Roman Candle - Live at Workplay Birmingham, AL May 24t

From the first moment Roman Candle took the stage playing "Eden is a Garden" and lead singer Skip Matheny demonstrated his average white American leaping ability, I felt it would be a special show. I was not disappointed. The performance was high energy but laid back. That may sound oxymoronic but if you were in attendance you would know what I mean. There was nothing pretentious about Roman Candle. Aside from the aforementioned leaps by the vocalist, there was no showing off. There was however plenty of good music. There is a spiritual side to Roman Candle that they deliver without the maudlin shoe gazing of your typical "high school emo band." (See link to "Why Modern Radio is A Ok") They manage to do it while having fun, which seems to be the exception in modern music. They played a good balance between their current release Oh Tall Tree in the Ear and their previous one, Wee Hours revue..

The highlight of the evening was when they played what I think is the best song of the year, "Why Modern Radio is A Ok." Another high moment was "Another Summer" from Wee Hours Revue. Their professionalism was much appreciated since the audience size was reduced dramatically because everyone in Birmingham went to the beach for Memorial Day. (So much for the bad economy.) The band's label success may have been recent but they are actually grizzled veterans. They began in Chapel Hill, North Carolina over 10 years ago and developed a loyal following there. They also worked with some of the area's top talent like Thad Cockerell and Caitlin Cary. Also, they regularly toured and recorded with Chris Stamey. According to Skip Matheny, who I spoke with after the show, they decided a different scene might be helpful and now live in Nashville. They have had hard luck with labels over the years but let's hope now is their time.

Listen to the year's best song below:

Reed KD a good find.

I received this Singer Songwriter album in the mail. Reed KD has been a good find check out Kelly's review over at Twangville.

Reed KD Review

Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses - Roadhouse Sun

I often wonder if record labels get stressed when an artist tries to top a great debut. After all sustainability can only be proven over time. Then again such anxiety just comes with the territory. Mescalito established Bingham and had critics crowing about his future. Expectations can be a burden, but Roadhouse Sun reveals a Ryan Bingham that is undaunted as his rough hewn voice moves from song to song in a follow up that actually tops its’ predecessor. This shouldn’t be a surprise since he is a former competitor on the Southwestern rodeo circuit. After all, some pencil necked A&R lackey or cynical critic is nothing compared to 8 seconds on the back of bull. In fact, if you are not familiar with Bingham’s story just pick up any Cormac McCarthy novel and you will get the picture. He is not the kind of person to be concerned with the opinions of others. He simply delivers raw emotion and honesty.

Roadhouse Sun is harder driving than Mescalito. In fact, the album title is an allusion to the mood of the album. Bingham is still a troubadour with lyrics that reflect the contemplation of a life spent on the road, yet the music is often ready for Saturday night. It is as if there is a battle going on between home sickness and wanderlust and home front is losing. However, it is precisely this tension that creates the almost perfect balance of Roadhouse Sun. The album is a trip that is both rewarding and fun. So it is time for everyone to forget their expectations of Ryan Bingham because he has arrived.



This review also appears on Twangville

The Winner Is ....

Earle Freeman of Carbon Hill, Alabama

Based on Earl's comment Naked Willie is the pre-ponytail Willie that has all of the element sof Outlaw Willie.

Earl contact me and get me your address and I will put it in the mail.

Congratulations!!

Jay Bennett - RIP

Sad news to report here is the lead from CBC:

Musician Jay Bennett dies at 45
Last Updated: Monday, May 25, 2009 | 3:11 PM ET CBC News
Jay Bennett, a former member of the band Wilco, died Sunday at his home in Urbana, Ill. The multi-instrumentalist was recording this fifth studio album when he died at age 45.

An announcement from Undertow Music Collective, which released one of Bennett's solo albums, reported the musician died in his sleep, adding, "Jay was a beautiful human being who will be missed."

The cause of Bennett's death is not yet known.

