Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival 12 Full Schedule / Picks / Spotify Playlist

The 12th year of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival shows the premier showcase for great (and FREE!) Americana and roots music is showing no signs of slowing down. This year might prove to be the best yet as old friends like Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Ralph Stanley are joined by event newcomers like punk-turned-folkie Chuck Ragan, Texas sweethearts The Trishas and Americana darlings The Civil Wars, who pulled out of last year’s HSB.

Have fun, and remember to wear layers and stay hydrated out there (and upwind.)  Below find the schedule with my picks in bold.

 

 

Friday Oct 5 (10:00am – 7:00pm)

Star Stage
10:00am Poor Man’s Whiskey and Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Banjo Stage
12:00pm John Reilly and Friends (featuring Becky Stark and Tom Brosseau)
    1:15pm Chuck Mead & His Grassy Knoll Boys
    2:40pm The Jerry Douglas Band
    4:15pm The Time Jumpers (Vince Gill, Dennis Crouch, Paul Franklin, Larry Franklin, Andy Reiss, Dawn Sears, Kenneth Sears, Joe Spivey, Jeff Taylor & Billy Thomas)
    5:45pm Elvis Costello Solo

Arrow Stage
12:00pm Chuck Ragan
1:00pm Pickwick
2:10pm Chris Carrabba
3:20pm Patterson Hood & the Downtown Rumblers
    4:45pm Jon Langford & His Sadies feat. Sally Timms
6:15pm Reignwölf

Rooster Stage
12:00pm Simone Felice
    1:00pm Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express
2:20pm Beachwood Sparks
3:25pm Ben Kweller
4:25pm Jenny Lewis
5:45pm Conor Oberst

Saturday Oct 6 (11:00am – 7:00pm)

Banjo Stage
11:00am World Famous Headliners (Big Al Anderson, Shawn Camp, Pat McLaughlin, Michael Rhodes & Greg Morrow)
12:10pm Alison Brown Quartet with Stuart Duncan
1:25pm Buddy Miller
2:45pm Tribute to the Founding Fathers: Warren Hellman, Earl Scruggs and Doc Watson featuring Alison Brown, Stuart Duncan, Tim O’Brien and Bryan Sutton, with special guests Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris with Heidi Clare & Colleen Browne (from the Wronglers), Peter Rowan, Nick Lowe & more!
4:15pm The Chieftains
5:45pm Steve Earle & the Dukes (& Duchesses)

Rooster Stage
11:00am The Go to Hell Man Clan with Special Guests the Wronglers featuring Jimmie Dale Gilmore
12:00pm Lloyd Cole
1:10pm Guy Clark & Verlon Thompson
2:30pm The Lumineers
  3:50pm Patty Griffin
    5:30pm Robert Earl Keen

Star Stage
    11:00am Roger Knox and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts
    12:30pm Dirty Three
    2:10pm Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones
3:45pm Cowboy Junkies
5:45pm Chris Robinson Brotherhood

Towers Of Gold Stage
11:40am Red Baraat
1:20pm Justin Townes Earle
3:00pm Les Claypool’s Duo De Twang
4:45pm The Head & the Heart

Arrow Stage
11:00am The Trishas
    12:05pm Reckless Kelly
1:30pm Bill Kirchen & The Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods
2:45pm Heartless Bastards
4:05pm Jerry Jeff Walker
    5:35pm The Flatlanders feat. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock

Porch Stage
11:00am Joe Pug
12:10pm Sara Watkins
1:25pm Little Green Cars
2:40pm Allison Moorer
3:50pm Robyn Hitchcock
4:50pm Sierra Hull
6:05pm Seasick Steve

Sunday Oct 7 (11:00am – 7:00pm)
Banjo Stage
11:00am Dry Branch Fire Squad
12:05pm Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands
1:20pm Peter Rowan
2:45pm Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys
4:15pm Tim O’Brien Party of 7
5:45pm Emmylou Harris

