Rolling Country 2020

After Biden was done talking tonight and while the fireworks were going they played Eric Church “Springsteen “

Adios, Jerry Jeff and Billy Joe---here's a couple of little things I wrote---first is from Charlotte Creative Loafing:
Keep Texas Beautiful

Jerry Jeff Walker, still swingin' on a Lone Star

Jul. 12, 2006

"Mr. Bojangles," Jerry Jeff Walker's most famous song, is about a man waking up in a New Orleans jail in 1968 so "down and out" that a fellow inmate tries to cheer him up, by tap dancing.
The old street performer tells his tattered story, in descending melodic lines that jump up and turn around, right before they end. It's not just what he says, but how he says it, and he's ready to show any audience that he isn't finished quite yet. Jerry Jeff Walker, who will appear at the Neighborhood Theatre on July 17, evidently learned a lot from this guy. Also from the likes of Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, in early '70s Austin, before they all hit the road again, under a new Outlaw banner.
Which was very cute 'n' colorful, but, in Jerry Jeff's case, especially, such a banner could be a dark and dusty backdrop for the dancer's jumps and turns.
Anthems like "Pissin' in the Wind" and "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" are still as potent as they always were ironic. But now the former (red-nosed) "Jacky Jack Snowflake" seems to dance on the grave of his bad(der) self, where once he was closer to dancing into it.

Jerry Jeff's recent collection, Best of the Rest (Tried & True), sometimes floats some very mellow material, but his voice is well-preserved (smoke-cured, a tad raspy: can dry ripe imagery nicely), and even the lesser songs keep an eye on time's tricky gifts. My favorite, "Keep Texas Beautiful," is a celebration in a minor key: There's a sense of the cost, of what has been and is still there to be lost, if we can't "keep it free." As even George W. and the Dixie Chicks, hearing this, might agree. And Mr. Bojangles too.
Jerry Jeff Walker and his Gonzo Compadres play the Neighborhood Theatre on Monday, July 17, at 8pm; no opening act. All tickets are $30. See www.neighborhoodtheatre.com for more info.
Ha, that wistful thinking ending maybe won't seem like such a novelty punchline too much longer. Think JJW kept going for quite a few years after that, as long as he and the times were able.

Thought I'd written more about Billy Joe Shaver, but all I can find is this Nashville Scene ballot comment (this was one of my Top Five Reissues of 2o13):
Shaver's Jewels are a family affair, and though blood is still thicker than mud, good thing late son Eddy's electric slide 'n' pick times paw Billy Joe's honky-pop sense can shear and veer through the druggy detour that will claim the younger (they sing about it, with BJ busting the woman who took E. one shot over the line), and the equally inertial tendencies of relatively ex-desperado old dude's righteously flashlit path. Does not preclude or anomalize a finger-salute to Amarillo, or the immortal "I been to Georgia on a fast train honey, I wasn't born no yesterday/I got a good Christian raisin' and a Eighth Grade eddjycation and I ain't gon'/Be treated thisaway."

From Bandcamp Daily, re: African country music:
Cowboys hit the African continent in the late ‘20s, before country music itself did. Around southern Africa, in colonial mining camps, companies arranged screenings of silent (and heavily edited) American westerns “to entice potential laborers, serving as an inexpensive distraction from the brutal working conditions and the allure of potentially toxic home-brewed alcohol,” according to Gordon Ashworth’s liner notes to Olvido Records’ wondrous recent collection, Bulawayo Blue Yodel. After the movies came the new and dangerous local archetype of the “Copperbelt Cowboy,” local men emulating on-screen behavior. And alongside that came popular, imported 78s by early American country star Jimmie Rodgers, the Mississippi-born singing brakeman and iconic yodeler.
https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/african-country-music-list
See also: https://olvidorecords.bandcamp.com/

Due to @CountryMusic’s failure to mention John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Billy Joe Shaver at the CMA’s last night, @amandashires and I have decided to return our membership cards. I doubt anybody will care, but we cared a lot about our heroes. pic.twitter.com/UmplzD0Z7p

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) November 13, 2020

Maren Morris took home female vocalist of the year at the CMA Awards on Wednesday night, and used her acceptance speech to make an important statement. After thanking a handful of people, the 30-year-old singer took a moment to pay tribute to all the incredible Black female artists in country music. "There are some names in my mind that I want to give recognition to because I'm just a fan of their music and they are as country as it gets, and I just want them all to know how much we love them back," she said before shouting out Linda Martell, Yola, Mickey Guyton, Rissi Palmer, Brittney Spencer, and Rhiannon Giddens
https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/maren-morris-2020-cma-awards-acceptance-speech-video-47964231

