Ghosts
Go here for a little preview: http://www.thegourds.com/ghosts.html --Matt Cook
spelling
At 01:52 PM 1/18/99 EST, Elena wrote: P.S. It has been pointed out to me by some close friends that it is painfully obvious from my posts to this list that my spelling is ATROCIOUS. Sorry y'all, I'll work on it. (Gotta get spellcheck, and stop typing so fast). Gud speling is not a prerequitsit for memborship in this comunity. Thank God Jeff Wall http://www.twangzine.com The Webs least sucky music magazine 727 Alder Circle - Va Beach, Va - 23462 -(757) 467-3764
Re: Split Enz - True Colours
Excerpts from internet.listserv.postcard2: 19-Jan-99 RE: Split Enz - True Colours by "Walker, Jason"@acp.com. These days Phil Judd is working on film soundtracks and so forth here in Australia and New Zealand. He was also involved in ENZSO, a project involving the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and members of Split Enz. He also had a pretty conventional pop band called Schnell Fenster about 8-9 years ago. They had at least one record out on Atlantic. Pleasant, but not a match for his Enz stuff. Carl Z.
Re: Twangcast
Glad you enjoyed it. Keep listening for more surprises as I grow the library weekly. If it's twangin, it's home...at TwangCast! Adds this week include V-Roys, Hilllan and Pederson from Bakersfield Bound, more classic Possum, Vince and Patty duet from "The Key", Radney Foster from Del Rio TX, a bunch of Waylon classics and more Junior Brown. Mike NOW ONLINE, www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net -Original Message- From: Diana Quinn [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Monday, January 18, 1999 2:51 PM Subject: Re: Twangcast well i finally got twangcast.com to work on my computer and had a very enjoyable afternoon -- especially liking the Heather Myles (surprised me!) and Cigar Store Indians cuts. wah-hoo!
Re: the TNN awards
Diana writes: Well, i held my nose and just voted in JUST A FEW of the TNN Music City News Country Awards. Yeah, but it felt good to get that vote for Mike Ireland in there. she told me that the line-dancing bars are all closing (that's true) and the western wear shops are starting to fall like dominoes. While may sound like a good thing to most of us, here, I find it kind of distressing. Is the music that's being called country today, any better than it was 4 or 5 years ago, when everything was rosy? It also make me wonder how do we get the word out to the masses that there is a lot of good to great real country music out there that they just don't know about? Is this at all possible? Didn't a couple of major country related magazines close up within the past year because of lack of support? I think that country radio is a lost cause and Americana is having problems of it's own. (In case some of you don't know, the Americana editor at the Gavin Report quit a couple of weeks back and has been replaced this week, with someone with a lot of question marks next to her name.) Radio may not even be the answer. But I'd like to know what is. What's it gonna take to wake EVERYBODY up? Off my soapbox, Jim
Bloodshot Revival needs your help
Hello folks. Hope the new year is treating you all well. I know I've been
a stranger and hope you all will forgive me, especially now since I'm only
writing to ask for something ("you only call when you need something").
I don't know how much Kelly Hogan has informed you
(oh, before I go there, just wanna let everyone know that Kelly is opening
for The Old 97's in Chicago at Lounge Ax on Friday),
Bloodshot is going to be releasing a new line called "Bloodshot Revival".
Now here's the skinny:
We've joined forces with Soundies, a little label with a big archive, to
bring you a dazzling assortment of goodies from country music's storied
past. None of these recordings has ever been released in any form. These
are radio transcription recordings from the 1930's through the early
1960's. They will be budget-priced CDs and cassettes lovingly re-mastered
from the transcription laquers. For our inaugural release, we present: Rex
Allen "Last of the Great Singing Cowboys", in stores March 23rd. Other
noteable releases we having coming in short order are collections from
Spade Cooley, Ernest Tubb, Tex Williams, Sons of the Pioneers, and Hank
Thompson.
In case you're not hip to how radio transcriptions came to be, back in the
early days of radio, record labels didn't send promotional copies of
upcoming releases to radio. There were companies, transcription houses,
that brought the artist into their studio to record. An extremely limited
amount of these recordings (often 100 or so) were sent to radio stations.
This helped the artist who might not be able to tour and visit every radio
station.
As you now can tell, Bloodshot Revival is quite a new direction for us at
Bloodshot, so here's where I need your help. I'm looking for information
and resources of any and all SPECIALTY RADIO SHOWS and LISTS that trade in
this way cool traditional old country. If you've got the knowledge and
want to share it, email me off list at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Big
time thanks.
New Year Cheers! Nan
Re: CD reviewing ethics
I also wrote for the Loaf for nearly a couple of years while playing in a couple of bands and finally quit due to my good conscience, the fact that Slim got all the good alt. country stuff to write about, and all that was left was Nashville shite. See, my Mom always said "If you can't say something nice..."g [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: When I lived in Atlanta I wrote music columns for Creative Loafing (still do) and my band the Convicts played at a number of clubs. np - Tom T. Hall Project (love Joe Henry's country-funk groove!)
Sparklehorse Interview (long)
Heres a transcript of my interview with Mark Linkous. It looks better in print than its gonna sound on radio. It was late afternoon but he sounded sort of sleepy and fragile, and spoke very .very ..slowly . Im sorta glad it was pre-recorded so I can edit out the long silences !! Cant wait for the gig on Monday. Cheers - Sophie - Mark, welcome to Australia, how are you enjoying our weather? Um well I havent really been outside - Can we start off by talking about the process of recording Good Morning Spider in your home studio. What sort of setup do you have? Its a fairly basic 16-track digital studio, and I just start by the old-school method, sitting around with an acoustic guitar and writing a good song and then recording it. I guess the difference is, when I go to record it, I try to make it interesting but the construction of it, the writing of it, is really traditional as far as structure goes. - Youve sometimes spent many months working on one song, does your perspective on a song change over time? Not really. I mixed Painbirds off and on for two years, but my perspective doesnt really change that much. Maybe perceiving things as needing to be more minimal, rather than more elaborate. - Do you feel that you stay truer to the aesthetic that you want to achieve producing yourself, rather than taking them to an external producer? Yeah, the majority of it for instance, the song Happy Man, I was really bored with it, and I made it sound like it was coming through an AM radio on the album, but so many people at the record company thought it should be a single, so I compromised but compromised in a way that was still able to retain a lot of the integrity of the song. Then I collaborated with Eric Drew Feldman who produced the first two Frank Black records -- he was also in Captain Beefheart. I went down to Memphis, to a studio that Id been wanting to record in, that the last two Pavement records were recorded in, some Cat Power records, Guided By Voices records. Ill compromise in a way where I can trust someone, someone I respect, rather than working with someone whos been recommended to me by some industry person, yknow. - Do you have to affect a critical distance at some point, to shape the original song into the finished product? The deepest that I ever perceive the song as a finished product is if my friends are gonna think its cool. A good way of judging myself is if I think its gonna sound good in five years. - When you listen back to the albums, do you have an awareness of how far the songs have come from their conceptual beginnings? Not really I mean, it starts and ends with me. On the majority of stuff, I play everything, unless its cello or violin or something. It begins and ends with my brain I think its because Im so isolated, Im not affected by other peoples ideas. - Ive read that your dreams are a great source of inspiration for you does music tap into the subconscious for you? Yeah I think so I think that dreams and feelings and wants and wishes are a little more simple and more prevalent in your subconscious than they are in your conscious state. In the conscious state, theres so many details of the world, youre bombarded by so much miscellaneous junk. - Does your rural lifestyle help you to be in that inner space being away from the city? I guess so, I mean Ive lived in the city Ive often wondered that if I moved I was gonna move to Spain and I wondered if stylistically my music would change I think its just something that you carry with you Im not sure if it has a whole lot to do with your environment. I mean, a lot of it does have to do with environment, but more of it has to do with how much of your environment that you absorb. - You spoke earlier of a sense of isolation would you experience the same sort of isolation if you were living in, say, Los Angeles? Yeah but when I lived in LA I was pretty isolated I lived in a van and didnt really go out much I was pretty isolated there, too. - You did time over there on the alternative-rock circuit with your previous band the Dancing Hoods. Is Sparklehorse a kind of attempt to break out of that whole american-pop-group paradigm? I gave up on all that when the band I was in moved to Los Angeles. We were trying so hard to get signed, and I just quit and came back home and just gave up on all those aspirations of being a rock star, pop star, whatever. The business I was so fed up with the business I just let go of all that bullshit, and thats when I started making good music. - How do you accommodate the business side of it now dealing with record companies, music journalists, people like that? Well, thats absolutely the hardest part of it, trying to deal with all that. I always thought that when I started making Vivadixie, I wanted it to come out on Matador or Drag City. Being on a major label and being stylistically, vaguely in the same category of a band
Tom T. Hall (long, but worth it)
Hi, I was deleting some old e-mail and came across the following piece that I thought I'd repost in light of some renewd interest in Hall due to Real: The Tom T. Hall Project. It's pretty outrageous (the post, not the cd, the cd's fantastic). Karen Without music, life is a mistake--Friedrich Nietzsche From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Nash Scene Clip From this week's Nashville Scene.. In a recent lengthy interview with Tom T. Hall, the 62-year-old songwriting great brought up a topic he thought needed some attention. "I've got one more story I have to tell you," he said on a recent misty morning, as cocks crowed and ducks quacked on the dirt lane outside his office, situated in a converted barn in Franklin. "It's about Nashville today. I want you to tell me if you've ever heard of anything like this, 'cause it kind of surprised me, I have to tell you." Seems Hall--whose bluntly literate, one-of-a-kind songs helped raise the art of country songwriting in the '70s--recently sent a few new songs to a major music publisher on Music Row. He wanted them set in larger type, so he could read them during a recording session. When the songs returned, Hall perused one, only to discover a few typos. "I thought maybe they got entered into a computer and got kicked out wrong," Hall says. But when he went to record the songs, he noticed that the words to all of his songs had been changed. He scratched his head and wondered, "Who in the hell is tangling with my lyrics?" So the writer of such classics as "Harper Valley P.T.A." and "Ballad of Forty Bucks" contacted the publishing company. What he heard astounded him: The firm had hired an employee with a master's degree in English from Radcliffe College to edit song lyrics submitted by the company's writers. "I said, `You know, when I write a song, it's pretty much carved in stone.' " As he talked to a company executive, he grew more incensed. "I told them, and I know this sounds awfully big of me, but I told them, `I'm sorry, but I'm a poet. I don't care what this woman thinks of my songs. All I wanted was a larger font so I could read the words while I was recording. What I was looking for was a typist, and this person is monumentally overqualified for the job.' " Once he hung up, the implications of what had occurred began to obsess Hall. "I got tothinking, when a major country writer brings in a song now, do we have to get out a style book from, I don't know, The Boston Globe, and fix the song? This is terrible! Am I being naive? To me, lyrics are important. There's nothing incidental in there. I know what I'm trying to say, and I know how I'm trying to say it. To take it into somebody and say, `Would you edit this please?,' as if it were a piece of advertising copy...well, that just blows me away. I still can't believe it. Is that what songwriters do today? Do they hand their songs to a secretary and say, `Can you edit this?' What would Hank Williams say about that? What would Billy Joe Shaver say?" As Hall inquired about the situation with people he knew at the publishing company, the answers he received only offended him further. "I was told that, as for my songs, that they don't use words like that anymore, that it wasn't current," he said. "I said, `Who doesn't? I'm still alive! I'm here on the planet, and I use words like that. What would this person say if they heard `Once Upon a Midnight Clear?' Would they say it had too much alliteration, that people don't talk like that anymore?" But Hall, being the way he is, started to see the humor in the situation. "I finally just asked them, `Look, have you ever heard that classic song, "I Am Not Misbehavin'?" ' They told me no, they hadn't heard of it. I said, `That's my point.' " --Michael McCall
FW: DBFS?Henry VIII
This is cast as a negative reply to a query, but does contain the dates and some of the acts at an upcoming St. Louis indoor BG festival. Terry Jan Lease are great promoters, and well-respected in the bidness... Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/ -Original Message- From: Bluegrass music discussion. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Terry/Jan Lease Sent: Monday, January 18, 1999 7:23 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: DBFS?Henry VIII Hi Lane, No, Dry Branch Fire Squad is not scheduled to be in St Louis at the Henry VIII or Gateway Bluegrass Festival- Feb 26-28. They've been unavailable for the last couple of years due to their west coast tour. We are proud to have the Original Dillards; Little Roy and the Lewis Family; the Osborne Bros; Rarely Herd; New Tradition; Rhonda Vincent RAGE; Blue Highway; Smokehouse Allstars; the Harman Family; Randall Hylton and Valerie Smith Liberty Pike. Not a bad place to be for the winter 'indoor season'. Hope you can make it! Additional festival info available at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks, Jan Lease
RE: the fifth beatle
On Tue, 19 Jan 1999, Walker, Jason wrote: I believe that if there was a fifth Beatle, it was Carl Perkins. Any takers? Junior That should have been the Beatles' reunion tour: Paul, George, Ringo and Carl. -- Mike Woods
RE: Yiddish URL??
