Tag Archives: Kris-Kristofferson

Twang Nation Podcast Episode 10 – Chris Knight, Buddy Miller,Jim Lauderdale, John Fullbright, Gurf Morlix

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podcastEpisode #10 (alright double digits!) of Twang Nation Podcast pulls from my first 10 of a list of 21, Cream of the Crop selections from 2012. It’s been a great year for Americana and roots music. T Bone Burnett has done a fine job of sliding roots artists like Lindi Ortega and Shovels and Rope within a Music Row soap opera with ABC’s Nashville. The Americana Music Association continues to burnish the brand and their conference and wards show set attendance and submission records. Even that bastion of Music Row glitz, CMT, saw crossover potential and launched CMT Edge which has featured artists like Jason Isbell and Justin Townes Earle.

2013 shows no signs of slowing down with upcoming releases from Kris Kristofferson, Dale Watson as well as joint releases from Kelly Willis and her hubby Bruce Robison and Emmylou Harris and ex Hot Band member and legendary songwriter Rodney Crowell.

As the Americana music culture and industry grows and becomes more of a mainstream staple, with bands like Mumford and Sons and the Avett Brothers leading the way, I applaud the advantages and the opportunities for musicians and we who cover them. As I’ve said, I want the performers I cover to get more prestigious gigs, better recording facilities, more gear and to leave their touring vans behind and be bale to afford the relative comfort of a touring bus. I don’t believe musicians should suffer for tier craft (much!) Here’s to mutually rising boats.

In the new year I resolve to do my best not to follow the hyped path most traveled and do what I’ve always done, follow my heart and my ear to places more interesting and authentic for the love of music. I hope you come with me in and enjoy what I discover.

Thanks you for reading the site, following on twiiter , Facebook, Google+ and my work over at Grammy.com.

Happy holidays and a safe and happy New year to you all.

Opening Song – “Mr. D.J” – by Dale Watson
1.Chris Knight– song:”Little Victories”- Album: “Little Victories” (Drifter’s Church Productions)
2.Malcolm Holcolmbe – song: “Gone Away at Last”- Album: “Down the River” (GypsyeyesMusic – out now )
3.Darrell Scott – Song: Hopskinville – Album: Long Ride Home (Full Light Records)
4.Corb Lund – song: Gettin’ Down on the Mountain Album: Cabin Fever (New West Records)
5. Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale That’s Not Even Why I Love You. – Album: Buddy and Jim (New West Records)
6.Iris DeMent – song:Sing The Delta- Album:Sing The Delta (Flariella Records)
7.Dwight Yoakam – song:A Heart Like Mine- Album:3 Pears (Warner Bros. Records)
8.Turnpike Troubadours Song: Gin, Smoke and Lies- Album:Goodbye Normal Street (Bossier City Records)
9.John Fullbright song:Satan and St. Paul- Album:From The Ground Up (Bossier City Records)
10. Shovels & Rope– song:Fire On The Hill- Album:O’ Be Joyful (Dualtone Records)
11. Gurf Morlix – song:Present Tense- Album: Gurf Morlix Finds the Present Tense – Out March 5, 2013)
12.Robert Earl Keen– song:Merry Christmas from the Family- Album: Gringo Honeymoon

Kris Kristofferson is Feeling Mortal in the Third Release of His Twilight Years Trilogy

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Much of this post is posted verbatim  an excellent PR email I got for this anticipated album:

Kris Kristofferson, legendary songwriter, singer, Country Music Hall of Fame member, actor, activist, Golden Gloves boxer, a Rhodes scholar, a college football player, acclaimed actor, military officer,  helicopter pilot, a saint, a sinner, a Grammy-winner and a  janitor at Columbia Records will release Feeling Mortal, his first collection of new material in four years on January 29, 2013.

The album will be released on his own KK Records will be the third Don Was-produced album in a twilight years trilogy, following 2009’s Closer To The Bone and 2006’s This Old Road.

The 76-year-old Kristofferson “Wide awake and feeling mortal,” writes on the title track. “At this moment in the dream/ That old man there in the mirror/ And my shaky self-esteem.”

