Rolling Country 2018

Not much of a review, but you're welcome, and thanks for the exciting concert review.

Speaking of ballots, I eventually revised my 2017 choices, aided by y'all's further listening tips.
whole thing posted here: https://thefreelancementalists.blogspot.com/2018/03/cant-stop-shakin-pt-1-nashville-scene.html, although a lot of the comments are the same as or based on Rolling Country 2017/early '18 posts.
As for the basic lists,
here we go:

TOP TEN COUNTRY ALBUMS OF 2017:

(just in the order they come to mind)

1. Lee Ann Womack: The Lonely, The Lonesome & The Gone (ATO)

2. Whitney Rose: Rule 62 (Six Shooter/Thirty Tigers)

3. Rodney Crowell: Close Ties (New West)

4. Amanda Anne Platt/Honeycutters: S/T (Organic/Crossroads)

5. Margo Price: All American Made (Third Man)

6. Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer: Not Dark Yet (Thirty Tigers/Silver Cross)

7. Caroline Spence: Spades and Roses (Tone Tree)
8. John Moreland: Big Bad Luv (4AD)
9. Willie Nelson: God’s Problem Child (Legacy)
10. Jon Langford’s Four Lost Souls: S/T (Bloodshot)

TOP FIVE COUNTRY REISSUES OF 2017:
1. Various Artists: American Epic: The Best of Country (Lo-Max/Third Man/Columbia/Legacy)
2. Becky Warren: War Surplus (Deluxe Edition)(self-released, I think)
3.Various: Stax Country (Craft/Concord)

COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST MALE VOCALISTS OF 2017:
1. Willie Nelson
2. Rodney Crowell
3. John Moreland

COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST FEMALE VOCALISTS OF 2017:
1. Lee Ann Womack
2. Whitney Rose
3. Margo Price

COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST SONGWRITERS OF 2017:

1. Willie Nelson
2. Margo Price
3. Rodney Crowell
(and their collaborators)

COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST DUOS, TRIOS OR GROUPS OF 2017:

1. Margo Price & the Price Tags
2. Amanda Anne Platt & the Honeycutters
3. Willie Nelson, Lukas Nelson, Micah Nelson

COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST NEW ACTS OF 2017:

1. Alex Williams
2. Carly Pearce
3. Colter Wall

COUNTRY MUSIC’S THREE BEST OVERALL ACTS OF 2017:

1. Willie Nelson
2. Jon Langford’s Four Lost Souls
3. Lee Ann Womack
Comments after the following: ******************************************************************
Imaginary categories:
(They Came To And/Or From Nashville (Pop, Country-Related??):
Nicole Atkins: Goodnight Rhonda Lee, Walker Hayes, Boom, Kelsea Ballerini

Hon. Mention: Willie Nelson: Willie’s Stash Vol. 2: Willie and the Boys, Alex Williams: Better Than Myself, Carly Pearce: Every Little Thing, Lorrie Morgan & Pam Tillis: Come Lonely and Come Lost, Whitney Rose: South Texas Suite, Lindi Ortega: Til The Goin’ Gets Gone,, RaeLynn: Wildhorse, Natalie Hemby: Puxico, Lillie Mae: Forever And Then Some, Kip Moore: Slowheart, Zane Campbell: Ola Wave, Alex Williams: Better Than Myself, Brett Eldredge: s/t, Rhonda Vincent & Daryle Singletary: American Grandstand, Whiskey Gentry: Dead Ringer

Borderline: Sunny Sweeney: Trophy

About Half Good (60-45%): Nikki Lane: Highway Queen, Chris Stapleton: Songs From A Room, Vols. 1 & 2, Case Garrett: Aurora, Little Bandit: Breakfast Alone. Colter Wall: S/T, Angaleena Presley: Wrangled, Jason Isbell: The Nashville Sound, Justin Townes Earle: Kids In The Street, Steve Earle: So You Wanna Be An Outlaw, Midland: On The Rocks, Scott Miller: Ladies Auxiliary, Charlie Worsham: Beginning of Things, Marty Stuart: Way Out West

Borderline: Toby Keith: Songs From The Bus, Various Artists: Gentle Giants: The Songs of Don Williams

