Rolling Country 2015

Will have to check Grady.
Dwight Yoakam's Second Hand Heartout 2/14) didn't immediately flip me into the back of a pickup truck, not like 3 Pears, but it sure does build. First three tracks seem a tad studious, which shouldn't be necessary after 14 previous albums drawing on mid-60s Buck Owens/Beatles crosstalk, and what they both drew on from the Everlys x various Southwestern crossover artists. But then he starts stretching and flexing the Sunbelt accents, adding Alabama-style syllables to a droll drawl over a "She's About A Mover"-type riff, dropping in some Jordanaires-type vocal encouragement, just for a second ( like some other fleet touches, on this and other tracks: acoustic guitar back here, steel over thar), and the arc of the set really takes off, doesn't let go. For instance, "Man of Constant Sorrow," with a vocal not that far from old timey versions, maybe a little faster---or that's just an illusion created by the slamming electric rhythm tracks, which fit perfectly, without jiving up the high lonesome vibe---they just respond, in a plugged-in, open-flap tent revival way: "Tell us how lost we all are, Brother, that's the first step to bein' found!" (Or maybe just, "Rave on, let it bleed, I'm with ya.")
Yoakam continues to crank up his rock and country connections while passing through, getting cooler and hotter at the same time, eventually ending with a ballad, but one with a beat; sounds like he's been listening to New Morningthe way Dylan was maybe listening to Van Morrison around then.
(And I'll prob get into that first subset more when I listen again, now that I know how he slides up the excitement level.)

Streaming here 'til the 14th, most likely:
http://www.npr.org/2015/04/05/396881299/first-listen-dwight-yoakam-second-hand-heart

"A tad studied," I probably should have said.

Starting to get antsy re new country releases--guess I should check Ryans Culwell & Bingham, eh? Any others?

Did just now try Allison Moorer's Down To Believing for the first time. Haven't gotten all the words yet, but not so much a Goodbye Earle "breakup album" in the usual sense---right away, she's running the potholes with pressing uncertainties all around; the rear view mirror is to used only when necessary (got that, Self?). First three tracks go like that, and more about overall effect, but it's her voice that pulls me in closer, when she slows down a little on the title track. That's the one that grabbed me on the radio, before I knew who was singing---she's not a distinctive stylist, but sometimes the moment in the ongoing situation takes a turn---other standouts so far incl. "Wish I" and "Mama Let The Wolf In," speaking of taking a turn: rec to fans of The Band Perry's hillbilly gothic pop, although it goes from atypical raunch to something more contextually consistent, as the tough adult lets a little of the dread out: "I shot him with a silver bullet, now I pray, pray, pray..."
Continues kicking it through the tumultuous phone message of "I'm Doin' Fine," and a strong version of "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?"

I'm stuck listening to the new Dwight Yoakam on Spotify until next weekend - I want to get the Target edition 'cause it comes with three bonus tracks, and I only go to Target every two weeks.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2015/04/19/academy-of-country-music-acm-awards/26048879/

The telecast began with Eric Church and Keith Urban performing Church's Pledge Allegiance to the Hag, a salute to the ACMs first entertainer of the year, Merle Haggard.

Turned this on late and missed the opening. haven't checked Youtube or elsewhere for it yet. Miranda won her sixth consecutive award for female vocalist of the year. She also won her fourth award for top album for Platinum, as well as song of the year for her hit Automatic.

But Lee Brice won for single record of the year--

http://theboot.com/lee-brice-i-dont-dance-single-record-of-the-year-2015-acm-awards/

http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6516613/little-big-town-girl-crush-controversy-lesbian-complaints-radio?mobile_redirection=false

Article suggests there were less complaints to radio than suggested in prior articles

Article says...

