Category: Nashville music

New: Flamin’ Groovies’ “Fantastic Plastic”

By Ken Paulson –

It’s fitting that one of the best tracks on the latest Flamin’ Groovies album Fantastic Plastic is a cover of NRBQ’s “I Want You Bad.”
Like NRBQ, the Groovies were more a cult band than commercial group, and their line-up has had seismic shifts over the years. And like NRBQ, they’re out there touring in support of a current album, drawing on a rich catalog and having as good a time as they can.
The new album features founding members Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson, and it’s a consistently entertaining mash-up of Byrds, Rolling Stones and the Who. It’s also a record collector’s fantasy object, with cover and label design drawn from Capitol and Laurie Records, and a Jordan illustration that salutes the late Jack Davis.
Best of all for those who live in Music City, the Flamin’ Groovies are set to play the Basement East on Oct. 25 in East Nashville. Tickets available here. Openers: The Shazam and TV Sisters.

Radney Foster showcases new book, album

By Paul T. Mueller

Radney Foster can now add “author” to his already impressive résumé. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter recently published For You to See the Stars, a collection of short stories related in some way to lyrics from his songs. He simultaneously released a CD with the same title, on which some of the 11 songs share their titles with stories from the book. Foster featured songs and a story in an in-store appearance at Houston’s Cactus Music on Sept. 30, in the middle of a two-night stand at the nearby McGonigel’s Mucky Duck.

Strumming an acoustic six-string, with impressive accompaniment from Eddie Heinzelman on electric guitar, Foster kicked off the event with “For You to See the Stars,” a reflection on adversity and our response to it (note to self: when writing a song, hope to include a line as good as “rock bottom is just solid ground to start again”). Next came a nice rendition of “Raining on Sunday,” an older song, co-written with Darrell Scott, that became a hit for Keith Urban.

The literary part of the show consisted of Foster’s reading of “Bridge Club,” a funny coming-of-age story of sorts. He noted that the story, which revolves around a memorable day for a young boy and his mother’s bridge club, is fiction, although the dark twist at the end involves an event that was all too real.

Two more songs followed: “Greatest Show on Earth,” a lively account of Foster’s introduction to music via family music parties, and “Howlin’,” about the way a generation of young people was introduced to rock ‘n’ roll in the early ’60s by DJ Wolfman Jack, who broadcast over a powerful “border blaster” radio station across the Mexican border from Foster’s hometown of Del Rio, Texas.

Radney Foster stuck around for quite awhile after the music ended, signing autographs and chatting with enthusiastic fans.

Snapshots: Images from Pilgrimage Music Festival Day One

Americana Music News  – With temperatures in the ’90s and shade only in Shady Grove, the challenge was to move from stage to stage, catching every artist you possibly could and still stay hydrated. Shovels and Rope (above) defied the weather with matching jumpsuits.

A sampling of snapshots from an impressive first day:

Ivory Layne

The Avett Brothers

Big Sam’s Funky Nation

The Texas Gentlemen

The Bros. Landreth

Angaleena Presley

Aaron Lee Tasjan to play Pilgrimage Festival

By Ken Paulson –

There’s a great undercard to the Pilgrimage Music Festival in Franklin, Tennessee this weekend. There are headliners like Justin Timberlake and Eddie Vedder, but also up-and-comers like Nikki Lane, Shovels and Rope, Blackfoot Gypsies and a particular favorite Aaron Lee Tasjan.

We caught up with Aaron last fall when he released his new album “Silver Tears.” This video is a testament to his personal charm and succinct marketing skills.

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.

2017 Americana Music Festival begins

By Ken Paulson –

Our favorite event of the year is – for obvious reasons – the Americana Music Festival in Nashville. This year, the line-ups and complementary events are particularly robust. A festival that once cranked up on Wednesday is in full swing already. Here’s what Tuesday looks like:

Grimey’s hosts the Americana Music Festival kick-off event at 5 p.m., with shows by Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, Joana Serrat, Joseph Huber, the Steel Woods, Jesse Dayton and Zach Schmidt.

At 6 p.m., Will Kimbrough and friend take the Americana Music Festival stage at Fond Object Records, 1313 McGavock Pike. Guests include Tommy Womack and the Red Dirt Boys. (Kimbrough and Womack – “Daddy” – pictured above.)

