Author: Americana Music News

This weekend: 2017 Pilgrimage Music Festival

By Ken Paulson-
Nashville-area music fans never rest. Just days after the Americana Music Festival came to a close, fans will turn out in record numbers for the third annual Pilgrimage and Cultural Festival the weekend of Sept. 23 and 24.

It’s a festival of remarkable range with performances by Justin Timberlake, Eddie Vedder, the Avett Brothers, Better Than Ezra, the Jerry Douglas Band, Trombone Shorty, Walk the Moon, Mavis Staples and many more.

It’s also a very civilized event, with shows running from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on both days. Little wonder that entire families come out. It’s a very kid-friendly event, with many programs for “Lil’ Pilgrims.”

Timberlake is a partner in the venture and his performance is clearly the most anticipated of the weekend. No pressure.

WMOT Birthday Bash at Americana Festival

By Ken Paulson

It’s been a highlight-filled week at the 2017 Americana Music Festival, but we we’ll admit to a special fondness for a show produced by WMOT Roots Radio, where I also play a modest role.

The station celebrated its first birthday as an Americana station with performances by Paul Thorn, Reckless Kelly, Whitney Rose, the Secret Sisters,the Deep Dark Woods, the O’Connor Band, Lilly Hiatt, the Texas Gentlemen, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Katie Pruitt, the Vandoliers and Mike Farris.

Scenes from throughout the day:

 

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Review: Peter Himmelman’s “There is No Calamity”

By Ken Paulson – Peter Himmelman’s “There Is No Calamity” is another fine album from a veteran artist who has plenty to say. But what floored us is the opening track “245th Peace Song,” arguably the most timely and perceptive song of the year.
“There’s holes in people’s lives than need to be filled. I get that. I understand that. But you have to be careful what you fill them with,” Himmleman sings.
It’s a compassionate take on the wave of frustration that gave Donald Trump the White House, and the consequences of that election.
“Stop the Hate, Stop the Hate” the chorus pleads. In the wake of the tragedy in Charlottesville, this song should be played coast to coast.

Review: Willie Nile does Dylan – and very well

By Ken Paulson –
I was sitting with a group of Nashville musicians last Saturday night when the conversation inexplicably led to the flurry of “new Dylans” that emerged in the ’70s, most with real musical merit.
Bruce Springsteen. Steve Forbert. Elliott Murphy. John Prine. Willie Nile.
Nile may carried those Dylan comparisons for the longest time, in part because of a vocal resemblance. It’s not something he shies away from, as evidenced by “Positively Bob – Willie Nile Sings Bob Dylan,” his new covers collection.
Most of the tracks are from Dylan’s first decade as an artist, and classics abound. But the beauty of Nile’s renditions is that they free Dylan’s revered music from the wax museum. This stuff rocks.
When was the last you yelled “Turn it up” when “Blowin’ in the Wind” came on?
I’m sure there are Dylan fans who will be put off by some of this, but the album is undeniably fresh.
Highlights include full-throttle takes on “The Times They Are A-Changin’, “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35” and “I Want You.”

New Lloyd Price album on the way

A sentence we never anticipated writing: Lloyd Price has a new album. The 84-year-old rock pioneer’s “This is Rock ‘n’ Roll”  is  due for release on Sept. 22.

The album title is apt. His “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” was one of the very first rock ‘n’ roll records and his “Stagger Lee” and Personality” are classics.

American Blues Scene has a preview track. And here’s a look back:

Link

Drew Holcomb and Neighbors set for Ryman

Americana Music News – This is a very big weekend for Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors. They’re playing two nights at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville – and they just have to drive across the river to get to their shows.

East Nashville is home base for this talented band, currently touring in support of their excellent new album Souvenir. We wrote  briefly and approvingly about the album in February, but may have undersold it. This is a band with top-notch musicianship and a healthy respect for hooks. “California” still looms large in our personal playlist.

Some tickets are still available for the Friday and Saturday shows, with Joe Purdy and Penny & Sparrow opening on respective nights.

2017 Americana Music Awards nominees announced

The Americana Music Association unveiled its nominees for the 2017 Americana Music Awards in a press event at the Country Music Hall of Fame.  It’s a nice mix of veterans (Rodney Crowell, John Prine), today’s mainstays (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson) and emerging artists (Aaron Lee Tasjan, Margo Price and more.)

Album of the Year

“American Band,” Drive-By Truckers, Produced by David Barbe

“A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” Sturgill Simpson, Produced by Sturgill Simpson

“Close Ties,” Rodney Crowell, Produced by Kim Buie and Jordan Lehning

“Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens, Produced David Bither, Rhiannon Giddens and Dirk Powell

“The Navigator,” Hurray for the Riff Raff, Produced by Paul Butler

 

Artist of the Year

Jason Isbell

John Prine

Lori McKenna

Margo Price

Sturgill Simpson

 

Duo/Group of the Year

Billy Bragg & Joe Henry

Drive-By Truckers

Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives

The Lumineers

 

Emerging Artist of the Year

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Aaron Lee Tasjan

Amanda Shires

Brent Cobb

Sam Outlaw

 

Song of the Year

“All Around You,” Sturgill Simpson, Written by Sturgill Simpson

“It Ain’t Over Yet,” Rodney Crowell (with Rosanne Cash & John Paul White), Written by Rodney Crowell

“To Be Without You,” Ryan Adams, Written by Ryan Adams

“Wreck You,” Lori McKenna, Written by Lori McKenna and Felix McTeigue

 

Instrumentalist of the Year

Spencer Cullum, Jr.

