Album Review

Lowe Country: The Songs of Nick Lowe

Black Friday RSD 2012

Some really nice releases for Black Friday Record Store Day.

http://www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases

The Dillards - Homecoming and Family Reunion

This is Bluegrass at it's very best. The Dillards'(along with the great John Hartford) musicianship is as good as it gets and the relaxed, downhome feel of this recording, including the conversational banter between tracks, really feels like you're at a family picnic somewhere in "rural" Missouri.  The Dillards are often known only as the "hillbilly" band that appeared a few times on the Andy Griffith Show as The Darlin' Boys, but they were an accomplished band in their own right!  One of the best, IMHO.

Produced by Rodney Dillard

Flying Fish #215, 1979

Side one:

Old bald eagle (HomerE. Dillard, Sr.)

Hop high, ladies (Traditional)

Cripple creek (Traditional)

Whole world round (Mitch Jayne)

Ground hog (Traditional)

High dad in the mornin' (Homer E. Dillard, Sr.)

Douglas and I used to sit around and play (John Hartford)

Old Joe Clark (Traditional)

Side two:

Tennessee breakdown (Traditional)

Ebo Walker (Rodney Dillard/Mitch Jayne)

Old man at the mill (Rodney Dillard/Mitch Jayne/Doug Dillard/Dean Webb)

Listen to the sound (Mitch Jayne)

Daddy was a mover (Rodney Dillard/Mitch Jayne)

Banjo signal (D. Reno/R. Smiley)

Musicians:

Rodney Dillard: guitar, dobro, vocals; Doug Dillard: banjo, guitar, vocals; Homer E. Dillard, Sr.: fiddle; Homer E. Dillard, Jr.: accordion; Earl Jay Dillard: banjo; Earline (Sissy) Dillard: guitar; Brian Dillard; tambourine; Linda Dillard: vocals; Mitch Jayne: bass; John Hartford: fiddle, vocals; Dean Webb: mandolin; Herb Pedersen: guitar, banjo, vocals; Bill Bryson: bass; Jeff Gilkinson: harmonica, cello; Richard Godfrey: drums; Douglas Bounsal: guitar, banjo vocals

Link - Vinyl LP Rip @320

Check out the video from Playboy After Dark, 1970.  What a contrast!

Red Allen and the Kentuckians

Red Allen and Frank Wakefield were part of the thriving bluegrass scene around Washington D.C. during the 1960s. Others in this scene included The Country Gentlemen, Don Reno, and Red Smiley. When Wakefield and Allen went their separate ways in 1965, Red Allen teamed up with one of Wakefield's students; a young mandolin player named David Grisman. This 1967 recording represents on the earliest recordings featuring Grisman, who remains one of the most influential purveyors of acoustic music. As a result of Red Allen's influence, Grisman would later join Vasser Clements, Peter Rowan, Jerry Garcia, and John Kahn in 1975 to form Old and In The Way.

LINK

Lester Flatt Live

This out of print LP features a young (15 year-old) Marty Stuart on mandolin, as well as Bill Monroe on several performances.  This record was recorded live at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN in 1974, and does a really nice job articulating the experience of live ("classic") bluegrass music.  At a time when so-called "Newgrass" was becoming more popular, this album reveals the "old-guard" holding their own; and tutoring a youngster at the same time! Click on the link below, and Enjoy!

LINK

Best New Music of 2011

What a great year for new music!  This list features some of my favorites from the past year.  It's a wide range of genres, certainly not limited to "Americana," but all worth a listen. 

Best of 2011

1. Middle Brother – Middle Brother

2. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

3. Dawes – Nothing is Wrong

4. Hayes Carll – KMAG-YOYO

5. Tune-Yards – WhoKill

6. J. Mascis – Several Shades of Why

7. Johnny Corndawg – Down on the Bikini Line

8. Drive By Truckers – Go-Go Boots

9. Sarah Jarosz – Follow Me Down

10. Lucinda Williams - Blessed

11. Jason Isbell – Here We Rest

12. My Morning Jacket – Circuital

13. Gillian Welch – The Harrow and The Harvest

14. Wilco – Whole Love

15. Yuck – Yuck

16. Ryan Adams – Dirty Rain

17. Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures

18. The Black Keys – El Camino

19. Foster the People – Torches

20. Man Man – Life Fantastic

21. The Black Angels – Phosgene Nightmare

22. Alison Kraus and Union Station – Paper Airplane

23. Chris Thile and Michael Daves – Sleep With One Eye Open

24. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

25. Portugal the Man – In the Mountain in the Cloud

Also Worth Noting...

Amanda Shires – Crazy Lightning; Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts; Seryn - This is Where We Are; Those Darlins – Screws Get Loose; Malcom Holcombe – To Drink the Rain; Deer Tick – Divine Providence; Radiohead – King of Limbs; Tedeschi Trucks Band – Revelator; Greg Allman – Lowcountry Blues; TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light; Umphrey’s McGee – Death by Stereo; John Hiatt – Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hyms; The Jayhawks – Mockingbird Time; The Gourds – Old Mad Joy; Primus – Green Naugahyde; The Head and the Heart – Self-Titled; Gomez – Whatever’s on Your Mind; The Decembrists – The King is Dead; Steve Earle – I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive; Big Daddy Love – Let it Grow; The V-Roys – Sooner or Later; Trombone Shorty – For True; Stuart Duncan, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer, Yo-Yo Ma – The Goat Rodeo Sessions

Museum of Musical Insturments

Here's a cool site you can really get lost exploring!  The sections of Woody Guthrie and Mark Twain are particularly rich.  The story of Mark Twain's 1835 Martin guitar will blow your mind.

Bound For Glory: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie

The Private Life of Mark Twain

Jonny Corndawg Interview (and new video)

Great interview - Jonny calls it his "best" ever - from No Directions. 

