Here’s a terrific tribute to John Prine from a great group of Nashville musicians, all friends and colleagues of John’s.
Performing the album in its entirety:
Bill Lloyd , Beth Nielsen Chapman. Radney Foster, Stacey and Don Schlitz,Chuck Mead, Shawn Camp, Will Kimbrough,Garry Tallent, Kim Richey and Dan Baird.
Bravo!
By Paul T. Mueller
Radney Foster can now add “author” to his already impressive résumé. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter recently published For You to See the Stars, a collection of short stories related in some way to lyrics from his songs. He simultaneously released a CD with the same title, on which some of the 11 songs share their titles with stories from the book. Foster featured songs and a story in an in-store appearance at Houston’s Cactus Music on Sept. 30, in the middle of a two-night stand at the nearby McGonigel’s Mucky Duck.
Strumming an acoustic six-string, with impressive accompaniment from Eddie Heinzelman on electric guitar, Foster kicked off the event with “For You to See the Stars,” a reflection on adversity and our response to it (note to self: when writing a song, hope to include a line as good as “rock bottom is just solid ground to start again”). Next came a nice rendition of “Raining on Sunday,” an older song, co-written with Darrell Scott, that became a hit for Keith Urban.
The literary part of the show consisted of Foster’s reading of “Bridge Club,” a funny coming-of-age story of sorts. He noted that the story, which revolves around a memorable day for a young boy and his mother’s bridge club, is fiction, although the dark twist at the end involves an event that was all too real.
Two more songs followed: “Greatest Show on Earth,” a lively account of Foster’s introduction to music via family music parties, and “Howlin’,” about the way a generation of young people was introduced to rock ‘n’ roll in the early ’60s by DJ Wolfman Jack, who broadcast over a powerful “border blaster” radio station across the Mexican border from Foster’s hometown of Del Rio, Texas.
Radney Foster stuck around for quite awhile after the music ended, signing autographs and chatting with enthusiastic fans.
by Paul T. Mueller
Life is not fair, as we all know and are often reminded. Case in point: Radney Foster. Come on – still looking young in his mid-50s? Check. Same wavy hair, now turned to silver? Check. Serious chops on guitar and a fine voice? Check and check. Catalog of excellent songs? Check, check, check and so on. All that wrapped up in one guy? Clearly not fair.
Fortunately, Foster also comes across as a pretty nice guy, which could explain why his June 26 show in the Houston suburb of Tomball was met with enthusiasm and not envy. Main Street Crossing, a pleasant restaurant/performance space in a restored building on the main drag, was the venue for the solo gig, which consisted mostly of fresh takes on well-known (and well-loved) hits.
The 90-minute, 14-song set drew heavily from Foster’s early work, including five songs from his first solo album, Del Rio, TX 1959. Foster led off with the aptly titled “Louisiana Blue” and then cranked It up with “Just Call Me Lonesome.” Later in the show came excellent renditions of the cowboy epic “Went for a Ride”; “Nobody Wins,” which many in the crowd of 120 or so turned into a sing-along, and “Closing Time,” a weepy drinking-to-forget song that Foster described as cathartic, the way country songs used to be.
“This next song changed my life,” Foster said in introducing “Angel Flight,” a quietly powerful first-person account of an Air Force pilot who flies fallen soldiers back home. He said the song came from a conversation with its co-writer, singer-songwriter Darden Smith; Foster now participates in Songwriting with Soldiers, a program Smith founded last year to help soldiers deal with painful issues through songwriting retreats.
Next came a rousing version of “Texas in 1880,” which was a hit for Foster & Lloyd, an acclaimed but short-lived duo with Bill Lloyd. Foster introduced the song by recounting how he left college to move to Nashville and pursue his dream – a career in songwriting. The song is about rodeo, he said, but also about dreamers of all kinds.
Also well done and just as enthusiastically received were some less-familiar songs: “Raining on Sunday,” “Half of My Mistakes,” “Folding Money,” “I’m In” and “A Little Revival.” Foster tugged at the heartstrings with “I Know You Can Hear Me,” a song about fathers and sons that he said he wrote about his own father, and the show closer, “Godspeed (Sweet Dreams),” a sweet I-love-you he wrote for his son, then 5 years old, when his ex-wife moved overseas and took his son with her.
Radney Foster’s career these days is not the rocket ride of his early career, but as a writer and performer, he can still bring it.
Follow Sun209 on Twitter at @Sun209com.