Jen Gunderman

Courtney Hartman

Charlie Sexton

Conroe Americana Music Festival: Day One

By Paul T. Mueller

Gurf Morlix

The inaugural Conroe Americana Music Festival got off to a promising start on Friday, May 5, in the charmingly restored downtown area of the small city north of Houston. Perfect spring weather and moderate crowds made for an excellent festival experience, and the eclectic mix of musicians matched the fine atmosphere with outstanding performances. The overall vibe was laid back, with flashes of intensity.

The promoters’ decision to hold the festival in four indoor venues – two pubs, an event space and a converted ice plant – and two open-air stages under festival tents worked out well for the event’s first evening. All of the venues are located within a few blocks of each other, making for easy show-hopping. The relatively large number of performers meant that six shows were going on simultaneously pretty much the whole time, causing some frustration for those who wanted to see everybody, but also dispersing the crowd and avoiding big crushes at any one venue.

Billy Joe Shaver

Some highlights from the first night:

      Quiet folkie fare, accompanied by cello and mandolin, by Shellee Coley, a onetime Nashvillian now back in her native Texas. Coley filled one of the 6 p.m. opening slots, in the beautifully restored Martin’s Hall, with her own songs and also a well-received rendition of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

          Texas music from Houston-area singer-songwriter Brad Boyer, accompanied by guitarist Chad Ware. Hampered somewhat by subpar acoustics and noisy bar patrons in the Sparkle Ice House, Boyer carried on with a mix of originals (“Five Stones and a Sling,” “Long Cold December”) and covers (Townes Van Zandt’s “Loretta,” Guy Clark’s “Stuff that Works”). There was also a nice rendition of his tribute to Guy, “The Last Folksinger.”

          High-energy takes on introspective songs (“Never the Pretty Girl,” “Whisper My Name”) by Austin artist BettySoo, accompanied by a full band that included Will Sexton on guitar and Bonnie Whitmore on bass, in the Corner Pub.

          Rocking blues from Austin’s Peterson Brothers Band, with brothers Glenn Peterson Jr. on guitar and Alex Peterson on bass, along with two drummers, on an outdoor stage sponsored by Conroe’s Southern Star Brewing Co.

          A diverse mix of originals and interesting covers from Austin-based singer-songwriter-producer Gurf Morlix. The former included “The Best We Can,” which Morlix said is based on a “pretty chord” of the kind he rarely uses. The latter included “The

Peterson Brothers at Conroe Americana Music Festival

Massacre at Glencoe,” a ballad about an 18th century feud between Scottish clans, and Warren Zevon’s “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.” Morlix closed with the lovely benediction “The Parting Glass.”

          Boogie with a side of spirituality from the seemingly ageless Billy Joe Shaver, who seemed right at home in the cavernous Sparkle venue. Backed by an enthusiastic young band, Shaver cranked through such familiar favorites as “Try and Try Again,” “When the Fallen Angels Fly” and “Live Forever,” plus newer fare such as “Hard to Be an Outlaw.” His brand of rocked-up country appealed to listeners and dancers alike.

The festival continues through the weekend of May 6-7.

Preview: Conroe Americana Music Festival

 

By Paul T. Mueller

Music gets another festival to call its own this year, with the Conroe Americana Music Festival set to debut May 5-7 in Conroe, Texas. The event, described by the promoters as “a grassroots premier festival featuring a mix of Bluegrass, Rockabilly, Folk, Texas Country, Roots Rock, Blues, and Americana music,” will take place in Conroe’s historic downtown, about 40 miles north of downtown Houston.

The festival’s website, http://conroeamericanamusicfestival.com/, currently lists more than 50 scheduled performers. They include such well-known names as Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis (aka the First Couple of Texas Americana), John Fullbright, Billy Joe Shaver, The Mastersons, Gurf Morlix, Angaleena Presley, Dale Watson and Ray Benson, and Mike Farris. Of course, there’s a heavy presence of Texas artists, familiar in the Lone Star State but possibly less well known elsewhere, such as bluesman Guy Forsyth; songstress Terri Hendrix, with longtime collaborator Lloyd Maines; rockers Uncle Lucius; former True Believer Jon Dee Graham; veteran folkie Eric Taylor; Houston-based honky-tonkers Mike Stinson and The John Evans Band; Austin-based blues-folkie Ruthie Foster, and Austin blues-rocker Carolyn Wonderland. The complete lineup can be found here and the schedule here.

With free parking and short distances between the festival’s six venues, the weekend’s toughest task figures to be deciding which performer to see at any given time. There are six venues – four indoor spaces and two somewhat larger outdoor stages – with scheduling seemingly set up in hopes of dispersing the crowd. For instance, the Friday lineup includes shows by Gurf Morlix and the Mastersons both at 9 p.m., at pubs located across the street from each other. Those sets will be partially overlapped by four other shows, including Hendrix and Maines and Austin-based bluesmen The Peterson Brothers. Scheduling dilemmas may be eased to some extent by the fact that some performers will play more than once.

As is often the case at the outset of such events, ticket prices are reasonable: $35 for a one-day pass for Friday or Sunday, $50 for a Saturday pass, or $75 for a three-day pass. Parking is free and food will be available from several food trucks.

According to the festival’s website, the event was “(e)stablished through the Conroe Downtown Area Association (501c4) [and] the proceeds of the festival will be used to enhance the Historic Downtown Conroe area with improved signing and beautification projects.”

The Conroe Americana Music Festival gets under way at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 5, and wraps up at 6 p.m. on Sunday, May 7.