Listen: @RhiannonGiddens performs on @NPR's @MountainStage https://t.co/Cavw4EpBah pic.twitter.com/Wz0vXVsKf8
— Nonesuch Records (@NonesuchRecords) October 28, 2015
Author: Americana Music News
Hall inducts Oak Ridge Boys, Browns, Grady Martin
By Ken Paulson
It was a night of sentiment and celebration at the Country Music Hall of Fame tonight as the Oak Ridge Boys, the Browns and the late Grady Martin were inducted into the hall at the annual Medallion Ceremony in Nashville.
Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks perform in honor of the Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys, whose roots go back seven decades to a group called the Georgia Clodhoppers, were honored for the modern incarnation of the quartet – Duane Allen, Richard Sterban, Joe Bonsall and William Lee Golden – who have earned 34 top ten hits, with 17 of those going to number one.
The group’s biggest hit came in 1981 with “Elvira,” which soared to the upper tier of both the pop and country charts.
Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood performed the Oak Ridge Boys’ “I’ll be True to You,” while the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff Hanna contributed “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight.”
The Browns – Jim Ed, Maxine and Bonnie – had steady chart success from 1955 to 1967, when they disbanded.
In 1959, they recorded “The Three Bells,” a song first made popular by Edith Piaf. It was a huge pop and country hit. “Scarlet Ribbons” and “The Old Lamplighter” were other crossover hits for the trio.
Jim Ed Brown went on to a robust solo career and passed away in June. He received the Hall of Fame’s medallion in a private event shortly before his death.
Dierks Bentley
Carolyn Martin and Chris Scruggs performed the Browns’ “Looking Back to See” and the Isaacs recreated “The Three Bells.” Dierks Bentley was on hand to do his version of Jim Ed Brown’s biggest solo hit “Pop A Top.”
Also inducted was Grady Martin, who died in 2001, but left behind an astonishing musical legacy. He played fiddle for Hank Williams. It’s his guitar that helped propell Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” and Marty Robbin’s “El Paso.” He worked on the sessions for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy,” “Honky Tonk Man,” “Saginaw, Michigan,” “Satin Sheets” and dozens of other hit records.
His son Joshua Martin told us that his father’s gift was to play exactly what was needed on any particular recording session.
Vince Gill played Martin’s guitar part on “El Paso” along with Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives. Duane Eddy and Mandy Barnett teamed up for a version of “Don’t Worry,” showcasing Martin’s groundbreaking “fuzz tone.”
Jeff Hanna celebrates the Oak Ridge Boys
From the Medallion Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame:
Jeff Hanna sings "Leavin' Louisiana" for the @oakridgeboys @GrittyDirt https://t.co/ovtBLiL8IR @countrymusic pic.twitter.com/d87EQ9EP4Q
— Americana Music News (@KenPaulson7) October 26, 2015
Duane Eddy and Mandy Barnett salute Grady Martin
Performing at the Medallion Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame:
.@DuaneEddy and Mandy Barnett at @CountryMusicHOF in honor of Grady Martin @CountryMusic https://t.co/z5KhMFvAcN pic.twitter.com/XEDscMQAYs
— Americana Music News (@KenPaulson7) October 26, 2015
Grady Martin headed for Country Music Hall of Fame
By Ken Paulson
As a little boy, I heard more Marty Robbins LPs than Disney records.
My Uncle Don couldn’t get enough of Robbins’ Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs album and played it over and over on the family stereo. I still know the words to “Big Iron.”
Grady Martin’s son Joshua at the Country Music Hall of Fame
But the most riveting track was, of course, “El Paso,” propelled by the amazing guitar work of Grady Martin.
A couple of years later, Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” exploded onto AM radios, driven by Martin’s electric guitar.
And on it goes: Martin’s guitar work is on “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Honky Tonk Man,” “Saginaw, Michigan,” “Satin Sheets” and many more hit records. It turns out we’ve all been listening to Martin our entire lives.
