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Record Store Day 2020: Our Top Americana/Roots Picks

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UPDATE – Record Store Day’S annual collection of vinyl will be released on three separate days this year — Aug. 29, Sept. 26 and Oct. 24. While the event regularly takes place in April, organizers wanted vinyl collectors to be mindful of social-distancing regulations.

Spring is in the here, birds are out and trees and flowers begin to bloom, and the smell of limited edition vinyl is in the air!.

That’s right folks, Record Store Day 2020 is right around the corner (Saturday, April 18th June 20th, to be exact) and his year is a special one. Record Store Day has selected Americana powerhouse, Brandi Carlile, as their 2020 Ambassador. Speaking about indy record stores support of her career Carlile says:

“The Twins (Tim and Phil Hanseroth) and I have never made an album that we didn’t intend to be in an independent record store. Thank you so much for recognizing this love in me and the Twins and giving us this opportunity. We won’t let you down.”

And she couldn’t have picked a better time to be the event’s representative. Carlile pays tribute to her hometown of Seattle and one of her musical influences by covering Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” and “Searching With My Good Eye Closed.” Other scarce, unique, and regional releases of interest from Jesse Dayton, The Dead South, Drive-By Truckers, Steve Earle, John Prine and many more.

Check out the Americana and roots selections below and take a look at the full list to see what’s coming out outside of the twangasphere.

Get to your favorite indy record early on Saturday, April 18th June 20th. I’ll be at Good Records in Dallas, but you can check on indy record stores near you.And be sure to share those great finds with me on Instagram and Twitter.

Solomon Burke – Back To My Roots
Format: LP
Label: Anagram
Quantity: 1500

Solomon Burke was an American preacher and singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. Originally released in 1976, Back To My Roots was his debut album on the legendary Chess Records label, a well-known imprint devoted to the best Blues, R&B, Funk and Soul music. After a long stint on Atlantic and MGM Records, Solomon Burke signed for Chess to work with the wonderful producer Herman Rush who wrote and produced this sensational album.
This release for Record Store Day is its first repress since the original 1976 release.

SIDE A –
1. Burning For Your Love 2. Night And Day 3. Everybody’s Got To Cry Sometime 4. I’m Going Back To My Roots
SIDE B –
1. Precious Flower 2. The Do Right Song 3. Life Has It’s Ups And Downs 4. Over And Over (Hugging And Loving) 5. I’ll Never Stop Loving You

Johnny Cash – Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame Series – Early Mixes (1987)
Format: 2 x LP
Label: UME (Mercury)
Quantity: 5000

In 1988, two years after signing to Mercury Records, Johnny Cash released Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame Series, which featured new recordings of classic material. Including renowned tracks like “Ring Of Fire”, and “I Walk The Line”, the series captured one of country music’s greats singing songs that made him a legend. For the first time ever on vinyl, exclusively for Record Store Day 2020, UMe/Mercury is proud to present Classic Cash: Hall Of Fame Series – Early Mixes. Cash’s early mix of the 1988 album, mastered from newly discovered tapes in the Mercury vault. Limited Edition Double LP, pressed on 180g vinyl, it is a must-have for fans and collectors.

LP 1 / SIDE A – 1. Sunday Morning Coming Down, 2. Get Rhythm, 3. I Walk The Line, 4. Long Black Veil, 5. I Still Miss Someone

LP 1 / SIDE B – 1. Blue Train, 2. I Got Stripes, 3. Peace In The Valley, 4. Five Feet High And Rising, 5. Folsom Prison Blues

LP 2 / SIDE A – 1. Cry, Cry, Cry, 2. Don’t Take Your Guns To Town, 3. Tennessee Flat Top Box, 4. A Thing Called Love, 5. The Ways Of A Woman In Love

LP 2 / SIDE B – 1. Ballad Of Ira Hayes, 2. Guess Things Happen That Way, 3. Home Of The Blues, 4. Supper Time, 5. Ring Of Fire

Brandi Carlile – A Rooster Says
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: Elektra
Quantity: 10000

RSD 2020 Ambassador Brandi Carlile has strong ties to her hometown Seattle. Her RSD 2020 release pays tribute to one of the region’s most legendary bands, and one of her strong influences: Soundgarden.

“Black Hole Sun” / “Searching With My Good Eye Closed”

Gary Clark Jr – Pearl Cadillac (Feat. Andra Day)
Format: 45 RPM clear and white (pearl)
Label: Warner Records
Quantity: 3000

Jesse Dayton – Texas 45 RPM Showdown – Doug Saham, Townes Van Zandt
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Blue Elan Records
Quantity: 1000
Jesse Dayton recorded covers of two of his biggest Texas-based influences for this RSD 2020 single.

The Dead South
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Six Shooter Records
Quantity: 500

Canadian bluegrass folk band The Dead South come to the record stores with a 7” of cover songs, “House Of The Rising Sun” originally by The Animals and the classic “This Little Light of Mine”

Side A: House Of The Rising Sun Side B: This Little Light of Mine

Drive-By Truckers – “The Unraveling” b/w “Sarah’s Flame”
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: ATO Records
Quantity: 2000

Two brand new tracks from The Unraveling sessions, one from Patterson Hood and one from Mike Cooley – including, in Led Zeppelin-esque fashion, the albums orphaned title track “The Unraveling”.

Steve Earle – “Times Like These / It’s About Blood”
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Modern Harmonic
Quantity: 1350

This is a limited edition 7″ recorded during the Ghost Of West Virginia recording sessions (that new album comes to record stores May 22). “Times Like These “is exclusive to this 7” and “Devil Put The Coal In The Ground” will be on the new album.

“Times Like These / It’s About Blood”

Alejandro Escovedo – La Cruzada
Format: 2 x LP
Label: Yep Roc Records
Quantity: 1000

Alejandro Escovedo’s critically acclaimed album The Crossing with the vocals recorded in Spanish, pressed on red, white and green striped double vinyl.

