Tag: brandi carlile

12 special moments at John Prine’s inaugural “All the Best” Festival

 in Festivals, Reviews

By Ken Paulson –

John Prine’s music – and life – have always been marked by courage, compassion and integrity.

Now imagine a music festival just like that.

All the Best, a Prine-curated Sixthman festival in the Dominican Republic, wrapped up tonight after four days of inspired and inspiring music from some of the top songwriters in the world, including Prine, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Gretchen Peters, Lori McKenna and Brandi Carlile.

More important, the performers at this festival were hellraisers and truth tellers, just like their host. When you write a line like “Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose,” you don’t invite the meek to your festival.

Kentucky songwriter Kelsey Waldon said it was a treat to perform where “people care so much about the lyrics . . . awesome.”

John Prine and Emmylou Harris at the All The Best Festival
Emmylou Harris and John Prine at the All The Best Festival

12 special moments:

  • The day after the Country Music Awards featured “Independence Day, Gretchen Peters proudly performed her indelible anthem, smiling broadly and exultantly declaring “My words came out of Dolly Parton’s mouth!”
  • Throughout the festival, artists covered Prine’s songs to often stirring effect. Perhaps the most moving, though, were Emmylou Harris and Ruby Amanfu’s respective takes on “Angel From Montgomery.” Prine noted that when artists perform the song, they always base it on Bonnie Raitt’s version instead of his.
  • Much like Prine, Paul Thorn is always wildly entertaining, but then he’ll draw you up short with a song that makes you look at something in a fresh way. “You Might Be Wrong” couldn’t have been more timely.
  • Given the line-up, the festival was full of songs that reflect the news. Todd Snider joked that surveys indicate that only 50 percent of the audience should like his topical songs, while Steve Earle’s “City of Immigrants” received a rousing response.
  • In the spirit of the festival, Iris Dement and John Prine performed what appeared to be a thoroughly unrehearsed version of the spouse-swapping tune “Let’s Invite Them Over Tonight.” The real lyrics showed up about 30 seconds in. Pure fun.
  • Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – The Dirt Band was a late addition to the line-up, and happily so. It’s hard to imagine a more joyous band than these guys, and that’s been the case for a half-century.  Sometimes you want self-reflection . Sometimes you want to dance. The Dirt Band has been around for more than a half-century, but remain as vibrant as ever.
Jimmie Fadden and Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at the All the Best Festival
Jimmie Fadden and Jeff Hanna of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at the All the Best Festival
  • Keith Sykes performed “You Got Gold,” a number of times during the festival, but added the inside story during a guitar pull at the Breathless Plaza.  He and Prine felt so good about the song they had written that they were “overserved” and ended the night being “picked up by two women” – Memphis police officers – who promptly took them to jail.
  • Tyler Childers’ swift career ascent has been amazing, and he played two crowd-pleasing sets, but the real treat was seeing him cover fellow Kentuckian Prine’s “Yes, I Guess They Oughta Name A Song After You” and “Please Don’t Bury Me
  • Lori McKenna unveiled a brand new song “In it for Love.”  “I’ve only heard it twice myself, she said. She played the near-anthemic song in back-to-back sets and the audience roared.  Sometime, somewhere and in the hands of someone to be determined, “In It For Love” is going to be a hit.
  • Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats played a raucous set on the final night and then Rateliff returned to the stage for a closing segment of Prine songs. Wiping away tears, Rateliff sang “Summer’s End” and was then joined by Prine for a touching “Sam Stone.”
  • Brandi Carlile was fresh off the Country Music Awards, where she had performed with her new group the Highwomen. Her All the Best  set was high energy and compelling, but two solo turns stuck out: Her rendition of the yodel-intensive “Lovesick Blues” and “Highwomen,” the gender-revised version of Jimmy Webb’s classic “Highwayman.”
The finale of John Prine's All the Best festival
The finale of John Prine’s All the Best festival

There was much more, including fine sets by Emmylou Harris and the Red Dirt Boys, Courtney Marie Andrews, Jason Wilber, Lucinda Williams, Rita Wilson, Senora May, Ruston Kelly, Kristi Rose and Fats Kaplin.

  • But everything was eclipsed by John Prine’s revisiting his very first album, playing the LP in order, start to finish. This was the astounding debut album that gave us “Sam Stone,” “Angel From Montgomery,” “Paradise,” “Donald and Lydia” and “Hello in There, ” and signaled the emergence of an extraordinary new talent. Prine noted that the album didn’t chart or win any awards, but that it was eventually inducted into the Grammys Hall of Fame along with Neil Young’s Harvest and Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. “I’ll take that,” Prine said.

Prine later joked that it took 40 minutes to play the album and another hour for him to talk about the songs. Of course, that’s what made it so special:  A great American songwriter standing steps from the ocean, exploring his groundbreaking first recording under a full moon. Now that’s Paradise.

Tenth Annual 30A Songwriters Festival remains deep in talent

 in Festivals, Songwriters

By Ken Paulson

For us, the year’s music festivals kick off with the always diverse and engaging line-up at the 10th annual 30A Songwriters Festival in Walton County, Florida Jan. 18-21.  Some of the biggest names in Americana music headline the bill, complemented by dozens of 30A Songwriters Festivalartists you need to know.

The festival empahsizes the sheer volume of artists:  195 songwriters and more than 250 performances at 30 venues

Among the headliners: Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Rosanne Cash, Patty Griffin, Steve Earle, Shawn Mullins, Hayes Carll, Marc Broussard, Carlene Carter and the Secret Sisters.