Well, This link will put you to a Yiddish dictionary for travelers.. Derek Neat--but where in heck do you travel to any more where anybody speaks it? Barry
Re: the TNN awards
On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, Diana Quinn wrote: ...the line-dancing bars are all closing (that's true) and the western wear shops are starting to fall like dominoes. And that's a good thing. In country music we've had several waves of popularity fueled by folks who want to wear the clothes and do the dances, or ride the mechanical bulls. After a while they get bored and go away, and we're left with the folks who actually enjoy country music. I'm looking forward to it. -- Mike Woods
Re: the TNN awards
At 07:51 PM 1/18/99 -0800, you wrote: Well, i held my nose and just voted in JUST A FEW of the TNN Music City News Country Awards. not me. I voted for MIH, and for Charlie Daniels everywhere else. His Fiddle Fire album is quite good btw Jeff Wall http://www.twangzine.com The Webs least sucky music magazine 727 Alder Circle - Va Beach, Va - 23462 -(757) 467-3764
Re: CD reviewing ethics
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: BTW, Buddy Siegal did cease writing for the Times and is now the music editor of the OC Weekly, which obviously doesn't have such an ethical problem, or doesn't have ethics... one or the other. Now, now. Don't go running down the OC Weekly. This is Orange County California, fer Chrissakes. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to find ANY sort of alternative paper...not to mention one that, thanks to Buddy, pays particular attention to alt country and other good stuff. Interesting story, though. I had no idea who Buddy was. Dallas
Re: CD reviewing ethics
Neal wrote: I remember a story from a couple years ago. Buddy Blue from the Beat Farmers was writing music reviews for the LA Times under the name of Buddy Siegal. But, as I heard the story, once Times Pop Editor Robert Hilburn learned of his active role as an artist in local clubs, he pretty much told him that it would have to be one or the other. Twas a conflict of interest. How could the same person who's trying to get gigs at certain clubs also write objectively about other gigs at that club? Worth considering. BTW, Buddy Siegal did cease writing for the Times and is now the music editor of the OC Weekly, which obviously doesn't have such an ethical problem, or doesn't have ethics... one or the other. Speaking as a weekly editor (with a somewhat smaller market than Orange County!), sometimes you've got to make a difficult choice between pristine ethics and rare talent. If you have a good writer or reviewer available to work for you, and there's nobody around who can do the kind of job he or she can do, but there remains some sort of conflict of interest, then you might just hire or use the person, while keeping an eye on any possible conflicts. That's what I do. I'd imagine the LA Times has plenty of talent to choose from, a luxury that makes choosing ethics over talent a more comfortable decision. -- Terry Smith
Re: Why I love Austin
I forgot what number we're up to, but it was 75 degrees and sunny today (is it still January?) and I met a couple of P2 folks for Don Walser at the Central Market after work. We had dinner, while Don and the Pure Texas Band played on the patio of a supermarket(!) in front of what seemed like 100's of dancing little kids (and I mean little). They played all kinds of requests and even sang Happy Birthday to Erica. When I went up to the swag table to buy a bumpersticker, Don's wife says,"no you don't have to buy one. They're free." It looks great on my brand new truck, too. Jim, smilin' NP:Hillbilly Idol-Town Country (very swingin')
Re: Yiddish URL??
Sorry, this ain't so on-topic, but does anyone know of a website that might be devoted to the Yiddish language? I'm finishing up a piece on Chuck E. Weiss and must find something resembling proper spelling (or at least the most widely accepted spelling) of a couple words: mushagas and tookis. Chuck's really in to the Yiddish thing, if in a kitsch way. Neal E. Weiss (no relation) Uh..I do, actually..except it's all tranliteration, so they don't definitely do any better'n you, Neil. Try this: http:///www.ariga.com/yiddish.htm#sx alternately, maaybe: http://www.pass.to Barry. Not sure if you meant "mishuhgoss" (craziness") or some plural form of "mishugga" (crazy). Now, can a klezmer band be good if it plays sitting on its collective tookis?
Re: waiking people up...was the TNN awards
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] It also make me wonder how do we get the word out to the masses that there is a lot of good to great real country music out there that they just don't know about? Is this at all possible? Didn't a couple of major country related magazines close up within the past year because of lack of support? I think that country radio is a lost cause and Americana is having problems of it's own. (In case some of you don't know, the Americana editor at the Gavin Report quit a couple of weeks back and has been replaced this week, with someone with a lot of question marks next to her name.) Radio may not even be the answer. But I'd like to know what is. What's it gonna take to wake EVERYBODY up? It's an evolutionary process that recycles every 15 years or so and in the forthcoming cycle, alternative means of delivery will lead the way and you can bet at some point the mainstream press will pick up on the quiet revolution happening on the net and coming via digital radio and other forms of delivery. They love "the next big thing" in the press and will jump all over not only the delivery systems but the successful content providers. Just yesterday I had requests from 3 newspapers all wanting more contact information for a feature story on TwangCast, and we haven't even launched our official P/R campaign. I've also had hundreds of e mails in the last 4 weeks, from 14 countries, praising the concept of delivering music so many folks are missing due to country radio's current state or the lack of country programs in some countries. It's quite exhilarating to think that even this small response is putting a smile on a few faces. While may sound like a good thing to most of us, here, I find it kind of distressing. Is the music that's being called country today, any better than it was 4 or 5 years ago, when everything was rosy? To me, most of what's played on radio is much worse, while so much great music is being made that isn't getting airplay. So the answer is 1. no and 2 yes Mike, Twangin NOW ONLINE, www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
P2 test
Is the server down or backed up? A couple of short messages I sent hours ago have not shown up (Though T'fest is coming through loud and fluffy)...and it looks like maaybe nobody else's has either...except for qa couple sporting posting times that haven't occurred yet! Barry 10:11PM EST
FRAUD ALERT (fluff)
I seem to get alot of Bullshit chain letters, hoaxes and other shit in my Inbox all the time. But when I read this one, it really alarmed me. I researched it and found out that it was true. Be careful, you could be next! WARNING! PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS SERIOUS! If you get an envelope from a company called the Internal Revenue Service," DO NOT OPEN IT! This group operates a scam around this time every year. Their letter claims that you owe them money, which they will take and use to pay for the operation of essential functions of the United States government. This is untrue! The money the IRS collects is used to fund various other corporations which depend on subsidies to stay in business. This organization has ties to another shady outfit called the Social Security Administration, who claim to take money from your regular paychecks and save it for your retirement. In truth, the SSA uses the money to pay for the same misguided corporate welfare the IRS helps mastermind. These scam artists have bilked honest, hard working Americans out of billions of dollars. Don't be among them! FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW! Jeff Wall http://www.twangzine.com The Webs least sucky music magazine 727 Alder Circle - Va Beach, Va - 23462 -(757) 467-3764
Re: the TNN awards
Diana writes: Well, i held my nose and just voted in JUST A FEW of the TNN Music City News Country Awards. Pukesville! THAT is why it is so important that we support those artists who are nominated from our side of the fence like Mike Ireland and Holler in the Group category, Heather Myles in ? New Female, Chris Knight, Sara Evans and a few others. WATCH the categories closely for it's easy to miss some of "our" people. We have a country music monthly in the DC-area called Country Plus -- it used to be 40 pages and was down to something like 16 pages in the last issue. I talked to the editor/publisher/chief bottle washer last week, because I wanted to take out an ad about our upcoming barn dances (STILL DONT HAVE A GOOD NAME) and she told me that the line-dancing bars are all closing (that's true) and the western wear shops are starting to fall like dominoes. And the start of a new cycle back towards traditionalism begins again, just as my ex-station goes hotter and newer...LOL, serves them right. NOW ONLINE, www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
Re: demographics and other non-twangness
Hey folks-- I'm looking for some web help. I'm doing a paper on the Beastie Boys and I'd like to know if there's any spot on the net which has demographic info (% of whites who buy rap, % of blacks who buy, income from black-owned record labels, amount of $ the rap industry cleared in any given year, etc.). Any directions will be better than the goose-egg I have now. Thanks, Lance . . .
RE: Yiddish URL??
