Listen Up! Seasick Steve “Home”

Seasick Steve - "Home" from HUBCAP MUSIC

With one platinum and four gold records in the UK Seasick Steve might be the most popular performer you’ve never heard of. he’s probably fine with that. seasick doesn’t cater to fads or trends, he’s worked his brand of greasy gut-bucket blues throughout his career.

Today he releases “Hubcap Music,” his Third Man records debut produced by the man himself. the album features long-time drummer and frying pan virtuoso Dan Magnusson as well as John Paul Jones, Jack White, Luther Dickinson, Elizabeth Cook and Fats Kaplin. The record marks Seasick Steve’s second full-length on Third Man Records, and joins a blue series 7″ (“Write Me a Few Lines”) and a live, direct-to-acetate recording (Seasick Steve Live at Third Man Records) to make up his Third Man catalog.

Hubcap Music derives its title from Seasick’s 4-stringed Morris Minor guitar, fashioned from two Minor 1000 hubcaps and a garden hoe, and his second similarly made instrument using Hudson Terraplane hubcaps, given to him by Jack White. The Morris Minor guitar made its first appearance on the TV show “Top Gear,” and rivals Seasick’s Didley Bo for the title of baddest junk’strument ever to grace (and sell out) such stages as Royal Albert Hall, Manchester Theatre and Hammersmith Apollo Theaters.

The below cut, “Home,” features Luther Dickinson of North Mississippi Allstars fame on wailing slide guitar. This gritty stmopfest recalling the place there’s nowhere like gives you a sample for this release and well reflects Steve’s frenetic live performances he’s famous for.

Listen Up! Shovels and Rope Cover Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits for Jack White’s Third Man Records

Shovels and Rope Johnny 99It looks like Jack White;s adopted home of Nashville is starting to reflect in the music being released by his Third Man Records label.

The latest is from Charleston indie-folk duo Shovels and Rope. The 7-inch will be released on April 2nd and features a jaunty cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Johnny 99” (off the extraordinary Nebraska, hear it below) on the A side, with a version of Tom Waits’ “Bad As Me” on the B.

The release is on on Third Man’s Blue Series, where singers and bands traveling through Nashville are invited to stop by to record one or two songs at Third Man Studio produced by White. The songs are then, as soon as possible, made available on 7” vinyl and digitally on itunes. The series also includes releases by Brittany Howard and Ruby Amanfu, Seasick Steve, Chris Thile with Micheal Daves , The Secret Sisters, Wanda Jackson and others.

The release will be available on iTunes and vinyl. It;s a measly $6 and you can pre-order here.