Chip Taylor’s new album is a family effort, teaming him with his grandchildren for a refreshing and engaging kids’ record. Golden Kids Rules (Smithsonain Folkways Recordings) features songs they wrote and performed together. The title song sets the positive and loving tone: “5-6-7-8 who do we appreciate? Kids, even if they’re breaking some rules.” “Big Ideas” is sweet and melodic,…
Saluting Buck Owens and the Bakersfield Sound
Fans of the Bakersfield Sound have plenty to celebrate. First there’s the just-released Buck Owens collection “Bound for Bakersfield 1953-1956: The Complete Pre-Capitol Collection.” The Rockbeat album collects songs that Owens recorded for the Pep, Chesterfield and La Brea labels before a much more successful run on Capitol. It’s a mixed bag of honky tonk and early rock ‘n’ roll,…
Americana Music Festival preview: The 1861 Project
The upcoming Americana Music Festival in Nashville will feature a number of free shows open to the public. Prominent among these is an Oct. 15 performance of songs from the 1861 Project, a new album that recounts the civil war through song. From the original Sun209 review: This ambitious, engaging and yes, educational project chronicles the Civil War through the perspectives…
Will Hoge, Wilco surge on Americana Music Chart
The top five spots in this week’s Americana Music Association Chart remain unchanged, with the Jayhawks, Robert Earl Keen, John Hiatt, Gillian Welch and Guy Clark ranked one through five. Will Hoge’s “Number Seven” jumps from #26 to #13. Fresh off two triumphant nights at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Wilco enters the chart at #21 with “The Whole Love.”…