This link will put you to a Yiddish dictionary for travelers.. Derek Neat--but where in heck do you travel to any more where anybody speaks it? 1. Israel - especially older immigrants from: 2. Russia/Belarus/Ukraina plus 3. Argentina and 4. Scattered spots elsewhere, including the US and Canada Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
RE: the fifth beatle
On Tue, 19 Jan 1999, Walker, Jason wrote: I believe that if there was a fifth Beatle, it was Carl Perkins. Any takers? Junior I always said that the Beatles reunion after John's death should have been Paul, George, and Ringo backing up Carl Perkins on tour. That would have been a show! -- Geff King * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * http://www2.ari.net/gking/ "The United States will collapse by 1980." --Timothy Leary, 1965 (15 years before the 1980 election)
RE: the fifth beatle
On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, Mike Woods wrote: That should have been the Beatles' reunion tour: Paul, George, Ringo and Carl. -- Mike Woods That does it. I'm never answering another post with this Subject: line again... GBK
Blueberries
Hey there, Wow - two in a row. This Blueberries CD kicks ass. Its the arithmetic mean of The Jayhawks and Blue Mountain. Which, I guess, would make it Wilco's first CD. Its good. Thanks for the recommendations. Later... CK ___ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
Re: CD reviewing ethics
In a message dated 1/18/99 4:51:09 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Once that relationship crosses the line, it challenges a writer's ability to speak freely in print about an album or an artist. And tainted opinion is the last thing music journalism needs. Challenging, true, but doable -- and often in a more meaningful way precisely *because* of the relationship with the artist. I think Peter Blackstock's cover story on Whiskeytown was a pretty great example of how this works. Ryan knew he was gonna get written about; Peter made it plain that he had gotten pretty close to Ryan. The risk is always to the relationship (friendship, acquantanceship, whatever) and I think everybody has to know that going in. Lots of artists are justifiably wary of befriending writers for that very reason, lots of artist try to suck up for that very reason, I imagine. Sometimes you just have to make up your mind in advance, I think, that you're either never going to write about a band because the relationship is that important, or that there's always that possibility, so you keep everything on the table. Nobody's Dan Rather, here, and nobody's covering Congress. It's not the Federal Budget or some Police scam, it's a life-- expressed in music. The music and the artists can't be separated. What there is to be objective about is a pretty tiny part of the whole enterprise, it seems to me. Sometimes I think the best you can hope for in writing is to do a really good job of imparting your subjectivity. It's all on a continuum, none of which is about facts--it's about anger, love, hate, grief, heartache, grit, passion, stories, landscapes, poetry, beauty, grotesqueness, fear, truth, lies--all personal, and none of it objective, irrespective of genre. I know what I like and what interests me, and I'll do the best I can to tell you why. That's about it. There are people I won't write about, people I'd write about and not tell anything that's nobody's business anyway (I mean, as long as they're not U.S. President), and a whole bunch more music I'd write about whether I like the people or not and probably still be able to give you an idea of what I hear in it that you might like or not, which is just about all I can think of that a music writer's supposed to do. You all do that, here, I think, all the time. What is that fear: That because a writer knows an artist, the writer will hoodwink you into buying something awful? You think a writer wouldn't know a friend was making bad music? See the issue isn't about anything external; the entire potential conflict resides between a writer, and the writer's own aesthetic, and the writer's own bathroom mirror in the morning. Linda, who (don't tell anybody) thinks music journalism is an oxymoron, or else something you'd look for in a Barron's story on the Polygram merger.
Re: Reivers of Song
Tucker Eskew wrote: But I'm struck by the whole concept...the River. Is it relevant or coincidental? At first I wasn't sure if it was actually the Bottle Rockets. ...Brian Henneman talked about the importance of the river on their lives and their music. Well Henneman is a musician of uncommon historical sensibility and sense of place. Living in the area, the River is a large part of ones sense of where you are. And kids do go down to the river to drink beer or whatever. It's kind of like the opening scene of Moby Dick where Ishmael notes everybody on the walk overlooking the sea, and wondering what it is about the water that draws them. Water-watchers. And Rivers are deeply implanted in our culture as sources of life. I give the show's writers and producers credit for not overplaying the whole River thing. Until Henneman's comments, I'd come to the conclusion that the River is not especially inspirational or even necessary to the creation or the location of the music featured thus far in this series, St. Louis riverboat ride notwithstanding. It occurred to me that the Minneapolis rock and Indian music and the polka and the Swedish folk music of episode one could all have been found, in better and worse incarnations, elsewhere in the heartland, hundreds of miles from the Mississippi. Same could be said for the St. Louis gospel and RB. Well not really. Minneapolis rock would not exist if not for the falls of St. Anthony, where the river became unavigable and where power for flour milling existed. Likewise, St. Paul sits on the only place in the region where the grade up from the River is gradual enough that a road reacing to the Red River and through the rich plains could be made for ox-drawn wagons. And these geologic factors set the conditions for drawing the people into the place where innovation generally takes place, at least before the radio, the metropolis. And the river is the reason for the main metropolises (metropoli?) and their hinterlands of this series that focus the music. St. Paul/Minneapolis, St. Louis, Memphis and New Orleans. (Can someone say Jay Farrar? g--UT content!) Come to think of it, even *after* Henneman's comments, I'm not sure the Mississippi is all that central (figuratively, not literally) to the music featured. *Not that there's anything wrong with that.* Sure, the Mississippi River (and most especially its Delta) richly imbues the lives and culture that rise up around it. But if, as it seems to me, it happens to be a convenient framework for highlighting some great roots music, then fine. If you think there's more to it than that, enlighten me. Well its the drain of the whole contintent between the Rockies and the Alleghenies, and it served as the source of commerce and settlement for so long it developed these related but distinch creole cultures up and down its banks, and that's the source of this music.
PLAYLIST: Fear Whiskey 1/18/99
This is the Fear Whiskey playlist for this week's show. Fear and Whiskey can be heard every Monday from 7-10pm ET on 88.3fm in Pittsburgh and on mp3 netcasts via http://www.wrct.org. Playlists are available at http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~cz28.fear.html. Thanks to Geff King for the Smokey Robinson suggestion. ARTIST SONG ennio morricone my name is nobody stevie wonderhappy birthday smokey robinson and the miracles abraham, martin john violent femmes gone daddy gone delicious militiamen are weak joe henryhomecoming clodhopper 1000 days of shame warren zevon carmelita paul kelly charlie owen's slide guitar lyle lovett lungs victor krummenacher's great laughall right bob mouldanymore time between sonic youth silver rocket two dollar guitarpatagonia renderersout of the forest eleventh dream day that's the point scott4 philly's song sally timms seminole wind blockheaters convince me robbie fulks let's kill saturday night american music club crabwalk james mcmurtry comfortable deliberate strangers anthracite dickens, jones, hawker lay me to rest wolfe bros. 8th of january one riot one ranger long and slow decline dave alvin abeline vic chesnutt until the led scarnelladandelions moby grape rounder kelly willis truckstop girl greta leehe ain't comin' here old joe clarks sad song a day richard buckner here robyn hitchcock 1974 richard thompson the way that it shows robert earl keen gringo honeymoon connie champagne what do i do pamela martinpresley's psalm daniel pearson 1000 days of shame hillbilly idol by now devil in a woodpile steel guitar rag honky tonk confidential i don't know if i know sunshine clubrainy day friend alvin youngblood hartillinois blues peter jefferies kitty loop
Re: CDs for SALE (+/-330 CDs)
Still buying/still culling/still selling My biggest and best list yet if i do say so myself. CDs are $6 each and i pay the postage in the US, or CDs are $5 each if you buy ten or more and i still pay the postage in the US If you are intending to buy ten to get the $5 price i ask that you list more than ten picks since there are usually multiple requests for the more popular CDs. Please give me at least a week to respond to your requests because it takes me some time to get and sort out all the e-mails PLEASE RESPOND OFF LIST Thanks Mark Absinthe "Blind" C.C. Adcock Agents Of Good Roots "One By One" American Lesion (ND #14) Bill Anderson "Fine Wine" (ND#19) Thomas Anderson "Blues For The Flying Dutchman" (ND# 7) Angry Johnny The Killbillies "What's So Funny" (ND#15) Ashes "Wisconsin Avenue Tour" (unopened) Ass Ponys "Little Bastard" (ND# 14) Ass Ponys "The Known Universe" (ND# 4) A3 "Exile On Coldharbor Lane" (2 CD promo w/ regular CD and bonus mix CD) Sherrie Austin "Words" Backbone (Grateful Dead's Bill Kreutzmann) The Backsliders "Throwin' Rocks At The Moon" (ND#11) The Badlees "River Songs" (unopened) Tom Ball Kenny Sultan "Double Vision" (unopened) Bare Jr. "Boo-Tay" (ND#19) Mandy Barnett (unopened) (ND# ) Bass Is Base "Memories Of The Soulshack Survivors" (unopened) Beau Sia "Attack! Attack! Go!" Joshua Bell "Gershwin Fantasy" (unopened in paper sleeve) Martyn Bennett "Bothy Culture" Dan Bern "Dog Boy Van" (ND#7) Betty The Bops "Pin-Up Confidential" Big Back Forty "Bested" (ND# 10) Big Blue Hearts (ND# 10) Big Hate "You're Soaking In It" Big House "Travelin' Kind" Big House Terri Binion "Leavin' This Town" (ND# 13) Jeff Black "Birmingham Road" (ND#16) Hal Blaine "Buh-Doom!" John Blinn "Notes From The Road" Blue Flannel "XL" Blue Rodeo "Nowhere To Here" (ND#11) The BottleRockets "The Brooklyn Side" (ND#9) Boneshakers "Shake The Planet" (unopened in paper sleeve) Marques Bovre and the Evil Twins "Flyover Land" (ND#16) Robert Bradley's "Backwater Suprise" Randall Bramlett "See Through Me" Dennis Brennan "Iodine In The Wine" (ND# 7) Richard Buckner "Since" (paper sleeve) (ND#17) The Buffalo Club Chance The Gardner "The Day The Dogs Took Over" (ND ad) Charlie Chesterman "Dynamite Music Machine" (unopened) (ND#12) Citizens' Utilities Citizens' Utilities "Lost And Foundered" (unopened) (ND #12) The Clarks "Someday Maybe" (ND# 9) (unopeneed) Claw Hammer "Hold Your Tongue (and say apple)" Claw Hammer "Thank The Holder Uppers" Patsy Cline "Don't Ever Leave Me Again" Bruce Cockburn "Big Circumstance" Phil Cody "Offering" Adam Cohen (unopened) Gerald Collier (ND# 7) (unopened) Neal Coty "Chance And Circumstance" (ND ad) John Cowan "Soul'd Out" Hank Crane (ND ad) Cravin' Melon "Red Clay Harvest" Cravin' Melon "Squeeze Me" Kacy Crowley "Anchorless" (ND# 11) (unopened) Wes Cunningham"12WaysToWinPeopleToYourWayOf Thinking"(unopened)(ND#19) The Customers "Green Bottle Thursday" (ND ad) Mary Cutrufello "When The Night Is Through" (ND#17) DAG "Apartment #635" Charlie Daniels "America, I Believe In You" Dash Rip Rock "Paydirt" (ND#15) Kyle Davis "Raising Heroes" Dead Hot Workshop "1001" Dead Hot Workshop "River Otis" EP Del Amitri "Twisted" (unopened) The Del Lords "Lovers Who Wander" Wesley Dennis Hazel Dickens, Carol Jones Ginny Hawker "Heart Of A Singer" Ditch Croaker "Chimpfactor" (unopened ltd. ed. in paper sleeve) Ditch Croaker "Secrets Of The Mule" Ditch Witch "Everywhere Nowhere" Ditch Witch "Starvation Box" Arthur Dodge The Horsefeathers (ND#9) The John Doe Thing "For The Rest Of Us" (no inserts) John Doe "Meet John Doe" Drill Team "Hope And Dream Explosion" Francis Dunnery "Lets Go Do What Happens" Fred Eaglesmith "Lipstick, Lies Gasoline" (ND#12) John Ewing Band "Delta Flares" Amy Fairchild "She's Not Herself" Farm Dogs Last Stand In Open Country" (unopened) Farm Dogs "Immigrant Sons" Five Easy Pieces Flat Duo Jets "Lucky Eyes" (ND#18) Matt Flinner "The View From Here" (ND#14) Fool's Progress Steve Forbert "Rocking Horse Head" Ebba Forsberg "Been There" (no front insert) The Freewheelers "Waitin' For George" Tom Freund "North American Long Weekend" (ND#18) Frum The Hills (ND# 9) Robbie Fulks "Let's Kill Saturday Night" (ND#17) Greg Garing "Alone" (ND# 11) David Garza "This Euphoria" Laurie Geltman "No Power Steering" Mickey Gilley "Super Hits" (unopened) Goat "Great Life" The Golden Palominos "Pure" The Good Sons "Angels In The End" The Great Divide "The Break In The Storm" (ND #17) Great Plains "Homeland" (ND# 8) The Greenberry Woods "Big Money Item" Patty Griffin "Living With Ghosts" (unopened) (ND#16) Patty Griffith "Flaming Red" (unopened) (ND#16) Lisa Hall "Is This Real?" Tom T. Hall "Songs From Sopchoppy" Hamell On Trial "The Chord Is Mightier Than The Sword" (unopened) (ND# 4) John Hammond "Long As I Have You" (unopened in paper sleeve) Ty Herndon "Big
Re: Why I love Austin
In a message dated 1/19/99 7:05:31 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: When I went up to the swag table to buy a bumpersticker, Don's wife says,"no you don't have to buy one. They're free." ... and I got a personalized autographed 8X10, also free. Don Walser should be declared a national treasure. slim
Re: CD reviewing ethics
In a message dated 1/19/99 4:49:34 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: BTW, Buddy Siegal did cease writing for the Times and is now the music editor of the OC Weekly, which obviously doesn't have such an ethical problem, or doesn't have ethics... one or the other. Now, now. Don't go running down the OC Weekly. This is Orange County California, fer Chrissakes. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to find ANY sort of alternative paper...not to mention one that, thanks to Buddy, pays particular attention to alt country and other good stuff. I guess that kinda came out wrong Dallas. I wasn't trying to chastise OC W by any means. I'm well aware of what they're doing down there, heck several years ago i was actaully slated to be its general manager for a start-up that never happened. I've heard by many a closet liberal and art patron that OCW is a saving grace. I'm told it's a pretty fun read too, which can't be said for it's big brother pub in LA. Anyhoo, Neal Weiss
I don't know what to think of this
Last night, Chicago news radio station WBBM reported that Clint Black may have recorded Billy Joe Shaver's "Honky Tonk Heroes" for his next album, but wouldn't confirm or deny it. I mean, it was a quiet news night, but ... Bob (So, would he do a good job of it?)