Steve Fishell
“Music Producers Institute brings students of recording and music fans right into their favorite artists’ master studio sessions. The premise is simple: the best way to learn about the recording process is to observe your favorite artist at work. Tuition is generally around $800 for a two or three day event and a majority percentage goes to the artist to cover their studio costs. Artists walk with the masters and attendees check off another “bucket list” item.”
2. Do most people enroll because they’re aspiring producers or because they want to watch their favorite artist work?
“The attendees are generally split 50%-50% between aspiring producers and fans. They are very respectful of the process and feel privileged for the chance to observe. We’ve never had one problem with interruptions in over four years of sessions. Nobody wants to blow it and get the boot!”
3. How does the presence of fans affect the recording process?
“Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks played mandolin and fiddle on Radney Foster’s March MPI sessions in Austin. I asked Martie if the attendees made her feel self-conscious and she said “I forget they were even there. Artists are performers and they prefer playing in front of a small group of respectful people rather than just to the four studio walls.”
4. You’ve had some amazing artists join you. What have been some of your best moments in the studio?
“The Del McCoury Band sessions were a highlight. Del and the band were cracking jokes all day long and still managed to record 17 songs in two days. In fact, on the last day they wrapped up the sessions around 6:30pm which is way early for most artists. Their virtuosity was simply mind-boggling to watch. The resulting album, “Old Memories: The Songs of Bill Monroe” was nominated for a Grammy last December.
“Poco let their entire class play percussion on one song and Todd Snider had his class sing harmony vocals on a track. Anything can happen at an MPI session.”
5. The great Duane Eddy has a session coming up. How would you describe his contributions to popular music and how can folks see him firsthand?
“Guitarist Duane Eddy – a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – influenced everybody: The Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Creedence, the Ventures, Mark Knopfler. John Fogerty calls him “the first rock and roll guitar god.” Our MPI session June 22-23 marks the first time Duane has ever opened his studio doors to the public. He’s one of the nicest people on the planet so it promises to be a lot of fun. Also on the session are steel guitar session giant Dan Dugmore and legendary musicians Spooner Oldham and Richard Bennett. These sessions will also be special because the resulting tracks will be included on an album benefitting the Country Music Hall of Fame. All attendees will be thanked by name in the liner notes. To learn how to attend go to www.musicpi.com or call MPI at sessions@musicpi.com.”
Tin Pan South, the pre-emiment songwriters festival, has just released its line-up for the 2012 event scheduled for March 27-31. It’s a wide-ranging collection of talent, spead over ten venues. Attendees can pay cover at the door or buy a weeklong pass that offers preferred access.
Many of this year’s performers are songwriters who have also had successful recording careers, including Ray Wylie Hubbard, Walter Egan, T. Graham Brown, Lari White, Michael Johnson, Peter Yarrow, Sam Bush, Mark Hudson, Felix Cavaliere, Radney Foster, Darrell Scott, Buddy Miller, Lee Roy Parnell, John Oates, Jim Lauderdale, Dickey Lee, Buzz Cason, Shawn Mullins, Jim Peterik, Al Anderson, Shawn Camp and the Wrights.
You’ll find details on the schedule and tickets at the Tin Pan South site. For coverage of past Tin Pan South events, go here.
(Follow Sun209and the festival at sun209com on Twitter.)
by Terry Roland
– Released on November 8, two days after veteran Texas songwriter Guy Clark’s 70th birthday, This One’s For Him: A Tribute To Guy Clark, succeeds beyond expectations as a tribute to a much- loved songwriter and a well-produced album of finely crafted country-folk music.
It may be the mark of a great songwriter that a diverse group of musicians can make an album of songs that not only capture the artist’s vision, but emerge with each song realized to near perfection.
Produced by Tamara Saviano whose 2004 release, Beautiful Dreamer: The Songs of Stephen Foster, won a GRAMMY and Clark’s friend and collaborator Shawn Camp, this is a masterfully produced album of 30 handpicked songs by 33 of today’s finest Americana artists.
Some of the greatest of the singer-songwriters of the last five decades have aged into their craft, but none have done so with as much grace, dignity and imagination as Guy Clark. His legacy of song gives his friends plenty of material to work with on this album.
Leading off with a chuckle from Rodney Crowell who says, “let’s give her a good go and make old Guy proud of us,” then proceeds to do so with the opening “Old Time Feeling.” The song sets us up for what is to come; a loving, reflective, funny, heartfelt tribute to one of the great storytellers and craftsmen of American song.
