Category Archives: New Artists

Twang Nation 5k Twitter Followers Celebration Featuring Lindi Ortega

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When twitter first caught my attention I felt I had no use for it. It seemed like an endless torrent of inanity and, I was not narcissistic enough to imagine anyone gave a flip what or where I was eating at that exact moment.

But I created an account and after seeing how some musicians, like Jason Isbell – @JasonIsbell – and labels, like Bloodshot Records – @BSHQ – that I respect were using it as a format for topical, and often hilarious, discussions about music I dove in and began to carve out my own backwoods niche.

Now after 22k + tweets and 5k + followers I think I’ve got the hang of it. I’ve followed, been followed by, re-tweeted and been re-tweeted by, some of the best musicians, labels , venues I could dare to imagine. THAT’S the magic of twitter, it democratizes discussions. As long as you have something to add to the dialogue someone will listen. As the grand matrone of Americana on twitter, Rossanne Cash – @rosannecash says on her profile page, “I like Twitter as cafe society.”

I’ve discovered many great musicians from twitter, one being the lovely and talented Lindi Ortega – @lindiortega – (thanks to a tweet by the excellent musician Brett Detar – @brettdetar .) Ortega and her team were kind and gracious enough to work with me to bring you a little something to celebrate my little milestone.

Just share your email address below to download a sweet ( and FREE!) mp3 of Lindi’s unique interpretation of the Johnny Cash classic Folsom Prison Blues.

And be sure to look for Lindi’s new release “Cigarettes and Truckstops” coming out October 2nd!

Thanks to all my excellent followers and, if your not yet doing so, be sure to follow Twang Nation, as well as everyone in this post I’ve mentioned and and all your favorite musicians on twitter. Let’s keep the conversation (and music!) going.

Americana Music Festival Unveils Schedule

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It’s undeniable that The Americana Music Festival is the premier showcase for the Americana genre. The showcases, award show and panels spans 4 days of some of the best music the genre has to offer. All in beautiful downtown Nashville, near the heart of Music City pop confectionery

Building on last year’s increase in attendance the good people at the AMA are making this 10th anniversary of the yearly event the best yet.

The already rich lineup for the event has now been sweetened with the addition of Corb Lund, Richard Thompson, Jill Andrews , Punch Brothers. Paul Thorn and, making the transition from mainstream country to the richer pastures of Americana, Lee Ann Womack.

This year’s tribute showcase performance will honor the recently deceased pioneer of the genre, Levon Helm. The winner of the 2010 and 2012’s Best Americana Album GRAMMY Helm will be honored by an as-yet unannounced bill in a performance titled “This Wheel’s on Fire: A Tribute to Levon Helm.”

Here is the full schedule of artists and venues for the Americana Music Conference 2012. Print it out and star highlighting your favorites!

Wednesday, September 12

The Basement

10:00 Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside
11:00 Blue Mountain
12:00 Shovels and Rope

The Station Inn

10:30 Carper Family Band
11:30 Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson

The Rutledge

10:00 Gretchen Peters
11:00 Bearfoot
12:00 Delta Rae

Mercy Lounge

10:00 Corb Lund
11:00 This Wheel’s On Fire: A Tribute to Levon Helm

The High Watt

10:30 Whitehorse
11:30 Chris Stamey

Cannery Ballroom

10:00 Star Anna
11:00 Brandi Carlile

Thursday, September 13

The Basement

8:00 Lydia Loveless
9:00 Angel Snow
10:00 Sons of Fathers
11:00 The Deep Dark Woods
12:00 Black Lillies

The Station Inn

8:00 The Amy Helm Band
8:45 Teresa Williams and Larry Campbell
9:20 The Dirt Farmers
10:00 Mary Gauthier
11:00 Richard Thompson

The Rutledge

The Music of Memphis
8:00 Star and Micey
9:00 Luther Dickinson Solo
10:00 TBA
11:00 The Bo-Keys
12:00 Songs of Big Star

Mercy Lounge
8:00 Turnpike Troubadours
9:00 Billy Joe Shaver
10:00 Steve Forbert
11:00 John Fullbright
12:00 Jason Boland & The Stragglers

The High Watt

8:30 The Mastersons
9:30 Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers
10:30 Eilen Jewell
11:30 Julie Lee

Cannery Ballroom

8:00 Blue Highway
9:00 Sara Watkins
10:00 Paul Thorn
11:00 Punch Brothers (with a Sara Watkins cameo?)