Re: CD reviewing ethics
Neil is right that there's an inherent problem in the relationship between the reviewer and the performer, but Robert Hilburn is way off of it (as he is on most everything). The idea that there's a conflict of interest between playing in clubs and reviewing other bands is ridiculous, especially from a critic who regularly goes on record-company junkets, gets free CDs, priviledged seats at shows, c. It's exactly the problem that we have in political journalism. If you're going to keep up on the inside scoop -- which is your job, after all -- then you have to have friends Inside. And you cant bite the hand that feeds you, not too hard at least. Which is why, of course, most political journalism is so very very lame. And, by extension, why most musical journalism is ... Back in the 70s when she breaking into clubs, Patti Smith used to write great reviews in Rolling Stone. Most reviewers write weak, pandering crap. Obviously this supposed conflict of interest doesnt get in the way of good reviewing. Will Miner Denver, CO
RE: New Grass Revival - White Freightliner
Subject: Re: New Grass Revival - White Freightliner Other than the Sovines version, and J.D.'s version, I've not heard anyone else do it (sans Townes hisself..duh). Didn't somebody do a good one at Twangfest even--'98 or '97? [Matt Benz] Yeh,the Sovines did that at TF 98, tho whether or not it was a good one, I don't know. I think Purcell sang it with us. We started playing WFL after 3 of us did a TVZ tribute show, with acoustic guitars and mandolin. When the full band reconvened, we decided to see what we could do with it, and we came up with the fast electric version. I do capo up to the 7th fret, but that's as close to BG as the song gets in our hands. We don't play it out much anymore, tho we did do it at a 4 set show last week. Grabbin for every song we knew that night.
RE: the fifth beatle
The fifth Beatle was Don Rich. If not for him, the Bealtes' sound as we know it today would not exist. I'm sorry - I hate to disagree with a bass player - but I just don't see it. [Matt Benz] The 5th Beatle was Murray the K. Geez. Don't youse clowns know anything? Leppo was the 6th and 7th Beatle, depending on who he was standing next to. Ringo was actually the 8th Beatle, after Billy Preston. Seriously, The Beatles were influenced by Sun Records and RB more than country ala Buck. Tho some of Ringo's contributions show a country influence, and the album track What Goes On shows a fairly distinctive Owens influence, I think. Matt
Re: the TNN awards
In a message dated 1/19/99 3:26:47 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: (In case some of you don't know, the Americana editor at the Gavin Report quit a couple of weeks back and has been replaced this week, with someone with a lot of question marks next to her name.) Chris Marino quit I knew he moved to Colorado and was doing the job on the internet, but this is news to me. Any details? slim
RE: Yiddish URL??
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Barry Mazor Sent: Monday, January 18, 1999 5:23 PM To: passenger side Subject: RE: Yiddish URL?? Well, This link will put you to a Yiddish dictionary for travelers.. Derek Neat--but where in heck do you travel to any more where anybody speaks it? Try Delancey Street, NYC. Nicholas
Official Band of Y2K/East TN Dates
Yes, we're claiming the title (and titular role ...) of "The Official Band of Y2k" -- call it hubris, call us bandwagon jumpers ... we care not! East TN P2ers BEWARE: The Bystanders -- January 1999 dates: 1/21 -- The Down Home (http://www.downhome.com), Johnson City TN 1/23 -- WDVX-FM (on "the fringe" w/ host Shane Rhyne) 1/29 -- Longbranch Saloon, Knoxville TN Check us out at http://listen.to/thebystanders ___ Robert A. Russell Director, Writing and Communication Center East Tennessee State University Box 70602 Johnson City, TN 37614 Phone: (423) 439-8438 Fax: (423) 439-8666 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.etsu.edu/wcc *** "Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?" -- William James, 1842-1910, "The Will to Believe"
Re: FRAUD ALERT (fluff)
In a message dated 1/19/99 6:12:07 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I seem to get alot of Bullshit chain letters, hoaxes and other shit in my Inbox all the time. But when I read this one, it really alarmed me. I researched it and found out that it was true. Be careful, you could be next! WARNING! PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS SERIOUS! If you get an envelope from a company called the Internal Revenue Service," DO NOT OPEN IT! Sucker. Mr. Wall, don't you think it's a little obvious? Isn't *everyone,* aside from many some Montana and Michigan Militia folks, going to be getting envelopes from the IRS in the coming months? Snickerin', Neal Weiss
Re: the fifth beatle
In a message dated 1/19/99 12:59:16 AM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Well, I don't know about fifth Beatle status, but Perkins invented, and was The King of Rock and Roll, (the white folks version anyway) regardless of how that Tupelo Truckdriver is worshpped today. I've often wondered what would of happened to Elvis's career if Perkins had not had that auto accident. Don't sell Elvis short my friend. Perkins might have been pretty damn talented, but Elvis' sex appeal was worth a thousand great guitar licks. NW
Re: the fifth beatle
I believe that if there was a fifth Beatle, it was Carl Perkins. Any takers? Junior I always said that the Beatles reunion after John's death should have been Paul, George, and Ringo backing up Carl Perkins on tour. That would have been a show! That would have been blasphemy, not to mention pathetic. A bunch of old guys trying to resurrect their youth. Bleeech. Two cents, Neal Weiss
Re: CD reviewing ethics
FTR, that last one the Dallas was supposed to go privately to Dallas. Not that I divulged my quest for a two-headed love child or anything. NW
RE: I don't know what to think of this
Last night, Chicago news radio station WBBM reported that Clint Black may have recorded Billy Joe Shaver's "Honky Tonk Heroes" for his next album, but wouldn't confirm or deny it. I mean, it was a quiet news night, but ... Bob (So, would he do a good job of it?) Heh, that is an unusual news item. I guess that song is getting its second wind; Collin Raye and Joe Diffie recorded a pretty decent version of it on the Columbia Tribute To Tradition, with good fiddle from Aubrey Haynie and steel by Sonny Garrish. I'd be interested to hear Black's. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
RE: the fifth beatle
Don't sell Elvis short my friend. Perkins might have been pretty damn talented, but Elvis' sex appeal was worth a thousand great guitar licks. [Matt Benz] Exactly. Carl had the goods musically, and his Sun sides are the best, but sadly, he lacked those other goods that E delivered with the shake of a leg. BTW, all those interested in Elvis and his music (Junior!), check out the new book "Recording Sessions" which provides a detailed history of *all* the King's recordings, rare live and home recordings included. Great photo's throughout. Peter Gurelnick (sp?) provides foreward.
RE: Official Band of Y2K/East TN Dates
Yes, we're claiming the title (and titular role ...) of "The Official Band of Y2k" -- call it hubris, call us bandwagon jumpers ... we care not! Hey, wait a minute, the La-Z Boys have been calling themselves bluegrass's only Y2K-compliant band for months. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: I don't know what to think of this
In a message dated 1/19/99 11:39:10 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Last night, Chicago news radio station WBBM reported that Clint Black may have recorded Billy Joe Shaver's "Honky Tonk Heroes" for his next album, but wouldn't confirm or deny it. I mean, it was a quiet news night, but ... Bob (So, would he do a good job of it?) HELL, YES, GIVEN DECENT PRODUCTION. BLACK'S PIPES ARE EVERY BIT AS GOOD NOW AS THEY WERE BACK WHEN HE WAS KILLIN' TIME. BILL F-W
Americana guesswork
There's a story developing here regarding the current state of "Americana." (TM)Who's going to write it? (c'mon Mr. Slack - tell it like it is) Caution: the following are assumptions, though I suspect close to the truth: Someone probably wanted Americana to still be Americana - in other words, keeping the current reporting stations intact, which for the majority are not huge and potentially impacting, and someone else probably wanted to slick it up a bit. Maybe start a singles chart. Change the name. Blah blah blah. The circle goes round and round and you can only suspect and theorize who wants what. Bottom line: the stuff ain't selling and not many people are paying attention to it, and maybe Gavin or whoever else involved the Americana mafia are finally beginning to realize it and feel the need for changes to be made before Gavin just gives up on it. I mean, when Dale Watson's only selling appox 10,000 copies, maybe some changes should be made. Who knows. I'm just guessing...I know I wouldn't want that damn job
Re: I don't know what to think of this
Last night, Chicago news radio station WBBM reported that Clint Black
may
have recorded Billy Joe Shaver's "Honky Tonk Heroes" for his next album,
(So, would he do a good job of it?)