Martin is being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame this month, along with the Oak Ridge Boys, Jim Ed Brown and the Browns.
”He didn’t use one recognizable sound,” Bob Moore, Martin’s celebrated sessions colleague, told the Tennessean’s Peter Cooper after Martin’s death in 2001”What he did was so varied, but the things he came up with were always outstanding, no matter the style. I think he’s the single greatest guitar player we’ve had here in Nashville.”
Grady Martin’s son Joshua was at the Country Music Hall of Fame earlier this month at an informal event honoring Martin and fellow inductees the Browns. He shared his thoughts on what made his father’s work so special:
After Nashville: Jason Isbell’s 2015 concert schedule
Jason Isbell at the Americana Music Festival Honors and Awards show in 2014.
Nashville – Jason Isbell’s opening show at the Ryman Auditorium for a four-night run drew a rave review from the Tennessean’s Juli Thanki, who wrote:
“Isbell isn’t a flashy performer. Instead, he lets his lyrics do the heavy lifting, and the packed house was enthralled, singing along with songs like “Codeine” and a stunning rendition of “Cover Me Up.”
Isbell will be at the Ryman through Oct. 26, but here’s the schedule for the rest of the tour:
10/29 – Amarillo, TX – Potter County Memorial Stadium
10/30 – New Orleans, LA – Voodoo Music Experience
11/6 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theatre
11/7 – Boone, NC – Schaefer Center for the Arts
11/8 – Chattanooga, TN – Tivoli Theatre
11/12 – Madison, WI – Capitol Theater
11/13 – Eau Claire, WI – State Theatre
11/14 – Green Bay, WI – Meyer Theatre
11/19 – Durham, NC – Durham Performing Arts Center
11/20 – Roanoke, VA – Berglund Center
11/21 – Savannah, GA – Lucas Theatre for the Arts
12/9 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
12/10 & 11 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
12/12 – Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium
1/6 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
1/7 – Stockholm, Sweden – Bern
1/8 – Gotenburg, Sweden – Pustervik
1/9 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
1/11 – Berlin, Germany – Privatclub
1/12 – Hamburg, Germany – Knust
1/13 – Cologne, Germany – Blue Shell
1/15 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
1/16 – Brussels, Belgium – Orangerie
1/18 – Paris, France – La Maroquinerie
1/19 – Brighton, UK – Concorde 2
1/20 – Bristol, UK – Trinity
1/22 – London, UK – O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
1/23 – Manchester, UK – Ritz
1/24 – Glasgow, UK – O2 ABC Celtic Connections
1/31-2/6 – Miami, FL – Cayamo Cruise
2/11 & 12 – Austin, TX – ACL Live at the Moody Theater
2/16 – Dallas, TX – South Side Ballroom
2/17 – St. Louis, MO – Peabody Opera House
2/19 – Indianapolis, IN – The Murat Theatre
2/20 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre
2/25 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre
2/27 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
2/29 – Toronto, ON – The Danforth Music Hall
3/1 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
3/2 – Pittsburgh, PA – Benedum Center for the Performing Arts
3/5 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre
Robert Ellis in concert at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
By Paul T. Mueller
Robert Ellis
We should have a new album from singer-songwriter Robert Ellis in a few months, and if the shows he’s playing in the meantime are any indication, that album should be excellent. At his October 8 gig at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston, Ellis showcased five new tunes – a quarter of the 20-song set – and all sounded worthy of what he calls his best album yet.
Ellis, who grew up in Lake Jackson, not far from Houston, drew a near-capacity crowd, a notable achievement for a 9:30 show on a weeknight. He rewarded them with a solid two-hour performance that included not just his distinctive singing and masterful work on guitar and keyboard, but also healthy doses of personality and showmanship. After politely declining a beer offered by an audience member, he revealed that he had quit drinking several weeks ago. If this show was any indication, sobriety agrees with him. He filled the breaks between songs with cheerful back-and-forth with the audience, explanations of his music (and of his clothes), an enthusiastic endorsement of his new capo, and other such ramblings, frequently profane but always good-natured.