1. Andare 2. Footsteps In the Shadows 3. Texas Is My Mother 4. Teenage Luggage 5. Something Blue 6. Outlaw For You 7. Amor 8. Puro 9. Waiting For Me 10. How Many Times 11. Cherry Blossom Rain 12. Sonica USA 13. Rio Navidad 14. Silver City 15. Fury and Fire 16. Flying 17. MC Overload 18. The Crossing

Blaze Foley – Live at the Austin Outhouse
Format: LP
Label: Art Yard / End Of An Ear
Quantity: 1000

* Rare Blaze Foley recordings from the Austin Outhouse circa 1989
* Includes bonus 45 a version of “If I Could Only Fly” and “Let Me Ride in Your Big Cadillac.”

“Live at the Austin Outhouse” captures Blaze Foley, Austin’s legendary singer-songwriter, at his final appearance at the iconic Austin Outhouse venue. Recorded over two nights in 1989 just days before his tragic murder these twelve tracks are available on vinyl for the first time. Recorded by his friend John Casner these now-classic Blaze tracks were for years only shared on hand-made cassettes among a small network of friends and fans. This vinyl LP marks the twenty-year anniversary of their initial release on CD by Lost Art Records.

While Blaze’s reputation as a singer-songwriter has exploded in recent years, access to his catalog on vinyl has not kept pace. The tracks here include many of his classics; Clay Pigeons (covered by John Prine), If I Could Only Fly (covered by Merle Haggard), Election Day (covered by Lyle Lovett) and nine others. Blaze is joined in this set by several of Austin’s most beloved musicians including Champ Hood and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell. “Live at the Austin Outhouse” reveals Blaze to be as talented and soulful as his friends and running buddies Townes Van Zandt and Lucinda Williams.

Foley is also the subject of a documentary film, Blaze Foley – Duct Tape Messiah, directed by Kevin Triplett, and the 2018 feature-film, Blaze, directed by Ethan Hawke.

The package includes a bonus reproduction copy of the Blaze’s rare 1979 Zephyr Records 45 RPM record. Recorded in Houston, Texas on a label that quickly disappeared, the Zephyr 45 never received commercial distribution. The 45 includes
a version of “If I Could Only Fly” and “Let Me Ride in Your Big Cadillac.”
THIS RELEASE IS BEING CHAMPIONED BY THE RSD PARTICIPATING STORE END OF AN EAR IN AUSTIN TX. IT WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ALL STORES BUT WILL MOST LIKELY BE FOUND IN THAT REGION

Hiss Golden Messenger – Let the Light of the World Open Your Eyes (Alive at Spacebomb)
Format: 7″ Vinyl
Label: Merge Records
Quantity: 1200

NC folk-rockers Hiss Golden Messenger re-record two of their original songs, “Cat’s Eye Blue” (from their critically acclaimed 2019 album Terms of Surrender) “Standing in the Doorway” (a 2017 digital-only single) at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond VA, with contributions from their in-house orchestra. The latest in the Alive at Spacebomb Studios series.

“Cat’s Eye Blue”/”Standing In The Doorway”

The Jones Sisters (Steven Conrad, Lillie Mae and Bobby Bare) – Perpetual Grace, LTD Soundtrack
Format: LP
Label: Fat Possum
Quantity: 500

The original songs written for the EPIX television show Perpetual Grace, LTD. The Jones Sisters is made up of the show’s creator, writer and director Steven Conrad, singer/songwriters Bobby Bare Jr, Lillie Mae and more. Released for Record Store Day 2020 on colored vinyl.

1. “Comet” 2. “Iris” 3. “You Are Hurting Me”4. “Kawasaki Kx80” 5. “Resonate” 6. “Brother Down” 7. “The Power Of Your Soft Young Heart” 8. “My Old Old Lady” 9. “I Want To Get Something Going On” 10. “In The Lowrider Capitol of The World” 11. “Drunk (Chicago)” 12. “Restless as the Former Horses (Of Jesse James and William Bonney)” 13. “Y’all Bless Me Down”

K.D. Lang & The Reclines – Angel With A Lariat
Format: Translucent red vinyl LP
Label: Sire
Quantity: 3000

Ennio Morricone – For A Few Dollars More (OST)
Format: 10″ Vinyl
Label: AMS
Quantity: 400

* Record Store Day 2020 Exclusive Release.
* 10” pressed on yellow vinyl & housed in a gatefold jacket
* Includes a poster

In 1965 the previous year’s film “A Fistful of Dollars” by Sergio Leone, thanks to its success, had already helped to codify and massively increase the popularity of the ‘spaghetti western’ genre, together with the one the two lead actors Clint Eastwood and Gian Maria Volonte. “For a Few Dollars More” is the natural prosecution of that movie, with the addition of a third protagonist – Lee Van Cleef – who joins the already mentioned two actors: a triad that made history, for another masterpiece Sergio Leone’s masterpiece.

Ennio Morricone’s music is equally important. The Maestro here chooses a ‘poor’ registry, consisting of folk instruments such as ocarina, Jew’s harp, and chimes, respectively used to accompany the entry stage of the three main actors. But there are, as usual, the contributions of Alessandro Alessandroni and his Cantori Moderni choir, for an incredibly exciting final result.

1. Per qualche dollaro in più 2. La resa dei conti 3. Osservatori osservati 4. Il colpo 5. Poker d’assi 6. Carillon 7. Addio colonnello 8. Il vizio di uccidere

Corb Lund – Cover Your Tracks EP
Format: 12″ Vinyl
Label: New West Records
Quantity: 1000

With his latest EP, Cover Your Tracks, Lund expands on his Western heritage by wearing his more popular and prominent influences on his sleeve. Covering songs from diverse artists such as Lee Hazlewood, Billy Joel, Marty Robbins and AC/DC, Lund expands on not only his favorite songs but on the range, sound and style in which those songs are delivered. Featuring the likes of Ian Tyson and Hayes Carll, Cover Your Tracks is a focused and deliberate collection of classic and unexpected songs, curated by Corb. Released and pressed on 45 RPM 12” opaque blue vinyl.

