Rolling Country 2018

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

I'm convinced: the Church is his best since Chief and when it's on ("Higher Wire," "Solid," "Some of It") his best ever.

Not wowed by big hit “Life Changes,” by Thomas Rhett (from 2017 album still getting radio airplay this year)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/lifestyle/whats-next-thomas-rhett/?utm_term=.c937b9c18932

His country songwriter Dad is proud of him:

“He doesn’t sit down and say, ‘I’m going to write the most different song today.’ His songs just come out pushing the envelope naturally,” Akins said. “You have to learn that Thomas Rhett has always known since he was a kid, since he was old enough to know what was cool and what wasn’t cool, he knows the trends before they’re going to happen.”

Did this on the Watson twins: https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/spin/article/21027316/the-watson-twins-bring-heavenly-vocals-and-special-guests-to-the-basement

and on Austin Lucas: https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/features/article/21023914/austin-lucas-transcends-americana-on-his-new-lp-immortal-americans

Albini production on Austin Lucas....interesting. Will check it out

Eric Church channeling/ripping off "Sympathy for the Devil" on "Desperate Man" not bad

Rhett's 2015 Tangled Up was really fun; didn't nec. think of it as bro country, but if so, as some tagged it, he was the only country bro good for a whole album. Past the duet with Maren Morris, Life Changes was disappointing.
"Lake of Fire," written by Christy Hays, was one of the few good tracks on last year's Bruce Robison & The Back Porch Band (although they spelled her name wrong). 2018's River Swimmer presents her as a true lady of the canyon, with a big chunk of aural atmosphere down and up there, incl. good drummer and/or programming digging in---touchstone might be Emmylou's Wrecking Ball, also the more recent Lucinda Williams albums, though without vocal slurs or drunken angels or ghosts on the highway. Plenty of shadows and light, re sense of time (of day and season and sometimes lifespan) and place (usually out west, but sometimes just east of the Mississippi, and then there's that "Town Under The Ground," where I wanna go).
Some substantial songwriting for sure, restless and grounded, but a couple mostly going for Americana airplay, and the sonics can be too rich for me to digest the whole set in a single listening. That's okay though. It's all here, along with some earlier releases, which I haven't checked yet:
https://christyhays.bandcamp.com/

I really like those Lucinda albums, for the most part, but glad that this isn't too close!

Good to know there's a new Austin Lucas!

Listening to the Hays again: no prob this time w the sound design, which I'm absorbing and being absorbed by/accepting as such, with conversational appeal in the foreground, and lots of good lines in the verses, but somehow they don't pull me in as consistently as the choruses---would rather have it that way than the reverse, if I had to choose, so I just did---but some of that effect comes from the way lines in the verses get me thinking, so that I may miss the next thing she says, as can happen in good non-musical conversations---but some other times my mind just wanders away completely, for the next line or two, and I blame her more than me. Maybe unfairly, and good album overall, but for now I'm going onto something else (the latest Loretta Lynn, most likely, or Garcia's Before The Dead box).

One more bit about Hays and then I'll shut up: For once, the traveler sounds positively proud of herself for reaching a destination. Then gradually not so much, and then, "I hate it when you worry about me!" Settles back down, before sliding into the chorus and title, "Don't let me diiie/In California." A call, not a cry, and commanding, robust (might not know anything was wrong if she didn't imply it, or if you didn't know her too well, as apparently somebody dies). The call keeps rising and falling, staying in place, being answered by a nagging little guitar figure, suggesting a shriveled McGuinn.

Y'all, what is a good 2018 album of Mexican or Mexican-American or other Latin country etc. music? Any style or subgenre, long as it's got something in that makes me say "Country."
Only one I've heard this year is the poetically precise, lithe life study Alma P’urhépecha, by Los Centzontles and this guy:
Atilano López Patricio

Atilano López Patricio is a Native P’urhépecha musician, songwriter, artisan and painter from Jaracuaro, Michoacán, México. In his youth, Don Atilano worked in the fields along with his brothers and father Gervacio López Isidro, and played music in the afternoons. He first came to California in 1999 at which time he began sharing his traditions with members of Los Cenzontles.

Original and translated lyrics on LC site https://www.loscenzontles.com/product/alma-purhepecha. Music's on Spotify: 28 minutes, but not at all skimpy.

Correction: should have been *8 songs in 20 minutes,* but not atall skimpy.

Watching CMA Awards (from last night on tape)....Ricky Scaggs tribute was ok. My fave moment was soul singer Mavis Staples joining Chris Stapleton and Maren Morris on a medley.

Florida Georgia Line & Bebe Rexha’s poppy “Meant to Be” was good, but purists & others online didn’t like it

https://www.countryliving.com/life/a25107823/florida-georgia-line-performance-cma-awards-2018/

Luke Combs sounded good; as did Dierks Bentley with Brothers Osbourne. I like the Pistol Annies but wasn’t wowed by their Miranda Lambert penned “I Want my Name Change Back”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2018/11/15/cma-awards-complete-list-winners-best-worst-moments/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e28138b5e549

Kacey Musgraves was the best album winner. CMAs are radio-friendly country mostly, but sometimes they go for acts without a lot of current chart toppers

Just now discovered that Willie Nelson's taping an upcomimg full-hour Austin City Limits, this livestream started at 8 central:https://www.austin360.com/entertainmentlife/20181119/tonights-night-watch-willie-nelsons-austin-city-limits-livestream-here

I came in on "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die," then a Djangoesque instrumental, now A Tom T. song I'm unfamiliar with: everything quite perky and limber so far, more about the picking than the singing in that regard, but voice is still good enough, in the Willie way.

Well that was a trip. Hope the whole thing will be posted on ACL's YouTube channel, before editing for broadcast, which may not for inst. incl. Bobbie's coda for the finale,"Will The Cicle Be Unbroken">"I'll Fly Away."

Sweet... I saw Willie and his family show at Red Rocks, around 7 or 8 years ago; I was blown away by his bursts of atonal guitar playing... it was like some “harmelodic,” avant-grade shit. Saw the show again here in L.A., a year or so later. Would love to see him play on TV.

Yeah, the sounds he got from Trigger--- long the oldest, ugliest acoustic guitar I've ever seen---were truly karma chameleon, and always fit---even writhing through "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground," without breaking vibe or meter, like one of those Old Testament, Milton or Blake angels, not from a greeting card (that I'd be likely to get, anyway).
Can prob find more TV appearances on the Tube---he and his family and friends band were all of the very first Austin City Limits ep, in '74, been on there several times since (his collaboration with Asleep At The Wheel etc), and prob some on the Farm Aid channel. His CMT "Crossroads" episode with Sheryl Crow was ace, especially his electric guitar all over "Every Day Is A Winding Road."