Category Archives: Country

Todd Fritsch Headlines “The Wrangler’s Gala” – June 2

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Houston, TX (May 4, 2007) – Texas recording artist Todd Fritsch will support his local library by entertaining attendees of The Round Top Family Library Annual Wrangler’s Gala on June 2 at the Emma Lee Turney Art Center (Round Top, Texas).  “Round Top’s population is tiny, just 77 folks live there,” says Texas singer/songwriter and cowboy, Todd Fritsch.  “But the Family Library has a huge impact on area residents as it serves all of the surrounding communities, not only with books,movies, on-line access and in-house programs, but also with outreach reading and music programs at local schools.”

Todd counts “Where The Red Fern Grows,” which he read in fifth grade, as among his all-time favorite tomes, and while his busy life doesn’t allow for much “down time” these days, Todd believes that reading is the key to learning. “It’s the best way to educate yourself,” says Fritsch.  “If you want to know something, go read about it.  Read as much as you can, wherever you can – books, newspapers, online.  This is one cause that I’m really proud to support.”

Dale Watson – From the Cradle to the Grave Review

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Is country music dead? If the cover of the new Dale Watson release “From the Cradle to the Grave” contains any insight the answer is a resounding yes. There Dale stands like a hybrid Pauly Walnuts from the Sopranos and the Unknown Hinson looming sepia soaked in a grave yard. Just behind him on a a headstone is inscribed the verdict – “Country Music R.I.P.” Dale has every reason for writing an obituary, from the Grand ‘ol Oprey’s shafting of older members, big box retailers strangling of music distribution, radio’s rigid top seller play list and the biggest star in country coming from a dismal reality show you’d think death might be the best thing to happen to the genre.

Ten songs in three days. That’s how long it took Watson to write and lay down the tracks in a Hendersonville, TN. cabin formerly owned by Johnny Cash (currently owned by Johnny Knoxville.) Dale has said in interviews says at first he was adamant about not writing or recording anything remotely reminiscent of Johnny Cash but the specter of Cash, technique as well as themes, runs throughout the entire album.

But instead of merely a derivation “From the Cradle to the Grave” sounds like pure Dale Watson. One of the great things
about country music is that the great artists aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves. Dale displays not
only Cash, but Haggard and Waylon as well.

The Cash DNA boom-chuka-boom runs deeply to excellent affect in the opening “Justice For All,” a song about the between the law and a personal desire for vengeance. The stripped down Tennessee Three sound of Hollywood Hillbilly, a song about Johnny Knoxville, is as no frills as you’re about to find.

The Bananza-like big range sound of “Time Without You” gallops along at a fine pace. “Yellow Mama,” a dark yarn about a life gone wrong and the electric chair waiting at the end. The apocalyptic vibe reflects onward in “Tomorrow Never Comes” with it’s zen like observations of time.

Cash gets a formal call out at the end of “Runaway Train” with lyrics quoted directly from some of the Man In Black’s best known songs. “I hear that train a comin’ / hey Porter, oh Porter / yea I don’t care if I do die do die do die.” closes out the song and this all too short album.

Thanks Dale’s enduring and brave 25-year career and to this album, to paraphrase the late, Great Mark Twain, the rumors of country music’s death has been greatly exaggerated.

four and a half stars

Cash American VI News

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Thanks to JakobGreen at the Hank III board for this one –

American VI will be the second album of songs from the final recording sessions Johnny Cash made before he died. Like its predecessors, American Recordings, Unchained, American III: Solitary Man, American IV: The Man Comes Around, and American V: A Hundred Highways, American VI is produced by Rick Rubin and will be released on Rubin’s American Recordings record label. Lost Highway Records currently distributes country releases from the American Recordings label. Though the liner notes of Unearthed (a box set comprised of outtakes from the first four entries into the series) claim “around 50” songs were recorded during the American V sessions prior to Cash’s death on September 12, 2003, only two albums worth of material will be released, including American V: A Hundred Highways.

One track known to be recorded during these sessions but not included on American V is “There Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down”. Another track that could possibly be included is “A Satisfied Mind” which was released on the soundtrack to Kill Bill, Vol. 2. Rubin is credited as producer and the track is copyrighted 2003, which would suggest that it came from Cash’s final sessions.

