What’s the deal with Johnny Ace? A modest figure in R&B history (“Pledging My Love”), Ace achieved some level of pop immortality due to his untimely death in a gun accident on Christmas Day 1954. Nonetheless, he’s inspired two outstanding songs about his demise: Paul Simon’s “The Late Great Johnny Ace” and now Dave Alvin’s “Johnny Ace is Dead.” Alvin’s…
Category: Reviews
Jonell Mosser: Great Fortune
Jonell Mosser is one of Nashville’s best vocalists and most vibrant performers – and maybe the most under-recognized. She’s well-known and loved in Nashville, but has never caught the national break she deserved. When Ringo Starr, Don Was and Benmont Tench formed a new band in the ’90s called the New Maroons, Jonell was their choice for lead singer. When…
New Chet Atkins exhibit open
The new Chet Atkins exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame will is now open. It’s a treat for fans of his music, as well as guitar buffs. The heart of the exhibit is the battered Sears Silvertone guitar Atkins learned to play on. From there, the guitars and career get considerably more impressive. The exhibit occupies the space…
Review: Nick 13
You don’t often see the words “psychobilly” and “Lloyd Green” in the same sentence, let alone on the same album. Yet that’s truly the charm of “Nick 13,” the solo debut by the artist of the same name. Nick 13 is best known as singer and songwriter for Tiger Army, a psychobilly band that draws on the genre’s punk and…
Bob Dylan, Leon Russell at the Ryman
A legendary music figure took the stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville tonight, performing his greatest songs in faithful, spirited versions. That was Leon Russell. Of course, Bob Dylan took a different path. Born just one year apart, Russell, 69, and Dylan, 70, were a study in contrasts. Russell was determined to please. The newly-elected member of the Rock…
Nell Robinson – On the Brooklyn Road
You have to love Nell Robinson’s story. From a booklet accompanying her new CD “On the Brooklyn Road: “So I just turned 50 and one of my good friends characterized my new-found devotion to music as a midlife crisis. I sang by myself in my car for 30 years and ventured out to sing in public at age 45. All I can…
James Burton at Hall of Fame
James Burton, the legendary guitarist who wrote the lick for Dale Hawkins’ “Suzy Q,” played lead guitar for Ricky Nelson throughout his television years and played in Elvis Presley’s band from 1969 on, was saluted at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville today. Part of the Nashville Cats series hosted by Bill Lloyd of Foster and Lloyd, the…
Rock and Roll Joe
There are songwriters with more melodic voices and some with more chart success, but few are as consistently interesting as Chip Taylor. Best known as the writer of “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning,” and more recently as an Americana artist, Taylor is never complacent. His 7 Days in May told of his complicated romance with a young French…
Sarah Jarosz: Follow Me Down
Sarah Jarosz knows no bounds. Building on her promising debut “Song Up In Her Head,” the new “Follow Me Down” is both a genre-bridging and compelling recording. Jarosz is a talented mandolinist and banjo player with an inviting voice and an education at the New England Conservatory. She taps all of those resources on “Follow Me Down,” while also drawing…
Philip Gibbs: Petroleum Age
Philip Gibbs is a topical singer-songwriter, although his topics come from past and present. He clearly loves his Texas heritage, as evidenced by songs like “Stephen F. Austin’s Blues” and “Sam Houston’s Blues.” But the highlight of his new album is the title song, “The Petroleum Age,” a jaunty protest song about the era of oil dependency. It’s written in…
Keep Austin Weird
Sun209 is based in Nashville, so we’re taking Austin’s claim of being the “”Live Music Capital of the World” with a grain of salt. That said, the line-up at the Keep Austin Weird Festival was truly impressive, particularly the bands that hit the stage in the late afternoon and early evening. There’s some of the Band in Deadman and Motown/Stax…
Buffalo Springfield returns
Nostalgia suits Neil Young. During his last show at the Ryman, Young barely acknowledged the audience, performing an impressive set of songs with a stage presence somewhere between oblivious and sullen. Contrast that with Young, the exuberant frontman for Buffalo Springfield, the legendary (and for once, the adjective is apt) sixties band that has just reunited after four decades on…
Loretta Lynn at Bonnaroo
Loretta Lynn charmed a largely young audience at Bonnaroo this afternoon, bridging the decades with her biggest hits and a disarming presence. At one point, she invited requests, and said if the band didn’t know the song, “you can come up and sing it yourself.” At 79, Lynn is still a first-rate performer. Songs like “You Ain’t Woman Enough” and…
The Longing-Jason White
Jason White’s new album “The Longing” offers impeccable songwriting with a personal perspective. That much it shares with White’s first two albums, “Shades of Gray” and “Tonight’s Top Story.” But the departure on the new CD is a shift from guitar to keyboards, and an even more intimate sound. The title telegraphs the theme of the album, and yearning, hopes…
Shawn Mullins lights up Portland
By Lou Brancaccio — Folk rock singer Shawn Mullins played to a sold out crowd Saturday night at Portland’s historic Aladdin Theater on Milwaukie Avenue. He then headed to Seattle for what he thought would be the end of his West Coast tour swing. Not so fast. Mullins opted to come back to Portland on Monday night to the cheers…
Gospel of Tom Jones
The setlists on Tom Jones’ current tour are short on hits and long on gospel and blues, but that mix felt right at the storied Ryman Auditorium in Nashville last night. At a time when Robert Plant is viewed as an Americana artist, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Jones could so successfully embrace songs of faith and passion.…
Triumphant “Tomorrow:” Foster and Lloyd Reunite
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,…
Songs of Fox Hollow: A salute to Tom T. Hall
I had the chance to see Peter Cooper and Eric Brace join Tom T. Hall in a songwriters in the round session not long ago, and both were clearly excited to be performing with an artist they admire so much. They spoke excitedly about “I Love,” a forthcoming CD saluting Hall’s wonderful children’s record “Songs of Fox Hollow.” They’ve done…
Todd Snider Live
Todd Snider is a subversive Steve Goodman, a guy who writes fine songs and tells entertaining stories on stage. That’s nicely captured on Todd Snider Live: The Storyteller, a two-CD collection that’s deep in engaging songs and stories. Sometimes they’re one and the same. Snider talks of his high school years and the mushroom-related incident that set him on his…
Greg Trooper: Upside-Down Town
Greg Trooper’s just-released Upside-Down Town ranks with his best work – and that’s saying something. His last studio album, the Dan Penn-produced Make It Through This World in 2005 was a compelling melding of folk and R&B, and this album builds on that, with touching songs and a Hammond B3. Trooper remains a storyteller and Upside-Down Town reminds us what…