Morgan Wallen won best new artist ( he is the singer who got bumped from Saturday Night Live for not following COVID rules)

That seems fitting, since what I saw (and later heard/read) of the festivities was maskless and not very distanced---no wonder CMA would even let the AP use screen shots of the audience. Also, of course, Lee Brice, Lady A, Rascal Flatts, Florida-Georgia Line, and others cancelled because of testing positive.
Pretty bad when even what's left of the LA Times has your number:
Even the moments that worked — Ingrid Andress’ teary “More Hearts Than Mine,” Jimmie Allen’s sweetly joining 86-year-old Charley Pride for “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” an intimate “Starting Over” by Chris Stapleton and his wife, Morgane — just made you wonder why the CMA proceeded with the show in this fashion, given that Tennessee is reporting a 26% spike in new cases, according to the New York Times.

Couldn’t the Stapletons have done their thing remotely from home? And didn’t anyone consider the wisdom of inviting a man Pride’s age into a potentially dangerous environment?

More to the point, was any of this worth even the slightest risk to someone’s health? In fairness to the artists, performing in a less-than-jam-packed room — not to mention one populated by peers and executives rather than fans — can make it hard to muster the enthusiasm needed to get over on TV. So what’s the argument for doing it?

And nary a mention of covid from the stage, which might have been one reason for no mention of Prine and Joe Diffie, among others.
Wish Isbell and Shires would mention that, or maybe they have by now; he's always on Twitter when I check in.

"from the stage" incl. Morris and Church.

Luke Combs rolled up on stage for his second award literally hugging every person in sight, def a bad look all round

John Pardi did a tribute to Joe Diffie

but zero mention of Prine, Billy Joe Shaver or Jerry Jeff Walker which sucked

isbell & shires announced they are returning their cma memberships

Due to @CountryMusic’s failure to mention John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Billy Joe Shaver at the CMA’s last night, @amandashires and I have decided to return our membership cards. I doubt anybody will care, but we cared a lot about our heroes. pic.twitter.com/UmplzD0Z7p

— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) November 13, 2020

no wonder CMA would even let the AP use screen shots of the audience

the AP thing was weird because the broadcast spent plenty of time focused on the audience, and all the AP could have done is take screenshots of what the CMA itself had decided to show on the air. and it was unclear if they didn't want screenshots of mask-less artists going around or if maybe they actually didn't want screenshots of masked artists going around. v v strange.

ashley mcbryde was great.

good for isbell and shires!

i felt bad for Darius Rucker having to duet on In The Ghetto. that was awkward af

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5602fb1fe4b0ad0093a01aec/1605556578869-KN4SD8K7Y9FVOTKL8GIB/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kPTrHXgsMrSIMwe6YW3w1AZ7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z4YTzHvnKhyp6Da-NYroOW3ZGjoBKy3azqku80C789l0k5fwC0WRNFJBIXiBeNI5fKTrY37saURwPBw8fO2esROAxn-RKSrlQamlL27g22X2A/Steve+Earle+2020-02.jpg?format=1500w

6th Annual John Henry's Friends Benefit
Join Steve Earle & The Dukes for the 6th Annual John Henry's Friends Benefit Concert, presented by Luck Productions & City Winery, celebrating The Keswell School's work in providing education for children and young adults with autism.

The virtual concert will take place on December 13th at 7:30pm EST at luck.stream/johnhenrysfriends

With Special Guest appearances by Emmylou Harris, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, Josh Ritter, Lucinda Williams, Matt Savage, Shawn Colvin, The Mastersons and Warren Haynes.

i never really got into gillian welch but i'm completely obsessed with her "lost songs" series, especially vol 3, which just came out.

this is a perfect three minutes:

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

Oh yeah. Good discussion of these three vols. on her thread, and they're all on her bandcamp, along w the also awes Boots No 1: The Official Revival Bootleg, and, uh, everything else she's done, I think.

will check out her thread, thanks!

In the forthcoming album, J.T., Steve Earle & The Dukes pay tribute to Steve’s late son, Justin Townes Earle (J.T.), who passed away on August 20, 2020 in Nashville. The album will be released digitally* on what would have been Justin’s 39th birthday, January 4, 2021, via New West Records.

J.T. finds Steve Earle & The Dukes covering 10 of Justin’s songs – from “I Don’t Care,” which appeared on his 2007 debut EP, Yuma, and a trio of selections from his full-length debut album, The Good Life (“Ain’t Glad I’m Leaving,” “Far Away In Another Town” and “Lone Pine Hill”) to later compositions like 2017’s “Champagne Corolla” and 2019’s “The Saint Of Lost Causes,” which was the title track of Justin’s eighth and final studio album. J.T. closes with “Last Words,” a song Steve wrote for Justin.

