Rolling Country 2021

She did some good stuff on the Highwomen album too, although overall it seemed uneven, considering all the talent and skill involved---too many cooks, maybe. Some people love the whole thing, and it's def worth checking out.

Carlile's ultra-earnest music has never been the kind of thing internet cool kids paid much attention to, but she flew right past 'em through sheer force of will and a lot of talent ... the Highwomen thing didn't hurt either, of course.

i know how much P4k has changed but even still i did a double-take when they published a review of By The Way, I Forgive You. would be interested to know if Alfred pitched her to them or if she was on their list or whatever.

Thanks for pasting all that. I’ve been listening in chronological order, so far have listened to the first four. All of them are like-not-love but admittedly have not done deep listens of any. The one I listened to today, “Bear Creek”, is the most country-leaning of the ones I’ve heard so far - which scratches the itch I’m most looking for right now. I don’t really know how people rate the overall discography.

You might like this too:
Brandi Carlile was on Fresh Air today: 42 minute interview (w good-audio music excerpts), and the part I heard was very engaging---whole thing is here, for streaming and downloading, and adds video of her and the twins in gorgeous three-part harmony that doesn't gloss over the point of the song. The interview references her new memoir, Broken Horses, which I'd like to read:
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/05/983815671/singer-brandi-carlile-talks-ambition-avoidance-and-finally-finding-her-place

― dow, Monday, April 5, 2021

Stumblin' in after breaking limbs in the hot sun (unexpected bonus session with a tornado tree), I'm especially appreciative of the restorative powers of xpost Ashley Monroe's Rosegold (not, as I'd thought, Rose Gold, which coulda been her emerging alternate identity, going w this new sound and the Prince association, which I'll mention again). It's not, as I impulsively said upthread, cosmic country electropop lit yall in the get-this-party-started sense: here, the candles are lit, all around the tub,, in the love spa, for relationship maintenance, or---if he's a no-show so far, at least, at most (this is crucial!) keeping yourself tuned up, no matter what else is down the road, in the "Groove," of the "Drive," and it's a total sonic experience, not just about the songs per se, which some reviewers are disappointed by---it's the risk of seductive philosophizing in which notes as sung and played) fill in what the words leave out---but again, risk: she never goes for the big extended bedazzlement between the lines, it's all careful dosage (like I said, 10 songs in about 30 minutes), brushing or swooping by, already gone, as the Eagles say. Yes, this is a kind of country, bits of Beatles (little maybe-mellotron here, little cello there) and Prince (Beatles student too, and the different ways conversational phrases go with the beats, which aren't big, but big enough)aside, she sounds like somebody who might have been swirling around behind or beside any number of male country singers from the mid-60s to early-80s, discreetly still, but now assertive enough (also some acoustic guitar picking)(also the breadcrumb brevity is classic country, from when records didn't cost much, and now streams don't have to cost anything, so shuddup and listen).
Anyway, so far, I find it refreshing, also the way she keeps changing it up, to suit where she's at, from The Blade to the somewhut mysterious Sparrow to this (although could do without "Gold" and the mumbklecore finale).

"mumblecore," that is.

And of course the guarded hopefulness of it seems country.

Ashley Monroe's Rosegold: On very first impression, as (Don's words) "modern art-pop country," it's at its best when sounding "art" and evading "pop" and "country," so stronger downplaying or avoiding hooks and refusing to resolve into pretty melody. Might've been better more austere though I don't know that (perhaps without prettiness gooping the thing up, the art'd be monotonous). I like "Siren" best, "Gold" was great when guttural but lost force rising to the upper register. "Til It Breaks," "I Mean It," and "See" are probably keepers, maybe "Drive" too. "Til It Breaks" works as a conventional song, the others'd probably be better uglier. Anyway, the thing's touching me most when I'm perceiving or imagining a low-pitch rumble and an unwillingness to get on with the tune.

I don't know much about American Aquarium, other than (A) they got their name from Wilco, and (B) I'd been under the impression they were kinda a cross between Isbell and a Red Dirt Party Band.

But I just got FB sponsored post for their latest, Slappers, Bangers, And Certified Twangers Vol. I, which-contrary to suggestions of the title-is not a compilation but 10 newly-recorded '90s Country covers.

The tracklisting is <immaculate>, so many pre-Shania era stone-cold classics given fine readings. Kudos also for resisting the urge to hambone their way through some of these (the opening cut is a tongue mostly removed from cheek version of Sammy Kershaw's "The Queen Of My Double-Wide Trailer"). Feels like a nice night out at the Honky Tonk.