HELL, YES, GIVEN DECENT PRODUCTION. BLACK'S PIPES ARE EVERY BIT AS GOOD NOW
AS
THEY WERE BACK WHEN HE WAS KILLIN' TIME. BILL F-W
But aren't "pipes" (in the technical sense) besides the point when it comes
to Billy Joe's songs?
I mean, this song is about attitude and experience and any solid
interpretation would have to at least feature a believable replication of
that attitude and experience. In light of "Georgia on a Fast Train" by
BR5-49 (a band of solid interpreters), isn't it tough to outdo the Corsicana
Kid?
("Kid"?!, you ask...well "Old Guy" wasn't alliterative enough for me.)
Anyway, I can't wait to hear some Shaver new tunes, produced by Ray
Kennedy...Have details on the upcoming disc been posted 'round here lately?
Tasq
np: KGSR via broadcast.com
RE: Hank Williams
On Sat, 16 Jan 1999, Jon Weisberger wrote: As far as songs about Hank Williams go, it seems to me that 1) someone put out a collection that was in whole or in part songs about Hank, mostly from the olden days, and/or 2) someone subjected a group of such songs to analysis in an article or as part of a book. Damn this CRS, anyhow; maybe if the Bombmeister can drag himself away from the dives of Seattle long enough to take a look at the list he can help out here. There's a Bear Family CD that's split between Hank songs recorded by others that Hank himself never recorded and tribute songs to Hank that were recorded shortly after his death. Can't recall the name of it offhand. And yeah, I also remember that article, but damned if I can remember where -- could've been that dubious South Atlantic Quarterly essay series. I'll see if I can't dig it up later tonight when I'm at home.--don
Re: I don't know what to think of this
On Tue, 19 Jan 1999, Tucker Eskew wrote: But aren't "pipes" (in the technical sense) besides the point when it comes to Billy Joe's songs? John Anderson did a swell version of "I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal" back in the early '80s. If anything, Billy Joe's vocal limitations have held him back. Still, his craggy vocalising has its charms, and it does seem to wear better with age. And there's no way I'll be missin' his show at the Tractor on February 11th.--don
Re: FRAUD ALERT (fluff)
At 10:24 AM 1/19/99 -0800, you wrote: Mr. Wall wrote: If you get an envelope from a company called the Internal Revenue Service," DO NOT OPEN IT! If we took this advice, Mr. Wall would be out of a job. And that's a bad thing? Do you know exactly what I do for the Navy? I work on WEAPONS SYSTEMS. I have the keys that make them go bang. Not that I really need the keys because a halfway decent tech can jumper out any safety switch with two alligator clips and a piece of wire. I own all the missles on the ship. All the guns too. Anything from from 9mm to 5 inch. ANd I'm fucking nuts. Feel better about your tax money? Jeff Wall http://www.twangzine.com The Webs least sucky music magazine 727 Alder Circle - Va Beach, Va - 23462 -(757) 467-3764
Bright Lights Blonde Haired Women
Any and all talented musicians on the list: Working on figuring the chords for Bright Lights Blonde Haired Women" off of Ray Price's NIghtlife album. I'm close, but a few of the jazzier type chords are alluding me, particulary when the bassline gets fancy. I'm working it in the key of F. Lemme know what you come up with off list, please. Thanks, Matt "GIVE IT A BEAT OR GIVE IT A TWANG IN A DARK SWEATY CLUB IT'S THE SAME DAMN THING BANG BANG MAKE THE MUSIC GO BANG" -X
Re: I don't know what to think of this
If anything, Billy Joe's vocal limitations have held him back. I don't disagree, in the commercial sense...It's just that he invests so much personality in his songs and his performances that "interpretations" often don't measure up for me...But I'm a fan. And I still wish the Scorchers would cover "Hottest Thing in Town", one of Shaver's songs more likely to benefit from reinterpretation... Tasq
Re: I don't know what to think of this
Tucker Eskew wrote: And I still wish the Scorchers would cover "Hottest Thing in Town", one of Shaver's songs more likely to benefit from reinterpretation... My band's been doing it for about 3 years. Folks love it and we never get sick of playing it. TS
Re-posting: Ray Price on Fresh Air today, 1/19
I didn't see this come back to me as a list message, so I'll try it posting it again. -- From: Fredette, Kevin T (PS, CASE) Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 11:51 AM To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: Ray Price on "Fresh Air" today, 1/19 Tune in to your local NPR station, check http://www.whyy.org/freshair for more info, or just wait for Phil Connor to post the transcript ;-) I just started reading Lone Star Swing, which may have been mentioned here earlier. It's by a novelist (Duncan McLean) from Orkney (remote islands off the coast of Scotland) who travels to Texas looking for western swing musicians from the Bob Wills era. Very funny and insightful, so far. I'll post a more complete review when I finish it. I also just bought "This World is Not My Home", the new Lone Justice CD. Someone posted earlier that this compilation gives a more complete picture of them as a "cowpunk" band, and I couldn't agree more. The demos and punk-ish early stuff are a real eye opener for me, since I missed the band completely when they were together, and have only had the recorded tracks to go on. Back to work...
Chicago Content - Langford on WXRT
Pulled this off the WXRT Web site: (http://www.wxrt.com) Tuesday, January 19 10PM- 12 Midnite A Beginner's Guide To the World According To Jon Langford: "Who The Hell Is This Guy And Why Should You Care?" Special guest Jon Langford performs live in the studio and joins our co-hosts to talk about his new cartoon history of rock book and the new Waco Brothers CD. Plus news, and record reviews, and a song from Jim's "Desert Island Jukebox." I thought some of the Chicago folks might be interested. -- Jim Fagan| AIX Build Architecture and Integration | [EMAIL PROTECTED] T/L 678-2458 | Austin, Texas | fagan@austin
RE: Bright Lights Blonde Haired Women
I had a feeling its origins might lie outside of country music, farther than Ford, I would think. I didn't look at the writing credits tho. -Original Message- From: Don Yates [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Subject: Re: Bright Lights Blonde Haired Women Just so ya know, that tune goes back further than Ray. I have an early '50s version from Tennessee Ernie Ford, but I'm not sure if that's the original.--don
Re: FRAUD ALERT (fluff)
Jeff Wall wrote: And that's a bad thing? Do you know exactly what I do for the Navy? I work on WEAPONS SYSTEMS. I have the keys that make them go bang. Not that I really need the keys because a halfway decent tech can jumper out any safety switch with two alligator clips and a piece of wire. I own all the missles on the ship. All the guns too. Anything from from 9mm to 5 inch. ANd I'm fucking nuts. Feel better about your tax money? May the man who has his finger on the button have a lovely day today.
Re: Bright Lights Blonde Haired Women
West Coast country fella Eddie Kirk wrote it, which means it may very well have been performed first by Tennessee Ernie. Then again, some other West Coaster may have had first crack at it.--don
Re: Willie goes hip-hop
havent been keeping a close eye on traffic lately, so apologies if this is old news. From sonicnet. Stevie 'Hi-Lo Country' Soundtrack Updates Classic Western Music Duet by Beck and Willie Nelson sets tone for album. Contributing Editor Colin Devenish reports: Before Carter Burwell set to work on the score for the post-World War II western "The Hi-Lo Country," he did his homework listening to old western soundtracks for films such as "Red River." But what the composer of scores for such major films as "Fargo," "Miller's Crossing" and "Velvet Goldmine" said he found after listening to many classic western scores is that he wanted to avoid copying them. "I took certain aspects of [them], some of the drums and brass that they would use, but I updated [this score] by adding unusual time signatures. ... The cattle drive is written in seven/eighths time, which is a little bit off-kilter and unpredictable," Burwell said. "I used acoustic guitar on the score, which is not an unusual choice, but I processed it electronically, so it makes for a little bit different sound." Set for release Tuesday (Jan. 19), "The Hi-Lo Country" soundtrack features Burwell's score and a duet from country legend Willie Nelson and hip-hop folkie Beck on "Drivin' Nails In My Coffin" (RealAudio excerpt). It also includes a Hank Williams original, and Leon Rausch -- former singer for vintage western swing band Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys -- crooning over a pair of his old band's tracks. Ranging from the pedal-steel guitar and twang of Williams' country classic "Why Don't You Love Me" to fully orchestrated instrumental pieces such as "To Kill A Man," "The Hi-Lo Country" soundtrack fuses elements of traditional country sound with Burwell's updated compositions. The film stars Woody Harrelson and Patricia Arquette, and it features Nelson in the role of a wolf bounty hunter. "I hunt wolves for bounties in New Mexico. It was a lot of fun: I got to horse around on a four-wheel all over a New Mexico ranch," Nelson, 65, said. "I got to sling my buddies around. I had Woody Harrelson there and riding with me, hanging on for dear life." Rausch, who makes a cameo appearance in the film, said recording the Bob Wills chestnuts "San Antonio Rose" (RealAudio excerpt) and "A Maiden's Prayer" presented no difficulty at all. "We did the tunes we've done every night for 40 years. It wasn't any stretch for me to record them," said Rausch, 71, who still plays upward of 60 shows a year. "Those songs, of course, have always been favorites of mine even though we do them every night. 'San Antonio Rose' has been included in several different movie projects, but I don't think 'A Maiden's Prayer' has ever been used in a movie before." [ Tues., January 19, 3:00 AM EST ]
Rob Ickes' Slide City
Rob Ickes (of the bluegrass band Blue Highway) is set to release a new solo CD later this month called "Slide City". I just got a preview copy of the CD and it's a smokin' slab of plastic, let me tell you. I haven't heard it enough to do a formal review, but this release finds Rob tackling jazz oriented material (Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" Miles Davis' "New Blues", Larry Carlton's "Don't Give It Up") backed for the most part by piano, drums and bass . Guests include Tim O'Brien, Suzanne and Sidney Cox on vocals on one tune each, and Joe Craven on mandolin and percussion on several tracks. If you are expecting bluegrass, you'll be disappointed. If you like jazz guitar, you'll probably enjoy this a whole bunch. It's really good.
RE: Split Enz - True Colors (CH covering HC)
"Walker, Jason" [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I think the song in question is one by Melbourne band Hunters Collectors called "Throw Your Arms Around Me" - the lyric in question is: And we may never meet again So shed your skin and let's get started And you will throw your arms around me" Junior I have a live recording of Crowded House covering this song. It is from a CD of live rarities that a friend of mine put together. If anyone is interested, e-mail me privately and I can track down the source. Cheers, Jay N. N.P. Poptopia! Power Pop Classics of the 90's (in a pop mood -- great CD!)