100% of the artist advances and royalties from J.T. will be donated to a trust for Etta St. James Earle, the three-year-old daughter of Justin and Jenn Earle. While somber in parts, the album is ultimately a rousing celebration of a life lived with passion and purpose. The recording features the latest incarnation of Steve’s 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. *Will also be available on vinyl and CD.
More info, audio: http://www.steveearle.com/

this one’s def going to be a heartbreaker

Sadly this alternate take is more exciting than anything I heard on my first listen to the Cam record. Would kill for a whole album of this.

80’s version of Classic. Kids, there is NOTHING you can’t do with a green screen in a garage @CMT pic.twitter.com/PNFoyY0PW7

— Cam (@camcountry) November 22, 2020

The Cam album seems pretty amazing to me, but like I said upthread, took a cpuple (or maybe like 1.5, 1.3) listens to get it.

For Immediate Release—

Bluegrass Pride Presents “Fireside Pride” Holiday-themed Streaming Celebration On December 5th
Performers include Ani DiFranco & Zoe Boekbinder, Leyla McCalla, Mary Gauthier & Jaimee Harris, and more

November 23, 2020 - San Francisco, CA - As the cold, gray winter months set in, LGBTQ+ roots music non-profit Bluegrass Pride is gearing up to stoke the fire and warm the cider with Fireside Pride, an online, winter- and holiday-themed celebration. Hosted by emcee Marlene Twitty-Fargo and featuring performances by Ani DiFranco & Zoe Boekbinder, Leyla McCalla, Mary Gauthier, AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Stephanie Anne Johnson, and a non-religious holiday sing-along led by Nate Lee, Fireside Pride will bring all parts of the BGP community together on December 5th, beginning at 3pm PST and running until 6:30pm PST. A full schedule can be found below.

The event can be streamed via the Bluegrass Pride Website, their Facebook page, or their YouTube channel. Admission to the party can be accessed in the form of a suggested donation of $10, but a statement from BGP reads: “If you’re a part of the Bluegrass Pride family, or if you’re just here to enjoy the show, we’re suggesting a $10 donation. But, if you’re able, please give generously – and consider giving to Bluegrass Pride monthly as we continue to support artists and our community all year round!”

Earlier this year, in the fresh wake of the pandemic, Bluegrass Pride found itself in the same position as many of the talented musicians with whom they work; facing the cancellation of an entire season of events. They said goodbye to their San Francisco Pride float and marching armada, the annual Bluegrass Pride Concert that follows the parade each year, their annual Portland events, and their inaugural Nashville celebration, too. But BGP wasn’t satisfied with an empty calendar and a clean slate, without events, gatherings, and music. Furthermore, they understood that LGBTQ+ and Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian musicians and creators have been disproportionately impacted by the economic devastation of the pandemic, so BGP knew they had to adapt their mission to meet folks wherever they’re at during this time.

In June, Bluegrass Pride carried off their first ever Porch Pride: A Bluegrass Pride Queer-antine Festival, a digital program featuring more than 10 hours of live music over what would have been Pride weekend, and raised over $22,000 for their artists. BGP also pivoted their annual LGBTQ+ Musicians Showcase online during IBMA’s Virtual World of Bluegrass, featuring five acts of bluegrass, folk, and old-time from around the world during the conference. And, in October, they began a monthly livestream series that features creators and artists from the Bluegrass Pride family.

“Time and again, our audience has shown up for Bluegrass Pride and our mission, despite all of the barriers thrown our way by 2020!” say Executive Director Kara Kundert. “We’re asking you to show up again for our musicians and our community. Musicians know how hard the winter months can be, when opportunities dry up seasonally, as the weather changes -- and this year, flu season and returning indoors will inevitably increase COVID transmission and close off more gig and work opportunities for artists. Now is such an important time to give!!”

All profits from Fireside Pride will be shared evenly between the artists playing the festival and Bluegrass Pride. BGP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; these funds will go towards supporting their ongoing, year-round operations, allowing BGP to continue hosting paid performance opportunities for artists during these uncertain times, while also investing in long-term resources that will benefit both musicians and fans beyond the pandemic (such as the forthcoming Safe Venue Directory), helping to create a safer, more inclusive bluegrass community for all.

“Thank you for your continued support!” the organization adds. “Whether you’re a Bluegrass Pride veteran, a chance passerby, a longtime donor, or a curious newbie, we’re so pleased to have you as part of Bluegrass Pride. We hope you enjoy Fireside Pride (safely!) with your friends, loved ones, and families and we cannot thank you enough for helping to spread the word about Bluegrass Pride, Fireside Pride, and the important work of making bluegrass a place for everyone.”