What follows plays at times like short stories, fragments of chapters in a novel, sweet poetry, western stories, tall-tales, cowboy haikus, personal testaments, musings and meditations on regret and joy, life-lessons laced with humor and wisdom, characters of the past aged with grace, remembered loved ones, death songs
and love ballads, all painted with various shades and strokes of lyrical colors.
If this were an exhibit of the lifetime work of a visual artist, it would take several galleries to fill. As it is, it takes this many fine performers and singer-songwriters to do justice to Clark.
The trick with any tribute album is to match material and artist, for the sake of the song and the overall production of the project. Many past tribute albums have turned into well-intentioned, unfocused failures.
But This One’s For Him avoids those traps by tapping into Guy Clark’s original recordings. The album embodies its title by keeping to the simple, intimate style Clark has mastered so well in his own studio work over the years.
It’s a style that allows the beauty of each song to surface. That makes this an anthology graced with continuity and a sense of history. This One’s For Him is the best album of its kind since the classic tribute to Merle Haggard, Tulare Dust.
A decade before Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin came together to make their historic American Recordings, Guy Clark had already released a series of live-in-studio, intimate, stripped-down acoustic recordings on the Sugar Hill label.
Albums like Old Friends, Boats To Build and Dublin Blues offered minimal production gloss in favor of a straightforward and organic sonic experience. While many obscure artists had championed this approach through the years, Guy Clark was among the first major songwriters to elevate purity over production.Today, this remains the gold standard in Americana music.
Some of the strongest moments on the album come from female artists. This makes sense for Clark who has often written songs reflecting a woman’s point of view (“She Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” “Magdeline”). Shawn Colvin’s smoky sexy reading of “All He Wants Is You,” Rosanne Cash’s expressive interpretation of “Better Days,” and Rosie Flores’ funky and spirited version of “Baby Took A Limo To Memphis,” all feel as though this was how these songs were intended to be performed – by women.
It’s impossible to mention Guy Clark without a reference to Townes Van Zandt. One touching moment among many is the bittersweet sound of Towne’s oldest son, John Townes Van Zandt narrating “Let Him Roll,” a love story about a Dallas prostitute and her alcoholic lover. It is eerie and touching to hear this tale with guitar- picking, phrasing and a vocal presence that sounds so much Townes. It feels like a tribute from Townes to Guy, channeled by his son.
Hayes Carll brings the country blues out in “Worry B Gone,” while Steve Earle revels in the western imagery of “The Last Gunfighter Ballad.” Both give the songs added grit, which distinguishes them from the original versions.
The old friends of Guy’s also do him proud. Willie Nelson’s “Desperados Waiting For A Train,” haunts in its simplicity. It’s a song that only grows more poignant with time as the singer and the song age.
Ramblin’ Jack Elliot turns in a gentle interpretation of the engaging “The Guitar.” Terry Allen’s “Old Friends,” also plays out with a beautiful country-blues simplicity.
Kris Kristofferson’s reading of “Hemingway’s Whiskey” delivers gut-level authenticity. The track opens with a short tale from Kris of a personal encounter with Hemingway then folds into a quintessential Guy Clark (literally whiskey-soaked) metaphor of life lived to its fullest. The slightly drunk emotion in Kris’ voice comes through as he carries the album’s title lyric with it:
There’s more to life than whiskey
more to words than rhyme
Sail away three sheets to the wind
Live hard, die hard
This one’s for him.
Other moments that will lure the listener to repeated listening include EmmyLou Harris and John Prine’s duet on “Magnolia Wind, Radney Foster’s smooth and easy version of “L.A. Freeway,” and Jerry Jeff Walker’s closing track “My Favorite Picture of You.”
The house band, which recorded live in the studio, included multi-instrumentalist and co-producer Shawn Camp, guitarist Verlon Thompson and keyboard player Jen Gunderman. Listen for Lloyd Maines on an array of dobros and steel guitars, bassists Glenn Fukunaga and Mike Bub and Kenny Malone and Larry Atamanuik on drums. The musical backing is skillfully interwoven with mandolins, lap steel guitars and fiddles.
This One’s For Him: A Tribute To Guy Clark is a living legacy from some very talented friends, a well-deserved tribute to a great craftsman and an early holiday present that invites us to discover or re-discover the best in Americana music through the songs of one of our national treasures.