Less Than Half Good: Lady Antebellum: Heart Break, Little Big Town: The Breaker, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill: For The Rest of Our Lives, Thomas Rhett: Life Changes, Bruce Robison & The Back Porch Band: S/T

Countryoid/Americana/Related:

Jace Everett: Dust & Dirt

Howe Gelb: Further Standards

Jessi Colter feat. Lenny Kaye: The Psalms

Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real: S/T

Gregg Allman: Southern Blood

Modern Mal: The Misanthrope Family Album

Rev. Sekou: In Times Like These

David Rawlings: Poor David’s Almanack

Bonsoir, Catin: L’Aurore

The War and Treaty: Down To The River

Related Reissues:
1. Marisa Anderson: Traditional and Public Domain Songs
2. Various Artists: American Epic: The Collection
3. Lydia Loveless: Boy Crazy and Single(s)
4. Various Artists: Rough Guide To Jugband Blues
5. Various Artists: American Epic: The Soundtrack
6. Gillian Welch: Boots No, 1: The Official Revival Bootleg

Borderline (Docked A Notch For Being A Re-Recording Of A Good Old Album And Even Of Bonus Tracks From The Same Sessions):
Lucinda Williams: This Sweet Old World

Related Hon. Mention:
Pinegrove: Elsewhere, Shovels & Rope: Busted Jukebox Vol. 2, Howe Gelb: Open Road, Peter Stampfel & The Atomic Mega Pagans: Cambrian Explosion,
Valerie June: The Order of Time

Related Genealogically As Well As Musically Hon. Mention:
North Mississippi Allstars: Prayer For Peace, James Luther Dickinson: I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone: Lazarus Edition (also a Related Reissue)

Related Borderline:
Deer Tick: Vol. 1, Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway, John Mellencamp feat. Carlene Carter: Sad Clowns and Hillbillies, Arthur Alexander: S/T
Related Less Than Half Good:
Banditos: VisionLand

Just got word about xp Colter Walls' Songs of the Plains coming out Oct. 12---link to first single, album & tour info here: http://www.sacksco.com/pr/colter_wall.html

Did not see this coming:
With ‘Blaze,’ Ethan Hawke decided to break all the rules by telling the story of an obscure singer who died in 1989.
https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/ethan-hawke-blaze-foley-movie-biopic-texas-songwriter-703024/

I've never been able to watch Ethan Hawke since he was in Square Pegs, but have heard that he's improved. Only know Foley's actual music (vs. backstory and a few reviews of his few albums) via Merle's version of "If I Could Only Fly."

That’s awesome and adds to the many reasons why i like ethan hawke

Wrt to colter wall, I follow his music releases closely so I’ve known about that single and the new album but don’t wanna fill this thread with colter fun facts

Anyway there’s another one from the album floating around on YouTube

Also two of my all time favourite colter tracks are on the new album (sask in 1881 and wild bill hickok if it actually is railroad bill)

Gonna go to one of his shows later this year

I'm seeing Colter this weekend. Pretty excited!

Here's Brandi Carlisle's whole set, just over an hour:
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/08/636376855/brandi-carlile-live-in-concert-newport-folk-2018

Xp

How was it

He sounded great, cracked a couple jokes, but I couldn't really dig in because of distractions. Saw about 15 minutes of two different sets, neither with a decent view, either.

I also think he's already much bigger than I realize.

Last year i paid like $15 to his show

This year i paid $40

He definitely blew up

from now on when non-mainstream country/roots acts jump from 400- to 1200-cap rooms in 6 months, they're on The Sturgill Journey

mm i would talk to some people in saskatchewan about him being "non-mainstream"

just feel like it's worth noting that he's received pushback from people less than thrilled with his dad

(also what even is "mainstream" these days that isn't like... florida georgia line)

mm i would talk to some people in saskatchewan about him being "non-mainstream"

well there are these things called “legs up” you see and they tend to perpetuate hegemony on certain levels

anyway i read stuff. i don’t know if i agree with their assessment. i’m just saying, “mainstream” or non is a slippery way to define quality, especially in this fragmented time.

