Rolling Country 2020

the first 5 songs go so hard i've had trouble getting to the rest of the album

the lord did bless us with another wonderful song titled "bluebird" tho

'river of stars' is so beautiful

Effective immediately all music video hours on CMT and CMT Music channels will have complete parity between male and female artists. That means 50/50. #CMTEqualPlay

— CMT (@CMT) January 21, 2020

Wonder if that will have any impact on country radio ( where stations can’t even play 2 songs in a row by female acts)

Howdy, Edd Hurt here. Wrote a couple things about Reggie Young, mentioned above, last year: https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/nashville-cream/article/21044397/reggie-young-19362019 and this (listen to "Mercy," referenced below, good example of Young's tact):

Reggie Young
Session guitar legend

Reggie Young, who died in Leiper’s Fork on Jan. 17 at age 82, played guitar on a huge number of recordings that have become country, pop and soul classics. Young added his fluid licks to Dusty Springfield’s 1969 album Dusty in Memphis, and he played on sessions with Elvis Presley, Joe Tex, James Carr, Billy Swan and Dobie Gray. Many of Young’s best-known recordings feature a lick, invented by Young, that defines the performance. Like his fellow Memphis rhythm-guitar masters Teenie Hodges and Bobby Womack, Young was a structural thinker.

Young was born Dec. 12, 1936, in Caruthersville, Mo. He made his name in pop and country, and he lived and recorded in Nashville for decades. But I like to think of him as a quintessential Memphis musician. Like Hodges, who devised unforgettable licks for records by Al Green and producer Willie Mitchell, Young knew how to lay back in a rhythm section. You can hear his restraint on an obscure 1967 Willie Mitchell record, “Mercy,” in which Young plays strict rhythm guitar behind Memphis ax man Clarence Nelson’s brief, stinging lead.

I saw Young demonstrate some of his signature inventions at a 2008 program at the Country Music Hall of Fame. He played his intro to Swan’s 1974 track “I Can Help,” and he made it look easy. For Young, it was about the total effect — he never showed off, because he didn’t have to. —Edd Hurt

Didn't know he'd died, damn!

From Mary Gauthier's Feb. enewsletter:

David Olney
1948-2020

The world lost a great artist on January 18th. We songwriters lost a dear friend. David Olney was a man with genius and wide-reaching vision. He was the master of perspective. Point of view in his songs was forever original and brilliant. Unparalleled Mastery.

He wrote from the viewpoint of the Iceberg in "Titanic." From the point of view of the huckster ripping people off on the hill next to Jesus in "Jerusalem Tomorrow." From the viewpoint of the dummy, talking to the ventriloquist, in "Who's The Dummy Now?"

I cannot pick a favorite Olney song, but I do come back to this one over and over, written from the viewpoint of a French prostitute, in "1917."
(if this doesn't show up here, it's on youtube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqXmR_npUs&fbclid=IwAR3BH3ggKomdimJR-KE9zKjcd16ClpZewwILACnFIWTVcBxRR2lnMnh9TeE

Wow to "Throw Your Love Away"! Excited to hear the rest of the album.

Here were my 2019 favorites in roughly the order I'd rank them:

ALBUMS
Michaela Anne - Desert Dove*
Miranda Lambert - Wildcard
Ian Noe - Between the Country
Jon Pardi - Heartache Medication
Emily Scott Robinson - Traveling Mercies
The Highwomen - s/t

SONGS
Emily Scott Robinson - The Dress*
Jon Pardi - Old Hat
Madison Kozak - First Last Name*
Miranda Lambert - Mess With My Head
Jon Pardi - Heartache Medication
Joy Williams - The Trouble with Wanting*
Tyler Childers - All Your'n
Hailey Whitters - Ten Year Town
Mike & The Moonpies - You Look Good in Neon
Maren Morris - The Feels
Ashley McBryde - One Night Standards
Midland - Let It Roll
Luke Combs - Even Though I'm Leaving
Ingrid Andress - More Hearts Than Mine
Joshua Ray Walker - Canyon
Caroline Spence - Mint Condition

*Gut-punchers

Just put on the LBT. Holy hell "Next To You"!

This is p cool:

“I’ve really never seen any four people work as well together as they do,” says singer-songwriter Lori McKenna, a longtime collaborator. “I’ve also never seen four people write songs to the harmonies. When I watch them write a lyric around a note that they all can sing, it’s mind-blowing. It’s almost like a kind of sign language; they use their hands, point to one another. I don’t know if they know all the names of what they’re doing [when they work together]. But together, when they sing, they flow like water, like liquid.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/little-big-town-new-album-tour-dates-946655/

"next to you" is amazing

also i interviewed LBT once for a story that wasn't about them and they were very generous w/ their time even when they didn't need to be, so that makes me like them a little extra

LBT is one of the bigger acts not to have their own ILM thread which makes sense bc i think they're underrated round these parts and maybe operating in a style that isn't one to cross over to other audiences. despite them being generally extremely good especially on their past several albums, which i rarely put on but always enjoy listening to.

i first was impressed w/their chops on Pain Killer, which was among other things evidence that whatever type of song they wanted to pull off, they could do it. in addition to their way with close harmonies they can really tear shit up when they choose to do so.

