Category Archives: GRAMMYS

Lee Ann Womack’s “The Way I’m Livin’” Out September 23rd

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Lee Ann Womack - The Way I’m Livin’

The Americana Music Conference and Festival offers many familiar names. But it’s not often that the name is a star from the Music Row side of the tracks.

In 2012 Lee Ann Womack was there in the thick of it. The multi-Grammy and CMA Award winner shared the stage with Tom T Hall and Peter Cooper to perform “I Love” at the Americana Music Awards. She also shared the Cannery stage with Buddy Miller to do a fantastic all request show.

It takes a lot of confidence to move from the glitter of the spotlight to the more song-centric world of Americana and win over that audience. Womack did it with ease.

On September 23rd Lee Ann Womack will further establish herself in the Americana world by releasing Way I’m Livin.’ The album is not only on the premier roots music Sugar Hill Records label (Marty Stuart, Sarah Jarosz,) it will feature interpretations of stellar artists like Chris Knight, Mindy Smith, Mando Saenz, Hayes Carll, Neil Young, Bruce Robeson, Roger Miller and the aforementioned Buddy Miller.

Womack appears to be doubling down on this new chapter in her life. And she’s done so keeping very fine songwriting company. But I’m certain she’ll ride no one’s coattails.

“I wanted songs that talked about how life really is, the raw spots, the tough places, the meltdowns and messy parts,” “Hard, sad, rough… all the stuff people pretend doesn’t exist! Because once you embrace that, you can figure out what to do; or not do!”

“And knowing these songs were written to be performed, not pitched, sets a bar! Every songwriter wrote intending to sing’em, to tell these stories, show these postcards, and you can feel the way they built the characters! Bringing that to music was just so incredible for everyone on the sessions.”

The record will be produced by Lee Ann’s husband, Frank Liddell (Miranda Lambert, David Nail) Womack’s last album, Call Me Crazy, came out in 2008, resulting in one top 20 country single Last Call.

The Bigotry Toward Americana

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mumford

Last year Giovanni Russonello took to the Atlantic magazine to draw a narrow line from Bob Dylan’s “Americanarama Festival of Music” showcase and the lack of diversity in the genre overall (Why Is a Music Genre Called ‘Americana’ So Overwhelmingly White and Male?)

I called bullshit in that story and I call it on the recent Wall Street Journal’s “Americana Music Awards Nominees Are Mostly Folky, And White.

In the piece Eric R. Danton takes stock of the current crop of Americana Music Award nominees and concludes that they “…skew largely folky, and largely white, with few artists of color among the awards contenders..”

The WSJ is hardly a bastion of political correctness, but there it is. The conclusion drawn from both of these articles is plain to see. Americana is a hotbed of bigotry and should be ashamed.

There appears to be a trend to cast Americana as a bastion of white (presumably straight) males. Much of the stereotypes typically reserved for Music Row guards like Toby Keith appears to be blowing back on it’s rootier cousin.

I’ve been covering this music for almost 8 years and been to over 100 Americana and roots music concerts and festivals. i’ve also been to 6 Americana Conference and Festivals, where the Americana Awards are presented. I see the artists appearing at concerts, festivals and accepting those awards I am also see the many emerging artists that contact me hoping to join those ranks of working musicians.

Males outnumber female performers and yes, there are more white folks than people of color. So what? Is the conclusion that there’s some Americana gatekeeper keeping woman and people of color out of the field? The lazy answer is that they are being kept out, right? Where’s the outrage? Where’s the Americana occupation?

Or perhaps the answer of more pedestrian, there are fewer women and people of color in Americana because they don’t want to be there. Just as hip-hop has few white men and women and pop music has fewer men some music styles appeal to segments of society. This isn’t societal bigotry, it’s diversity in taste.

And with diversity there is the freedom for some to choose another direction.

I have been a past of the community and a tireless advocate for a long time. I’ve met hundreds of fans, musicians and industry folks that love and advocate for this great music. And save for the occasional GRAMMY-nominee (right Linda Chorney?) there is less racial, gender or sexual bias than any other genre (except for perhaps EDM.)