Nashville is well represented with Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Gretchen Peters, Matraca Berg and Jeffrey Steele, plus Tommy Womack, Kim Richey, Webb Wilder, Will Kimbrough, Elizabeth Cook and others that I’ll kick myself for not mentioning.

As Americana and folk as the festival is, some of our favorite moments have come from rock artists. The twin-bill of the Bangles and Matthew Sweet a few years ago comes immediately to mind. Sweet is on the schedule again this year, as well as Rock Hall of Famer Felix Cavaliere of the Rascals.

Planning who you’ll see can be a challenge. Most of the shows are at clubs and restaurants, meaning often limited seating. It’s tough to club hop, but that will mean the opportunity to discover new talent at the club you do settle down in.

Tickets are still available in all sorts of configurations – day and weekend passes – at the festival site.

 

 

 

Americana Grammy Nominees unveiled

 in Americana Music, Nashville music

Brandi CarlileThe just-released Grammy nominations are a big win for Americana long before the final ballots are announced. Brandi Carlile and Kacey Musgraves are front and center in the most prominent categories in the music industry.

Vying for the album of the year are Carlile’s “By the Way, I Forgive You” and Musgraves’ “Golden Hour.” Carlile also earned a nomination for Song of the Year for “The Joke,” written with Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth

It was also good – though a bit mystifying – to see Margo Price nominated as “New Artist of the Year.”

Carlile’s album and single were also nominated in the Americana and roots recordings categories, where John Prine also picked up three nominations:

Best Americana Album:

By the Way, I Forgive You — Brandi Carlile

Things Have Changed — Bettye LaVette

The Tree of Forgiveness — John Prine

The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone — Lee Ann Womack

One Drop of Truth — The Wood Brothers

Best American Roots Performance:

“Kick Rocks” — Sean Ardoin

“Saint James Infirmary Blues” — Jon Batiste

“The Joke” — Brandi Carlile

“All On My Mind” — Anderson East

“Last Man Standing” — Willie Nelson

Best American Roots Song

“All The Trouble” — Waylon Payne, Lee Ann Womack & Adam Wright, songwriters (Lee Ann Womack)

“Build a Bridge” — Jeff Tweedy, songwriter (Mavis Staples)

“The Joke” — Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth & Tim Hanseroth, songwriters (Brandi Carlile)“Knockin’

On Your Screen Door” — Pat McLaughlin & John Prine, songwriters (John Prine)

“Summer’s End” – Pat McLaughlin & John Prine, songwriters (John Prine)

Podcast 15: 2018 Americana Music Nominees Announced

 in Americana Music, Americana Music Festival

Today the Americana Music Association released its list of nominees for honors at the Americana Music Festival and Conference set for Nashville in September.

The nominees included:

Album of the Year

Mary Gauthier

Mary Gauthier

 

“All American Made,” Margo Price, Produced by Jeremy Ivey, Alex Munoz, Margo Price and Matt Ross-Spang
“By The Way I Forgive You,” Brandi Carlile, Produced by Dave Cobb and Shooter Jennings
“The Nashville Sound,” Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Produced by Dave Cobb
“Rifles & Rosary Beads,” Mary Gauthier, Produced by Neilson Hubbard

 

 

John Prine

John Prine

 

Artist of the Year
Brandi Carlile
Jason Isbell
Margo Price
John Prine

 

 

Duo/Group of the Year
I’m With Her
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

Emerging Act of the Year
Courtney Marie Andrews
Tyler Childers
Anderson East
Lilly Hiatt

Song of the Year
“A Little Pain,” Margo Price, Written by Margo Price
“All The Trouble,” Lee Ann Womack, Written by Waylon Payne, Lee Ann Womack and Adam
Wright
“If We Were Vampires,” Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, Written by Jason Isbell
“The Joke,” Brandi Carlile, Written by Brandi Carlile, Dave Cobb, Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth

Instrumentalist of the Year
Daniel Donato
Brittany Haas
Jerry Pentecost
Molly Tuttle

Here’s our podcast from this celebrative event, featuring the Milk Carton Kids and AMA Executive Director Jed Hilly.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Cayamo Music Cruise 2018 preview

 in Americana Music, Festivals, Music Cruise News

Brandi Carlile on Cayamo

Brandi Carlile

By Paul T. Mueller – Cayamo 2018, a “festival at sea” focused on singer-songwriters, celebrates its 10th anniversary (and 11th sailing) beginning Feb. 4. The cruise for the first time will depart from New Orleans, en route to a seven-night western Caribbean voyage with stops at Cozumel and Harvest Caye, off the coast of Belize.

More than 40 performers – some solo, some with bands – will provide the entertainment, which at times will span more than 12 hours a day of continuous shows. Six venues, ranging in size from a few dozen to several hundred, will accommodate the performances. That’s in addition to the usual after-hours jams, consisting mostly of amateur musicians but often featuring drop-in contributions by the professionals.

Paul Thorn will appear on Cayamo

Paul Thorn

Cayamo’s big names return

Big names in the lineup, in no particular order, include Cayamo veterans Richard Thompson, John Prine, Brandi Carlile, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin, Lee Ann Womack, Paul Thorn, Jim Lauderdale, and Shawn Mullins – the only artist to have sailed on every Cayamo. Other veterans, possibly less familiar but no less capable, include Scott Miller, Hayes Carll, John Paul White, John Fullbright, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Brian Wright, Michael McDermott, Drew and Ellie Holcomb and Max Gomez.

The roster also includes a healthy crop of Cayamo newcomers, such as Margo Price, JD McPherson, Charley Crockett, Joe Pug, Lindi Ortega, The War and Treaty, Steve Poltz, Devon Gilfillian and Michael Logen. Other rookies include three acts – solo Caleb Caudle and duos Flagship Romance (Shawn Fisher and Jordyn Jackson) and Heart Society (Teneia Sanders-Eichelberger and Benjamin Eichelberger) who were voted aboard by Cayamo passengers in the annual Soundcheck competition.

