I usually don't like to put up press releases...of course I don't USUALLY do anything around here, so who cares? But anyway, I got this one and it made feel tingly sensations in places I've never felt them before. So take a look...
LEVON HELM -RAMBLE AT THE RYMAN
PBS SPECIAL TO AIR IN AUGUST 2009
Unparalleled Group of Musicians Join Helm for an Historic Evening
On most Saturday nights since January 2004, Levon Helm has hosted evenings of music at the “barn,” his home studio in Woodstock, New York. These magical nights are called The Midnight Ramble Sessions. On September 17, 2008, Helm took the Midnight Ramble on the road to one of America’s treasured venues, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, where — accompanied by such luminaries as Buddy Miller, John Hiatt, Sheryl Crow and Sam Bush — the Levon Helm Band gave birth to a night of stage magic. Captured in pristine high definitionLEVON HELM - RAMBLE AT THE RYMANis part of special programming airing on PBS in August 2009 (check local listings).
The performance is a veritable tour through the American songbook, featuring tunes from Helm’s tenure with The Band, as well as selections from the 2008 Grammy winning Dirt Farmer and classics from artists such as Chuck Berry, the Carter Family and more.
LEVON HELM - RAMBLE AT THE RYMANcame on the heels of Dirt Farmer’s debut. After overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, Helm released the album, his first solo recording in 25 years, and won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album. The San Francisco Chronicle called Dirt Farmer “nothing less than a return to form by one of the most soulful vocalists in rock history.” Helm was obviously on a roll in 2008. Rolling Stone hailed his Midnight Ramble as “2008’s Best Jam
Session” and the Americana Music Association bestowed on him the Artist of the Year Award.
Levon Helm recently released his new album Electric Dirt (Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard) which was hailed by critics and fans alike. The New York Times cited “His voice is vigorous and unbridled... the music struts and cackles through every earthly travail." Electric Dirt marked Levon’s highest in Soundscan era at #36.
...and yes, I am full aware that I am a "Band Geek". Get it? Did you see what I did there? "Band Geek"...The Band...Levon Helm...I know, I suck.
Here are all the bands' sets I saw while at Forecastle last weekend:
7/10 - Forecastle Festival Day #1 (Main Stage: Cage the Elephant, The Whigs, Zappa Plays Zappa, Pretty Lights, The Black Keys) (Second Stage: The Last Straw, The Lion's Rampant, Hackensaw Boys, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit)
7/11 - Forecastle Festival Day #2 (Main Stage: The New Mastersounds, Dead Confederate, The Black Crowes, Widespread Panic) (Second Stage: The Afromotive, The Deep Vibration, Royal Bangs) (Third Stage: Paul Dailey, Dory, Three)
7/12 - Forecastle Festival Day #3 (Main Stage: Umphrey's McGee, Yonder Mountain String Band, The Avett Brothers, Widespread Panic) (Second Stage: Gringo Starr, The Instruction, Backyard Tire Fire)
Christ, after three days of chronicling my adventures I feel like Doogie Hauser, but instead of a teenage doctor I’m a twenty-seven year old music writer, go figure. The shady afternoon was perfect for a third full day of music. The temperature was just right, and the sun could barely make its way through the overcast cover. We couldn’t have asked for better weather today had we thought about it. As the sun set, it smeared a neon glow through the low canopy of clouds and all over the downtown sky. When Widespread Panic took the stage for a second night, a radiant orange dusk was just falling over the crowd. They were going to be on tonight; even I could tell that – from the first song they were far more compelling than last night. They played a sick rendition of the J. J. Cale classic “Ride Me High” that would make even the biggest Jam Band skeptic think twice about dismissing these guys. Although it was during that song that Dave Schools knocked out the sloppiest bass solo I’ve ever heard from a concert stage; but I guess that’s their appeal…it’s live, warts and all. Tonight instead of two sets – the band did one long set…and by an hour-and-a-half in, I wish they had taken a break. The middle of the extended set fell flat like the dribble at the end of pee. It was at this lull in the action, that downturn toward boredom when Backyard Tire Fire took over for me. Their combustible brand of southern rock should’ve reduced Panic’s stage to nothing more than a pile of smoldering embers. These guys tore through some glorious covers like Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns, & Money” and Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl”. And by the time they closed with “How the Hell Did You Get Back Here” I was sold to whatever these guys were selling. By the time Backyard Tire Fire was finished, Widespread had risen from their lull like a phoenix from the ashes – and was back into the rockin’ set they had started with, and ultimately ended on a high note. So after two nights of Panic, I admit, I kinda get it. In the spirit of honesty, it might be the fact that I was in a different “mind-set” tonight