Twang Nation – The Best In Americana Music
Americana & Roots Music & Culture
Los Angeles roots music stalwart Duane Jarvis,whose lead guitar work landed along side musicians like Dwight Yoakam, Lucinda Williams, John Prine, Michelle Shocked and others when he wasn’t recording and touring as a respected singer-songwriter in his own right, died at his home in Marina del Rey 1:30 a.m. On Wednesday after a long bout with colon cancer. He was 51.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f24bTT4mJdo[/youtube]
These days duets are more like joint corporate sponsorships than a simpatico union of the heart and mind through song. Great male and female collaborations transcend their individual craft and emerge with something altogether new and remarkable. Kitty Wells and Red Foley, Ferlin Husky and Jean Shepard, George Jones and Tammy Wynette, Johnny and June – they made music that was more than the sum of their already amazing parts.
The Americana world seems to be coming into its own in the duet field. What arguably began with Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris got a real boost with 2005’s Begonias featuring Whiskeytown and Tres Chicas’ Caitlin Cary and her friend singer/songwriter Thad Cockrell. 2007 saw Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and T. Bone Burnett’s Raising Sand set a standard for craft as well as sales. Now 2009 has already endowed us with two dazzling releases that build handily on this legacy.
Gretchen Peters is no stranger to the world of Nashville songwriting. Her songs have been recorded by Trisha Yearwood, Pam Tillis, George Strait, Martina McBride, and Patty Loveless who was nominated for a 1996 song of the year Grammy for Peters’ “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am.” for such a prolific songwriter it’s surprising that her seventh solo album, One To The Heart, One To The Head is a covers album. On it she partners with L.A. native, El Paso resident and Renaissance man Tom Russell who penned one song, Guadalupe, co-produced and painted the album cover image of what looks like a stylized dead horse. Russell knows his way around songwriting, his songs have been covered by Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith, Dave Alvin and Suzy Bogguss as well as 16 solo releases. These are two heavyweights and they bring their considerable collective talents to bare on a great release.
OTTH,OTTH is referred to as a “western album” which Peters tapped into her earlier life in Boulder, Colorado to draw inspiration. The instrumental opener North Platte does set a western landscape with a Elmer Bernstein or Jerome Moross sense of expanse as well as gravity. The landscape contracts just a bit for the stark and beautiful Prairie In The Sky which beautifully highlights Peter’s shimmering trill as she floats over cello and piano accompaniment. Bob Dylan’s Billy 4, from the soundtrack to Sam Peckinpah’s film Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, gets a serious borderlands infusion with Joel Guzman’s extraordinary Conjunto-style accordion and Russell bringing his silky-graveled voice counter to Peters’.
Tom Dundee’s tale of cultural isolation shines as the classic country sound of These Cowboys Born Out Of Their Time and with Russell’s end of the road lament Guadalupe woe never sounded so good. The accordion and barrel house piano that kicks off Bonnie Raitt’s tequila fueled barroom sing-along Sweet & Shiny Eyes sets just the right cantina vibe. It takes guts to cover a Townes Van Zandt song and Snowin’ on Raton is done with delicate beauty and a proper sense of deference. If I Had a Gun furnishes this album with its title. “If I had a gun you’d be dead. One to the heart, one to the head. If I had a gun I’d wipe it clean, my fingerprints off on these sheets. They’d bury you in the cold hard ground, fist full of dirt would hold you down. They’d bury you in the cold hard ground, it’d be the first night I sleep sound.†Peckinpah would be proud.
Gretchen Peters Site | Tom Russell Site | Buy
Buddy Miller was featured on the cover of the No Depression’s final issue last year. The bible of alt.country/Roots/Americana declared Miller the Americana journeyman the Artist of the Decade and it’s hard to argue he’s not. On top of his great solo work Miller played lead guitar and provided backing vocals for Emmylou Harris’s Spyboy band, performed with Steve Earle on his El Corazon tour, performed on Jimmie Dale Gilmore’s 2000 album Endless Night and appeared on several albums by songwriter/singer Lucinda Williams. Most recently Miller has been busy performing lead guitar and backing vocal duties for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand touring band. Julie, his wife of over 20 years, is no slouch either with six solo albums, and three collaborating with Buddy, under her belt. Her songs have been covered by Dixie Chicks, Linda Ronstadt, Lee Ann Womack, Emmylou Harris, Julie Roberts and others.
