Tag: hard working americans

Oct. 20 – This week in Americana music

 in Americana Music, Nashville music

This week in Americana

Lucinda Williams remains in the top spot in the Americana Music Association airplay chart with Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, followed by Paul Thorn’s Too Blessed to Be Stressed. Dropping to third is Justin Townes Earle’s Single Mothers, with new albums by Ryan Adams and John Hiatt rounding out the top five.

In Nashville:

Lake Street DiveIt’s another great week for live shows in Nashville. We’re particularly enthusiastic about the Lake Street Dive show at the Cannery Ballroom on 10/25. Their Bad Self Portraits is one of our favorite albums of 2014, a smart and engaging pop showcase.

Jason Isbell, the hottest artist in Americana music, has a three-night run at the Ryman Auditorium beginning 10/24.

Wilco 10/21 and 10/22 at the Ryman Auditorium

Mac Wiseman at the Franklin Theatre 10/21

Los Lobos 10/22 at City Winery

Music City Roots, featuring Caleb Klauder, James McMurtry, Del Barber, Caroline Rose and John Oates at the Factory in Franklin

Beausoleil Avec Michael Doucet 10/25 at 3rd and Lindsley

New this week:

The Earls of Leicester, a celebration of Flatt and Scruggs, from Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Shawn Camp, Charlie Cushman and Barry Bales.

In the news:

The Bonnaroo Music Festival announced its 2015 dates: June 11-14 in Manchester, TN.

Hard Working Americans  will release The First Waltz, a live album and documentary on Oct. 28.

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Review: Hard Working Americans

 in Reviews

Hard Working Americans by Paul T. Mueller

It’s hard to tell whether Hard Working Americans, #2 on this week’s Americana Music Association airplay chart, is a one-shot deal or a long-term project. But even if the band’s self-titled debut turns out to be a one-off, it seems like it was worth the effort.

Hard Working Americans is fronted by singer-songwriter Todd Snider, sounding grittier and more subdued than he used to. His colleagues include guitarist Neal Casal of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood and Ryan Adams’ Cardinals, bassist (and co-producer) Dave Schools from Widespread Panic, keyboardist Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi and drummer Duane Trucks from Col. Bruce Hampton’s School of Music.

All 11 songs on Hard Working Americans are covers, and these guys picked some good material. “Another Train,” a rowdy love song by former Snider guitarist Will Kimbrough, gets a riff-heavy rendition that recalls mid-’70s bands like Montrose. Casal’s guitar fuels the world-weary “Down to the Well,” by Kevin Gordon and Colin Linden, while Staehly’s piano, Trucks’ percussion and harmonica from guest John Popper give Hayes Carll’s “Stomp and Holler” a nice honky-tonk vibe.

Snider’s take on Kevn Kinney’s “Straight to Hell” is more understated than Kinney’s all-out redneck rock approach, but the trailer-park drama still comes through, punctuated by a nice Casal solo. Other highlights include an uptempo rendition of the Bottle Rockets’ “Welfare Music” and a suitably folky take on Randy Newman’s “Mr. President, Have Pity on the Working Man.” The album closes with a quiet version of David Rawlings and Gillian Welch’s hard-living tale “Wrecking Ball.”

It’s nice to hear what these talented musicians bring to other writers’ songs, but it should also be interesting to hear what they do with their own material, if they decide to go that route.

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