than last night. Regardless though, I get it. A Widespread Panic show, where a $35 ticket and a half-sack of shwag you can make the whole night, last all day. The Avett Brothers were moderately disappointing to me. I love their modern twist on Appalachian folk music, and live music junkies have been telling me how great they are live for years. Well they were alright, they sounded good and all – but it wasn’t the life changing live show I had been led to believe I would see. But I only say disappointing in the sense that no one could possibly have lived up to the expectations that were built for those guys in my mind. When they played the beautiful heartache of a tune called “Murder in the City” I was almost bummed that the sun was still up. I can only imagine what it would’ve been like for that song to just float off into the abyss of the evening ether. Yonder Mountain String Band played a fun set of modern bluegrass that filled the belvedere with joy. Their stomping sound, and the good natured banter from its members, helped these guys fit perfectly into a mid-afternoon time slot perfectly. And Umphrey’s McGee played a hell of a set considering they were on stage in Norfolk, VA at four o’clock this morning, drove here, slept for four hours and was able to make it on stage here in Louisville by 3:30 in the afternoon. Kudos, to them and their crew, on that one. Gringo Starr was a pleasure to watch. Their spacey take on southern rock made for a really fascinating set on The LEO’s East Stage. Not to mention the fact that all the band members were trading instruments back-and-fourth and switching up vocalists from song-to-song. At the beginning of each song you never knew which would be singing and who would be playing what. And The Instruction was a solid hard rock band with an infallible ear for pop hooks – this is definitely a band that will probably be smeared all over Modern Rock radio stations in the very near future. After three days of total musical submersion at Forecastle, I’m sold. Fuck middle-of-nowhere farm festivals – urban music festivals are the way of the future. Swirling stage lights rising from the depths of a city skyline just seems to make sense.
Forecastle 8 – Day #2
July 11th 2009
The heat was either less notable or simply more tolerable after yesterday.But the crowd grew exponentially over night.On account of this onslaught, the smooth operating at the door of yesterday was long gone today.
There were hippies and patchouli everywhere.
But by now I know to expect the Xerox of a Xerox of a Deadhead when Widespread Panic is playing anywhere within earshot.But to their credit, hippies create a friendly and embracing atmosphere where anything goes – where unprovoked strangers will light your cigarette for you and then, out of courtesy, pass you a sparked joint.
Widespread worked their way through an impressive, yet unremarkable set; the stage lights twirled, the glow sticks flew, and the beach balls bounced over head.You saw the dancing girls in thrift store dresses, smelled the unmistakable aroma of weed, and embraced the cool night air as a soft breeze blew off the sleeping Ohio River.
In all, it was a Widespread Panic show.
Admittedly their jams aren’t as noodling or meandering as many of their Jam Band contemporaries.They still play with a certain amount of emotion without slacking on the knowledge that they can get away with anything and it would be deemed brilliant by their loyal masses.It’s a similar quality they share with The Allman Brothers (who they’ll be touring with later this year, by the way), in that they play music, real music – they aren’t there to be the Mad Scientists of music.This is something I deeply appreciate when being subjected to the Jam Band scene for an extended amount of time.
The Black Crowes played a very unique set compared to ones I’ve seen in the past.The set was mostly filled with deep album cuts and new songs from their upcoming album.The played none of their energetic live staples, except for a rousting rendition of “Jealous Again”.Although they did play two of the stand out tracks off of the band’s Warpaint, a grossly under-rated album from last year – “Oh Josephine” and “Movin’ on Down the Line”.On the whole the set was pretty mellow by Black Crowes standards – they kept everything right in mid-tempo, and strayed very little from there.But the imitable voice that originates in the throat of Chris Robinson will keep a crowd spellbound for hours no matter what.And with Luther Dickinson in top form, there was no reason to ever look away from the stage.Just as an aside, though, I think as Rich Robinson gets older, he is slowly morphing into Russell Crow – it’s eerie…really.
Dead Confederate has a distinctive quality to them.They’re almost a hard-rock/southern-rock band that seems out of place surrounded by hippies, but somehow right at home.When they first went on and through their first couple of songs things were tense, until it became clear they would be embraced by Widespread’s eagerly waiting fan base.I think what saved them was when they played a song that seemed to channel an edgier Radiohead from a bygone era (I know that description is neither hard rock nor southern rock – but hey, it is what it is).
