Tag Archives: Guy Clark

News Round Up: Twitter Your Way to an Avett Bros. Deluxe Box Set

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • William Michael Smith’s latest Houston Press column Lonesome Onry and Mean finds kinship and flattering things to say about the new releases from Texas songwriting legends Guy Clark and Kris Kristofferson.
  • Of you tweet between 9/23-9/28 with @theavettbros and #Avett in the text you will be entered in a for a chance to win a Deluxe Box Set of The Avett Brothers’ new release I & Love &You.
  • The latest Rolling Stone features Jason Fine’s article on Bakersfield legend Merle Haggard sordid history (Issue 1088 – Merle Haggard: The Fighter.) Rollingstone.com has a photo gallery of Haggard tracing his early years to his rise as one of Country Music’s greatest singer/songwriters.
  • A film caturing a special evening at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis playing the Music of Ray Charles  can be seen in select cinemas from October 15 and will arrive in-stores, just in time for Chrstmas,on both Blu-Ray and DVD on October 20 from A&E Home Entertainment for $19.95 (SD) and $29.95 (BD). The concert event, including a half-hour backstage, behind-the-scenes interview special, airs on HDNet in true high definition on October 18 at 8:00 p.m. ET and on SIRIUS XM’s Real Jazz channel, SIRIUS channel 72 and XM channel 70 on October 18 at 8:00 pm ET. Blue Note Records will release a live album of the concert in Spring 2010.
  • Thanks to @kimruehl at No Depression and About.com Folk Music for the “official” Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival Twitter hash tag #hsbf. Let’s trend it up people!

News Round Up: Americana Gets Some Love

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • You know Americana as a genre has arrived when not only do they have their own Grammy category (or is that the death knell?) but also the Americana Music Conference is written up in the Wall Street Journal, Paste Magazine and CMT.com. With great power…
  • When in Nashville I always find time to visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The place displays and represents the historic roots of country music in a tasteful and engaging way that I never get tired of. Where else can you see Mother Maybelle Carter’s 1028 Gibson and Elvis’ Gold Cadillac? But the place seems to be at capacity for a genre that is still making history. Now it seems that there’s a possibility that the Hall could double its size in the near future.
  • San Francisco’s free (!) Americana and Roots festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, has published a down-loadable daily schedule, as well as a map of the Golden Gate Park festival grounds and artist’s bios.

News Round Up: Rosanne Cash to Perform “The List” Live

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓
  • Rosanne Cash will perform her new release, The List, live at WNYC, New York on  9/23. The List is a collection of classic country songs culled from a list of 100 songs her father, Johnny Cash, insisted she had to learn.
  • MadeLoud.com has a great interview with Nashville-based Americana chanteuse Caitlin Rose about her influences and living in the heart of Music City.
  • The ‘Queen of Country Music’ Kitty Wells celebrated her 90th birthday with her fans in Nashville on Sunday at Ernest Tubb Record Shop’s Texas Troubadour Theatre. Wells 1952 hit It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels was a female point of view response to Hank Thompson hit The Wild Side of Life, and paved the way for future female performers like Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton.
  • Wall Street Journal’s Jim Fusilli interviews John Fogerty who’s releasing an album of roots and Americana classic covers, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again.
  • Watched the painful sugary-froth that was the CMA Fest. Can we finally just yank “country” out of Country Music Association? Crappy-pop-rock-with-a-fiddle maybe?

Texas Monthly Features Five Texas Music Legends

Posted on by — 3 Comments ↓
  • Texas Monthly’s Pitch Perfect features five legendary Texas musicians—Guy Clark, Patty Griffin, Sonny Throckmorton, Robert Earl Keen, and Jack Ingram— and asks them to sgare the mystic secrets to writing a great country song.  It’s a funny, informative a great read.
  • The nominees for the 20th International Bluegrass Music Awards Awards has been announced (Yay SteelDrivers!) The ceremony will be hosted by Grammy-winning country artist Kathy Mattea and the legendary bluegrass band, Hot Rize, on Thursday, October 1, 2009, at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.
  • Legendary guitar pioneer Les Paul died today at the age of 94 at White Plains Hospital due to complications from pneumonia.
  • More info on Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Son Volt’s Jay Farrar work for the upcoming Jack Kerouac soundtrack collaborative album entitled “One Fast Move or I’m Gone: Kerouac’s Big Sur.”  The twelve song set is due October 20 via F-Stop/Atlantic and will serve as the soundtrack to the Kerouac documentary of the same title.  Farrar and Gibbard were approached by the filmmakers in 2007 about writing music for the film, which documents the events surrounding the author’s time spent in the Big Sur region of California.