There is, however, a bias in musicianship. The music draws from folk and county, as well as blues, tejano and zydeco, from the expanse of this country. Other genres have emerged to allow a rich market of styles that appeal to people that self-identify.

But if more blacks self-identify with hip-hop or women self-identify with pop, no one sounds the alarm of racism or gender bias on those genres. It’s just seen as the way of progress and choice.

So a casual survey of Americana might lead you to believe it’s chock full of white boys So what? Is their choice less worthy? More suspect? If there’s something about the music that allows males of the caucasian variety to self-identify with it who’s hurt?

Of course America is not lily white. It’s an open community that draws from our rich cultural past, all of it, while forging a future of brave creativity.

Drawing bias from preferences debases the instances of actual bias that corrodes our world. Painting those of a any group – black, brown, gay or, yes, even white, as racist or sexist because of a gravitation toward cultural definition is bigotry cloaked in righteousness.

Of course in America everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter how misguided. But I am a member of a great and compassionate community and i take this as a personal affront. I know these fans, I know these musicians.

In practicality, “There is no such thing as bad publicity” the phrase most often attributed to that master of self-promotion, Phineas T. Barnum, applies here. If Americana and roots music wasn’t thriving and growing in influence it wouldn’t be a target for this nonsense. So there’s that.

But personally I believe that those that dare condemn the genre, and by extension the people, can stick their kinder and gentler bigotry where the sun don’t shine.

EDIT: A few days have passed and after some back and forth on the topic I’ve come to realize that the bias against Americana is an extension of a bias of the souther. Sure the contemporary variety of the music comes from all over the world but the form it takes distinctively southern and American (sorry Billy Bragg.)

The style is not only suspect regionally. it’s also so historically. much of Americana draws from the styles from the Antebellum to the early 20th century. We can agree that these were a cultural dark ages past the Mason-Dixon. But it also provided a fertile for folk, country, the blues, jazz, bluegrass, rock and, yes, Americana.

But some folks can’t appreciate a regional style without saddling it with cultural bigotry.

This is the stuff of the culture war that’s been waged since since the signing of the The Civil Rights in 1964. It’s a shame that politicians fan those flames for their own professional gain. But when it’s done against innocent people trying to enjoy some beauty in this rough world, well, there’s just no reason than hate and ignorance.

Celebrate National Train Day – Top Train Songs

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TrainWreck1

No other technology has held a thematic sway over roots and county music like the the railway system (okay, maybe distilling) The train has been a symbol of freedom that has catured the iamginction of songwrietrs or generations.

In celebrate National Train day here are some my personal and fan picked favorites.

As a teenager Eaglesmith hopped a freight train out to Western Canada, and began writing songs and performing. It;s natural he’d write a great son about them.

Steve Earle’s post-addiction and post-prison is arguably his best. The GRAMMY-nominated “Train a Comin’ featured older material written when Earle was in his late teens but it;s maturity is evident in songs like “Sometimes She Forgets,” Mercenary Song,” and “Mystery Train part II” whose lyrics finished the day it was recorded.

“Orphan Train” tells the story of the orphan trains operated between 1853 and 1929, relocating about 250,000 orphaned, abandoned, or homeless children to foster homes located largely in rural areas of the Midwest. Julie Miller adds just the right atmosphere to this contemporary dirge,

500 Miles is a folk classic credited to Hedy West and made popular by acts like Peter, Paul and Mary (it was the second track on their US #1, May 1962 debut album).A slightly altered version was a hit by Bobby Bare in 1963. Roseanne Cash does a hulluva version from her release “The List.”

Billy Joe Shaver, with his late son Eddie picking in the strat, made an instant classic with this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpEElGVgv24

Guy Clark wrote “Texas – 1947” bout the first time a diesel sped through his hometown of Monahans in West Texas.

“Ben Dewberry’s Final Run” by Andrew Jenkins was covered by Johnny Cash, Jerry Douglas, Steve Forbert, Bill Monroe, Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Snow. Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings give it fine turn.