Live on the Green

6:30 The Dunwells
7:15 Delta Spirit
9:00 The Wallflowers

Friday, September 14

The Basement

8:00 Caitlin Harnett
9:00 American Aquarium
10:00 Cory Branan
11:00 Chuck Mead and His Grassy Knoll Boys
12:00 Buxton

The Station Inn

8:00 TBA
9:00 Della Mae
10:00 McCrary Sisters
11:00 Steep Canyon Rangers
12:00 Humming House

The Rutledge

8:00 Mandolin Orange
9:00 Mindy Smith
10:00 The World Famous Headliners
11:00 Belle Starr
12:00 BoDeans

Mercy Lounge

8:00 Jimbo Mathus & The Tri-State Coalition
9:00 Holy Ghost Tent Revival
10:00 TBA
11:00 Darrell Scott
12:00 Reckless Kelly

The High Watt

8:30 Max Gomez
9:30 Two Gallants
10:30 Sons of Bill
11:30 Andrew Combs

Cannery Ballroom

8:00 TBA
9:00 TBA
10:00 Robert Ellis
11:00 John Hiatt

Saturday, September 15

The Basement

8:00 Anthony da Costa
9:00 Chastity Brown
10:00 Fort Frances
11:00 The Pines
12:00 Chris Scruggs

The Station Inn

8:00 Brennen Leigh
9:00 Phoebe Hunt
10:00 Marvin Etzioni
11:00 Rodney Crowell

The Rutledge

8:00 Felicity Urquhart
9:00 The Wood Brothers
10:00 Kevin Gordon
11:00 Jordie Lane
12:00 The Trishas

Mercy Lounge

8:00 Lera Lynn
9:00 honeyhoney
10:00 Tift Merritt
11:00 Buddy Miller & Lee Ann Womack

The High Watt

8:00 Jill Andrews
9:00 Derek Hoke
10:00 Kasey Anderson and the Honkies

Tickets to the Americana Music Festival are available at the Americana Music Association website.

Spirit Family Reunion of “Green Rocky Road” Video Debut

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Check the inspirational new video from Brooklyn’s Spirit Family Reunion of “Green Rocky Road,” the song featured as the B-side of their new 7″ and found on the band’s debut ‘No Separation. Spirit Family Reunion will play Newport Folk Festival July 28 and is taping an interview and performance for NPR’s Weekend Edition tomorrow, July 11th.

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 7 – Corb Lund and Hayes Carll, Turnpike Troubadours, The Driftwood Singers and The Trishas

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Podcast number is in the can and it might be the best one yet.

Here you’ll find great cuts from upcoming albums like Corb Lund’s swamp-guitar laced road buddy number featuring Hayes Carll “Bible On The Dash” and The Trishas bring sweet, sweet harmony in Little Sweet Cigars.

Blackberry Smoke channels 70’s era Allman Brothers in the soulful The Whippoorwill. There’s also some great cuts from newcomers Angela Perley, Shovels & Rope and The Driftwood Singers.

Finally I use the last slot to say goodbye to another legend. Susanna Clark’s “Easy From Now On,” a song she penned for Emmylou Harris’ album “Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town,” and album she also painted the cover for.

I hope you all enjoy the great Americana and roots music featured in this and all the podcasts, and hope you seek out the musicians and buy their music, merch and , most importantly, take all your friends and see them live. Remember you can leave requests or feedback below or email me at baron(at)twangnation(dot)com. All you feedback , good and bad, is appreciated.

1. Corb Lund – Song: “Bible On The Dash” – Album: Cabin Fever (New West Records)
2. Polecat – Song: “Fire On The Hill” – Album: Fire On The Hill (Independently released)
3. Shovels & Rope – Song: O’ Be Joyful – Album: Song: O’ Be Joyful (Dualtone Records)
4. Catherine Irwin – Song: Mockingbird – Album: Little Heater (Thrill Jockey Records )
Removed by request of Thrill Jockey Records
5. The Trishas – Song: Little Sweet Cigars – Album: High Wide & Handsome (Trisha Records)
6. Blackberry Smoke – Song: The Whippoorwill – Album: The Whippoorwill (Southern Ground Records.
7. The Driftwood Singers – Song: If I Take That Notion – Album: The Driftwood Singers (Trailer Fire Records)
8. Angela Perley and The Howlin’ Moons – Song: 18 Feet Under- Album: Nowhere is Now Here. (Vital Music USA)
9. Whitey Morgan and the 78’s – Song: I Ain’t Drunk – Album: Whitey Morgan and the 78’s (Bloodshot Records)
10. Turnpike Troubadours – Song: “Before the Devil Knows We’re Dead” – Album: Goodbye Normal Street (Bossier City Records)
11. Emmylou Harris – Song: “Easy From Now On” – Album: Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town (Warner Bros)

Music Review – Delta Rae – Carry the Fire [Sire]

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Pop music has gotten a bad rap. Pop has gone from being “popular” to engineered mass appeal and style over all especially substance blotting out all pretension of song-craft or, HA! , longevity

Great songs by such luminaries as Elton John and Fleetwood Mac in the 70s and Squeeze and XTC in the 80s, took the music around them and refined it into a polished work of studio perfection. With hooks big enough to hang the moon on and wry lyrics that hinted at bigger things without mired in the ponderous, these musicians proved you could be popular and create music for the ages.