What: Fireside Pride
When: December 5, 3:00pm - 6:30pm PST
Who: Ani DiFranco & Zoe Boekbinder, Leyla McCalla, Mary Gauthier & Jaimee Harris, AJ Lee & Blue Summit, Stephanie Anne Johnson, and a Holiday Sing-Along with Nate Lee. Presented by Bluegrass Pride, hosted by Marlene Twitty-Fargo.

Full schedule (in PST):
3:00 PM Holiday Sing-Along with Nate Lee
3:30 PM Stephanie Anne Johnson
4:00 PM AJ Lee & Blue Summit
4:30 PM Mary Gauthier & Jaimee Harris
5:00 PM Leyla McCalla
5:30 PM Ani DiFranco & Zoe Boekbinder

More About Bluegrass Pride: Our mission is to recruit, encourage, and support LGBTQ+ bluegrassers of all levels, promoting their advancement and acceptance within all areas of the bluegrass music industry and musical community. We aim to uplift the genre of bluegrass as a whole to receive LGBTQ+ folks openly, and to promote allyship with all marginalized peoples within the industry and musical community. We do so by creating opportunities for community building and resources for musical skill development, such as concerts, jam sessions, showcases, festivals, parades, tutorials, recording, and more! Bluegrass Pride is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, EIN 83-3224672. All donations are deemed tax-deductible absent any limitations on deductibility applicable to a particular taxpayer.

More About The Artists:

Zoe Boekbinder & Ani DiFranco: Widely considered a feminist icon, Grammy winner Ani DiFranco (she/her) is the mother of the DIY movement, being one of the first artists to create her own record label in 1990. While she has been known as the “Little Folksinger,” her music has embraced punk, funk, hip hop, jazz, soul, electronica, and even more distant sounds. As an iconic songwriter and social activist, she has been the inspiration for woman artists and entrepreneurs for over two decades. She has been featured on the covers of SPIN, Ms., Relix, High Times, and many others for her music and activism.

Ani has been the recipient of many honors and awards, including a Grammy, the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women, the Gay/Lesbian American Music Award for Female Artist of the Year, and the Woody Guthrie Award. At the 2013 Winnipeg Folk Festival, she received their prestigious Artistic Achievement Award and an honorary doctorate from the University of Winnipeg. In 2017, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from A2IM (a nonprofit trade organization that represents independent record labels) and the Outstanding Achievement for Global Activism Award from A Global Friendship.

Zoe Boekbinder (they/them) was born on an Ontario farm into a family of four children. While music wasn't very present in their upbringing, Boekbinder recalls some of their first memories as making up songs. Boekbinder’s music career began when they formed a band, with their sister Kim Boekbinder, called Vermillion Lies. Over the five years that they played together, they released two albums. 2009 saw the release of Boekbinder’s first solo album, Artichoke Perfume, recorded with friend and producer, Cesar Alvarez, in Brooklyn, NY. They went on to release two more albums, as well as 100 songs in 100 days in the midst of 2013, before their most recent release, Shadow (2018), which was both bravely political and deeply personal.

Boekbinder continues using their music as a vehicle to bring light to stories and voices otherwise unheard, lost or forgotten. Based out of New Orleans, LA, they perform both as a solo artist and in collaborations with empowering artists including Ani DiFranco, Amanda Palmer, Jason Webley, Neil Gaiman, Mal Blum, and Mirah.

Leyla McCalla (she/her): Leyla McCalla is a New York-born Haitian-American living in New Orleans, who sings in French, Haitian Creole and English, and plays cello, tenor banjo, and guitar. Deeply influenced by traditional Creole, Cajun, and Haitian music, as well as by American jazz and folk, her music is at once earthy, elegant, soulful, and witty — it vibrates with three centuries of history, yet also feels strikingly fresh, distinctive, and contemporary.

Leyla McCalla’s Vari-Colored Songs is a celebration of the complexity of Black culture and identity, and a tribute to the legacy of poet and thinker Langston Hughes. A songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, McCalla sets Hughes’ poems to her own spare yet profound compositions. She juxtaposes these with arrangements of folk songs from Haiti, the first independent Black nation and the homeland of her parents, tapping into the nuances of Black experience. McCalla’s music elegantly weaves Haitian influences together with American folk music, just as Hughes incorporated Black vernacular into his remarkable poetry and the way the Haitian Kreyòl is a beacon for the survival of African identity through the brutal legacy of colonialism. This is music of reclamation, imbued with a quiet power that grapples with the immense weight of history.

