Category Archives: Americana

Charley Crockett Announces Summer Release of “Welcome To Hard Times”

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Charley Crockett
Photo credit: Bobby Cochran

Neo-trad Texas troubadour Charley Crockett just gave us another reason to look forward to summer. He’s just announced his next studio album, “Welcome To Hard Times,” will be released July 31st on Thirty Tigers.

“Welcome To Hard Times” is produced by Mark Neill (The Black Keys, Old 97s) with songwriting contributions from Pat McLaughlin (Steve Wariner, Tanya Tucker, Delbert McClinton) and Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), “Welcome To Hard Times” is described as a “genre-bending mix of classic country, psychedelic spaghetti western and rhythm & blues. It may draw on heritage sounds, but this aptly-named collection perfectly fits these troubled times.”

Crockett’s vision for the record seems fatalistic if hopeful, “This record is for the folks who feel like everything’s fixed. If you think you’re playing a rigged game, you’re right. If it seems like all the cards are marked in advance, they are. But you still gotta roll the dice, even when you know they’re loaded.“

Crockett released the album title track, and it’s accompanying video, co-directed by Crockett and Bobby Cochran, which premiered today with American Songwriter Magazine.(watch below) Shot on location in the Sierra Nevadas, it will feature as part of a series of videos Crockett is shooting and directing over the next month, where he will play the same character walking alone through isolated landscapes in the American wilderness. Discussing the video concept, Crockett stated, “Whether it’s out of admiration or fear, the whole world contemplates what the west means. When folks ask me what I’m really after, I guess that’s it. Just to drift through it all my days. I’m making films that visually represent this land just as my music describes it in sound.”

Crockett is no stranger to hard times. In early January 2019, while at a routine doctor’s checkup. Crockett was diagnosed with Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, a congenital heart condition, as well as Aortic Valve disease, and he had to immediately undergo life-saving heart surgery. Crockett believes that this experience inspired him to make the record that he truly wanted.

Crockett stated, “I look at that scar and all I can think about is the limited amount of time I’ve got left, I wanted to make an album that would try to reclaim the conversation about country music.” Crockett added, “My entering country music has been controversial, to say the least but I believe country fans have more eclectic tastes than they are given credit for. My country music is inspired by what I played in the subway car so I could eat, in the French Quarter in ragtag bands. I sat in pastures on farms across this country putting it all together into my own sound. I don’t like labels but if that ain’t country I don’t know what is.”

Crockett grew up in poverty and spent time living homeless and busking making his way from New Orleans to the subway platforms of New York City. Crockett also lost his sister to addiction and he is a twice-convicted felon and was falsely implicated in his own brother’s crimes, “I’ve gotten more than my fair share of raw deals in my thirty-six years. But I don’t let hard-luck own me.” Crockett stated, adding, “I’ve been fortunate enough to see things that a person from my background is never meant to see, and that’s worth something. It turns out that a wandering boy can learn a whole lot out there getting in trouble. Especially if he learns from his mistakes. I wouldn’t take anything back that’s happened to me. I’m not the best and I damn sure ain’t the first. But I’m different, and in music, that’s everything.”

In spite of these challenges, Crockett has remained steadfast and persistent in his music career, releasing a catalog of critically respected self-released albums including “The Valley” and “Lil G.L.’s Blue Bonanza”, which garnered critical acclaim.

Without the support of a major record label deal, Crockett has established himself as a breakthrough independent artist and the master of his own success. Generating over 36 million total streams across his song catalog, growing a grassroots following from his sold-out shows across America and Europe and making debuts at Stagecoach Festival, the Grand Ole Opry, and Newport Folk Festival.

Welcome To Hard Times was recorded in Valdosta, Georgia at Mark Neil’s studio. Mark shared Charley’s vision to make “a dark gothic country record.” Neil stated, “It was a pleasure to have been involved in what I believe to be the best gulf and western country record ever made.” The album was recorded with a studio band consisting of Kullen Fox, Colin Colby, Alexis Sanchez, Mario Valdez, Nathan Fleming, Billy Horton and Mackenzie Rosser.


Preorder “Welcome To Hard Times.”