Seymour Stein knows a thing or two about this. As the cultural chaos of punks ripped through the fabric of music Stein saw pop beauty by The Ramones , Talking Heads and the Pretenders and others who he signed as  co-founder of Sire Records.

Stein signed the six-piece band from North Carolina Delta Rae after a mutual friend set them up for an acoustic performance at his office. He must have been impressed as he called more people into his office to hear the band play for 45 minute audition.

Like the other bands Stein has signed, Delta Rae resonates the trends around them, in this case Americana, and amke it appealing to a larger ausince that might wince at a claw-hammer style banjo.

On “Holding On To Good” acoustic guitar and piano burst “Carry The Fire” open with such assurance it’s surprising this is a debut album. Brittany Holljes is a woman who can belt out or sing delicately as she does here with harmonies in response “In the morning…” along with her like a tide rolling in an back out. In this opening the bar is set high. “Is There Anyone Out There” follows with Brittany’s brother Ian Hölljes handling vocals (half the band are siblings with brother Eric Hölljes on vocals, guitar, piano and keys.) Like the former this song also mixes bombast with lovely hushed melody.

“Morning Comes” has a gospel soul as an acapella start and hand clap accompaniment give Eric Holljes lot of room to soar. Though nowhere near as nimble the style brings to mind Freddy Mercury and the sound of the song overall makes me think the band has been had Queen’s greatest hits on heavy play for some time.

Gospel is also the influence in my favorite track “Bottom of the River.” I like things dark and gritty and, even though the production is crisp, there’s a Southern Gothic quality in the song that  is brought out in the video for the song. Big vocals of of Brittany and the band and percussion is a central instrument of the number that is accentuated in the a mid-song interlude. The darkness is also reflected in “Fire” with it’s controlled cacophony of sound and forgoing the pop elements momentarily to drive toward pure passion.

The infusion of pop in Americana is not new. Delta Rae join their contemporaries The Civil Wars, Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers in bringing a folk, country and soul hybrid to the masses. Carry the Fire joins there ranks as a great example of how pop music can also be excellently crafted and and not seemingly focused on hits.  I applaud Delta Rae for this fine first release and for bringing a larger audience into the Americana fold.

Here’s to success without compromise.

Official Site | Buy

 

Delta Rae News and Contest

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North Carolina’s Delta Rae is a excellent new addition to a growing pop-folk field of performers that are almost single-handedly bringing the Americana music genre into the mainstream.  They join their contemporaries The Civil Wars, Mumford and Sons, the Avett Brothers and others embodying a branch of the Americana family tree that is attracting a significant number of fans that wouldn’t typically give twang and roots a listen. While these bands share the music on a larger stage, and bring more people into the genre tent, the soul remains intact.

Header over to my twitter page and for a chance to win a copy of their debut “Carry The Fire” and ook for a review of the album on Twang Nation soon. In the meantime you can stream the entire album over at Rolling Stone. The band has also been busy participating recently in Billboard’s “Under Cover” program by covering Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” as well as playing their single, “Bottom Of The River.”

Delta Rae will also be in LA on Tuesday celebrating the release of their album with a sold out show at the Troubadour. They’ll also be performing at the GRAMMY Museum in LA on Monday, June 18th as part of an event with Seymour Stein. They are also currently on tour and, if that wasn’t enough the band will also be performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno June 25th.

A larger stage indeed

“Bottom of The River” Official Video

What the $#%& is Couch By Couchwest?!

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Truth be told I really had no idea what the hell Couch By Couchwest was going in . I got that the name was a play off the Austin Music/Tech/Film festival South By Southwest but what else?

Being a newbie I reached out to the Couch By Couchwest via their twitter account for a scheduled of performances. Being a blogger I’m naturally lazy and like to get my information neatly packaged. No dice. I got this response “..this is a festival based on laziness! Do you really think we’d put together a schedule!?”and “Official CXCW Schedule: March 11-18th, videos sun-up to sun-up. Couch, kitchen, bed, bathroom, alternate as needed.” My laziness had been trumped.