Jim Lauderdale on Cayamo

Jim Lauderdale

Given the festival’s focus on the singular visions of singer-songwriters, duos and bands are, as always, in the minority. Those that made the cut include the rocking Band of Heathens, throwback crooners The Cactus Blossoms, Nashville soul sirens the McCrary Sisters and pop folkies Humming House. The complete Cayamo 2018 lineup can be found here.

Cayamo’s tributes and special shows

Tribute shows honoring John Prine and Tom Petty are on the schedule, as are several “Unlikely Sets” – songwriter rounds featuring several artists who might not share a stage otherwise. Previous Cayamos have shown that musical magic frequently results from such unexpected combinations.

In addition to shows, the week’s activities will include a “Tales and Ales” craft-beer tasting hosted by Paul Thorn; a screening of the film American Folk, starring Cayamo musicians Joe Purdy and Amber Rubarth, with a Q&A to follow; an “Artisans & Crafts” leatherworking workshop with Jonny Fritz, a member of the trio Traveller; a songwriter workshop with Fritz and his Traveller bandmates, Cory Chisel and Robert Ellis, and guest jams with backline equipment and assistance provided by Sixthman, the company that produces Cayamo and several other music cruises.




COPY CODE SNIPPET

Taking cover on Cayamo 2017

 in Americana Music, Music Cruise News

 

By Paul T. Mueller

Parker Millsap on Cayamo 2017

Singer-songwriters usually, and understandably, focus on their own songs when performing. But many also perform songs they didn’t write, especially in a festival setting, where the audience tends to appreciate the different perspectives artists can bring to others’ work. The recently concluded Cayamo 2017 cruise, a singer-songwriter-focused festival at sea, featured many excellent cover performances.

Leaving aside shows that by definition were pretty much all covers (a tribute to the late Guy Clark, for instance), here’s a sampling (in no special order and by no means comprehensive) of artists’ takes on songs written by or usually associated with other artists.

  • Parker Millsap, “You Gotta Move” (Mississippi Fred McDowell)
  • Brandi Carlile, “Going to California” (Led Zeppelin)
  • Patty Griffin and Aaron Lee Tasjan, “Insider” (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
  • Richard Thompson and Rufus Wainwright, “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” (Sandy Denny)
  • Christian Lopez Band, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (The Beatles)
  • Bonnie Bishop, “Whipping Post” (The Allman Brothers Band)
  • American Aquarium “Spanish Pipedream” (John Prine)
  • Aoife O’Donovan, “Can’t Find My Way Home” (Blind Faith)
  • Steve Earle, “Rex’s Blues” (Townes Van Zandt)
  • Ruby Amanfu, “I Put a Spell on You” (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)
  • Gretchen Peters, “Guadalupe” (Tom Russell)
  • Sarah Jarosz, “Come On Up to the House” (Tom Waits)
  • Gurf Morlix, “The Parting Glass” (Traditional)
  • Sarah Potenza, “Hallelujah” (Leonard Cohen)
  • Patty Griffin, “Where or When” (Rodgers and Hart)

For lack of a better title, the “Repeat Offender Award” (no offense) goes to the Christian Lopez Band, which, in addition to covering the Beatles, performed Blaze Foley’s “Clay Pigeons,” Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” Steve Fromholz’s “I’d Have to Be Crazy,” Stephen Bishop’s “On and On” and Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis.” Let it be noted that A) they did a fine job on all of these, and B) their original material was also excellent.

The “Reverse Cover Award” goes to Steve Earle, who introduced his own “Galway Girl” by predicting that 100 years from now, people in Ireland will still be singing the song, but will be insisting that it was written by an Irishman.

Cayamo music cruise review: An astounding line-up

 in Americana Music, Music Cruise News

By Paul Mueller

The 10th edition of the Cayamo music cruise enjoyed sunny skies, smooth seas and a fairly astounding musical lineup. The festival at sea, aboard the Norwegian Jade, left Tampa on Feb. 19, and returned a week later, after stops at the islands of Cozumel, Mexico, and Roatan, Honduras. As always, it was billed as “A Journey Through Song,” and as always it lived up to that promise. The number of shows and their scheduling made it difficult to see every performer, but that’s a good problem to have.

Buddy Miller and Aaron Lee Tasjan

Most of the more than 50 performers played individual shows, and many appeared in themed and collaboration shows as well. Themed shows included a tribute to the late Guy Clark; a “Songs of Protest” show hosted by Gretchen Peters; a “variety show” hosted by Shawn Mullins; “All the Girls Who Cry,” a sad-song fest hosted by Alabama country-folk crooners The Secret Sisters, and a guitar-focused show dubbed “Buddy Miller’s Guitar 101.” There were several “and friends” shows, mostly featuring several singer-songwriters in an in-the-round format, and singer and multi-instrumentalist Luke Bulla hosted “Last Man Standing” jams that capped off three evenings’ music. Many made guest appearances at other artists’ shows throughout the week, and passenger jams, sometimes including professionals, were easily found all over the boat.

A weeklong festival inevitably produces too many high points to list them all, but here are a few. Be assured that at the same time as pretty much any of these shows, there was at least one other equally memorable show going on somewhere else on the Jade.