Here's to a Vol II with "Small Town Saturday Night", "Wink", "Sacred Ground", "A Good Run Of Bad Luck" and "The Wrong Side of Memphis".

https://americanaquarium.bandcamp.com/album/slappers-bangers-certified-twangers-volume-one

The Pony Bradshaw album is so good.

Yeah that's an album that I like a lot!

Will check those thx

Legendary songwriter James McMurtry is set to release his new album, The Horses and The Hounds, on August 20.

This first collection in seven years spotlights a seasoned tunesmith in peak form as he turns toward reflection and revelation.

“There’s a definite Los Angeles vibe to this record,” McMurtry says. “The ghost of Warren Zevon seems to be stomping around among the guitar tracks. Don’t know how he got in there. He never signed on for work for hire.”

First track from it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPYWcdrQPxg

No surprises, but sounds pretty good on first listen.

Can anyone suggest some good websites for country music album reviews? I’m looking for something that covers all forms — from contemporary mainstream to alt-country to reissues of traditional, for example. I’m less interested in folk and Americana, though some of that would be okay too. I’m aware of No Depression, of course, but it leans too much toward “roots” music rather than true country music, at least for my tastes. It’s especially hard to find decent reviews of the bigger contemporary artists — most sites seem to thumb their nose at that stuff or review it ironically.

Good question---I don't keep up that well, but suspect you'll have to hop along from site to site, although Rolling Country is pretty well-rounded---you might check up through the middle of this decade; we really used to go to town w the reviews & discussions---also archives of villagevoice.com. But nowadays? I've occasionally looked at savingcountrymusic.com, and seen plausible coverage of for instance Garth's most recent offering by Trigger, who I think is the only poster (also going for center-right editorial comments re country issues on the news). Comments section gets pretty godawful. Taste of Country is mainly or all news, seems like---there must be more---well, Rolling Stone Country is fairly good, and Pitchfork is trying to get with the program too, some thoughtful reviews in the last couple of years--jump around those and No Dep and you'll get some range...

On this date in 1964, Connie Smith signs her first recording contract with RCA Victor. "The Cry of the Heart, her 54th album, comes out August 20th on @FatPossum Records. Pre-order yours here:https://t.co/LlkPaCWLTs pic.twitter.com/zpj4XKXpqw

— Connie Smith (@RealConnieSmith) June 24, 2021

Connie Smith has a new album out this August on Fat Possum.

I’m enjoying the new Vincent Neil Emerson. Just some plainspoken throwback kinda stuff but doesn’t feel like pastiche. Really liked his debut from a couple years back too - nothing on the new one is as instantly catchy as “Fly on the Wall” but I’m still enjoying it.

Yeah--"I'm like a bird caught in a store, lookin' for the door"--but it's not just catchy little phrases, he uses them to tell stories, convey a sense of sometimes complex situations and what he thinks and feels about them, in as few words as possible, for the sake of clarity and realness, with no added drama; he's lived, is living, through enough of that already.
The music has just enough variety to keep the songs distinctive, and suit whatever he's singing about--even a little bit of fluid modern jazz balladry at the beginning and end of "Learnin' To Drown," about his father and himself. A little bit of piano on that one, organ on another, mostly it's fingerpicking guitar, fiddle, bass, no need for drums. Maybe tin whistle and Irish-y fiddle on "White Horse Saloon," and why not, plenty of Irish people went West. A song about Indians getting screwed, also from his family's (on his mother's side) experience. Western swing on the closer, but not a vintage cover; it's another of his lived-in-sounding originals.

Some people online think the debut was better, for the most part, or entirely, so it must be pretty damn good. Will check it out too.

The debut is definitely great and mostly more upbeat than the new album.

I’m still just a few listens in on the new album but it’s growing on me. “Learning to Drown” is a stunner. So straightforward in its devastation. It’s disarming.

Never heard Emerson before. This new one is beautiful. Thanks for the tip. I gotta check out his debut too. Great stuff.

I wonder how he takes to being called just "Vince"

His parents named him for Vince Neil, according to the Internet. From what he's said and written about his father, seemms plausible--but I'm gonna stick to "Vincent" if I ever address him d'rectly.

Just now, upside ooh my head: Kalie Shorr's refreshing, somewhut startling country pop singles in 2021, "Amy" and "Love Child," both self-writ. Her xpost Dixie Chicks 3-song EP is prob okay too, but why beg comparisons. 2019's blazin' Open Book was Top Ten for me, haven't yet heard 2020's Unabridged edition of that. Meet her at the crossroads, braced: http://www.kalieshorr.com/

Checked out Bobby Dove's Hopeless Romantic yesterday and was very impressed.

Lead Single:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Mvfrnxdzs

Coverage from Country Queer:
https://countryqueer.com/reviews/song-review/hopelessly-in-love-with-bobby-doves-newest/

liking that Bobby Dove, thanks!