“Going back to the beginning, the songs have been reflections of where I was at that point in my life,” he says. “I always try to be as honest as I can in the songwriting, otherwise there’s no point in doing it: I might as well be doing an advertising job or something. And what I’m finding, to my pleasant surprise at this age, is that I’m more inclined to laughter than tears. I hope I’ll feel this creative and this grateful until they throw dirt over me.”

That doesn’t mean Feeling Mortal works as anyone’s greeting card of soft-peddled feelings. “Just Suppose” is another look in the mirror, a negotiation with shame’s reflection. “Castaway” is a cry of the heart, and a memory of a long-ago scene Kristofferson witnessed from the air, when he was flying helicopters over the Gulf of Mexico. And “My Heart Was The Last One To Know” is a harrowing old song, written by Kristofferson and genius poet/author/cartoonist/songwriter Shel Silverstein and previously recorded by Connie Smith.

“Shel was the only person I consistently wrote songs with,” Kristofferson says. “He was a fantastic writer. We did about a dozen songs, and usually he’d write down some titles and a description of what he was thinking about, and I’d go off and come back with a song.”

The album ends with “Ramblin’ Jack,” a song ostensibly about Kristofferson’s folk-singing friend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Kristofferson approached the song as something of a self-penned co-write, inspired and begun by his younger self and finished in the present and mortal day. The second verse is the new one: “And if he knew how good he’d done/ Every song he ever sung/ I believe he’d truly be surprised.”

“Ramblin’ Jack’s one of those people whose whole life was music,” Kristofferson says. “He’s like William Blake and Bob Dylan and other people who just believed and lived for whatever poetry they could come up with. That’s probably the thing I was trying to be.”

That’s the thing he was, and the thing he is.

In the Nashville beginning, Kristofferson threw away a promising military career in favor of life as what he sometimes calls, “A songwriting bum.” He had excelled at most everything he’d ever tried, save for singing and songwriting, but it was the singing and the writing that called to him. He wound up penning classics including “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “Sunday Morning Coming Down” and “For The Good Times,” as well as a slew of other empathetic, incisive gems. Kristofferson—along with contemporaries Tom T. Hall, Mickey Newbury, Willie Nelson and John Prine—enhanced the scope of country music songwriting, focusing on layering, nuance, empathy and emotional truth.

“A major reason for Kris’ enduring popularity is that he’s always been very honest and open about revealing his inner life,” says producer Don Was, who has worked with Kristofferson for the past 17 years. “‘Sunday Morning Coming Down’ is a brutally frank, first-person narrative that just happens to hit a common nerve among millions of people, and that’s why Kris is such a great artist. I suspect a whole lot of folks will be able to relate to Feeling Mortal, now and for years to come. It’s totally in keeping with the body of Kris’ oeuvre.”

Kristofferson and Was spent three days recording Feeling Mortal, cutting 20 songs and picking 10, then bolstering the basic tracks with stellar instrumental work from guitarist Mark Goldenberg, pedal steel master Greg Leisz, keyboardist Matt Rollins, violinist and vocalist Sara Watkins, bassist Sean Hurley and drummer Aaron Sterling.

They emerged with a piece of work that Was suggests is “One of Kris’ finest albums.”

Kristofferson isn’t one to arm-wrestle with his own legacy, or to set his truths of today against the truths of his old-and-gone immortal self, but he’s pleased that a life that has been sustained by the product of his own imagination remains fruitful.

Above all, Kristofferson is happy to be happy, grateful to be grateful, and wholly unwilling to take the credit for the wondrous way it’s all worked out. In the end, Feeling Mortal is a melodic note of gratitude, from creator to Creator.

“God Almighty, here I am,” he sings. “Am I where I ought to be? I’ve begun to soon descend, like the sun into the sea/ And I thank my lucky stars, from here to eternity/ For the artist that You are/ And the man you made of me.”

Hear samples from Kris Kristofferson’s “Feeling Mortal”

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County – A Gothic Americana Musical Soundtrack Forthcoming

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I’m not what you would call a fan of musicals (though I do have a soft spot for The Sound of Music) but I am intrigued by the Gothic musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County CD release.  The result of a more than a decade long project between horror-rock master (and Americana music fan ) Stephen King and and roots/rock legend  John Mellencamp. As the musical got closer to completion they brought in singer/songwriter and producer T Bone Burnett to help flesh out the music. Burnett, who helmed the music for the Cohen Brother’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart was brought in to “… create the vibe.”