Sunday, Feb. 19: The opening set on the pool deck can be a tough slot, with many passengers still boarding and those already aboard busy looking around or reuniting with old friends. But singer-songwriter Christian Lopez, a West Virginia native who’s all of 21 years old, made the most of his rookie appearance, demonstrating a veteran’s savvy in capturing the attention of the crowd. Alternating between well-written originals and covers, and between full-band and solo formats, Lopez rocked hard and showed that he’d earned his spot

North Mississippi All-Stars

on the roster. Well-done renditions of the Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” Blaze Foley’s “Clay Pigeons” and Bill Withers’ “Use Me” played to the sensibilities of the crowd, much of which was three times Lopez’s age, but in a respectful way.

Also: Brandi Carlile,  a veteran of the first Cayamo music cruise in 2008 and most since, had herself a great time at the sail away show later in the afternoon, proclaiming the cruise “the greatest Cayamo ever.” Assisted as always by the Hanseroth twins (Phil on bass and Tim on guitar), she tore through favorites such as “Wherever Is Your Heart” and “The Eye” and closed with a nice rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California.”

Monday, Feb. 20: East Nashville-based singer-songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan made his much-anticipated Cayamo music cruise debut at an evening pool-deck show, and fully met his fans’ high expectations. Accompanied by fellow singer-songwriter Brian Wright, Tasjan played most of his most recent album, Silver Tears, as well as a few older tunes. His outgoing personality contrasted with Wright’s more stoic approach, but they were two of a kind when they started trading guitar licks. Late in the show, Wright took the spotlight to offer a fine rendition of his murder ballad “Maria Sugarcane.” Tasjan closed with a vigorous workout on his anthemic “Success” that had much of the crowd singing along.

Love Junkies on Cayamo music cruise

Also: The Love Junkies (singer-songwriters Lori McKenna, Liz Rose and Hillary Lindsey) played an engaging show, performing songs made famous by bigger names in Nashville. These included McKenna’s “Humble and Kind” (Tim McGraw), Lindsey’s co-write “Blue Ain’t Your Color” (Keith Urban) and “Girl Crush” (written by all three and recorded by Little Big Town). The trio got support from Cary Barlowe and Ruston Kelly. It’s always fun to hear songs performed by the people who wrote them, without the usual studio trappings. Extra points to Rose for pushing through despite a case of laryngitis.

Tuesday, Feb. 21: The Songs of Protest show, hosted by Nashville singer-songwriter Gretchen Peters and featuring several Cayamo newcomers, was one of the emotional high points of the cruise. Performances included a powerful rendition of Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” by soul powerhouse Sarah Potenza; Allen Toussaint’s joyful “Yes We Can Can,” by Amy Helm; Randy Newman’s “Political Science,” sung by Peters’ husband, keyboardist Barry Walsh, from the viewpoint of the new U.S. president; and Mary Gauthier’s “Mercy Now,” sung with intensity by Gurf Morlix and Potenza. Peters’ selections included a beautiful rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee.”

Will Hoge

Also: A pool-deck tribute to Guy Clark tribute featured contributions from longtime Clark associates (Rodney Crowell, “Stuff That Works”; Emmylou Harris, “Immigrant Eyes”) as well as more recent acolytes (Sarah Jarosz, “Boats to Build”; Brian Wright, “Coyote”). Oddly missing from the set was the iconic “L.A. Freeway,” but Crowell and Steve Earle teamed up to close with “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train.”

Wednesday, Feb. 22: Fans might have expected the basics in a show called Buddy Miller’s Guitar 101; what they got was far more advanced. Singer-songwriter and producer Miller alternated between describing his own journey to guitar mastery and using his laptop to play snippets of six-string artistry by predecessors such as James Burton, Link Wray and Jimi Hendrix. Things got even better when Miller brought out his guests. Tasjan ripped through a terrific acoustic rendition of “Streets of Galilee,” which incorporates his own musical autobiography. Nashville session player Tom Bukovac played a funky/jazzy bit of electric improvisation that had Miller and Tasjan grinning and shaking their heads. North Mississippi Allstars frontman Luther Dickinson talked about his band’s mission in the blues world (“There’s a responsibility to respect the repertoire”) and demonstrated his mastery of both the acoustic six-string and a two-string instrument made from a coffee can. Finally, the legendary Richard Thompson talked a little about having played with Hendrix and executed a beautiful acoustic take on “Turning of the Tide,” along with an instrumental piece he described as “an Irish tune with Scottish variations.”

Also: Nashville singer-songwriter Will Hoge’s show in a well-packed Spinnaker Lounge, in which he talked about burning out and leaving music a few years ago before rediscovering his craft and returning to the road. The set featured the kind of confessional songs you’d expect, plus some favorites such as the funny but pointed “Jesus Came to Tennessee.” Hoge is a very funny guy, but also an intense performer, and his powerful songs and playing often had the sometimes-rowdy Spinnaker crowd listening in dead silence.

Sarah Jarosz on Cayamo music cruise

Thursday, Feb. 23: Against the backdrop of a nice Caribbean sunset, Kacey Musgraves and her band serenaded the sail-away from Roatan on the pool deck. The set list included a well-chosen mix of originals (“This Town,” “Merry Go ’Round,” “It Is What It Is”) and interesting covers (Weezer’s “Island in the Sun,” Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy,” Santo & Johnny’s “Sleepwalk”). There was also a fun and witty reworking of the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo,” with lyrics tailored to the Cayamo experience and a laid-back vibe that suited the occasion perfectly. Musgraves closed with her anthemic “Arrow.”

Also: Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz, another Cayamo music cruise rookie, still looks about 17, but she sings and plays like she’s been onstage forever. Accompanied by bassist Jeff Picker and Australian-turned-Austinite guitar ace Jedd Hughes, Jarosz played a lovely set highlighted by the powerful (and Grammy-winning) “House of Mercy,” co-written with Hughes. Jarosz seems able to play anything with strings; her instruments in this show included acoustic and electric guitars, banjo and her unusual octave mandolin, an eight-stringed instrument the size of a small guitar.