Orange Blossom Special” is a classic by Johnny Cash. Johnny burns up the mouth harp on this one at San Quentin.

City of New Orleans” is a folk song written by Steve Goodman describing a train ride from Chicago to New Orleans. Arlo Guthrie had a hit with i on his 1972 album Hobo’s Lullaby. The way I see it, when Willie Nelson does a song it stays done.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnU2Tmqqv9g

Willie Nelson To Release New Album, “Band of Brothers,” Releases Video “The Wall”

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willie-nelson-album-2014-band-of-brothers

Willie Nelson, or as I like to call him the Texas Yoda, might have just celebrated his 81st birthday but he’s showing no signs of altering his prolific ways.

The Country Music hall of Famer will follow up his coed duets album, “To All the Girls…” with “Band of Brothers,” a new album due out June 17 on Legacy Records.

“Band of Brothers” will contain 14 tracks, nine of which are new Willie-penned, and none of the songs have been previously recorded by Nelson. There’s also an interpretation of Vince Gill’s “Whenever You Come Around” and a cover of campadre Billy Joe Shaver’s “The Git Go” that will feature outlaw acolyte Jamey Johnson.

Producer Buddy Cannon, who helmed Willie’s first three Legacy releases, is back. The band features Jim “Moose” Brown (keyboards), Eddie Bayers (drums), Kevin “Swine” Grantt (bass), Bobby Terry (guitar), Tommy White (steel guitar), Mickey Raphael (harmonica) and Trigger (Willie’s guitar), Willie Nelson recorded the bulk of Band of Brothers during sessions at Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville with additional recording at Pedernales Studio, Austin, Texas and The Hit Factory Criteria, Miami, Florida. Recording sessions took place between October 2013 and March 2014.

Check the full track list below, and take a gander at the video for first single “The Wall” The song visits Willie’s his battles with addiction, relationships, and financial troubles. There is also scenes of a legendary life well lived.

Willie Nelson — Band of Brothers track list
1. Bring It On (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)
2. Guitar in the Corner (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)
3. The Wall (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)
4. Whenever You Come Around (Vince Gill/Pete Wasner)
5. Wives and Girlfriends (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)
6. I Thought I Left You (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)
7. Send Me a Picture (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)
8. Used to Her (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)
9. The Git Go (Billy Joe Shaver/Gary Nicholson)
10. Band of Brothers (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)
11. Hard to Be an Outlaw (Billy Joe Shaver)
12. Crazy Like Me (Dennis Morgan/Shawn Camp/Billy Burnette)
13. The Songwriters (Gordie Sampson/Bill Anderson)
14. I’ve Got a Lot of Traveling to Do (Willie Nelson/Buddy Cannon)

Record Store Day 2014 – Americana and Roots Music Picks

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Gram Parsons - Alternate Takes from GP and Grievous Angel

It’s that time again twangers. Yes, Record Store Day 2014 is upon us. The annual celebration of local record stores that leaves behind clowns and balloons and replaced them with long lines and limited edition slabs of vinyl.

This year’s RSD2013 releases offer some great selections from the roots and Americana side of the fence. Steve Earle townes album stripped back to it’s solo guitar base? Yes! Alternate Takes from Gram Parsons’ pivotal GP and Grievous Angel albums? Oh yes! Unreleased Hank Williams from the 1950 The Garden radio spot programs? Hells yes!

Head to your local indy record store on April 19th early and scoop up some of these limited edition goodies below.

Check the RSD14 full list and remember to tweet a pic of your bounty to my twitter account and I’ll share it with those that dared to stay home.

Print

Big Mama Thornton – Sassy Mama
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard
– A scorching 1975 live set from Big Mama including “Rolling Stone,” “Lost City,” and “Mr. Cool.”

Joan Baez – “Blessed Are”
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard
Baez’s seminal 1971 double album is presented here in an ‘exact replica’ gatefold package. Included are “Blessed Are,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Salt of the Earth,” and many more.

The Allman Brothers – “Selections from: Play All Night: Live at the Beacon Theatre 1992”
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Legacy
Double vinyl release of live songs previously only available on DVD.