Mary Gauthier & Jaimee Harris: Mary Gauthier (she/her) is a singer-songwriter, an author, and a songwriting teacher. She travels the world as a troubadour and lives in Nashville, TN. Gauthier’s first nine albums presented extraordinary confessional songs, deeply personal, profoundly emotional pieces ranging from “I Drink,” a blunt accounting of addiction, to “March 11, 1962,” the day she was born — and relinquished to an orphanage — to “Worthy,” in which the singer finally understands she is deserving of love. Maybe that's where the confessional song cycle ends, for she has mid-wifed these eleven new songs in careful collaboration with other souls whose struggle is urgent, immediate, and palpable. And none are about her. Each song on Rifles & Rosary Beads is a gut punch: deceptively simple and emotionally complex. From the opening “Soldiering On” (“What saves you in the battle/Can kill you at home”) to “Bullet Holes in the Sky” (“They thank me for my service/And wave their little flags/They genuflect on Sundays/And yes, they'd send us back”), while “Iraq” depicts the helpless horror of a female military mechanic being dehumanized and sexually harassed by fellow soldiers.

Jaimee Harris (she/her) is poised to become the next queen of Americana-Folk, a slightly edgier Emmylou Harris for the younger generation. Her debut album, Red Rescue, draws comparisons to Patty Griffin, Lucinda Williams, and Kathleen Edwards – all writers who know how to craft a heartbreakingly beautiful song with just enough grit to keep you enthralled. Harris writes about the basic human experience in a way that is simple, poetic, and often painfully relatable. Harris’s talent has impressed artists and critics alike. Jimmy LaFave deemed her his “new favorite” and Peter Blackstock of the Austin-American Statesman called her “one of Austin’s most promising young singer-songwriters.”

AJ Lee & Blue Summit: AJ Lee (she/her) and Blue Summit, a bluegrass band led by singer, songwriter, and mandolinist, AJ Lee, has been the darling of the North Bay, California bluegrass scene since their first appearance in Santa Cruz. Drawing from influences such as swing, folk, blues, jazz, country, soul, and rock, their undeniable talent and insatiable passion for bluegrass harks back to traditional classics while remaining uniquely modern. Over the years, AJ Lee and Blue Summit's performed all around the country as well as in the UK, Ireland, and France. They've accrued many devout followers and distinctions including the Freshgrass 2019 Band Contest Winner, IBMA 2019 Momentum Vocalist of the Year, 2nd Place at the 2019 Winfield Guitar Competition, and numerous awards in Northern California. In 2019, AJ Lee and Blue Summit came out with their debut album, "Like I Used To," which consists entirely of AJ's original songs. Equipped with these new songs and their archive of nostalgic tunes, they'll continue playing to both familiar and new audiences, endearing themselves to the country and the world.

Stephanie Anne Johnson (they/them): A singer’s talent is complete when they can bring a crowded dive bar to a collective hush and also get one of the biggest audiences on the planet to a collective standing ovation. Stephanie Anne Johnson is that special singer. The front person for the Tacoma-based band, The Hidogs, can don a cowboy hat and sing over a slide as old timers weep. And they have wowed judges on the immensely popular NBC TV series, The Voice, showcasing their gifts. The Hidogs, which is comprised of touching pedal steel player Dan Tyack, swinging drummer Ivan Gunderson, pocket-perfect bassist Jesse Turcotte and the prolific Johnson, is a nimble quartet equal parts capable of shaking the shingles off a rooftop as making any stage feel like a Sunday service. The group’s latest LP, Take This Love, is a blend of Loretta Lynn and Valerie June. It’s a stunning catalogue of surprise and satisfaction." Stephanie Anne Johnson has opened for acts that include Mavis Staples, Cedric Burnside, and Black Joe Lewis.

Nate Lee (he/him): ​​Nate Lee is an International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning instrumentalist and renowned teacher of private lessons and music camps. A veteran performer, Nate has played with the best, including Alan Munde, David Grier, Irene Kelley, Town Mountain, and the Jim Hurst Trio. In 2017, Nate joined the award-winning Becky Buller Band as their mandolin player and twin fiddler.

​Although Nate is in demand on stage and in the studio, his first love and finest skill is teaching. Teaching professionally since 2003, Nate has gained a loyal following of students who enjoy his comprehensive teaching methods and relaxed, encouraging demeanor. With an affinity for turning beginners into jammers, and jammers into professionals, Nate has developed a curriculum that teaches you to play well with others, and become the player you’ve always wanted to be!