And The New Mastersounds fit in perfectly with their surroundings.This British, instrumental Jam Band kept the crowd rolling through their entire set.With no words uttered from the stage (except between songs of course), the crowd was in the palm of their hand as they took turns showcasing each member’s talent the whole time.
Strolling up the sidewalk to The LEO’s East Stage, Ashville band Afromotive played a jam-heavy set, guaranteed to enthrall the gathering crowd.I might be biased, though, because I’m a sucker for any band that includes a saxophone and bongos – the pairing creates an organic sound, I can hardly resist it.The Deep Vibration put on a brutal, grueling set (even more so if you account for the heat), that I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.They’re a solid blues based trio that tore their way through a great set of original songs, and ripped through a killer version of the Sam & Dave classic “Money”.Royal Bangs were a band I couldn’t really buy into, I wasn’t sure exactly what I was listening to.Was it Indie?Was it Hard Rock?Was it Industrial?I don’t know – maybe I’m too simple in musical tastes, but I like to be settled if I’m going to be in this for the long haul; and they just didn’t settle me.
It’s late.I’m exhausted.I am preparing myself mentally and physically (the accumulative two day blisters on my feet) – for Day #3.I’m sure it will come and go before I ever knew it was here – but from this side of the hump, it still seems daunting (in a good way of course).
Forecastle 8 – Day #1July 10th 2009
It was hot. It was gross. It was amazing. By the time the first day of Forecastle ’09 kicked off, the sun was high in the sky, set somewhere between a simmer and a boil. Every face had been smeared in heat; every brow was glossed by a thin veneer of sweat; and yet, no one seemed to notice or care. This is the 8th year for the steadily growing festival – and this is by far the biggest growth it has ever seen. From last year’s bill packed with hip-hop has-beens, this year is packed with A-list headliners and promising up-and-comers. The flawless execution of tonight goes to show that the Festival is obviously in capable hands. Food and drink prices were by no means exorbitant, and the causes that filled the booths were informational without being confrontational. The overall lay out was perfect – all three stages were so close you could literally walk back and fourth between the bands with no more than two minutes of travel time. And the stages are setup in such a way, with all speaker cabinets aimed at the river, that one stage never bleeds over onto another.
West (main) Stage: To start with…Cage the Elephant. My God, folks. If you have not heard this record yet, it is entirely your bad. Hop off the My Morning Jacket bandwagon and hitch a ride with these guys, there’s plenty of room left in my stagecoach, I promise. The record is brilliant, and their live performance was enigmatic. Lead singer Matt Schultz (who almost passed out on stage from heat exhaustion) can carry a live performance as if he’s an earnest jumble of Julian Casablancas and Iggy Pop. These guys shred incendiary renditions of songs off their debut like “In One Ear”, “James Brown”, and “Back Against the Wall” effortlessly. Even if these guys were dull performers, the structure and natural charisma of these infectious songs won’t allow an audience to get bored…ever. And the band is fearless, letting loose of their rapidly climbing single “No Rest for the Wicked” right in the middle of their set; that’s a ballsy move for any up-and-coming act. And closing with a killer version of Pavement’s “False Skorpion” was absolutely breathtaking (although I admit I’m a little bias, I adore Pavement, and I love seeing someone cover them well). Seeing these guys felt like we were witnessing a moment of rock n’ roll history in real time. This band will be everything that it wants to be…and I can’t wait. The Whigs are a good band with a great story. Their performance was strong, tight, and in most ways impressive. The only problem is they look and sound like every indie-rock band that has broken in the past decade. Live, the songs don’t distinguish themselves that much, it all sounds it came from the Paul Westerberg school of lo-fi rock: thin wiry chord structures beneath infectious hooks. Their harmonies were on point and their singer’s voice is as strong as they come, the hardest part of these guys is that it just doesn’t sound like anything you haven’t heard somewhere before. When Dweezil Zappa took the stage with Zappa Plays Zappa (a stop on their Tour de Frank 2009 tour), I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. But now I know. Honestly, I had much more fun listening to Zappa Plays Zappa than I ever did listening to Frank Zappa himself. It’s sounded as if Dweezil mashed-up his father’s catalogue with Phish’s catalogue. A performance of “Nanu from the North” was a nice surprise I don’t think any of us saw coming. The slew of hippies danced, and a cloud purple haze lifted to the skies – a pyre that Frank himself would have been proud of I’m sure. Pretty Lights put on an interesting show…although admittedly I’m probably not the person to discuss