Sheryl Crow’s “Redemption Day” was recorded by Cash weeks before his death and is a likely candidate for inclusion on American VI.

Doug Kershaw has told audiences in 2006 that he has heard Cash’s recording of Kershaw’s signature song “Lousiana Man”, but its status for inclusion on American VI is unknown.

According to a USA Today article, American VI could be released in early 2007. Most likely it will be released Mid-2007.

Track listing…

“A tentative track listing has been revealed on ManInBlack.net, a Johnny Cash fansite. It includes the following songs…”

1. “San Antonio”
2. “Redemption Day”
3. “Here Comes a Boy”
4. “That’s Enough”
5. “1st Corinthians 5:55”
6. “I Can’t Help But Wonder”
7. “Nine-Pound Hammer”
8. “North to Alaska”
9. “His Eyes on the Sparrow”
10. “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again”
11. “The Eye of an Eagle”
12. “Don’t Take Everybody for Your Friend”
13. “Belshazzar”
14. “Loading Coal”
15. “A Half a Mile a Day”
16. “Flesh and Blood”
17. “I Am a Pilgrim”
18. “Beautiful Dreamer”
19. “Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down”
20. “Family Bible”

Fire Destroys Johnny Cash’s Tennessee Home

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From the Associated Press – Firefighters were battling flames this afternoon (April 10) in a major fire that has reportedly destroyed the home of the late country singer Johnny Cash. Dispatchers said all but one of the city’s engines had responded to the fire in the Hendersonville suburb northeast of Nashville.

No injuries were reported. Hendersonville Fire Department officials said construction crews were working at the house when the fire started. The cause is unknown.

Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived at the house until their deaths in 2003. The property was purchased by the Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb in January 2006. Gibb and his wife, Linda, had said they planned to restore the home on Old Hickory Lake and hoped to write songs there.

Gibb’s spokesperson said the 60-year-old singer and his family are “both saddened and devastated by the news” but declined to release further details about the house or the fire.

While the Cashes lived there, the 13,880-square-foot house, about 20 miles northeast of downtown Nashville, was visited by everyone from U.S. presidents to ordinary fans.

“Of course we are all in a state of shock,” Johnny Cash’s sister Joanne said in a statement. “I feel that an era has passed. Just today in prayer, I had decided to move on, even discarding old newspaper clippings not realizing that this terrible thing would happen. My prayers are with the Cash family and especially the Gibb family during this time.”

Steve Earle – 3/13 – New York City

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About four days ago I was flipping through the Village Voice to see what shows were coming up. I was zipping through the club listings and stopped when I thought I saw a picture of Steve Earle gazing out at me. Sureenough , there it was. Steve Earle at the Blue Note. “Nah, that can’t be” I thought. The legendary Blue Note is better known for it’s improvisational jazz greats like Miles Davis and John Coltrane rather then hillbilly showcases but there it was on the Blue Note website, a two-night four show stint with opener (and 6th spouse, seventh marriage) Allison Moorer.

The 8:30 show was optimal for me but of course already sold out. I posted to Craig’s List pleading for a single ticket but it’s such a small venue I knew the odds were against me. Then something random and fantastic happened. Out of the blue my buddy Jim hooked me up to a with a reserved table seat right near the stage. Damn near enough to make me a believer. Allison Moorer opened and was funny, gracious and gorgeous. Her voice was warm and crystal clear. She performed the amazing”A Soft Place To Fall” and a few songs off her new CD, Getting Somewhere, New Years Day and and the title track.

After a brief break the man himself full-bearded and be-speckled ambled through the tight-packed and onto the tiny stage. He breaks into signature song “Hard Core Troubadour” and moved right into “More Than I Can Do” from 1996’s I Feel Alright. Wailing on the harmonica that would periodically pluck hairs from his face (Earle mentioned that he couldn’t shave due to a part he was playing on HBO’s the Wire that wasn’t finished filming.) “That’s why Dylan’s beard always looked so straggly.” he joked.

The polite crowd adored the man as he plowed through the Mountain, a song dedicated to miners digging for coal and risking thier lives and classics like Rich Man’s War and Jerusalem which he introduced as a song of innocence.

I’ve always said that “Americana” is country music for Liberals (I mean that in a good way). Of course Earle embodies this and had a few choice words about the Bush administration. As far as musicians commenting on politics, Earle has always struck me as a guy that really does his homework. He also commented on Greenwich village where the Blue Note is located and near where Earle and Moorer have set up house. “I buy light bulbs right next door.” He laughed.