Interview

Video

Here's a great video of a different interview:

Those Darlins

Suppose the Carter Family sisters had a time-machine, traveled into the future, and started a roller-derby team, you might get something like Those Darlins!

"Give Me The Banjo"

Thanks to PBS for putting together this awesome history of the Banjo in America. Narrated by Steve Martin, this documentary pretty much covers it all.

Give Me The Banjo

Pete Seeger's Banjo:

"This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces it to Surrender"

Newgrass?

Ever since Sam Bush and Company formed New Grass Revival in the 1970s the term "newgrass" has been somewhat problematic. When Bill Monroe pioneered the genre of "bluegrass" out of traditional "old-time" music, he (IMHO) never meant to pigeon hole his particular style of music. So, I don't like the term "newgrass" but hot-damn, I sure do love the stuff that gets filed under the label...

Trampled By Turtles:



Link to a TBT SBD recording from 07-20-2007

Cornmeal:



Here's some Cornmeal from Jam Crusie 9 (2011-01-05)

Railroad Earth:



Well, all things considered, it'd be wrong to not include a little New Grass Revival in this post!

Dawes

Yet another up and coming Americana act making this a great musical moment!

But don't take my word for it; just ask Jackson Browne, Robbie Robertson, or Alison Krauss, all of whom have offered their support for this awesome group of musicians, and, as far as I can tell, great group of guys as well. They seem like the sort of folks that could be around for a long time. That's be fine by me!

Dawes' second full-length album solidifies their place amongst the most soulful and authentic song-writers today. Seriously, in "A Little Bit of Everything," they take the listener on a journey from suicide, to reconciliation, and ultimately the bonds of love and marriage by weaving three different stories in a single song.





Check out this review from No Depression

Doc Watson Interview

Check out this recent, candid, interview with the legendary Doc Watson.

From PopMatters...

For Doc Watson, folk music is elementary

History Lesson

Check out the BBC documentary, "Folk America" on YouTube. It's all there! This clip shows the the origins of "song-catchers" and folklorists searching the mountain south for examples of "local color" that they could sell to early record labels.



Alan Lomax narrates a history of Appalachian music:


Download a compilation of Smoky Mountain Ballads

Middle Brother

A collaboration between members of Dawes, Deer Tick, and Delta Spirit. Middle Brother, with a little help from Jonny Corndawg, crank out great songs with catchy melodies and feel-good authenticity.

From the Band's website:
In a time when synthesizers and laptops are taking over stages, Goldsmith, McCauley and Vasquez are leading the pack of young rock songwriters who strive to carry on the tradition of figures such as Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Petty.



Check out a free download of their Daytrotter Session

Jonny Corndawg

Jonny "Corndawg" Fritz might just be the freshest, most fun-loving, and genuinely funny singer/song-writer I've heard in a long time. A central Virginia native, Corndawg offers a 21st century hybrid of Porter Wagoner, Tom T. Hall, Billy Joe Shaver, and Steve Goodman; but with enough hipster flair to satisfy even the coolest bran in Brooklyn rollin' on his fixie for a sixer of PBR. Corndawg's the real deal.

"Ain't It Your Birthday?"



"When a Ford Man Turns to Chevy" (from a few years back)



"Keep Your Body Happy Through Exercise"
(oh yea, Corndawg's also a marathon runner!)



Official Website - TeamCorndawg

Check out this story in American Songwriter.

Junebug (2005)

Such a great movie, exploring themes like the "outsider" among regular "folks," as well as contrasting images of urban and rural American culture.  Oh yea, some (darkly) funny moments, as well  Definitely worth watching.

Plot Summary:

Successfull Carolinian George Johnsten meets Chicago art gallery holder Madeleine

at an electoral benefit art auction- love at first sight. Madeleine decides to meet a 

Southern original artist, so George seizes the opportunity to come along and present 

her to his South Carolina parents Eugene and Peg, drop-out brother Johhny and his 

high-pregnant wife Ashly. Confronting the outsider soon opens a can of worms as 

emotions revive or emerge, like admiration and jealousy.

-Summary by KGF Vissers (IMDb)

Check it on IMDb

"The Kids Are All Right"

It seems like all us jaded vets, hipper than thou, old curmudgeons are always lamenting what today's (no matter the generation) kids are listening too. Of course, the majority of what passes as "pop" music warrants our scornful disdain, but let's not throw out the babies (pun sort-of intended) with the bathwater!

Here's a glimpse at the next generation of great artists.

Sarah Jarosz, Sam Grisman (son of the great David Grisman and part of The Deadly Gentlemen), and Alex Hargreaves:


I mean, really, a 19-year old girl covering Tom Waits (and nailing it!)



Wade Darnell:


Check out Wade Darnell's YouTube Channel to how far this great talent has progressed since the previous video was shot. Pretty sure Tony Trishka and Bela Fleck have successfully made their mark on the next great banjo virtuoso!

John Hartford

I can't think of a single, greater, all-time embodiment of everything good about America and "Americana" than the late-great John Hartford. He'll be forever gentle on our minds, indeed.



Just Can't Beat This One - Vassar Clements, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglass, and Mark O'Connor takin' it home on the old Steam Powered Aeroplane!


Download John Hartford 1977-02-09 - East Lansing, MI

Tecumseh Valley

Nanci Griffith leading an all-star cast in tribute to the late-great Townes Van Zandt. This might be the most emotional version of this song I've ever heard (see Nanci tear up and look toward heaven around 4:30). I still fight back the tears every time I watch this.

Nanci Griffith is an American treasure.



Townes Van Zandt from a private concert (circa 1991)



Townes Van Zandt Live at The Down Home - Johnson City, TN (1985-04-18)