them. Ambient, instrumental, electronica is not exactly my forte. Their light show was crazy cool – but the music was trance-like and indiscernible from one track to the next, however, everyone else seemed to be loving them…so what do I know? And I still don’t understand the necessity for a live drummer and a drum machine. I think The Black Keys are slowly morphing into The White Stripes…or into Jack White at least. Their show was brilliant, raw, and never deviated from a blues centered rock show. Sometimes they were channeling Zeppelin, sometimes channeling The Allman Brothers, while other times they sounded like R.L. Burnside on steroids. They blew through almost all of their critically acclaimed album, last year’s Black and Blue, as well as a couple of old songs, and a couple of new ones. As is the story with most second stages at festivals like these, they are jam packed with bands you most likely know nothing about…history, catalogue, etc. So I’ll do my best. While the sun was up, the Second Stage hemorrhaged with the hard rock sounds of The Last Straw and The Lion’s Rampant (the latter of which was actually turned up so loud it defied reason, good taste, or pleasure). But as the sun went down the Hackensaw Boys took the stage. They were a fun mix of country, bluegrass, and jugband as they sent their hillbilly vibes out over the river. With fiddles, mandolins, and banjos (along with the standard band oriented arrangement of bass, guitar, and drums) they kept their crowd somewhere between a foot tapping and an all-out hippy-shake. Last for the night was Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit. This guy is one of my absolute favorite road warriors out there right now. With his ear for soulful hooks, while singing of heartbreak and blue collar hardships, it’s a crime that he isn’t bigger than he is. Hailing from Alabama, Isbell and his band laced their set with songs off both of his solo albums, as well as tracks from his tenure with Drive-by Truckers (the cover of Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer” is always a nice addition to his sets). “Grown” is a wonderful treat to hear live, with its rolling build-up into an infectious chorus, the song just lends itself to being played in front of an audience. And the heart wrenching “Goddamn Lonely Love” sucks the air out of the crowd when he sings: “Sister, listen to what your daddy says/Don’t be ashamed of things that hide behind your dress/Belly-up and arch your back/Well I ain’t really falling asleep; I’m fading to black”. Isbell is one of the most captivating performers on any stage right now, but tonight he was having repeated sound problems with feedback from his microphone. It’s a problem you would think the sound man should have been able to fix with a quick slide of a knob, but it just didn’t happen. Beyond semi-regular squeal that blew when he sang, Isbell was as on point as ever. One day of Forecastle down, two more to go…
Patterson Hood is singer/guitarist/songwriter for the band Drive-by Truckers. He has produced albums for artists like Bettye LaVette and Jason Isbell; as well as performed with Booker T., Cracker, Widespread Panic, and Michael Stipe.
Q:Are these going to be like your previous solo shows where you split pretty evenly between solo material and Drive-by Truckers’ songs?
Patterson Hood:It’s going to be pretty much solo stuff.I don’t expect to be doing any Truckers stuff…well I might do one song or somethin’, but the show’s going to be centered around the songs from Murdering Oscar; and maybe a few songs from Killers & Stars flushed out with a full band.Because I recorded Killers & Stars by myself with an acoustic guitar, so I’m kinda lookin’ forward to pluggin’ in and playin’ full band versions of some of those songs, too.This is a great band, The Screwtopians is a fucking hot band, ya’ know?So I’m excited to take them out and spend a couple of weeks playin’ songs with that line-up.This is the first time David Barbe has toured since Sugar broke-up in ’95.He went out with me for a weekend about a year ago, and we actually played Nashville show at the Mercy Lounge together on that little run, but he hasn’t done anything past a long weekend of touring since Sugar broke-up.So I’m really excited about that because he is such a great player.He’s known, now, mostly for what he does in the studio as a producer and engineer, but he is a phenomenal bass player and performer, so it’s going to be fun.And of course Will Scott, who’s in Centro-Matic, and that’s been my favorite band for a number of years.I’m an uber-fan of their band so having him at my disposal is going to be amazing; and he’s going to be opening solo, so that’s cool.That’s always a great show.
Q:Are you all working up any surprises for the audience, covers, etc.?
PH:Oh yeah, but I can’t tell ya’ or it won’t be a surprise.[He laughs] But yeah, we’ve got a couple things up our sleeve.The only hint I’ll give ya’ is:they probably come from the 70’s. But we’ve got a small list of songs we’re gonna work up to throw in, and I think they’ll be a lot of fun.
Q:You’ve come through Louisville a bunch of times with the Drive-by Truckers, but as far as I know this is your first solo show here.What are the audiences like here?