Yeah!
And here's the latest from the aforemenioned S.G. Goodman, with her purple state Kentucky jittery flair:
My Townes Van Zandt cover of "Lungs" is now available to stream everywhere!

I'm not normally one to do covers, they often scare me. I feel it's easier to do a cover poorly than to add to something that was already probably perfect. So when the good folks at Amazon Music offered for me to take part in their Amazon Music Origial series, I was honored, but at a loss for what to do, I chose Townes Van Zandt's "Lungs" because of the odd connection he has to where I live.

Like all small towns, we have our legendary stories, and one story from Murray, KY could be found in a little lemonade stand in the middle of town. You'd drive up to Mr. Jimmy Gingles, ask for a Ginger (Fresh squeezed Lemonade, Orange Juice, and Lime) and you would see a picture of Townes hanging over Jimmy's head while he made your drink. Mr. Jimmy and Townes were friends and running buddies. He's often tell you about all the times Townes visited him in Murray and how he'd passed out on that very floor in the lemonade stand. Townes also play a few times in a bar where I cut my teeth as performer. It was a thrill to record this with my band and Matt Ross-Spang at the legendary Fame Studios. Hopefully I added to the story of Townes and my home with this cover, but like I said, it's hard to put your spin on something you've always felt was perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ufqEsByELM

Nanci Griffith RIP. This goes over the top at first---comparing her to Elvis?---but then makes a lot of good points, like about her early international following, and emerging thusly for many:
As a teenager in Philadelphia and a college student in Chicago in the eighties, I did not yet know from Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, or the Flatlanders (except for Joe Ely’s connection to the Clash). I had no idea what Houston’s Anderson Fair was, nor that I’d eventually be spending hundreds of nights of my life at a place called Hole in the Wall in Austin—venues where Griffith played. But long before the terms “alt-country” or “Americana” came along, eighties artists like Griffith, Lyle Lovett, and Steve Earle (as well non-Texans Dwight Yoakam, k.d. lang, and Rosanne Cash) weren’t that far from the post-punk I was listening to on college radio, starting with R.E.M. The same record store clerks who sold me jangly pop-inflected albums by Robyn Hitchcock, the Windbreakers, and Austin’s Zeitgeist (later the Reivers), also put a copy of Griffith’s 1987 MCA debut, Lone Star State of Mind, into my hands.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/nanci-griffith-more-loved-than-she-knew/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Web+Social&utm_campaign=NanciGriffithObit

In more mundane news Maren Morris guest hosted Jimmy Kimmel’s show last night and Willie Nelson was a guest

But yeah RIP Nanci .That farewell does nicely touch on who her songs appealed to

xpost Wish I'd seen that! Good?

I missed it. Got a pr email about it a day late.

Here's Maren talking to Willie

https://www.wideopencountry.com/maren-morris-jimmy-kimmel-live/

Thoughts on Sierra Ferrell?

Will check---meanwhile: RIP psych-folk-country pioneer Powell St. John! Very early TX colleague of Janis Joplin, later Boz Scaggs (both of whom later covered him), also wrote for 13th Floor Elevators. but I mostly know him in Mother Earth, with Tracy Nelson---this article incl link to one of their more thread-relevant tracks, "Then I'll Be Moving On" (& young:
https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2021-08-23/powell-st-john-brought-us-the-message-1940-2021/?mc_cid=a929c1593a&mc_eid=d26b96d866

Sorry, meant to add that the article also includes a link to very pre-fame Janis singing "St. James Infirmary."

Anyone heard Charlie Marie's Ramble On? Classic honky tonk sound with modern stories. Really strong front to back listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1zRefWl86M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voXA7SjM_2w

Nice, maybe a little too yachty for me in this instance, but by the same token, got the solid Top 40 structure that goes with that pic. Will check alb whenever it's out.
xpost Indexed, thanks so much! I listened to the whole Ramble On and a bit more---she's the Queen of Subway Station Honky Tonk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chscjE1IQ2I

Should've issued a volume warning first, but dig the acoustics.

So she doesn't really need a studio, except commercially===here's one of my faves from there:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H84vL-NlZqQ

Mebbe not one of her best songs, but good vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxFnjq9b5O4

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-09-10/walker-hayes-fancy-like-applebees-commercial

Walker Hayes “Fancy Like (Applebee’s)” taking off due to tik-tok. It’s pop-country with now standard hiphop aspects.

"Baby Shark" catchy, will check current EP (think that's what it is).