Dave Alvin & Phil Alvin – Songs from Common Ground
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Yep Roc
Four song 12″ featuring the Alvin Brothers playing the songs of Bill Broonzy

Blue Rodeo – “Diamond Mine”
Label: Rhino
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
25th anniversary reissue, first time on blue and green colored vinyl

Neko Case & Jason Lytle – “Satellite of Love”
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Brink
Take a trip into space with musicians Howe Gelb, Neko Case, Victoria Williams, John Covertino (Calexico), and many more in this limited edition 7 inch vinyl. Includes songs Satellite of Love, Mars Cassette Waltz, and Untethered Space Walk from the award winning animation comedy film Mars (Starring Mark Duplass of The League and Safety Not Guaranteed).

Johnny Cash – With His Hot and Blue Guitar
Format: 12″ Blue Vinyl
Label: ORG Music
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
Johnny Cash with His Hot and Blue Guitar is the debut album of country singer Johnny Cash. Released in 1957, it was the first LP ever issued on Sam Phillips’ Sun Records label. Currently out of print, the album is being remastered and reissued on an exclusive blue color vinyl for Record Store Day. This limited edition pressing of 3,000 units will be numbered with a foil stamp on each jacket.

CENTRO-MATIC – Redo The Stacks
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Navigational Transmissions
Reissue of the band’s first album, originally released in 1996. This version is remastered and artwork has been redone and hand painted to match the original version.

The Civil Wars – Live at Eddie’s Attic
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Columbia
Nine songs recorded live in Decatur, Georgia in April 2009.

Court Yard Hounds – Amelita
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: New West Records
12″ vinyl of the new record with bonus 7″

Drive-By Truckers – Dragon Pants EP
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: ATO
B-Sides and outtakes from the new album English Oceans

Steve Earle – Townes: The Basics
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: New West Records
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
In 2009 Steve Earle released an album of Townes Van Zandt songs. It began as solo guitar and vocal tracks recorded in October 2008 in New York City. Other instruments were added later in subsequent sessions for the album in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles. Those original recordings – The Basics – were released on a limited edition bonus CD with the Townes album and are available here for the first time on vinyl.; HAND NUMBERED

The Everly Brothers – Roots
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Rhino
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
“Roots” showcases the harmonies of the Everlys with covers of songs by performers who had been influential on the duo’s career. Songs by Jimmie Rodgers, George Jones, Randy Newman and Merle Haggard plus traditional standards offer laid-back, tasteful, acoustic-oriented arrangements with superb vocals that convey qualities of innocence tempered by experience. Originally released in 1968, “Roots” is one of the finest early country-rock albums.

Mary Gauthier/Sam Baker – When A Woman Goes Cold/Ditch
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release

Gram Parsons – 180 Gram: Alternate Takes from GP and Grievous Angel
Label: Rhino
2LP vinyl release of audio sourced from “The Complete Reprise Sessions” released in 2005. Contains a postcard insert at the request of Gram’s daughter, Polly Parsons, for the Hickory Wind Ranch Recovery Community. Foil numbering.

TRACK LISTING: SIDE ONE: “She (Alternative Version)”, “That’s All It Took (Alternative Version)”, “Still Feeling Blue (Alternative Version)”, “Kiss The Children (Alternative Version)”, “Streets of Baltimore (Alternative Version)” SIDE TWO: We’ll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning (Alternative Version)”, “The New Soft Shoe (Alternative Version)”, “Return of the Grievous Angel #1 (Alternative Version)”, “In My Hour of Darkness (Alternative Version)”, “In My Hour of Darkness (Alternative Version)”, “Ooh Las Vegas (Alternative Version) SIDE THREE: “I Can’t Dance (Alternative Version)”, “Sleepless Nights (Alternative Version)”, “Love Hurts (Alternative Version)”, “Brass Buttons (Alternative Version)”, “Hickory Wind (Alternative Version)” SIDE FOUR: “Brand New Heartache”, “Sleepless Nights”, “The Angels Rejoiced Last Night”

Waylon Jennings/Sanford Clark – Zia Records Presents: Audio Recorders Archive Vol. 1
Format: 7″ 45 – Limited to 500 copies on “GOLD” wax for Record Store Day
Label: Zia Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release

Lake Street Dive – What I’m Doing Here/Wedding Band
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Signature Sounds
Single 45 in a picutre sleeve, unreleased tracks

Ray Lamontagne – “Supernova”/”Pick Up A Gun”
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: RCA
First single from the album Supernova coming May 6th. Produced by Dan Auerbach.

