City Stages Video Wrap Up

For all the hype Bonnaroo receives just a few hours south, we had a pretty good festival in Birmingham last weekend. For those whoa Aren't familiar with City Stages, it used to be one of the better festivals around. However, years of bad weather and debt trouble hurt the event and made it a shadow of it's former self. But Stages booked a deal with a national booking agency that also books for Bonnaroo and things turned for the better this year. While still not what it used to be, it had a great lineup this year. Here are some highlights of the weekend:

FRIDAY

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - I'll let a quote from my son Charlie be the review here. "Daddy this is cool. It is so loud I feel like I have 2 hearts." In other words he rocked. Also, he gave me one of the best memories ever from a music festival. When they played the DBT song "outfit" and Jason dedicated it to his father and all fathers, my son crawled in my lap and said "Daddy I love you. You are a good dad." Folks it doesn't get any better than that.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - ''Grown,'' live at City Stages


Old Crow Medicine Show - It was late and already way past my son's bedtime so we had to miss OCMS but I heard they were good.

SATURDAY

I had unavoidable family obligations on Saturday. So I missed my 3rd day of Stages in the 18 years I have lived in Birmingham. I will share some video instead. I heard Grace Potter was the best act on Saturday from a couple of people the following day.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - live at City Stages

Griffin House at City Stages

OCMS


Ben Harper on Saturday


SUNDAY

The lineup on the Songwriter stage was: Elizabeth Cook, Pieta Brown, Hackensaw Boys, Shooter Jennings and Robert Earl Keen. Not one of those artists disappointed. Elizabeth Cook got it started with her country flair and Keen closed it out as you would expect with his typical Texas showmanship. However, The Hackensaw Boys may have put on the best show and they certainly picked up a bunch of fans in the Magic City.

All that being said the Flaming Lips generated the biggest buzz of the entire weekend. I ran into a couple of freinds after the festival ended and received rave reviews from them.. Amazingly enough thay weren't even that familiar with their music. Howwever, in order to see the Flaming Lips I would have needed to skip Robert Earl and that would have been sacreligious.

The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips - live at City Stages

More Flaming Lips:

Settin' the Wodds on Fire: This Weeks Charts

This is a weekly feature in which I post on AWT the top albums and debuts in the airplay charts from Americana Music Assoc., XM Cross Country and FMQB Non-Commercial Adult Alternative chart. Links to all of these charts are found to the right in the AWT favorite links list.

Americana Music Association - Airplay Week of July 9th
1) Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
2) Kelly Willis - Translated from Love
3) Marty Stuart - Anthology of Duets
4) Jimmy Lafave - Cimmaron Manifesto
5) Adrienne Young - Room to Grow
6) Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark
7) Amy Lavere - Anchors and Anvils
8) Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
9) Gurf Morlix - Diamonds to Dust
10) Kendel Carson - Rearview Mirror Tears
Debuts
21) Subdudes - Street Symphony
30) Chris Knight - The Trailer Tapes
33) Max Stalling - Topaz City
37) Tab Benoit - Power of the Ponchatrain
40) King Wilkie - Low Country Suite

XM Ch.12 Cross Country - Cross Checking week of July 9th
1) Kendel Carson - Rearview Mirror Tears
2) Robbie Fulks - Revenge
3) Gurf Morlix - Diamond to Dust
4) Jed and Kelley - Song to Take Home
5) Various Artists - Anchored in Love
6) Jimmy Lafave - Cimmaron Manifesto
7) Red Dirt Rangers - Ranger Motel
8) Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadors - Trailercana
9) Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
6) Dale Watson - From The Cradle To The Grave
10) David Olney - One Tough Town
Debuts
46) Hackensaw Boys - Look Out!
47) Tab Bemoit - Power of the Ponchatrain

FMQB AAA Non-Commercial - Airplay Week of July 9th
1) RYAN ADAMS - Easy Tiger
2) SPOON - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
3) WILCO - Sky Blue Sky
4) PAUL MCCARTNEY - Memory Almost Full
5) SUZANNE VEGA - Beauty and Crime
6) FEIST - The Reminder
7) Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark
8) R.THOMPSON - Sweet Warrior
9) GRACE POTTER - This is Somewhere
10) WHITE STRIPES - Icky Thump
Debuts
11) Subdudes - Street Symphony
27) Van Morrison - Best of ... Vol. 3

Settin' the Woods on Fire- This Weeks Charts

This is a weekly feature in which I post on AWT the top albums and debuts in the airplay charts from Americana Music Assoc., XM Cross Country and FMQB Non-Commercial Adult Alternative chart. Links to all of these charts are found to the right in the AWT favorite links list.