But as prolific as they are Written In Chalk is their only their third collaboration in their first over six years, and though both Buddy and Julie share vocal duties the real magic comes when Julie’s lyrics are swathed in her world-weary angel vocals and complemented by Buddy’s chameleon-like guitar picking that’s been hewed by years of studio sessions.
Buddy and Julie collaborated on Wide River which was later recorded by Levon Helm and the superb album opener Ellis County, a song aching for the good old/hard days, is cut from the same Steinbeckian gingham. Robert Plant described Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) from Raising Sand as “shimmy music” and Gasoline And Matches has the same vibe, swamp mud guitars and bad ass drums. Julie winsomely sings Don’t Say Goodbye which features Patty Griffin who has the good sense to lend only a supporting role to Julie’s already elegant voice.
Robert Plant lends restrained support for Buddy in a backwoods rendition of Mel Tillis’ What You Gonna Do Leroy which is reported to have been recorded in a dressing room at Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre during the Raising Sand tour. The song sounds like the source material for a thousand rock songs not least of all Eddie Cochran’s Summertime Blues. A Long, Long Time exquisitely shows off Julie’s smoky jazz side and Patty Griffen makes an appearance on the excellent cut Chalk. As good as she is Griffen is she seems superfluous when you have Julie Miller at your disposal. Hush, Sorrow is a pensive beauty with Buddy accomapnied by Regina McCrary. Agian I say, when you have Julie Miller….
Smooth is another “shimmy” style swampy rocker with Buddy and Julie sharing vocals. Julie show up on another delicate beauty with June which was written and recorded as a tribute the day June Carter Cash died. The song is justly somber and celebratory. The Selfishness Of Man is a slow motion testament on hope featuring Emmylou Harris. I love Emmylou but my earlier comments on Patty Griffin’s appearances still apply. Julie would have been a better choice.
Buddy & Julie Miller Site | Buy
Here’s a little gem from the YouTubes:
Neil Young & Waylon Jennings- Are You Ready For the Country? -Â Sept 20 1984 -Â ‘Nashville Now’ TV show
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H0VaY1EdrI[/youtube]
So how do you know you’ve arrived? When talentless, sweaty geeks manipulate plastic instruments to music you’ve worked your butt off to create and hope will be taken seriously. Wooo hooo!
Harmonix and MTV Games today announced the debut of five alternative country acts to the Rock Band Music Store catalog of downloadable content including artists Neko Case, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Drive-By Truckers and Old 97’s.
“Alt Country 01†5-pack features a signature mix of alternative country sounds from bluegrass and rockabilly to honky-tonk rock. The 5-pack includes “People Got A Lotta Nerve†from Neko Case’s soon-to-be released album Middle Cyclone (March 3, 2009), “Can’t Let Go†by Grammy winning singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams from her album Car Wheels On A Gravel Road (1998) and Steve Earl’s “Satellite Radio†from his album Washington Square Serenade (2007). The 5-pack also features “Three Dimes Down†from southern rock band Drive-By Truckers featured on the Brighter Than Creation’s Dark (2008) album and the Old 97’s live recording “Timebomb†from the band’s Alive & Wired (2005) album.
Release Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360®)
Thursday, February 26, 2009 (PlayStation®Store)
** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change **
Ah, love is in the air -Â But if you’re a fan of country music then you know dysfunction litters the alleyways in the heart of classic narratives. Cheating, lying , drinking, throwing heavy objects, crying, more drinking – some of the best country songs contain some, if not all, of these elements. Alt.country/roots rock…whatever takes things in more interesting places but many of the same themes remain from the source. In celebration, and protest, to Valentines day here is the official Twang Nation list of best Alt.Country love songs.
In no particular order:
Gram Parsons – A Song For You
Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell – Please Break My Heart
Lucinda Williams – Still I Long For Your Kiss
Steve Earle – Valentine’s Day
Steve Earle – Goodbye
Townes Van Zandt – I’ll Be Here in the Morning
Neko Case – Favorite
Son Volt – Tear Stained Eye
Ryan Adams – Come Pick Me Up
Drive By Truckers- Marry Me
Old 97s – Big Brown Eyes
Bottle Rockets – I’ll Be Coming Around
Disagree? Add your own!