When my wife and I did our Southern road trip to Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Clarksdale, and Memphis, Little Big Town were on the multi-act bill at the Grand Ol Opry. Impressive harmonies. At times a bit too polished for me, but I generally like their country meets Fleetwood Mac sound.

When we were just up in NYC, they were at the Apollo for a couple of shows! We just noticed it after the gigs had already happened when we were touring the Apollo.

@RScountry
Whitney Rose previews her new album 'We Still Go to Rodeos' with a compassionate spin on the cheating song in "Believe Me, Angela" https://rol.st/31tidvk Cosmic Canadian cowgirl rolls on

Anyone have a recommendation for a country station, podcast or show worth streaming?

New York's Country, 94.7: Haven't listened a whole lot, but seems okay, am told it's usually pretty good; Maura posted link on a previous RC---and hey, commercial-free Mondays!
https://newyorkscountry947.radio.com/blogs/joe-cingrana/commercial-free-mondays-on-new-yorks-country-947?utm_source=second-street&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sam+Hunt+Tix%2c+Martina+Tix%2c+CFM%2c+Troops%2c+Miranda+News%2c+Aldean+News%2c+Oscars+Best%2c+Listen+App

Thanks!

Grady Smith's youtube channel is worth keeping an eye on

http://www.youtube.com/GradySmith

Maren Morris “The Bones” is the first solo song by a woman to hit #1 since Taylor Swift “You Belong with Me” in 2009, per @chartdata on twitter

X-post- for a guy with hundreds of thousands of YouTube followers, that Grady Smith guy didn’t seem that smart or charismatic in his episode on country music TikTok. He seemed clueless that young folks would do karaoke like videos there, and he mocked country songs that have rap inspired vocals .

Can't say I've seen that one but I used to read his writing in The Guardian and thought he had a good ear for talent and an unpretentious style. Now primarily follow him on Twitter but occasionally watch his album review videos.

He’s unpretentious, which is good, just has those flaws I mentioned.

new jason isbell is predictably great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPek7jto9l0

After spending a week with New York 94.7 (thanks, dow!), I wanted less "10,000 Hours" so I looked for local owned stations and came across KBST in Big Spring, Texas. Pretty good station with waaay more character that so far seems to only be about 1/2 current hits. The stream doesn't sound as good, but that seems appropriate. Plus local ads for laundromats and mineral rights consulting!

Cool, and speaking of Texas, should have thought of https://kutx.org/about-kutx-music

Maren Morris “The Bones” is the first solo song by a woman to hit #1 since Taylor Swift “You Belong with Me” in 2009, per @chartdata on twitter

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, February 11, 2020 9:56 AM (one week ago)

this is not correct. it's the first solo song by a woman to hit #1 on country airplay AND go top 10 in all-format airplay since "you belong with me"

other songs by any artist to have done the same since "you belong with me":

lady antebellum "need you now" (2010)
florida georgia line (ft. nelly) "cruise" (2013)
sam hunt "body like a back road" (2017)
bebe rexha ft. florida georgia line "meant to be" (2018)
dan + shay "speechless" (2019)
dan + shay & justin beiber "10,000 hours" (2019)

and now "the bones". so this stat is more about crossover than acceptance at country radio alone (which, yes, is paltry for women, but not quite THAT horrendous)

this kicks ass

alee - "no one like you"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJrVn_2QoYg

canada stand up

Excerpts from press release about new Maren Morris tour:
Grammy-winning artist Maren Morris will embark on “RSVP: The Tour” throughout North America, including festival dates at Governors Ball Music Festival and Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience and headline stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Colorado’s storied Red Rocks Amphitheatre and many more. Supporting acts James Arthur, Ryan Hurd and Caitlyn Smith are confirmed for select dates. The tour kicks off in June following Maren’s headlining appearance at the Houston Rodeo on March 7, her biggest show to date.
,,,Last week marked the second consecutive week at #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart for Maren’s song “The Bones,” making it the first solo female back-to-back #1 since 2012 and her fourth #1 single to date. It also marks the first solo female Billboard country #1 since her single “GIRL” topped the chart last summer. In addition, Morris recently appeared on the 50th season of “Sesame Street” in an episode titled “Let’s Draw”—watch here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O08nNZt074&feature=emb_title
MAREN MORRIS LIVE
March 7 Houston, TX Houston Rodeo
May 24 Napa, CA BottleRock Napa Valley
June 5 Boston, MA Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion*‡
June 6 Gilford, NH Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion*‡
June 7 New York, NY Governors Ball Music Festival
July 10 Calgary, AB The Scotiabank Saddledome
July 24 Boca Raton, FL Mizner Park Amphitheatre*‡
July 25 Jacksonville, FL Daily’s Place*‡
July 30 Cleveland, OH Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica*‡
August 7 Kansas City, MO Starlight Amphitheatre*‡
August 8 Indianapolis, IN Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn at White River State Park*‡
August 21 Atlanta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheater*
August 22 Raleigh, NC Red Hat Amphitheater*‡
August 22-23 Lexington, KY Railbird Festival
August 27 Detroit, MI Freedom Hill Amphitheatre*
August 28 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena*
September 4-6 Aspen, CO Jazz Aspen Snowmass
September 7 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre†
September 10 Abbotsford, BC Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre†‡
September 11 Portland, OR Moda Center – Theater of the Clouds†
September 17 Charlotte, NC Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre†‡
September 18 Charlottesville, VA Sprint Pavilion†‡
September 19 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion†‡
September 25 Montréal, QC Corona Theatre‡
October 1 Tuscaloosa, AL Tuscaloosa Amphitheater†‡
October 9 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP†‡
October 15 San Diego, CA Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU†‡
October 17 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre†
*with Ryan Hurd
†with James Arthur
‡with Caitlyn Smith
For more information, please contact
Carla Sacks, Cami Opere, Reid Kutrow or Asha Goodman at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000;
carla at sacksco.com, cami.opere at sacksco.com, reid.kutrow at sacksco.com or asha.goodman at sacksco.com

