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…
Tag: “Americana music”
Allman, Plant and Jayhawks set for Americana Music Festival
The Jayhawks, Gregg Allman, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, Foster and Lloyd. Justin Townes Earle, North Mississippi Allstars and The Civil Wars are among the first artists announced for the 12th Annual Americana Music Festival and Conference, scheduled for Oct. 12-15, 2011 in Nashville. It’s always an extraordinary festival, and the Americana Awards show is always a highlight.…
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…
New live set from Guy Clark
Peter Cooper of the Tennessean reports that Guy Clark will release a live CD recorded at Nashville’s Belcourt Theatre. Songs and Stories is scheduled for Aug. 16. Two other Guy Clark live CDs are currently available:Together at the Bluebird Cafe with Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt, and an Austin City Limits performance (also on DVD.)
Presley, Armstrong and Foster among most influential Americans
In the spirit of the holiday, a friend posted a link to a 2006 Atlantic Magazine article listing the top 100 influential Americans. I went through the list and was glad to see that three musicians made the cut. The list, compiled by a panel of historians, identified Elvis Presley (#66), Louis Armstrong, (#79), and Stephen Foster (#97) as the…
U2 salutes Johnny Cash at Nashville show
U2 surprised its Nashville audience last night with a performance of “The Wanderer,” a Zooropa song featuring Johnny Cash that had never before appeared in the band’s setlists. Bono spoke of his admiration for Johnny and June, promised to visit their hometown of Hendersonville on his next visit and did a pretty fair job of channeling Cash’s voice on the…
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame announces nominees
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has announced its 2011 nominees, and the roster is extraordinary. (Full disclosure: I’m a member of the Hall’s board.) Here’s the announcement that was released today: Five highly successful artists and ten songwriters whose work has been recorded by some of the biggest names in popular and country music have been nominated for one…
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…
“I Love:” Tom T. Hall at the Hall
Tom T. Hall really knows how to celebrate his 75th birthday. He was joined by a stellar group of musicians at the Country Music Hall of Fame tonight to celebrate the release of “I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow.” The new album features a remarkable array of artists revisiting Hall’s “Songs of Fox Hollow,” a 1974 children’s…
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…
Robert Plant, Elizabeth Cook lead Americana music awards nominations
Robert Plant and Elizabeth Cook led the 2011 Americana Music Association Award nominations with three each. Other nominees, including Mumford and Sons and the Decemberists, illustrate the range of music that comes under the Americana umbrella. The nominations were announced in New York today by Rosanne Cash, following a webcast concert featuring The Civil Wars, Levon Helm, Jim Lauderdale, Cash…
“I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive”
Steve Earle tells USA Today’s Jerry Shriver that the songs on his new album, “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” focus on mortality: “They’re about mortality in the sense that, this is the one thing we all have to do. You know what they say about death and taxes. But you have the option to not pay taxes.…
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,…
Wilder, Jones and Rotenberry celebrate Americana
The 2011 American Music Association series at the Bluebird kicked off Thursday with sets by the duo of Brad Jones and Hans Rotenberry and Webb Wilder. Jones and Rotenberry’s “Mountain Jack” CD is an eminently entertaining blend of melodic pop and Americana. They played much of the album, plus one song from Rotenberry’s band “The Shazam.” The acoustic renditions were…
Americana at the Bluebird 2011
One of the best musical events in February and March in Nashville in recent years has been the “Live at the Bluebird” series organized by the Americana Music Association. These have been four-show series featuring a tremendous range of talents, including Sam Bush, Rodney Crowell, Will Kimbrough and Foster and Lloyd. This year’s series is being sold as individual shows…
Buddy Miller and friends
Buddy Miller stepped into the elevator on the Cayamo cruise, seemingly unaware of the growing crowd lining up to see him. I had met Buddy at a party in Nashville recently and told him I was looking forward to seeing him play – if I could get in. He looked puzzled. “There are already 200 people lined up outside the…
Loud and Rich perform as a duo
Richard Thompson and Loudon Wainwright have toured in tandem on their “Loud and Rich” tour, but they said their pairing on Saturday night on the Cayamo cruise was their first-ever full set together. They opened with Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” prompting Thompson to joke “Does he do our songs?” Maybe he should. This was a terrific show by…
Cayamo update: Will Hoge, Scott Miller
Will Hoge and Scott Miller dropped in for a taping of “World Café” at Cayamo, each fielding a challenge to play four songs – one early and one new song, plus a cover and something anthemic. The covers were particularly entertaining, with Hoge performing “Crying Time” and telling a story about blowing his chance to talk to hero Buck Owns.…
Charlie Louvin’s final TV appearance
The Marty Stuart Show on RFD is always a hoot, a throwback to early country music television. Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives are terrific players and they have a wonderful time. The show that aired this week, though, was truly something special. It began goofily enough, with the theme from Bonanaza, complete with lyrics. But then Stuart introduced the legendary…