Welcome To Hard Times tracklist:
Welcome To Hard Times
Run Horse Run
Don’t Cry
Tennessee Special
Fool Somebody Else
Lily My Dear
Wreck Me
Heads You Win
Rainin’ In My Heart
Paint It Blue
Black Jack County Crain
The Man That Time Forgot
The Poplar Tree

John Prine’s Family Announce ‘Picture Show’ Tribute Livestream June 11

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On June 11th the John Prine’s family will celebrate the late beloved singer-songwriter’s legacy with the Picture Show a livestream tribute.

Produced by the Prine family and Oh Boy Records, the event will feature “musicians, actors, and friends sharing memories and songs.” The names of those participants, which will stream via Prine’s YouTube and Facebook pages — have, so far, not yet been revealed.

The event will also raise money for several charities including NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness) and Alive, whose Grief Center is providing free counseling sessions to anyone in Middle Tennessee who has had a family member die of COVID-19.

Additional details will be shared soon.

How About? Sarah Jarosz’s New Album “World On The Ground”

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Sarah Jarosz
Sarah Jarosz

With less than 3 weeks until ‘World On The Ground’ is released Sarah Jarosz has been busy on her social platforms offering fans 3 songs from the album and some media interviews including her tips on making sourdough bread.

So here’s everything I know about the new release from Sarah Jarosz.

The Title:
Sarah Jarosz’s new album is titled “World On The Ground.” It’s her first new album in four years.

Release Date:
“World On The Ground” is due out on June 5, is available to pre-order and pre-save via a number of platforms. Those who purchased the album, either on vinyl or CD, as well as some sweet bundles found at Jarosz’s online storefront.

Record Label:
Jarosz’s new album is on Rounder Records. This is her first release for the label.

Producer:
Jarosz worked with John Leventhal (Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello,) and the album was recorded in his Manhattan home studio. Jarosz credits Leventhal with helping inspire her new songwriting direction toward more storytelling.

The Album Cover:

Sarah Jarosz - "World On The Ground"
Sarah Jarosz – “World On The Ground”

Released Songs:
Jarosz has released three songs in the runup to the “World On The Ground” release. “Johnny,” “Orange and Blue,” and “Maggie” (hear them below.)

The Songs
“World On The Ground” will contain 10 songs. The songs released so far, and in as covered in interviews, take on more of a protagonist narrative form, Of the song “Maggie” Jarosz recalls it coming to her soon after attending her 10-year high school reunion in Wimberley, Texas,

“It’s is the only one that’s actually based on a real friend I’ve lost touch with…” Jarosz explains. “I was probably complaining about never being in one place, but she said, ‘That’s all I want.’ So the song is about her, but it’s also about the greater thing: it’s about having compassion for someone who doesn’t have the means to get out of their circumstances but still has the dreams.”

World On The Ground Tracklist:

Eve
Pay It No Mind
Hometown
Johnny
Orange and Blue
I’ll Be Gone
Maggie
What Do I Do
Empty Square
Little Satchel



Pre-order “World On The Ground” now

Keep up with Sarah Jarosz:

Official Site
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube

Album Review: American Aquarium – “Lamentations”

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American Aquarium

It is an unfortunate and unforeseen turn of events that one of the most anticipated albums of the year would be released during a worldwide pandemic that has put the entire music industry on its heels.

B.J. Barham, principal songwriter, frontman and the last original member of North Carolina’s American Aquarium,
has been tilling the thematic fields of adversity and resilience over the band’s 15-year existence. Historical hardships of beleaguered farmers at the mercy of king tobacco, disappearing jobs, and a flood of opioids used to chemically salve the indignity. Demons of doubt, drink and destruction have yielded a bitter fruit who’s popularity with fans proves a trope of country music. Misery loves company.

But for many (most?) of the fans, this has been misery by proxy. But no more.

We now find ourselves in strange, troubled, and tribal times. Politicians exploit our fears and confusion for personal agendas, the media baits us to rage click-and-shares in a culturally corrosive model that, while momentarily lucrative, undermines the very foundation of a free press. Then there’s big tech holding the puppet stings of both.

In all this ‘Lamentations’ is delivered. The quasi-title track opener “Me + Mine (Lamentations)” is a bleak recap of Barham’s aforementioned themes. Had times, harder people, and the hollow futility of looking to God or the American Dream for remedy.