Loving this. Very impressive debut. Fleetwood Mac vibes, at times.

Katie Pruitt - Expectations

https://cdn.nashvillescene.com/files/base/scomm/nvs/image/2020/02/640w/katie_pruitt_cover2.5e4c5b08c0293.jpg

https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/features/article/21116886/katie-pruitt-is-herself-on-expectations

https://americansongwriter.com/katie-pruitt-elevates-herself-on-expectations/hal-horowitz/

https://youtu.be/mG1JsSh951U

There's also a new Secret Sisters album out today. I'm a sucker for great harmonies, and they're as good as anyone. Looks like Brandi Carlile produced this one, too.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58c2329c29687f4f845d04d0/1573786946140-SGMM23TKNA5YRMWZAPI9/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kOyctPanBqSdf7WQMpY1FsRZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpwwQIrqN0bcqL_6-iJCOAA0qwytzcs0JTq1XS2aqVbyK6GtMIM7F0DGeOwCXa63_4k/SecretSistersCover_600.jpg

The fourth album from Alabama sibling duo the Secret Sisters is the stunning country-soul opus their talent has always promised. Laura and Lydia Rogers have been at it since 2010, making solid LPs with high-profile producers (T Bone Burnett, Dave Cobb) while lending their Southern church harmonies to legends like Willie Nelson and Elvis Costello. In 2017, the pair enlisted singer-songwriter Brandi -Carlile to co-produce their third LP, You Don’t Own Me Anymore, helping them up their game in a set of songs about piloting life’s hardships, delivered with tender -intimacy. Carlile is back for Saturn Return, a spare, -gorgeous, relatably realistic set. “Late -bloomers on parade” is how the group put it on the Elton John-meets-Dusty Springfield declaration “Late Bloomer.” That well-chosen sentiment is truth in -advertising.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/the-secret-sisters-saturn-return-959155/

Here's the single they released in November:

https://youtu.be/uCC6vcgEASg

the katie pruitt is lovely

It really is. The songs are unhurried and the production suits her perfectly.

The background "ooohs" on the opener "Wishful Thinking" sounds just like Miranda's "Running Just in Case" to me.

Stream the new Brandy Clark album on NPR:

https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/809688824/first-listen-brandy-clark-your-life-is-a-record

https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2020/02/26/brandy_clark_cover_sq-9980232010f7a76c7ea651090fbc586e9934b7fc-s700-c85.jpg

"Not only did I have some soul searching — I think Jay Joyce, who I made this record with, had a similar (experience). He took some time off and I think he had gotten kind of burned out. I got him in an amazing season for him, because he had just come back and was really, really excited. Somebody like him, who's so known for an electric, kind of heavier sound, I thought, "What would happen if I challenged him to only cut with acoustic instruments?" I didn't expect him to get so excited. He called me with this whole idea to cut it with just four of us: myself, him, Giles Reaves, who plays percussion and piano, and Jedd Hughes, who kind of plays anything with strings. I loved that idea."

yeahhhhh boy

Secret Sisters/Katie Pruitt/Brandy Clark really my life lately

Secret Sisters didn't do much for me on first listen but I'm with you on Katie & Brandy.

