Tag Archives: the Civil Wars

Listen Up! The Civil Wars – “The One That Got Away”

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

CW One That Got Away

All right Civil Wars fans, this is what we’ve been waiting for. Proof of the upcoming album that might not have been.

While riding high on the wave of their best-selling, Grammy award winning, Barton Hollow the pop-roots duo abruptly canceled a amidst a UK tour, citing “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.”

Then last month the Civil Wars revealed that they’d completed a new self-titled album, a result of a Nashville recording session last fall with Barton Hollow’s producer Charlie Peacock.

Now a single “The One That Got Away,” (no, it’s not a Katy Perry cover.) It’s got the typical Civil Wars dramatic vibe but with more of an edge. What stands out is Joy Williams is more up in the mix with John Paul White as supporting in contrast to their more equally handling of vocal duties on their earlier EP and album.

“I wish I’d never ever seen your face,” Williams sings convincingly “I wish you were the one that got away.”

The band’s labels, Sensibility Music/Columbia Records, give some context to the song in the accompanying press release “The [new] album was recorded amidst a grueling touring schedule, exhausting workload and a growing disconnect from their families.”

More omens abound with the video for “The One That Got Away,” and the new album’s cover, features nothing more than a billowing cloud of black smoke.

Can all the bad blood be overcome to allow the band to embark on a tour to support the sure to be a huge selling new release? Stay tuned when it’s release August 6th.

The Civil Wars Annouce New Album This Summer

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

The Civil Wars New Album

The Civil Wars were holed up working on a new album in Nashville last fall with Barton Hallow producer Charlie Peacock. But last February fans were jarred by news that Joy Williams and John Paul White cancelling all of their concerts citing “irreconcilable differences of ambition,” but they left the door open for more music soon.

The band worked with T Bone Burnett for new music for the soundtrack for “A Place at the Table.” the pair also seems unconformable sharing the stage with T Bone and Taylor Swift to accept a Grammy for their contribution to the Hunger Games soundtrack.

All this time the band’s Facebook page has been flooded with well-wishing fans begging for new music. They’re going to get their wish this summer.

The best-selling folk pop duo announced today via Twitter, Facebook and their site (which crashed from the traffic on the news) that they will release their their self-titled sophomore album in “late summer” on Sensibility Music/Columbia Records.

“Patience is a virtue,” White writes to fans in a letter posted on the duo’s official website. “Yours has been appreciated. Here’s to the hope you consider it rewarded.

So far there is no official news on public appearances or performances planned around the release.

Muscle Shoals Celebration – Percy Sledge, Brittany Howard and John Paul White and More

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Muscle Shoals

An all-Star Concert in support of the film “Muscle Shoals” was held on February 27th, 2013 at the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Conference Center.

On hand was John Paul White (The Civil Wars), Candi Staton, Delbert McClinton, Ed King (Lynyrd Skynyrd), Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes), Christine Ohlman (Saturday Night Live Band), Donna Jean Godchaux (Grateful Dead) and many other legendary Muscle Shoals Musicians joined together to celebrate the great music that came from the area and specifically from Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

Here’s some video of the event. Special thanks to @johnamacie for bringing the White videos to my attention.

Learn more about muscle Shoals the movie, dates and locations here.

Percy Sledge – Dark End of the Street

“Wild Horses” Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section

John Paul White – “Outfit” - Drive-By Trucker’s

John Paul White “No One Will Ever Love You”

John Paul performing “I’ll Be There” co-written by him and The SteelDrivers –

The Civil Wars Release T Bone Burnett Produced Cut , Prepare Full Soundtrack

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

The Civil Wars Paste magazine reports that The Civil Wars are set to appear on the soundtrack for the forthcoming film, A Place at the Table. the folk is a documentary from Food, Inc. producers that explores American food and hunger issues. The soundtrack will feature 14 new and original tracks from The Civil Wars and T Bone Burnett is set for a Feb. 26 release through Sensibility Music.

“We met T Bone in New York City at the Americana Awards nomination announcements a couple of years ago,” John Paul White said in a press release. “Turns out Rosanne Cash, the sweetheart, had turned him onto the music. He expressed a desire to work together, which was quickly reciprocated.”