Paisley was on Fallon or Myers show this week; guess he's still the mainstream, despite that there Welcome Obama song, and the one about racial tolerance in general, which caught some flak from various sides, but so far he hasn't gotten the Dixie Chicks (and Eric Church?) treatment. Miranda Lambert had all them hits, but now she's kinda weird, on her own albums and w Pistol Annies (who have a third album at least in the planning stages, according to Monroe). Chesney still keeps everything paved over, so he's real dependable mainstream. Jason Aldean has probably had some discussions with his people re future venues, at least I would hope so, but no cracks in the pavement that I've noticed.
Hot Buttered Rum have a somewhat misleading name, like they're some kind of lumberjack party band---true, they keep it moving---their mandolinist is also/maybe mainly their drummer---but one of the perkiest numbers on the well-titled Lonesome Panoramic is 'bout how when that lonesome feeling comes around, you better let it in, it might just tell you something; one of the catchiest (even some scat-singing at the end) is 'bout how "You don't know what lonesome is, 'til lonesome's gone." Some of it seems a bit murky so far, but also a spooky, almost country-noir ballad 'bout how there's shit you can't take back: a father's looking for his derelict son, his runaway daughter, while sort of acknowledging that he's not perfect.
Rec to fans of Western Centuries, the pensive-yet-limber side of Hunter-Garcia, post-Marmaduke New Riders.

Not that I'm anti-mainstream, but hard to find a mostly satisfying album of it these days (I'm mostly an album listener). Maybe I was spoiled by the late 90s-early 00s. Still, post-peak Tim McGraw units are always good for at least a few sparky, distinctive tracks, even the mostly ridiculous duet set w Faith Hill, which goes bad in a sparky, distinctive. listenable way---amwazingly bad! And how often does that happen, in any genre? Something went out of the music when the Four Seasons and Jefferson Starship stopped making new records (yes, they're probably still playing somewhere).

*amazingly* bad too

Although at least xgau is still/maybe more than ever capable of the occasional amazingly bad music pick---can't believe he recently gave Chicago Farmer's Quartet Past Midnight an A minus! A few decent tracks--though most of those don't urge me past a couple listens---but overall this is exactly the kind of
cute corny cliche, self-promoting folkie sensitivity training he used to scorn. Of course he's an expert talker, even has a routine 'bout how you too can learn the faux-Arlo delivery, but all too often the songs seem anti-climatic after the set-ups, in that common folkie club way.
But sometimes he does manage an effective anecdotal-musical merger, my fave being the one about his neighbors, offspring of the Chicago powerhouse-to-rustbelt working class, who start their own bakery, everything looking up 'til the '08 evaporation of credit etc., to which their response incl. working even harder, becoming closet methhheads. This comes to light after their children turn up at school "blind, and the other one couldn't see"---a uniquely tasteless joek/journalistic detail from the Farmer, maybe an actual anti-tearjerking move, even though this is one of his least tearjerking songs. Anyway, it's not too big a jolt, maybe because it's something a neighbor might gossip, at least to himself.
Rec. to fans of early Prine, Silverstein, Steve Goodman, his buddy Arlo, but only if you're fairly desperate for more of that good old Old Town plaid yarntunespinning Chicago stuff.

Brothers Osborne, Port Saint Joe: Oho, I like Brother John's vintage-ish etc. as contemporary country instrumental settings very well and right away; famous geezers who know they need freshening up should borry him (and producer Jay Joyce's board team). Brother TJ's vocals tend to point up the limitations of the songs, but it all comes together sometimes, often enough that I'll keep listening for sure, whole or most of it may grow on me.

xp Pistol Annies album is now far past prev. announced "planning stages," reports A Taste of Country:

The country-singing trio have been in the studio this year working on their third album. Presley reveals to the Boot that she and her Annies partners have finished recording at least an album's worth of new material, saying: "We just finished our third record."

Ruby Boots' Don't Talk About runs the two-lane from Brenda Lee to Nikki Lane (was thinking that before I read that the actual NL co-writes and sings on some of this), also Nashville to British Invasionville and back, country enough (via twangy vocal linchpin, for inst) that nearly a cappella gospelly waltz "I Am A Woman" sounds at home between garage stompers "Somebody Else" and "Infatuation" (former also feat. good fuzztone---Texas Gentlemen can go wherever she leads). Finale "Don't Give A Damn" starts with acoustic strum and shaker, goes to full kit and randomized electric howls, keeping that Maro Price Mellencamp, born-in-a-barn catchiness (yes, it's on Bloodshot). Not original atall, but/and so far mostly good.
Although a few tracks do have me looking at my watch---one prob w hot chesnut associations is when you might start to recall that old tyme radio edits weren't much over 3'30", at most, while most of these go on up for to a minute longer

Don't Talk About *It*(emphasis added)!

