Lyle Lovett is on top of the Americana Music Radio airplay charts again this week, and is actually picking up momentum, with a total of 486 spins of tracks from Release Me. New on the chart this week: Yarn’s Almost Home at #34, JD McPherson’s Signs and Signifiers at #38, Bonnie Raitt’s Slipstream at #39 and Sirens by Sons of…
David Olney’s Solid “Stone”
By Tommy Womack –I don’t always like modern Christian records. They’re often maudlin affairs percolating with manufactured ecstasy. But nothing captures my fancy more than a healthy dissertation on the Historical Jesus. Leave it to David Olney to marry the two notions without the fakery of the former or the dry academic tedium of the latter. The Stone is Olney’s…
Sun209: The week in Tweets
Whatever happened to Spanky and our Gang? http://t.co/MnihlHkY # Rick Nelson's sons on their father's legacy http://t.co/NCIkXGpH # It's @LyleLovett at #1 chart debuts by @AndrewBird, @CufftheDuke, Joe Pug http://t.co/IPUL1RjZ # Preview of opening night at @tinpansouthfest http://t.co/ATO19Y6J # Opening night @Tinpansouthfest: @michaelmcdermott, Roger Cook, Larry Weiss and Peter Yarrow http://t.co/GINQz6rn # Tonight at @tinpansouthfest: Jimmy Webb, Felix Cavaliere and…
Review: Levi Lowrey’s “I Confess I Was A Fool”
by Paul T. Mueller –Let’s hope that Levi Lowrey’s debut CD, I Confess I Was a Fool, is at least partly a work of imagination and not completely autobiographical. It’s easy to imagine that the excesses he writes and sings about so well might cut short his promising career, if not his life, and that would be a real loss…
Tin Pan South Festival: Jimmy Webb, Jack Tempchin and Felix Cavaliere
By Ken Paulson –Tin Pan South is a weeklong festival in Nashville featuring fine songwriters and engaging songs, but there was no question that the event’s epicenter was at 3rd and Lindsley tonight, as pop and rock songwriting royalty performed. Felix Cavaliere of the Rascals took the stage first, and he remains in astonishingly fine voice. He began with “It’s…
Tin Pan South: Peter Yarrow, Roger Cook, Larry Weiss, Michael McDermott
One of the opening shows on opening night of Tin Pan South in Nashville featured three songwriters with some of the best copyrights in popular music. Roger Cook, Peter Yarrow, Larry Weiss and Michael McDermott showcased their catalogs at the Listening Room Café. McDermott acknowledged that he was the poorest of the four and the only one without a monster…
Larry Weiss on “Rhinestone Cowboy” and songwriting
Larry Weiss, the songwriter behind “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Bend Me, Shape Me” appeared at this year’s Tin Pan South Festival along with Roger Cook and Peter Yarrow. In this interivew, he talks about writing his biggest hits. listen to ‘Larry Weiss interview’ on Audioboo
Lyle Lovett at #1, chart debuts by Andrew Bird, Cuff the Duke, Joe Pug
Lyle Lovett’s Release Me remains in the top spot on the Americana Music Airplay Chart, with Justin Townes Earles’ Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me surging into the second position. New to the top 10: Bruce Springsteen’s The Wrecking Ball at #8 and Ray Wylie Hubbard’s The Grifter’s Hymnal at #9. New to the charts this week:…
Tin Pan South Festival: Opening night preview
You’ll find great music in Nashville’s clubs all this week as they host the annual Tin Pan South Festival, a celebration of songwriters. Venues all over town feature singers and songwriters, typically in the round in groups of four. The performances are short on flash and high in talent. The 2012 festival kicks off tonight. Among the evening’s highlights: 6…
Concert review: Spanky and Our Gang
by Terry Roland –The new Spanky and Our Gang played to a sold-out audience at Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, California this month, not so much a reunion as an acknowledgement of the way Americana music connects us to our past and to each other. With the exception of Elaine ”Spanky” McFarlane, the original players are gone. They included Oz…
Review: Bruce Springsteen’s “Wrecking Ball”
