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

The Revival Tour – Slims – San Francisco, CA – 11/6/09

Me and many others have drawn a crooked, dirty line from old-time country, mountain and folk music to punk music. Working class themes punctuated by simple rhythms defined more by passion then artistry While I consider myself a music fan, I know next to nothing about current punk (or post-punk) bands, so I took it on the advice of a friend to check this tour out. I did some research and like what I learned.

The tour started last year as the brainchild of Chuck Ragan, frontman for  post-hardcore/punk band, Hot Water Music, and presented by Ragan’s own label Ten Four Records. The format gathers a revolving cast of musicians from various punk and post-punk bands to revive the old style jamboree and hayride format of organic collaboration. The musicians either stripped down their original material to fit the folk/ Americana acoustic format or they have written material that fits the genre structure for the show and egos are kept in check as musicians accompany each other in various combinations.

Aside from Ragan, this bill for the Orlando show featured Jim Ward (of At The Drive-In, Sleepercar and Sparta), Frank Turner (of Million Dead), Joey Cape (Lagwagon), folk/Americana singer Audra Mae, The Anderson Family Bluegrass Band, Konrad Wert (Possessed by Paul James) and featured the frequent and excellent fiddle playing of Jon Gaunt & Digger Barnes on the upright bass bringing up the low end.

The show starts with all the musicians on stage exhibiting the democratic and supportive ethos that characterizes the tour. It sounds like a recipe for chaos but all the performers are amazing and the caradre from the musicians spills out into an adoring crowd that whoops and claps along.

Audra Mae and The Anderson Family Bluegrass Band were the only full-time Americana acts on the bill and they delivered in spades. The former sang with a clear stream voice that warmed your heart and made you forget your troubles and the latter,  Mom Christy on upright bass, Dad Mark banjo and their family Paige (guitar/vocals), Aimee (fiddle), Ethen (mandolin) and Daisey (fiddle), tearing it up onstage and winning over an audience that probably could not name one song by Bill Monroe.

El Paso, TX based Jim Ward, formerly the rhythm guitarist of At The Drive-In, the vocalist/guitarist in Sparta, and currently fronting his Alt-Country project Sleepercar performed a spirited set and appears to be comfortable in his newly chosen genre (must be those Texas roots) and British folk/punk Frank Turner (formerly the vocalist of U.K. post-Hardcore band Million Dead) performed a rollicking set drinking songs from across the pond and remained us all that “What you call Americana and country has been kicking around my country for a couple of thousand years.” tis true. Both  performers left me wanting more.

Possessed by Paul James did a sit down set with a soar and yelp of his voice he embodied the best tradition of a one man band and local boy (well, Santa Barbara) Joey Cape played a great set to an audience that seemed to know his songs word for word and sometimes filled in. Cape’s  voice, more than the others,  lent itself well to the more subtle singer/songwriter format. Jon Gaunt was a great pick for fiddle support. He reminded me of O’Death’s Bob Pycior as a find of a guy that brings ferocity yet precision to the instrument.

As a master of ceremonies Chuck Ragan is a modest one. His graveled vocals and acoustic attack that can only come fro a guy that cut his teeth on punk’s intensity and he commands the stage during his set.  As he plays through his set the rest of the band enters the stage and things end as they began , camaraderie and revelry on a large scale. Check closed by saying “See you next year!” so it appears  that the Revival Tour will continue for years to come. I’ll be there.

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

News Round Up: George Jones Says Get Your Own Damn Genre!

  • Happy birthday to Willie Nelson’s longtime drummer and the “Paul” of the Willie’s song “Me and Paul,” Paul English.  Happy birthday also to legendary Texas singer/songwriter Guy Clark.
  • The latest installment of Popmatter.com’s excellent Torch & Twang series Juli Thanki delivers a post exploring ithe intersecting careers of bluegrass legend  Bill Monroe and musician and folklorist Ralph Rinzler.
  • I’m a long time fan of Libertyville, Illinois rocker Ike Reilly. So when I read over at the fine 9513.com that Reilly was teaming up with on-and-off country outlaw 2.0 Shooter Jennings for the song The War On The Terror and Drugs (from Reilly’s upcoming release Hard Luck Stories) I was intrigues. Turns out it’s damn fine! (Song Illinois)
  • Front Porch Musings is offering a sweet playlist from performers playing the Americana-by-way-of-punk showcase showcase The Revival Tour.Featured are Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Jim Ward (At the Drive-In, Sparta), Frank Turner (Million Dead), and much more.
  • Country, roots, Americana- as the rest of us are grappling with nomenclature (fancy word for names) for music, George Jones uses his old-guard status to reclaim flag and call Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift “not country music.”