PH:It’s kinda hard for me to believe that I’ve never played Louisville solo, because it’s such a good city for our band.We really like Louisville, and I think it’s a really cool town.It’s been a good place for us for a lot of years.
Q:[Jason] Isbell (former singer/songwriter/guitarist for DBT) once told me that you won’t play “The Assassin” in concert, why is that?
PH:I don’t know I might work it up, one of these days, again.I like the song, but I kinda like what Jason does with it better.He plays it in his show with his band, and I’m really honored that he still does that song.From what I understand he’s still doing it.I really like the version he did, he even recorded a version of it for his first record, and then ended up taking it off.But it was a really cool version of it.So I’ve always told him, “ya’ know, you can have that one, man.As long as you wanna play it, it’s kinda your song.”But I don’t know, I might work it up again, at some point, with the band.I was in such weird state of mind at that time, when I made that record and wrote that song.It’s kinda like it’s not a really happy memory for me, so I don’t usually play it very often.I probably oughtta learn it and work it up, at some point, again.It is a pretty good song, I guess.
Q:What are you reading?
PH:I just finished reading a book on the history of the Wringling Brothers, and it was really interesting.I’ve been trying to finish Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, but it’s been taking me a long time, I keep putting it down, because I just have to take a break from it.It’s great, it’s just not an easy read.I have so many distractions with the band, the solo thing happening, my family at home, and all of that – reading something that’s that consuming, is hard for me to find the time to do it justice.So I kinda have to keep putting it down, maybe if I go on a vacation or somethin’ I’ll be able to finish it.But I read Wringling Brothers book the way to Australia, I read the whole thing on the flight over, and that was a great read.
Q:Are there any artists or bands out there that are exciting you right now, except Centro-matic of course?
PH:The thing about Centro-Matic is that a lot of people just don’t know about them, and it’s just a damn shame to me, I think they should be a much bigger band.They are a band that should be selling out much bigger rooms, and it’s just criminal, to me, that they aren’t better known; because they are phenomenal.
But yeah, there’s a ton of great stuff floatin’ around.I’ve been listening to the new P.J. Harvey record, and I listen to the new Wilco record a lot.There’s a younger punk rock band in Athens right now called Pride Parade that’s pretty cool.I think they’re about to have a record come out before too long.
Q:Do you all have any plans to release the Adam’s House Cat album, or re-release Alabama Ass Whuppin’?
PH:I wanna put both of those out, real bad.If I do okay on this record, the little label I did this with, Ruth St. Records, will put out the Adam’s House Cat record next and maybe they’ll put out Alabama Ass Whuppin’ too.I definitely want to do something with both of those.And it’s kind of shame not to.It’s more of a timing issue than anything, because I will have been a part of five new releases in the last year, by January when the new Drive-by Truckers album comes out.There’s the Booker T record we did that came out in April; there’s a Drive-by Truckers Live at Austin City Limits DVD coming out in July; an album of rarities and outtakes from the [band’s tenure with New West Records] called The Fine Print comes out September 1st; and of course my album is coming out in a couple weeks; and we just finished tracking the new Truckers record, we’ve got twenty-five new songs for that, and it’ll be out either the end of this year or the beginning of next.So it’s kind of a full slate.
But next year will be 25 years since the beginning of Adam’s House Cat and the 20th anniversary of when we recorded Town Burned Down, so that might be a good time to put that out.It will also be the 10th anniversary for Alabama Ass Whuppin’.
Q:You just gave a synapses of what the immediate future holds for you.What do you think you’re going to do with 25 songs for the new record?Do a double album or what?
PH:We’ll whittle it down to one, I think.We might do a special edition version that has everything on it or something like that.But we’ll definitely be whittling it down to a more manageable length for the general release.Of course, I don’t know exactly what that means yet, that’s the hard part, figuring out what stays behind.It’s pretty strong; it’s really looking like its going to be a good one.
Q:Shonna [Tucker, the band’s singer/songwriter/bassist] really came into her own on he last album.
PH:Wheeeew!You just wait, you just wait.She’s got some badass shit on this one.Her growth has just been phenomenal to watch, I’m really proud of her.
Q:I saw they are going to do a documentary about the Muscle Shoals Studio Band, for whom your father played bass, are you going to be a part of that at all?
PH:I don’t know.My dad certainly is.If they end up wanting to talk to me about anything, I’ll be happy to tell ‘em what I saw.I mean, I didn’t see a lot, because I was a kid and I wasn’t really allowed to hang-out over there or anything.But I’ve got a pretty good grasp for the history about it all, because I’ve been obsessed with it for so long.So I don’t know, if they want to talk to me, I’d be willing to for sure.