by Terry Roland Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball is the antithesis of his nearly 30 year-old Born in the U.S.A. As a writer, he has always highlighted the dark edges and ragged truth found in an America that has more kinship with John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie than Ronald Reagan. While this earlier classic was in many ways just as dark…
Lovett, Scott top chart; Janiva Magness debuts
It’s been a relatively stable week on the Americana Music radio airplay chart, with Lyle Lovett again holding on to the top position with Release Me, followed by Darrell Scott’s Long Ride Home. There’s only one new album on the chart this week, with Janiva Magness’ Stronger For It entering at #36. Tommy Womack’s fine Now What! is back on…
Review: Chelle Rose’s “Ghost of Browder Holler”
By Ken Paulson —Ghost of Browder Holler is a striking new album by Chelle Rose, a Nashville-based singer and songwriter with roots in Appalachia. Songs like “Browder Holler Boy,” “Caney Fork Tennessee” and “Weepin’ Willow on the Hill” reflect those rustic origins but it also sounds like copies of Beggars’ Banquet and Let It Bleed made their way into the holler.…
Tail Dragger and Bob Corritore – Longtime Friends in the Blues
By Joe Ross The emotion, power and intensity of pure and heartfelt Chicago blues are the elements of Long Time Friends in the Blues featuring vocalist Tail Dragger (aka James Y. Jones) and harmonica player Bob Corritore. The two bluesmen met in early-1976 on Chicago’s west side when they performed at a tribute to Howlin’ Wolf on the day after…
Sun209: The week in Tweets
Check out @tinpansouthfest, the pre-eminent songwriters fest. Great songs by the people who wrote them. http://t.co/eqhDVAQA # Review: @Charliefaye's fine "Travels with Charlie" #americana http://t.co/yIsPIfG8 # On @Americanafest chart: @LyleLovett at top, plus @justintearle, @raywylie @springsteen,@thesteelwheels http://t.co/jk5DvdUY #
Review: Nathan James & the Rhythm Scratchers
By Joe Ross Nathan James likes to call his genre of music “Washtar Soul.” In 2010, he created an instrument called the Washtar Gitboard that connected a carved guitar neck to a travel-size washboard. He’s also wired and outfitted the gadget with LED lights from an auto parts store and plays a 3-string instrument (Tri-tar) built from a washboard and an…
Charting: Justin Townes Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Todd Snider
Lyle Lovett’s Release Me shot to the top of the Americana Music Association radio airplay chart, edging out Darrell Scott’s Long Ride Home by just seven spins. New to the chart: Justin Townes Earles’ Nothing’s Going to Change the Way You Feel About Me Now at #11, Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Grifter’s Hymnal at #22, Todd Snider’s Agnostic Hymns and Stoner…
Review: Charlie Faye’s “Travels with Charlie”
By Ken Paulson — Charlie Faye’s Travels with Charlie is built on a cool concept – residences in ten different cities for a month each, but it’s no travelogue. With the exception of the honky tonk song “Two-Timer” cut in Nashville with Chris Scruggs, Kenny Vaughan and Buddy Spicher, the songs don’t reflect their roots. What they do reflect is…
Sun209: The week in Tweets
Review: The Hobart Brothers with Lil' Sis Hobart, featuring @susancowsill_1, @freedyjohnston, @jondeegraham http://t.co/Izb6WU63 # New on chart: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Joan Osborne,Sugar + the High-Lows http://t.co/8m2bdT0r # This weekend: Bruce Springsteen video from the Apollo Theater – Death to My Hometown http://t.co/m3p9sNh8 #BruceSpringsteen # Review: The Steep Canyon Rangers' "Nobody Knows You" http://t.co/vfkRhiZ4 # Bruce Springsteen and the E Street…
The Steep Canyon Rangers’ “Nobody Knows You”
By Joe Ross— Years ago, I predicted that by the time the members of the Steep Canyon Rangers were thirty, they would be well-known far and wide for their brilliant performances and excellent recordings. Now this tight unit from western North Carolina could be one of the most recognizable bands in bluegrass today. Besides having talent and youthful appeal, their…