Love how honest Pruitt is in grappling with belonging and exclusion. She has lived these songs, their characters, and emotions, most notable on queer anthem "Loving Her":

If loving her's a sin, I don't wanna go to heaven
There's nothing else up there I could need
And if I'm sinning every day, I guess I'll sin all seven
If I can still have her by the end of the week

If loving her's a drug, then I wanna be addicted
Why would I get clean, when the high's this good?
She says I'm the only one who can hit it
And all the other druggies just wish they could
They wish they could

You see I used to be ashamed
To write a song that said her name
'Cause I was too afraid
Of what they all might say

But if loving her is wrong
And it's not right to write this song
Then I'm still not gonna stop
And you can turn the damn thing off

for Secret Sisters, Cabin / Hold You Dear / Late Bloomer / Hand Over My Heart are really hitting my corny AM rock sweet spot; feels like this is catnip for the brandi carlisle crew

xp about Pruitt, "Normal" is great with that too:

Marchin' in line in the halls of my Catholic school
Seven Hail Marys if I copped an attitude
And God was a word I had spoken but I hardly knew
Kneelin' down at the altar with no clue who I was talkin' to
Stumblin' 'round Athens with frat boys in hot pursuit
Left me starin' at the ceilin', pissed off and feelin' used
Wasted and worn out and wonderin', "Where do I fit?"
And scared as hell 'cause I knew I was different

Did they want what's best or did they want what's easiest?
'Cause I tried my best, but God damn, was I curious
And she had me high as the sun on a Saturday afternoon
With no way to unsee this side of me that she introduced

What's it like to be normal?
To want what normal girls should?
God knows life would be easier
If I could be normal, then trust me, I would

Curled up on the couch, you look just as worn out as me
Tryin' to act certain in a world of uncertainty
And one night, the moonlight took over and I kissed your lips
The world told us to fit in, but we did the opposite

loving katie pruitt's record so much.

yeah, i think it's time for a thread.
Katie Pruitt

Hope recovery efforts in East Nashville and elsewhere from tornado are progressing

So yall may know that Willie's got an album due in April, Dixie Chicks (studio set) in May; first singles from both are out. But this is as far as I've gotten in catching up with email:

STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES RETURN WITH GHOSTS OF WEST VIRGINIA MAY 22nd, 2020 VIA NEW WEST RECORDS

TO APPEAR IN COAL COUNTRY AT NEW YORK CITY’S PUBLIC THEATER NOW THROUGH MARCH 29th

ROLLING STONE COUNTRY PREMIERES “DEVIL PUT THE COAL IN THE GROUND” TODAY
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/steve-earle-new-album-ghosts-of-west-virginia-958755/
Steve Earle & The Dukes will release Ghosts of West Virginia on May 22nd, 2020 via New West Records. The album was produced by Steve Earle and engineered by Ray Kennedy at Jimi Hendrix’s legendary Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The 10-song set is Earle’s 20th studio album and was mixed entirely in mono, lending a sonic cohesion and punch. In recent years, Earle has experienced partial hearing loss in one ear and can no longer discern the separation that stereo is designed to produce. The recording features his latest incarnation of his backing band The Dukes; Chris Masterson on guitar, Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle & vocals, Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel, guitar & dobro, Brad Pemberton on drums & percussion, and Jeff Hill on acoustic & electric bass.

Ghosts of West Virginia centers on the Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion that killed twenty-nine men in that state in 2010, making it one of the worst mining disasters in American history. Investigations revealed hundreds of safety violations, as well as attempts to cover them up, and the mine’s owners were forced to pay more than $200 million in criminal liabilities.

Today, Rolling Stone Country has premiered the first single, “Devil Put the Coal in the Ground.” The song is a tough-minded recognition of the dangers of the mining life and the pride of doing such a demanding job in the face of danger. Rolling Stone Country says, "...in 'Devil Put the Coal in the Ground,' Earle employs a heave-ho work-song rhythm to conjure the pride of working men as they descend into the mines. With a bluesy, hypnotic musical backdrop, droning fiddle, and pounding percussion, Earle drawls his lyrics in a way that almost sounds like a taunt: 'The good lord gimme two hands/Says is you an animal or is you a man.' It transforms into a psychedelic guitar odyssey, thrilling and anxiety-ridden all at once." Hear "Devil Put the Coal in the Ground" HERE.

Earle started working on the album after being approached by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, a playwrighting team that would create Coal Country, a theater piece about the Upper Big Branch disaster. They interviewed the surviving West Virginia miners, along with the families of the miners who died, and created monologues for their characters using those words. Working closely with Oskar Eustis, Public Theater’s Artistic Director, they workshopped the songs and text for nearly four years. Earle functions as “a Greek chorus with a guitar,” in his words. He is on stage for the entire play and performs seven of the songs that lead Ghosts of West Virginia, including the powerful “It’s About Blood,” in which Earle blazons the names of all the men who died. “The actors don’t relate directly with the audience,” Earle explains. “I do. The actors don’t realize the audience is there. I do.” The songs provide personal, historical and social context for the testimony of the play’s characters. Currently in previews, Coal Country officially opens on March 3rd at The Public Theater in New York City and runs through March 29th. Tickets and more information can be found HERE.