The documentary is set for a March 1 release and the band and Burnett are offering 100 percent of the label’s net profits and producer/artist royalties to the Participant Foundation, an organization that “exists to support programs that support a sustainable and peaceful world.”

“Being a part of A Place At The Table opened my eyes to an epidemic that is happening in our country right now—underneath many of our noses,” Joy Williams said. “It’s happening to our neighbors, to our friends, to children. It’s a silent battle that can be won, if we as a nation set our minds to ending it. Linking arms with T Bone Burnett to create music for such a timely and important film as this was an honor.”

The band released a rousing new single from the soundtrack today, titled “Long Time Gone.” Take a listen in the player below.

As previously reported, The Civil Wars unexpectedly canceled their tour let year citing the reason as “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition” as a touring entity. Many speculated this meant a break-up for the band, but these new studio tracks might make that prediction premature.

Many speculated this meant a break-up for the band, and these new studio tracks could prove otherwise. Though their lack of amicability on the stage Sunday, to receive their Grammy for the song “Safe & Sound,” with Taylor Swift and T Bone, might signal otherwise.

The SteelDrivers – ‘Hammer Down’ – Listen Up!

Posted on by — 4 Comments ↓

SteelDrivers - Hammer Down

Adele and i share something in common. We are both SteelDrivers fans. Adele even honored the band by recording a version of their song “If It Hadn’t Been for Love” and included it as a B side to her best-selling “Rolling in the Deep” CD single and has covered that very same song live.

The three time Grammy nominated, Nashville based band are well worthy of such accolades.

The SteelDrivers embody some of the best characteristics of any roots/Americana band performing today. The band fuses often dark lyrics, soul, bluegrass and mature pop to create something new and fresh and somehow comfortably familiar.

The SteelDrivers are banjo player Richard Bailey, bass/vocalist Mike Fleming, guitar / vocalist Gary Nichols, fiddler / vocalist Tammy Rogers and mandolinist Brent Truitt. Produced by Luke Wooton, Hammer Down is a collection of 10 new tunes from Rogers and Nichols as well as original members Chris Stapleton and Mike Henderson. The set also includes the songs “I’ll Be There” and “Cry No Mississippi” that Nichols co-wrote with John Paul White of The Civil Wars.

The SteelDrivers’ upcoming Rounder Records’ release “Hammer Down” can be heard below for one week here at Twang Nation.

The SteelDrivers are on the road for much of 2013 and an updated itinerary is at www.steeldrivers.net

Tour Itinerary to Date:

February 6 Music City Roots/Loveless Cafe Nashville, TN
February 8 The Station Inn Nashville, TN
February 16 Joe Val Bluegrass Festival Framingham, MA
February 17 The Iron Horse Northampton, MA
February 18 Joe’s Pub New York, NY
February 28 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI
March 2 Woodlands Tavern Columbus, OH
March 3 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH
March 8 Bluegrass Underground McMinnville, TN
March 9 Mountain View Bluegrass Fest Mountain View, AR
March 21 Carbondale, IL Hangar 9

Grammy Artist Twitter Interview Series – A Fine Frenzy & The Civil Wars’ Joy Williams

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

joySinger-songwriter Alison Sudol, known professionally as A Fine Frenzy, conducted a Twitter interview with The Civil Wars’ Joy Williams today as part of a campaign for the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which will be held on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013. The series of interviews are done with participation from Twitter, as part of their Artist Interview series that will also include Miranda Lambert , Reba McEntire and others.
a-fine-frenzy[1]

The interview can been see in it’s entirety below. If you, like me, read the exchange looking for clues as to what happened with the Civil Wars sudden hiatus you will be disappointed. The brief interview sums up to two gal-pals sharing holiday plans, food preferences, how they miss each other and intimate photos of woolen socks.


55th Annual Grammy Award Nominees – Americana, Country and Related Categories

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

This year’s National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) 55th Annual Grammy Awards nominees reflect the rich and diverse community of talent that celebrates some of the genres finest old and new. From a CBS prime-time nominations concert LL Cool J and co-host Taylor Swift.

