Lucinda Williams - Blessed

Some albums have lyrics with an emotional impact, but more often than not, the music impacts me more than the lyrics. So it is always special to find an album that does both.

Then there is Lucinda Williams' new project Blessed , which has great musicianship delivering a Soulful Blues with deep roots. Even More impressively, the lyrics not only affect the listener, they rip their heart open, exposing the deepest part of the soul and speak directly to it. This is not an exaggeration in the slightest, and your first listen to Blessed will prove it. The album opens with "Convince Me", which builds from a quiet question to a Rockin' feeling of hope. The title track demonstrates, in a dramatic way, that we are all Blessed everyday. However, we do not look for blessings, so we miss them as they move right in front of us. Indeed the theme of the album seems to be, that in always searching for more, we discount what we already have. We tend to long for something illusory, ignoring the good in our current reality. When we move on, we are just running away. Running never fulfills, but Williams doesn't pretend to know what does fulfill. She simply provides reflection for the journey. It is odd for an Album to be full of pain, without leading to hopelessness.

The producer of Blessed is Grammy Award-winning Don Was. Was co-produced the project with Eric Liljestrand and Tom Overby. Blessed features special guests Rami Jaffe on keyboards, Matthew Sweet on vocals Greg Leisz and Elvis Costello on guitar. In fact, Costello's guitar work on "Seeing Black" is amazing.


Buy the album on March 1st and see for yourself.

Amos Lee- Mission Bell

On January 25th, Amos Lee is going to release Mission Bell on Blue Note Records. Mark your calendars, this early January release will remain on many best of lists by the end of 2011. Characteristically, Lee's soulful voice is the focal point of the album. However, the sound of Mission Bell exhibits more texture than his previous releases. The project is produced by Joey Burns, from Calexico. His imprints are seen on every song. Mission Bell has a compelling echo, that adds a new dimension to Amos Lee's sound, and perfectly matches the lyrical theme of each track. 

It is an album about searching. The search is not temporal. Instead, the search is a cerebral journey. "Windows are Rolled Down" takes place at the interseciton of lonliness and renewal. The dichotomy of despair and hope pull the listener in two different directions. Conversely "Flower" is infused with a hope that is more optimistic, in fact it is a mature form of Naivete. Some songs, like "Stay With Me" are more atmospheric, but the soulful side of Lee is not lost or overshadowed on "Mission Bell", as shown by the song "Learned a Lot". However, an album with this much texture is perfect for guests like Sam Beam (Iron and Wine), Lucinda Williams and Pieta Brown. Willie Nelson also appears on the final track to make the exit from Mission Bell equal to its' entrance.

Best of 2008

This is my Finaa list of the year. The Truckers are #1 and went wire to wire in the top spot. No small accomplishment. Give me your thoughts and your top picks:

1) Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
2) The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
3) Kaey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones
4) Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
5) Tift Merrit - Another Country
6) Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
7) Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof
8) Old 97's - Blame it on Gravity
9) Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal
10) Chris Knight - Heart of Stone
11) Kaiser Chiefs - Off with Their Heads
12) The Steeldrivers - The Steeldrivers
13) Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cardinology
14) Old Crow Medicine Show - Tennessee Pusher
15) My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
16) The Waybacks - Loaded
17) Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
18) Band of Heathens - Self-Titled
19) Shawn Mullins - Honeydew
20) The Whigs - Mission Control
21) Ashton Shepherd - Sounds so Good
22) Jaon Boland & the Straggler - Comal County Blue
23) J. J. Grey & Mofro - Orange Blossoms
24) Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
25) Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
26) The Beautiful Loser Society - Aim Low
27) Yarn - Empty Pockets
28) Griffin House - Flying Upside Down
29) The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
30) John D. Hale - Lost
31) Drew Emmitt - Long Road
32) Infamous Stringdusters - Self-Titled
33) Wild Sweet Orange - We Have Cause to be Uneasy
34) Cherryholmes - III
35) R.E.M. - Accelerate
36) Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
37) Joey & Rory - The Life of a Song
38) Ray Lamontagne - Gossip in the Grain
39) B. B. King - One Kind of Favor
40) British Columbians - Self-Titled
41) Teddy Thompson - A Piece of What You Need
42) The Waifs - Sundirtwater
43) The Bridge - Blind Mam's Hill
44) Brett Dennen - Hope for the Hopeless
45) Donna The Buffalo - Silverlined
46) Heybale - The Last Country Album
47) Tejas Brothers - Self - Titled
48) Railroad Earth - Amen Corner
49) Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers
50) Sierra Hull - Secrets
51) South Austin Jug Band - Strange Invitation
52) Eleven Hundred Springs - Country Jam
53) Jim Lauderdale - Honey Songs
54) Dr. Dog - Fate
55) The Stills - Oceans Will Rise
56) Hank Williams III - Damn Right Rebel Proud
57) Chatham County Line - IV
58) Sonny Landreth - From the Reach
59) Graham Lindsey - We are All Alone in This Together
60) Have Gun Will Travel - Casting Shadows Tall as Giants

Settin' the Woods on Fire - This Week's Charts

I am having to drop the Cross-Country chart from my polls thanks to our "friends" at Sirius who killed the best channel on XM. However I still have the Americana Music Charts and the FMQB Non-Commercial AAA chart so it is not all bad:

Americana Music Association Airplay for the week of 12-1:
1) Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
2) Todd Snider - Peace Queer
3) Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology
4) Rodney Crowell - Sex & Gasoline
5) Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones
6) Yarn - Empty Pockets
7) OCMS - Tennessee Pusher
8) Tejas Brothers - Tejas Brothers
9) Susan Tedeschi - Back to the River
10)Chris Night - Heart of Stone

FMQB AAA Non-Commercial Airplay Chart for the week of 12-1:
1) Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology
2) Byrne/Eno - Everything that Happens will Happen Today
3) Susan Tedeschi - Back to the River
4) Brett Dennen - Hope for the Hopeless
5) Pretenders - Break up the Concrete
6) Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
7) Ray Lamontagne - Gossip in the Grain
8) Jenny Lewis - Acid Tounge
9) Coldplay - Viva La Vida
10)Calexico - Carried to Dust

Lucinda Williams & Elvis Costello - Jailhouse Tears

After listening to Little Honey it is great to see Lucinda Williams happy again. I'm also glad she is still sassy. She has recorded her share of memorable duets over the years, but "Jailhouse Tears" is in my opinion the best duet of her career. Previously my favorite duet of hers was "Down to the Well" with Kevin Gordon from 2000. The duet with Costello ranks with some of the great country duets. Paste Magazine feels the same way. Costello and Williams first hooked up on CMT's Crossroads. They certainly capture the magic again on this call and reply style song, in which a woman telss her man "how it is." The song is traditional in its vocal styling but thoroughly modern in every other way.

Check out this video from the CMT performance to get a taste:

Settin' The Woods on Fire - This Week's Charts

After a few requests I am bringing this feature back. I will post every 2 weeks on AWT the top albums and debuts in the airplay charts from Americana Music Assoc. and the FMQB Non-Commercial Adult Alternative chart. I have dropped the XM Cross Country Chart because it is a reporting station to the Americana chart. The links to these charts are included on my Blogroll at the right.

Americana Music Association - Airplay Week of 10-13
1) Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson – Rattlin’ Bones
2) Todd Snider - Peace Queer
3) Rodney Crowell - Sex & Gasoline
4) Lucinda Williams – Little Honey
5) Little Feat and Friends – Join the Band
6) OCMS – Tennessee Pusher
7) Chris Knight – Heart of Stone
8) Carrie Rodriguez – She Ain’t Me
9) Darrell Scott – Modern Hymns
10)Band of Heathens – Self Titled

Debuts:
25) Bob Dylan - Telltale Signs
28) Charlie Haden - Ramblin' Boy

FMQB Non Commercial AAA Chart - Airplay Week of 10-13
1) Calexico - Carried to Dust
2) The Pretenders - Break Up the Concrete
3) Michael Franti - All Rebel Rockers
4) Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
5) Bob Dylan - Telltale Signs
6) Taj Majal - Maestro
7) Dar Williams - Promised Land
8) Coldplay - Viva La Vida
9) Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
10) Ben Folds _ Way to Normal

Debuts:
28) Snow Patrol - Hundred Million Suns
29) Joseph Arthur - Temporary People

Lucinda Williams New Album and Mood Change

I've written before on AWT that I was no fan of Lucinda's previous release West. The whole girl gets done wrong by a loser then gets dark and dreary act was old on on the album. There were few great songs on the album but what worked on World Without Tears slid into a disturbing creepiness on West. I say all of this because Williams is absolutely one of my favorite artists. I am not one of these people wanting Carwheels II. I like her eclecticism. I just want her to do what she does best by mixing styles and moods.

Based on a review I stmbled upon on, I may get my wish. Her new album, which will be titled Little Honey, is coming out in October. Here is an excerpt from the review and interview done by >MusicRemedy

Lucinda Williams has always been adept at painting landscapes of the soul, illuminating the spirit’s shadowy nooks and shimmering crannies -- but she’s never captured the sun breaking through the clouds as purely as on her new Lost Highway release, Little Honey. “I’m in a different phase of my life, so there are more happy moments on this album,” the singer-songwriter says of her ninth studio set...Williams wastes no time signaling that mood change, leading into Little Honey's opener, “Real Love” with a false start riff that's the six-string equivalent of a friendly wink – then sidling into the tune's hard-rocking vibe with a sensual slink that underscores the passion of finding exactly what that title indicates. The bluesy physicality of that tune is echoed in several of Little Honey's tracks

Bring it on! I can't wait.

Here is live video of her doing the first song off the ne album Real Love (Warning the Audio is poor):

Settin' the Woods on Fire: This Year's Charts

The Overall Charts for 2007. Links to all of these charts are found to the right in the AWT favorite links list. Expanded lists are available there

Americana Music Association - Top 10 of 2007
1) Lucinda William - West
2) Ryan Adams Easy Tiger
3) Kelly Willis - Translated from Love
4) Son Volt - The Search
5) Patty Griffin - Children Running Through
6) Marty Stuart - Compadres
7) Jay Boy Adams - The Shoe Box
8) Joe Ely - Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
9) Various Artists - Endless Highway: Music of the Band
10) Greencards - Viridian


XM Ch.12 Cross Country - Cross Checking Top 10 of 2007
1) John Fogerty - Revival
2) Lucinda Williams - West
3) Kelly Willis - Translated Fom L:ove
4) Jay Boy Adams - The Show Box
5) Blackie and the Rodeo Kings - Let's Frolic
6) Bill Kirchen - Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods
7) Son Volt - The Search
8) Southern Culture on the Skids - Countrypolitan
9) Jason Isbell - Sirens of the Ditch
10) Kendel Carson - Rearview Mirror Tears