I’m as curious as the next guy about it, but I’mreally happy it’s happening, because someone’s really been needing to do it for a long time.I hope that Spooner [Oldham DBT’s keyboardist, and former Muscle Shoals Studio player] getting inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame this year, maybe will lead to the rhythm section getting inducted sometime, at some point, in the future.They’ve inducted Spooner and they’ve inducted Booker T & The MG’s, so I hope at some point they’ll get around to inducting the Muscle Shoals rhythm section.I think they deserve it.
Q:Well, I think you all deserve it when your time comes.
PH:Well, bless ya’.Thank ya’.I don’t know if I’ll ever see that day but I’m really proud of what we’re doing.I think we’re really doing good work.The Fact that we’re finishing up our tenth album and It think it’ll easily be as good or better than anything we’ve ever done; which is good, because not many bands are still interesting on their tenth record, so I’m pretty proud of that, that I actually think we’re still getting better.
Q:Is it fair to say that your working relationship with Cooley, that spans twenty-five years and two bands, is more than just friends or band mates?
PH:Maybe it’s like Sanford and Grady.Or maybe it’s Archie and Edith.Some days it’s Archie and Edith, some days it’s Sanford and Grady, some days it’s Fred and Lamont.And some days maybe it’s The Honeymooners, Fred and Alice and hanging out; I’m not really sure.
Check out the latest solo release from Patterson Hood, Murdering Oscar (and other love songs). Available now.
In case you were wondering, yes, Yim Yames is the clever alter-ego of Jim James, the tenor voice behind Modern Rock royalty My Morning Jacket. With that out of the way, we can get to the issue at hand, Tribute To. This is an EP of George Harrison covers that has been sitting on a shelf somewhere for 8 years since, being inspired by Harrison’s death, Yames went in the studio and recorded a set of Harrison penned songs for no reason beyond a cathartic exorcism of grief. Mostly acoustic, with minimal overdubbing, this feels like a deeply personal window into Yames’ soul, even though there isn’t an original song in sight here. With two Harrison songs recorded by The Beatles “Long Long Long” and “Love You To” Yames’ sinewy voice compliments Harrison’s knack for subtle melodies flawlessly. While the other four songs pulled from Harrison’s 1970 masterpiece All Things Must Pass – Yames proves how comfortable he is at handling undeniable classics like “My Sweet Lord” and his beautiful reworking of “All Things Must Pass”. What he does with “Behind That Locked Door” is achingly gorgeous as he utilizes the fragility of his wavering voice with perfection. And what might be the strongest cut on this record (and probably the least known of all the songs here) “Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (let it roll)”. Yames will truly convince you that he was born to sing “Crisp” while at the same time reminding you of how much we really do miss Sir George. Tribute To might be hard to find, but it’s a wonderful collection of tunes and is well worth the journey to seek it out.
Levon Helm Electric Dirt [Dirt Farmer Music/Vanguard Records]
# of spins (out of 5):
Levon Helm ain’t doing bad for a man who only a decade ago was diagnosed with throat cancer, and given the prognosis of maybe never talking again but definitely never singing again. It looks like Helm didn’t get that particular memo. With his second “post-cancer” album Helm’s voice sounds solid and strong, with only slightly more waver than he did in his late 60’s and early 70’s heyday as lead singer for The Band.
When Helm released 2007’s Dirt Farmer, the industry was knocked aback by his beautiful collection of wary, country-laden songs. He sang like a man triumphantly rising from defeat, who bears each song as a reminding scar of what he almost lost.
Electric Dirt, the follow-up to Dirt Farmer, is charged with equal parts emotion and reflection as its predecessor, but flushed out at a faster tempo and more complex arrangements. With Larry Campbell behind the console (and in various instrumental capacities) again, and Helm’s daughter Amy in tow, the record sounds like classic southern-rock fused with gospel harmonies. “Tennessee Jed” and “Move Along Train” are a perfect “1-2 combo” to open the record with. Levon’s whiskey-drenched voice meanders around melodies, and gets marinated in plush arrangements reminding us that he isn’t destined to lie back as the down trodden dirt farmer we last saw him as.
Helm's voice has never sounded as soulful as it does over the pounding blues shuffle of “Stuff You Gotta Watch”. “You Can’t Lose What You Never Had” is a mid-tempo blues tune disguised as a traditional country song, that is a sad reminder of failed relationships. And the reflective “When I Go Away” is strikingly optimistic view on death, reminding us as listeners what we were so close to losing in Helm just a few years ago.
