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Americana & Roots Music & Culture
Fragments and glimpses of touring make up the video for Ben Miller Band’s new video for “Life on Wheels.”
This might seem obvious (and cheap!) but these video segments, compiled by BMB one-stringed washtub bass player Scott Leeper fits the rambling song perfectly. It also offers a view on how
hard life on the road can be. So next time your at a live show spring for a shirt or two. That could be the band’s gas money.
Americana power couple, Shovels & Rope, appeared on Conan last night to deliver an intimate performance of their gospel-tinged “The Devil Is All Around”
The song if from their new release ‘Swimmin’ Time.’
RollingStone.com has premiered “Married to My Hack,” from the upcoming “Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes”
The just shy of two-minutes track of marital resignation features Elvis Costello on lead vocals and Carolina Chocolate Drops’ Rihannon Giddens on backing vocals. Costello channels Dylans croaked spoken-blues as Giddens monas an scats over a ramshackle junkyard symphony that would make tom Waits crack a crooked smile.
“Married to My Hack” and “Nothing to It” are instant downloads for preorder on iTunes and Amazon
On November 21st Showtime will air a documentary about the making of the album, “Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued,” directed by Sam Jones.
Related news, Legacy Recordings will release “The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11” A six-disc collection of teh storied Dyman/Bnad seesions offering an astounding 138 tracks o November 4th.
Track list for the deluxe edition of “Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes”
1. Down on the Bottom
2. Married to My Hack
3. Kansas City
4. Spanish Mary
5. Liberty Street
6. Nothing to It
7. Golden Tom – Silver Judas
8. When I Get My Hands on You
9. Duncan and Jimmy
10. Florida Key
11. Hidee Hidee Ho #11
12. Lost On The River #12
13. Stranger
14. Card Shark
15. Quick Like A Flash
16. Hidee Hidee Ho #16
17. Diamond Ring
18. The Whistle Is Blowing
19. Six Months in Kansas City (Liberty Street)
20. Lost on the River #20
Showtime will air a documentary about the making of the album, Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued, which filmmaker Sam Jones directed, on November 21st. It will show the making of the record and compare it to Dylan’s original sessions with the Band.
In other Basement Tapes news, the complete recordings of Dylan’s original 1967 sessions are due out as a six-disc, 138-track box set – The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 – on November 4th. Rolling Stone premiered one of the tracks, an alternate take on “Odds and Ends,” which is streaming here.
Playing many,many live shows near their home in Brooklyn has served the roots-rock band Jumbo Brown very well.
Their song “Ain’t Nothing Wrong” ia a woozy, honky-tonk ode to the simple joys of life and good times. There is loose feel that fits perfectly on a back porch or in a crowded bar. The video for the song ain’t nothing fancy , but it does reflect perfectly that joy and communal spirit.
Of the video the band says: “We shot the video footage live, without a sync track with Rob Langevin (director) at our buddy’s birthday party, Skinny Dennis (Home venue, Willamsburg 152 Metropolitan Ave.) and Randolph Brooklyn (where the piano was located). The song’s about having a good ole time with friends, enjoying the simpler pleasures in life. Scotty D. (New Orleans native frontman) wanted to release the song before Labor Day weekend, because we all kept finding ourselves singing the song around BBQ grills, Bon fires, and rooftop singalongs.”
“Side note, the little boy in the video is a staple at their Skinny Dennis shows, as he dances, plays tambourine, and event duets vocally when the group plays crowd favorites like “Harlem River Blues” by Justin Townes Earle.”
Their new album, American Primitive, will be out December 2nd.
Carrie Ashley Hill + Jeff Berrall (Caveman) have released a lovely video for the song ‘Found You’ to accompany thier Stoned Ruin Records Lathe-Cut 7″
Tyler Bisson of Audio Geography cuts the records individually in real time on a 1940’s era lathe machine. Each 7″ is packaged in hand-screened artwork and includes digital downloads.
About the song the couple says “Jeff said to Carrie laughing, “You’re tired, I’m broken.†Later that day she sent him a text, “I found you when I knew I needed no one,†he replied, “I found you when I thought I was done,†and that is how these songs came to be.”
The couple resides in Brooklyn, where they are currently working on a full length record.
The 7″ can be purchased at stonedruin.com, Norman’s Sound & Vision in Williamsburg, Brooklyn or at their next live show in NYC Saturday, August 23rd at 7pm at Rockwood Music Hall.
The video was created by a Liam Alexander and can be seen below.
Live is hard. This is a great video that highlights that as sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg perform ‘Master Pretender’ with their lovely, bending harmony and deft finger-picking in a live performance for an official video.
‘Master Pretender’ is from First Aid Kit latest, “Stay Gold,”out now.
One of the best bands I’ve had the privilege of seeing play live, The Felice Bothers have brought some of that playfulness to the video for their latest single “Lion.”
Shenanigans and tomfoolery abound. Clad in black there’s field strongman posing, football, and topped off with a random pie fight and beer shower,
This gives me an opportunity to, again, wonder how these guys weren’t tapped for T Bone Burnett’s upcoming “Basement Tapes 2“.
“Lion” is from the new album Favorite Waitress.
Neo-Trad Outlaw and reluctant savior of country music, Sturgill Simpson turned out a sizzling rendition of ‘Life of Sin” recorded at the Nashville’s historic RCA recording studio.
This is the very same studio that Ben Folds has been trying to save from potential raising. let’s hope this RL Bagg’s Handcrafted Video Series is a sign of new life for the storied space.
‘Life of Sin” is from Simpson’s newest release “Metamodern Sounds in Country Music.â€
Check out this cool video for Goodnight, Texas’ roliicking string tune “A Bank Robber’s Nursery Rhyme,” shot live in their rehearsal space in the Bay Area by Matthew Washburn.
Grab a free download of “A Bank Robber’s Nursery Rhyme” here
Goodnight, Texas new LP “Uncle John Farquhar” will be released pit now on Tallest Man Records.
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” welcomed Ryan Adams and his band the Shining as their musical guest last night. He and the band did “Gimme Something Good”, the single from his forthcoming self-titled album (September 9 via his label Pax-Am).
Alas Adam’s and the other night’s guest, Taylor Swift, did not perform together. But perhaps a backstage meeting might result in something in the future