Speaking of jonesing for new country albums, what's Elizabeth Cook up to these days, other than knocking 'em dead on stage (maybe getting us primed for something)?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDe-jHSVEAAfOH1.jpg:large

Anyway, here's her site's EC Spotify play list, a good intro:

https://play.spotify.com/user/elizabeth_cook/playlist/1QJ6gSsUu7vjS6c5Cu7RiN?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

EC: "Thinking about it..."

https://igcdn-photos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/t51.2885-15/11199652_872804782765281_1971046042_n.jpg

Guy Clark doc in progress, crowdsourcing also in progress:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=16&v=16IxUN-qEUc

Wonder if it'll do that on Firefox:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=16&v=16IxUN-qEUc

http://m.nashvillescene.com/nashville/randy-rogers-and-wade-bowen/Event?oid=4971776

Keep reading about this current Rogers/Bowen effort--said to have Texas country roots. I think Xchuckxx & Edd have been chatting about it elsewhere, and I've seen other mentions of it too.

So far digging the new Emmylou & Rodney, The Traveling Kind, out May 12. More originals than Old Yellow Moon, and while I wouldn't mind an underexposed honky tonk chestnut or two--early tracks seem a bit mild---it does get more intense as it goes along. They were among the first to demonstrate how to fold rock & folk elements into country, also how to bring those out, and keep 'em there, in a Nashville-based sound that didn't get bogged down in trends, incl. nostalgia. They still do that, for inst. in the paranoid social commentary of the somewhut Doorsy boogie of "The Weight of the World," and the cosmic lover's speculation of "Higher Moutains, " delving way into a family photo, maybe, in "Her Hair Was Red,"and getting stardusted in "Le Danse De La Joie" ("Ooo-wee, nothin' in life so sweet/As you 'n' me 'n' four left feet"): where memory's rituals somehow find new creative expression.
Life's plainer, ruder side's here too, with oldsters trying not to hang on just because they're scared, in "We Sure Gave It A Try," which is even harder when one of you is basically gone baby gone already, in "If You Lived Here, You'd Home By Now." Yep, several along those lines.
http://www.npr.org/2015/05/03/403376741/first-listen-emmylou-harris-rodney-crowell-the-traveling-kind#playlist

"...You'd *Be* Home By Now": they can still get all their words in a row, even when I can't.

The Rogers and Bowen album is a good time. Parts of it scan as perhaps a bit too defensive and reactionary, but the construction of the songs is airtight, and there are strong enough hooks throughout. Not my favorite album of what's been a strong year thus far, but it's a likable set that avoids some of the dour self-seriousness of the Red Dirt and Americana scenes.

New John Moreland has some exceptional writing, and his singing is better than on his earlier albums. Have seen several writers who have been quick to anoint him as the next Sturgill Simpson, which does no one any favors.

Moreland used to play in punk bands I see

Merle Haggard @merlehaggard
Relaxing after a day of recording

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEb6gE4WoAEizAl.png

Chris StapletonVerified account
‏@ChrisStapleton

Baseball with my amazing, incredible, awesome, unbelievably lovely wife

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEXQTZeXIAEba5g.jpg

When I first heard Chris Stapleton with the SteelDrivers, I immediately thought of Bob Seger: both have the seemingly tight, raspy mid-range that can wail or nearly scream out for a second, then drop back right back into the continuity, which incl. "I drink because I'm lonely, and I'm lonely 'cause I drink," not as a breast-beating confession, but a given, along the way to breaking down the dry difference between "Whiskey and You." So he's got a way with words, but---despite having ditched the bluegrass SteelDrivers, a rock band and a Rick Rubin-produced solo debut, reportedly in a quest for more truthful self-expression---the expression really comes more through in the force and disciplined shape of his distinctive vocal sound. Close to Seger's, yeah, but Traveller is all country, unlike any Seger album so far. Crisp drums and bass *sometimes* meet up with steel guitar, banjo, acoustic or (usually) electric rhythm guitar, but they all know to stand back and let the man do his thang. (Also rec. to Jamey J. fans.)

So far, it works equally well as foreground or accompaniment for other activities.

x-post to : The Rogers and Bowen album is a good time. Parts of it scan as perhaps a bit too defensive and reactionary, but the construction of the songs is airtight, and there are strong enough hooks throughout. Not my favorite album of what's been a strong year thus far, but it's a likable set that avoids some of the dour self-seriousness of the Red Dirt and Americana scenes.