There is a momentary ray of hope in the blue-collar romance of “Before the Dogwood Blooms” and the boot-stomping bootstrapped “The Luckier You Get” celebrating self-reliance and grit resulting in a better day.

But the clouds return on “Six Years Come September” with its pedal-steel yearn telling of a family tragedy. “The Day I Learned to Lie to You” is a piano-led lament of regret that marches toward a horn and organ swell like
a Crescent City funeral.

Unfortunately, all that populist goodwill get’s pissed away with one song. “A Better South,” the most politically charged track on the album takes aim at the very same people the other cuts other songs empathize with by rendering then into one-dimensional caricatures.

“Down here we’re still fighting for all the wrong reasons
Old men still defend these monuments to treason
To the right side of history, we’re always late
Still arguing the difference between heritage and hate”

Where the earlier songs set up a context why a proud people being stripped of their dignity might reflexively cling to heritage as a weapon against cultural elimination, “A Better South” ditches all that goodwill and takes up an adolescent’s “okay boomer” argument.

“I’m sick and tired of listening to Daddy’s generation
The byproduct of war and segregation
Still thinking they can tell us of what to do
Who can live where and who can love who”

Sure it’s not easy to plumb the depths of humanity and tell it in a song, but Barham has shown on many occasions that he could be just the man to do it. Instead, he gets caught in what Patterson Hood coined as “The Southern Thing,” the existential friction of confronting the past and excusing or even justifying the darker elements by wholesale that an, in this case, surrender to the contemporary mobs that would be just fine erasing the Mason-Dixon blemish as longs the gourmet BBQ trucks stay open.

(7/10)

Listen Up! Gillian Welch Releases New Song For Mother’s Day

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Gillian Welch debuts the song “Happy Mother’s Day” in celebration of the holiday. This release is on Acony Records, the independent record label she and partner David Rawlings founded in 2001, and comes from a newly rediscovered cache of demos and home recordings from the early 2000s. “We can’t always be with the ones we love, but that can’t stop us from saying ‘I love you,’” Gillian says. “I wrote this song one May when I was far away and couldn’t be with my mom on Mother’s Day. Then I called and sang it into her answering machine when I knew everybody’d be sitting down to eat.

Here is the original home demo for the song, recorded on a portable reel to reel.”

Listen to “Happy Mother’s Day” here.

Listen Up! Nathaniel Rateliff “Willie’s Birthday Song”

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shotgun willie

Today the honorable Texas Yoda turns 87. This is no small feat for anyone let alone a musician that has spent most of his working life on the road. In fact, he’s so indelibly tied to life on the road that one of his best known and most popular songs tells the tales of those asphalt escapades.

When the unthinkable (by most of us) happened and COVID-19 resulted in a nationwide lockdown impacting small businesses, in general, and specifically, the music industry – musicians, venues, and associated staff, for the first time in recent memory (not involving illness) Willie was off the road.

This worried me. COVID-19 has been documented a higher mortality rate in older folks, especially those with pre-existing conditions. Add to that being denied the opportunity to indulge in a profession you love (touring), and the passing of John Prine (and diagnosis of many others) and my worried mind goes to Willie.

Seeing Willie and his son Lukas MCing the recent 4/20 showcase brought me a lot of relief. Aside from some of the usual characteristics you’d expect of a Willie 87 year-old man he appeared happy and engaged as the artists lined up to sing his praises as well as some of their very fine tunes.

One of those artists was Nathaniel Ratelif who did a wonderful solo acoustic version of a new song created just for the occasion “Willie’s Birthday Song.”

Now the cut has been formally released and it sounds even better. Done in a time signature that will be familiar to any Willie fan. The video was shot in isolation, the video features performances and as it moves along stars move in and out o feature impressive array support from of long-time of Willie’s family sister Bobbie Nelson on piano, and famed harmonica player Mickey Raphael to some of the next generation Lukas and Micah Nelson, Matthew Logan Vasquez, Nikki Lane, and Courtney Marie Andrews

Rateliff finished the song on March 12th when he arrived home in Denver after postponing the And It’s Still Alright tour. Following social distancing guidelines, Rateliff assembled a talented group of family and friends for the song who filmed their performances for the Rett Rogers.