At 7 p.m., the Belcourt Theatre will screen “50 Years of Blonde on Blonde in Concert,” featuring Old Crow Medicine Show. At 7:30 p.m., a stage production called “The People Sing!” is scheduled for War Memorial Auditorium. The show features Hayes Carll, Allison Moorer and many more in an exploration of the fight for freedom and justice in America.

And don’t miss Will Hoge at the High Watt at 10 p.m.

 

 

Remembering Elvis Presley at RCA Studio B

By Ken Paulson —

Norbert Putnam

When friends visit Nashville, ,they always ask about must-sees. They know about the recreation of the Parthenon, Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, the Ryman and the Country Music Hall of Fame, but I always urge them to see RCA Studio B, an essential site in the history of pop and country music preserved and maintained by the hall.

It’s where many of the biggest hits by the Everly Brothers and Roy Orbison were recorded. And it’s where Elvis Presley recorded more than 200 songs.

Charlie McCoy

It’s the latter distinction that brought four stellar musicians back to Studio B last night to recall their work with Elvis. Keyboard player David Briggs first teamed with Presley in 1966 on “Love Letters.” Guitarist James Burton led Presley’s TCB Band from 1969 after a legendary stint with Rick Nelson. Charlie McCoy played harmonica and several other instruments on Presley records stretching back to 1965. And Norbert Putnam was the bass player on more than 100 Elvis songs, beginning in 1970.

That’s a lot of firepower and they came armed with great stories. What was most striking, though, was the consensus. To a man, they agreed that:]

  • Elvis had extraordinary charisma and personal charm.
  • He was always respectful of studio musicians and never tried to tell them how or what to play.
  • He continued to have a passion for his music right up until his death. Some of those later recordings don’t suggest that, but they were adamant that he didn’t mail it in.

James Burton

Putnam told of an incident in Studio B that captured the dynamics of working with Elvis. Presley was there for a recording session, but first decided he wanted to demonstrate his karate skills. He had one of his “Memphis Mafia” buddies pretend to attack him with a gun. Presley chopped at it, driving it more than 30  feet into the body of  musician Chip Young’s cherished handmade Spanish classical guitar. That guitar- with a hold in it – is now housed at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The music they recorded with Presley clearly meant a great deal to them and they recalled it in great detail. Briggs remembered unexpectedly sitting in for the great Floyd Cramer on his first session with Elvis and was critical of his own performance decades ago. But he also said he regretted asking Elvis to re-record

David Briggs

the song a few years later, saying it didn’t have the magic of the original.

Two of the musicians have recently written memoirs revisiting their careers. Norbert Putnam’s memoir is called “Music Lessons Vol. 1” and Charlie McCoy has written “Fifty Cents and a Box Top: The Creative Life of Nashville Session Musician Charlie McCoy.”

 

Americana Music Festival’s talent-packed awards show

Americana Music News – The Americana Music Festival’s annual Honors and Awards show is always special, but the 2017 line-up raises the bar.

Where else in the world would you see Van Morrison, Graham Nash and John Prine on the same stage? And then there are the gnere’s established stars, incuding Rodney Crowell, Billy Bragg, Iris DeMent, Jason Isbell and Old Crow Mediince Show.

The full line-up:

Billy Bragg

Brent Cobb

Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm

Rodney Crowell

Iris DeMent

Drive-By Truckers

Rhiannon Giddens

Joe Henry

Hurray for the Riff Raff

Jason Isbell

The Lumineers

Lori McKenna

Van Morrison

Graham Nash

Old Crow Medicine Show

Sam Outlaw

Margo Price

John Prine

Amanda Shires

Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives

Aaron Lee Tasjan

 

 

WMOT at Americana Music Festival

By Ken Paulson

(Full disclosure: I have an administrative role with WMOT Roots Radio in Nashville, in addition to my glamorous position as editor of Americana Music News.)

The station is hosting a remarkable series of free shows in conjunction with the Americana Music Festival from Sept. 14 through 16..he details from WMOT:

The Yee-Haw Tent, with seating for 500 people and rigged for our signature quality sound and staging, will be centrally located at 6th Ave. S. and Peabody Street, just a block south of the Music City Center and an easy walk from the Americana Business Conference home at the Westin Hotel.

The tent will be WMOT’s home away from home from Thursday to Saturday, with live programming featuring our station’s key shows, hosts and musical passions as we celebrate a year on the air as Roots Radio, serving all of Middle Tennessee with a 100,000 watt FM signal and a mission to amplify the Americana music movement.