Rooster Stage
11:00am Jim Lauderdale
    12:05pm Kevin Welch & Kieran Kane & Fats Kaplin
1:10pm Jesse Winchester
2:20pm Glen Hansard
3:35pm Nick Lowe
4:50pm Todd Snider
6:10pm The Civil Wars

Star Stage
11:00am Giant Giant Sand
12:40pm The Knitters
2:15pm DOUG SAHM’S PHANTOM PLAYBOYS featuring: dave ALVIN, steve EARLE, delbert McCLINTON, boz SCAGGS, jimmie VAUGHAN… and whoever the cat drags in…
4:05pm The Del McCoury Band
6:00pm Keller Williams, Steve Kimock & Kyle Hollingsworth featuring Bernie Worrell, Wally Ingram & Andy Hess

Towers of Gold Stage
12:00pm The Milk Carton Kids
1:30pm Soul Rebels
3:10pm Dwight Yoakam
5:00pm Patti Smith and her band

Arrow Stage
11:00am Lucero
12:05pm Moonalice
1:25pm Rubblebucket
2:45pm Son Volt
4:10pm Luther Dickinson & the Wandering
5:45pm ALO

Porch Stage
11:00am The New Orleans Bingo! Show
12:10pm Tiny Television
1:25pm The Barr Brothers
2:40pm Amanda Shaw & the Cute Guys
3:55pm The White Buffalo
5:10pm Walter Salas-Humara
6:20pm Jonny Two Bags & Salvation Town

The Best of 2010

It’s that time again. The end of the year list that are as common as as spam in your inbox, but it’s tradition and I’m a sucker for tradition. So here we go!

If you follow my twitter feed (http://twitter.com/#!/TwangNation) you’ll already know what’s on this list. I did the countdown as seperate tweets lest week and I got a great response. You also know that its not merely a top 10 but a top 25! That’s right, you get 25% more music for your money.

It has been another great year for Americana/roots music, and from what’s currently coming across my desk for 2011 we can look forward to another. Old-timers are beating on the barn door and upstarts are using old parts to make new works that advance the form while staying true to the roots.  The genre appears to be attracting and cultivating the type of nurturing and craftsmanship that labels used to practice in the golden days of the 60s and early 70s. Of course this time without the lavish pay-out. The music industry is in turmoil from the corner office view but from the touring van and the laptop it’s  a prime-time for opportunity. And if you’re a burgeoning musician concerned about the current conditions I urge you to purchase Dr. Ralph Stanley’s book Man of Constant Sorry and learn about what REAL hard time look like.

So I raise a pint and celebrate an embarrassment of riches that show the love of craft and and honor in roots that defines a road of American culture that is often overlooked and forgotten but often leads to the promised land.

As the year comes to a close, I’m reflecting on the past four years of writing Minkin’s Music and all the good times with people I’ve met along the way. May the spirit of the season touch your soul and let comfort and joy shine upon you throughout the upcoming year.

  1. Mat D – Plank Road Drag – goo.gl/JmxJL
  2. Jamey Johnson – Guitar song- goo.gl/quZFh
  3. Ray Wylie Hubbard – A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C) – goo.gl/VMe2Z
  4. Truckstop Darlin’ – Truckstop Darlin’ – goo.gl/jcRi0
  5. Reckless Kelly – Somewhere in Time- goo.gl/gwqGM
  6. Miranda Lambert – Revolution – goo.gl/Ana72
  7. Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues – goo.gl/ZIU2V
  8. Lindsay Fuller – The Last Light I See – goo.gl/wZsFI
  9. Elizabeth Cook – Welder – goo.gl/kiEVi
  10. Jason & The Scorchers  –  Halcyon Times – goo.gl/gzf0g
  11. Mandolin Orange – Quiet Little Room – goo.gl/tPcHS
  12. Black Twig Pickers – Ironto Special – goo.gl/sipmJ
  13. Possessed By Paul James – Feed The Family – goo.gl/0BjNl
  14. Joe Thompson – Yankee Twang – goo.gl/whgRF
  15. Joe Pug – Messenger – goo.gl/VQt31
  16. Carolina Chocolate Drops  – Genuine Negro Jig – goo.gl/38tmF
  17. The Sadies – Darker Circles – goo.gl/z5nMt
  18. 6 Day Bender – E’ville Fuzz – goo.gl/xLDK6
  19. I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In the House – Sounds of Dying – goo.gl/AhIG1
  20. Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil – Victims, Enemies & Old Friends – goo.gl/twVaZ
  21. Shineyribs – Well After Awhile – goo.gl/8kgWY
  22. Patty Griffin – Downtown Church – goo.gl/YVXav
  23. Whitey Morgan & the 78′s – Whitey Morgan & the 78′s- goo.gl/HM2af
  24. Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers  – Agridustrial – goo.gl/ldsGN
  25. Mary Gauthier – The Foundling – goo.gl/fKAJb