1. These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ 2. The Cover of the Rolling Stone (feat. Hayes Carll) 3. They’re Hanging Me Tonight 4. Outlaw Man 5. Ride On (feat. Ian Tyson) 6. Seven Spanish Angels 7. It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me 8. I Shall Be Released

John Prine – The Atlantic Albums
Format: 4 x LP
Label: Rhino Atlantic
Quantity: 2000

A special four LP 180g boxed set containing the legendary first four John Prine albums, presented in their original packaging: John Prine, Sweet Revenge, Diamonds in the Rough, Common Sense.

The Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed (Limited Collectors Edition)
Format: LP
Label: ABKCO Music & Records
Quantity: 900

The Rolling Stones’ groundbreaking multi-platinum selling 1969 album Let It Bleed perfectly captured the ominous spirit of the times with opening track “Gimme Shelter”. Each copy of this exclusive collector’s edition is handcrafted on the press, using layers of color on top of one another to create a truly unique edition. Due to the nature of the manual process to pour each color onto the press by hand, each piece is unique in design. Hand-numbered Certificate of Authenticity included.

SIDE A – 1. Gimme Shelter 2. Love In Vain 3. Country Honk 4. Live With Me 5. Let It Bleed
SIDE B – 1. Midnight Rambler 2. You’ve Got The Silver 3. Monkey Man 4. You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Royal Horses – A Modern Man’s Way To Improve
Format: LP
Label: Okemah Roads Records
Quantity: 100

The much-anticipated, full-length debut album from Royal Horses, a South Mississippi-based Americana trio, featuring ten original songs recorded in New Orleans. Music critic Mik Davis has called the album a “stunning first chapter for the powerful trio.” Released exclusively on 180g audiophile vinyl, each purchase comes with a free digital download that is not otherwise available on traditional music streaming sites. THIS TITLE IS CHAMPIONED BY T-BONES RECORDS & CAFÉ IN HATTIESBURG MS. IT’S AVAILABLE TO ALL STORES BUT WILL MOST LIKELY BE FOUND IN THAT REGION.

1). Bottom of the Chart, 2). A Modern Man’s Way to Improve, 3). Valley of the New, 4). Who Do You Know?, 5). There She Walks, 6). Leave a Light, 7). Call it War, 8). Rattlesnake Smoking a Cigarette, 9). Ruby Do, 10). BLD

Son Volt – Live At The Orange Peel
Format: 2 x LP
Label: Transmit Sounds/Thirty Tigers
Quantity: 1500

Recorded live at The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC on September 23, 2005, these songs were part of the 6 String Belief DVD, but have never before been released on vinyl.

SIDE A 1 “Damn Shame” 2 “Feel Free” 3 “Who” 4 “Live Free” 5 “Back into Your World” 6 “Medicine Hat”
SIDE B 7 “Joe Citizen Blues” 8 “Atmosphere” 9 “Picking up the Signal” 10 “Straighface” 11 “Ipecac”
SIDE C 12 “Caryatid Easy” 13 “Jet Pilot” 14 “Endless War” 15 “6 String Belief” 16 “Medication”
SIDE D 17 “Barstow” 18 “Driving the View” 19 “Chaos Streams” 20 “Tear Stained Eye” 21 “Windfall“

Tony Joe White – The Beginning
Format: LP
Label: New West Records
Quantity: 900

The Beginning was released digitally and on CD in 2001 by Swamp Records in the US and Audium Records in Europe. Long out of print, this record was Tony Joe’s 29th,and the first one where he controlled all elements of the studio. Stripped down and without any bells and whistles, this is Tony Joe recording, himself playing his classic swamp blues sound, and now for the first time on vinyl. Remastered and re-sequenced for RSD 2020 with new art and pressed on clear with black splatter vinyl.

1. Who You Gonna Hoo – Doo Now 2. Ice Cream Man 3. Wonder Why I Feel So Bad 4. Going Back To Bed 5. Down By The Border 6. More To This Than That 7. Drifter 8. Rebellion 9. Rich Woman Blues 10. Raining On My Life

Hank Williams – March of Dimes
Format: 10″ Red Vinyl
Label: BMG
Quantity: 2000

Hank Williams’ complete 1951 March Of Dimes performance on 10” red vinyl. Its first release on vinyl, with a new restoration and mastering of the 16” radio transcription disc. Features five songs, including “Lovesick Blues” and his then-current hit, “Moanin’ The Blues.” The disc also includes a solo track by Audrey Williams and a dual narrative on a Luke The Drifter track, plus a rare PSA read by Hank about Infantile Paralysis.

Produced by Cheryl Pawelski with restoration and mastering by Michael Graves. Together, they earned a 2015 Best Historical Album Grammy award for their work on Hank Williams The Garden Spot Programs, 1950.
Side A
1) Lovesick Blues 1:37, 2) Moanin’ The Blues 3:21, 3) There’s A Bluebird On Your Windowsill
Side B
1) Hank Talks About Infantile Paralysis, 2) Help Me Understand 3:06

Listen Up! Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit New Song “Be Afraid”

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On Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s new song “Be Afraid,” the group’s first from their forthcoming album (details below,) Byrds-like guitar chimes atop stuttering then steady driving beat then Isbell confesses “We’ve been testing you, and you failed / To see how long that you could sit with the truth, but you bailed.”

Like the quote, most times attributed to John Wayne “Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.”

Isbell urges to “Be afraid, be very afraid’ but also as words of encouragement to himself as well as the listener to “But do it anyway / Do it anyway.”