The genesis of the project was Mellencamp who in the late 1990swas inspired by his own supposedly haunted cabin in Bloomington, IN . The lore goes that in the 1930s two brothers got into a fight over a woman at the cabin, and one of them wound up accidentally dead. The surviving brother and the woman sped away in a car, but crashed into a lake a short time later and both drowned.the stuff of Gothic lore, though the absence of moonshine and firearms works against it being Southern Gothic lore.

Mellencamp interpretats the story as  “…two brothers; they’re 19 years old or 20, maybe 18 or 21, who are very competitive and dislike each other immensely. The father takes them to the family vacation place, a cabin that the boys hadn’t been to since they were kids. What has happened is that the father had two older brothers who hated each other and killed each other in that cabin There’s a confederacy of ghosts who also live in this house. The older [dead] brothers are there, and they speak to the audience, and they sing to the audience. That’s all I want to say, except through this family vacation, many things are learned about the family, and many interesting songs are sung.” Again I emphasis the lack of moonshine and firearms!

Both King and Mellencamp welcomed to opportunity to challenge themselves. “You can just keep doing the same shit and you’ll make a living at it,” says King.

The musical oped at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, between  April 4, 2012 until May 13, 2012 and was directed by Alliance Theatre Artistic Director Susan V. Booth, with musical direction by T Bone Burnett. The cast of the upcoming production is led by Tony Award winner Shuler Hensley (Young Frankenstein, Oklahoma, Sweet and Sad) and Tony Award nominee Emily Skinner (Billy Elliot, Side Show, James Joyce’s The Dead), and includes Justin Guarini (“American Idol,” American Idiot, Women on the Verge…), blues musician and actor Jake La Botz, Lucas Kavner (Completeness, The Blue Flower), Kate Ferber (One Child Born: the Music of Laura Nyro), Christopher Morgan (Gut Bucket Blues) and country musician Dale Watson.

Variety reviewed the show harshly, stating ” By the end of the show, you may yearning for “Carrie.” Ouch.

Though music created for a theatrical setting has it’s own flavor there’s no denying the pedigree of Americana music talent involved CD release. But judging by the Elvis Costello cut  “That’s Me,” sung not by Costello but by a member of the cast, I think this could be a great idea that misses the mark.

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County will be available as Standard Edition CD featureing  the complete soundtrack, dialog excerpts and digital libretto. The (2CD/1DVD) Deluxe Edition contains the complete soundtrack (with and without dialog), deluxe art work, handwritten lyrics, specially printed libretto and the “Making of Ghost Brothers” mini-documentary DVD featuring in-depth interviews with King, Mellencamp and Burnett along with other bonus material. Digital editions for tablets, smartphones and e-readers will allow users to interact with the soundtrack + digital libretto, as well as exclusive video and graphic materials.

GHOST BROTHERS OF DARKLAND COUNTY

-Libretto by Stephen King
-Music & Lyrics by John Mellencamp
-Musical Direction by T Bone Burnett
-Featured cast: Kris Kristofferson, Meg Ryan,
Matthew McConaughey, Samantha Mathis, Elvis Costello

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County track listing:

That’s Me  – Elvis Costello (listen at bottom of post)
That’s Who I Am – Neko Case
So Goddamn Smart  – Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Sheryl Crow
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong About Me – Elvis Costello
Brotherly Love – Ryan Bingham and Will Dailey
How Many Days – Kris Kristofferson
You Are Blind – Ryan Bingham
Home Again – Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin, Taj Mahal
What’s Going On Here – Rosanne Cash
My Name Is Joe – Clyde Mulroney
Tear This Cabin Down – Taj Mahal
And Your Days Are Gone – Sheryl Crow, Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin
Jukin’ – Sheryl Crow
What Kind Of Man Am I – Kris Kristofferson, Phil Alvin, Sheryl Crow Dave Alvin, Taj Mahal
So Goddamn Good – Phil Alvin, Dave Alvin, Sheryl Crow
Away From This World – Sheryl Crow
Truth – John Mellencamp

http://soundcloud.com/fantasylabelgroup/thats-me-elvis-costello

 

 

Jamey Johnson’s Tribute to Country Music Legend Hank Cochran – Oct. 16

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No current performer has straddled the music Row and Americana divide as deftly as Jamey Johnson.