With Wilco, Bennett played on the albums Being There, Summerteeth, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, as well as their Mermaid Avenue collaborations with Billy Bragg, all between 1994 and 2001.

Free Naked !!!! - Naked Willie Giveaway

No I am not trying to convert this sight to Porn. I'm giving away the Naked Willie album. The folks at Apex Exposure are graciously supporting a giveaway of the album I featured right here on AWT a few weeks back.

Just leave a comment about your favorite Willie song or concert moment and I will announce the winner one week from today. Check back on Saturday May 30th and if you are the winner you can e-mail me your address.

I'll get the conversation started. My favorite Willie song is "Whiskey River." It may seem to be a strange selection, but I saw him play it live almost 20 years ago and it just embodied what makes Willie so unique. It was the highlight of that show.

Check out the EPK TV Player

AWT Fave Donna Ulisse on Sirius XM

Pres Release from Hadley Music Group:

Donna Ulisse's in-studio visit with Kyle Cantrell for the taping of his popular new Bluegrass Junction show "Track by Track" will air for the first time on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. EST.

Ulisse and Cantrell discussed and played all thirteen tracks off of her current release WALK THIS MOUNTAIN DOWN and also talked about Donna's early career in country music while on Atlantic Records. The broadcast schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. EST

Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. EST

Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. EST

The show will air on SiriusXM's Bluegrass Junction which can be found on channel 14 on XM and channel 65 on Sirius

Red Stick Ramblers - My Suitcase is always packed

The Red Stick Ramblers derive their name from where their hometown, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Their music is also derived from the cultural influences of their native region. Baton Rouge is located along a corridor that runs from New Orleans to Houston. Consequently the Red Stick Ramblers deliver an eclectic mix of Zydeco, Country, Bluegrass and Swing. They also deliver a shindig that is a festive Jamboree whether it is in Cajun country or anywhere else in the country for that matter. Their new album My Suitcase is Always Packed was released this week on Sugar Hill Records, and it is a perfect example of the diversity of influences that dwell in the collective soul of this band.

The album is aptly named as it takes the listener on a road trip of Honky Tonks, Cajun dances and Southern countryside. Along the way they find love and lose it and they get happy and get the blues. The Ramblers are accomplished musicians. In fact, Linzay Young, better known for his smooth vocal styling, has been nominated for fiddler of the year by Offbeat Magazine and he may not be the best fiddler in the band. In the end on the final song of the journey, “The Barnyard Bachelor” the Ramblers give us the moral of the story, “There is only room in the barnyard for just one rooster and that means no chicks for you.”

Check out Lazy Summer day from the new album:

Webb Wilder - More Like Me

Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em." This is the Webb Wilder credo. It is a credo that I have lived by since my college days in the late 80s when I first heard Webb Wilder. Back then Webb was doing the college bar circuit that included bands like Jason and the Scorchers all of which are to blame for my mis-spent youth. Nothing has changed since then for Webb though. Webb is the self-proclaimed last of the full grown men. His humor can take things like circus freaks and make a song about them (As he did in his early classic “Human Cannonball”). His music is Rock and Roll with a mix of Blues and Rockabilly. He is also the epitome of cool. In addition to being a prolific musician, Wilder is a filmmaker. He made a collection indie shorts collectively known as the Corn Flicks in the spirit of 70s B-movies. These movies are as hilarious as they are demented. Wilder was also a DJ for XM Cross Country before it became a fatality of the Sirius merger.

Mostly though Webb likes to Rock Hard, and his new album More Like Me has plenty of examples to prove it. The album begins with the Rockabilly throw down “Ju Ju Man.” It is no secret Webb is a fan of Link Wray and that influence is apparent on “Don’t Slander Me,” a song in which space aliens make an appearance. “Honky Tonkin’ (in Mississippi.)” is an electric blues number that will no doubt get the crowd moving. The ballads on the album are a mixed back. “Sudden Stop” is a very good number and a very unique song for Webb, but “She’s Nor Romantic” frankly could have been left off the album. Another notable cut is the Southern Boogie of “Still Water Runs Deep.” More Like Me is Wilder’s first album in five years. It is safe to say he hasn’t forgotten his credo and still knows how to have a good time. Look for him on tour and I promise you will have time worthy of a full grown man.