Caitlin Cary Thad Cockrell -Â “Please Break My Heart”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMv6WuvULm4[/youtube]
Son Volt live at Bonnaroo 2006: Windfall
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcKqNZKoEzQ[/youtube]
Propaganda has been honed to a fine art in the last half century. Americans have been convinced to fight wars, hand over civil and employee rights and consume ever crappier beer, food and, alas, music.
Mainstream Country Music is one of the few genres in the 21st century that tolerates no real deviation from certified Music Row and mainstream radio product. Sure there are exceptions, the Outlaw Movement cooped a largely ignored youth movement, Garth tweaked the business model and stage production and Big and Rich and their “MuzikMafia” was a painfully lame attempt to emulate Hip Hop’s concept of crews. But when it comes to altering the DNA of the music the image driven slickness and paint-by-numers narritives seem as tightly mandated as the McDonald’s Big Mac cooking process. If you don’t fit the hat act mold you are cast into the slums of Americana, folk, roots, alt.country or, if the sins were severe enough, rock!
Into this unyielding environment stepped artists that discovered that Cash, Willie and Hank were speaking to them in ways larger then the flavor of the week bands being crammed down their throats. That’s where the wild hillbilly muse dances. That way real beauty and art lay waiting.
Americana/roots/alt.country is attracting new talent that bravely straddles the cultural divide between trad sepia-toned country circa Jimmie Rogers and Carter Family and the current attitudes, sounds and stories of our times. New artists like O’Death, The Felice Bothers, Justin Townes Earle and Star Anna and road-tested warriors like Dale Watson, Eleven Hundred Springs and Tom Russell have Inject new blood, whiskey and adrenaline into a largely lifeless form of music that refuses to be embalmed.
And then there are the genre-crossing big-wigs like Elvis Costello, Ray Davies, Chrissie Hynde and Robert Plant (who is currently nominated for 6 grammys and forgoing a Led Zeppelin reunion to continue Raising Sand with Bluegrass chanteuse Alison Krauss) that are moving toward a the wildser lands attracted by its proclivity for authenticity and celebration of experimentation. The only sin is mediocrity, the only transgression is bovine conformity.
There’s no reward for compiling a “best of” list. People will quibble with the selections, the order of said selections will displease many and whether the writer is at all qualified to compile such as list will be questioned. Ridicule and contempt is sure to follow.
I do this to celebrate those that are willing to look past the wanna-be-celebrity choked road paved with pyrite. The Great Ones bent Nashville to their ways or took refuge in other regions far from the industry, Bakersfield California, Austin Texas, to ply their wares. The Music Row road is not an easy one, it’s just crowded with sheep and the destination is less interesting.
Here’s to the on’ry, ragged, dusty dreamers.
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10) Hank Williams III – “Damn Right, Rebel Proud” (Sidewalk Records) -The man with a country music royalty pedigree, and an arguable entitlement to the moniker “Man In Blacker,” burns the middle-of-the-road with another custom hot-rod release. Amazon | MySpace | Official Site
9) Jamey Johnson – “That Lonesome Song†(Mercury Nashville) - Jamey Johnson does more than redeem himself for helping to pen Trace Adkins maga-seller Honky Tonk Badonkadonk with this brilliant release born of hard living and a love of Waylon Jennings and George Jones. Amazon | MySpace | Official Site
8) Sara Cahoone – “Only As The Day Is Long” (Sub-Pop) – Former rock drummer Cahoone has created a melancholy-shoegaze-Americana masterpiece with her rainy-day ready debut release. Amazon | MySpace | Sub-Pop
7) Star Anna – “Crooked Path” (Malamute Records) - On this smoldering debut of Americana-noir Ellensburg, Washington’s Star Anna Krogstie proves she can hold her own with Lucinda Williams and Neko Case. Her voice seems to be the shear definition of longing and heartache. Amazon | MySpace | Official Site
6) Hang Jones – “The Ballad of Carlsbad County” (Self Released) – Hang Jones is the alias for Stephen Grillos and his concept album, set in 1887 New Mexico, takes the typical elements – lust, jealousy, whiskey, gunpowder and blood – and works his gritty magic to deliver a great album. Amazon | MySpace | Official Site