His throwback sound, Alabama growl and biker looks appeals to those (like myself) that pine for the days of Waylon and Willie and the boys while his ear for a melody was able to grab the attention of the mainstream country radio and fans with his top 10 hit “In Color.”

Johnson is an unapologetic neo-traditional disciple of country music’s greats. He’s opened for Willie and done George Jones songs in the presence of the man himself. His next effort is to a man that influnced those giants.

On October 16th Johnson will be joined by Willie and many others on his new album, Buddy Cannon-produced Livin’ For a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran. (vinyl beginning Sept. 25.)

Cochran, who died at age 74 in 2010, is considered one of the greatest songwriters in the history of country music. He helped evolve the perfect country template established by Hank Williams a generation earlier. 
 
“If I had to dream up somebody like Hank to influence songwriters, I couldn’t have done a better job,” Johnson says. “That’s what he was– not just for me, but for Willie and for a lot of people–just a helpful friend. If he knew you needed help with something, he could help you. He was there. And that’s what I want to be for the people in my life, same as Hank. He influenced me, not only as an artist and songwriter, but also as a person.”

Cochran’s songs transcended the country genre to become American standards (a practice closely studied by Willie) his catalog includes “I Fall to Pieces,” “She’s Got You,” “Make the World Go Away,” “The Chair,’ “Set ‘Em Up Joe” which Johnson covered on 1010’s The Guitar Song. His songs have been recorded by artists including Eddy  Arnold, Patsy Cline, George Jones, George Strait, Elvis Presley, Elvis Costello, Ray Price, Ronnie Milsap, Jim Reeves and many others. 

Recording a collection of Hank Cochran tunes in a pop-country saturated industry takes guts, and truly reflects the original Outlaw spirit the hat acts on the radio brag having.  When it came time to take the next step in his recording career, he listened to his heart and decided to embark on a labor of love. In a daring career move that is consistent with Johnson’s penchant for bucking conventional industry wisdom to create a unique path, he decided to devote his time and creative efforts to honoring his late friend and celebrate traditional country music.

Besides having a professional affinity to Cochran he also has a personal one. “Shortly after he first met Jamey, Hank was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,” says his widow, Suzi Cochran. “So for the two years he lived after that, Jamey would get off the road and pull his bus right up to the hospital, run up and see Hank and raise Hank’s spirits. The last time Jamey saw Hank was the night before Hank died.” Johnson joined Buddy Cannon and Billy Ray Cyrus at Cochran’s bedside as they handed the guitar back and forth while singing Cochran’s songs. Cochran died about six hours later.

“Hank adored Jamey,” Suzi Cochran says. “Hank loved Jamey. Jamey was a constant in the last chapter of Hank’s life.
 
“This is incredible,” she says of the tribute album. “I wish Hank had been here to see it. He wouldn’t believe it. He would have cried. He’d be happy. It’s exactly like Hank would have done it.”

I am really looking forward to hearing this release and look forward to hearing classic from it live when Johnson joins Willie Nelson and The Band of Horses on the Railroad Revival Tour 2012.

Track listing:
 
1. “Make the World Go Away” – Jamey Johnson and Alison Krauss
2. “I Fall to Pieces” – Jamey Johnson and Merle Haggard
3. “A Way to Survive” – Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill and Leon Russell
4. “Don’t Touch Me” – Jamey Johnson and Emmylou Harris
5. “You Wouldn’t Know Love” – Jamey Johnson and Ray Price
6. “I Don’t Do Windows” – Jamey Johnson and Asleep at the Wheel
7. “She’ll Be Back” – Jamey Johnson and Elvis Costello
8. “Would These Arms Be in Your Way” – Jamey Johnson
9. “The Eagle” – Jamey Johnson and George Strait
10. “A-11” – Jamey Johnson and Ronnie Dunn
11. “I’d Fight the World” – Jamey Johnson and Bobby Bare
12. “Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me” – Jamey Johnson and Willie Nelson
13. “This Ain’t My First Rodeo” – Jamey Johnson and Lee Ann Womack
14. “Love Makes a Fool of Us All” – Jamey Johnson and Kris Kristofferson
15. “Everything But You” – Jamey Johnson, Vince Gill, Willie Nelson and Leon Russell
16. “Livin’ for a Song” – Jamey Johnson, Hank Cochran, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson

Music Review: Willie Nelson – Heroes [Sony Legacy]

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Reviewing a Willie Nelson album is like describing to someone a visit you’ve made to the Grand Canyon. Sure there are the facts and impressions but the shear majesty of what you’re in the presence of something larger than life anit can bow you into awe. But here goes…

Nelson has always been a serial collaborator. The Texas Yoda has cut tracks with so many people he’s become a  musical Keven Bacon. He’s shared the studio with  his country contemporaries Waylon, Merle, Ray to genre-crossers Julio Iglesias and Phish, but Willie is no longer just a country artist. Like Ray Charles, another of his collaborators, he’s jettisoned his original genre and elevated himself to simply American music.

This studio gregariousness shows that Willie is not willing to sit on a laureled pedestal. He is generous with his studio and stage time and willing to lend a little Texas outlaw mojo to others. His legacy is so firmly entrenched in history he seems to feel he can work with whomever,and do do whatever, strikes his fancy. This has resulted from the inspired to the perplexing, but it’s hardly ever boring.

At nine Willie’s new album, ‘Heroes,’ ups the collaboration ante, and sometime within a single song. The count is four,including Willie,  in the post-mortem ode to herb “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.” The song’s title was was originally the album’s title until Willie put the kibosh on the inevitable Walmart boycott. Willie might be an outlaw, but he’s also always been a shrewd businessman. On the song Willie seems to be having fun performing with his brother of the weed Snoop Dogg, along with a bemused-sounding Kris Kristofferson and Jamey Johnson, this collection get’s my vote for a “High” way men tour.

A Last of the Breed mini reunion occurs with Merle Haggard on a beautifully grizzled “Horse Called Music,” originally from the criminally overlooked 1989 album of the same title. Ray Price reprises Floyd Tillman’s classic “Cold War With You” with Willie and Lukas Nelson to suave cowboy effect.

The album’s title, Heroes, is a nod to the performers on the album as well as the musical influences that Willie has always honored. One clear influence on Willie Nelson, Bob Wills and the Western Swing genre is well represented with spirited renditions of Will’s “My Window Faces The South” and “Home In San Antone.”

Amongst the crowded studio the real purpose of “Heroes” appears to be a father’s introducing his son to a larger fan-base. Lukas and his band, The Promise of the Rea,l have been opening and backing for Willie for a couple of year as they honed the craft. But this is not crass nepotism as Lukas contributes a couple of the  best songs on the album with “Every Time He Drinks He Thinks of Her” and “The Sound of Your Memory,” His pleasing vocal style is somewhere between his old man’s phrasing and Jimmie Dale Gilmore keen. Also, he’s a solid guitarist and his Stratocaster flourishes provides a contemporary counterpart to Willie’s cowboy-jazz Trigger.

A contemporary theme runs through a selection of covers. An inspired, palatial version of Pearl Jam’s rumination on mortality “Just Breathe” takes on deeper level of poignancy as the song is sung with his son Lukas, and Willie approaches his 80th birthday. Tom Waits’  quasi-gospel  “Come On Up To The House” features Mickey Raphael’s excellent and understated harmonica work cultivated from being with Willie for many years. The song aligns dutifully with the original and also features Lucas and the ubiquitous Sheryl Crow, who is serviceable if unnecessary. Willie’s solo turn on Coldplay’s “The Scientist,” first seen on a Chipotle Super Bowl commercial, charms me into enjoying (okay, appreciating) the song.

The Willie-penned title song is said to be about fellow outlaw Billy Joe Shaver (in some cases literally), who appears here with a contemporary rabble-rouser of sorts, Jamey Johnson. This 4/4 waltz is a sentimental reminiscence of a musician who used to be “king of the bars,” but it just as well could be a testament to the current sad state of country music.

