Tag: Justin Townes Earle

Previewing 2019 Cayamo Cruise

By Paul T. Mueller

2019 marks an even dozen for the Cayamo music cruise. The 12th edition of the festival at sea, produced by Atlanta-based Sixthman aboard the Norwegian Pearl, will head south from Tampa for a week of music – and what many passengers surely hope will be warmer weather than they’ve been enduring lately.

As always, the event will feature a full – not to say intimidating – lineup of musicians and bands. Returning notables this year include Emmylou Harris, Keb’ Mo’, Indigo Girls, Buddy Miller, Paul Thorn, Mary Gauthier, Shawn Mullins, Justin Townes Earle, Amanda Shires, Chuck Cannon, The War and Treaty, Steve Poltz and Bonnie Bishop. Newcomers include Will Kimbrough, Carlene Carter, Raul Malo, Billy Bragg, Josh Ritter, Tommy Emmanuel, Brett Dennen, Molly Tuttle and Phil Madeira.

As is typical of Cayamo, the lineup is heavily tilted toward the quieter fare of solo singer-songwriters and duos, but a few larger outfits will also make the trip. Bands on board include Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Dawes, the Jerry Douglas Trio, The Wood Brothers, Kasey Chambers and the Fireside Disciples, Darlingside, Red Molly, Red Dirt Boys and The Ghost of Paul Revere. The complete lineup can be seen here.

Themed shows scheduled this year include the Shawn Mullins Variety Show, Buddy Miller’s Sirius XM radio show featuring The War and Treaty, Billy Bragg’s Woody Guthrie tribute show, and the mysteriously named “Buddy’s Musical Genius Bar,” presumably hosted by Cayamo mainstay Miller. And while the concept of “after hours” is a bit hazy given that scheduled performances and informal jams routinely stretch into the small hours, there is nonetheless a “Cayamo After Hours with Sadler Vaden and Friends” show, featuring the 400 Unit guitarist, scheduled for very early Friday morning.

Given a lineup this large, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to see every performer, but there will be a few other events thrown in to make scheduling even tougher. These include yoga sessions led by Bonnie Bishop, a couple of open jam sessions, a 10 a.m. “Bloodies, Bacon and Bingo” event, a “Conversation About Songwriting” with Will Kimbrough and Phil Madeira, a “Tales & Ales” beer tasting hosted by Paul Thorn, and a drum workshop with Brady Blade.

For many Cayamoans, the music is all that matters and it’s of little interest where the cruise stops along the way. But for the record, this year’s ports of call are Montego Bay, Jamaica, and the Costa Maya on Mexico’s southern Caribbean coast. The Jamaica stop will feature a beach excursion and show by Irish singer-songwriter Foy Vance.

The Strategic Songwriting of Justin Townes Earle

Justin Townes Earle at the 30A Music Festival

Justin Townes Earle knows how to pace himself. In a wide-ranging conversation at the 30A Songwriters Festival, Justin told us how he writes a new album: 12 songs written over the span of a year and astonishingly, in the exact order they show up on the finished collection. In this excerpt, he talks about how it all comes together.

Justin Townes Earle on Strategic Songwriting

The full interview will be available soon on the Americana Music News Podcast (find it on iTunes) and broadcast on WMOT Roots Radio.

New to Americana chart: Grant Peeples, Jerry Douglas, Rhett Miller

Justin Townes Earle remains at the top position in Americana music radio with Nothing’s Going to Change The Way You Feel About Me, with JD McPherson’s Signs and Signifiers in the second slot.

New to the Americana music chart: Grant Peeples’ Prior Convictions at #37, Jerry Douglas’ Traveler at #39 and Rhett Miller’s The Dreamer at #40.

Most added on Americana music radio stations: KIN: Songs by Mary Karr and Rodney Crowell, Langhorne Slim’s The Way We Move, Shawn Colvin’s All Fall Down and the Honeycutters’ When Bitter Met Sweet.

Americana music news can be found on Twitter at @sun209com.

2012 Americana Music Awards nominees announced

Robert Plant and Patty Griffin at the 2011 Americana music awards show

The 2012 Americana Honors and Awards nominees were announced today in Los Angeles. They’ll be presented at the Ryman Auditorium on September 12 during the Americana Music Festival in Nashville.
The nominees:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Here We Rest – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive – Steve Earle
The Harrow & The Harvest – Gillian Welch
This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark – Various Artists

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Gillian Welch
Hayes Carll
Jason Isbell
Justin Townes Earle

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Alabama Shakes
Dawes
Deep Dark Woods
Robert Ellis

SONG OF THE YEAR
“Alabama Pines” – Written by Jason Isbell and performed by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
“Come Around” – Written and performed by Sarah Jarosz
“I Love” – Written by Tom T. Hall and performed by Patty Griffin
“Waiting on the Sky to Fall” – Written and performed by Steve Earle

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Buddy Miller
Chris Thile
Darrell Scott
Dave Rawlings

DUO / GROUP OF THE YEAR
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Civil Wars
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Punch Brothers

Sara Watkins, O’Brien Party of 7 enter Americana music chart

Justin Townes Earle continues to dominate Americana radio with yet another week at #1 with Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, followed by Ray Wylie Hubbard’s Grifter’s Hymnal.
New to the Americana music chart: Sara Watkins’ Sun Midnight Sun at #30 and the O’Brien Party of 7’s Reincarnation: The Songs of Roger Miller at #35.
Most added albums this week: Willie Nelson’s Heroes, Sonny Landreth’s Elemental Journey, the Bodeans’ American Made, the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Everybody’s Talkin’ and Sara Watkins’ album.