The song was clearly one done out of love and appreciation from all those involved. It ends joyously with a snippet of Willie being served a chocolate birthday cake and grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Willie’s Birthday Song” will appear on the B-side of a limited edition 7” that will be released this summer exclusively at online merch shop. The A-side will be a duet by Rateliff and Willie, which will at that time be available digitally. Proceeds will support Farm Aid, whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land, and StrongHearts Native Helpline, which confronts issues of domestic violence in the Native American community.

Go bless Willie Nelson and Happy birthday!

John Paul White and Rosanne Cash Join Forces For “We’re All In This Together Now,” To Benefit Music Health Alliance

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John Paul White and Rosanne Cash have joined forces on the new single “We’re All In This Together Now” to benefit the Nashville-based Music Health Alliance. The song is also available for purchase with all proceeds benefitting the Music Health Alliance, which today announced its partnership with the Spotify COVID-19 Music Relief project. Spotify will match donations to its partner organizations dollar-for-dollar up to a total Spotify contribution of $10 million, and the song can be streamed on Spotify.

Composite video image; credit Reid Long

Watch the Michael Kessler directed video for the poignant ballad below. Though the song wasn’t written during the coronavirus pandemic, the sentiment and video perfectly reflect our current quarantine resulting from COVID-19, and shows footage of people helping – from hospitals to the food banks – from around the world.

“John Paul and I have been friends for years, and early on we awkwardly tossed the idea of writing a song together, but we never got around to it,” explains Cash. “The last few years have been tough. I wanted to find some little corner of community, some instinct toward unity. It was hard to find, so I figured I’d have to write it. Last year, I wrote these lyrics and sent them to John Paul. He wrote this gorgeous melody very quickly. I was so moved. But the song didn’t fit on my last record, and it didn’t fit on his last record, so it sat there waiting for just the right moment. Which is now.”

White adds, “I don’t believe I’ve ever been a part of something that foretold things to come as vividly as this song, or something that would feel so relevant months after its completion. I loved the song, but for whatever reason it hadn’t yet seen the light of day. I had recorded a guitar/vocal of the song in my studio in Florence, Alabama. Once it dawned on me recently how prescient the song was, I asked Rosanne if she’d be willing to put her voice on it. She said, ‘I thought you’d never ask.’”

Brandi Carlile, Lukas Nelson, Jeff Tweedy & More Pay Tribute To John Prine

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The loss of singer/songwriter John Prine due to complications associated with COVID-19 has hit fans and members of the Americana community hard. Few artist of his stature were as generous of spirit and touched so many lives.

His death has created a vacuum in this world where an unlikely ex-mailman and towering talent once existed.

Members of the Americana and country music community aired their grief in the best way possible. They paid testament in covering Prine’s songs.

Brandi Carlile – “Hello In There”

Jeff Tweedy – “Please Don’t Bury Me”

Lukas Nelson – “Lonesome Friends of Science”

Ani DiFranco – “Angel From Montgomery”

BJ Barham – “Paradise”
https://www.facebook.com/americanaquarium/videos/2866668576702331/

Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires – “Angel From Montgomery” “Clocks And Spoons.” “Illegal Smile.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxwJ2qQs4ZE

Andrew Bird – “Souvenirs”
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-uw1SzD3g8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Ryan Bingham – “Illegal Smile”
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-vNUJoBS9x/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Watch Out! Amy Black With The Blind Boys of Alabama – “I Have A Choice”

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Amy Black With The Blind Boys of Alabama
The title of the new song by Singer-songwriter Amy Black is “I Have A Choice.”

A choice to do what? “To turn your back on hate and pride and clothe yourself with love and joy.”

Black explains, “I wrote this song because I wanted to remind myself that I always have a choice of who I’m going to be, how I’m going to act, and how I’m going to respond to whatever life throws my way. I was inspired when I thought of my mom and dad and many others who came before me. It’s encouraging to look at the choices they made, and are still making, to live in kindness and love. I can’t control what others do, I can’t even control my own mind, but I do get to control how I live.”