And in the bridge, he sings We don’t take requests / We won’t shut up and sing.”

I assume (yes I know) that there’s some political statement here about how some listers asking performers that state an opinion (usually on social media or live performances) to “shut up and sing.” Though I believe the ire of the audience has more to do with the tendency of those opinions to be in dogmatic lock-step with much entertainment industry.

Though it is undoubtedly an Isbell-style rocker, two things came to mind when listening to this song. How much it reminds me in theme and tone of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” and how neatly this song would fit into his old band, The Drive-By Trucker’s current release “The Unraveling.”

“Be Afraid” is from Isbell’s upcoming Dave Cobb produced 10-song album titled ‘Reunions.’ out May 15th.

Drive-By Truckers Announce New Album, Shares New Song ‘Armageddon’s Back in Town’ [VIDEO]

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Drive-By Truckers announce new album

It’s been over three years since the Drive-By Truckers’ released ‘American Band (the longest stretch between albums in the band’s career) but now the wait is over. The band’s 12th studio album ‘The Unraveling” will be released on January 31st on ATO Records.

‘The Unraveling” was recorded at the legendary Sam Phillips Recording Service in Memphis, TN by Grammy Award-winning engineer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price) and longtime DBT producer David Barbe.

Part of the longer than usual wait was a result of co-founding singer/songwriter/guitarists Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood’s struggles with writer’s block.

“How do you put these day to day things we’re all living through into the form of a song that we (much less anybody else) would ever want to listen to?” says Hood. “How do you write about the daily absurdities when you can’t even wrap your head around them in the first place? I think our response was to focus at the core emotional level. More heart and less cerebral perhaps.”

“The past three-and-a-half years were among the most tumultuous our country has ever seen,” says Hood, “and the duality between the generally positive state of affairs within our band while watching so many things we care about being decimated and destroyed all around us informed the writing of this album to the core.

“While a quick glance might imply that we’re picking up where 2016’s ‘American Band’ album left off, the differences are as telling as the similarities. If the last one was a warning shot hinting at a coming storm, this one was written in the wreckage and aftermath. I’ve always said that all of our records are political but I’ve also said that ‘politics is personal’. With that in mind, this album is especially personal.”

The current Drive-By Truckers line-up is Hood and Cooley, bassist Matt Patton, keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Jay Gonzalez, and drummer Brad Morgan – together, the longest-lasting iteration in the band’s almost 25-year history. The LP also features a number of special guests, including The Shins’ Patti King, violinist/string arranger Kyleen King (Brandi Carlile), and North Mississippi All-Stars’ Cody Dickinson, who contributes electric washboard to the strikingly direct “Babies In Cages.”

Hear the scorching ‘Armageddon’s Back in Town’ below.

Pre-order “The Unraveling” here.

Drive-By Truckers’ Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood To Put Out Unreleased First Record

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Adam's House Cat

A decade before they went on to front the mighty Drive-By Truckers Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood collaborated in their first band, Adam’s House Cat. Cooley, Patterson et al are set to share those halcyon days with all of us by releasing ‘Town Burned Down,’ the first-ever official release of the 1990 recording will be released via ATO Records on Friday September 21.

Check out the first cut from the album, “Runaway Train,” below. Even in these early days the alt.country sensibilities were already on display reflecting their contemporary influences Uncle Tupelo and The Bottle Rockets.

On November 25, 1990, Adam’s House Cat set up in the rooms upstairs from Muscle Shoals Sound Recording Studio and recorded basic tracks for 15 songs with producer/engineer Steve Melton (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Traffic). Tracked live on 2” analog 24-track tape, the songs recorded that freezing cold day represent an historic document of Adam’s House Cat in all their electrifying, unwieldy glory. The cavernous studio’s plaster walls, hardwood floors, and 25-foot ceilings enabled the band to create a massive sound without using the digital reverb common in that era. As a result, the recordings – mostly first and second takes – capture Adam’s House Cat as they truly were, loud, passionate and bracingly determined.

1991 saw Adam’s House Cat struggling to both fund their album’s completion and simply stay together. Hood tracked his lead vocals on the same January night in which George H.W. Bush began Operation Desert Storm. Backing vocals and minimal overdubs were added that winter and though Hood was not entirely thrilled with his vocal performances, by spring, Melton had begun mixing the raw recordings. Cahoon abruptly left the band mid-summer, replaced by Chris Quillen, who eventually contributed a memorable high-harmony vocal to the album’s “Long Time Ago.”

Alas, Adam’s House Cat’s days were numbered. Hood and Cooley relocated to Memphis in early September, and though their live shows that month proved among the band’s best ever, by month’s end, the band had played its last, quietly breaking up after an uneventful gig in Nashville. TOWN BURNED DOWN not only went unreleased, the original 24-track tapes were lost after Muscle Shoals Sound was sold and liquidated. As if that weren’t bad enough, Melton’s mixes were boxed up and sent to Jackson, MS’s Malaco Studio where they were later destroyed when a devastating tornado struck the historic building in 2011.

Hood and Cooley carried on, collaborating on a couple of ill-fated projects, but in 1993, the two had a falling out that lasted until Hood relocated to Athens, GA in April the following year. Their musical partnership resumed, with Hood making monthly visits to Cooley’s Birmingham apartment to record four-track demos together. With Cooley now also writing original songs, a new vision began to take shape. Hood and Cooley intended Chris Quillen to be a founding member but the bassist was tragically killed in a car accident that May, mere weeks before Drive-By Truckers officially came into being. John Cahoon passed away in 1999.

Fast-forward more than 20 years in which Drive-By Truckers grew to become what Stereogum hailed as “perhaps the greatest extant American rock and roll band,” equally acclaimed for their landmark 11-LP canon as well as their epic live performances. In 2015, three boxes labeled “ADAM’S HOUSE CAT” mysteriously appeared in the tape vault of longtime friend and DBT producer David Barbe’s Athens, GA studio. Contained within were the unmixed 2” tape master tapes of TOWN BURNED DOWN, along with another reel containing an EP’s worth of songs recorded the previous year.