Standouts among the new songs included “You’re Not the One,” detailing the struggle to exorcise the memories of a love gone bad; “Drivin’,” a country-ish look at the aimlessness that can derail a productive life, and “Perfect Strangers,” a poppy song about love and loss that brought to mind, in its lyrics and its setting (New York), one of Ellis’ songwriting heroes, Paul Simon.
Kudos to Ellis for his choice of cover material as well. He performed a soulful rendition of Simon’s doleful “Hearts and Bones” – which, along with the album of the same name, was released five years before Ellis was born – and an excellent take on Tony Rice’s “Church Street Blues,” featuring some frenetic bluegrass picking.
The rest of the set consisted of older Ellis material, including “Bamboo,” a song based on his childhood; the uplifting “I’ll Never Give Up on You”; the straight country anthem “Coming Home”; “Bottle of Wine,” a rueful exploration of the dangers of self-medication; the cheerful “Couple Skate,” which he dedicated to a schoolboy crush, and the crowd-pleasing “Houston,” an ode to the city he once called home. Despite numerous requests, he didn’t sing “Chemical Plant,” the centerpiece of last year’s The Lights from the Chemical Plant, opting instead for several other songs from that album. He closed with an intense rendition of “Sing Along,” an angry blast at religion that he described as a reaction to having grown up in a very religious household.
Ellis, who was nominated for several Americana Music Association awards last year on the strength of Lights, told the Mucky Duck audience that his new album is now being mixed and should be released next spring.
2015 Americana Music Festival notebook
By Ken Paulson
Random thoughts and observations about the Americana Music Festival week that was: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band‘s 50th anniversary show at the Ryman was the perfect kick-off and an extraordinary event. Take the four current members of the Dirt Band – Jeff Hanna, John McEuen, Jimmie Fadden and Bob Carpenter – and add Byron House, Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas, and you have the ultimate Americana band. Then you add appearances by Jackson Browne, Vince Gill, John Prine, Alison Krauss, Rodney Crowell and returning Dirt Band member Jimmy Ibbotson and you have a singular evening. Recorded for PBS, the show’s few flubs just meant we had a chance to hear the classics twice – most notably Jerry Jeff Walker and the band doing his “Mr. Bojangles. …Based on their most recent album, we had high hopes for Dustbowl Revival and they absolutely delivered, even inspiring some City Winery patrons to dance, a scene we hadn’t witnessed before…
Dustbowl Revival at the City Winery
Our single favorite song of the week was Steve Earle doing “Mississippi, It’s Time,” a stirring song about the Confederate flag that reminded us how powerful truly topical songs can be….On the same stage, we saw Loretta Lynn, whose stage show probably hasn’t changed much in the past 40 years – and that’s just fine…We used the new app for our schedule all week and just have one request: build bios into the app for artists and panel members rather than passing us through to websites….We were honored to present the Spirit of Americana Free Speech in Music award to Buffy Sainte Marie on Wednesday night and then sat in when she visited with Middle Tennessee State University students the next day. They loved her energy and sage advice: “Don’t believe any of that junk about genres.”…We saw some tremendous unbilled shows at various receptions around town, including the new trio Applewood Road…. The Americana Music Festival remains the best single week for music in Music City –and that’s saying something.
New and in harmony: Applewood Road
By Ken Paulson
Every Americana Music Festival reveals an invigorating
musical surprise or two, and ours came Thursday night at the Tin Roof in Nashville. In addition to the many festival showcases around, you’ll find artists performing at the many informal receptions around the city.
Applewood Road in Nashville
That’s where we found Applewood Road, a new trio made up of Amy Speace, Emily Barker and Amber Rubart, performing together for just the third time. A raucous bar hushed as they harmonized beautifully. We’ve known and admired Amy’s work for years; the three are a potent combination.