Finally listened to this and wasn't dazzled but kinda liked some of it. That song with the lyrics about being offered a tune called "Dirt" and then turning it down because "we don't write hits we write standards" struck me as a tad defensive and reactionary.

Listening to Stapleton again. "Tennessee Whiskey" maybe raises a glass to Van Morrison, with sparky little waves gliding by in some of his notes. There's also a subset of *relatively* subdued, candid reflections, culminating in the dry-eyed elegy "Daddy Doesn't Pray Anymore." Then he shifts to the uphill build of "Might As Well Get Stoned" 9wishes various friends and relations were still here to do it with him, but since they ain't---) In a strong, arena-ready finale, he lets his musos have enough retractable leash for a prowling country metal groove on "Outlaw State of Mind" (written cliche as you think, but perfectly performed), and "Sometimes I Cry," which also has a touch of cosmic blues.

this current Rogers/Bowen effort--said to have Texas country roots. I think Xchuckxx & Edd have been chatting about it elsewhere

That would've been on facebook. I called "Standards" "the very rare 'better than what's on country radio' song that actually works for me -- maybe since it comes off more self-deprecating than self-righteous, plus it's as catchy and well-sung as most real hits I've heard lately, and funnier too. On first hearing that one and 'Good Luck With That,' I wondered if they were lost honky-tonk obscurities I'd never heard before: They're definitely good enough; fit right in with that album's 3 excellently chosen cover tunes."

Some other random things I said on that same fb thread (I'll let Edd, if he's out there, speak for himself):

"Pinch-hit as Rhapsody's country reviewer for a few weeks. How I'd rank the 6 new albums I blurbed: Randy Rogers/Wade Bowen > Montgomery Gentry > Reba McEntire > Dwight Yoakam > Tyler Farr > Zac Brown Band."

" I like the singing and guitars on the Yoakam (especially its John Cougary parts), but the songwriting makes me shrug my shoulders. Zac Brown is trying some interesting stuff on paper, I guess, but almost all of it irritates me."

"(Yoakam)'s done way better albums this century, even. (See: Population: Me.) Weird that rock critics are suddenly rallying around this one like it's some kind of new classic -- but hey, rock critics are weird people. (Also should mention in re Zac: I was never much a hacky-sack player. Which might partly explain my aversion to the guy. He does try hard, sometimes.)"

"I'd rank Mavericks (which I'd blurbed a month or two before) toward the top of this list (though not at the top - its 'reviving the '90s swing revival' stuff worries me a little.)"

For what it's worth, I Pazz&Jopped the previous Mavericks album, In Time, which pulled me in way more than this one does. And had never been more than a casual fan before, if that. So maybe by now my expectations for them are too high.

Me on all counts (though I Nash Scened rather than P&J'd In Time), but I also think the new one is pretty good after all (didn't know I was ready for a Latin ska revival, or any kind of one)

In Time seemed like a creative breakthrough, which is not what I expect from a reunion (?) album, to say the least.

No longer being at risk of blowing up on country radio somehow freed them up, helped them expand their horizons. That's rare, I think -- at least rare as far as resulting in really good records -- but it reminds me of what happened with Kentucky Headhunters a few years back. In both cases, to my ears at least, their mature post-hit-era albums have way more going on than the (not bad) albums from when they were actually scoring hits.

Oh yeah, and come to think of it, they've got a previously unreleased album with Chuck Berry's pianist Johnnie Johnson coming out 6/2. Some tracks are linked here, with backstory:
http://kentuckyheadhunters.net/

I liked the last Yoakam album a lot better than this one (the song co-written with Kid Rock was one of the best album openers by anybody that year), but this one is definitely solid, and if it didn't mean going to some kind of gigantic fucking festival on Randall's Island I'd totally go see him on tour, especially since I didn't see him with Eric Church.

Yeah not quite up there w the last, but gets me going after first 2-3 tracks.