Partly inspired by Chuck Tremblay’s near fatal heart attack in the spring of 2017, Hood made a New Year’s resolution to finally complete TOWN BURNED DOWN and in February 2018, Barbe baked the fragile tapes and placed them on reels for the first time in more than a quarter century.

Though the music and material were as powerful as ever, perhaps even more so, Hood remained as unhappy with his vocal performance as he had been in the past. Wondering if his hard-earned abilities would allow him to finally sing his songs as originally intended, Hood decided to attempt new vocal tracks. Within two hours, vocals were recorded for the entire album, raw and cathartic takes that were at once true to Hood’s original intent but reflecting the lessons of the intervening years.

On April 16, 2016, Hood, Cooley, and Tremblay convened at Barbe’s Chase Park Transduction studio in Athens to complete mixing TOWN BURNED DOWN – the first reunion of the Adam’s House Cat founding members in more than 27 years. The final mixes were later mastered at Sterling Sound in Edgewater, NJ by longtime DBT collaborator Greg Calbi.

TOWN BURNED DOWN can at last be properly heard the way Adam’s House Cat always wanted it to be heard, its raw soul and boisterous enthusiasm already hinting at what was yet to come. Songs like “Runaway Train” and “Cemeteries” display dark edges that surely must’ve intimated audiences in their time, but now sound startlingly heartfelt and full of fiery joy, energized by Cahoon and Tremblay’s versatile, dynamic backing and of course, the ever-present, undeniable chemistry between Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley.

“Finally releasing ‘Town Burned Down’ brings a sort of closure to one of the saddest and most important chapters of mine and Cooley’s lives,” writes Hood in the LP’s detailed liner notes. “The years we spent pounding out these songs made us the people and artists that we have later become, but we carried with us a darkness from never having been able to get the album out. The sound of these songs blasting out of the control room after all of these years while Cooley, Chuck and I grinned from ear to ear has truly been one of the most joyous events of my entire life. Songs from literally half of my life ago that somehow still seem vital to me all of these years later.”

Pre-order ‘Town Burned Down.’

Track Listing:
Lookout Mountain
Town Burned Down
Runaway Train
Down On Me
6 O’ Clock Train
Buttholeville
Child Abuse
Love Really Sucks
Kiss My Baby
Shot Rang Out
Long Time Ago
Cemeteries

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS TOUR DATES 2018:
August 25 – Amsterdam NL – Once in a Blue Moon Festival
September 2 – Sausalito, CA – Sausalito Art Festival
September 3 – Richmond, VA – Stone’s Throw Down
September 22 – Chicago, IL – Goose Island Block Party
September 27 – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre #
September 28 & 29 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse #
September 30 – Chattanooga, TN – Walker Theatre
October 2 – Peoria, IL – Monarch Music Hall *
October 3 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre *
October 5 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater *
October 6 & 7 – Fort Collins, CO – Washington’s
November 6, 7 & 8 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn
November 9 & 10 – Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom &*
November 13 – Little Rock, AR – Revolution Music Room *
November 14 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom *
November 15 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
November 16 & 17 – Austin, TX – The Scoot Inn *
January 27 – Feb 1 – Tampa, FL – Outlaw Music Cruise – SOLD OUT

# – w/Adam’s House Cat
*- w/T. Hardy Morris
& – w/Lily Hiatt

Record Store Day 2017 – Americana and Roots Music Picks

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It’s that time of year again. Well, yes Spring but more specifically for a music blog it’s the annual season of blossoming limit selections of rare and obscure vinyl known as Record Store Day. The event has helped fuel the resurgence in sales and pushing the few remaining pressing plant’s production capacity to the hilt. As is tradition the event will be taking place on the fourth Saturday in April. For 2017 that means Saturday, April 22nd.

Record Store Day offerings are scarce, unique releases, some only available in specific regions. Some are produced in very limited runs, some totaling no more than a few hundred total.
Check out the Americana and roots selections below and take a look at the full list. Get to your favorite indy record early on April 22nd  (I’ll be at Good Records in Dallas) and share those great finds with me on Instagram and Twitter.

Blaze Foley – Sittin’ By The Road [LP] (180 Gram Gold Colored Vinyl, detailed liner notes by film maker Kevin Triplett, limited, indie-retail exclusive)

Brandy Clark – Live From Los Angeles [LP] (previously unreleased songs, limited to 2500, indie-retail exclusive)

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – Hammersmith Odeon London ’75 [4LP] (150 Gram, first time on vinyl, numbered/limited to 3000, indie-retail exclusive)

The Cadillac Three – Live At Abbey Road [10 ” EP] (limited to 1500, indie-retail exclusive)

Dave Alvin and Phil Alvin, Hard Travelin’ EP (Yep Roc Records) Packaging: 12” Vinyl / Transparent Red

Dolly Parton – Puppy Love [7”] (limited to 2500, indie-retail exclusive

Drive By Truckers – Live In Studio, New York, NY 12/07/16 [LP] (Clear Vinyl, limited to 3530, indie-retail exclusive)

Emmylou Harris – Queen Of The Silver Dollar [5LP + 7 ” Box Set] (Emmylou’s first five studio albums plus a bonus 7 ” single, limited to 1100, indie-retail exclusive)

Gram Parsons & The Fallen Angels – Live 1973 featuring Emmylou Harris [LP] (180 Gram, gold foil jacket and holographic numbered/limited to 2000, indie-retail exclusive)

Hayseed Dixie – Free Your Mind And Your Grass Will Follow [LP] (Clear Vinyl, limited to 1000, indie-retail exclusive)