Some history – Nashville hosted the Official Grammy awards in 1973, but this marks only the fist time The Grammys have held the nomination event outside of L.A. This fortuitous event for Music City resulted from a scheduling conflict with the event usual home at the Staples Center but the city rose to the occasion and showed the performers and attendees a great time. Of course I would have preferred to have people from the lists below perform of national televised show but I’m biased by design.

As in recent years social media was a major conduit for the event. Music City was abuzz on mobile phones, computers ad tablets during the hour-long broadcast from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (Go Predators!) . Nearly 12,000 posts on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites mentioned the word “Nashville” in connection with the Grammy nominations

Aside from the usual categories of Americana, Folk and Bluegrass roots music made an impressive showing for the coveted Album Of The Year , which includes a nomination for Mumford & Sons’ sophomore outing Babel, and Best New Artist with Alabama Shakes and the Lumineers.

I got 2 out of 7 of my predictions right for the Best Americana Album category with The Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons. The pleasant surprise in this category is John Fullbright who I’m willing to say here I’m pulling for. The legendary Bonnie Raitt is nominated in this category and I’ll also go on record as saying Bonnie has secured her legendary status in Blues and Rock. When there are performers from the community like Justin Townes Earle and Corb Lund have new albums out why poach legends from other genres.

Classic country was also celebrated with Nashville Western swing ensemble the Time Jumpers being nominated for two GRAMMYs for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “On The Outskirts Of Town” and Best Country Album for their latest self-titled release. Best Country Album also has another surprise with Jamey Johnson being nominated for his tribute covers album “Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran.” The “Gentle Giant” Don Williams is nominated for his duet with the woman that hold the record for the most Grammys by a female artists (27!), Alison Krauss for Best Country Duo/Group Performance with “I Just Come Here for the Music”

Here’s the full list of Americana and associated categories for the 55th Grammy Awards. The Awards will be presented on Feb. 10, 2013. Most of these will be presented in the pre-telecast ceremony before the televised portion that evening on CBS. To find ot the winners follow me on Twitter and watch live streaming at Grammy.com.

Best Americana Album
The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter
John Fullbright – From the Ground Up
The Lumineers – The Lumineers
Mumford & Sons – Babel
Bonnie Raitt – Slipstream

Best Bluegrass Album
Dailey & Vincent – The Gospel Side Of
The Grascals – Life Finds a Way
Noam Pikelny – Beat the Devil & Carry a Rail
Special Consensus – Scratch Gravel Road
Steep Canyon Rangers – Nobody Knows You

Best Country Album
Zac Brown Band – Uncaged
Hunter Hayes – Self-titled
Jamey Johnson – Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran
Miranda Lambert – Four the Record
The Time Jumpers – Self-titled

Best Folk Album
Carolina Chocolate Drops – Leaving Eden
Ry Cooder – Election Special
Luther Dickinson – Hambone’s Meditations
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile – The Goat Rodeo Sessions
Various – This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark

Americana and Roots artists on other categories:

- Mumford & Sons – Album of the Year for Babel, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “I Will Wait”, Best Long-form Music Video for “Big Easy Express” from the Railroad Revival Tour with Old Crow Medicine Show , Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, “Markus Dravs nominated for Producer of the Year for Babel.”
- Alabama Shakes – Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance for “Hold On”, Best Recording Package for Boys and Girls
- The Lumineers – Best New Artist-
- Bruce Springsteen – Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Album for Wrecking Ball & Best Rock Song for “We Take Care of Our Own”
- The Goat Rodeo Sessions featuring Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile – for Best Folk Album, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
- Don Williams (feat. Alison Krauss) – Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “I Just Come Here for the Music”
- Taylor Swift/The Civil Wars – Best Country Duo/Group Performance & Best Song Written for Visual Media for “Safe and Sound”
- Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection – Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, Best Historical Album
- Old-Time Smoky Mountain Music: 34 Historic Songs, Ballads, And Instrumentals Recorded In The Great Smoky Mountains By “Song Catcher” Joseph S. Hall – Best Historical Album
- Ryan Adams – Ashes and Fire – Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

5 Duos To Feed Your The Civil Wars Jones

Posted on by — 6 Comments ↓

By now you heard the bad news that The Civil Wars have cancelled all their upcoming shows and are giving each other some space. What’s a lover of melodic Americana duos with lovely harmonies that have possible ambiguous romantic ties to do?!  Here are 5 alternatives to quell those nerves until the reunion tour is announced.