Re: Americana guesswork
There's a story developing here regarding the current state of "Americana." (TM)Who's going to write it? (c'mon Mr. Slack - tell it like it is) Caution: the following are assumptions, though I suspect close to the truth: Someone probably wanted Americana to still be Americana - in other words, keeping the current reporting stations intact, which for the majority are not huge and potentially impacting, and someone else probably wanted to slick it up a bit. Maybe start a singles chart. Change the name. Blah blah blah. The circle goes round and round and you can only suspect and theorize who wants what. Bottom line: the stuff ain't selling and not many people are paying attention to it, and maybe Gavin or whoever else involved the Americana mafia are finally beginning to realize it and feel the need for changes to be made before Gavin just gives up on it. I mean, when Dale Watson's only selling appox 10,000 copies, maybe some changes should be made. Who knows. I'm just guessing...I know I wouldn't want that damn job First off, "The Truckin' Sessions" as of last week has sold less than 4000 units since its release in August. So the sales impact of "Americana" radio is even less than most assume. Anyway... I think the name "Americana" sucks. As a word it connotes a wide array of meanings, none of which immediately bring to mind the kind of music that seems to be be taking over a chart that was once dominated by folky singer-songwriter crap. My thinking is that Gavin should take advantage of the widespread disgust and disillusionment with country radio (which truly is the root of all evil - Nashville makes records according to the perceived tastes of programmers) by scrapping the folky reporting stations, renaming the chart "Alternative Country" and positioning the whole thing similarly to the way Alternative Rock was positioned in opposition to AOR ten years ago. How will this help sell records? First, changing the name from the hazy "Americana" to something with the word "country" in it will clearly define the whole raison d'etre of the format as an actual alternative to the dreck on country radio, Though my research is informal and anecdotal (my mom and her friends were the focus group) I believe lots of country fans are sick of country radio. A clearly defined format can be more easily marketed to disaffected country fans. Second, and most importantly, as alternative rock caused AOR to loosen up and start playing U2 and REM then Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, then Rage Against the Machine, I believe even a moderately successful alternative country format will force mainstream programmers to broaden their playlists to include acts such as The Derailers, Dale Watson, and Kelly Willis and maybe even consign Shania and her ilk to some sort of Adult Contemporary Country format.Then we will begin to see sales impact. Of course, what we really need is our own Nirvana. After hearing a bit of their new recordings and considering their slight but important impact at mainstream country with "California Angel" I'm thinking maybe The Derailers are the right horse on which to bet. NP: The Trial of William Jefferson Clinton
Americana guesswork
Actually, I agree with Mr. Riedie (and Yates, for that matter). The term "Americana" has proven itself to be too vague to mean much to listeners; it seems to denote singer-songwriter types, if anything. So as much as the term "Alt-Country" makes me groan, I be happier seeing it used than the other, as least as far as the twangy stuff goes. Kip
Re: Americana guesswork
Of course, what we really need is our own Nirvana. After hearing a bit of their new recordings and considering their slight but important impact at mainstream country with "California Angel" I'm thinking maybe The Derailers are the right horse on which to bet. Therein lies the problem. The fucking thing is overhyped already. At least grunge started selling, THEN got overhyped. It's now been 6 years or so (arguably) that this genre/format or whatever gotten any attention and every year we hear the same bullshit - I remember Peter Blackstock saying "this is the one that's going to blow it open" about "Tomorrow the Green Grass." Less than a year later, he admirably put his tail between his legs in the same paper he wrote it and admitted he was wrong. And the year before that and after that it was another record. Every year it's something new that's going to blow it open. I have no idea why I am typing this. Oh well. -Original Message- From: JP Riedie [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 4:18 PM Subject: Re: Americana guesswork There's a story developing here regarding the current state of "Americana." (TM)Who's going to write it? (c'mon Mr. Slack - tell it like it is) Caution: the following are assumptions, though I suspect close to the truth: Someone probably wanted Americana to still be Americana - in other words, keeping the current reporting stations intact, which for the majority are not huge and potentially impacting, and someone else probably wanted to slick it up a bit. Maybe start a singles chart. Change the name. Blah blah blah. The circle goes round and round and you can only suspect and theorize who wants what. Bottom line: the stuff ain't selling and not many people are paying attention to it, and maybe Gavin or whoever else involved the Americana mafia are finally beginning to realize it and feel the need for changes to be made before Gavin just gives up on it. I mean, when Dale Watson's only selling appox 10,000 copies, maybe some changes should be made. Who knows. I'm just guessing...I know I wouldn't want that damn job First off, "The Truckin' Sessions" as of last week has sold less than 4000 units since its release in August. So the sales impact of "Americana" radio is even less than most assume. Anyway... I think the name "Americana" sucks. As a word it connotes a wide array of meanings, none of which immediately bring to mind the kind of music that seems to be be taking over a chart that was once dominated by folky singer-songwriter crap. My thinking is that Gavin should take advantage of the widespread disgust and disillusionment with country radio (which truly is the root of all evil - Nashville makes records according to the perceived tastes of programmers) by scrapping the folky reporting stations, renaming the chart "Alternative Country" and positioning the whole thing similarly to the way Alternative Rock was positioned in opposition to AOR ten years ago. How will this help sell records? First, changing the name from the hazy "Americana" to something with the word "country" in it will clearly define the whole raison d'etre of the format as an actual alternative to the dreck on country radio, Though my research is informal and anecdotal (my mom and her friends were the focus group) I believe lots of country fans are sick of country radio. A clearly defined format can be more easily marketed to disaffected country fans. Second, and most importantly, as alternative rock caused AOR to loosen up and start playing U2 and REM then Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, then Rage Against the Machine, I believe even a moderately successful alternative country format will force mainstream programmers to broaden their playlists to include acts such as The Derailers, Dale Watson, and Kelly Willis and maybe even consign Shania and her ilk to some sort of Adult Contemporary Country format.Then we will begin to see sales impact. Of course, what we really need is our own Nirvana. After hearing a bit of their new recordings and considering their slight but important impact at mainstream country with "California Angel" I'm thinking maybe The Derailers are the right horse on which to bet. NP: The Trial of William Jefferson Clinton
RE: Bright Lights Blonde Haired Women
West Coast country fella Eddie Kirk wrote it, which means it may very well have been performed first by Tennessee Ernie. Then again, some other West Coaster may have had first crack at it.--don [Matt Benz] Hmm. Guess that blossoming Nashville Sound of Price's version threw me off. Damn sentimental pop tripe...G Just kidding. Please, no strings wars!
Tom Waits On E-Pulse
Here is a snippet from E-Pulse about the new Tom Waits:
CONTENT / January 15, 1999
1. RECORD OF THE WEEK:
A new disc by TOM WAITS is always cause for celebration, and 'MULE
VARIATIONS' (Epitaph, due in March), his first full record of fresh
material since '93's 'The Black Rider,' doesn't disappoint. While none of
the 16 new tracks would have sounded out of place on '92's Grammy-winning
'Bone Machine,' Waits' percussion-and-distorto-vocal outings ("Big in
Japan," "Lowside of the Road") and rough-hewn, down-trodden ballads
("Georgia Lee," "House Where Nobody Lives") still sound powerful and
compelling. "What's He Building?" is a creepy spoken-word exploration of a
shadowy, perhaps sinister, figure and his mysterious project, and it comes
from the same subterranean mental cavern as 'Bone Machine''s "The Ocean
Doesn't Want Me." Meanwhile, "Chocolate Jesus" gets more mileage out of
the rooster crows heard a time or two in Waits' back catalog. "Get Behind
the Mule" digs deep into the blues tradition a la "Jesus Gonna Be Here,"
with muddy electric guitar and harp trading licks beneath vignettes of
dirty deals and lost love. It's musical and thematic terrain Waits has
covered time and again in the last decade and a half. But considering the
astonishing musical merits of his most recent handful of efforts--'Mule
Variations' included--it's rich terrain indeed. Now all we need is for
Waits to play out. (Hammad)
Re: Swiss lyric site shut down
jamie wrote: www.lyrics.ch was shut down, with help from the Hairy Fox Agency (I hate those guys...). Story at: http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/cyber/articles/19lyrics.html Interesting story Jamie.I'm at a loss to understand how writers were really being hurt by this site, in particular if sheet music of their tunes isn't available. But this clip got my attention: The Lyrics Server was launched after de Vries's rock band, First of May, struggled to find the correct lyrics for Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" and other songs they wanted to cover. To think, this whole thing could have been averted if the guy'd just written John Wendland. g b.s. n.p. NUGGETS Disc1
Re: cd reviewing ethics Danger: long and a bit preachy!
linda ray wrote: "Nobody's Dan Rather, here, and nobody's covering Congress." (i can't help but reply!) Close but no cigar -- I DO cover congress and I did give dan a copy of the HTC cd the other day and invited him to sit in with us and sing a coupla train songs any day (we both work for the same outfit) -- I haven't written any alt-country/country reviews yet, but I will. Because writing about alt-country/country is different than covering other genres. Right now it's a fairly underground scene -- Mike and I call the "scene" in DC underground because there aren't many venues for it here and there are no radio stations that play it (no americana stations around, either -- can you believe it?) BUT the audiences are growing - rapidly, because there is the PERCEPTION of a scene. And if there's a perceived scene, there is a scene. We had a terrible ice storm here in DC last Thursday, and - despite write-ups in the Washington Post and City Paper -- I really thought the only people who'd show up for the Greetings from the District of Country cd release party at Iota would be the players. I was happily wrong -- it was jam-packed. We are CREATING a scene here! But whatever you call it -- a scene-- a "movement" or whatever -- for the most part, the publicity isn't going to be done for us - we have to do some flag-waving ourselves. That's what the punkers and new wavers did back in the late 80s in dc- we rented storefronts and begged clubs to let us play on Mondays -- we plastered the town with flyers and started fanzines. Who else was going to write for the fanzines but the musicians? People read DCenes in the record stores, saw our flyers on lightposts around Dupont Circle and Georgetown, then started hearing our records on WGTB (bless you may you rest in peace) and on WHFS (which has now turned into a slop-90s haha "alternative"-those-kids-don't-know-the-meaning-of-alternative station) and it became a very very big scene. My little band Tru Fax the Insaniacs sold out the cavernous (as in Luray Caverns it was so big) Wax Museum and 9:30 Club many times -- and so did our compatriots like the Slickee Boys and Insect Surfers and Tiny Desk Unit and Urban Verbs and many many bands. Oops, I'm getting loud. Anyway, the idea is to grow a "scene" the way we grew up those many years ago. And if i have to put on my own barn dances and publish my own little fanzine or ezine or whatever to help it grow, I'll do it. A slight aside: I think that fanzine and ezine writing is a lot different than writing for, say, The Washington Post. Eric Brace writes a "Circuits" column every week for the Post's Weekend Section. It's about the clubs and bands and shows in town. He's also in the very very good Last Train Home band, but he is not allowed to write about any shows or cds that band is involved in. I asked him to be on the Greetings cd, but he said that he couldn't, because he was going to write about the cd release party. He straddles a very wide road, but he does it very very well. But I wish he were on the cd and I wish he'd play my danged barn dance!