In honor of 4th of July...I am making a list of songs that for either obvious or very personal reasons, always remind me of Summer when I hear them. Some choices are cheesy...I admit that openly, some will be surprising, and some are just right. Alas, behold the list:
I have gone ahead and compiled my ENTIRE Summer Playlist for you. It can be found here...
or
You can just look to see what's on it before you go actually listen to it. The list can be found below:
(these are in no particular order of importance by any means, but they do make one hell of a mixtape/playlist):
Strawberry Wine - Deana Carter Nightswimming - R.E.M. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles Long Haired Redneck - David Allan Coe 1979 - Smashing Pumpkins I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing - Aerosmith Trust - Sixpence None the Richer Sunshine of Your Love - Cream Boys of Summer - Don Henley Panties In Your Purse - Drive-by Truckers Summer Time Blues - Eddie Cochran Run Around - Blues Traveler Stay (I Miss You) - Lisa Loeb & The Nine Stories Freedom - Rage Against the Machine Welcome to Paradise - Green Day Far Behind - Candlebox Born in the U.S.A. (the original acoustic version, not the synthesizer saturated radio version) - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street band Grown - Jason Isbell Black - Pearl Jam Tim McGraw - Taylor Swift Centerfield - John Fogerty Summertime Rolls - Jane's Addiction With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker
First of all, here's an awesome trailer for The Dead Weather's (Jack White's new band) "Treat Me Like Your Mother". It's simple...and to the point. I LOVE IT! The video (they're calling it a film) premiers on Cinemax July 11th at 9:55pm.
Secondly...Dylan and the Beastie Boys? Together? Really? Apparently.
In the days before heading out on tour in support of his new solo album Murdering Oscar (and other love songs), the follow up to 2004's Killers and Stars, Drive-by Truckers' frontman, Patterson Hood sits down to talk with me about his new back-up band The Screwtopians, his father, and all things Truckers.
Q:How is recording and performing solo different than working with Drive-by Truckers for you?
Patterson Hood:It’s all good.It’s just a little different.There was a chance when we did this record for me to work with some friends that I’ve really admired but never gotten actually work with much, like Will Scott from Centr-o Matic.And of course David Barbe, who’s been producing Truckers records for almost a decade now, but I’d never really gotten to play with him as a musician before, so he’s the bass player for a lot of Murdering Oscar, and that was really cool, he’s a phenomenal player and I’ve been a fan of his bass playing for a long time.So that was cool.Also, I got to work with my dad, which I had never gotten to do before, and that was really great.He’s a great bass player.
So it was just kind of stretching out.It’s not a huge departure as far as that goes.I mean Brad is my drummer on this record as well as with the Truckers, and all the Truckers record on it.Considering the current line-up of the band, the band on Murdering Oscar is a lot closer to the current line-up of the Truckers than the line-up we had at that time.Because John Neff is back in the band full-time, and he’s all over the record, in fact playing on the record kind of led to him getting back in the band.Because we had such a good time working with him on Murdering Oscar, I started pushing for him to go back out on the road with the Truckers again, and that led to him ending up becoming a member again.
Q:What was it like being the head honcho, and being the one that your father answered to in the studio?
PH:[Laughs] I don’t know if he answered to me.[Laughs again]I don’t know if I could say that.[Continues laughing]But it was great working him.He’s a great player and I had wanted to do something like that for a long time.It was pretty collaborative when he came in, I certainly didn’t tell him what to play, in fact, on one of the songs he did pretty differently from what I had meant to do or had in mind.But I love what he did; it was just very different from what I expected.That was the song “I Understand Now”.I think I was kind of expecting a little more of a Muscle-Shoals-sounding bass part, but the part he actually played sounded more like a Motown part, which is pretty different then how he normally plays. But it’s real cool, it’s like, God, I never thought about that.It definitely changed the feel of the song, quite dramatically, from what I had anticipated.In a good way of course.
Q:You’re kind of a man of many hats you write, you sing, you produce, where do you feel the most comfortable?
PH:The thing I do best is write.I was a writer first before anything else.Everything else kind of came about because of the writing.I started writing songs when I was 8 years old, which I was way too young to hold a guitar properly, or much less sing at that time.So I had been writing a long time before I played in my first band.In the past few years I’ve made some strides to become a better player and hopefully a better singer.But the writing part has always been the best thing I can do.
Q:I have to ask, is the title of the album Murdering Oscar {and other love songs} a clever reference back to Derek and the Dominoes’ Layla {and other assorted love songs}?