News Round Up: New Releases by Elizabeth Cook, Jim Lauderdale and The Sadies

  • The Hangover & Daily Show star (and amateur banjo player) Ed Helms is launching the LA Bluegrass Situation festival  (March 18th – 22nd) featuring Steve Martin, Emmylou Harris, The Steep Canyon Rangers, Nickel Creek. See the somewhat silly video introduction of the festival from Helms.
  • Canadian roots/surf rockers The Sadies will release their new album, Darker Circles, on May 18, 2010 on Yep Roc Records. The album will be produced by the Jayhawk’s Gary Louris.
  • Honky-tonk angel Elizabeth Cook will release her new album, Welder, on May 11th on 31 Tigers. Produced by Don Was (Rolling Stones, Kris Kristofferson), Welder will feature guest appearances by Dwight Yoakam, Rodney Crowell and Buddy Miller.
  • See the new video by Peter Wolf working on his new Americana-tinged album, Midnight Souvenirs, (UMe/Verve / April 6). Tragedy features duets with country music legend Merle Haggard, Neko Case and Shelby Lynne.
  • Mr. Americana, Jim Lauderdale, will release his new album Patchwork River, on Thirty Tigers May 11. He co-wrote the album–filled with such highlights as “Alligator Alley,” “Louisville Roll” and “Patchwork River”–with longtime Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter whom Lauderdale has praised as “one of the greatest writers that has ever lived in my book.
  • The mighty Drive By Truckers’ new release, The Big To-Do, will be released on March 16th. Partnering with Ghost Town Media, the band will release a series of webisodes that tell the behind the scenes story of each song from the record.  You will see footage of the band working on The Big To-Do  in the studio in Athens, Georgia, clips of the band performing the new songs at sound check and in concert, and in depth interviews with the band members telling the stories behind the songs.  The first of these websiodes will feature Mike Cooley’s Birthday Boy, the final song recorded for the album.

Country Singer Vern “The Voice” Gosdin Dies

  • Singer Vern Gosdin, who recorded country music hits like the award-winning “Chiseled in Stone” during a 30-year career, has died. He was 74. Gosdin reportedly had a history of strokes and suffered the latest one a few weeks ago and was under hospice care and died late Tuesday at a Nashville, Tenn. hospital. The 9513.com offers a fine tribute to the man.
  • Birthday Boy Willie Nelson will join relative young’uns Bob Dylan and John Mellencamp on a U.S. summer tour of minor league baseball parks, beginning July 2 at the GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill., and wrapping Aug. 15 at the Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif.
  • The San Francisco Chronicle has posted a review of the John Prine / John Ritter  Apr 25th Warfield performance.
  • And in painful crossover news Def Leppard has been confirmed to perform on the CMT Music Awards on June 16. The Britsh pop-metal has-beens…er…band have recently been involved in the Music Row marketering wet dream collaborations with Tim McGraw earlier this year on the song “Nine Lives” and appearing with Taylor Swift on CMT Crossroads. What’s next? Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach doing coutry music…oh wait…