Music City Roots will move from the Factory to the Yee-Haw Tent on Thursday night for its season opening show at 7 pm. The live radio/web show will offer official Americana showcase artists John Paul White, Pony Bradshaw, The Cactus Blossoms and an extended late night set by Lee Ann Womack and Friends.

Friday WMOT partners with NPR Music to present a full day of live performers from 2:00 pm until 8:00 pm, with Webb Wilder, Kasey Chambers, Tyler Childers, Lindi Ortega, the North Mississippi All-Stars and Pony Bradshaw. Then WMOT host Greg Lee will host his weekly Bel-Aire Drive show as a live DJ Dance Party, featuring carefully curated 60s and 70s soul, funk and R&B.

Saturday is WMOT’s official Birthday Bash with music from 11:00 am until 10:00 pm. The planned lineup for Saturday features: Paul Thorn, Reckless Kelly, Whitney Rose, The Secret Sisters, The Deep Dark Woods, The O’Connor Band w/ Mark O’Connor, Lilly Hiatt, Texas Gentlemen, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Katie Pruitt and Vandoliers.

Jessie Scott
 
And the tent is just part of what we have planned during the year’s biggest Americana homecoming. On Wednesday, WMOT air hosts Jessie Scott and Craig Havighurst will anchor a live webcast from the entrance to the Ryman Auditorium before the Americana Honors & Awards show. From 4:30 on, we’ll host a live streaming watch party at the Family Wash in East Nashville so non ticket holders can enjoy the show itself.

Thursday afternoon features a special extended AmericanaFest edition of WMOT’s Wired In at Thiel Studio in the Pinnacle Building at 150 3rd Ave. S. The show with stars Brent Cobb, Tony Joe White and Lori McKenna, hosted by Jessie Scott, starts at 4 pm and is reserved for WMOT sustaining members and Americana Music Association badge holders.

Sharon Vaughn to be honored at Country Hall of Fame

Americana Music News – Sharon Vaughn, a fine songwriter we interviewed last January on the Sandy Beaches Cruise, is being honored at the Country Music Hall of Fame at 2 p.m. August 8th. Here’s the Hall’s announcement, along with our conversation with Sharon:
Sharon Vaughn’s first songwriting hit was a career maker: “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.” It appeared in 1976 on country music’s first certified platinum album, Wanted! The Outlaws, sung by Waylon Jennings. Four years later, Willie Nelson’s version went to #1 when it was included in the soundtrack to the film The Electric Horseman. Vaughn hails from Orlando, Florida. She was discovered by fellow Floridian Mel Tillis and she moved to Nashville in 1969 to pursue a singing career. During the 1970s Vaughn released her own singles on several labels, including ABC/Dot, while juggling studio work as a vocalist. Vaughn’s songwriting credits include the Oak Ridge Boys’ breakthrough country hit, “Y’All Come Back Saloon,” Reba McEntire’s “I’m Not That Lonely Yet,” the Lorrie Morgan-Keith Whitley duet “’Til a Tear Becomes a Rose,” Patty Loveless’s “Lonely Too Long,” and Randy Travis’s “Out of My Bones.” Today, Vaughn splits time between Orlando and Stockholm, and she has had success writing for international pop stars. In 2009 her song “Release Me,” recorded by Swedish singer Agnes, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart. This interview and performance will be illustrated with vintage photos, film footage, and recordings.

This program takes place in the Museum’s Ford Theater.

After the program Vaughn will sign commemorative Hatch Show Print posters. Ford Theater. Included with museum admission.

Class reunion: The original Alice Cooper band

By Ken Paulson

It’s been more than four decades, but I still remember seeing the Alice Cooper “School’s Out” tour. Complete with guillotine, they rocked Chicago Stadium. And there they were tonight, the band’s original members reuniting to deftly play “Eighteen,” “School’s Out” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” in Nashville at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

I’d be surprised if Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith and Michael Bruce have played those songs in recent years, but the rust didn’t show. The mini-set offered up driving rock and nostalgia in equal measure.

The first part of the set featured Alice’s current band, and with the early classics saved for the original band, was little heavy on album tracks of the past 20 years. That said, “Under My Wheels” and “Halo of Flies” were absolute highlights.

One side note: Alice Cooper’s shows have always been about theatricality, but it was a little jarring to have him pull out a dagger at the end of his sympathetic “Only Women Bleed” and have the audience cheer in anticipation of the stabbing to come. Maybe it’s time to retire that.

 

Tonight was a reminder, though of the enduring appeal of  radio-friendly songs, imaginative staging and a persona that never seems to age. Alice Cooper was always about hard rock and humor. Some things never change.