So I did what any self-respecting blogger would do. I Googled Couch By Couchwest. I was presented with the main sources for performances, YouTube and Vimeo video uploads that are then gathered by the main site CouchByCouchwest.com,  a step up from their original tumblr page, as a single place for enjoying the music. Past performances by Neko Case (below) and other excellent, and some okay, performances. But there was no denying how compelling the idea of open source cultural event like this was.

The submission criteria makes to mentions of genre, style or guidelines of any type aside from uploading and tagging on the submitted video. This is as democratic as the local open mic except that it’s happening world-wide. Judging my the videos the only crieria is that there is often, but not always a couch in teh videos submitted.

Audience participation comes in the form of posting pics of your pets (sharing the couch with you no doubt) and tacos (apparently the official Couch By Couchwest fare) as well as the often hilarious Twitter feed which is topically aligned by the hashtag #CXCW or #CXCW2012.

Operations take place in secret from some undisclosed location Baton Rouge, Louisiana from the pseudonym, Baron Childs. Childs is reported as saying “There are some really talented people who just don’t’ get the chance to get heard because either they can’t afford to go to South by South West or they families that prevent them from going. This is a way to give those people a voice, too.” and that the purpose of Couch by Couch West is not about exposure or making money, but rather the focus should be on the music. “We’re not making any money off this, it actually costs us money.”

The defies all the conventional ideas about marketing and music publicity and results in an open-source cultural event. So far this week has Couch By Couchwest has given us excellent performance by Austin Lucas, Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil , Imperial Rooster an many others.

In the end Couch By Couchwest is about the joy of music and the serendipitous nature of the web. The use of technology to support the traditional folk and roots legacy of intimate , personal space performances is a great hybrid cultural experience that I can really get behind.

 

Album Review: Amy Francis – Balladacious [Independent Release]

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Bodacious is a Southern/Southwestern portmanteau of bold and audacious. It’s meaning is remarkable, courageous, audacious, spirited and unmistakable.
Corpus Christi TX native Amy Francis uses this linguistic fusion and forms the title of her new release , Balladacious. Just as she reinterprets words Francis also uses this skill to give her own take on some of  country music’s best-known classics.
The album opens with Francis beautiful voice powerfully breaking the silence with a vulnerable delivery of the Hank Cochran barroom lament Don’t Touch Me. Francis brings the longing and apprehension contained in the song to a palatable level and disarms you of all cynicism. A staple of country music is it’s unabashed sentiment and Francis’ heart is emblazoned boldly on this first song.

The spirits of Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette and Brenda Lee are conjured with all their romantic weariness giving testament. Not just because Francis covers Sweet Dreams, Apartment #9 and Fool Number One respectively, but because she is a believer. She brings authenticity to these songs because she embodies them wholly not simply mimicking them like many Music City talen dipping a toe in traditionalism.
Her take on Bobbie Gentry’s Ode to Billy Joe reworks this dark song of small-town gossip and makes it swing with an acoustic guitar and strings accompaniment. Her covers of George Jone’s “Picture of Me Without You” and “I’ll Share My World With You” elevates them to the honky-tonk majesty they deserve and Vince Gill’s hit “When I Call Your Name” is covered with barrel-house piano and pedal steel accompaniment and achieves a forlornness that LeAnn Rimes’s cover never came close to.  Ronnie Milsap’s “Stranger Things Have Happened” is given an equal turn with Francis’ voice soaring at heights while singing about the depths. The hope against hope and lessons contained in these testimonials of  despair makes country music some of the greatest forms of contemporary tragedy. Francis approaches each with dignity and grace they deserve and strikingly nimble vocals that breath life into every barroom confession.

I have an ambivalent relationship with Nashville Sound era country music. When Owen Bradley, with Chet Atkins and Bob Ferguson moved hillbilly music from the hollers and honky tonks to the supper clubs, by adding strings, backing vocals and other adornment better suited for crooners of the day, they laid the path toward the enormously lucrative but culturally superficial pop-country industry we’ve inherited. Like the great performers of the Nashville Sound era Francis charms me into putting aside bias by keeping the soul enact while stripping back just enough veneer to let you hear the heart break.

Official Site | Buy


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ssAJ4u7VRA&list=UUCdLHmRYCJy-e9k_rh2Zhgw&feature=plcp

Song Premiere: Lera Lynn Covers “Ring Of Fire”

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Athens GA-based Americana songstress Lera Lynn follows up her debut full length (Have You Met Lera Lynn?) with a seven inch, which includes a cover of June Carter Cash penned and Johnny Cash renowned Ring of Fire.