Americana Music Association - Airplay Week of July 2nd
1) Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
2) Kelly Willis - Translated from Love
3) Marty Stuart - Anthology of Duets
4) Jimmy Lafave - Cimmaron Manifesto
5) Adrienne Young - Room to Grow
6) Gurf Morlix - Diamonds to Dust
7) Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark
8) Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
9) Son Volt - The Search
10) Elizabeth Cook - Balls
Debuts
20) Antsy McLain and The Trailer Park Troubadors - Trailercana
26) Gourds - Noble Creatures
31) Hackensaw Boys - Look out!
37) Steve Forbert - Strange Names and New Sensations
40) Nick Lowe - At My Age

XM Ch.12 Cross Country - Cross Checking week of July 2nd
1) Kendel Carson - Rearview Mirror Tears
2) Robbie Fulks - Revenge
3) Gurf Morlix - Diamond to Dust
4) Elizabeth Cook - Balls
5) Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
6) Dale Watson - From The Cradle To The Grave
7) Jimmy Lafave - Cimmaron Manifesto
8) Jed and Kelley - Song to Take Home
9) David Holt and The Lightning Bolts - Self-Titled
10) Todd Snider - Peace, Love and Anarchy
Debuts
47) Max Stalling - Topaz City
48) Jason Isbell - Sirens of the Ditch
49) Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

FMQB AAA Non-Commercial - Airplay Week of July 2nd
1) WILCO - Sky Blue Sky
2) RYAN ADAMS - Easy Tiger
3) SPOON - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4) PAUL MCCARTNEY - Memory Almost Full
5) SUZANNE VEGA - Beauty and Crime
6) WHITE STRIPES - Icky Thump
7) FEIST - The Reminder
8) R.THOMPSON - Sweet Warrior
9) TORI AMOS - American Doll Posse
10) Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles - Diamonds in the Dark
Debuts
NONE

Best of 2007

This is My updated Best of 2007. Wilco is still #1 The artists with the highest debuts are White Stripes and Wrinkle Neck Mules at 3 and 4 respectively. The Hackensaw Boys and JohnDoe also debuted in the top 10. While Paul McCartney and Sarah Borges entered just outside the top 10. This list does not inlcude any albums released on June 26th. So Ryan Adams and Kelly Willis will have to wait until next month. Also, as usual, I did some rearranging based on further reflection. Enjoy the list and feel free to tell me how you agree or disagree. Also, make no hesitation to trash me or my intelligence in any way you see fit. I'm used to it.

1) Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky"
2) Patty Griffin - "Children Running Through"
3) White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
4) Wrinkle Neck Mules - "Wicks Have Met"
5) Assembly of Dust - "Recollection"
6) Hackensaw Boys - "Look Out"
7) The Broken West - "I Can't Go on I'll Go on"
8) )The Shins - "Wincing the Night Away"
9) Son Volt - "The Search"
10) John Doe - "A year in the Wilderness"
11) Paul McCartney - " Memory Almost Full"
12) Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - "Diamonds in the Dark"
13) Willy Mason - "If the Ocean Gets Rough"
14) Dale Watson - "From the Cradle to the Grave"
15) Modest Mouse - "We Were Dead Before he Ship Ever Sank"
16) Feist - "The Reminder"
17) Charlie Louvin - "Charlie Louvin"
18) Infamous Stringdusters - "Fork in the Road"
19) Nathan - "Key Principles"
20) Olav Larsen and the Alabama Rodeo Stars - "Loves' Com to Town"
21) Adam Hood - "Different Groove"
22) Elizabeth Cook - "Balls"
23) Rocky Votolato - "The Brag and Cuss"
24) The Basement - "Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs"
25) The Greencards - "Viridian"
26) Pela - "Anytown Graffiti"
27) Joe Ely - "Happy Song from Rattlesnake Gulch"
28) Cadillac Sky - "Blind Man Walking"
29) Martin Sexton - "Seeds"
30) Two Cow Garage - "Three"
31) Hoots & Hellmouth- "Hoots & Hellmouth
32) Norah Jones - "Not Too Late"
33) Bill Kirchen - "Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods"
34) Adrienne Young - "Room to Gow"
35) The Dexateens - "Hardwire Healing"

Hackensaw Boys - Look Out!

After the first listen to The Hackensaw Boys Look Out!, which is to be released on June 19th by Nettwerk Records, I felt the album could be summed up in one word, Wow!! This is their best album to date. After years of relentless touring with such diverse acts as Modest Mouse, Camper Van Beethoven, The Flaming Lips, The Detroit Cobras, Cake, Charlie Louvin and De La Soul, The Boys show a few new directions on this album. The current Lineup features Jesse Fiske on bass, accordion, harmonica and guitar; Jimmy Stelling on banjo and fiddle; Robert Bullington on mandolin and guitar; Ferd Moyse on fiddle and bass; Ward Harrison on guitar and Justin Neuhardt on charismo, spoon and Saw. (You have to love a musician that plays instruments you can buy at Home Depot.) Also, former Hackensaw Boy and current Modest Mouse Tom Peloso contributed two songs and plays bass on “Hobo.”

The first song “Look Out Dog, Slow Down Train” is front porch stomp reminiscent of previous releases. Also, in keeping with old time tradition the album includes a revenge song, “Oh Girl.” There is also a great rendition of the traditional gospel tune “Gospel Plow” that musically doesn’t sound very gospel at all. A lot of the songs on Look Out! go in new directions but the album doesn’t lose its edge or become too polished as it explores other influences. In fact, the album has a very live feel. In the end the Hackensaw Boys are what they always have been and hopefully always will be. A group of great musicians that have party will travel.

Oh Girl MP3
http://nettwerk.com/media/mp3/HacBo/HacBo_OhGi.mp3

http://www.myspace.com/hackensawboys
This review also appears on: http://twangville.com/