Jon Langford & Skull Orchard – “Days & Nights”/”Here’s What We Have”
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: In De Goot Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release

Langhorne Slim & The Law – “Animal”/”Space Girl”
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Ramseur Records
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release

Lydia Loveless – “Mile High”/”Blind”
Format: 7″ Limited edition on colored vinyl. B-side is exclusive Ke$ha cover.
Label: Bloodshot
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release

Jessica Lea Mayfield – “Make My Head Sing”
Format: Pink Cassette of the full album
Label: ATO Records
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release

Doug Paisley – “Growin Souls/”Lies Lead To Lies”
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: No Quarter
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release

Dolly Parton – “Blue Smoke”/”Home”
Format: Blue 7″ Vinyl
Label: Masterworks
Tracks from the forthcoming Dolly Parton record

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – “Jack Elliott”
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard
Ramblin’ Jack’s Vanguard debut, notable also for the appearance of Bob Dylan (credited as Tedham Porterhouse) on harmonica. It includes such staples as “Roving Gambler,” “Diamond Joe,” and “Black Snake Moan.”

Songs: Ohia – Journey On: Collected Singles
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Secretly Canadian
Release type: ‘RSD First’ Release
More Info:
Almost 20 years after Jason Molina’s voice first rang out from Ohio, in this brave new world of streaming, the discussion surrounding the resurgence of vinyl rarely includes the 7”.

Southern Culture On The Skids – Party at my Trouse
Format: 7″ Vinyl – SCOTS collaboration with B-52s frontman Fred Schnieder
Label: Yep Roc
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release

Various Artists – The Folk Box 50th Anniversary
Label: Rhino
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
50th Anniversary Edition of the Elektra Records (in cooperation with Folkway Records) Vinyl Box Set 4-LP set containing 83 tracks featuring artists such as Pete Seeger, Dave Van Ronk, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton and Judy Collins and many more. Vinyl cut from the original 1964 master tapes. Limited edition with foil stamp numbering. Bonus exclusive 7″ Vinyl included featuring Judy Collins’ rare version of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Keep It with Mine” backed with Tom Paxton’s recording of “The Last Thing on My Mind” for Record Store Day only. Includes a 48 Page booklet including Forewords from legendary Producer Jac Holzman and Co-Producer Ted Olson. Out of print for over 40 years.

Various Artists – The Newport Folk Festival 1963–The Evening Concerts, Vol. 1
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard
Fans at RecordStoreDay.com and VanguardRecords.com voted for this re-issue of Newport’s 1963 installment, remastered from the original tapes by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering and features performances from Mississppi John Hurt, Joan Baez, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and, yes, Bob Dylan. Presented in ‘exact replica’ package.

“The Barnyard Song” (Sam Hinton), “Must I Go Bound” (Sam Hinton), “The Arkansas Traveller (Sam Hinton), “C.C.Rider” (Mississippi John Hurt/Pete Seeger), “Stagolee” (Mississippi John Hurt), “Spike Driver Blues (Mississippi John Hurt), “Coffee Blues (Mississippi John Hurt), “Diamond Joe” (Ramblin’ Jack Elliott), “Walk Right In” (Rooftop Singers), “Un Canadian Errant” (Ian and Sylvia), “Woke Up This Morning” (The Freedom Singers), “Oh, Freedom” (Joan Baez/Theodore Bikel), “Te Adore, Ate Amanha” (Joan Baez), “Wagoner’s Lad” (Joan Baez), “Blowin’ In The Wind” (Bob Dylan), “We Shall Overcome” (The Freedom Singers)

“Doc Watson – Southbound”
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Vanguard
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
Fans at RecordStoreDay.com and VanguardRecords.com voted for this re-issue of Doc’s classic 1966 album, remastered from the original tapes by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering. Presented in ‘exact replica’ package.