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Todd Snider’s salute to Jerry Jeff Walker enters chart

Todd Snider’s Time As We Know It, his tribute to Jerry Jeff Walker, is the top new entry on the Americana Music Association airplay chart this week, breaking in at #33. The Dunwells are the only other debut, with Blind Sighted Faith at #40.

Still at the top of the chart: Justin Townes Earles’ Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me.Top adds on Americana radio stations:  The Wandering’s Go On Now, You Can’t Stay Here, the Turnpike Troubadours’ Goodbye Normal Street (reviewed here) , the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Everybody’s Talkin’ and Sara Watkins’ Sun Midnight Sun.

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New to chart: Trampled By Turtles, Dr. John, Mastersons

Lyle Lovett remains steady at the top of the Americana Music Association  Airplay Chart with Release Me, holding off Justin Townes Earle’s Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me. It looks like a long run ahead.

New to the chart this week: Trampled by Turtles’ Stars and Satellites at #25,  Dr. John’s Locked Down at #27 and the Mastersons’ Birds Fly South at #28.

Most added this week: Nanci Griffith’s Intersection.

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: Andrew Bird’s Break It Yourself (#38), Cuff the Duke’s Morning Comes (#39) and Joe Pug’s The Great Despiser (#40.)

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 Fables at #25, Bruce Springsteen’s  Wrecking Ball at #31, Steel Wheels’ Lay Down Lay Low at #34 and Lucero’s Woman & Work at #38.

Nov. 19: Americana Music Festival on Austin City Limits

The national television debut of the Americana Music Festival is scheduled for Nov. 19 on Austin City Limits, which has released this show setlist, beginning with Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Buddy Miller, Jerry Douglas and Don Was singing “I’ll Fly Away.”

  • The Avett Brothers – The Once and Future Carpenter
  • Lucinda Williams – Blessed
  • Amos Lee – Cup of Sorrow
  • Elizabeth Cook- El Camino
  • Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues
  • Jessica Lea Mayfield – For Today
  • Buddy Miller – Gasoline and Matches
  • The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
  • Candi Staton – Heart on a String
  • Jim Lauderdale – Life by Numbers
  • Robert Plant – Monkey
  • Gregg Allman – Melissa

It captures the best moments of the evening, although we wish Hayes Carll had made the cut. Nashville area viewers were able to watch the full version live and in a couple of early morning repeats.

As we’ve noted, national television exposure is critical to the future growth of Americana music and there’s arguable no better showcase than Austin City Limits. Check your local PBS station for show times.

 

TV holds key to growth of Americana music

The Avett Brothers at the Americana Awards show

By Ken Paulson

Television is a very big deal to the Americana music community.
For years, the Americana Music Association has worked to establish the genre with the general public, and TV is the key.
Any medium that can make Snooki a household name should do wonders for Buddy Miller.
That’s why news that WNPT, Nashville’s public television station, would broadcast the 2011 Americana Music Festival Honors and Awards show , and that Austin City Limits would do a show of highlights, was so welcome. A broader audience would finally see what Americana music was all about.
Yet the early results were discouraging. That initial live broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville showed large expanses of empty seats early on, due to a late-arriving crowd. Unbelievably, the opening graphic noted that the evening was dedicated to the memory of “Jim” Hartford rather than John Hartford. And then early in the show, transmission difficulties meant audio and video drop-outs during performances by Justin Townes Earle and Elizabeth Cook. Ouch.
Things were better for a rebroadcast two days later, although the length of the show was apparently longer than the original estimate. If you have a TiVo, you didn’t see a dazzling finale.
But the good news is that the music overall was stunning, the performances passionate and even the presentations were well-paced. Austin City Limits should find it relatively easy to mine the two-plus hour show for an hour’s worth of great music, drawing on performances by Robert Plant, the Avett Brothers, Jim Lauderdale, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Miller, Cook, Earle and more.
That kind of quality exposure will build awareness of Americana, but will also amplify the sales pitch to prospective music festival sponsors.
My guess is that Austin City Limits, scheduled for Nov. 19, will edit out acceptance speeches, which may be just as well. The message relayed by Mumford and Sons thanked “the Nashville community,” which is exactly what the Americana Music Association doesn’t need. Americana needs to be seen as a vibrant worldwide genre, which just happens to have an office in Nashville. National television exposure is critical to making that happen.