The group’s origins came in a songwriting session in 2014 in East Nashville, where they wrote the song with the title that became the band name.
Their debut album, due later this year, was recorded live at Welcome to 1979, an analog-only studio in Nashville.
Lucinda Williams, Sturgill Simpson honored
Lucinda Williams
Americana Music News — Lucinda Williams won top honors for album of the year Wednesday night at the American Music Association’s annual honors and awards show at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. “Down Where The Spirit Meets the Bone” continued her long run of AMA honors.
Sturgill Simpson was honored twice, with wins as artist of the year and for writing and recording “Turtles All the Way Down,” the song of the year.
The full list of honorees:
Album of the Year: Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone, Lucinda Williams, Produced by Lucinda Williams, Tom Overby and Greg Leisz
Artist of the Year: Sturgill Simpson
Duo Group of the Year: The Mavericks
Song of the Year: “Turtles All The Way Down” Written by Sturgill Simpson
Emerging Artist of the Year: Shakey Graves
Instrumentalist of the Year: John Leventhal
Spirit of Americana/Free Speech in Music Award co-presented by the Americana Music Association and the First Amendment Center: Buffy Sainte-Marie
Lifetime Achievement Award, Trailblazer: Don Henley
The Lifetime Achievement Award, Songwriting: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Lifetime Achievement Award, Instrumentalist: Ricky Skaggs
Lifetime Achievement Award, Performance: Los Lobos
President’s Award: BB King
Review: Steppenwolf’s ABC/Dunhill Singles Collection
By Ken Paulson
This Wednesday I’ll have the privilege of presenting the Free Speech in Music award to Buffy St. Marie at the Americana Music Association’s Awards and Honors event at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
I’m particularly honored to be presenting the award with John Kay, founder and lead singer of Steppenwolf. Though many associate the band with the biker culture (“heavy metal thunder”) the truth is that Steppenwolf was one of the most socially conscious and politically engaged groups of the ’60s.
A new collection from Real Gone Music reminds us of the depth and impact of the band. The ABC/Dunhill Singles Collection includes largely mono recordings of the band’s output for the label, plus all of Kay’s solo singles.
By definition, all of the hits are here: “Born to Be Wild,” “Magic Carpet Ride,” “Rock Me,” “Move Over” and “Hey Lawdy Mama.” But the singles also included a stirring cover of Hoyt Axton’s “Snowblind Friend,” the driving “Who Needs Ya” and “Monster,” a powerful political anthem included here in its full version because Kay objected to the truncated version released as the single.
Kay’s solo albums were outstanding and largely overlooked, and it’s good to have a sampling included here, particularly his versions of “You Win Again” and “I’m Movin’ On.”
Kay participated in the Real Gone Music collection and his comments inform the comprehensive and fascinating booklet included here.
It’s an impressive collection and it was good to reconnect with the band’s many worthy B-sides. I seem to recall Steppenwolf performing “Berry Rides Again” from their first album on American Bandstand, but there’s video proof of their performance of the song in 1968 on “Playboy After Dark:”
Class of ’82: Marshall Crenshaw and Tommy Keene
By Ken Paulson
In 1982, two promising young talents released debut albums. Marshall Crenshaw’s self-titled record drew considerable attention, fueled by airplay of “Someday Someway.” Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., Tommy Keene released Strange Alliance, largely unnoticed until his breakthrough EP Places That Are Gone two years later.
Remarkably, both men remain vibrant recording artists 33 years later, and have just released new albums.
Crenshaw’s #392 The EP Collection is exactly that – six new songs and six covers culled from a series of six vinyl EPs he’s recorded since 2013, plus two bonus tracks. By happenstance, it resembles Todd Rundgren’s Faithful from 1976, half covers and half originals.
The new songs are strong, leaning toward the melancholy, although “I Don’t See You Laughing Now” is straight-up vindictive. “Driving and Dreaming” is the highlight, a song of reflection and weariness.