“Walk On Boy”, “Blue Railroad Train”, “Sweet Georgia Brown”, “Alberta”, “Southbound”, “Windy and Warm”, “Call of the Road”, “Tennessee Stud”, “That Was The Last Thing On My Mind”, “Little Darling Pal of Mine”, “Nothing To It”, “Riddle Song”, “Never No More Blues”, “Nashville Picking”

The Wild Feathers – “Got It Wrong/Marie”
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Warner Bros.

Hank Williams – The Garden Spot Programs, 1950–Extended Play
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: Omnivore Recordings
Release type: RSD Exclusive Release
All recordings previously unreleased! From a 1950 radio show sponsored by Texas’ Naughton Farms Nursery, and brought to brown 10″ vinyl with the help of Williams’ daughter Jett.

SIDE ONE: “The Garden Spot Jingle” (Show 4), “I Don’t Care (If Tomorrow Never Comes) (Show 10), “Lovesick Blues” (Show 4), “Closing/Oh Susanna” (Show 10) SIDE TWO: “Farther Along” (Show 10), “Mind Your Own Business” (Show 9), “Fiddle Tune” (Show 4), “Closing/Oh Susanna” (Show 11)

Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys – Transcriptions
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Real Gone Music
Release type: RSD Limited Run / Regional Focus Release
More Info:

Ten sides from Bob Wills’ legendary Tiffany Transcriptions, which were recordings made available only to radio stations in the late ’40s. The Tiffany Transcriptions are generally considered to be the best recordings that the King of Western Swing ever made, as the lack of commercial restrictions allowed his incredible band–and vocalist Tommy Duncan–to stretch out. Wills made over 300 transcription sides for Tiffany; only about half of them have been reissued on vinyl or compact disc. This 10-track album not only includes ten songs that have never been heard or seen anywhere since they appeared on the transcription discs some 65 years ago, but also features packaging designed to mimic the look of the original transcriptions, with a cutaway hole in front to show the vintage Tiffany logo on the vinyl, which is pressed in red as some Tiffany transcriptions did come in red vinyl. The back cover also includes vintage graphics from the period.

“I’m an Old Cowhand”, “Long Eared Mule”, “Put Another Chair at the Table”, “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes”, “Don’t Fence Me In”, “Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age”, “Black and Blue Rag”, “Have I Stayed Away Too Long”, “Moonlight on the Ganges”, “What Is Life Without Love”

Cowboy Jack Clement’s Posthumous Release ‘For Once and For All” Out July 15, 2014

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Cowboy Jack Clement

Looks like the late legendary singer/songwriter/producer Cowboy Jack Clement isn’t quite done yet.

Clement’s last musical work, and only his 4th studio release, “For Once and For All” produced by Dave “Fergie” Ferguson and Matt Sweeney with T Bone Burnett as executive producer — will be the debut release on John Grady’s new I.R.S. Records Nashville label. Street date is July 15.

From the release:

“What an honor it is to be involved with Cowboy’s final record. This is the perfect way to start I.R.S. Nashville,” Grady says. “All the producers and musicians set the tone for this record. Sometimes we should all get together and do the right thing. I hope Jack is proud of us.”

He was 82-years-old when he died on August 8, 2013 and 82 when he finished this song-set with help from friends including John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Bobby Bare, Duane Eddy, T Bone Burnett, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Rodney Crowell, Buddy Miller, Dan Auerbach, Leon Russell, Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings, Dickie Lee, Shawn Camp, Dierks Bentley, Jim Rooney, Jim Lauderdale, Will Oldham, daughter Allison Clement and a bunch of others who loved Cowboy and who Cowboy loved in return. His favorite accordionist, Joey Miskulin, played on “The Air Conditioner Song” and “Baby Is Gone.”

