The idea of sitting down in front of a keyboard to try and describe an experience as epic as this last weekend’s Muddy Roots Festival seems like the essence of fools errand. However I feel inclined to attempt to tackle this impossible task and hopefully somehow attempt to chronicle the magic that went down at the June Bug ranch, just north of Cookeville, TN on Labor Day weekend, 2011 for future reference.
The first record in the 4 record salvo from Hank3 Ghost to a Ghost felt very much like business as usual in the post-Straight to Hell era. But Guttertown is where Hank3 gets it right by doing the same thing he did in the early and mid oughts, following his heart, defying any expectations for sound and genre, and letting his creative passion flow. Simply put, this is the best album Hank3’s put out since his 2006 opus
Some, including myself, had opined that Hank3 was possibly squirreling back songs during the late Curb era, not wanting to give his arch nemesis his best material. Instead it feels like we got what was left on the cutting house floor, and a few songs that reek of self-parody. Folks hoping for a return to the golden era of Hank3’s country music creativity will have to keep waiting.
Unless you frequent a few small music circles in the underground world, you may have never heard of the artist Olds Sleeper, but that doesn’t diminish the argument one can make for him being one of the best songwriters of our generation. Of course, saying anyone is the “best” of anything is always disputable, but numbers are not, and by the numbers, Olds is indisputably one of the most prolific songwriters out there.
The One Man Band’s of the world are the soldiers on the front lines of the cultural war. With such sonic limitations, there is no opportunity for subtly. Instead their charge is to rattle and shake awake the sleeping potential in all of us, to right the skewed priorities that the indoctrination of modern society has gilded us with, to release us from the want of the wealth and shiny things that weigh down the human spirit …
With Nick 13’s first self-titled release, the long-time frontman and principal member of psychobilly band Tiger Army hasn’t just stuck his foot in the door of country music, he’s kicked the door down. This is a good one folks! The California native’s brand of country is hard, with a lot of Western influences mixed in to the instrumentation and lyrics, contrasted with his soft and delicate, but deliberate voice.
Wow. I’m not exactly sure where this came from, and I don’t care who it came from. The simple fact is that it came, and country music is better off for it. Ahead of Shooter Jennings’ January release of his new album Family Man, he has released the song an accompanying video for the composition “Outlaw You”. Simply put, this is a shot right to the gut of Music Row, and specifically, this crop of “New Outlaws”.
The one-of-a-kind two-piece country bluesy duo from Austin, TX known as The Boomswagglers’ freshman release has been like the Chinese Democracy of the country music underground for some time now, with delays and rumors of an impending release leaving fans on the edge of their seat, salivating at getting their hands on their raucous and authentic music. Well now the wait is over…
Certainly Pickathon is an expensive festival in a severe corner of the country (just outside of Portland, OR), and these natural barriers will always keep some from being able to attend. But as far as creating the best environment to allow creativity to happen, and a model for other festivals and public events to learn and be inspired from, Pickathon has no peer…
As the name implies, Field Songs evokes the rhythms and weary textures of labor. He trances you into feeling the theme of the music by employing the chants, the rhythms men have hummed as they toiled away since the invention of work to ease the burden and boredom. That rhythm is what ties this album to an inherent, universal language of the human condition and prickles the soul.
Dex Romweber has solidified his place as an American original by keeping originality alive in American roots music. Deep roots make strong branches, and though roots may be hidden underground, the strength of Dex Romweber has allowed many branches to climb high, and made the tree of American music a much more beautiful, interesting, and entertaining thing to behold.
There’s not a lot of twang here, and if you come from the independent/underground country world, you’re bar may be set too high for “Chief” to hurdle. But from a mainstream perspective, understanding this album came from the putrid, vapid depths of Music Row, the very place where dreams go to die, “Chief” is curious, bold, fresh, and refreshing.
Larry & His Flask from the ultra hippie nouveau town of Bend, OR have been making the rounds on the live circuit for years now, leaving legions of disciples and gallons of sweat behind at every stop. Putting out as much energy as any band has in the history of ever, and a lineup that necessitates shoving multiple tables together at every restaurant the tour van stops at, LAHF’s live show is impressionable to say the least.
I firmly believe that one of the problems with modern music is that there’s too much of it. So to see Gillian Welch wait 7 years to put out an album, is refreshing, and wise. But time and patience don’t guarantee a good album. What does is excellent songwriting, and that is exactly what Gillian delivers in The Harrow & The Harvest.
This is one of the funnest, freshest, well-written, well-produced albums to come out this year. There’s good songs, good performances, and it’s bold. While still sounding relevant and un-obscure, Cody and The Departed were able to stay out of the well-worn grooves that run like tired veins through so much of mainstream music.
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to attend the most talent-rich event I have ever been to, as the convergence of Willie Nelson’s 38th Annual 4th of July Picnic met up with the finale of this year’s Willie Nelson Country Throwdown tour at the largest honky tonk in the world, Billy Bob’s Texas, in the historic Ft. Worth stockyards.
Normally when I go to review an album, whether it takes me the first listen through or weeks of listening, eventually I am able to come to some solid conclusions. With Imperial Rooster, I am stumped. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and imparts points for originality for sure, but it doesn’t make my job of describing this album, or trying to convince you whether you should like it or not very easy.
Those previous positive statements I made about Justin? Well it looks like I need to back pedal pretty hard from them, because this album is awful. In my opinion, and I appreciate the gravity and the certitude of what I’m about to say, but in my opinion, Outlaws Like Me is the worst country music album I have ever heard, EVER.
Take a man’s pluck, his moxy, his raw, unfettered anger at life, then concentrate it, purify it, and personify it into a root’s-based rock n’ roll outfit, and what you get is Portland, Oregon’s I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House. That little part of all of us that is buried deep inside, that just wants to fly off the handle and tell the whole world to fuck off, that’s this band’s muse, and their commodity.
Every once in a while, an album comes along that changes everything. It’s an album that inspires other albums, and dynamic shifts in tastes and approach throughout a sector of music. Slackeye Slim’s El Santo Grial, La Pistola Piadosa is one of those albums. It is a masterpiece, exquisitely produced, arranged, and performed.
As hard as I am on albums and artists, I am double hard on songs. An album can have it’s low points, a song can’t. And just like with the Best 2011 Albums So Far, the songs so far in 2011 present a weak field. But there a few good ones worth noting from Jason Isbell, James Hunnicutt, Jimbo Mathus, Amanda Shires, Austin Lucas, and Rachel Brooke.
Great songs are able to have universal appeal by the message of the song morphing to fit one’s unique life experience. In “Ghost Bird”, this isn’t just an attribute of the song, it is the foundation the song is built from. “Ghost Bird” is a progressive, new-school country roots-based song that starts with an ambient music bed, similar to how the songs on Emmylou Harris’s album Wrecking Ball are constructed.
Well, we’ve just about reached the half way point of 2011, and let me level with you folks, so far this has been a down year for music. Yes, there’s been a few good projects and some surprises as well, but generally speaking it’s been pretty bleak compared to 2010, which was such a bumper year for music.
Confederate Buddha is yet another exercise in what Jimbo Mathus does best: Delving auspiciously into various styles of classic American music, while blurring the lines between them and injecting his deep-rooted Mississippi blood. It continues and perpetuates the music mythos of Mathus as a genuine student and steward of American roots music, and a Mississippi and National treasure.