Join us on Wednesday, October 6 at 8pm EST on Sidedoor for a very special return of the Latent Lounge when we will be streaming a 70 minute pre-recorded acoustic concert featuring six brand new Cowboy Junkies songs. You can purchase tickets for the show here.https://sidedooraccess.com/shows/8LWXzL8Po02RhWlmUNLV

A couple of months ago, as Covid restrictions began to ease, a few of us who record for Latent decided to get together in a funky old converted barn, located about two hours north of Toronto, to share a few of the songs that we had been writing and developing over the past many months in isolation. Andy Maize (Skydiggers) and Michael Timmins performed a handful of songs from their Townies project; Jerry Leger and his longtime bass player Dan Mock performed five acoustic versions of songs off of Jerry's upcoming Nothing Pressing album; and Margo and Michael performed six brand new songs that they had been working on at The Barn over the previous few weeks. We brought along a couple of cameras and our recording gear and the result is the latest Latent Lounge, our third in the series. Mike, Andy and Jerry will be in attendance in the chat so please make sure to say hi!

We have intentionally kept the cost of the ticket for this event very low in hopes that many of you can donate a few more dollars to the "Legacy Of Hope Foundation". This is a Canadian Indigenous charitable organization with the mandate to educate and create awareness and understanding about the Residential School System. If you can afford it, please pay a little more for your ticket. All money collected by Latent Recordings over the $10 suggested ticket price will be donated to the Legacy of Hope Foundation. Alternatively, you can use the Donate link on the ticket site or go directly to the Legacy Of Hope website (https://legacyofhope.ca/).
trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWr9Qn1eMFo

Country music superstar Alan Jackson has revealed he is living with a degenerative nerve condition that is impacting his ability to tour and perform.

In an exclusive interview …on NBC’s Today, Jackson went public with the news that he has inherited a rare condition known as “CMT” (Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disorder).

ooof that hurts

From Miranda's newsletter:

https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/z1Geu8RYVgpTnOObKQvTk779dgOLsy1hKKWw7q7aD04cT41CVVEi7tVVoW9-uQ3Jp86pRqj5tHlRXIrE4ceU0XuXU2KD0y8F2lu80PM3MvCnge3-kVQrp4SOr3QtKVKghnaydrEIrx8-i1jI8n0=s0-d-e1-ft#https://email-assets.shimmer.io/guids/CABINET_a807453e993d878689c261f236db3b24/images/c.jpg

It’s gonna be a hell of a holiday, y’all! Pistol Annies’ first Christmas album will be out Oct. 22nd. The first song off the album, “Snow Globe,” is out now.https://pa.lnk.to/HOAH

Gotta get the T-shirt:
https://✧✧✧.shop✧✧✧.com/s/files/1/0432/4033/products/front_2d7160f2-a49b-4dfa-bb4a-4e2adbf1e2fb_1024x1✧✧✧@2✧.j✧✧?v=1632969771

Miranda Lambert, Jack Ingram and Jon Randall’s The Marfa Tapes Austin City Limits episode premieres Oct. 2nd on most PBS stations! Check out your local listings to see when it airs in your town.

https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/uO-PsQDdWBuXTu4a6whZECqASNz-yv5sjwuKeXQbUJDLre4R5vI2IcK2sRjIHFlmAFUmp1LbjJgJRJtuvXYT5WxI-FwjcwOhSH1o5Zw7JY6mklUUC3_nn2U3Q__h9tcXpBJDC4GUrxsIf17RQek=s0-d-e1-ft#https://email-assets.shimmer.io/guids/CABINET_a807453e993d878689c261f236db3b24/images/l.jpg

T-shirt, music etc here
https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/--3thcAIcLKl7YyM_v9Bg-qzfkQDbZA1fOsoUE-rz7sufEpHHZ0OrFierar7y0iLYrwMPVHodvNykMC7SnOuFVrBPyjtAwDJUXBZ2WRJlSPn15wBgMxvUkpoYBCWh11QLnhp_5G2Min5epvZJz_944nVV8fS3Eji-6OMHhyIqmq96w=s0-d-e1-ft#https://email-assets.shimmer.io/guids/CABINET_a807453e993d878689c261f236db3b24/images/pahoahpreorder_eblast.gif

Ah hell, since I mentioned it: https://store.mirandalambert.com/collections/pistol-annies?utm_source=ml-news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hoah-announce

Tracklist:

Hell of a Holiday
Snow Globe
Harlan County Coal
Come On Christmas Time
If we make it through December
Make You Blue
Leanin’ on Jesus
The Only Thing I wanted
Believing
Happy Birthday
Sleigh Ride
Joy
Auld Lang Syne

the shirt, hat and ornament look like promo items for a movie

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91HXGCUYC3L._SL1500_.jpg

late pass but Kalie Shorr's "Amy" is some primo fueled by cornpone mash up action