Shelby Lynne, I Can't Imagine: cosmic country soul in the pocket, sometimes with rock and/or folk, from Palm Springs to the Deep South and back, constantly intersecting in light and dark, heat and cold---but never loitering in extremes. "Paper Van Gogh" celebrates "my fake masterpiece on the wall," sounds like; she knows she's a non-genius on the trail, but faithfully, and art "soothes (suits?) my origami heart." "Front Porch Back Porch" soon finds a pod of voices opening amidst memories she knows she shouldn't poke into any more, not today, and as she keeps going around the parts of her house, another voice helpfully names it "Window, door"), and will be there when she comes around again, readying for take-off. Before doing so, she's "a son of a son of a gun" in the sun for a while, knowing reviewers will insert obligatory mention of her and Alison Moorer's daddy shooting mama when they were kids, even if that isn't what she's kind of alluding to---later there's a mention of "my dark Dixie closet," but that's more about "three dollar bills" among the hills, I think---in some other songs, other words still swimming just as confidently haven't reached me yet, but the music took hold right away, and she knows when to shut up, unlike so many.

http://img2.ymlp294.net/utre_KingstonSpringSuiteHiCover1_1.jpg

With a sprawling backstory that includes a veritable pantheon of Nashville's biggest names, The Kingston Springs Suite may be the greatest undiscovered treasure of the outlaw country era. Recorded in 1972 with the help of Johnny Cash, Shel Silverstein, Kris Kristofferson and "Cowboy" Jack Clement, the album has been hidden in the vaults until now. A prophetic, loose and gritty Polaroid snapshot into the lives of a small town of an America gone by, The Kingston Springs Suite has finally now been released through the Delmore Recording Society.

The Kingston Springs Suite first premiered via an exclusive album stream at The A.V. Club. The track "Bessie That's A Lie" was the first song to be shared from the album, and first premiered with The Boot. Aquarium Drunkard notes, "Confederate ghosts and oak trees loom over the record, about people and a town in transition, grappling with the heritage of their past and the uncertainty of their future."

Produced by the one and only Shel Silverstein – with help from Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Cowboy Jack Clement – The Kingston Springs Suite paints a crystal clear picture of the town’s life and its lore, of residents like blacksmith Vernon Newsom (“Mr. Soul”) and “Mr. Sam” The Railroad Man. Songs like “Melva’s Wine” and “Five Hundred Houses” are remarkably rich helpings of evanescent Americana, Matthews and Casey trading rough but resonant vocals over an outlaw symphony of front porch folk and traditional country, honky tonk balladry laced with the mellow fug of early 70’s rock. Finely etched and naturalistic, The Kingston Spring Suite captures the final breath of Smalltown USA before suburban sprawl commenced its proliferation over the land.

Despite its undeniable artistry and celebrity pedigree, Matthews’ lifelong knack for self-sabotage saw his defining work disappear into country music history. The Kingston Springs Suite became a cautionary Nashville tale, a secret totem heard of by few and actually heard by even fewer. Matthews died November 22, 2003, his obituary a reminder of how fleeting success in Music City can be. More than four decades later Delmore Recording Society - known for classic archival releases from Karen Dalton, Gary Stewart and Peter Walker, and home to the indescribable chanteuse Diana Darby - has made Vince Matthews & Jim Casey’s The Kingston Springs Suite available for the first time, offering a chance for the world to finally hear a milestone piece of American music applauded by Johnny Cash as “a laid-out slice of life as lived and learned by a laid-back country picker who knows and loves and understands the people like you’ll find at Kingston Springs.”

veddy interrrestink

That Stapleton record is so generic.

New John Moreland has some exceptional writing, and his singing is better than on his earlier albums. Have seen several writers who have been quick to anoint him as the next Sturgill Simpson, which does no one any favors.

― jon_oh, Monday, 4 May 2015 20:31 (2 weeks ago) Permalink

Agreed on all counts. A better reference point is Ryan Bingham, whose new record is a bit of a mess.

Anyone else have any trouble with Forks' Rolling Country playlist? I can't seem to find it in his profile on my phone (I see all the other ones though), and the link on my desktop browser takes me to a screen where I can see the songs but not subscribe.

here it is again?
http://open.spotify.com/user/forksclovetofu/playlist/0UovNZH0gkGMeUyADHp9PU

huh, you know what: i think they've changed up game where you have to have the most up-to-date version to share playlists? is that the case?