“Heroes” is an uneven affair. Like a ramshackle late-night guitar pull fueled by intoxents both legal and not, it’s a lot of fun and done with love of music, mutual respect and a seeming sense of harmonious happenstance sorely missing image-obsessed music industry.

Here’s to Willie being Willie.

Official site | Buy

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 11 Wrap Up

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The 11th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival was dedicated to the activist folk/country singer who died in April at the age of 75. Dickens had played the festival every year since it’s inception in 2001. Her influence was felt everywhere from the her likeness stamped on the programs, to references from the stages and the sense of community in the crowd and from the stage.

During the Wronglers’ set with Jimmie Dale Gilmore that kicked day 2 of the three day event, the band had Dickens’ longtime collaborator Ron Thomason sit in for a cover of Dickens’ signature song, “The Mannington Mine Disaster.” Wrongler banjoist, festival benefactor and longtime Dickens fan, Warren Hellman said  “We were very fond of each other but we couldn’t be two more opposite people,” Hellman said. “She’s probably looking down from heaven right now thinking, ‘How did that old bastard make it?”

Next I was off to the Star stage to catch my buddy Jimbo Mathus in the South Memphis String Band. The cosmic-America vibe mixed with front porch casualness easily won over the crowing crowd as the smell of the Bay Area’s favorite controlled substance filled the air. Jolie Holland, a Texan by way of Bay Area is a distinctive voice ran her all-famale  four-piece band a braod swath of her discography with charm and passion.

Then off to the Arrow Stage for Southern Culture on the Skids. I’d been wanting to see SCOTS for a long time but it never worked out. Their brand of white-trash boogie is like a monster truck, a wonder of precision fused to a aesthetic awesome abomination.

I headed due East to settle in at the Banjo stage to catch John Prine. Prine still casts a folkie wry eye on modern living. His opening number Spanish Pipedream – “Blow up your TV, throw away your paper, Go to the country, build you a home.” With Bay Area rent what it is this is a sentiment appreciated in spirit if less so in practice.

As anticipated the heavy crowd quickly swelled when the ex-Zep wailer Robert Plant brought his latest roots music venture – The Band of Joy, to the Banjo Stage. Grittier than his work with Alison Krauss on Raising Sand. Variations of Los Lobos, Low, Townes Van Zandt and reworked Zeppelin tunes were visited. The mic was passed between Plant and band-mates Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, and Darrell Scott . The plant encored with excellent reworks of Zeppelin’s Bron-Y-Aur Stomp and Gallows Pole.

Saturday was dominated by two living country music legends. Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson ran through a treasure trove of golden hits of their own and from Bob Wills and Johnny Cash on the Star Stage as the sun warmed the capacity crowd.

When I saw Gillian Welch and David Rawlings a few months back as they struck out on their current tour Gillian had mentioned that it was the lack of new material while playing Hardly Strictly 10 that led to the creation of their current release Harrow and the Harvest. The pair made up for it at HSB 11 as new songs were slotted in with older favorites in their 12 song set which encored, appropriate for San Francisco, Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit.

Golden Gate Park has a long history of free music festivals, beginning with the “Human Be-In” of 1967 and continues Hardly Strictly Bluegrass because of one banjo player, bluegrass and roots music enthusiast, Warren Hellman. You could see him on the side of the stage catching many of the acts smiling like a kid. Even sharing the stage with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, resplendent in a Nudie-style black jacket, sparkling Stars of David along the sleeves designed by his granddaughter, his love of the music is felt from observing him and results in the three day event and 90 acts spread across six stages highlighting some of the best of Americana and roots music. Every year, stacks of personal thank-you cards turn up at the offices of Hellman & Friedman, his private equity investment offices, but you can imagine that even without the gratitude he;d still do it for personal pleasure. There are worse ways to spend your millions.

If there was a negative to the HSB festival they were the aforementioned record-breaking crowds. The large amount of older people, children and dogs addd to often stand-still conditions made things uncomfortable if not dangerous. Perhaps next year a minimal cover charge to keep the crowd under control? Also, and I understand that this is San Francisco, bit the amount of marijuana in the air made it obviously family unfriendly. What you do with your body is your business but when your purple crush wafts downwind to a playing three-year old you’re imposing on others.