PH:Maybe a little bit.I certainly was aware of that title when I did this.It might be a little bit of a nod to that, even though it’s not very much like that record at all.That is a record I love, I mean, I really love that record, so yeah, it’s probably a little bit of a nod.It just kind of struck me as funny, ya’ know?“Murdering Oscar…and other love songs,” I don’t know I kinda like it.And it’s true; it’s a true statement, ‘cause I think you can make an argument for each one of those songs, in one way or another, of being somewhat of a love song.And I’m not necessarily known for writing love songs.And my take on the love song is not exactly going to put Lionel Richie out of business...let’s put it that way.
Q:“Pride of the Yankees” is one of my favorite songs that you’ve probably ever written where did that come from?
PH:I did have a baby.Having my daughter certainly inspired it.That, and probably a little bit 9/11.It was kind of a weird process because I wrote another song first that had that piano line and the same basic melody, and it wasn’t a good enough song to really pursue further.It was just something I wrote and the song didn’t really quite work, but I really liked that melody and that piano line so I kept them, and about a year later I wrote “Pride of the Yankees”.By that time we pretty much thought I was done with this record – but when I wrote that, it was like:“Oh, that’s gotta go on that record.”It was like a missing piece of the puzzle that I didn’t even realize was missing until I wrote it.So we went back and recorded it after the fact.It’s my favorite song on the record, I’m particularly proud of that one.
Q:You’ve been working on this album for a long time, in fact I saw you about five years ago in Nashville and you were still singing the lyrics of “Back of a Bible” off the actual back page of a Bible it was written on.So how far back do these songs go?Is five years about it?
PH:Some of the songs go back fifteen years.I wrote “Murdering Oscar” and “Heavy and Hanging” and “Screwtopia” and “Walking Around Sense”, all back in ’94 when I first moved to Athens, Georgia.I didn’t have a band then, and I didn’t money for studio time, but I made a cassette tape in my house of this group of songs that I wrote around that time, and I called it Murdering Oscar {and other love songs}.I gave copies of it away to people when I met ‘em, because I had just moved to a new town, so when I’d meet somebody I’d give them my cassette.That kinda led to me forming the band, actually.Because some of the people I met that way, we started friendships through that, and then ended up becoming band mates; ya’ know Brad [the band’s current drummer], the original drummer in the Truckers Matt, John Neff, and some of those folks.
The album came about because I dug that tape out in the fall of ’04, really just looking for songs.I was looking for potential songs for a future Truckers record, at the time.I stumbled on that tape and thought, “God, ya’ know these songs still kinda hold up.”I’m so different now I couldn’t see doing a whole album of those songs because I had changed a lot in those intervening ten years.So I wrote some new songs that kind of were answers to the old songs; more from the point of view where I was, about to have a child, happily married, things were all pretty different than I was in ’94 when I wrote the first batch.It’s kind of like ten years of songs all put together, and they sort of counterpoint each other.
Q:When you look at these songs side by side do you see how much you’ve grown?Does some of the old stuff embarrass you?
PH:Oh no, I think the songs themselves hold up.I mean “Pollyanna” is the oldest; it dates back to ’91, when I was still with Adam’s House Cat, which is the band I had in the 80’s with Cooley [current guitarist/singer/songwriter with the Truckers].That song dates back to those days.So I think it holds up as a song, but me as a person I’m very different than when I wrote it.I’m real pleased that the work itself holds up, but I’m also happy that my point of view has evolved and changed a little bit.So I kinda like looking at the two things side-by-side, having old songs with the new songs right next to each other where you can see a certain amount of personal evolution in it.
(to be continued... part 2 of my interview with Patterson Hood will go up in the next couple of days).
Slowly rising from both the Louisville and Charleston punk scenes, this band is ready to pounce on the mainstream with vigor. Hell, if TRL were still on the air, these guys would have dethroned as pop-punk royalty Fall Out Boy long ago. Frontman Richie Ray's vocals are smooth, earnest, and heartfelt, making of every word of every song seem uncomfortably honest. On the songs "I'm the Type of Guy" and "After Tonight" Richie seems to look at both sides of the same coin. Both songs compliment each other perfectly with the opposing points of view: "I'm a bad guy for you" and "your a bad girl for me", respectively.
I must also warn that the infectious choruses of "Say Anything" and "Baby, I Was Born to Move" will stay in your head forever. Anyone with a love of pop music, an appreciation of punk music, and an enthusiasm for something fresh and original - will have to love this EP.