Head And The Heart, The – Stinson Beach Sessions [LP] (unreleased songs and demos, limited to 3000, indie-retail exclusive)

Iron And Wine – Archives Series Volume No. 3 [LP] (Translucent Blue Vinyl, limited to 700, indie-retail exclusive

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Welcome to 1979 – Live recordings direct cut to acetate at Nashville studio Welcome To 1979. 12″, tip-on style, simple sleeve jacket, white dust sleeve. Side A: 1. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (Jagger/Richards) 2. Storm Windows (Prine) 3. Heart on a String (Jackson/Buckins) Side B: 1. Atlantic City (Springsteen) 2. Sway (Jagger/Richards) 3. Never Gonna Change (Isbell)

John Paul White & Donnie Fritts – John Paul White Sings Donnie Fritts, Donnie Fritts Sings John Paul White [7”] (limited to 1000, indie-retail exclusive)

Leon Russell – Guitar Blues [CD] (limited to 1000, indie-retail exclusive)

The Lumineers – Song Seeds [10”] (limited to 1500, indie-retail exclusive)

Neil Young – Decade [3LP] (1977 compilation of solo and group hits, remastered, 2 photo reproductions by Henry Diltz, limited to 5000, indie-retail exclusive)

Nels Cline (Wilco) – In The Wee Small Hours [7 ”] (Frank Sinatra cover, limited to 1000, indie-retail exclusive)

Old 97’s – Terlingua b / w Off My Mynd [12 ”] (Opaque White Vinyl, Unreleased exclusive B-sides, etched B-side, limited to 2530, indie-retail exclusive

Pokey LaFarge – Riot In The Streets / Better Man Than Me [10 ”] (B-side etching of original hand-drawn image by Pokey, limited to 1500, indie-retail exclusive)

Robert Johnson – The Complete Recordings: The Centennial Collection [3LP] (150 Gram, gatefold, download, 12×24 poster, numbered/limited to 2500, indie-retail exclusive)

Sharon Jones with the E.L. Fields Gospel Wonders – Heaven Bound b/w Key To The Kingdom [7”] (‘picture frame’ custom jacket with easel-back, limited to 2500, indie-retail exclusive)

Sharon Jones, Corey Harris & Peter McGennis – Bubble Girl (Soundtrack) [12”] (limited, indie-retail exclusive)
Shooter Jennings & Waymore’s Outlaws – Live [12”] (Coke Clear Vinyl, single jacket with white inner sleeve, limited to 500, indie-retail exclusive)

Steve Earle & The Dukes – Live [7 ”] (picture sleeve, limited to 3000, indie-retail exclusive)

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Live At Carnegie Hall [2LP] (150 Gram Marbled Brown Vinyl, download, limited to 3000, indie-retail exclusive)

Townes Van Zandt – Live At Austin City Limits [LP] (limited to 2500, indie-retail exclusive)

Waylon Jennings & The 357’s – Waylon Forever [12”] (Clear Orange Vinyl, single jacket with white inner sleeve, limited to 250, indie-retail exclusive)

The Drive-By Truckers To Release New Album ‘American Band’ This Fall, Premiers Single

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Drive-By Truckers

Drive-By Truckers have always been a band that defies convention. Their new cut, “Surrender Under Protest” from their 11th studio release ‘American Band’ (ATO Records), proves that their not about to soften anytime soon.

The Georgia-by-way-of-Alabama band has had a revolving number of extraordinary personal over their 20 years. Through it all main songwriters Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley have held mirrors to Southern life in ways that asks narrative questions while also honoring stylistic traditions.

“Surrender Under Protest” is a Cooley-penned first single from the record. A blast of guitar intros a song for these times, bracing in it’s directness confronting our growing cultural divisions.

Or as Hood describes the approach to ‘American Band’ : “This time out, there are no such (narrative) diversions as these songs are mostly set front and center in the current political arena with songs dealing with our racial and cultural divisions, gun violence, mass shootings and political assholery. Once again, there is a nearly even split between the songs of Cooley and myself, with both of us bringing in songs that seem to almost imply a conversation between us about our current place in time.

“American Band” is a rock and roll call to arms as well as a musical reset button for our band and the country we live in. Most of all, we look at it as the beginnings of some conversations that we, as a people very much need to begin having if we ever hope to break through the divisions that are threatening to tear us apart.”

The motivation to make music that matters is a natural one in roots-leaning music. But not everyone can strike a Woody Guthrie tone. There’s a risk of partisan platitudes ( think “Jerusalem ” era Steve Earle) instead of populist poetry ( think pre- ‘Jerusalem’ era Steve Earle.)  it’s a  subtle balance the “Surrender Under Protest” struggles to maintain.

“American Band” not only marks a change in tone for the The Drive-By Truckers. The band is using a photograph for the cover, an American flag at half-staff, instead of an illustration (mostly handled by the Southern-Gothic imagery of Wes Freed.)
The Drive-By Truckers premiered the new single with NPR.

‘American Band’ pre-order options are here Listen to “Surrender Under Protest” and check out the band’s upcoming tour dates are listed below.

