Rolling Country 2006 Thread

As far as the Dylan v. Ashley thing: I was listening to Dylan at Folksinger's Choice in 1962 - which I think Frank would say is still apart of Dylan's teen-pop era (though I always imagine teen-pop Dylan is Blood on Blood, etc). And what makes the bootleg incredible is, of course, the conversation in between the songs. Where Dylan is feeling around, trying to sense his place in music. His songs aren't "folk songs," they're "contemporary songs."

(nervous giggle in conversation after playing Emmitt Till - Interviewer: Have you sang that for Woody Guthrie? Dylan: Nah, I'm gonna sing it for him.)

There's this figuring out that is going on. I think my problem with Ashley Simpson is that she doesn't have the same emptiness of form that she's working into. The stardom she's trying for has already been mapped out - either by Dylan, or by Madonna, or by her older sister. I don't think you can discount the novel, or the new. Even if Simpson can completely recreate Dylan's ballads, or join him in the Romantic tradition, at best she'll only be the second person to have done so.

anyone want a burn?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000FO45Z2/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/104-7532074-2415914?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music

Published on Poptimist:
Jason McCoy, here, has a lurid, desperate, self loathing quality, and the song is obsessed about a woman who "aint missing missing him". The track has a tabloid restraint, where silences replacing details, and loud noise work in the place of sexual explicitness.

Listen to how he sings two lines at the one minute mark--where McCoy talks about a lover doing things he dont, and wont. He gives a long space of rangy, wiry guitar, before adding the word anymore. In those seconds, our minds grow any large with all sorts of decay. Anymore suggests they did that kind of decadence together.

McCoy does this kind of song well because he still believes in sin (there is a song on this album called I Feel a Sin Coming On) but also pleasure. The two break apart into something wilder then much standard country, and even his most tender ballads have an isolating despair.

From his greatest hits.

YSI here

I haven't heard "Whatever We Wanna," the new non-US Rimes CD. I know she's got the #1 song in, like, Taiwan. (and there's a fairly nondescript but still interesting little thing on her on MusicCityNews.com.) the last I had heard, she was working with the producer Dan Huff on a new record; and I've heard she plans to release something next year. "Whatever" is on WEA International, and I'll see if I can track down someone to get me a copy. (And wow, she looks sexier 'n usual on the cover...sexier than Tanya Tucker, to me...)

I told Don this--I interviewed Shelly Fairchild this week, she's playing some of her new material here on the 19th and I wanted to take that opportunity to do a short preview of that show. She's been gone from Sony for a while, about a year, and is writing songs which she says are more pop, more funky, and apparenly has recorded, and will do, a cover of a Mother's Finest song whose title she wouldn't reveal. One of the writers she's working with is Richie Supa, I believe it is, who's written hits for Aerosmith...and she's been recording, and will be shopping. Sounded real smart, real canny, and enough of a sense of humor to tell me that she's tough on bands, apparently--her band quit on her ten minutes before a Billy Block radio show here about a year ago.

That Willmon piece I did is in the Scene this week--I don't have the link right here, but you can also check out Tracy Moore's nice coverstory on the olden days of '80s Nashville rock scene, including some nice stuff on Jason and the (Nashville) Scorchers. Brings back memories, since I was here and hung out at those clubs, seeing X and the dB's and the Scorchers (the latter who were ferociously good the couple times I saw 'em...)

Wow, that's totally badass.

Here are Mother's Finest, if you doubt me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uQV0pVi0y0

i didn't even know he had another live album out. i think that makes 3 or 4 of those for him. probably the best way to hear him, tho -- he's more fun live, his studio albums can be a little draggy.

Video for LeAnn's "Strong", the German single, which is strong, a power ballad. Again, not a good enough song, though a good performance, goes loud without oversinging.

I like these more than her recent few country singles.

I bought the Lone Official LP and have tried twice to listen to it. It sounds lovely, but both times I have reacted so badly to the fellow's voice that I've had to play something else. This never happens to me (I am after all a Britisher, so I'm used to people who can't sing; also I listened to lots of British indie in the 1980s so I learned to actvely like people who can't sing).

Wow, great question. Are we allowed to count Jon Bon Jovi yet? (I can't even remember what his Catholic imagery was, off hand, but I remember I wrote about it in the Voice once while reviewing his solo album connected to a cowboy movie he did around the turn of the '90s, Blaze of Glory or whatever.) Also you'd think maybe a little of Springsteen's papism would've seeped into country somewhere, but I'm not sure where. Also, there is of course the great nation of Mexico, duh (though Latin America is increasingly veering Protestant, apparently, thanks to infestation by evangelist missionaries, what the hell?) I gotta give this some more thought.

catholic country:
http://uscatholic.claretians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=usc_NewsArticle_music
http://www.catholicmusicnetwork.com/cmn_cd_detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=50762
(check out the francisan hip hopper on that site too)
http://catholicinformation.wordpress.com/2006/05/25/why-does-it-have-to-be-wrong-or-right/
http://www.catholicrock.com/
(they are awful)
http://www.apostlemusic.com/jukebox/

xanga/google groups
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/06mv106.htm
http://www.xanga.com/Cowgirl4Christ2009
http://www.xanga.com/MaryTea33
http://www.xanga.com/singinsarah
http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.music.dylan/browse_thread/thread/ff095d311c1c2354/d10bd682169391c0?lnk=st&q=&rnum=7&hl=en#d10bd682169391c0
http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.music.country.western/browse_thread/thread/2294b81246333efb/920c562890608960?lnk=st&q=&rnum=20&hl=en#920c562890608960

also this
http://www.phatmass.com/

doing a search for catholic in the ccm proved futile

and techincally, i think, urban is now catholic

(

http://cdbaby.com/cd/mmcdermott2

And a Nashville myspace guy who lists "getting kicked out of Catholic shool in Richmond" as one of his influences:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=68394213

It should probably be noted here, however, that Peter Steinfels' highly recommended A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America (which I've been slowly plugging through around bedtime all summer) refers to a polemic published in 1990 by liberal Newport, Rhode Island liturgical musician Thomas Day called Why Catholics Can't Sing. So be forewarned.

Also, not country; but what the hell?:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/nickalexander2

http://www.nickalexander.com/

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0111,sheffield,23030,22.html

>one of the weird things about growing up Irish American is that the Italian kids had all the rock stars. They had Madonna Ciccone and John Bongiovi and Aerosmith's Steven Tallarico, even Roseanne Liberto Cash on the country side of the dial. They cleaned up their names, they dressed up funny, they unlocked their bel canto sweet-emotion voices, and it was all gravy to the proverbial goose. What did Irish kids have? Well, there was Joe Walsh. And the Mahoney boy, Eddie Money, and let's see who else . . . uh, that Joe Walsh sure could play, couldn't he? The Italian kids had Pat Benatar. We were stuck with Laura Branigan. <

So, um...Did Dion Dimucci ever cross over country?