway Meadow to Hellman Hollow in tribute.

The festival’s being a free event has led to serious overcrowding the last few years to the point where moving from stage to stage has become a chore and, on hotter days, a risky endeavor. Most of my my friends pick=jk a stage with the roster they most prefer and settle in with a blanket and cooler.

I spend the day braving the crowds and visiting these friends. After all, as an Americana music blogger it will not do to lay in the grass while Ralph Stanley or Buddy Miller echos from a distant stage.

Remember bring water, stay upwind from the weed, and leave your young children and pets at home, Especially on warmer days they don’t deserve the self-inflicted torture of the crowds.

Here’s to great music and here’s to Warren Hellman, a man I met briefly (and fittingly at the Ryman Theater in Nashville.) He was warm and gracious and his love for this music poured from him. Bless you Mr. Hellman and the legacy have left San Francisco. If you haven’t see it take a look at the archived Hellman tribute concert from Ocean Beach,

Here’s my best guess at the bill so far; Emmylou Harris has not been mentioned yet but as the sole performer that has been on the bill since the first HSB look for her addition.

Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, The Head and the Heart, Glen Hansard, Patty Griffin, Dwight Yoakam, The Lumineers, Nick Lowe, Heartless Bastards, Robert Earl Keen, Son Volt, Ralph Stanley, Lloyd Cole, Les Claypool, Todd Snider, Dirty Three, Dave Alvin, Rubblebucket, Sara Watkins, Buddy Miller, Jerry Douglas, The Milk Carton Kids, Del Mccoury, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Peter Rowan, The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Laurie Lewis, Red Baraat, Giant Giant Sand, Little Green Cars, Chuck Prophet & The Mission Express, Tiny Television, The Wandering, Laurie Lewis And The Right Hands, Amanda Shaw & The Cute Guys, Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue, Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys, Tim O’brien Party of Seven, Time Jumper, Steve Earle and the Dukes (and Duchesses), The Go to Hell Man Clan, Patterson Hood & the Downtown Rumblers, Old Crow Medicine Show

Dwight Yoakam Performs ‘Nothing But Love’ on The Tonight Show

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Dwight Yoakam showed that he could still cut a painted-on jeans, low Stetson crowned, fine figure of a honky-tonk man as he shuffled across the stage of ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” last night.

Yoakam performed ‘Nothing But Love,’ a cut from his upcomin Beck collaberation ’3 Pears.’ (Sept. 18. )

The week following its release, the classic singer will be honored by the Academy of Country Music with the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award at the 6th Annual ACM Honors event, to be held on Sept. 24 in Nashville.

Dwight Yoakam’s New Album, 3 Pears, Out Sept. 18

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It seems too crazy to be true. It was over a year ago that I read about a potential collaboration between Dwight Yoakam and Beck. I thought it was too good to be true and as the months rolled by I thought my hunch was correct. No way Jose.

I’ve never been so glade to be mistaken. The recently announced “3 Pears,” is the result of that creative union and will be be released Sept. 18. It’s also Yoakam’s first studio album of original material since in seven years ‎and his return to Warner Bros. Records.

I read that Yoakam has been working on the 12 songs on the album since 2008 and jokingly describes the process as “reaaall reaaaallllll sloooww.”

Let’s hope it results in a release that’s reaaall reaaaallllll good!

Here’s a little Bakersfield heaven with Dwight joining the Hag on his “Swinging Doors.”