Wall Sreet Journal Covers Big Surprise Tour

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓
  • The Wall Street Journal talks to some of the performers on the Big Surprise Tour. The toue is traveling the East coast and  showcases the Old Crow Medicine Show, Justin Townes Earle, The David ­Rawlings Machine (featuring Gillian Welch) and the Felice Brothers.
  • Houston Presses’ William Michael Smith in his Lonesome Onry and Mean column tells of  his son leaving the petroleum engineering program at University of Houston to, over time, become a guitarist for Hayes Carll, looking down the stage and seeing Guy Clark (arms folded) and being heckled by David Allan Coe (My Son, the Guitar-Slinger)
  • Jennifer Aniston has signed on to signed on to produce and star in Goree Girls, a film about the Goree All Girl String Band, a country music group that had a popular 1940s-era radio show despite the fact that its members were all inmates at a Texas prison. (E Online)
  • Kevin Costner wants to help victims of Canada’s Big Valley Jamboree country music festival in Canada where his band “Modern West,” was set to perform.  Storms at the event injured 70 people and a 35 year-old woman died when the wind blew down a speaker on her.

Lyle Lovett and Guy Clark Prepare New Releases

Posted on by — No Comments ↓
  • Lyle Lovett will combine both originals and songs “by some of my favorite Texas singer-songwriters” on his next album, which is due out Oct. 20. (Billboard)
  • And in more Texas legends news; Guy Clark’s new album, Sometimes the Song Writes You, will drop on Sept. 22 on Dualtone Music Group. Clark collaborats with Shawn Camp, Rodney Crowell, Joe Leathers, and more on the album . He also follows Steve Earle’s recent release and covers If I Needed You, written by his late friend, Townes Van Zandt. (CMT)

Create a Set List for the Drive By Truckers

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

PopMatters.com’s Jill LaBrack posted a thoughtful review of the recently released  Hank William Box Set The Unreleased Recordings. Also at PopMatters Michael Metivier posts an equally thoughtful and culturally insightful review of country muisc legend Charlie Louvin new release Charlie Louvin Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs.

The Drive By Truckers never use a set list in their shows but they are giving some lucky fan an opportunity to bid to create a dream set list that the band will play on their January 15th show Athens Georgia’s legendary 40 Watt. The winner will also get handwritten set list of the show signed by the entire band and get to attend a private meet and greet with the band and be given access to the VIP section (with a guest) for the show. All proceeds to the show will go to benefit Nuci’s Space.

The Sounds of Texas Music Series tickets are on sale. The show will take place at the  historic (and completely restored) Crighton Theater on the square in downtown ConroeTexas.  the 2009 series line-up includes: Los Lonely Boys with Del Castillo (Jan. 24); Chris Knight with Mark Germino (Mar. 28); Guy Clark with Jubal Lee Young (May 9); and the Flatlanders (June 6). Tickets are $168, individual tickets $47. They can be purchased from the Crighton Theater box office, 936-441-7469, ext. 201. For more information, see www.SoundsOfTexas.com.

Tom Russell – Berkley, California – 12/06/08

Posted on by — 2 Comments ↓

My fist trip to Berkley since moving to the Bay Area was a great introduction to the town. After the beautiful, if congested, drive over the Bay Bridge at dusk, I headed to the Berkeley branch of Texas-based Half-Price Books where I purchased a used copy of Gail Folkins’ excellent Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit. I took this as an omen.

I found the venue, The Freight & Salvage Coffee House, and parked on a nearby street. While heading to the space I had the good fortune to stumble on Everett & Jones Barbecue, where the wait is worth it and the hot sauce really is. I had the brisket plate. Then on to the show. The Freight & Salvage Coffee House has the DIY vibe of an 60’s coffee house where patrons would sit wired on Italian coffee and listen to songs about the coming revolution blowing in the wind. The capacity crowd this night might be a bit grayer and less primed for rebellion, but they still came to hear songs steeped in authenticity and passion.

At 58 Tom Russell looks like a younger version of the actor James Caan, and like his Bronx born doppelganger Russell has a workman-like delivery of his art. There are few performers more uniquely authentic than the Los Angeles native and El Paso resident. As a founder of contemporary Americana music songwriter Russell defies rigid genre boundaries to create work shaped by many sources -country, folk, Tejano – that lead to great, rather than a correctly formulated, songs. Like his contemporaries Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson, you do a disservice to the man by applying a label to him.

Russell has true Renaissance instincts that have shaped his music as well as his life – right out of the University of California Russell taught school in Nigeria during the Biafran war, he’s has published three books and is currently showing his paintings at Austin and Marfa Texas based Yard Dog galleries.

During the two-plus hour show Russell recalled great stories about friends, lost love, musicians, beat poets, songwriting, border politics and hearing the Doors’ “People Are Strange” on a seedy Mexican cantina juke box. The bartender smile a toothy smile when he say Russell’s amusement and states  “Las puertas son las mejore!” Is it any wonder this all results in such great songs.

San Antonio’s Michael Martin provided intricately dazzling guitar and mandolin workto counter the hard tales Russell sang of illegal Mexican workers (Who’s Gonna Build Your Wall?) grappling with mortality (The Pugilist at 59) and the pain of love (Down the Rio Grande and Navajo Rug.) Many of the songs are autobiographical and the gritty roads and and tequila soaked rendezvous are all palpable. If Willie Nelson is Texas’ Django Reinhardt then Russell is the states’ adopted Jack Kerouac.