Friday, Feb. 24: If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to play rock ‘n’ roll at 10 a.m. on a cruise ship, the answer is, “It is if you’re the North Mississippi Allstars.” Playing to a nearly capacity crowd in the Jade’s largest indoor venue, the Stardust Theater, the Allstars (Luther and Cody Dickinson, plus bassist Dominic Davis, who played with several artists) featured a mix of acoustic blues and all-out boogie. Cody, usually the Allstars’ drummer, yielded the

Richard Thompson

skins to Brady Blade, also from Miller’s band, to step out front on guitar and vocals for the traditional “Deep Ellum Blues.” The set closed with a fine rendition of the classic “Sitting on Top of the World,” featuring Luther and his coffee-can guitar.

Also: Singer-songwriter and Cayamo music cruise first-timer Aoife O’Donovan played a mostly original set, by turns quiet and loud, in the Spinnaker. She was assisted by guitarist Anthony da Costa and drummer Steve Nistor, along with guests Stuart Duncan on fiddle and Sarah Jarosz (who has played in the folkie trio I’m With Her with O’Donovan and former Nickel Creeker Sara Watkins). O’Donovan closed with a lovely rendition of Steve Winwood’s “Can’t Find My Way Home” that might have drawn a few tears from those old enough to remember Blind Faith’s version.

Saturday, Feb. 24: The gospel show has become a well-loved Cayamo tradition. This year it took the form of a songwriter round rather than a succession of artists as in the past. Featured were country singer turned soul belter Bonnie Bishop, Nashville songwriters and performers (and spouses) Lari White and Chuck Cannon, and Sarah Potenza. Lending support were guitarists Ian Crossman, who’s married to Potenza, and Ford Thurston, who plays with Bishop, and bassist Patrick Blanchard). The show featured some traditional gospel, or at least gospel-ish, songs such as “I Shall Be Released” and “Power in the Blood,” as well as spiritual offerings such as Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody” and (perhaps inevitably in the wake of Leonard Cohen’s passing) a slow, intense rendition of “Hallelujah” by Potenza.

Bonnie Bishop

Also: The Wainwright Family, featuring patriarch Loudon Wainwright III and various descendants, exes and others, performed an excellent and eclectic set in the Stardust, kicking off with a team-effort “Meet the Wainwrights” to introduce the players. The cast included Wainwright’s son, Rufus Wainwright; his daughters, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche; Lucy’s mother, Suzzy Roche, and Wainwright’s sister, Sloan Wainwright. Guests included Emmylou Harris, who performed a song in honor of Wainwright’s former wife, the late folksinger Kate McGarrigle; Brandi Carlile, with the Hanseroth twins; fiddler-mandolinist David Mansfield, and guitarist Stephen Murphy. The show closed with an all-hands-on-deck sing-along on Bruce Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart” and a nice solo piano rendition of “Hallelujah” by Rufus Wainwright.

Honorable mentions on the Cayamo Music Cruise: Oklahoma folk-blues prodigy Parker Millsap, Mississippi rocker Paul Thorn, Nashville neo-diva Angaleena Presley, Colorado bluegrass outfit Trout Steak Revival, Nashville country-pop band Skyline Motel, North Carolina rockers American Aquarium, soulful Nashville singer-songwriter Sam Lewis, singer-songwriters Beth Wood and Patty Griffin, Nashville country traditionalist Lee Ann Womack, former Civil Wars member John Paul White, rising country artist Ryan Hurd, Nashville songstress Ruby Amanfu, former Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman Glen Phillips, young singer-songwriter Brian Dunne, new country star Maren Morris, Cayamo t’ai-chi master and clotheshorse Jim Lauderdale, Alabama folkie-rockers The Mulligan Brothers, and former Sea Level keyboardist and saxophonist Randall Bramblett.

New releases: Brandi Carlile, Ray Wylie Hubbard

 in Americana Music, New releases

Americana Music News – New releases in our mailbox this week:

Basic CMYKThe Firewatcher’s Daughter – Brandi Carlile – ATO Records –  Fresh off the Cayamo cruise, Brandi Carlile is touring the country in support of this new album, including a March 4 date at the Troubadour, March 7 in Atlantic City and March 11 in Brooklyn. Carlile continues her impressive work with Tim and Phil Hanseroth on this album (out March 3) that reportedly consists primarily of first takes. The first single is “Wherever is Your Heart.”

Twice Told Tales – 10,000 Maniacs – Cleopatra Records The current generation of 10,000 Maniacs has a new album set for release on April 28. It’s a return to the band’s core musical influences with renditions of traditional folk songs from the British Isles, including “She Moved Through the Fair” and “Wild Mountain Thyme.”

Ray Wylie Hubbard RuffianThe Ruffian’s Misfortune – Ray Wylie Hubbard – Bordello Records – Ray Wylie Hubbard is following up The Grifter’s Hymnal (reviewed here) with The Ruffian’s Misfortune, described in press materials as “the tightest and most focused” of his career. The album is set for release on April 7, and is to be followed by an autobiography.

Another Rising Sun – Jon Chi  The former member of Rainmaker recorded his second solo album in Milwaukee with Ken Krei. The album ,described as “a blend of folk, gospel and jam” is set for release on May 5.

Old Ways vs. New Days – J. Tex and the Volunteers –– Heptown Records This Copenhagen-based Americana band is fronted by Detroit native J. Tex.