This year, Giant Sand's psych-country-etc. classick Ramp got expanded reissue, but fave track is still the most trad: Pappy Allen's geezer-inspirational lungpower & musicality--- "Welcome To My World!" Holiday cheerz yall:
https://giantsandmusic.bandcamp.com/track/welcome-to-my-world-3

Anyone listened to Loose Koozies this year? They have a great album out called Feel a Bit Free. Played it a lot along with Tender Things, Zephaniah and Western Centuries. It swings like a real good bar band, pedal steel solo's, Crazy Horse bits of raw guitar and an overall great vibe.

Will check them, thanks.
Here's my Folk Alley ballot---I've talked about most of these on this thread:
Wish they hadn't listed each vol. of Boots No. 2 sep! I'll have it all-in-one on the Scene ballot; can buy it that way now of course.

Brandy Clark: Your Life Is A Record
Dave Alvin: Songs From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings
Elizabeth Cook: Aftermath (write-in)
Gillian Welch: Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 2
Gretchen Peters: The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Reunions
Katie Pruitt: Expectations
Lucinda Williams: Good Souls Better Angels
Swamp Dogg: Sorry You Couldn't Make It
Willie Nelson: First Rose of Spring

Jake Blount's Spider Tales is in the black Appalachian tradition, title referring to a subset of stories in song and vice-versa, w spiders making their way through all kinds of situations. Although it starts with some fairly humdrum instrumentals, and then begs comparison with many good versions of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"---but, past those first four tracks (which I may warm to, now that I know what's up ahead), "Move Daniel" moves good, with the confluence of his voice and fiddle also striking on "Brown Skin Baby," "The Angels Done Bowed Down, " "Boll Weevil," and the killer finale, "Mad Mamma Blues," a sexy murder ballad, Appalachian swing blues. Instrumentals work better when fiddle-led and fed, with his banjo's percussive support, esp. on "English Chicken," "Rocky Road To Dublin," which is not of black origin I take it, but fits, also "Beyond This Wall," which seems like it might be a modern original or recent trad.-arr.
https://jakeblountmusic.bandcamp.com/album/spider-tales

Another one new to me
Ashley Ray, Pauline:
Country songwriting pro, on the team w Lori McKenna etc. This 2020 alb is first of hers I've heard: wild 'n' blue munchkin hop on otm uptempo tracks, a bit mumblecore on ballads so far, but that can work when I catch up, like imagery moving out of the murk on some of xpost Gretchen Peters' comsic country Mickey Newbury trib. Also, at least one of the ballads already works: "Rock and Roll," not Zep's or VU's, but another original, kinda spooky, with two hooks, one in the chorus, the other in a recurring banjo lick.

Don't know the backstory and haven't listened to the whole thing but Luke Dick's "Red Dog (Music from the Documentary" features an excellent song with Miranda Lambert called "Polyester" that I needed to fill the upsetting "no Miranda Lambert project" gap on my EOY playlist. Guess this came out a couple months ago but didn't see it posted.

https://open.spotify.com/album/33tcvg35cWhYwHFzNVH8j3?si=Au6mNLeuSomAkMWcJb24vw

Absolutely love the "there it is hanging on the wall" callback in each verse, as well as this earwormy chorus:

Hail hail trailer park hero/
Got a new car and used tuxedo/
Aw, hell, look at you now/
You got your first comma in your bank account/
Well you made it out but your still in/
We still remember when your momma was smokin' in the third trimester/
Yeah you might wear leather but you're made of polyester

Dick was a big collaborator on Wildcard. Cowrote White Trash, Mess With My Head, Settling Down, Bluebird, and Pretty Bitchin (some of the best tracks, IMO). Also cowrote Highway Vagabond and Pink Sunglasses on Weight of These Wings.

Oh wow, thanks for the tip---led me to this, on his site:
NEW ALBUM, MUSIC FROM THE DOCUMENTARY RED DOG, AVAILABLE DEC. 4
13 Track Project Features Superstars Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, GRAMMY-winner Natalie Hemby and Rising Country Artist Jackson Dean

“Polyester” Performed by Luke Dick Featuring Miranda Lambert Out Now

NASHVILLE, TN (Oct. 23, 2020) – Earlier this year, chart-topping songwriter and artist Luke Dick brought his unconventional childhood story to the big and small screens with the release of the documentary “Red Dog” to Hulu, Amazon and other digital platforms. The film which premiered at SXSW, follows Luke’s journey to learn more about the Red Dog, an Oklahoma City-based topless bar where his mother Kim worked while raising him. It features interviews and stories with former dancers, employees and patrons of the Red Dog. Luke carefully wrote, performed and curated the songs that appear in the film featuring some of his superstar friends and will release MUSIC FROM THE DOCUMENTARY RED DOG via UMG’s Ingrooves on December 4, 2020. Pre-save HERE.