As the attentive crowd sat rapt Russell then focused on the plight of Native Americans through a selection of songs including a stirring version of Peter La Farge’s lament of the Pima Indian who was one of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima, The Ballad of Ira Hayes.

Russell closed out the show with an encore featuring the somber prison song Blue Wing and put a fine finish on my introduction to Berkley. As learned and  unorthodox as I could have hoped for.

Tom Russell -  Gallo del Cielo – Freight and Salvage, Berkeley CA

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M6jgq3jYy0[/youtube]

8th Annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Day 1.5

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

Yeah day 1.5, I missed Friday’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass featuring Mr. Plant and Ms. Krauss show so on with this one.

Beautiful weather (despite some early afternoon mist), the crowd grew throughout the day into huge throngs of passionate fans.  You want crazy hippy dancers still bummed about the Dead’s….er death, yeah they were there too.

The day started for me with Tift Merritt. Tift put on a spirited show with a crack band. Moving to Paris (and losing her record deal) has certainly agreed with her. Guy Clark & Verlon Thompson were next. I’ve never see a full set my Clark (and at one hour sets I still haven’t) but he and Thompson did a great job of covering a lot of Clark ground as well as a couple of  Thompson originals.

Austin’s Bad Livers came back from the dead to play a their first show after an 8 year hiatus.  They sounded great and glade to be in the thick of all their punk-bluegrass Texas sized gully-washer.  The Gourds followed with their Texas brand of hillbilly world music mash-up stew that satisfied just fine. Texas legend Jerry Jeff Walker followed with a raucous show that belied the man’s age.  Thankfully Redneck Mother was on he menu and Mr. Bojangles was not.

The blissful gospel sounds of Odetta was next and wooed the crowd with her majestic voice and presence. Steve Earle & The Bluegrass Dukes eneded the night with a great rendition of the 10-year old Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band collaboration The Mountain as well as blugrassed up verions of Earle originals “An American Boy” and the show closer “Cottonhead Road.”

i need to thank my partner in crime (and daughter) Isobel for accompanying me from stage to stage while I covered this.

Lyle Lovett To Perform and Recieve Special Award at Americana Honors and Awards Show

Posted on by — 2 Comments ↓

NASHVILLE, October 1, 2007 – Artist Lyle Lovett will receive the Americana Music Association’s inaugural Trailblazer Award and perform at the organization’s 2007 Honors and Awards show, slated for November 1 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. To further delve into all things Lyle, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will also sponsor a keynote interview with Lovett the following day, Friday, November 2, during the Americana Music Association’s annual conference.

Dr. Warren Zanes, Education Advisor to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, will moderate the in-depth discussion with Lovett. Scheduled for 11am at the Nashville Convention center, this rare glimpse into the creative process of one of contemporary music’s most fructuous minds is open to conference registrants only.

Established to recognize true musical pioneers, the Americana Trailblazer Award seeks to honor those emboldened artists who create timeless musical capsules of individualistic style and purpose. A connoisseur and catalyst of fine music, Lyle Lovett embodies the term genre-bending. Three decades of the Texas native’s sui generis gospel-roots-jazz-swing concoction have been well-documented by eleven albums, four Grammy’s and a distinct voice both as a songwriter and vocal stylist. Lovett’s newest offering, It’s Not Big It’s Large, offers more literary song gumbo.

“It’s an honor to be part of the Americana Honors & Awards tribute to Lyle Lovett,” said Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. “The social soundtrack that Lyle continues to create makes us proud to be working with the Americana Music Association in our shared mission of celebrating modern music and the great artists who create it.”

“Lyle Lovett’s designation as the first recipient of the Trailblazer Award really sets the tone for the honor itself,” said Americana Music Association Executive Director Jed Hilly. “We at the AMA are consistently thrilled by the caliber of artist we represent and applaud. Lyle Lovett naturally falls into that elite fold.”

Lovett rounds out the nonpareil lineup of artists scheduled to perform during the 8th annual Americana Awards and Honors ceremony. Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, Darrell Scott, Joe Ely, Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Todd Snider, Gurf Morlix, The Avett Brothers, Sunny Sweeney, Old Crow Medicine Show, Hacienda Brothers and Elizabeth Cook will all take the stage. Hosted by Jim Lauderdale and featuring a band led by Buddy Miller, the event will also toast winners in six member-voted categories: Album, Artist, Instrumentalist, New and Emerging Artist, Song and Duo/Group of the Year. The AMA will also recognize beloved beatnik Joe Ely with the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Performance category. Venerable scribe Guy Clark will accept the AMA President’s award on behalf of his friend, Townes Van Zandt. Clark’s performance will pay tribute to the late Van Zandt, whose unparalleled influence touches the upper echelon of song.

Slated for Wednesday, October 31 through Saturday, November 3, the 8th Annual Americana Festival and Conference will offer daily seminars, panels and networking opportunities at the Nashville Convention Center. Each evening brings stacked Americana showcases to key venues throughout Nashville.

Lyle Lovett – That’s Right You’re Not From Texas

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMhaehb5AnE[/youtube]