Sample at his Website

Sara Watkins Goes Solo

When you heard about Nickel Creek prior to their break up most of the focus was on mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile. Although Sean Watkins' guitar work also collected a following. In fact, Watkins and Thile have had similar solo success. Since they parted ways, Thile has garnered praise with the Punch Brothers and Sean Watkins has received similar accolades with Fiction Family. Still you can't make a wheel with just spokes. You need a hub to get it rolling. The hub of Nickel Creek was clearly Sean's sibling and fiddle player Sara Watkins. Chris and Sean were flash and athleticism. Sara was the class and elegance of the group and made their sound cohesive. Without question she has always shown a mastery of the fiddle. However, she was always quiet and in the background until she sang in that smooth and calming voice. It is her voice that gets overlooked. I remember a late night session at Merlefest when she broke into a beautiful hymn and I swear my heart stopped beating it was so powerful.

In making her first solo release she asked a few friends to help. Of course her brother and Thile showed up. For producer John Paul Jones, bassist for Led Zeppelin, volunteered. She could have stopped there, but for good measure she invited other Friends to join. The duo of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings pay a visit, as do Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench, Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas, Tim O’Brien, Punch Brothers’ Chris Eldridge and Ronnie McCoury. Sara also demonstrates the breadth of her talent by writing 8 of the 14 songs included in the final product. You don't have to be a fan of Bluegrass or New Grass or any other kind of Grass to appreciate this album. The word of the day is elegant. For a definition buy the album.



This review also appears on Twangville

The Spiritual Power of Music

The Sunday Night Shout is a happening in Nashville that Mike Farris started in order to recover lost Gospel Soul and Funk songs. It turned in to a type of church and spiritual healing for the participants. They decided to record it live at the Station Inn. The album Shout Live released this week. Check out the EPK below:

Steve Earle - "Townes"

Steve Earle is set to release Townes, his follow up to Washington Square Serenade, on May 12th. The 15-song set is comprised of songs written by Earle’s friend Townes Van Zandt. It will also be available as a deluxe two-CD set. The fact that the two were so close means this will be more than your typical tribute album. It will be his interpretation of his freind.

Check out this sneak preview:

To Live is to Fly

Under the Radar - 2009 Surprises

I wanted to highlight a few bands I have run acriss this year that you may not have heard of but are woth checking out:

Angus and Julia Stone A Book Like this - This brother and sister duo make emotional story songs with haunting mid-tempo melodies. They are starting to get some notice with this North American Debut.

Website

No Show Ponies The End of Feel Good Music - Americana influenced Pop with intelligent lyrics. The album by this Austin based band was produced by Kevin Russell of The Gourds. It also features John Dee Graham. The album won't release until Fall but it should hit with a bang.

MySpace

Poerterdavis - Another Austin group that was just awarded best Roots Rock Band at the Austin Music Awards. They are working on a yet un-named album wiht Gurf Morlix. Enough said. Look for it this Fall.

Website

Bosque Brown Baby - Haunting modern folk sung in way that mixes in influences of traditional church music. Chritian overtones reflect the Baptist upbringing of Mara Lee Miller. The music is mesmerizing. It is both forboding and beautiful.

MySpace

Willie Nelson - Naked Willie

Many people will tell you it all began back then. What was the “Nashville Sound” in the sixties is now Adult Contemporary with an accent. I don’t know if I totally agree, but there is no doubt that the “Nashville Sound” was the first attempt to put a formula on the music in order to make it marketable to a broader audience. Chet Atkins was largely responsible for this sound. However, it is hard for me to be too hard on a legend like Atkins. Clearly he was not attempting to rip the roots out of Country music. He was trying to widen the audience, but I find it hard to believe that he was attempting to render the Genre indistinguishable from other forms of Pop music as it is today. Whether intentional or not, the “Nashville Sound” grew into a glutinous, money hungry monster.