Also, I’ve never understood the inclusion of bands that have absolutely no Americana or roots music influences on the bill. Broken Social Scene may be a indy darling but there are a hundreds local and national bands that would kill for a spot at the premier Americana festival that is currently occupied by a band that can get a slit at any of the dozen rock festivals held.

Thanks to Warren Hellman, Dawn Holliday, general manager of Slim’s and the Great American Music Hall, who spends half the year organizing the Hardly Strictly event, and all the other volunteers and other personnel for putting together another great (and FREE!)  event.

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings – “I’ll Fly Away, White Rabbit”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myB1k6wtgWg[/youtube]

Kris Kristofferson & Merle Haggard playing “Sunday Morning Coming Down”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpjbboA-YU0[/youtube]

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy – “Thank You”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls1de0syj4M[/youtube]

News Round-Up: Hayes Carll and Ryan Bingham Leave Lost Highway

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  • The latest news from the wasted trailer-park that is music industry; Hayes Carll and Ryan Bingham have parted ways with their label the Universal Americana imprint Lost Highway. Mike Crowley, Carll’s manager, said in response to Carlls’ departure “Being part of Universal Music, we’ve watched as the corporation has tightened the reins on Lost Highway…The requirements that Universal imposes just make less and less sense for artists like Hayes and Ryan, who are never going to be something that can be marketed like Lady Gaga.”
  • Johnnie Wright, Country Singer, Bandleader, manager and husband of Kitty Wells, had died at the age of 97. (New York Times)
  • The current King of Country, George Strait, has been added to an already stellar lineup for the Fire Relief:
    The Concert for Central Texas event, which already booked Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, the Dixie Chicks and
    Asleep at the Wheel, Eric Johnson, Steve Miller, Joe Satriani, Shawn Colvin, the Texas Tornados and the Court Yard Hounds will make guest appearances, and Turk Pipkin and ‘Friday Night Lights’ star Kyle Chandler will host the event.. The benefit show, which is slated for October 17 at the Frank Erwin Center in the capitol city of Austin, Texas, will raise money to help replace the estimated $250 million loss in damages.   Tickets range from $25-$250, with the higher end being VIP tickets that allow concert-goers close access to the stage as well as an exclusive lounge area.
  • Looking forward to seeing Merle Haggard today ay Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with that youngster Kris Kristofferson. Here is the The Hag discussing his recent bout with cancer and his take on the current political climate. Here’s a hint, he recently penned a anti-government cut entitled “Shut It Down.” Take that Steve Earle.

:happy trails

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival – Saturday 10/1 Recommendations

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Saturday is where things really take off. On Friday the main Banjo stage would have been a fine place to park your blanket to get the most for your musical enjoyment and Saturday is also the case.   Greensky Bluegrass, Alison Brown, Earl Scruggs, Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings and Steve Earl. The last few years  The Arrow Stage has been the place for Texas performers and this Saturday follows that theme –   featuring The Band of Heathens, Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses, Reckless Kelly and The Flatlanders (Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock) The crowning jewel of this day is the legendary Kris Kristofferson & Merle Haggard performing together on the Star Stage at 2:20.
Banjo Stage
11:00am Greensky Bluegrass
12:00pm Alison Brown
2:45pm Earl Scruggs
4:15pm Gillian Welch
5:45pm Steve Earle & the Dukes (& Duchesses) featuring Allison Moorer

Rooster Stage
11:00am The Wronglers with Jimmie Dale Gilmore
1:35pm Guy Clark & Verlon Thompson
2:50pm Patty Griffin
4:15pm Punch Brothers
5:45pm Robert Earl Keen

Star Stage
12:30pm Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
2:20pm Kris Kristofferson & Merle Haggard

Towers Of Gold Stage
11:40am Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

Arrow Stage
12:15pm The Band of Heathens
2:55pm Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
4:25pm Reckless Kelly
5:45pm The Flatlanders feat. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival – Friday 9/30 Recommendations

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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is trying something new for #11.  Friday is a full-day and not half-day event, and the additional acts are not just filler.