 

Cayamo day 5: Brandi Carlile, Todd Snider, Kacey Musgraves

 in Americana Music, Festivals, Music Cruise News

By Paul T. Mueller

Wednesday, Jan. 21 found the Norwegian Pearl docked at St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Many Cayamoans strolled off the ship to explore the island or just hang out on a nearby beach. One was Doug Seegers, the once-homeless Nashville country singer who’s made an unlikely comeback with the help of Cayamo stalwart Buddy Miller, singer-songwriter-producer Will Kimbrough and others. Seegers spent some time busking in front of one the shops that line the waterfront, reportedly collecting about $150 in his guitar case with a sign reading, “Can’t afford the boat.”

Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves

Back on the Pearl, the music started at 4:00 p.m. with a pool deck show by Kacey Musgraves. Rising star Musgraves, a small-town Texan relocated to Nashville, has plenty of attitude and some serious chops to go with it. Her Cayamo sets drew largely on her 2013 CD Same Trailer, Different Park, but on this sunny afternoon she also found space for a bit of Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” with its catchy chorus, “Every little thing’s gonna be all right.”

The second “guerrilla set” by Tim Easton and Megan Palmer got going at 6:00 in the Bar City area. This one was heavy on Easton’s older tunes, several played by request, including “Carry Me,” “Broke My Heart,” “Bitters Past” and “Poor, Poor L.A.” There were also nice renditions of “The Young Girls” and a new song, “Elmore James.” The duo closed with Easton’s “Don’t Walk Alone,” featuring guest vocals by Nellie Clay.

Atlanta-based folk-rocker Michelle Malone played another strong set in the Spinnaker Lounge starting at 7:00. Malone led off with an acoustic version of “Shine,” from her 2012 album Day 2. She described it as a song about gratitude, a common theme among several Cayamo artists throughout the week. Alternating between acoustic and electric guitar, and throwing in some harmonica along the way, Malone showcased compositions that included the raucous barroom tale “Tanya Tucker”; the hard-luck ballad “Ramona,” featuring guitarist Davis Causey; the socially conscious “Immigration Game,” with help from Kristy Lee and Shawn Mullins, and the Beatles’ classic “Eleanor Rigby,” in a dramatic arrangement that blended jazz, blues and soul.

Seattle-based singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, a veteran of six previous Cayamos, took the Stardust Theater stage at 8:00 for her first appearance of this year’s cruise. Sometimes solo and sometimes accompanied by her band – guitarist Tim Hanseroth, bassist Phil Hanseroth, cellist Josh Neumann and drummer Brian Griffin – Carlile seemed even more animated than usual, possibly thanks to pent-up energy. Her set included her familiar hits “The Story” and “Caroline.” There was also a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” with a guest appearance by fiddler Luke Bulla, and some newer originals, such as the beautiful and hopeful “The Eye” and “The Things I Regret,” from her upcoming CD The Firewatcher’s Daughter. Kanene Pipkin, Zach Williams and Brian Elmquist of The Lone Bellow joined Carlile for a reprise performance of “His Eye Is On the Sparrow,” which they performed at Sunday’s gospel show, but the effort fell just short, with Carlile’s vocals not quite blending with the trio’s. Carlile closed with a dramatic, high-powered rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” Some might have wondered why an artist of Carlile’s ability would choose for her finale a song so strongly associated with another band, but there was no denying the enthusiastic response it received.

Noah Gundersen, another singer-songwriter from Seattle, played the Spinnaker lounge at 9:00, with a set that included at least a couple of covers (Neil Young’s “Down By the River” and Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay”) along with several original songs, including “Dying Now” and “Cigarettes.” Backed by a strong band that included his sister, Abby, on fiddle, Gundersen demonstrated a dramatic vocal style and well-written lyrics.

The Spinnaker took a turn toward hard country with Doug Seegers’ 11:00 p.m. show. Fiddler Barbara Lamb provided expert accompaniment on tunes including “Angie’s Song” and “Baby Lost Her Way Home Again.” Jim Lauderdale lent vocal assistance on “I Met Jesus in a Bar”; David Ball’s “Honky Tonk Healer” got the Texas two-step treatment (Seegers spent some time living in Austin), and Seegers went slow and soulful on Gram Parsons’ “Hickory Wind.” Seegers introduced “Will You Take the Hand of Jesus” as his response to many good changes in his life in the past year. Some of those, no doubt, were thanks to the next song, “Going Down to the River,” which became a hit in Sweden after a Swedish documentary filmmaker discovered the struggling Seegers in Nashville.

Todd Snider

Todd Snider

One of Cayamo 2015’s high points occurred at midnight in the Stardust Theater, with the appearance of singer-songwriter Todd Snider, barefoot as usual. “I’m a little late,” Snider told the large crowd at the “stowaway” show, announced only earlier in the day. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get out here.”

This was a reference to his very late cancellation of his scheduled Cayamo appearance last year, reportedly for medical reasons. Hard feelings remain in some quarters, but the audience seemed to be in a forgiving mood – not that Snider seemed to care about forgiveness. Snider is a very talented songwriter and a gifted performer, and he brought his “A” game this night. The show featured a mix of stories, personal philosophy and enough songs from Snider’s extensive catalog to satisfy any but the most demanding fan.

The list included “Good Fortune,” “Play a Train Song,” “How Do You Know It’s Too Late,” “Greencastle Blues,” “Too Soon To Tell,” “Stuck on the Corner,” and, after a long story about meeting Jerry Jeff Walker, a nice rendition of Walker’s hit “Mr. Bojangles.” After asking for audience requests, Snider dedicated his next song to everyone who got mad at him for canceling in 2014 (“I was in a card game – I couldn’t get out of it”) and then played “Alright Guy” from 1994’s Songs for the Daily Planet. After closing with the bouncy 1949 tune “Enjoy Yourself” (“Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think”), he returned for an encore consisting of “Statistician’s Blues,” “If Tomorrow Never Comes” and Kris Kristofferson’s “To Beat the Devil.”