In the late sixties a successful songwriter recorded some sides for RCA. His name was Willie Nelson and he was responsible for many hits including “Crazy” by Patsy Cline. These recordings were done in Nashville and produced with the typical orchestration and choral milieu of the day. Thanks to longtime Willie band mate Mickey Raphael the vault has been opened on these recordings. They have been remixed with the ear candy removed. On Naked Willie it is apparent that when these songs were recorded, the “Red Headed Stranger” already existed. On this special project Raphael has peeled the onion back and revealed where Willie was headed. He just did it about 35 years after Willie did it himself. It does not matter, because these recordings in there altered state are powerful examples of Willie's passion whenever they were done.

Romi Mayes - Achin' In Your Bones

With honest emotion and raw guitars Romi Mayes is emerges from Canada and delivers a gut punch on her new release Achin’ in Yer Bones. The album was produced by none other than Gurf Morlix, who also plays and contributes vocals to the project. Mayes is at times as unfiltered and plain spoken as Mary Gauthier. At other times her sound is more refined. Then there are songs like “Tire Marks” where she is just a bad ass. She is a Country singer with a Blues attitude, but Dusty Springfield also haunts the dark recesses of the album. Even when Mayes displays her softer side it has a hard edge. On “I Won’t Cry” she watches her lover go and although it hurts, she puts it in perspective and vows to move on. “I’ve been around the block I know the pain of loss. It ain’t nothing new. I’ve lost my father, my sister, my heroes and lovers like you … I won’t cry, not for you.” Almost as if proving her point, she follows that song with “If the Lord Don’t Love You,” a straight on in your face Blues rocker.

Mayes has previously won the WCMA Songwriter of the year award and I feel certain more notoriety is in her future. She is about to head to Europe where she has already developed a following. I hope she can increase her following in the US. There are certain artists that are just honest and sing from the heart. Listening to Romi Mayes you can feel the earnest emotion. This is real. Most people avoid reality. They chose instead to watch reality television , which is anything but real. On Achin’ in Yer Bones you can’t avoid reality. It is right in front of you.

The Flatlanders - Hills and Valleys

Nobody in this band has anything left to prove. Individually Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock have established their reputations so deeply in their home state that you can not talk about the Texas Music scene without mentioning them in the same breath. The collaboration of the three as The Flatlanders goes back about thirty years to their days living in Lubbock. By this point in time, what they have together is beyond collaboration. It is kinship. Indeed Hills and Valleys which will be released on March 31st by New West Records sounds as relaxed as a family reunion. In fact, I feel like it is as good as anything they have done in the past. I understand that is saying a lot, given their long history of recording together; but Hills and Valleys floored me.

The album opens with “Homeland Refugee” sung by Ely. It is an extremely powerful reflection on the current state of our country told, in typical Ely fashion, from the perspective of someone living in the thick of it. The album is not all serious though, in typical Flatlanders fashion, they can bring a smile to your face on songs like the Tex-Mex infused “No Way I’ll Never Need You.” Also, they have not forgotten how to rock the roadhouse. On “Just About Time” Ely sings as the band lays down house rockin’ crunchy guitar licks. As if great songwriting was not enough, the trio brought in ace producer Lloyd Maines to bring it all together. The album is not perfect. There are a couple of weaker tracks on the album, but the best songs on Hills and Valleys are truly great.

MySpace

This review also appears on Twangville

SBBS New Video

My thanks to the Sarah Borges Fan Club for giving me a shout about the new video from the album. If you haven't figured out by now, I love the new Album.
Fan Club MySpace

Get out the Vote for Fiction Family

The first video from Fiction Family "When She's Near" is nominated to be put on the regular rotation on MTVU. In case you haven't heard the band is comprised of Nickel Creek's Sean Watkins and Switchfoot's John Foreman. It sounded like a strange partnership when I heard of it, but the result is a Pop masterpiece. The vocal harmonies and guitar work of Watkins make for a combination that works. I for one am just excited there is an MTV network that still shows videos.