DelFest and Pickathon News

  • The deadline for discounted tickets for DelFest has been extended until March 2nd at midnight. Some of Bluegrass’ best will be featured at the 3-day festival- Sam Bush, Old Crow Medicine Show, Leftover Salmon, JD Crowe & The New South, The Lee Boys as well as headliner legendary Del McCoury and more. The festival takes place Memorial Day Weekend, May 22-24th on the Allegany County Fairgrounds in Cumberland, Maryland.
  • The 11th annual Pickathon Indie Roots Music Festival, which takes place  just outside Portland, OR.,  has released their new website and festival line-up which includes Blitzen Trapper ,  The Sadies, Dale Watson, Justin Townes Earl, Those Darlins and Joe Pug.  Pickathon takes place July 31-August 2.
  • Now a little love for my old hood New York City.  The always excellent and lovely Joe Whyte will big show with his  band and will be featuring some new tunes. It’s on Monday, March 2 and it’s  free show at Rockwood Music Hall (196 Allen St., NYC) Go, you won’t be disappointed.

John Doe and The Sadies Collaborate for Country Club

From JamBase – John Doe (X, The Knitters) and The Sadies join forces for Country Club, an album of classic country covers and originals due out April 14, 2009 on Yep Roc Records.

“Country Club is the result of a drunken promise or threat I made to Travis and Dallas [Good, of The Sadies] the first night we played together in Toronto. These happen all the time but it’s rare that anyone remembers them the morning after, let alone follows through and makes it a reality. I’m really glad we did,” says Doe.

By including varying yet equally beloved movements within the country music pantheon, Doe and The Sadies were able to cover their heroes while filtering the pop sensibilities of ’60s Nashville through the electric honky tonk of Bakersfield, CA.

“We’re not sure why it sounds like it’s from the sixties. Maybe that’s our favorite era of country music or maybe that’s what we listened to when we first learned how to play it,” remarks Doe. “But what was called ‘Countrypolitan’ always seemed one of the coolest hybrids of country music. But we agreed quickly and completely that there were going to be no string sections, horns or choirs. Bakersfield vs. Nashville was never a dispute . . . Bakersfield!” Dallas Good of The Sadies continues, “The songs chosen were very ambitious, and while we haven’t re-invented the wheel we have created a cohesiveness between several hit country & western singles and our own styles.”

Country Club also features guest turns from D.J. Bonebrake, Kathleen Edwards, Eric Heywood and more.

Tracklist & Credits:

1. Stop the World and Let Me Off
Songwriter: Carl Belew
Made famous by: Waylon Jennings

2. Husbands and Wives
Songwriter: Roger Miller

3. ‘Til I Get It Right
Songwriters: Red Lane, Larry Henley
Made famous by: Tammy Wynette

4. It Just Dawned on Me
Songwriters: Exene Cervenka, John Doe

5. (Now and Then) There’s a Fool Such as I
Songwriter: William Marvin Trader
Made famous by: Hank Snow

6. The Night Life
Songwriters: Paul F. Buskirk, Walter M. Breeland, Willie Nelson
Made famous by: Ray Price

7. The Sudbury Nickel
Songwriters: The Sadies

8. Before I Wake
Songwriters: The Sadies

9. I Still Miss Someone
Songwriters: Johnny Cash, Roy Cash Jr.

10. The Cold Hard Facts of Life
Songwriter: Bill Anderson
Made famous by: Porter Wagoner

11. Take These Chains from My Heart
Songwriter: Fred Rose, Hy Heath
Made famous by: Hank Williams

12. Help Me Make It Through the Night
Songwriter: Kris Kristofferson

13. Are the Good Times Really Over for Good
Songwriter: Merle Haggard

14. Detroit City
Songwriters: Danny Dill, Mel Tillis
Made famous by: Bobby Bare

15. Pink Mountain Rag
Songwriters: The Sadies

The Sadies – Flash

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcfd1kFmsqE[/youtube]