Drive-By Truckers Tour Dates:

July
13 — New York, N.Y. @ Lowdown Hudson Music Fest
17 — Alta, Wyo. @ Grand Targhee Festival

August
20 — Morrison, Colo. @ Red Rocks Amphitheater
27 — Lexington, Ky. @ MoonTower Music Fest

September
16 — Toronto, Ontario @ TURF 2016
17 — Fredericton, Neb. @Canada Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival
23 — Kansas City, Mont. @ Crossroads
24 — Minneapolis, Minn. @ First Avenue
25 — Sioux Falls, S.D. @ The District
28 — Missoula, Mont. @ The Wilma
29 — Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox at the Market
30 — Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom

October
1 — Portland Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom
2 — Vancouver, British Columbia @ Rickshaw Theater
5 — Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace of Spades
6-7 — San Francisco, Calif. @ The Fillmore
8 — Lake Tahoe, Nev. @ Montbleau Resort Casino
11-12 — Los Angeles Calif. @ Teragram Ballroom
13 — Solana Beach, Calif. @ Belly Up Tavern
14 — San Luis Obispo, Calif. @ The Fremont
15 — Scottsdale, Ariz. @ Livewire

Wanted! – Notable Americana and Roots Music Releases for 2016

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Ghosts of Highway 20 - Lucinda Williams

2015 was another bumper crop year for Americana and roots music, and 2016 show vast signs that the great music will continue to come. As our Cream of the Crop favorites from 2015 makes plain we might be experiencing a new golden age of roots music as a growing influence on our contemporary culture and as a sustainable , and viable, business for young and old artists alike.

That last part is crucial as it provides seed corn for the future of this music we truly love.

The list below is a collection of 2016 notable Americana / roots releases. Some anticipated releases from artists like Sturgill Simpson, Elizabeth Cook, Robbie Fulks, Lydia Loveless, Al Scorch and Brandy Clark have no release dates yet, but when I’m aware of them and others I will be updating the list through the year and will send word through my twitter account

If you know of a release not listed leave it in the comments and I might add it.

Look for new things coming in the 2016 at Twang Nation. With your help it’s going to be a great year folks.

January 11th
Keegan McInroe – “Uncouth Pilgrims”

January 15th
Dylan LeBlanc – ‘Cautionary Tale’
Randy Rogers Band – “Nothing Shines Like Neon”
Hank Williams Jr. – “It’s About Time”
Dawn Landes And Piers Faccini – ‘Desert Songs’

January 22nd
The Cactus Blossoms – ‘You’re Dreaming’
Simon Linsteadt – Self-Titled
Aoife O’Donovan – “In the Magic Hour”

January 24th
Michael Chapman – ‘Fish”

January 26th
Brad Armstrong – “Empire”

January 29th
Buddy Miller and Friends – ‘Cayamo Sessions at Sea’
Sierra Hull – ‘Weighted Mind’
Aubrie Sellers – ‘City Blues’
Miranda Lee Richards – “First Light of Winter”

February 5th
Lucinda Williams – “The Ghosts of Highway 20”
Dori Freeman – ‘Dori Freeman’
Luther Dickinson – ‘Blues & Ballads (A Folksinger’s Songbook: Volumes I & II)’
The Infamous Stringdusters – ‘Ladies & Gentleman’
Freakwater – ‘Scheherazade’
The O’s – ‘Honeycomb’

February 12th
Vince Gill – “Down to My Last Bad Habit”
Wynonna Judd – “Wynonna & the Big Noise”
Lorrie Morgan – ‘Letting Go … Slow’
Joey + Rory – “Hymns That Are Important To Us”
Malcolm Holcombe – ‘Another Black Hole’
Wheeler Walker Jr. ‘Redneck Shit’
Alex Dezen – ‘Alex Dezen’
Matt Patershuk – ‘I Was So Fond of You”
Applewood Road (Emily Barker, Amber Rebirth and Amy Speace) – ‘Applewood Road’

February 19th
Lake Street Dive – ‘Side Pony’
Austin Lucas – ‘Between The Moon and the Midwest”
Mike June – ‘Poor Man’s Bible’

February 26th
Shooter Jennings – ‘Countach (For Giorgio)’
Waco Brothers – ‘Going Down in History’
Kathryn Legendre – ‘Don’t Give A Damn’
Michael Daves – ‘Orchids and Violence’
Jane Kramer – ‘Carnival of Hopes’
Paul Burch – ‘Meredian Rising’
Bonnie Raitt – ‎’Dig In Deep’‬
Caleb Caudle – ‘Carolina Ghost”
Jen Lane – ‘This Life of Mine’
Ashley Monroe – ‘Live At Third Man Records”

March 4th
Loretta Lynne – ‘Full Circle’
Chris King – ‘Animal’
Anielle Reid – ‘Love Song’
Dead Tongues – ‘Montana’

March 11th
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real – ‘Something Real’
Waylon Jennings – ‘Return of the Outlaw: The Abbott, Texas, Broadcast 1973’

March 18th
Various – Dave Cobb’s ‘Southern Family
Grant Lee Phillips – ‘The Narrows’
Sean Watkins – “What To Fear”
The Roosevelts – ”The Greatest Thing You’ll Ever Learn’

March 25th
Parker Millsap – ‘The Very Last Day’
Margo Price – ‘Midwest Farmer’s Daughter’

April 1st
Elephant Revival – ‘Petals’
Robbie Fulks – ‘Upland Stories’
Teddy Thompson and Kelly Jones – ‘Little Windows’
Left Arm Tan – ‘Lorene’

April 8th
Hayes Carll – “Lovers and Leavers”
Tim McNary – ‘Above the Trees’ EP

April 15th
Hackensaw Boys – “Charismo”
Pauline Andres – “The Heart Breaks”
The Lowest Pair – ‘Fern Girl and Ice Man’ / ‘Uncertain As It Is Uneven’

April 19th
Crow Moses – “Nightshades”

April 22nd
Nate Leavitt – “Someone Send a Signal”
Derek Hoke – ‘Southern Moon’

April 29th
Larry Hooper – ‘No Turning Back’

May 3rd
Robert Ellis – ‘Robert Ellis’
Jeremy Nail – ‘My Mountain’

May 6th
Mary Chapin Carpenter – ‘The Things That We Are Made Of”
Jimbo Mathus – ‘Band of Storms’ EP
Vaudeville Etiquette – ‘Aura Vista Motel’

May 20th
Crystal Yates – ‘The Other Side’

May 27th
The Lowest Pair – ‘Fern Girl and Ice Man’ and ‘Uncertain As It Is Uneven’
Bonnie Bishop – ‘Ain’t Who I Was’