Re: Americana guesswork
But see, that's the thing...there's never going to be an "Alt-Country Nirvana" because fifteen year-olds don't generally listen to Steve Earle or Dale Watson or even the Old 97's. Let's face it, folks: this P2 bag, this Americana/Alt-Country/Roots-Rock thing that gets discussed here? It's Old People Music g. Sure, some of your more open-minded, musically curious youngsters are gonna dig this stuff but essentially this is a niche market, for the most part. I mean hell, even back in the heyday of '70's country rock, only the Eagles made any money off the music--and even then, they bagged the twangier elements of it right around "Hotel California". The Jayhawks, Uncle Tupelo, the Botterockets, Wilco, Son Volt, Whiskeytown, *none* of these bands has done/is doing the kind of sales that say, Third Eye Blind is doing, and I really don't see that changing anytime soon. In fact, rarely has there been so much media attention paid to a genre that, for all intents and purposes, is commerical death. What's my point? We shouldn't be waiting for the Unknown Act to open the Alt-Country gates wide, because it isn't going to happen. And really, is that so horrible a thing? Kip
RE:ethics and growing a scene-one more thing
One big difference between growing a scene today and twenty years ago is that today we have the internet. We have a way to link to others (you all) who are interested in this kind of music and working in their home towns on growing the scene -- locally and nationally. Twenty years ago I had to go to Skip Groff's indie store in Rockville to hear the new punk 45s -- now all I have to do is dial of twangcast.com -- or go to miles of music or village on the internet and order a couple of cds. And the very knowledgeable radio jocks on this list are doing their part -- both at home where they can proselytize for their weekly one or two or three hours-- as well as right here on this list. OK i'll stop now. But everyone think of what we're doing here -- I think it's very very exciting! (pant pant) gotta go calm down now. walk the dogs or something
re: The Fifth Beatle
I can't believe that with all the pop culture geeks on this list that no one's gotten the "Clarence, the Fifth Beatle" reference. It's from an Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live sketch, where they overdubbed his vocals onto Beatles songs and superimposed his face into band photos. that fact that I do know this probably speaks volumes as to my social life at the time jim catalano
RE: ethics and growing a scene-one more thing
Twenty years ago I had to go to Skip Groff's indie store in Rockville to hear the new punk 45s -- now all I have to do is dial of twangcast.com... ??? What the hell are you up to over there, Mike? g Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: CD reviewing ethics
I'm finding this debate very interesting. One reason that I've never actively pursued playing live music in Ithaca is the fact that I've been the local music writer since 1992. In a small town like this, I've always felt that if I started trying to get gigs for myself or a band, it would more difficult to cover shows at local clubs and write about other bands. And would I be able to write about myself (if I had a legitimate reason) in my weekly column? Probably not... As far as getting close to musicians I write about, I have to say that this has been the best part of my music writing career, both locally and nationally. As someone said, this isn't political journalism, so I don't think there's any real harm in writing about someone you know and like, or liking someone that you write about. That said, I must admit that I avoided talking to Johnny Dowd for several years after I first saw in back in 1991. I didn't want to destroy his what I perceived as his "cool aura" by actually talking to him in person, even though I would constantly see him around Ithaca. Of course, about two and half years ago, I finally got around to interviewing for the cassette release of "Wrong Side of Memphis," and found that he's even cooler now that I actually know him. So did that make it unethical for me to write about him for No Depression, or for that matter, hire his moving company when I bought my new house? I don't think so. Jim Catalano Who's also wondering if it's unethicial to review Bad Religion albums when I play hockey with Greg Graffin...
RE: The Fifth Beatle
Ah - I was going with the "It's a Wonderful Life" reference. "Jooseph! Oh, Jseph!" I can't believe that with all the pop culture geeks on this list that no one's gotten the "Clarence, the Fifth Beatle" reference. It's from an Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live sketch, where they overdubbed his vocals onto Beatles songs and superimposed his face into band photos. that fact that I do know this probably speaks volumes as to my social life at the time jim catalano
Re: The Fifth Beatle
I can't believe that with all the pop culture geeks on this list that no one's gotten the "Clarence, the Fifth Beatle" reference. It's from an Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live sketch, where they overdubbed his vocals onto Beatles songs and superimposed his face into band photos. Of course! He was the saxphone player, right? I remember it well. I'm a loser.
Re: Americana guesswork
Of course, what we really need is our own Nirvana. After hearing a bit of their new recordings and considering their slight but important impact at mainstream country with "California Angel" I'm thinking maybe The Derailers are the right horse on which to bet. Therein lies the problem. The fucking thing is overhyped already. At least grunge started selling, THEN got overhyped. It's now been 6 years or so (arguably) that this genre/format or whatever gotten any attention and every year we hear the same bullshit - I remember Peter Blackstock saying "this is the one that's going to blow it open" about "Tomorrow the Green Grass." Less than a year later, he admirably put his tail between his legs in the same paper he wrote it and admitted he was wrong. And the year before that and after that it was another record. Every year it's something new that's going to blow it open. I have no idea why I am typing this. Oh well. If I'm not mistaken, Blackstock was referring to the type of music originally considered alt country - Son Volt, Jayhawks and that ilk - music more alternative than country that never had a prayer of appealing to people who listen to Garth Brooks. It was incredibly, disturbingly overhyped more as a successor to grunge at alternative radio than an alternative to Nashville. I'm talking about country music that is only alternative when defined against Nashville. Without crap like Shania Twain and Tim McGraw, The Derailers are just plain country. The format we need probably will not be pushing the stuff Blackstock to which Blackstock was referring.
re: The Fifth Beatle
On Tue, 19 Jan 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I can't believe that with all the pop culture geeks on this list that no one's gotten the "Clarence, the Fifth Beatle" reference. It's from an Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live sketch, I've heard of Saturday Night Live! That's that Lake Wobegone radio show, isn't it? But who's this Murphy guy? Does he do Irish jokes or something? -- Mike Woods
Re: Americana guesswork
On Tue, 19 Jan 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: But see, that's the thing...there's never going to be an "Alt-Country Nirvana" because fifteen year-olds don't generally listen to Steve Earle or Dale Watson or even the Old 97's. Let's face it, folks: this P2 bag, this Americana/Alt-Country/Roots-Rock thing that gets discussed here? It's Old People Music g. Sure, some of your more open-minded, musically curious youngsters are gonna dig this stuff but essentially this is a niche market, for the most part. Not disagreeing, Kip, but who says that niche has to be teenagers? Aren't there plenty of country fans who just can't find what they want on the radio? (Hook for Jon to point out that, with record Arb scores, country radio *is* giving fans what they want. g) The biggest problem I have with that scenario myself, and I guess I just have to hope I'm proven wrong, is that back, say, in the '70s and early '80s, progressive country was essentially country music that incorporated elements of other kinds of music -- mostly rock, also quite a bit of jazz and blues. Nowadays alt-country is exactly the opposite: different kinds of music incorporating aspects of country. Now, a few hundred people on this list find that fascinating, but I'm not sure folks who know what they want would listen to a radio station that plays four songs they don't want for that fifth they do. I mean hell, even back in the heyday of '70's country rock, only the Eagles made any money off the music--and even then, they bagged the twangier elements of it right around "Hotel California". Remember, this is looking at it only from the rock standpoint. Folks like Waylon Jennings weren't exactly begging for spare change. The Jayhawks, Uncle Tupelo, the Botterockets, Wilco, Son Volt, Whiskeytown, *none* of these bands has done/is doing the kind of sales that say, Third Eye Blind is doing, and I really don't see that changing anytime soon. In fact, rarely has there been so much media attention paid to a genre that, for all intents and purposes, is commerical death. What's my point? We shouldn't be waiting for the Unknown Act to open the Alt-Country gates wide, because it isn't going to happen. And really, is that so horrible a thing? I agree that we shouldn't be waiting, but I don't think it's so unlikely, either. Unless you understand why the Squirrel Nut Zippers have been so successful. (Which can be described in hindsight, but does anyone really *know*?) Bob (Of course, now the Zippers are considered "alternative" rather than "jazz." Ha.)
Re: Americana guesswork
I'm counting on everyone to stop wishing alt-country will "blow open," since the continual frustration of that hope seems to me to be causing some of the genre's stalwarts to falter a bit. There'll be events like Lucinda's much-hyped (but not so much bought) 1998, but I think the key is the demographic point someone previously made - it is in fact a glass ceiling that's set at about knee level. Though this is a drag for working musicians, for fans it's not really so bad - the constant obsession with judging musical success by huge sales numbers seems parallel to me with the tendency to judge politics by polls, movies by box office, and justice by corporate dividends. Here's my 1999 slogan for alt-country/Americana - The Back To "No Future" Music - "The Past is Now." carl w.
Re: Americana guesswork
My thinking is that Gavin should take advantage of the widespread disgust and disillusionment with country radio (which truly is the root of all evil Tell it brother! The declining numbers for country radio should be the writing on the wall but it seems as if everyone with any power has blinders on. And they damn sure don't listen to anyone who has a finger on the pulse of the listening audience - Nashville makes records according to the perceived tastes of programmers) by scrapping the folky reporting stations, renaming the chart "Alternative Country" and positioning the whole thing similarly to the way Alternative Rock was positioned in opposition to AOR ten years ago. Or how about just calling it Real Country and let Gnashville get their knickers in a knot. Who gives a rats ass? Your idea on positioning is a bonafide one and no matter what it's called it must use the term country to make it easily identifiable to the "forgotten listeners", How will this help sell records? First, changing the name from the hazy "Americana" to something with the word "country" in it will clearly define the whole raison d'etre of the format as an actual alternative to the dreck on country radio, . A clearly defined format can be more easily marketed to disaffected country fans. BINGO! NOW ONLINE, www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
Re: Americana guesswork
I tend to agree with JP that the "Tupelo" vein of twangy alt-rock was never destined to break big, but should be distinguished from the Austin-and-elsewhere style of *country* outside the Nasvegas mainstream. This latter vein, to my mind, is another thing altogether, and something that with the right marketing and support could do better --junior
Re: cd reviewing ethics Danger: long and a bit preachy!