The covers are wonderful, with great versions of the Bobby Fuller Four’s “Never to be Forgotten” and the Carpenters’ hit “Close to You.” “Didn’t Want to Have to Do It,” the flip side to the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?” sounds like Marshall Crenshaw wrote it, a clue to the artist’s influences.
Keene’s new album Laugh in the Dark also reflects his influences, particularly the Beatles-flavored album closer “All Gone Away.” Keene’s last album was a covers project and he says it freed him up for the new release.
“Hence you have a direct concoction of the Beatles meet the Who by way of Big Star with a little Stones for good measure,” he says in press materials.
That’s a pretty good concoction. “Out of My Mind,” “Dear Heloise” and “Last of the Twilight Girls” open the album with an exhilarating rush, and the album builds from there.
I’ve admired Keene’s work over the years, but this album has a special resonance, with guitars unleashed and rock ‘n’ roll attitude from start to finish.
At long last: ZZ Top live in La Grange
by Paul T. Mueller
Legendary Texas blues -rock trio ZZ Top made a little history over Labor Day weekend. On Saturday, September 5, after more than four decades of touring and performing, the band played its first-ever show in La Grange, the south-central Texas town that lent its name to one of the band’s biggest hits.
Anyone who came to the Fayette County Fairgrounds expecting nuance from the Top probably left disappointed. But let’s face it, it’s unlikely that many in the huge audience – one unofficial estimate put the crowd’s size at 30,000 – were expecting any such thing. The trio – guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard – is known mostly for pounding out unpretentious, blues-based boogie dealing
ZZ Top in La Grange
with a variety of non-cerebral topics. That’s what the fans came for, and they got it. The band delivered a well-paced, 80-minute show featuring most of its best-known songs, plus a couple of covers. All of it was done with style and a refreshing absence of synthesizers and theatrics – if you don’t count a live buzzard perched atop a cow skull behind the drum riser.
Of course the set list included “La Grange,” a hit from the band’s 1973 breakout album Tres Hombres. The riff-heavy rocker is an ode to the Chicken Ranch, a brothel that operated for decades on the outskirts of town until it was shut down after an investigation by a flamboyant Houston TV news personality. The story was immortalized, if that’s the right word, in the musical (and later movie) “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”
The opening act’s set featured several power failures, but ZZ Top’s performance was unmarred by such glitches. The sound, at least at a distance of 100 yards or so from the stage, was loud but not painfully so, and very clean. The band led off with “Got Me Under Pressure,” from 1983’s Eliminator. A parade of hits followed, from the earlier stuff – “Waitin’ for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago,” “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide,” Cheap Sunglasses” – to the MTV hits of the ‘80s, including “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs.” Newer selections included “I Gotsta Get Paid,” “Chartreuse” and “Flyin’ High” from the band’s most recent collection, 2012’s La Futura.
One unexpected bonus was a creditable rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady,” accompanied by images of Hendrix on two large onstage video screens. That was followed by the classic “Catfish Blues,” also recorded by Hendrix. Both gave Gibbons ample room to demonstrate his still-excellent blues chops, backed by the seldom flashy but always solid rhythm play of Hill and Beard (still the only band member who does not sport a beard).
The main set ended with a vigorous workout on “Tush,” an anthem about simple pleasures from 1975’s Fandango!. After a short break, the band returned for a one-song encore tailor-made for Labor Day weekend – a Top-ified blues-rock take on the classic “16 Tons.”
Review: Gretchen Peters and Barry Walsh in Houston
Gretchen Peters and Barry Walsh
By Paul T. Mueller
At her Aug. 30 show in Houston, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters seemed a bit surprised but very pleased to be playing to a near-capacity audience on a Sunday evening. She and Barry Walsh, her husband and musical partner, rewarded the crowd at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck with an excellent performance that drew heavily from her most recent album, Blackbirds, but also included older material, a few covers and even a solo turn by Walsh.