In ten deftly drawn, powerfully conveyed sonic portraits, Earle explores the historical role of coal in rural communities. With Ghosts of West Virginia, Earle says that he was interested in exploring a new approach to his songwriting. “I’ve already made the preaching-to-the-choir album,” he says, specifically alluding to his 2004 Grammy Award winning The Revolution Starts...Now. As anyone politically attuned as Earle understands, there are times when the faithful need music that will raise their spirits and toughen their resolve. But he came to believe that our times might also benefit from something that addresses a different audience, songs written from a point of view that he is particularly capable of rendering.

To be sure, Earle’s politics have not changed. He believes in sustainable energy sources and ending fossil fuels. “But that doesn’t mean a thing in West Virginia,” he says. You can’t begin communicating with people unless you understand the texture of their lives, the realities that provide significance to their days. That is the entire point of Ghosts of West Virginia.

“I thought that, given the way things are now, it was maybe my responsibility to make a record that spoke to and for people who didn’t vote the way that I did,” he says. “One of the dangers that we’re in is if people like me keep thinking that everyone who voted for Trump is a racist or an asshole, then we’re fucked, because it’s simply not true. So this is one move toward something that might take a generation to change. I wanted to do something where that dialogue could begin.” He adds, “I said I wanted to speak to people that didn’t necessarily vote the way that I did, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have anything in common. We need to learn how to communicate with each other. My involvement in this project is my little contribution to that effort. And the way to do that — and to do it impeccably —is simply to honor those guys who died at Upper Big Branch.”

Steve Earle & The Dukes suffered a major loss when, not long before the band went into the studio, bassist Kelley Looney, who had played with Earle for thirty years, passed away. Beyond the death of a longstanding musical partner, Earle was faced with the prospect of finding someone who could share the telepathic musical communication so characteristic of the band. Happily, Jeff Hill, recently of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, joined the band on bass. “Earle says, “Jeff stepped into the breach, but it was hard. It was really hard.” In addition to the 29 miners killed at Upper Big Branch, Ghosts of West Virginia is dedicated to the memory of Kelley Looney.

Steve Earle & The Dukes' Ghosts of West Virginia will be available across digital retailers, on compact disc, and standard black vinyl. A limited Yellow & Blue West Virginia Swirl colored LP edition will be available at Independent Retailers. An extremely limited to 500 Smoke/Coal Colored Vinyl Edition autographed by Steve Earle is available for pre-order now via NEW WEST RECORDS.

Steve Earle is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation. A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, he quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, The Pretenders, and countless others. 1986 saw the release of his debut record, Guitar Town, which shot to number one on the country charts and is now regarded as a classic of the Americana genre. Subsequent releases like The Revolution Starts...Now (2004), Washington Square Serenade (2007), and TOWNES (2009) received consecutive Grammy Awards. Restlessly creative across artistic disciplines, Earle has published both a novel and collection of short stories; produced albums for other artists such as Joan Baez and Ron Sexsmith; and acted in films, television (including David Simon’s acclaimed The Wire), and on the stage. He currently hosts a radio show for Sirius XM. In 2009, Earle appeared in the off-Broadway play Samara, for which he also wrote a score that The New York Times described as “exquisitely subliminal.” Each year, Earle organizes a benefit concert for The Keswell School, for which his son John Henry attends and which provides educational programs for children and young adults with autism. Ghosts of West Virginia is Steve Earle’s 20th studio album.
Steve Earle & The Dukes Ghosts of West Virginia Track Listing:
1. Heaven Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
2. Union, God and Country
3. Devil Put The Coal In The Ground
4. John Henry Was A Steel Drivin’ Man
5. Time Is Never On Our Side
6. It’s About Blood
7. If I Could See Your Face Again (featuring Eleanor Whitmore)
8. Black Lung
9. Fastest Man Alive
10. The Mine

Steve Earle & The Dukes On Tour (More Dates To Be Announced Soon):
May 10th - North Charleston, WV Culture Center Theater / NPR Mountain Stage * Solo
May 31st - Grand Prairie, TX The Theatre at Grand Prairie - The Lonestar Landfest
June 8th - Kent, OH The Kent Stage
June 9th - State College, PA State Theatre
June 10th - Phoenixville, PA Colonial Theatre
June 12th - East Greenwich, RI Greenwich Odeum
June 13th - North Turo, MA Payomet Performing Arts Center
June 14th - Riverhead, NY The Suffolk Theater
June 18th - Salisbury, MA Blue Ocean Music Hall
June 19th - Plymouth, NH Flying Monkey Performance Center
June 20th - Portland, ME Aura
July 4th - Enoch, AB River Cree Casino & Resort
July 26th - Paso Robles, CA California Mid-State Fair w/ Eric Church * Solo
August 7th - Burnaby, BC Burnaby Blues & Roots Fest
August 29th - Shipshewana, IN Blue Gate Theatre * Solo
September 8th - 11th - Big Indian, NY Steve Earle’s Camp Copperhead
November 16th - 20th - Punta Cana, Dominican Republic All The Best Fest * Solo

Earle's theatrical experience also incl. writing (and maybe producing) an off=Broadway play about Karla Faye Tucker, born again on Death Row. Other contemporary albums re coal country seem to mine too narrow a vein; he might should have brought in somebody from that neck of the woods, like Angeleena Presley. But concert presentations should be pretty powerful, at least judging by Dukes when they had Looney and Will Rigby.