The whole thing is graceful and true, a primer for the unfamiliar, an anointed completion for the acolytes and a joy-filled lesson for those of us who study phrasing, musicality and soul.

Cowboy Jack was American music’s whimsical maverick. He was a singer and producer, a publisher, a best friend to Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings. He was a writer of classic songs. He desegregated country music by bringing Charley Pride to popular attention and producing Pride’s first 13 albums for RCA. He was the first to record Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison, there at the popular birth of rock ‘n’ roll at Sun Records in Memphis.

He made the greatest album of country music’s “Outlaw Movement” when he produced Waylon Jennings’Dreaming My Dreams. He created the Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa, Nashville’s first great home studio and the nerve center for what would come to be known as Americana Music.

“If you unraveled all the threads Jack wove into the tapestry of what made country music great over the last 50 plus years, the whole thing would come apart,” Harris said.

No one unraveled those threads, though, and no one will. Can’t be done. The Cowboy’s tapestry weave is secure and indelible, and his import is ratified by a plaque in the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Cowboy Jack Clement sustained an unprecedented and unduplicated career outside of the public eye. He and fame saw each other across a crowded street, waved and went their separate ways.

Though he was in and around recording studios all of his adult life, he didn’t release a solo album, All I Want To Do In Life, until 1978, when he was in his late 40s. The follow-up came a quarter century later with 2004’sGuess Things Happen That Way. And he rarely toured. So while Clement impacted myriad major careers, he did little to promote his own.
“I don’t remember it being any huge letdown,” he said, recalling the less-than-platinum sales of All I Want To Do In Life. “It took a few months before you realized you ain’t gonna outdo Elvis or something, and by that time I was off into something else.”

Hear “Let the Chips Fall” the tearjerking first single from the album below.

Watch Out! Rodney Crowell – “Fever On The Bayou” [VIDEO]

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Rodney Crowell

One of the most memorable scenes from James Szalapski’s extraordinary “Heartworn Highways” is at the end of the country/folk documentary Christmas Day song-along. Fueled by cigarettes and wine Steve Young, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Jim McGuire and others are shown having a raucous guitar pull at Guy and Susanna Clark’s Nashville home. Near the end Rodney Crowell leads the gathered in beautifully delivered “Silent Night.” Crowell renders a tone of beauty that brings a hush to this seasoned (and buzzed) band of new outlaws.

Now a veteran of the country/Americana field he’s hardly coasting. Crowell along with his old Hot Band collaborator, Emmylou Harris won a Best Americana Album Grammy for last year’s “Old Yellow Moon.” He also performed at an Everly Brothers tribute will in LA to pick up the prize. He most recently held court a few well-received sets at South By Southwest.

One track on Crowell’s upcoming album, Tarpaper Sky (April 15) offers a gumbo-flavored track, “Fever on the Bayou.”

The song has been decades in the making. It began as a collaboration between Will Jennings. But, says Crowell “Due to our inability to come up with a suitable last verse, the song lay dormant for twenty-plus years. An off-chance conversation with a friend of mine in which the word Franglais—an improper synthesis of the French and English languages as I understood it—gave me the idea that the last verse should echo the Cajun French I’d heard working on construction crews along the Texas-Lousiana border. Once I had that last verse the recording was a snap.”

Check the lyric video for “Fever on the Bayou” below. Tarpaper Sky will be out April 15 via New West. Pre-order here.

Austin City Limits Announces Inaugural ACL Hall of Fame in Conjunction With Upcoming 40th Anniversary

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Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits (ACL) announced today the launch of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in conjunction with the iconic television series’ upcoming 40th Anniversary. This Hall of Fame’s Inaugural Induction Ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2014 at ACL’s original home, KLRU’s legendary Studio 6A. Recognizing both artists and non-performers who have made the long-running show a music institution, the ceremony will honor the first class of inductees, featuring two legendary music acts, Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, and a pair of individuals who have played an invaluable role in the genesis of the series, show creator Bill Arhos and longtime University of Texas football coach Darrell K. Royal.