Acknowledging that much of Blackbirds deals with heavy subjects, notably death, Peters promised to get the dark material out of the way early. And so she did, leading off with “When All You Got Is a Hammer,” a tale of domestic discord; the murder-ballad title track; the angst-ridden “Pretty Things,” and “Black Ribbons,” an elegy for the oil-fouled Gulf Coast after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The mood lightened – a bit – with renditions of Tom Russell’s “Guadalupe” and “My Dark Angel,” a sweet if unconventional love song. Nashville veteran Walsh took the spotlight for “Belgian Afternoon” from his 2014 album Silencio, before an interlude of squeezebox jokes as Peters retuned her guitar (Walsh alternated between electric piano and what Peters described as “a $200 Craigslist accordion” throughout the show). Responding to a request, Peters reached back nearly two decades for the title track of her debut album, The Secret of Life. The rest of the show included a couple of covers – Jimmy LaFave’s “Revival” and David Mead’s “Nashville” – as well as several songs from Peters’ 2012 album Hello Cruel World and a couple more from Blackbirds.
Peters and Walsh have been at this for a while; they’re seasoned performers, at ease with the audience and well versed in the mechanics and dynamics of live performance. Despite Peters’ claim of being “loopy from the road,” her singing, and the intricate interplay between her acoustic guitar and Walsh’s powerful piano, showed no trace of sloppiness. They wound down the set with the quiet drama of “Five Minutes” before rocking out on the exuberant “Woman on the Wheel.”
Abandoning the overdone cliché of leaving the stage after the 90-minute set (at the Duck, this requires an awkward walk through the audience and back), Peters and Walsh finished with the lost-love ballad “On a Bus to St. Cloud” and a rousing duet on John Prine’s “In Spite of Ourselves.”
Country Music Hall of Fame celebrates Sam Phillips
By Ken Paulson
A remarkable new exhibit opens today at the Country Music Hall of Fame honoring a singular figure in American music. The title says it all: “Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillips.”
In fact, it was that audacious exhibit title that convinced the Phillips family that the Hall of Fame curators could be trusted with telling Sam’s story, his son Jerry said Thursday.
Phillips, the founder of Sun Records played a pivotal role in the history of rock and roll, signing Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Howlin’ Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Rufus Thomas, Charlie Rich and many more groundbreaking and envelope-pushing talents.
His production and release of Elvis’ first single – “That’s All Right,” backed with a revved up “Blue Moon of Kentucky” – is the Big Bang of rock, and arguably of Americana music as well.
I had the opportunity to interview Phillips in 1999 at an event at the Peabody Hotel. I asked him my first question, and 11 minutes later he wrapped up his response. He was a colorful and confident character.
But he also had character. Sam was committed to finding and recording fresh voices, breaking down barriers in the process.
Sam Phillips’ console
The exhibit features an impressive array of artifacts, most notably Elvis’ first recording – “My Happiness” – at the Memphis Recording Service. The disc, recorded for his mother, is on loan to the Hall of Fame by Jack White. Other items in the exhibit include:
– Phillips’ mixing console and tape recorder
- – A union contract signed by Presley and Phillips
- – An electric guitar used by Howlin’ Wolf
- – A vintage Johnny Cash stage costume
The exhibit is scheduled to run through June 2016.
Americana Music Festival 2015: The line-up
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New Releases: Dustbowl Revival, Raging Fire, Auburn
A round-up of new releases:
Dustbowl Revival – With a Lampshade On – Dustbowl Revival draws on a folk tradition stretching back at least 85 years. With a Lampshade On is a genial album fueled by brass, fiddle and mandolin. This is energetic and engaging roots music. Of course, most listeners are going to find Dustbowl Revival through their music video of “Never Had to Go,” featuring a joyous, dancing Dick Van Dyke. It’s buoyant, with or without Dick, and the album’s highlight.