I am seeing coal country this week and v much looking forward to it. Will report back.

So what can any of you tell me about Kelsey Waldon? She's opening for the DBTs this weekend.

Her latest made my Scene Top Ten, posted above, and here's blogged ballot comments, orig on RC 2019---they do on a while; she's a trip, in her unassuming way:
Another pulsating combo, sonically suggesting proximity to a two-lane blacktop through the mountains: Kelsey Waldon's moderate-budgeteers, especially the unusually prowly but not too nosey pedal steeler Brent Resnick (who performs live "Powderfinger" with her on YouTube) bass guitarist Alex Newnam (sic), and drummer-percussionist Nate Felty, who plays, as does everybody here, with the unobtrusive precision of get-on-with-it confidence, just like their fearless leader, on her latest album, White Noise, White Lines. 2016's I've Got A Way was enthusiastically discussed on Rolling Country, but wasn't quite as together as this, seemed like. (They're both on her bandcamp, with an earlier one I haven't heard yet.) She sounds young, but she's been around---not too much of either: born in "Kentucky 1988," and Daddy don't always do right, she's on record about that, but so is he, and they love each other*. As for the rest, here she jumps right into it: When the sun sinks down and dreams start to drown/And you still don't know who you are/Workin' the ground, pace like a dog in a pound And you still only get so far/And I'd do it again, even if I didn't know how.! Kind of her theme song, because she thinks trying to know it all is a big mistake. Which goes in several directions, like "Sunday Children" ("are bein' lied to"), which sounds like Gil Scott-Heron, although the guest Wurlitzer piano helps .Fave so far is "Very Old Barton": My life is a song; my mind's a picture show/You are the real thing, when you are alone/Drinkin' Very Old Barton with the country radio/Always lonesome, and won't let it go. And if I knew any better, I'd know it's a sin/ But some things are just better, without you knowin' them...How can I be happy, how can I Iove today? Take hold of my own life, and not wish it away? Keep your loved ones close, don't stay far behind...Drinkin' Very Old Barton with the country radio/Always lonesome, and too prideful to show/Have another go-round, don't mind if I do/It's just one of those things we all go through
*daddy's on the/this record, yes---not agreeing/disagreeing with her that he don't always do right, but telling somebody that he heard her on the radio, and sounding moved by that.. The only cover is the closer, "My Epitaph," by the late great Ola Belle Reed (with eerie, hospitable guitar reverb making me think of Pop Staples): When I go from this life, let me go in peace/I Don't want your marble at my head and feet/Don't gather around me oh just to weep and moan/Where that I'm going I won't be alone/The flowers you give, please give them today/Don't waste their beauty on cold lifeless clay/One rose with love could do so much good. https://kelseywaldon.bandcamp.com Oh and Ola Wave, Ola's songs performed by her nephew, Zane Campbell, yet another mavericky mountain citizen:https://zanecampbell.bandcamp.com/album/ola-wave
From this blog's 2016 round-up:
Kelsey Waldon, I've Got A Way: amen to that. Although don't agree w Powers' First Listen intro: "deadpan"? She's right that it be a pan full o' feeling, but Waldon sounds pretty upfront emotional, without ever emoting---she's still indignant when she thinks about people who have fucked with her, or tried to, but mainly impatient, cos she's on her way, so get out of it---unless you've got some endearing young or old charms; she can take a detour while looping back to where "Life Moves Slow", although she's only passing through and doesn't slow down that much herself, and what she really likes about it is it's where "folks still speak their minds": her true roots, or the ones she wants to claim. Also see freewheeling discussion on thread Rolling Country 2016

Yeah, bandcamp for the studio albums, YouTube for some good live bits.

how the fuck does Willie Nelson's voice still sound this good?!

Maren Morris “The Bones” hit #1 on country charts.

"Janice at the Hotel Bar" is "Humble and Kind" redux in the best of ways:

And stay off the pills
But get on the pill if you ain't ready to start a family
And pay all your bills
But give some away
All that money won't make you happy
Make good love, good company
Drink good wine, make good coffee
Keep your chin up, but every once in awhile
Have a good cry
Go on and make a good livin' girl, don't forget
To make a good life

I also like the "Heartland" double meaning - kind of thing Kacey Musgraves would do.

Her voice actually reminds me of Kacey's

Unless Musgraves is increasingly your go-to guru, and/or The Golden Hour is your touchstone or wellspring or Sgt. Pepper's, I'd say not to waste time with most of this---although "Red White & Blue" is a keeper: here she actually seems to push back against her chronic sluggishness, in a way I don't think I've ever heard (that wordless, rec cry is not a hook in the usual sense, but keeps me waiting for its return), and "Dream, Girl" is a little sneaky, and "The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice" has that stalkin', smokin' beat and riff, the kind of thing she needs way more of---or a sax solo, steel guitar, hick-hop beats--anything to distract from the drab vocals, trite tunes, triter advice, that the people who might possibly benefit from are not likely to hear, because not enough sweetening for the pill to go viral---also, does she really listen to herself? "Happy people don't cheat"? Well, maybe if the cheatee has already made them happy and ready to take things further---but then, also, just to touch all the bases, "do whatever makes you happy"---so that includes, I dunno, cheating, mass murder, shoplifting, gtfo
RIYL: Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Lori McKenna, Brandy Clark, etc I do, but this don't.