2014 Cayamo cruise in review: The highs, lows

 in Festivals, Music Cruise News

By Paul T. Mueller

Cayamo 2014, the annual Americana music festival-at-sea that focuses on singer-songwriters, returned to Miami on Valentine’s Day after a week’s voyage to and from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Days later, more than 2,000 passengers are still struggling to process the incredible quantity and quality of music they witnessed during the weeklong cruise. With dozens of artists aboard and scores of performances scattered over the cruise’s six and a half days and seven nights, the special moments were too numerous to fit into anything short of a novella. Here’s a sampling of highs and lows:

St. Paul and the Broken Bones

St. Paul and the Broken Bones

Lows: The legendary John Prine, a two-time Cayamo veteran, and the almost legendary Todd Snider, who would have been a rookie, both failed to make the boat (the Norwegian Pearl, owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines, which also owns Atlanta-based Sixthman, producer of Cayamo and several other music cruises). Prine withdrew some weeks ago, saying he needed more recovery time following cancer surgery last year. Snider notified Sixthman two days before sailing that he would not be on the cruise, citing (in Sixthman’s words) “a medical issue that requires immediate attention.”

Notwithstanding the considerable number of passengers who decided to book Cayamo primarily for the chance to see either Prine or Snider or both, the production staff was able to fill the gaps in the schedule, in no small part through the presence of Cayamo veteran Lyle Lovett, who agreed at the last minute to join the cruise with his Acoustic Band. The result was the seventh installment in what has become a very successful annual event.

Highs: Too many to count. So here are summaries of some particularly memorable moments, one for each day.

Day 1 (Friday, February 7):

Kris Kristofferson. The one and only. Yes, he’s getting older and reportedly having memory problems, and he’s never been as good a singer as he is a songwriter (how could he be?). But there was something about seeing this legendary artist commanding the stage, performing iconic songs like “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “For the Good Times” and “Help Me Make It Through the Night” that left many in the audience in tears.

Day 2 (Saturday, February 8):

Buddy Miller. “Commodore” Miller, a six-time Cayamoan, greeted the audience at his “Buddy Miller and Friends” show with an emphatic, “It’s good to be home!” He wasn’t alone in feeling that way. Cayamo has been a community since its first sailing in 2008, and many participants, veterans and newbies alike, will tell you that the cruise is real life and the other 51 weeks of the year are just filler. Miller, accompanied by bassist Dave Jacques (a longtime Prine sideman), drummer Marco Giovino, guitarist/fiddler Larry Campbell (formerly of Bob Dylan’s band) and accordionist Joel Guzman, knocked out a powerful set, including Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” Mark Heard’s “Worry Too Much” and “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger?,” written by Miller and his wife, Julie. Among the friends helping him out along the way were singer and guitarist Teresa Williams , country star Lee Ann Womack and longtime Miller compadre Jim Lauderdale.

Day 3 (Sunday, February 9):

Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs, with Skaggs’ Kentucky Thunder band. Who knew piano could be such a great bluegrass instrument? Or that Hornsby’s classic “The Way It Is” sounds just great in a bluegrass arrangement? The show included a tribute to jazz bassist (and former child country singer) Charlie Haden, which featuring some brilliant and beautiful work on the upright bass by the youthful but very talented Scott Mulvahill. As an encore, the band put a high-energy Appalachian twist on Rick James’ “Superfreak.”

Day 4: (Monday, February 10):

John Fullbright

John Fullbright

John Fullbright. The immensely talented, Oklahoma-born Fullbright opened this set with a solo, a capella rendition of the traditional “Am I Born to Die?” that was nothing short of thrilling. He followed that with “I Didn’t Know I Was in Love With You,” accompanying himself on acoustic guitar, and proceeded to full-band versions (with guitarist Terry Ware, bassist David Leach and drummer Giovanni Carnuccio III) of songs including “Satan and St. Paul” and “Gawd Above.” Fullbright demonstrated his unearthly piano skills on several songs, including “Fat Man” and “The Very First Time,” before closing with a long, jammy “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do.” If Cayamo awarded a Rookie of the Year trophy, Fullbright would be a strong candidate for this year’s prize.

Day 5 (Tuesday, February 11):

Tim Hanseroth, Brandi Carlile and Phil Hanseroth

Tim Hanseroth, Brandi Carlile and Phil Hanseroth

Brandi Carlile. A veteran of several Cayamos, Seattle-based Carlile has won a lot of new fans with her abundant talent and high-energy performances. For this show she was backed by her longtime collaborators, twins Tim (bass) and Phil (guitar) Hanseroth and cellist Josh Neumann. The set included a rendition of the Hank Williams hit “Lovesick Blues,” dedicated to Kristofferson; Carlile’s anthem “The Story,” and her country weeper, “Same Old You,” covered by Miranda Lambert. Carlile was joined by The Lone Bellow and Kristofferson for a lovely rendition of Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery” and closed with “Amazing Grace,” performed a capella and in darkness with the Secret Sisters.

Day 6 (Wednesday, February 12):

David Bromberg. The legendary (there’s that word again) singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist was in great form in the relatively intimate confines of the Pearl’s Spinnaker Lounge. As has been true throughout his long career, he was all over the musical map, covering, among other genres, the blues (“As the Years Go Passing By”), pop (“The Holdup,” co-written with George Harrison, ) a vocal version of Floyd Cramer’s “Last Date”) and what might be called faux traditional (“The Strongest Man Alive,” which Bromberg described as “an old English drinking song that I wrote”). There was also a touching ballad about the pain of parenthood called “Watch Baby Fall.”