Margo Margo *Margo*---sorry again!

Not sure if this is for this thread or the world music one, but I've been enjoying the reissue of Jess Sah Bi & Peter One's Our Garden Needs Its Flowers - mid-80s Cote D'Ivoire take on 70s US country & folk-rock.

https://jesssahbipeterone.bandcamp.com/

on first listen "To The Sunset" by Amanda Shires sounds like a good album from a promising artist

other ilxors hold it in high regard, so I'm thinking it may be a grower

xp Thanks, etc.! Got into it right away. Incl. lots of good info & descriptions: ... fusion of traditional Ivorian village songs and American and English country and folk-rock music. Jess and Peter sang in French and English, delivering beautifully harmonized meditations on social injustice and inequality, calls for unity across the African continent, an end to apartheid in South Africa and the odd song for the ladies, all set against lush guitar riffs, rustic harmonica and rollicking feel-good rhythms. Although I'd say "sophisticated," not "lush," the way they take what they need from what they like---title track suggests Don Williams guiding Crosby Stills & Nash in a non-snoozey, shuffley direction---"rollicking" is an overstatement, but on a foggy morning this set cleared my head right up.

Aug. 24 press release onslaught:

COLTER WALL’S “SASKATCHEWAN IN 1881” PREMIERES TODAY
NEW ALBUM “SONGS OF THE PLAINS” OUT OCTOBER 12
EXTENSIVE HEADLINE TOUR CONFIMRED

“AMONG THE MOST REFLECTIVE YOUNG COUNTRY SINGERS OF HIS GENERATION”---The New Yorker

Colter Wall’s new song “Saskatchewan in 1881” is premiering today. Listen/share HERE. The song comes from Wall’s highly anticipated new album, Songs of the Plains, which will be released October 12 on Young Mary’s Record Co. via Thirty Tigers and is now available for pre-order.
Recorded at Nashville’s RCA Studio A with Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Cobb, the album features eleven songs including seven original songs written by Wall, versions of Billy Don Burns’ “Wild Dogs” and Wilf Carter’s “Calgary Round-Up” as well as two cowboy traditionals, “Night Herding Song” and “Tying Knots in the Devil’s Tail.” Each digital pre-order comes with an immediate download of three album tracks: “Saskatchewan in 1881,” “Calgary Round-Up” and “Plain to See Plainsman,” which was released earlier this summer. Of the song, Rolling Stone declares, “…Colter Wall delivers this classic-minded cowboy song in a leathery, lived-in baritone. There’s some soft percussion and honking harmonica tossed into the mix, too, but Wall’s voice is the biggest attraction here, sounding less like the croon of a Canadian-born Millennial and more like Roger Miller after a long night of drinking.”
Of the album, Wall comments, “One thing I’ve noticed over the last few years, in the United States and playing in Europe, is that people all over the world really don’t know much about Canada at all…When you talk about Saskatchewan, people really have no idea. Part of it is because there are so few people there. It’s an empty place—it makes sense that people don’t know much about it. But that’s my home, so naturally I’m passionate about it. With this record, I really wanted people to look at our Western heritage and our culture.”
In addition to Wall (vocals, acoustic guitar), the album also features Cobb (acoustic guitar), Lloyd Green (pedal steel), Chris Powell (drums, spoons), Jason Simpson (bass), Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Blake Berglund (vocals) and Corb Lund (vocals).
The Saskatchewan native will tour extensively this fall in celebration of the release with headline shows at New York’s Irving Plaza, Nashville’s The Basement East (two nights), Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club, Seattle’s Showbox @ The Market and Atlanta’s Variety Playhouse among many others. Tickets are on sale now. See below for complete details.