 Ry Dalee and Evangeline – I don’t don’t much about this Oklahoma duo but I like what I hear!

Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell – Begonias – Sure it was a one-off release from 2005 but these two Americana vets released one of the most gorgeous romantic duo albums ever. It even comes through in this crappy video.

Chapel Hill’s Mandolin Orange are the talented Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz whose tunes will soothe your soul.

Charleston, SC’s Michael Trent and Cary Ann are Shovels and Rope and are a bit rougher than The Civil Wars fare, but certainly no less talented.

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings are the obvious choice and are the standardbearers for male/female duos in Americana.

 

 

The Civil Wars Split, For Now

Posted on by — 11 Comments ↓

The Civil WarsThe rumblings started several days ago. While on a well-reviewed UK leg of their current tour the news of cancellations of upcoming shows in Michigan, Florida and 2013 tour dates of Australia & New Zealand were announced. Emails for details were not returned.

Then today the other show dropped. From The Civil Wars official Facebook and Twitter account:

“We sincerely apologize for the canceling of all of our tour dates. It is something we deeply regret. However, due to internal discord (SP) and irreconcilable differences of ambition we are unable to continue as a touring entity at this time. We thank each and every one of you for your amazing love & support. Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013.

- Joy Williams & John Paul White.”

After seeing them recently at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival and watching their set stream from the Austin City Limits Festival there was no sign of tension or discord.  On the contrary, Nashville vets  Joy Williams and John Paul White appeared outwardly to be having the time of their lives. Working with T Bone Burnett and Taylor Swift on the Hunger Games soundtrack,  a pair of Grammys and an Americana Music Association award for Duo/Group of the Year, a gold album and new album underway and some of the biggest audiences in their young career it was easy to see why.  Last week the couple released a cover of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” as part of a Holidays Rule compilation also featuring Paul McCartney and others. The tipping point for super stardom for the duo was now. It must have been something serious to tip things the other way.

For a couple of performers of songs of love and heartache that so many people assumed were a romantically involved couple the ending comes off as a bitter break up.

The end of groups are almost never permanent and the wording of the statement alludes to only touring and “…to have new music for you in 2013.” The tone of the announcement is certainly gives hope for future collaboration.

The reason for the halt to the tour might be that new mother Joy Williams simply wanted to be with her husband Nate Yetton, the duo’s manager, and their only son Miles Alexander which was born last Summer.  But this is just speculation.

I have always championed The Civil Wars as a shining light of the commercially desirable wing of the Americana brand that did not have to compromise their talent to gain that mass acceptance.  Here’s to a quick respite for this excellent band.

The Civil Wars Cancel Tour Dates , Breaks Up

Posted on by — 5 Comments ↓

It was brought to my attention from a UK Twitter follower that the Grammy-winning Americana chamber pop duo The Civil Wars have cancelled upcoming shows in Michigan, Florida and overseas 2013 tour dates including Australia & New Zealand. I can’t find any details on the reason but it must be pretty serious and private since there is no no official word on their Facebook page (The reason on their Facebook page cited “personal reasons”) or from their Twitter account aside from the standard “regret” response. The duo is currently on the European leg of their tour.

Here’s hoping everything is okay with John Paul, Joy and their families.

Check Australia’s Orange Press for information on refunds in that part of the world.

EDIT: This sad news just posted on the band’s Twitter account  Facebook page: “We sincerely apologize for the canceling of all of our tour dates. It is something we deeply regret. However, due to internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition we are unable to continue as a touring entity at this time. We thank each and every one of you for your amazing love & support. Our sincere hope is to have new music for you in 2013.

- Joy Williams & John Paul White.”