Sorry yall, it's just hitting me rong (been listening all afternoon, per your recs)

i will try whitters but i wanted to say a big THANKS for the Jake Blount album, which hit on all cylinders. Solid lo-fi, down homey bluegrass all the way through with some very able playing and just the right attitude. Aces stuff, makes for a great companion to the Tyler Childers album.

Dunno dow - it's right in that Musgraves/Morris/Pruitt pocket of young upstart songwriter with lots to prove; smart and sly lyrics with a clear pov; and loads of hooks. I like that she mixes sounds and styles and would hate if the whole thing was your typical Nashville overproduced mess. The simplest tunes ("Ten Year Town" and "The Faker") are two of the best, but the new wave influence on "Dream, Girl" and the Stapleton swagger of "Devil" keep things moving.

As for the trite advice, as I mentioned upthread I think this is a hallmark of McKenna ("Humble and Kind") and crops up in the two songs they cowrote, "Janice" and "Happy People." Maybe a bit on "The Days," too, but that feels more like her take on Musgraves' "Follow Your Arrow."

If I've got a gripe it's her voice is very thin and doesn't touch Morris/Pruitt; though I agree with bunny slopes that Musgraves is closer, she stays in more of a pocket, and some places on the Whitters definitely grate a bit like the overdubs on "Heartland."

Pruitt album is solid, though lugubrious. Maybe I'm not built anymore to endure a song like "Normal."

xxp glad you enjoyed Jake Blount, forks---I still need to check this year's Childers set (have you heard Country Squire? That's the one that really sold me on him). Also Sturgill's current bluegrass chunks, right there on bandcamp---but so far I've liked his unmistakably country voice and attitude the more contrasty thee setting, esp. last year's Sound and Fury, wnich I tagged as "illin' ZZ Rex." The great example of that in 2020 is xpost Elizabeth Cook's post-sadcore silver spacesuit tequila surveyAftermath. And don't sleep on the lyrics, which come across best (or at least benefit from confirmation) on her site--wotta sound, though.
xpost Yeah, if you really like recent Musgraves and that side of McKenna's writing, Whitters is okay, although we agree on the thinness of her voice, the need for more production solutions to that.
Pruitt's voice tends to remind me of Ronstadt's, and this is all new to her, part of her big upfront earnest breakthrough testimonial, still in early chapters----Chely Wright and Waylon Payne are considerably older, and on record the gayness is more allusive, part of the world view in their mood rings---hard to imagine Pruitt getting to that any time soon---will she be more like, say. Taylor Swift for girls who like girls---?

pruitt sounds fucking great to me. i can understand hearing "normal" as po faced but it's also tremendously heartfelt; she's coming from an honest place i think.

Good list of 2020 songs here:
https://dontrocktheinbox.substack.com/p/dont-rock-the-inbox-issue-3

I nom'd and will be voting for Emily Scott Robinson's "Time for Flowers" in the ilm song poll -

“Time for Flowers,” Emily Scott Robinson: An exquisite meditation on how to find the strength to keep going when it feels like the walls are crashing down (or holding us captive), “Time for Flowers” is also a reminder that the good things always come back around, if we wait patiently - but we have to make sure we tend to the garden, because beauty can only grow out of despair if we give it what it needs to thrive. —MM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d1Xp1wzWZM

Oho, didn't know about this song or list, thanks. Yeah forks, i can understand hearing "normal" as po faced but it's also tremendously heartfelt; she's coming from an honest place i think.

Time will tell whether she's said it all here, but still.

Whoah---just now played Kelsey Waldon's covers EP, which is not one of your covid-alibi barebones potboilers: it's well-produced, swirling around and further shading, supporting her deftly deployed Appalachian inflections---and dig this track list:
1.
The Law Is For Protection Of The People 04:33
2.
Ohio 04:01
3.
Mississippi Goddam 04:54
4.
Sam Stone 04:29
5.
They'll Never Keep Us Down 02:51
6.
With God On Our Side 07:30
7.
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free 03:11
So the righteous weary narrator of "The Laws" is too close to home, ditto Kent State and the whole of MS, where now I'm especially struck by how this "hillbilly"-tagged Kentucky woman audibly relates to
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
Also Dylan's entrophic balladeer setting out on a new day's slog:
Oh my name it ain't nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
7:30 minutes of that, no more or less relentless than the razor detail of "Sam Stone," remembered, as a matter of fact, by the local junkie's offspring, with a brittle briskness more effective than the relative weepiness of Prine's original track---would like to see her do more by him, for sure.
Ends with the atypically upbeat "I Wish..." providing some refreshment, but not letting nobody off the hook: https://kelseywaldon.bandcamp.com/
(The inner warpage of continuing citizens here reminding me of several on Johnny Cash's recent Easy Rider: Best of the Mercury Recordings, incl. some that might be The Man In (or near) The Diner, getting head set for another visit from the New York Times---not all of the material is equally good, but it's all done his way and pulled me right through)(incl. some speedy remakes of Sun-era classics)