Day 7 (Thursday, February 13):

A grab bag of high-quality performances on the last day and night at sea:

Miller and Lauderdale produced a segment of their “Buddy and Jim Radio Hour” show for Sirius XM satellite radio. The guest list included Campbell and Williams, two sets of sisters (Laura and Lydia Rogers, the pop-soul-country duo Secret Sisters, performing “Devoted to You,” and Lennon and Maisy Stella, who also play sisters on ABC’s Nashville, doing a touching rendition of “Hard Times Come Again No More”), and a trio of young female singer-songwriters (Kate York, Erin McCarley and Lucie Silvas.) There was also a powerful, soulful performance of “Against My Will” by Sarah Fox (Joel Guzman’s wife), accompanied by Guzman and son Joel Gabriel Guzman on guitar.

Birmingham, Ala.-based R&B outfit St. Paul and the Broken Bones brought their horn-driven, high-octane sound to the Pearl’s pool deck stage, to the delight of listeners and dancers alike.

In a surprisingly intimate late-night showcase in the ship’s large Stardust auditorium, a group of fine singer-songwriters (Liz Longley, Stephen Kellogg, Bromberg and his wife, Nancy Josephson, and Campbell and Williams) took turns singing some of their most personal songs, capping the set with a collaborative rendition of “Nobody’s Fault but Mine.”

Cayamo 2014 drew to its official close only a few hours before the Pearl docked back in Miami, as fiddler Luke Bulla (who played in Lovett’s band and also with his own bluegrass outfit) led a raucous “Last Man Standing” jam on the Atrium stage in the wee hours of Valentine’s Day. Guests included vocalists Womack and Kat Edmonson and guitarist-mandolinist Keith Sewell (of Lovett’s band), among many others.

Other performers turning in fine performances on Cayamo 2014 included St. Paul and the Broken Bones, The Lone Bellow, Seth Glier, Joe Purdy, Shawn Mullins, Mallary Hope, Bronze Radio Return, Chuck Cannon, John Hiatt, Joshua Radin, Humming House, Elephant Revival, Max Gomez, Hey Marseilles and Holly Williams.

Follow Sun209:Americana Music News on Twitter at @Sun209com.

 

Americana Music Festival releases 2012 line-up

 in Americana Music, Americana Music Festival, Nashville music, Reviews

Americana Music News – The Americana Music Association has announced an impressive line-up for the Americana Music Festival & Conference September 12-15 in Nashville , with more performers to be named later.

As usual, the roster includes a good mix of accomplished veterans and emerging artists.

Among the biggest names: Billy Joe Shaver, the Punch Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Richard Thompson, Sara Watkins, John Hiatt, Steve Forbert and Rodney Crowell.

Also booked are newer artists who have enjoyed extensive airplay on Americana music radio, including honeyhoney, John Fullbright, The Deep Dark Woods, Shovels & Rope and Eilen Jewell.

The full list: American Aquarium, Amy Helm, Andrew Combs , Angel Snow, Anthony da Costa, Bearfoot, Belle Starr , Bill Kirchen, Billy Joe Shaver, Black Lillies, Blue Highway, Blue Mountain, BoDeans, Brandi Carlile, Brennen Leigh, Buddy Miller, Buxton, Caitlin Harnett, Chastity Brown, Corb Lund,Cory Branan, Darrell Scott, The Deep Dark Woods, Della Mae, Derek Hoke, the Dunwells, Eilen Jewell, Felicity Urquhart, Fort Frances, Gretchen Peters, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, honeyhoney, Humming House, Immigrant Union, Jason Boland and the Stragglers, Jill Andrews, Jim Lauderdale, Jimbo Mathus and the Tri-State Coalition, John Fullbright, John Hiatt, Jordie Lane, Julie Lee, Kasey Anderson and the Honkies, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, Kevin Gordon, Lera Lynn, Lydia Loveless, Mandolin Orange, Mary Gauthier, the Mastersons, Max Gomez, McCrary Sisters, Mindy Smith, Nicki Bluhm and The Gamblers, Phoebe Hunt, Punch Brothers, Reckless Kelly, Richard Thompson, Robert Ellis, Rodney Crowell, Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside, Sara Watkins, Shovels and Rope, Sons of Bill, Sons of Fathers, Star and Micey, Starr Anna, Steep Canyon Rangers, Steve Forbert, Teresa Williams, Larry Campbell, Tift Merritt, Turnpike Troubadours, Two Gallants, Wheeler Brothers, Whitehorse, The WoodBrothers and The World Famous Headliners.

You’ll find more details on the Americana Music Festival on their home site.

Follow Sun209: Americana Music News at @sun209com.

New to chart: John Fullbright, Brandi Carlile

 in Americana Music, Reviews

Americana Music News – The top two slots in this week’s Americana Music Association radio chart hold steady, with JD McPherson’s Signs and Signifiers and Willie Nelson’s Heroes running 1-2.

New to the chart this week are John Fullbright’s From the Ground Up at #33 and Brandi Carlile’s Bear Creek at #40.

Most added this week to Americana music radio: Kin: Songs by Mary Karr and Rodney Crowell, Bear Creek,  Seth Walker’s Time Can Change, Chris Smither’s Hundred Dollar Valentine and the Honey DewDrops’ Silver Lining.

You’ll find the full Americana Music Association radio airplay chart here.

For daily Americana music news updates, follow us on Twitter @sun209com.