The album features 13 songs plus nine interludes from the film that help guide the story. This includes the lead track “Polyester” featuring Multi-Platinum artist and frequent collaborator Miranda Lambert. “Polyester” is now available on all streaming platforms and digital retailers as well as on Sirius/XM’s “The Highway.” Get “Polyester” HERE. Additionally, GRAMMY-nominated Dierks Bentley is featured on the second focus track, “Blazer,” which will be released to streaming partners on November 13. The project also features The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney as a songwriter and producer, The Highwomen’s Natalie Hemby and rising country artist Jackson Dean.

“This soundtrack is directly inspired by the lives and characters in my documentary,” said Luke. “For over 10 years, I interviewed my mother, fathers, dancers, musicians, cops and even some ghosts about the infamous Oklahoma City topless bar. They worked there, led their young lives there and most of them lived to tell the tale. I’m forever thankful to those who shared their memories, as it is somewhat of an origin story for me.”

He continued, “It’s been a long, long road for all these songs to travel. The concepts for the songs originated through so many personal experiences – through lives and hearts – and come out the other side of my weird brain. I am extremely proud of every single note of this music. The record reflects the history of real people, wrapped up in backbeats and ballads, presented through swagger and sadness. On top of it all, it encapsulates joy, pain, hope and laughter.”

An ACM and current CMA-nominated songwriter (Miranda Lambert’s “Bluebird”) and formidable musician, Luke wrote and performed every song on the soundtrack as a solo artist or with his band Hey Steve. And in addition to the aforementioned featured artists, chart-topping, award-winning songwriters Rick Brantley, Rodney Clawson, Jessie Jo Dillion, Chris Dubois, Rosi Golan, Jeff Hyde, Joey Hyde, Jason Lehning and Laura Veltz, also contributed to the track list.

MUSIC FROM THE DOCUMENTARY RED DOG Track List

1 – Red Dog Intro

2 – ”Oklahomie” – Performed by Hey Steve featuring Patrick Carney (Written by Luke Dick and Patrick Carney)

3 – Prison Tat (Interlude)

4 – Tattoo – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Laura Veltz and Jessie Jo Dillon)

5 – Got An Average (Interlude)

6 – Polyester – Performed by Luke Dick featuring Miranda Lambert (Written by Luke Dick and Chris Dubois)

7 – Plain White T – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde and Laura Veltz)

8 – It Wasn’t Normal (Interlude)

9 – Blazer – Performed by Luke Dick featuring Dierks Bentley (Written by Luke Dick, Joey Hyde and Jeff Hyde)

10 – Guy Named Rachel – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick and Rodney Clawson)

11 – Henceforth (Interlude)

12 – Nasty Kathy – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick and Chris Dubois)

13 – Kool – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Jeff Hyde and Jessie Jo Dillon)

14 – Solar Dryer (Interlude)

15 – B Level Hustler – Performed by Luke Dick featuring Jackson Dean (Written by Luke Dick and Chris Dubois)

16 – Vegas (Interlude)

17 – Dance Like Me – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick and Rick Brantley)

18 – Five O’Clock Shadow – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Natalie Hemby and Rosi Golan)

19 – I Won (Interlude)

20 – Tiny Dreams – Performed by Luke Dick (Written by Luke Dick, Jason Lehning and Patrick Carney)

21 – You’re Beautiful (Interlude)

22 – Mothers and Sons – Performed by Luke Dick featuring Natalie Hemby (Written by Luke Dick and Natalie Hemby)

Luke is a musician, songwriter, filmmaker and artist with over two decades of creative accomplishments. He’s released multiple solo singles plus an assortment of music with his band Hey Steve, formerly known as Republican Hair. He’s written songs for Miranda Lambert, The Highwomen, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Kip Moore, The Cadillac Three, Eli Young Band and more. For more information on Luke and to watch “Red Dog,” It cuts off there, but we can find it all I reckon.

Feel like I never got around to a lot of the big country albums this year. What should I prioritize / what are the top albums you all would recommend?

My short list would be:

Katie Pruitt - Expectations
Lori McKenna – The Balladeer
Zephaniah OHora – Listening to the Music

Sam Hunt, Ashley McBryde, and Brandy Clark didn't do much for me, sadly.

If McBryde and Clark didn't do it for you, hard to say, maybe just look at comments on this thread, but possibly Marshall Chapman, Songs I Can't Live With Out (familiar titles, but def done her way), The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury, by Gretchen Peters (speaking of balladeers!), Whitney Rose, We Still Go To Rodeos, Margo Price, Perfectly Imperfect At The Ryman (but I never got with most of That's How Rumors Get Started), Cam, The Otherside, The Tender Things, How You Make A Fool, Willie Nelson, The First Rose of Spring, Pam Tillis, Looking For A Feeling (glorious return of PT), Waylon Payne, Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher, and Me (also speaking of balladeers).