Should have edited this before posting on savingcountrymusic.com, where some are going after Maren Morris etc. etc.:

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

CMA set itself up for all this via inconsistency: on the one hand, testing and , maybe, exclusions (though no doubt some of those would have happened anyway, with the more cautious performers staying home), on the other, televised lack of social distancing and masking, onstage and off (seems likely that’s why the AP photog wasn’t allowed to take lasting evidence). If they’d had a mask mandate, would have been trouble with that audience, but a virtual event (though taken as an insult by many) would have saved them from the present controversy, and won new defenders, representing the saner side of country. *some* new defenders, but still catching it from the kneejerks and worse.

Just listened to Pruitt's album againL holy crap, what a *sound.* So many facets, right off---some have associated it w Fleetwood Mac, but here's how to assimilate and *learn* from that (Margo, producer Sturgill), as you're rolling along your own path. Always to a purpose, which is never just a show of strength, though that's part of it, rallying herself as much as anyone, while dealing with the doubts and other shadows, like "How did I get through all that, how am I still getting through it, and yet here I am with you, how did and does that happen---like this!"
So the well-chosen details, incl. still-recent memories, come to the foreground and confirm impressions of the words that found their way through the boom-boom of the first half, and "Normal" sounds forthright, incl. the problematic "If I could be normal, trust me, I would." Not abject, not anything reassuring, either, just how it is in her.
But right now, wow: https://rounderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/expectations

one of my great covid concert regrets of 2020 was the cancellation of her tour

Emily Yahr on Charley Pride and Covid issues in country music in Washington Post. Here's part of it:

A CMA spokeswoman said: “Out of respect for his family, we do not have further comment.”

And yet it’s hard to imagine country music’s year in the pandemic ending on a worse note. The genre has made a slew of unflattering headlines over the past 10 months, from Chase Rice’s not-socially-distanced summer concert to Morgan Wallen being dropped as the “Saturday Night Live” musical guest after violating the show’s coronavirus protocols. Then there was the strange tone of the CMA Awards, the format’s biggest night in the national spotlight to celebrate music known for capturing real life and “three chords and the truth,” trying to project an image of cheerful normalcy in a tragedy-filled year.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/country-music-covid-charley-pride/2020/12/26/ac51bd2e-4566-11eb-975c-d17b8815a66d_story.html

Not sure how I missed this but Ingrid Andress had a cover of Charli XCX's "Boys" on the deluxe edition of Lady Like that's surprisingly good! I guess Andress was a cowriter of the song? Curious to know more about how she got looped in on that project if anyone knows more.

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

cool, thank you!

Mandolin a surprisingly good replacement for the Super Mario Bros coin sound

https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/cover-story/article/21145509/21st-annual-country-music-critics-poll-the-results

: 1. Mickey Guyton, “Black Like Me” (Capitol Nashville)
2. Chris Stapleton, “Starting Over” (Mercury Nashville)
3. Ashley McBryde, “One Night Standards” (Warner Music Nashville)
4. The Chicks, “Gaslighter” (Columbia)
5. John Prine, “I Remember Everything” (Oh Boy)
6. Eric Church, “Stick That in Your Country Song” (EMI Nashville/Big EC)
7. Tyler Childers, “Long Violent History” (Hickman Holler/RCA)
8. Mickey Guyton, “What Are You Gonna Tell Her” (Capitol Nashville)
9. Miranda Lambert, “Bluebird” (Vanner/RCA)
10. Sam Hunt, “Hard to Forget” (MCA Nashville)

Lists go further , but here’s cut and paste of top 10 album choices

Albums
1. Ashley McBryde, Never Will (Warner Music Nashville)

2. Chris Stapleton, Starting Over (Mercury Nashville)

3. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Reunions (Southeastern)

4. Brandy Clark, Your Life Is a Record (Warner Music Nashville)

5. Margo Price, That’s How Rumors Get Started (Loma Vista)

6. The Chicks, Gaslighter (Columbia)

7. Waylon Payne, Blue Eyes, the Harlot, the Queer, the Pusher & Me (Carnival)

8. Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions (High Top Mountain)

9. Elizabeth Cook, Aftermath (Agent Love)

10. Hailey Whitters, The Dream (Pigasus)

More on the 2021 thread

god, "Hard to Forget" still slaps so hard

i just realised that justin townes earle is dead. kind of reeling from it. his songs feel so personal, it feels like i know him.

You do.