Vote at MTVU

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles New Direction

Check out Kelly's Review

For anyone who is worried about her new direction don't be. The new album is Fantastic!!!!

Pierce Pettis is Born Again

Pierce Pettis has never gotten credit he deserves. He is a thoughtful lyricist. He delivers his stories and messages with a twist of irony and poignancy that is hard to ignore. Pettis has been laying low for the last 4 years. With the release of That Kind of Love it is apparent that Pettis has not spent that time slack-assin’ around. He has been creating the poetic piquant songs which have garnered him such a loyal following. Pettis’ fans are a loyal bunch who have no doubt been waiting for this release and will not be disappointed. His followers may not number as large of a group as Bruce Cockburn, John Hiatt or Steve Earle, but they are loyal just the same. Pettis also does a couple of good covers on this album. The best of the covers is the opening track, “Nothing but the Wind,” originally penned by Mark Heard. He follows the theme of the opener with the self-written tune, “I Am Nothing.”

That Kind of Love features many guest artists who have appeared on Pettis’ past recordings. Stuart Duncan (fiddle, banjo), Andrea Zonn (background vocals, strings), Reese Wynans (Hammond B3), Phil Madeira (Hammond B3, accordion), Byron House ( bass), and Garry West (electric bass). West also produced the album and co-owns the label Compass Records. Needless to say, with this supporting cast the musicianship equals the song craft. When Pettis is at his best, which he is on That kind of Love, his music is transcendent. In fact, he is most reassuring when he points us outside of ourselves. “I am nothing but the angels sometimes whisper in my ear. They tell me things and then they disappear. Though I am nothing, I sometimes like to make believe I hear.” I for one am listening.

Sample at Compass

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE - Wasting No Time

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE will releases his Sophomore album on March 3rd. Midnight at the Movies follows close on the heels of The Good Life. Sometimes success breeds more success and based on some MP3s like the one below it should be a welcome follow up Check it out. The album is on Bloodshot Records.

What I Mean to You MP3

Jason Isbell and the 400 New Album

Life is good. A new Jason Isbell album can cheer up my day and I haven't even had a chance to listen to it. Some things are just destined for greatness.

Check out the EPK:



I understand he kicked things off with an in store at Grimey's in Nashville.

Derek Trucks - Already Free

Virtuosos can sometimes be so esoteric that it makes them less accessible. So it has been at times with Derek Trucks. It is not his fault he is just on another plane musically. His brilliant improvisation has garnered wide acclaim but it also makes it hard for him to reach a wider audience. The release of Already Free should introduce Trucks to the wide audience he deserves. With the help of friend Doyle Bramhall II and is better half Susan Tedeschi hes has put together a brilliant and entertaining album. There is a lot more than Trucks slide guitar acumen on Already Free from the opening cover of Bob Dylan's "Down in the Flood" it is game through the closing title track.

What is pleasure? Blues, R&B, Jazz or Gospel take your pick the buffet is open. Trucks recorded the album in a new studio he built behind his house in Jacksonville, Florida. Putting Derek Trucks in a private studio is like locking a mad scientist in a lab. However, this is science you can dance to.

Otis Gibbs - Rocketing Up the Charts

Otis Gibbs' new album Grandpa Walked a Picket Line Has risen up to number 5 on the Americana charts in only a few weeks. If you haven't checked it out you need to do so. I caught a short set he played last weekend at the Evening Muse in Charlotte. I wish he had played longer. He composes stories based on personal experience of his life as a wanderer. He has slept in hobo jungles and lived with mauntain shepherds all in search of honesty. He is a bit of a radical that has a raw unfiltered message.

Springsteen's New Classic

Having been able to listen to the new CD Working on a Dream a few times now, I can only conclude the album is a new classic. Springsteen has lost nothing over the years. His superbowl halftime performance showed he still has the ability to take over a crowd. Check out Jeff's review on Twangville