 

 

 

 

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

close dialog

 

close dialog

 

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

Reissue: James Talley’s “Tryin’ Like the Devil”

By Ken Paulson

A lot of us who were fans of  Jerry Jeff Walker, Rusty Wier, Michael Martin Murphey and others in the mid-70s were pleasantly surprised by a newcomer named James Talley. He released four albums on Capitol Records in that decade, including the highly admired Tryin’ Like the Devil.

That album is now back in a 40th anniversary edition, released by Talley’s own Cimarron Records. This edition comes with extensive liner notes and full lyrics, and is available at Talley’s site.

Review – Rodney Crowell’s “Close Ties”

by Paul T. Mueller – There’s a little looking forward, a lot of looking back, and more than a hint of unfinished business in Rodney Crowell’s latest collection, Close Ties. The last comes courtesy of a couple of songs that reference Susanna Clark, wife of Guy Clark, Crowell’s early mentor and later peer (and competitor). In “Life Without Susanna,” Crowell describes her as “the most near perfect woman I’d ever seen” and “the most worthy opponent that I’ve ever known.” But he also talks about the darker days that followed. “Life without Susanna started when Townes Van Zandt died,” he sings “She made the bed inside her head a shelter… Nothing pierced the fortress inside her mind.” In “Nashville 1972,” Crowell describes his arrival in Music City and the beginnings of his complicated relationship with the Clarks: “I found my way around this town with a friend I made named Guy/Who loved Susanna and so did I.”

Falling into the “looking back” category, in addition to the above, is “East Houston Blues,” which recounts Rodney Crowell’s hardscrabble childhood and adolescence. A glimpse of the future comes in “I Don’t Care Anymore,” in which the singer contemplates life with less concern with the trappings of success and more comfort with the man he’s become.

Crowell’s introspective bent manifests itself in “Reckless,” in which he describes a dream fueled by the tension between temptation and guilt. In “Forgive Me, Annabelle,” he sings of belatedly coming to terms with the end of a relationship, and with his responsibility for that event.

One of the album’s more interesting tracks, in terms of both subject matter and songcraft, is “It Ain’t Over Yet,” which seems to take the form of a three-way dialogue between Crowell, Guy Clark and Susanna Clark. The song features John Paul White and Rosanne Cash as stand-ins for the Clarks, imparting such wisdom as “Here’s what I know about the gifts God gave/You can’t take ’em with you when you go to the grave” (Guy/White) and “I’ve known you forever and it’s true/If you came by it easy, you wouldn’t be you” (Susanna/Cash).

Close Ties works pretty well as a summing-up of an illustrious career. But there’s also the sense that, at 66, Rodney Crowell has much more to offer.

Other notable guests include guitarists Steuart Smith, Tommy Emmanuel and Jedd Hughes, bassist Lex Price and Michael Rhodes, drummers Ian Fitchuk and Jerry Roe, and singer Sheryl Crow.

Music legend B.J. Thomas at the Franklin Theater

B.J. Thomas described himself as “crabby” during his appearance Friday night at the Franklin theater just down the road from Nashville. It was an evening of awkward silences and some irritation with the lighting.

But it really didn’t matter. B.J. Thomas has always had a great pop voice and he ably performed songs from throughout his career, including his first hit – a 1966 cover of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” – and his final number one record  “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” from 1975.

In that nine-year period, Thomas was rarely off the charts and on Friday he showcased all of the big hits, including “Hooking on a Feeling” and “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.”  This may have been an off night for B.J. Thomas, but you wouldn’t have known it from the music. – Ken Paulson

Doyle and Debbie interview: Behind the scenes

By Ken Paulson

Walk by the venerable Station Inn tomorrow night or on many evenings throughout the year and you’ll hear raucous laughter coming from inside the Nashville venue.

Strange. Bluegrass isn’t that funny.

But Doyle and Debbie are. They’re the lead characters in an irreverent musical that parodies traditional country songs in a non-traditional way. “When You’re Screwin’ Other Women (Think of Me)” pretty much says it all.

The show – in residency at the Station Inn – recreates Doyle’s “comeback” tour with his “third Debbie.” It satirizes old school country, but with an affectionate nod.

The show was created and written by Bruce Arntson, and features Arntaon and Jenny Littleton in the title roles.  We had the chance to talk with both recently about this truly singular show:

New: Mavericks, Rodney Crowell, Drew Holcomb