The encore was the song that broke Earle to the word “Copperhead Road” and he rocked it up as well as an acoustic guitar can.

As much as a love seeing Steve Earle in New York City he always seems like a fish out of water. Like an oddity, a Texas commie to be observed and entertained by. As a liberal Texan I think it’s a bit a bit sad he felt he had to move so far form home to be content. Though the City may align with his progressive sensibilities there something too genteel for his shows. Too accommodating, too polite for what was taking place on stage. I saw Earle a few times in Dallas and the shows where more powerful, more electric. I think I prefer to see him in a more rowdy environment that a rooom full of hillbillies (Earle included) can conjure.

“Everything But Country” at Pitchfork

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Over at Pitchforkmedia.com Stephen M. Deusner has written an article titled “Everything But Country” which is overtly a review of Shout! Factory’s box set “Legends of Country Music: Classic Hits  from the 50s, 60s, and 70s” and is more subtly is past and present country music’s place in the American cultural landscape and Nashville’s role in inadvertently cultivating great alt.country acts. The title of the piece is taken from the typical response to “What kind of music do you like?” which is “Everything but rap and country.” Nice, thoughtful stuff.

An excerpt: Mainstream hip-hop has been filtering into indie culture for a few years, but contemporary country music has been slow to take root beyond safe alt- holdovers. Perhaps it’s because the music as played by corporate radio stations is perceived to be simplistic, jingoistic, and sentimental– which is true to an extent– or simply because Arcade Fire fans don’t want to be associated with NASCAR fans and Wal-Mart shoppers. As a result, indie faves Neko Case and Jenny Lewis are considered to be merely dabbling in country, and Tim McGraw covering “Stars Go Blue” doesn’t mean Ryan Adams is the new Kris Kristofferson. Instead, older country music gets a pass, and artists like the Carter Family, Dock Boggs, and Bob Wills are perfectly acceptable to indie ears, perhaps because there was no rock’n’roll to compete with at that time or because they’re so far removed from our current music climate that they don’t register as country anymore. Even the next few generations of country artists have found an audience among younger listeners: Willie Nelson is a favorite due to his ceaseless experimenting, Loretta Lynn found a new audience working with Jack White, and Johnny Cash is more popular with the indie (and every other) crowd dead than he was alive.

Jerry Max and Jeannie Lane in the Dallas Morning News

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The Dallas Morning News did a nice write up on my dad, Jerry Max Lane and his wife Jeannie for their song which was included on the soundtrack for the new Naomi Judd movie “Come Early Morning.” From the article: After more than 20 years together, Jeannie and Jerry Max Lane are singing a new tune.

The south Irving couple is celebrating the release of their new song on a movie soundtrack that also includes popular country artists Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson.

“It’s a love song, and I think the melody draws the listener’s ear to the lyrics,” said Mr. Lane, who noted he wrote it in about 15 minutes.

Titled “What’s Done Is Done,” the song is featured in Come Early Morning, the recently released independent film written and directed by actress Joey Lauren Adams and starring Ashley Judd. In the film, Mrs. Lane can be seen performing the song with a house band in the background while Ms. Judd dances with co-star Jeffrey Donovan.

“I love her [Jeannie’s] voice; it’s so powerful,” said Ms. Adams, well known for her roles in Big Daddy and Chasing Amy. “Their song sort of sums up the movie without being too much.”

Hag: The Best of Merle Haggard – Pitchfork Review (8.8)

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Pitchfork has a fine review of Hag: The Best of Merle Haggard.

an excerpt:As an introduction to Haggard’s music– or even to  the Bakersfield sound that he helped popularize– Hag may be  unparalleled. Born in Bakersfield to transplanted Oklahomans,  Haggard was at heart a California artist, reared on 1940s and
50s country and influenced by Bob Wills, Tex Ritter, and Spade Cooley. You can hear their influence– especially Wills’– in songs like “Living with the Shades Pulled Down”, on which Haggard calls out his band members to solo, adopting a falsetto much like his hero’s. It’s an original tune, but it could very easily be a Wills cover.

Hag recently collaborated with another Country legend, George Jones, on the release ”
Kickin’ Out the Footlights…Again.”