June 17
Sarah Jarosz – ‘Undercurrent’
Kris Kristofferson – ‘Cedar Creek Sessions’

June 24
The Felice Brothers – “Life in the Dark,”

July 1
Sara Watkins – ‘Young In All The Wrong Ways’

July 4
James Scott Bullard – “Box of Letters”

July 8
Mark Chesnutt – ‘Tradition Lives On’
Rob Ickes & Trey Hensley – ‘The Country Blues’

July 15
The Earls Of Leicester – ‘Rattle & Roar,’

July 22
High Bar Gang – ‘Someday the Heart Will Trouble the Mind’

August 5
Chelle Rose – ‘Blue Ridge Blood’
Summer Dean – ‘Unladylike’

August 12
Kelsey Waldon – ‘I’ve Got a Way on’
Boo Ray – ‘Sea of Lights’

August 19
Lydia Loveless – ‘Real’
John Paul White – ‘Belah’

August 26
The Devil Makes Three – ‘Redemption & Ruin”
Dietrich Strause – “How Cruel That Hunger Binds”
Waiting for Henry – ‘Town Called Patience’

September 9
Blue Highway – ‘Original Traditional’

September 16
Amanda Shires – “My Piece Of Land”
Jesse Dayton – ‘The Revealer’
The Buffalo Ruckus – ‘Peace & Cornbread’

September 30
Drive-By Truckers – ‘American Band’
Jim Lauderdale – ‘This Changes Everything’

October 7
Shovels and Rope – ‘Little Seeds’
Hiss Golden Messenger – ‘Heart Like a Levee’
The Dexateens – ‘Teenage Hallelujah’

October 28
Aaron Lee Tasjan – “Silver Tears”
Various Artists – ‘Highway Prayer – Tribute to Adam Carroll”
Jasmine Rodgers – ‘Blood Red Sun’

November 4
Kent Eugene Goolsby – ‘Temper Of The Times’

November 18
Miranda Lambert – “The Weight of These Wings”

Drive-By Truckers Announce “It’s Great To Be Alive!” Deluxe 5 LP Live Release

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Drive-By Truckers "It's Great To Be Alive!"

The first time I witnessed them in New York City on New Year’s Day 2005 I can attest that he Drive-By Truckers are one of the most electrifying live bands roaming the earth. Since 1996 Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley have continually created rich and compelling stories, performed by an assemblage of dynamic counterparts, that have tackled the cultural complexity of the South.

And rocked hard doing it.

On October 30th the mighty Drive-By Truckers will release a daunting chronicle of their live greatness. “It’s a Great Time to Be Alive!” a 5 LP / 3 CD / 35-track live deluxe album recorded over three nights at San Francisco’s historic Fillmore Auditorium. The Truckers will also condense the live effort into a condensed, 13-track edition titled ‘This Weekend’s the Night.’

The set reaches back to Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley’s early band, Adam’s House Cat, and brings us up to last year’s ‘English Oceans.’

Check out the performance of their 2010 ‘The Big To-Do’ track, “Birthday Boy,” below.

‘Both It’s Great to Be Alive!’ and ‘This Weekend’s the Night’ can be pre-ordered now on the band’s website.

Deluxe Vinyl side breakdown:
1A.
Lookout Mountain
Where the Devil Don’t Stay
Sink Hole
First Air of Autumn
1B.
Made Up English Oceans
The Righteous Path
Women Without Whiskey
Mercy Buckets
2A.
The Living Bubba
Primer Coat
Tornadoes
Sounds Better in the Song
2B.
Used to Be a Cop
Shit Shots Count
Runaway Train
A Ghost to Most
3A.
Goode’s Field Road
Uncle Frank
Putting People on the Moon
3B.
Box of Spiders
When the Pin Hits the Shell
A World of Hurt
4A.
Gravity’s Gone
Pauline Hawkins
Birthday Boy
Girls Who Smoke
4B.
Get Downtown
Ronnie and Neil
Three Dimes Down
Hell No, I Ain’t Happy
5A.
Marry Me
Shut Up and Get on the Plane
Angels and Fuselage
5B.
Zip City
Grand Canyon

Happy Birthday Patterson Hood – Top 10 Songs [VIDEO]

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PattersonHoodbyAndyTennille

As one of the founders and principle songwriters of the mighty Drive-By Truckers, Patterson Hood has created a wealth of searing narratives and complex and character studies that has put him on a short list of great contemporary songwriters.
On this occasion of his 50th birthday I take a daunting task at my top 10 , in no particular order, from that bounty.

Your’s not here? Add it to the comments.

Based loosely on Ray McKinnon film short “The Accountant”, the song is about family pride, greed and vengeance.

Hood’s great Uncle encapsulates the complexity of war by remarking “I never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima” while watching said movie.

Act I of the DBT’s “Southern Rock Opera,” Hood delivers HISTORICAL soliloquy ON growing up Alabama and how George Wallace, Bear Bryant and Ronnie Van Zant shaped the environment.

Dirty South is where I fell in love with The Drive-By Truckers. Here’s one reason why.

Here’s another in acoustic version.

Hood displays his awesome storytelling chops before this excellent cut.

The title track off Hood’s latest. Inspired by the impending mortality of his Great Uncle.

Soulful and rips your heart out.

A delicate beauty that compliments hood’s voice well.

A reflection on Drive-By Truckers touring hard through rough times.

Watch Out! Drive-By Truckers “Shit Shots Count” – Conan 03/06/14

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Drive-By Truckers "Shit Shots Count"

The mighty Drive-By Truckers took to the stage on Conan last night to perform the Mike Cooley-penned “Shit Shots Count” from their new release “English Oceans.”

Of course they burned it up as they always do live. And I defy you to find anyone this side of Keith Richards that looks cooler playing guitar than Cooley.