(Terry Roland is an Americana-roots music journalist who has written interviews, reviews and feature articles for FolkWorks, Sing-Out, No Depression and The San Diego Troubadour.)
Three years ago, Steve Fishell, a one-time member of Emmylou
Harris’ Hot Band and later a producer of a number of cool country and Americana
acts, launched the Music Producers Institute in Nashville.
It was a studio with a twist. Fishell’s business model gave
artists an economical way to record a new album, while inviting recording
students and fans to pay tuition and watch the recording process in person.
MPI recording sessions have featured Kris Kristofferson, Delbert
McClinton, Poco, Radney Foster, Raul Malo, Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, Jace
Everett, Jerry Douglas, Rodney Crowell, Asleep at the Wheel and the reunited Foster
& Lloyd.
In an innovative move, MPI is now releasing videos showing
highlights of the sessions. The first release features new Bluegrass Hall of
Fame member Del McCoury recording tracks for “Old Memories: The Songs of
Bill Monroe, ” due to be released on Sept. 27.
The price is certainly right. Viewers can access the 65-minute video for $4.99, and even share a second viewing with a friend. You’ll find details at the MPI site.
Some of the biggest names in roots, folk and Americana music will be on hand to celebrate Guy Clark’s musical legacy on Nov. 2 in Austin.
“Wish I Was In Austin: A 70th Birthday Tribute to Guy Clark,” which benefits the Center for Texas Music History, will feature performances by Shawn Colvin, Rodney Crowell, Joe Ely, Rosie Flores, Radney Foster, Terri Hendrix, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jack Ingram, James McMurtry, The Trishas, Jerry Jeff Walker, Kevin Welch, Terry Allen and yes, Guy Clark.
The concert, scheduled for Nov. 2 at the Long Center, will also help promote an ambitious two-CD tribute album saluting Clark. “This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark” will be released on November 8.
I first saw Bill Lloyd on stage at a club in downtown Nashville in 1997. I was impressed with his power pop-flavored set and cover of the Kinks’ “This is Where I Belong.” I figured he was an up-and-comer with impeccable taste in covers.
It wasn’t until later that I learned that he was the Lloyd of Foster and Lloyd, a country duo, once up-and-comers with impeccable taste in everything. Over a four-year run, Foster and Lloyd released three well-received albums with reviews that brought comparisons to the Everly Brothers, Byrds and Rockpile. They were that good.
By 1991, Foster and Lloyd were no more, and Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd embarked on solo careers as performers and songwriters. Since then, there have been occasional one-off reunions. There were two successive New Year’s Eve dates at the Bluebird Café in Nashville, a track on a Nick Lowe tribute CD and a performance of “In the Ghetto” at our annual Freedom Sings salute to free expression.
Then came a benefit for the Americana Music Association, with new material and a delighted audience. That set the stage for “It’s Already Tomorrow,” the first new Foster and Lloyd album in 20 years. It was worth the wait.
Reflecting their individual music growth over the years, the new album is both the most musically adventurous and cohesive of their career. Most likely it’s the liberation of no longer worrying about the country radio market and just letting the music flow. It rocks and charms in equal measure.
The additional years also bring a different perspective to the songwriting. The buoyant title song marvels at the passage of years and celebrates a long relationship: “Two young lovers across the aisle, they make me think of us and I smile.”
Closing out the album is “When I Finally Let You Go,” an acoustic number destined to be the bride’s father’s dance at hip wedding receptions. These and songs like “If It hadn’t Been For You” and “Watch Your Movie” couldn’t have been written or performed by a young Foster and Lloyd.
Not that the sly wordplay of earlier records is gone. “Let Me Help You Out of that Freudian slip” they sing in “Can’t Make Love Make Sense”, while the joking boyfriend in That’s What She said” protests that “I can’t stop my innuendo, that’s one thing she can’t comprendo.”
Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick plays bass and electric guitar on “Hold That Thought,” and is a co-writer of “Lucky Number,” a melodic and rocking song about a confident young woman, with back-up vocals by Beth Nielsen Chapman.
Foster and Lloyd revisit their own “Picasso’s Mandolin,” a co-write with Guy Clark, freshening it with a new verse and a guest turn on mandolin by Sam Bush.
In a bit of whimsy, the CD cover is designed to look like a worn and discolored album jacket. The packaging may be weathered, but the music certainly isn’t. Foster and Lloyd are as fresh and vibrant as ever.
Ken Paulson