Raging Fire – Everything is Roses – Here’s an album we never expected to see. Raging Fire was a buzz band in the late ‘80s in Nashville, joining Jason and the Scorchers in a dynamic new rock scene in the city. Everything is Roses collects 24 tracks from their heyday. Cool and historic.
Jeb Barry – Milltown – Jeb Barry is a prolific storyteller with a collection of stark songs, recorded in real time with the Pawn Shop Saints.
Auburn – Mixed Feelings Bat Country Records/Scarlet Records The UK-based Auburn follow up their Nashville album, returning to Music City to work once again with accomplished producer Thomm Jutz. Set for release on Sept. 11.
Edward David Anderson – Lower Alabama: The Loxley Sessions – Royal Potato Family Edward David Anderson’s new album, set for release on Oct. 16, was produced by Anthony Crawford and features guitar work from Will Kimbrough.
Adam Hill – Old Paint– Adam Hill takes songs spanning centuries and gives them a more contemporary feel. Hill says he’s “recomposed” these old tunes, including the familiar “Cuckoo” and “A Soldier’s Joy.”
Early Nashville rock: Ronnie and the Daytonas
By Ken Paulson
Much is made these days of Kings of Leon and Jack White living in Nashville, but rock has long thrived in Music City.
The new Real Gone Music release of Ronny and the Daytonas’ The Complete Recordings reminds us of the Top 10 success of this Nashville band 51 years ago. Their debut single “GTO” echoed the Beach Boys’ car songs, but had a vitality all its own.
The hit was written by “Ronny” – John “Bucky” Wilkin – the son of legendary Nashville songwriter Marijohn Wilkin. She was a very big deal. She wrote country classics “Long Black Veil” and “Waterloo,” the inspirational “One Day at a Time” and even the Eddie Cochran (and Rod Stewart) track “Cut Across Shorty.” The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame calls her one of the three most successful female songwriters in country music history, along with Dolly Parton and Patsy Walker.
There must have been something in the DNA. While the younger Wilkin only had two Top 40 hits with the Daytonas, he wrote both, along with about half the band’s output.
The Complete Recordings is a fascinating two-CD set. Much of the first disc is formulaic car and surf music of widely varying quality, but just as Brian Wilson moved past those genres to a more sophisticated sound, so did Wilkin.
The turning point was “Sandy,” a 1965 hit single co-written with Buzz Cason, another young Nashville rocker who went on to write “Everlasting Love.” This was Wilkin’s “Please Let Me Wonder” and a huge leap beyond the early material.
From “Sandy” on, the songs became more adventurous and the arrangements more ambitious. But there were no more big hits.
By 1968, Wilkin was a solo artist with RCA and released a single about the day in the life of a solder in Vietnam, co-written with his mom and Kris Kristofferson. (Yes, you read that right.) It failed, despite the intervention and support of Chet Atkins. Yet it’s somehow the perfect bookend to a recording career that began four years earlier with “G.T.O. “ The sixties moved just that quickly.
The Complete Recordings include four unreleased songs, for an astounding total of 48 tracks from a band whose work went largely unacknowledged for decades. The new collection is an important historical document – and a lot of fun.
Review: Jason Isbell’s “Something More than Free”
By Paul T. Mueller
Jason Isbell had quite a challenge in following up his excellent 2013 album, Southeastern, which was a thing of rare power and beauty. Fortunately, he was up to the task. His latest, Something More Than Free, is an excellent collection in its own right. Isbell has a good eye for revealing details, and a gift for weaving them into songs that touch on themes both personal and universal.
It would have been tough to match the visceral impact of Southeastern’s “Cover Me Up” or “Elephant,” but there’s still plenty here that’s strong enough to impress on first listen and nuanced enough to reward further examination.
Things get off to a bouncy start with “If It Takes a Lifetime,” featuring an infectious violin riff courtesy of Amanda Shires, Isbell’s wife and collaborator. Isbell’s songwriting skill is much in evidence in the narrative of a man who’s learned from his mistakes, and has come to understand that happiness is a journey, not a destination. He pursues that theme further in “24 Frames,” which considers the idea that everything good can disappear in a second – the time it takes a movie camera to shoot 24 frames.