When Black wrote the song, she imagined one of her greatest influences, Mavis Staples, singing it (and she would still love to see that happen). But upon deciding to record it herself, she immediately knew who would be perfect to join the project — Blind Boys of Alabama. Black had opened a few shows for the fabled gospel act and had the chance to sing with them on stage. After a Washington D.C. show, she sang her song to Blind Boy Jimmy Carter in the green room and he exclaimed, “That sounds like a Blind Boys’ song!” It was all she needed to start the wheels in motion.

Once she secured fan funding for the project, Black enlisted Nashville producer and guitar maverick Joe McMahan to co-produce, engineer, mix and play guitar. She lined up a stellar group of Nashville musicians: Jimmy Matt Rolland on organ and piano (Todd Snider, Bobby Bare Junior), Robbie Crowell on bass (Midland, Jim Lauderdale, Deer Tick), and Josh Hunt on drums (Alison Krauss and Union Station). They weren’t in Memphis, but gospel was in the air.

Once the music was complete, Black met up with Blind Boys of Alabama while they were on tour with Marc Cohn in New England. They rendezvoused at the Wellspring Studio in Acton, Massachusetts, on an off day and recorded the song. The studio was just a few miles from where Black lived as a teen when her family relocated from Alabama to Massachusetts.

No stranger to studios, Black has released four albums in six years. After touring extensively in 2017, she returned to her current home of East Nashville and shifted focus (she now teaches mindfulness and yoga, in addition to playing music).

“After pushing so hard for years, I’m not in any rush to put out a new album. I’m allowing some space to see what’s next. With this song, I really feel like I have a message to share that’s helpful. I put it out there as a project and it got some great support so I moved ahead. It’s powerful to connect with how much choice we have at any given moment. I hope this song can help a few folks to find that – and continue to remind me!”

Hear the powerful song below.

Quarantine Hoedown Livestreams (Sarah Shook, Vandoliers, Bela Fleck, Abigail Washburn, more)

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Today’s Livestreams (Friday, March 20):

Bloodshot Records Virtual SXSW Day Part. 2PM-9PM via Facebook Live/a>. Live performances by Unkle Schmidty, Jason Hawk Harris Sarah Shook, The Waco Brothers, Rookie, Big Cedar Fever & Vandoliers!

Rhett Miller “pay-what-you-can” performance on Stageit at 9pm EDT, 6pm PDT. “Yes it’s weird, but what isn’t these days. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to continue to do the thing I love, and to be able to connect with y’all.”

American Aquarium frontman BJ Barham continues playing AA albums in their entirety. Tonight is Night Four: Wolves – 5:00 PM PDT via Stageit

Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn Announce ‘Banjo House Lockdown’ Live Stream 7 p.m. ET Facebook Live

Happy Hour w/ Ben & Alex of The Brothers Comatose 4 PM – 5 PM PDT via Facebook Live

Joshua Fleming (Vandoliers) 8pm CST on Facebook Live.

Third Man Records hosts “Third Man Public Access,” a series of live-streamed performances from their Blue Room in Nashville, broadcast on Youtube at 1 PM ET daily. Details here.

Read More: Today’s self-isolation livestreams (BB King tribute, Colin Meloy, Baxter Dury, Ultra Fest, more) | http://www.brooklynvegan.com/todays-self-isolation-livestreams-b-b-king-tribute-baxter-dury-ultra-music-festival-more/?trackback=tsmclip

Wade Bowen’s Wade’s World “Quaranstream” straight from his man cave in New Braunfels Texas. Featuring Cody Canada – Facebook Live– 8 PM CST.

Robert’s Western World – The famous lower Broadway honky-tonk remains closed to the public, but it’s stage features some of Nashville’s finest. Joshua Hedley, Sara Gayle Meech, and Rachel Hester are just some of the RWW regulars keeping the twang alive. Facebook Live.

Livestreams (Saturday, March 21):

Mercy Bell will perform at 8pm CST/9pm EST via Facebook Live

Drop Dead Dangerous 7 PM EDT on Facebook Live.

Livestreams (Sunday, March 22):

American Aquarium frontman BJ Barham continues playing AA albums in their entirety. Tonight is Night Six: the newest release ‘Laminations’ – 5:00 PM PDT via Stageit

Sunny Sweeney – Live from Quarantine Prison Blues (Everywhere) – 7 PM – 10 PM – Facebook Live