5) Luke Powers – “Texasee” (Phoebe Claire) – Powers stated in an interview that Texasee is a study of a mythical place that lies between Nashville and Austin and is done in a style reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah. Sign me up! Writers in the Western genre celebrate a few that are seen as more “literary.” Powers like Tom Russell, James McMurty, John Prine and Joe Ely, occupies the mirror space in music. CD Baby | MySpace | Pheobe Claire Site
4) Felice Brothers (Team Love) -From from the Catskill Mountains to the subways of New York city these actual brothers (and a bass player named Christmas) channel the Basement Tapes and spin magnificently dark tales of desperation and violence. Amazon | MySpace | Official Site
3) O’Death - “Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin” (Kemado) – New York’s O’Death is a concoction of parts that if mixed any other way would result into a noxious mess. Appalachian Mountain music, Gypsy music, Gothic punk, funk and metal, it all just shouldn’t play nice together. On Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin the sounds meld magnificently in a dark and volatile masterpiece. Amazon | MySpace | Official Site
2) Justin Townes Earle – “The Good Life” (Bloodshot) -Before technology allowed us to cheat, musicians were the source of musical synthesis, or what is referred to by the hipsters today as mash-ups. Justin Townes Earle harkens back to these aural alchemists and has created a potent blend of 19th century folk, country swing and hillbilly boogie. Overcoming his Daddy’s long musical shadow (and his inclination towards illicit substances) Justin Townes Earle’s first full length release rejoices in heritage while transcending its creators youth. Amazon | MySpace | Bloodshot Records
1) Eleven Hundred Springs – “Country Jam” (Palo Duro Records) – If you want a crash course in the best Texas country music over the last half-century the 2008 release from Dallas’ ESL would be a great place to start. From the hillbilly poetry of Mickey Newbury and Joe Ely to the Western Swing of Bob Wills to the pop and rock of Doug Sahm and Buddy Holly all the influences are there. And though the sounds are reflective of the Texas greats ESL makes it distinctly their own on this superior homage to the Lone Star State. Amazon | MySpace | Official Site
Honorable Mention:
Drive-By Truckers – Brighter Than Creations Dark
The Whipsaws – 60 Watt Avenue
Slim Cessna’s Auto Club – Cipher
Caitlin Rose -Â Dead Flowers
The Power of County – See You In Rock and Roll Heaven
Lucinda Williams – Little Honey
Kathy Mattea – Coal
The Wildes – Ballad of a Young Married Man
Hayes Carll – Trouble In Mind
Joey + Rory – The Life Of A Song
Kasey Chambers and Shane – Rattlin’ Bones
Ashton Shepherd – Sounds So Good
The Steeldrivers – Self-Titled
Whitey Morgan and the 78’s – Honky Tonks and Cheap Motels
As the 2004 2004 Presidential Election was drawing near James McMurtry gave away a free download of his state of the union anthem, “We Can’t Make It Here.” The song seemed to strike a chord with the public and went on to win Song of the Year at the Americana Music Honors and Awards. Author Stephen King described it as the “best American protest song since ‘Masters of War'” in his Entertainment Weekly column. On the brink of the 2008 election, McMurtry is now giving away a previously unreleased live version of “We Can’t Make It Here” from his 2008 concert at Southpaw in Brooklyn, NY.
Following the release of her new album Little Honey, Lucinda Williams has just released a politically-charged, digital only, four-song Live EP titled Lu in 08. The EP features three covers and one Williams original. The tracks will be Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,†Bob Dylan’s “Masters Of War,†Thievery Corporation/Flaming Lips collaboration “Marching The Hate Machines†and the unreleased “Bone Of Contention.†The three covers were recorded live in Greensboro, NC in September 2007 and “Bone Of Contention†in Milwaukee, WI of July 2008. Here the EP streaming here.
Three-time Grammy Award-winner, Lucinda Williams, will make her October 23rd concert at the legendary First Avenue in Minneapolis available to all as a fee audio webcast.
Fans can chat live while listening to the show by going to www.lucindawilliams.com where listeners can tune in as Williams performs her new album, Little Honey in its entirety, followed by a second set of songs from her extensive catalogue.