Stapleton just might be high generic. If so, well, I don't get into many male mainstream arena country these days; I'll take it.

Still digging Jessi Colter on the expanded 1996 The Outlaws and her own 2006 Out of the Ashes. Hoping for more, but meanwhile:

Jessi Colter ‏@Jessi_Colter May 6

For #WaylonWednesday : here's @OfficialWaylon , @Jessi_Colter , and the little nugget @ShooterJennings:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEV26Y4WIAA5p_A.jpg

*much* male etc

expanded 1996 *reissue* of The Outlaws, that is (20th Anniversary Edition---maybe there will be an even more expansive 40th---next year!)

RC 2015 threadfather Edd just sent a link on discussion with xpost Kingston Springs Suite denizens, in connection with the ongoing exhibit "Dylan, Cash, and The Nashville Cats: A New Music City":
http://countrymusichalloffame.org/calendar/event/panel-kingston-springs-suite-the-great-train-wreck-of-1973#.VWT-gc9Viko

Figured it might be worth mentioning that the new digital-only album from Laura Bell Bundy is now available for pre-order. I didn't care for the first two singles from it ("Two Step" w Colt Ford and "Kentucky Dirty"), but I still love both halves of her <i>Achin' & Shakin'</i> from a few years back.

I prefer both of Stapelton's albums with The Steeldrivers to his new solo album, which his performances make seem maybe a bit better than it would otherwise. His voice keeps me engaged throughout, but I can see why others might find it boring. It's certainly within that contemporary Americana corner that I do find ungodly dull most of the time.

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Django and Jimmie: opening title song's no big deal, except for the way it turns out to be an example of the variety of the nfluences and results, rounded up from here and there, in Willie and Merle's own histories, still in the making, or at least here again for the taking. It's a stash of snapshots, postcards, business cards, phone cards, other kinds of playing cards, rolling papers, and a token, a wooden nickel or two or maybe three (a few tracks I don't care about). Philosophical sharing for sure, but not long-winded or too sweet: "The Only Man Wilder Than Me" has "a mind indifferent and free," with many passing points of interest in the atmosphere.
http://www.npr.org/2015/05/24/408540802/first-listen-willie-nelson-merle-haggard-django-and-jimmie

Kentucky Headhunters with Johnnie Johnson, Meet Me In Bluesland: The flow to and around the beat and the point of the song (appeal of Willie and Merle's album also), the way Chuck Berry and pianist Johnnie Johnson did it, also brings flex and focus to the big-foot boogie of the Headhunters. This second KH x JJ set is the result of a long-ago all-nighter, def. on the fly ("we were writing verses during the solos"), that sounds like a liquid lunch at a place in the country, if not entirely of it, genre-wise. Still, if country is white people's blues, as was long ago posited, then white people's blues can be country--whoops, Johnson's not white, nevermind. But this sure sounds like a jukebox of mostly new, vintage-customized sides at places in my neck of the highway-side woods (helps that the The KH lead singer has an unabashed Kentucky accent, though not nasal; his delivery is clear and full, sometimes like Arkansas' Levon Helm).
True, the sort of place I'm thinking about is mostly (though not entirely) for fortysomethings-and ups, couples who look like Roseanne and Dan, proud to "Go stumblin', 'cause we can't dance/You can tell 'em I'm blind, they'll think you're bein' kind/We ain't lost on the floor, we're just kinda hard to find." Embarrassing their kids, in the universal family tradition.
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015/05/25/kentucky-headhunters-unearth-johnnie-johnson-collaboration-with-meet-me-in-bluesland-exclusive/

The link is to stream of the album as well as backstory.

I'm curious about: Cam, “Welcome to Cam Country” (she wrote songs for Maggie Rose and Miley C) plus Whitey Morgan and the '78s Sonic Ranch (outlaw influenced country)

also, via factcheckingcuz:
http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/05/27/sexist-tomato-barb-launches-food-fight-music-row/28036657/

― like a giraffe of nah (forksclovetofu

posted on Kacey Musgraves thread but of interest here. Article re programming songs by women on country radio

https://www.countryaircheck.com/WomenInCountry.pdf

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