Photo credit: Little Jack Films
The release of Songs of the Plains follows a breakthrough year for the Canadian artist, whose self-titled debut album was released last May to widespread critical acclaim. The album entered the Billboard charts at #2 on “Top New Artist Albums” as well as #6 on the “Americana/Folk Albums” chart, #11 on the “Independent Current Albums” chart and #14 on the “Current Country Albums” chart. Additionally, it landed on several “Best of 2017” lists including Rolling Stone, Paste, Stereogum, The Boston Globe and UPROXX, who praised, “…this self-titled slow burner is surprisingly fresh, full of existential dread and gorgeous, meandering melodies that occasionally whip themselves up into frenzies. For all your friends who declare pop has cannibalized country, play Colter Wall for them, and watch them slip back into the outlaw past with glee.” Moreover, The New Yorker declared, “Wall is among the most reflective young country singers of his generation... His ace in the hole is his showstopping voice: a resonant, husky baritone, wounded and vulnerable.”
SONGS OF THE PLAINS TRACK LIST:
1. “Plain to See Plainsman” (written by Colter Wall)
2. “Saskatchewan In 1881” (written by Colter Wall)
3. “John Beyers (Camaro Song)” (written by Colter Wall)
4. “Wild Dogs” (written by Billy Don Burns)
5. “Calgary Round-Up” (written by Wilf Carter)
6. “Night Herding Song” (Cowboy Traditional)
7. “Wild Bill Hickok” (written by Colter Wall)
8. “The Trains are Gone” (written by Colter Wall)
9. “Thinkin’ on a Woman” (written by Colter Wall)
10. “Manitoba Man” (written by Colter Wall)
11. “Tying Knots in the Devil’s Tail” (Cowboy Traditional)
COLTER WALL CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
August 24—Tonder, Denmark—Tonder Festival
August 29—London, U.K. —Scala
August 30—Manchester, U.K. —Gorilla
September 1—Salisbury, U.K. —End of the Road Festival
September 2—Stradbally, Ireland—Electric Picnic
September 12—Nashville, TN—AmericanaFest
September 14-15—Athens, Ontario—Festival of Small Halls
September 16—Lansdowne Park, Ottawa—City Folk
September 23—Indianapolis, IN—Holler on the Hill Festival
October 12—Saskatoon, Saskatchewan—O’Brian’s Event Centre
October 13—Saskatoon, Saskatchewan—O’Brian’s Event Centre (SOLD-OUT)
October 16—Regina, Saskatchewan—Conexus Convention Hall
October 18—Edmonton, Alberta—Union Hall
October 19—Calgary, Alberta—Macewan Hall Ballroom
October 21—Missoula, MT—Top Hat
October 22—Bozeman, MT—The Rialto
October 23—Billings, MT—Pub Station Taproom
October 25—Omaha, NE—The Waiting Room
October 26—Des Moines, IA—Woolys
October 27—Maquoketa, IA—Codfish Hollow Barn
October 28—Detroit, MI—Majestic Theatre
October 30—Columbus, OH—A&R Music Bar
October 31—Pittsburgh, PA—Club AE
November 2—Somerville, MA—Somerville Theater
November 3—South Burlington, VT—Higher Ground Ballroom
November 5—New York, NY—Irving Plaza
November 8—Charlotte, NC—Neighborhood Theatre
November 9—Richmond, VA—Richmond Music Hall
November 11—Carrboro, NC—Cats Cradle
November 14—Nashville, TN—The Basement East
November 15—Nashville, TN—The Basement East
November 16—Asheville, NC—The Grey Eagle
November 17—Atlanta, GA—Variety Playhouse
November 18—Charleston, SC—Charleston Music Hall
November 24—Toronto, Ontario—Opera House
November 28—Washington, D.C. —9:30 Club
December 1—Madison, WI—Majestic Theatre
December 2—Columbia, MO—The Blue Note
December 10—Santa Fe, NM—Meow Wolf
December 12—Solana Beach, CA—Belly Up
December 14—Los Angeles, CA—El Rey Theatre
January 19, 2019—Vancouver, British Columbia—Commodore Ballroom
January 20, 2019—Seattle, WA—The Showbox @ The Market

www.colterwall.com

i've been listening to sask in 1881 a lot for over a year now

i think this one is better than the studio version

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

this is good, brings the Whiskeytown/RA vibes:

https://www.stereogum.com/2011971/ruston-kelly-dying-star/music/album-stream/

ugh, yeah some of those tracks/lines hit me hard

Got memo @4:14 CST, no idear how long offer is good for:
Announcing a free download of Garth Brooks' latest album, Triple Live

Fresh off this week's appearance on America's Got Talent, Garth Brooks has announced his newest album, Triple Live, is available to download on Amazon, free for a limited time! This new collection of music features 26 tracks taken from live performances throughout his recent world tour.