So it goes for the album’s other nine songs. More highlights:
- “Flagship,” a sweet love song in which the narrator sees a couple “sitting there a thousand miles apart” and pleads, “Baby, let’s not ever get that way.”
- “The Life You Chose,” which asks a tough question: “Are you living the life you chose? Are you living the life that chose you?”
- The title track, a meditation on the value of work in which the narrator concludes, “I’m doing what I’m on this earth to do.” Clearly the same can be said of Isbell himself.
- “Speed Trap Town,” a rueful observation of small-town life in the vein of Steve Earle or James McMurtry.
- “Palmetto Rose,” a guitar-fueled look at the good and bad of life in a South Carolina city, from the point of view of a cab driver who’s familiar with both.
Isbell is backed by the members of his fine band, The 400 Unit: Sadler Vaden on guitars, Jimbo Hart on bass, Chad Gamble on drums, Derry Deborja on keyboards, and Shires. Producer Dave Cobb also helps out on percussion and acoustic guitar.
Something More Than Free is holding down the No. 1 spot on three Billboard album charts – country, rock and folk. That’s quite an achievement, and a testament to Jason Isbell’s ability to translate human experience into appealing music.
New releases: Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams
A round-up of new and recent Americana music releases:
Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams – Red House Records – One of our favorite albums of the summer, the debut duo album from Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams has soared up the Americana music airplay chart since its release five weeks ago, and has just entered the top 10. Rightly so. Best known for their affiliations with Levon Helm and Bob Dylan, the couple has delivered a self-assured collection of soulful and compelling songs, with immaculate playing throughout, and guest turns from Amy Helm and Bill Payne.
Jason James – New West Records – Jason James taps into classic country on his debut solo album, recording new songs with a decidedly familiar feel. It’s all honky tonk and heartbreak, just like they made them 50 years ago. Set for release on August 21.
The Howl and the Growl – The Surreal McCoys – Produced by Eric Ambel, The Howl and the Growl offers up straight-ahead, high energy rock and country. The Surreal McCoys will be featured at a showcase at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville on Sept. 17.
Back on the Old Stuff– The Tallent Brothers – Rocky and Brandon Tallent left David Allen Coe’s band to record their own album, including a co-write with Pat McLaughlin on “There’s a Spirit.” Release date: August 10.
Sure to Offend – Jim Pharis – Second album from Jim Pharis, who cites Leo Kottke, Rev. Gary Davis, Merlre Travis and Bo Carter as his influences.
Old News – Dave Desmelik – Dave Desmelik’s 10th album revisits a dozen songs he’s recorded over the past 16 years.
Long Gone Song – Nocona – Long Gone Song is the second studio album from Nocona. The band’s lyrics have a dark bent (see “Toothless Junkie”), but their sound is often spirited and adventurous.
Yesterday/Miracle Mile – Bill Lloyd – We generally don’t review EPs, but we do want to alert you to a new release by Bill Lloyd, one-half of Foster and Lloyd and an inventive solo artist with a passion for all things power pop. “Yesterday/Miracle Mile” is the “single” that anchors this new collection of five songs. Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick co-wrote “Yesterday” and plays bass on the track, and Pat Buchanan co-wrote the Who-inspired “Miracle Mile.” Three bonus tracks from Lloyd’s archives round out this energetic, engaging and hook-laden set, available on iTunes on August 18.
Salvatella – Breadfoot – Jeezie Peezie Records – The fourth album from Breadfoot, whose music has been featured on Roadtrip Nation. Out this month.
Country/Folk – Well Worn Soles – – Debut album from Emerson Wells-Barrett and Chelsea Dix-Kessler features low-key country and folk, just as described in the title. Buddy and Julie Miller offer up a supportive promotional quote, calling the duo “some comfortable listening.”