Lynn says of the cover “I always thought June Carter’s “Ring of Fire” was written as a dark song, maybe it’s just where I was when I heard it one dark day. It’s been a lot of fun to rearrange it, almost making it my own. I hope we’ve done it justice. I hope they [the Cash Family] would be proud.”

I never understand when people do cover songs, especially of iconic songs, and then don’t interpret them personally. Lynn does exactly that with her take smolders (heh) punctuated with discordant peaks in the chorus. Look for Lera Lynn  on tour in Texas and up the East coast this March and April.

Lera Lynn – Ring of Fire

 

 

The White Buffalo – The Great American Music Hall -San Francisco, CA – 2/15/12

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The White BuffaloThe Great American Music Hall is a post-earthquake 105 year-old 5,000-square-foot, guilded French motif performance hall that has
been a restaurant, a bordello and a host to fan dancers and a stage for golden Jazz era greats like Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan and Count Basie and relative newcomers Van Morrison and the Grateful Dead.
But on this night the back stage of the great American is more like a living room at a friends or relatives’ house. I came to meet Jake Smith, who performs solo and with a band under the moniker The White Buffalo. There in the dimly lit room Smith along with Matt Lynott (drums) and Tommy Andrews (bass) offer smiles, handshakes and beverages. After the hellos and intros the talk moves to influences. I tell Smith about a video I saw on You Tube of him covering the Highwaymen’s theme of world adventure  “Highwayman.” “Oh yeah.” Smith cracks a smile “Waylon, Willie, Kristofferson and Cash. You can’t do any better than those guys.” He then tells me about the music of his Southern California childhood. “We listened to a lot of things. Country, like Loretta, classic rock I guess they call it now. Blues. Gospel.”
The influences show on Smith’s songs if you look for them. Like the best craftsman of songs he makes them sound easy. Effortless. Like they couldn’t be any other way then the way he’s spinning them out. Then I bait him with the question most musicians hate to answer, “How would you label your music.” “I don’t” he says straight. “I spend my time writing them and that’s hard enough. If I spend time on “Is this country” or “if the Americana” I think the song will suffer.”
Smith and the band then starts to list up the night’s songs. Three musicians, three clean, white sheets of paper. One sharpie. then the discussion begins. “What about the Pilot?” “How about Darkside of Town?” “Might be too slow and bring things down.” “How about Love Song #2.” “Okay but you’ll need to sing backup in my mic.” The process is reminiscent of charting an emotional course of stage logistics,crowd physiology and sonic dynamics. What will take them where we want them to go?
The moniker came about through need and happenstance. Smith once wore a sweat shirt that had the title emblazoned on it and some his friends recalled it when he emailed them ideas for a name. White buffalo are extremely rare. The National Bison Association (yes, there is such a thing) has estimated that a White buffalo only occur in approximately one out of every 10 million births. Smith is a living testament to his moniker standing around 6′ 2″ , solid as a wall and stylistically embodying a rare mix of grit and nuance that you couldn’t squeeze out of a dozen neo-folk acts.
Born in Oregon and raised in Southern California, he moved to the Bay area from Huntington Beach to pursue college on an athletic scholarship. He then made his way to L.A. where he now calls home. Because of his local Smith has had his songs crop up in movies and T.V. A bootleg tape of his music made it into the hands of pro surfer Chris Malloy, and his song, “Wrong,” was featured in his surf movie, Shelter. That led to further film scoring and composing work, with three of his songs featured in FX’s Sons of Anarchy and HBO’s Californication.
With 3  EPs and one fill-length out and one more , Once Upon a Time in the West , set to release February 28th Smith has seen thousands of miles over the last few years opening for acts like Ziggy Marley, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and tonight the Texas blues man Gary Clark Jr. His brooding songs of America’s topological and emotional landscape, “mini-movies” he calls them, transforms on the stage. The darkness, whiskey and gunpowder is still there in narrative but the sound shifts to urgency and electricity. Lynott and Andrews expand the dynamics and work off Smith like a fright train veering off the tracks. They are one of the best rhythm sections I’ve seen live.
Over a beer after the show I ask Smith about his fans and whether online piracy worries a working man with a wife and two kids. “People are buying ticket and I’m selling merch. I can’t do anything about the new world I am working in. I have to trust people.”
In true DIY fashion they set their own gear on stage, sell their own merchandise and pack it all up in a van at the end of the night. Off to the nest show miles away across the dark night of America.
I didn’t take, nor did I find, clips from this show. But I couldn’t post without a taste of what I saw. Here The White Buffalo at Bonaroo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ca2LcaGBJQ&feature=related