Click below for your free download of Triple Live, as well as two of his other blockbuster albums, The Chase and In Pieces. Amazon is what it is. Just now downloaded Triple Live( w/o Amazon Music app), and I'll do well to make it through all of that, so may not get the earlier ones.

What the heck, I got those too.

nice thanks

i pressed play on her album on spotify just bc i liked the cover art but lydia luce's azalea is kind of a surprisingly good countryish folk/folkish country record so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFC07th1bXI

https://popula.com/2018/09/13/canon-fodder/

piece re: missing country music on the Pitchfork '80s list

^^Shuja Haider

Charlie Robison is retiring from music due to complications from surgery that left him unable to sing. I haven't listened to anything of his in a while, but his 2004 Good Times album has some favorites on it.

xpost Garth's Triple Livetook some getting used to on the first set, with distracting sound quality and badly timed blurts, also massive audience chant-alongs, sometimes overemphasizing the more simplistic lyrics and less hooky tunes, which is most of 'em, at least as presented here (dude obv luvs pop-rock so wot's, uh, the deal) despite the okay band and occasional back-up vocalists--the on-stage ones that, is---but it gets better, and overall seems like at least a (shortish) LP's worth of striking songs and performances. He presents and testifies and is a quick change artist in the hot midst of the blistery mystery of life and love and fun and sorrow, hallelujah.
Will def have to check studio version of "In Another's Eyes," re inttriguing lyrics partially blotted here ( nevertheless, we get good duet w Trisha, whom I prev. considerd the definition of boredom). Especially impressed by "Mom":child scared of being born, is reassured by God re soon will meet an Earthly guide on the patch back to Himself: just barely time enough for that to seem a little spooky, and then look out for "Mama sure was a looker...Daddy's in the pen," cheatin' and Maker-meetin' in between, wheee---somewhere down the road, the responsible salaryman who knows he works so hard because he's controlled by somebody else, transmutes into your "Shameless" and triumphant madman, higher and higher on risk and sacrifice. This is the best of his gut-swaying Elton John-like anthems, at least in this setting; others can seem redundant, over-explaining his principles---"Whiskey to Wine" (it's not the same high") comes close to overexplaining, but it's a supple toon, another good duet with Trisha, as they settle for each other, but not really, so their secret or maybe post-counselling/too-amicably-separating selves sing to and with each other.
Then there's angry suicide as creative breakthrough in "The Beaches of Cheyenne," and then there's "The River," "changing all the time," and then there's "The Fireman," "makin' my rounds all over town, puttin' out old flames," and then he gets progressive in a natural and chosen way on the finale,"We Shall Be Free."
But in between those and a few others, like "Friends in Low Places," o mannn----howsomeever, I now find myself seriously wondering if I will buy his ten-disc set, on Amazon for 15.98 (no shipping & handling if Prime).

the *path* back to Himself (of course it is but a patchy path, this life and world)

However the movie story goes, and I hope it's not this relaxed, Blaze Original Soundtrack (type it that way if you look up on Spotify, although looks like I should check out that guy's Blaze Sountrack playlist) calmly presents the title character as a reflective fella, riding the bus and occasionally venturing into the bar, sitting by the road, frequently dubious of his choices and acutely aware of the gaps in himself and in crowds, distrusting the flow and churn and everything else except his baby. Sounds like she (played by Alia Shawkat, who brings more definition to the better Ben-as-Blaze ruminations) might be what keeps him so sweet (though the real-life Blaze was brave and honorable enough to die defending a friend, trying to defuse a confrontation).
The tumult, incl. the actual lifestyle miles, does come outside in the closer, "Drunken Angel," written about him by Lucinda Williams, sung here by Alynda Segarra, with none of the Snorah Jones tendencies of he Hurry For The Riff Raff breakthrough (guess I better check the follow-up, which is said to be more dynamic, and the previous set had its keepers for sure). She's also good w lead actor-singer Ben Dickey on Blind Willie McTell's "Pearly Gates, " another wake-up change of pace, which gets jokey at one point, without disturbing the overall sense of aspiration and conviction---"When this short life is over," he means to keep fingerpicking through yon portals. Which goes right with the brief glimpse of Robin and Little John bopping through Sherwood Forest, not knowing or caring about bad water or the bad Sheriff, in Roger Miller's brief "Od-De-Lally" (so I guess I better check out that 2018 Roger Miller tribute collection too).
The shadings in Foley's better originals aren't eclipsed by the covers, even of Townes Van Zandt's stark "Marie," a tale of what might have happened to Foley and his Sylvia, did happen to many others, on the street and under the bridge, with just a few wronger turns. Though it's performed here by Charlie Sexton, mainly a guitarist, and his sincere, sometimes soft vocal begs comparison's with TVZ's unrelenting clarity, though they're equally succinct.
Starts and stays snoozey for a while, but seems like 8 out of 12 good 'uns (though maybe I'm too just dried up for "Blaze & Sylvia's Lullaby," another duet with Alia Shawkat, and it's the lone Dickey original, no snoozier than the preceding Foley originals--what the hell, I admire it from afar. Cute couple.)
Grab a coffee and turn it up, or just listen near bedtime.