Oh yeah, and even more (after midnight) ballads: Shelby Lynne's s/t.

Thx Dow - really enjoyed the Jake Blount recommendation. Keep it coming.

Thanks! This is the only old-tymey etc. album I've heard this year, pretty good:
Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton is a new album of old-time music produced from archival recordings by two legendary musicians. These largely unheard tapes were recorded at Doc Watson’s two earliest concerts, presented in New York City’s Greenwich Village in 1962. Those shows were among the rare appearances Doc’s father-in-law, fiddler Gaither Carlton, made outside of North Carolina. The instrumental pieces, including Gaither’s signature tune “Double File,” include intricate musical interactions developed through years of family music-making. On the songs and ballads, Doc’s instantly recognizable baritone voice is accompanied by his own guitar and Gaither’s fiddle, or by the traditional combination of fiddle and banjo. Shortly after these recordings were made, Doc Watson embarked on a career as one of America’s premier acoustic guitarists, earning the National Medal of Arts and eight Grammy Awards.
credits
released May 29, 2020
https://docwatsonandgaithercarlton.bandcamp.com/album/doc-watson-and-gaither-carlton

Only *other* old-tymey etc.

"Dicked Down in Dallas" is better than it should be. Actually a pretty ripping guitar sound.

Hailey Whitters made the top 15 for Washington Post critic Chris Richards

oh man, i've been sleeping on this Nicole Atkins album haven't i.

Brandy Clark: Your Life Is A Record
Gillian Welch: Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 2
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Reunions
Katie Pruitt: Expectations
Willie Nelson: First Rose of Spring

I saw RED DOG the movie and it's a good time!

John Anderson?

I'm getting to the Katie Pruitt at last.

It starts well and gets better, one of the more awesome debuts of the decade.
xp John Anderson's album seems pretty uneven to me, but some keepers.
Good thing I hadn't heard Waylon Payne before I started yon Folk Alley Top Ten---dunno who I would have kicked out of the lifeboat.
I wanna see Red Dog too!

The Tender Things are gonna end up in my top 5 EOY, Zephaniah is a solid jam-in-the-car-sing-along album but more like top 20 for me

The Katie Pruitt album is my favorite of the year I think, country or otherwise.

it's up there. would like to mobilize the ILX crew to vote for it in the yearly poll for sure.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71YE7tpRLBL._SY355_.jpg

This title will be released on February 26, 2021.

Honoring the enduring inspiration of Frank Sinatra, That’s Life is Willie Nelson’s second album of classics made famous by The Chairman Of The Board. Willie’s first ode to Frank, 2018's My Way, earned Willie the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Solo Album, and That's Life finds Nelson (who has penned a few standards himself) inhabiting 11 more of the most treasured songs in the Great American Songbook including the title track, "Luck Be A Lady,” "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "You Make Me Feel So Young," and "I Won't Dance" (a duet featuring Diana Krall).

Produced by Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings, That's Life was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood--where Frank Sinatra, created a string of album masterpieces--with additional recording at Pedernales Studios in Austin, Texas. Willie delivers 11 new studio performances, coming alive in a musical landscape animated by lush string and vibrant horn arrangements on an album mixed by recording industry legend Al Schmitt (who's recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums and won more Grammy Awards than any other engineer or mixer). The album cover features a brand new painting of Willie and his iconic guitar, Trigger, standing in the glow of a twilight streetlamp, evoking classic Sinatra album covers of yore. With one of those Gene Krupa cigs.

this motherfucker is immortal

xxxpost reminder
(THIS EVENT IS FREE TO WATCH WITH RSVP*. PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING THE KESWELL SCHOOL BY MAKING A DONATION.)
LUCK PRODUCTIONS & CITY WINERY PRESENT: 6TH ANNUAL JOHN HENRY'S FRIENDS
A BENEFIT FOR THE KESWELL SCHOOL
On December 13th, 2020, Luck Productions, City Winery and Steve Earle will join together to host the 6th annual John Henry's Friends benefit concert to raise funds for children diagnosed with autism. In this first virtual fundraiser, Steve Earle & The Dukes will be performing, along with sets from an incredible lineup of guest artists including Warren Haynes, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Shawn Colvin, Matt Savage and The Mastersons for an unforgettable night of music.
*RSVP yall:https://luck.stream/johnhenrysfriends?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=ab4c45c0e5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_12_11_02_23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9d7f017887-ab4c45c0e5-415586925&goal=0_9d7f017887-ab4c45c0e5-415586925&mc_cid=ab4c45c0e5&mc_eid=3ce2be0c08