Performers for this intimate evening include inductees and Doyle Bramhall II, Mike Farris, Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Lukas Nelson, Robert Randolph and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. Former University of Texas football head coach Mack Brown will participate in the inductions, as well as special guests. More information about performances and additional guests will be announced prior to the event. Details about the physical ACL Hall of Fame will also be unveiled at the ceremony.

Guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan and “Coach” Darrell K. Royal will be inducted posthumously during the ceremony. Willie Nelson, ACL show creator Bill Arhos and Vaughan’s longtime band Double Trouble, featuring Chris Layton, Tommy Shannon and Reese Wynans, will be inducted at the event. The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be an annual event, honoring a new class of inductees each year. This year’s Inaugural ceremony will be an invitation-only benefit for ACL parent station KLRU-TV, Austin PBS.

“There are other Halls of Fame, but none quite like this,” says ACL Executive Producer Terry Lickona. “Austin City Limits has become a unique American institution, in both the worlds of popular music and television. It has such a rich history and legacy that we decided it was time to celebrate and honor the artists and individuals who made it what it is today.”

ACL began broadcasting in 1976 as a live-music show that served to showcase musicians; it has since grown to feature performers of all genres from all over the globe. Since its inception, the Peabody Award-winning series has become an institution that’s helped secure Austin’s reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World. ACL continues its mission of producing great television with the debut of its 40th Season in October 2014. The program airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide and episodes are made available online at http://acltv.com/watch/.

Johnny Cash’s Son Reveals More Songs To Come

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John Carter Cash, son of Johnny and June Carter and owner and operator of Cash Productions, LLC and the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, has told the Guardian that that there is enough material left in the archives of his late father for several more posthumous albums and enough outtakes from the American Recordings sessions to fill another multi-disc box set.

Carter Cash said, There are a few things that are in the works right now – probably four or five albums if we wanted to release everything. There may be three or four albums worth of American Recordings stuff, but some of it may never see the light of day.”

Rick Rubin said: “We released the work we had been planning to release along with John [Carter Cash] and the idea of the Unearthed boxset of outtakes was his idea. We will probably put out additional Unearthed material recorded since the last Unearthed box, in keeping with John’s wishes.”

Here a John Carter Cash interview with country925fm where he discusses more releases.

The most recent posthumous Johnny Cash album is “Out Among The Stars,” featuring 12 previously unreleased recordings from sessions in 1981 and 1984, on sale now.

T Bone Burnett Recording Unfinished Dylan Tunes with Elvis Costello, Jim James, Marcus Mumford [VIDEO]

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New Basement Tapes

If there was ever an Americana and roots music watershed recording the Basement Tapes 1967 sessions from Bob Dylan and The band was one.

Now there’s official word that that mainstay of Americana, T Bone Burnett, is working on a project “Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes.” The project has a solid (and marketable) roster – Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens (Carolina Chocolate Drops), Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Marcus Mumford (Mumford & Sons.)

The event focuses on two-dozen recently discovered lyrics written by Dylan during the 1967 period that generated original legendary Basement Tapes release.

Recording is nearly complete on the project which will be released later this year by Electromagnetic Recordings/Harvest Records. The album will be accompanied by a Showtime documentary titled Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued, directed by Sam Jones (the Wilco documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart)

I can imagine the germ of this endeavor occurred during the “Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of “Inside Llewyn Davis,” held at New York City’s Town Hall last September. That one-night event featured Mumford and Giddens as well as Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Jack White, The Avett Brothers, Punch Brothers, Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings Machine, Willie Watson, The Milk Carton Kids, Colin Meloy and Lake Street Dive. (see below)

Truth is I’m ambivalent about this. A sequel to The New Basement Tapes is like a sequel to Casablanca. Is it necessary and will it ever have a chance to even come close to the genius of the original. And as much as i respect the artists involved, they are hardly the contemporary versions of Dylan and The Band.

If this was Ryan Adams and the Felice Brothers I still think it would fall short, but damn it would be interesting.

Here’s to being proven wrong.

You can sign up for updates at on the project at the official site.

Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes” will be released Nov. 11. Pre-order here.