Yep "Od-De-Lally" sounds good on the Roger Miller tribute too, even though I usually don't like Eric Church's little voice, but he sounds hearty and absurdist here, jumpin' through the hoops of careless and outrageous fortune, incl. good luck and the Sheriff's traps too (bass shadows keep coming up). 37 tracks and I gotta listen some more, but pretty sure Ringo's version of "Hey Would You It Down" is one for my Beatles and Ex-Beatles tape, and overall sense that the Bird of Paradise has long since flown up yore nose and is still flying and bouncing off the dusty walls of all that room up there, which (so far) gets me through some of the more woeful ballads, cos whut does he know other than happy and sad and life and death and bippity dang boppa=me. We'll see. Cool cracks and zesty-old-guesty remakes (not rowdy enough to alarm the caretakers) from the man himself.

Also enjoying Roland White and Friends' A Tribute To The Kentucky Colonels, which comes out Oct. 26 and reworks several tracks from the KC's 1964(before Clarence joined the Byrds) Appalachian Swing. If that title appeals to you, you'll probably dig this set.

Also getting into Mary Gauthier's Rifles and Rosary Beads, songs written with soldiers--had assumed that these last were all vets of Afghanistan and Iraq, but no reason they couldn't have been in Vietnam or elsewhere. Incisive details of experience, Over There and Homefront, keep it grounded, not too anthemy or sloggy, past maybe the opener. MG's got the wiry arrangements, spare and flexible, and enough voice for whatever occasion, without over- or underdoing it (I'm always startled by the various ways she repeats the title phrase of the always startled "It's Your Love." "Morphine 1, 2" gradually turns into something like a country Lou Reed song, but it fits. "I Got Your 6" is a sly little possum, "Iraq" is a furtive message with no time for all the details, but the singer, male or female, is "a mechanic...I try to fit in...what I don't give they take..." Others are def guys or gals, in particular circumstances, incl. marital and professional.
Lots more here, incl, co-writes w SWS co-founder Darden Smith and many others, ongoing:
https://songwritingwithsoldiers.bandcamp.com/

I'm liking the Eric Church record, which is sparer than a country superstar's needs to be.

Just listened to that, and I'm more than pleasantly surprised! The spareness seems relaxed, confident, thoughtful--even "Monsters,", which he has learned are not under the bed, so he's grateful that he also learned to pray, sounds like a humble sop, but is not overundersold, and mention of letting his little son sleep next to him to keep the monsters at bay, does not incl. teaching said son to pray; he seems to be letting him learn at his own pace, as Daddy apparently did (no memories of Churches at church, choirs fading in and out etc. etc.).
The writing and arrangements are usually taut, resourceful, even daring at times, like he's really learned from hippie radio, and not the one in the disappointing track of that title. Most startling moment is when he suddenly starts wobbling that note in "Higher Wire," fixing to take off---also like the quavery verse voice on "Solid," setting up the chorus. and the way the back-to-basics "Jukebox and A Bar" sets up the attempt to chill of "Drowning Man, " in which thinking about politics has driven him to drink once more; weed's not gonna cut it tonight or today.

Because--monsters really aren't under the bed! Well not all of 'em, nosiree.

colter doing a traditional cowboy ballad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zpz5wgwt2Y