Bill Kirchen & The Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods – Bill Kirchen – Ann Arbor native and “The Titan of The Telecaster” Kirchen was a guitarist with the original Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen from 1967 to the mid 1970s. Come see Kirchen bring the twang and show why he’s toured or recorded with Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Doug Sahm and Emmylou Harris. (Banjo Stage – 11:00am)

Blame Sally – Bay Area Americana is represented on Friday is the all female quartet Blame Sally. Known for their rollicking show and instrumental expertise the genre is great hands. (12:55 – Arrow Stage)

South Memphis String Band -  ON EDIT-  After I posted my Friday picks I was contacted about the South Memphis String Band and asked to reconsider. I did and I have. Go see ’em, they’re great! (Star Stage – 1:20)

The Mekons – This veteran punk band is headed by sometime Chicago-based Brit-expat cowpunk Jon Langford (The Waco Brothers.) They are currently supporting their new release Ancient and Modern. (2:10 pm – Arrow Stage)

Jolie Holland – Like Gillan Welch Texan Jolie Holland has a vocal quality, and reflects subject matter,  from another time. A distant, dusty and dark past. Her soulful roots and dreamy Ragtime sound is the reason she can count Tom Waits as a fan. (Star Stage –  2:50)

Del McCoury & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band –  Legendary New Orleans Jazz and Bluegrass together? Like jambalaya and moonshine baby. (2:35 – Banjo Stage)

Southern Culture on the Skids – Formed in 1983 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina SCOTS shows what happens when you mix top-notch musical chops and white trash aesthetic. Namely a hootin’ hollerin’ time. ( Arrow Stage – 3:30)

The Felice Brothers – I have likened them to being the anti- Avett Brothers. From the Catskill Mountains to the New York City subways The Felice Brothers offer a brand of gritty junkyard Americana that is as engaging and sinister as a classic Scorsese movie. Their new release Celebration, Florida might be the first (or at least the best) example of techo-Americana.  (Rooster Stage – 3:30 pm)

John Prine – A veteran on the country/folk scene since the early 70s when he was burdened with the “the next Dylan.” Dylan once even appeared at one of Prine’s first New York City club appearances unannounced and backed him on harmonica. Kris Kristofferson once remarked that Prine wrote songs so good that “we’ll have to break his thumbs” (Banjo Stage – 4:05pm)

Robert Plant & The Band of Joy –  Years ago when I got wind that Plant was sniffing around Nashvile I expectedthe worse. Rock singers in Music City typically results in mediocrity. Then I heard he was in the studio with T. Bone Burnett and Alison Krauss and was intrigued that at least he was keeping good company. A zillion sales and awards with the resulting Raising Sand led Plant back to the promised land with band conductor and guitarist Buddy Miller and came back with more premium Americana performers Patty Griffin and Darrell Scott. (Banjo Stage – 5:45pm)

If you have kids or just want to set up a stationary spot your best best bang for your buck (for FREE!) would be the Banjo Stage. The recommendations for Saturday and Sunday are larger so there will be only a list and no description. You’ll just have to trust me, I’m a (semi) professional.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 11 – Confirmed Acts (so far)

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The good folks over at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass have using some clever audio teases to reveal acts confirmed for the upcoming 11th Americana festival. the event takes place in San Francisco’s beautiful Golden Gate Park and is put on by friend of Americana music, banjo player and investment banker Warren Hellman (Fri Sep 30, Sat Oct, & Sun Oct 2, 2011)

Here are the confirmed acts from reveals so far:

Dr. John, Punch Brothers, Gomez, Dark Star Orchestra, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussein & Edgar Meyer , The Civil Wars, Bob Mould, The Devil Makes Three, John Prine,  Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch + David Rawlings,  Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses, Robert Plant & the Band of Joy, Del McCoury & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Cass McCombs, Fitz & the Tantrums, The Jayhawks, Abigail Washburn, Robert Earl Keen, Buckethead (!),  The Flatlanders, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Chris Isaak, Frank Fairfield, Irma Thomas, Elbow, The Mekons, Earl Scruggs, Patty Griffin, Old Crow Medicine Show…

There is also word, though no confirmation, that Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson will also be there. Sta tuned for more from what is shaping up to be the best Hardly Strictly Bluegrass  yet.

Kris Kristofferson