In a message dated 99-01-19 17:25:31 EST, you write: But whatever you call it -- a scene-- a "movement" or whatever -- for the most part, the publicity isn't going to be done for us - we have to do some flag-waving ourselves. That's what the punkers and new wavers did back in the late 80s in dc- we rented storefronts and begged clubs to let us play on Mondays -- we plastered the town with flyers and started fanzines. Who else was going to write for the fanzines but the musicians? People read DCenes in the record stores, saw our flyers on lightposts around Dupont Circle and Georgetown, then started hearing our records on WGTB (bless you may you rest in peace) and on WHFS (which has now turned into a slop-90s haha Anyway, the idea is to grow a "scene" the way we grew up those many years ago. And if i have to put on my own barn dances and publish my own little fanzine or ezine or whatever to help it grow, I'll do it. I have to say I agree. We have a little bluegrass fanzine called The Burr here in the NYC area and we all write about each other in it. And it gets a bit of attention for all the people on the bluegrass scene here, and really encouraged a lot of growth in that little fledgling scene. It created a local forum. We write about each other because we're all passionate about the music enough to put together bands, and put on bluegrass festivals (in NYC!!!) and Twang Festivals and bust our butts for the music. It's hard not to become friends with the bands, especially the ones your really like, and, especially in this tiny little market, where almost every CD project is a labor love, it seems like most musicians wear more than one hat. I have muscian friends who work at labels, who work at magazines, record stores, work for publicists. Ethically, if a band was horrid and you said they would incredible because you had a crush on the lead singer, well, that would suck. But journalists have reputations to keep up as well. If you're going to rave about something in print your creditablilty as a critic is on the line. If they're great, you win, if they blow chunks, you lose (although of course then there's the matter of taste). I've written about The Shankman Twins in Bluegrass Unlimited back in the day when I was doing those kinds of things, and they had become sort of friends of mine. I had seen them at WInterhawk, on the kiddie stage, and been blown away and a series of conversations, we hung out a bit, and pretty soon I was doing an article on them. I don't think I did anything wrong. I've written about many friends of mine for the local paper here in Hoboken when I was a regular contributor, but only when I really really loved the band. I never bumped an artist I didn't know in order to give press to a friend of mine, that would be rotten. ANd I never let anyone pressure me into presenting something the way they wanted it presented. It's hard in the small world of grass roots Twang to avoid having your name on the CD of an artist you've supported and become friendly with, or to have avoided having had a beer with this artist or that, but I think the real ethical problem would be not saying something you really want to say in print because you're afraid of what someone "might think." But then again, what do i know? I'm no hot shot journalist, just a lowly musician... Elena Skye
Re: CD reviewing ethics
In a message dated 99-01-19 12:39:32 EST, Will writes: Back in the 70s when she breaking into clubs, Patti Smith used to write great reviews in Rolling Stone. Most reviewers write weak, pandering crap. Obviously this supposed conflict of interest doesnt get in the way of good reviewing. that''s so cool, I didn't know Patti Smith wrote reviews. I think there must be a lot more musican/journalists than I ever imagined. I know Chrissy Hynde wrote for a while, I think for Trouser Press. It's a hard fence to balance on because of course one would rather be playing music than writing about it, but a scrambling musician has to make a buck somehow and why not do it covering something you love... Elena
Re: Americana guesswork
On Tue, 19 Jan 1999, BARNARD wrote: I tend to agree with JP that the "Tupelo" vein of twangy alt-rock was never destined to break big, but should be distinguished from the Austin-and-elsewhere style of *country* outside the Nasvegas mainstream. This latter vein, to my mind, is another thing altogether, and something that with the right marketing and support could do better Actually, I fully agree with what the professor writes above and what Bob Soron was, I think, partially referring to in his post. There *is* a difference between "Tupelo Rock" (trademark pending) and the retro-roots stylings of bands like the Derailers/Dale Watson/the Mavericks etc, and the latter surely could be marketed more cannily to those who are dissatisfied with commerical country radio. But I don't see a whole lot of growth on the Tupelo Rock side of things; it's just too rock for country and too country for rock'n'roll, as they say. But really, do I care if Jay Farrar never sells 1,000,000 copies of anything? As long as he can make a living in this silly business, I suspect he'll be reasonably content and will continue making music. Kip
Re: Americana guesswork
I'm counting on everyone to stop wishing alt-country will "blow open," since the continual frustration of that hope seems to me to be causing some of the genre's stalwarts to falter a bit. There'll be events like Lucinda's much-hyped (but not so much bought) 1998, but I think the key is the demographic point someone previously made - it is in fact a glass ceiling that's set at about knee level. Though this is a drag for working musicians, for fans it's not really so bad - the constant obsession with judging musical success by huge sales numbers seems parallel to me with the tendency to judge politics by polls, movies by box office, and justice by corporate dividends. Here's my 1999 slogan for alt-country/Americana - The Back To "No Future" Music - "The Past is Now." carl w. Hey! Don't forget that by most definitions I'm a weasel and if I don't figure out how to help them sell millions I'll never get my private jet or be able to afford several trophy wives. But seriously, nobody's judging success only by sales. Hell, I would jumped into hip-hop a long time ago if I thought that way. What I AM interested in doing is getting some bona fide geniuses as much success as I believe they deserve and maybe preserve a great musical tradition that is being bastardized as never before.
Re: Americana guesswork
But see, that's the thing...there's never going to be an "Alt-Country Nirvana" because fifteen year-olds don't generally listen to Steve Earle or Dale Watson or even the Old 97's. Let's face it, folks: this P2 bag, this Americana/Alt-Country/Roots-Rock thing that gets discussed here? It's Old People Music g. Sure, some of your more open-minded, musically curious youngsters are gonna dig this stuff but essentially this is a niche market, for the most part. I mean hell, even back in the heyday of '70's country rock, only the Eagles made any money off the music--and even then, they bagged the twangier elements of it right around "Hotel California". The Jayhawks, Uncle Tupelo, the Botterockets, Wilco, Son Volt, Whiskeytown, *none* of these bands has done/is doing the kind of sales that say, Third Eye Blind is doing, and I really don't see that changing anytime soon. In fact, rarely has there been so much media attention paid to a genre that, for all intents and purposes, is commerical death. What's my point? We shouldn't be waiting for the Unknown Act to open the Alt-Country gates wide, because it isn't going to happen. And really, is that so horrible a thing? Kip I'm not known for my optimism (is it optimistic to think that deep down Yates really likes me?) but two things make me think you're wrong 1) Before Nirvana, punk WAS "old people's music" the average punk fan before Nirvana (Kurt always claimed it to be a punk band) took it to the masses was the age of the editors at Maximum Rock and Roll - mid-thirties. I think its fair to say (though, this is from my own experience in Austin's punk scene) that punk was seen as the music of aging hipsters. Around 1988 I was among the youngest regulars on the scene. Teenagers into punk were a small subculture before Nirvana, The Offspring and Green Day broke it open. 2) I'm not talking about Son Volt et al. I'm talking about converting teenagers already into country from crapola to good country - The Derailers making Diamond Rio, John Michael Montgomery and Clay Walker look passe and silly (duh!) and eventually taking up space on mainstream radio next to Alan Jackson, Patty Loveless and George Strait. Kind of like Dwight, Clint, Randy and Steve saved country from Kenny Rogers in 1986 (of course Garth ruined all that.) From tired, cliched country to another, richer style that will also bring new fans to the genre. Like Nirvana converted Motley Crue and Poison fans to punk - a more vibrant form of the general type of music they already listened to. And remember, when AOR radio opened up to some of the acts who broke at alternative they didn't stop playing Aerosmith and AC/DC, they dropped only those acts that looked ridiculously passe and silly. As for the bands you cite, they were never in line for country radio, rather the industry expected them to break at alternative and AAA, eventually crossing into AOR possibly Contemporary Adult, but never, ever at country. An ideal alternative country format would play all the subgenres discussed here (except maybe bluegrass g) but only a few would crossover. The analogue within alt rock being that Pearl Jam is often played side by side with Led Zeppelin on mainstream rock stations but Depeche Mode didn't make it. And finally, before anyone points out that the alternative format is now hopelessly mire in the muck of mainstream, just remember, I'm discussing the format as it stood 5-7 years ago.
Re: test
Not yet On Mon, 18 Jan 1999 23:45:33 -0500 Jeff Wall [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: did I get bumped? Jeff Wall http://www.twangzine.com The Webs least sucky music magazine 727 Alder Circle - Va Beach, Va - 23462 -(757) 467-3764 ___ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
Re: ethics and growing a scene-one more thing
This all appeared on my screen: Twenty years ago I had to go to Skip Groff's indie store in Rockville to hear the new punk 45s -- now all I have to do is dial of twangcast.com... ??? What the hell are you up to over there, Mike? Playing that damn punky Dale Watson and those hellions of rebellion, Honky Tonk Confidential, but s, don't let anyone know, the world might not be able to take it. BTW, Just got interviewed by a freelancer for a Gavin article on internet radio in particular and TwangCast by default. She said she had a tight deadline so I assume it's coming out soon. NOW ONLINE, www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
Re[2]: cd reviewing ethics Danger: long and a bit preachy!
..Anyway, the idea is to grow a "scene" the way we grew up those many years ago. And if i have to put on my own barn dances and publish my own little fanzine or ezine or whatever to help it grow, I'll do it. I have to say I agree. We have a little bluegrass fanzine called The Burr here in the NYC area and we all write about each other in it. And it gets a bit of attention for all the people on the bluegrass scene here, and really encouraged a lot of growth in that little fledgling scene. It created a local forum. There's a professionalism vs. scene-support divide in the music-journalism biz that's hard to cope with. At the so-called alternative-weekly I wrote for in Montreal, friendships with musicians were considered qualifications for the job -- the one leverage we had against the grown-up media in getting stories, interviews etc first. There was an unspoken understanding you wouldn't stand to make $ off promoting anyone, but that was about the only limit. I don't think it was *entirely* healthy - I was less comfortable with folks around me who had the same kind of friendships with major-label record and radio hacks and who felt obliged to do favours for them re: shit music. But since I specialized in the weird stuff - experimental indie rock, avant-garde stuff, non-dance electronics and country/roots material - it was easy for me to feel that I was a part of what little scene existed in those areas, but as a writer rather than as a musician or promoter. It sorta made life worth living - and while I might have overstated things when I loved what a local musician was doing, along with the "inside" role it seemed to me I was constrained to offer constructive criticism or even a hard jab here and there, since a critical ear and incisive pen was what, according to my lights, I had to offer to help improve things. Working now at a major metropolitan daily (I just like the way the words go together) - and not being a full-time critic, but fighting for space to do some music writing here there - the divide is a little harder, 'cuz there's none of the idealized marriage between the paper and a scene that many alt-weeklies at least imagine themselves to have. Mind you, it is fun to try to sneak things in (like my Magnetic Fields Richard Buckner pieces this summer) that the paper just wouldn't normally print. And it's also fun to play the voice on the mountaintop judging big cultural trends. BUT - north american media's so hamstrung by the Voice of Objectivity, and a whole overwrought ethical system that goes along with it, that suddenly being friends with people you've praised (even because you've praised them) is an issue. Frankly I think culture, unlike straight politics, is so far from being a matter of objectivity that most of these systems of thought are insane. I heard Frank Rich, former theatre critic of the NY Times, say that during his long period as critic he avoided having any social contact with people in the theatre. Which means that as a reviewer you miss whole levels of insight you can provide to an audience, and set yourself up as some sort of vehicle of divine intervention. I'd rather read someone like Gary Indiana, whose allegiances and positions are clear and whose point-of-view is the spirit motor of his writing, anyday. A friend who read my Buckner piece thought it was well-written but criticized it for sounding "a bit too much like it was written by a fan." To me that was praise - the aesthetic of the old punk and other scene magazines that demanded and got great writing but great writing by people who were clearly passionate about the art form and the specific music they addressed. That's the kind of thing that raises criticism to an art. All else is foul wind. And if you can afford to take the time to write for the kind of small-scale, non-paying miracles like the bluegrass zine Elena's talking about, that's a sort of secular heaven. carl w.
Re: Americana guesswork
JP writes: 2) I'm not talking about Son Volt et al. I'm talking about converting teenagers already into country from crapola to good country etc Kind of like Dwight, Clint, Randy and Steve saved country from Kenny Rogers in 1986 (of course Garth ruined all that.) From tired, cliched country to another, richer style that will also bring new fans to the genre. Like Nirvana converted Motley Crue and Poison fans to punk ... ok, but how many teenagers are there who are into any kinda country? anyone know? does Garth have a teenaged audience? did Dwight Randy? i'm genuinely curious. verbose this aft, carl w.
Re: Americana guesswork
JP writes:
2) I'm not talking about Son Volt et al. I'm talking about
converting teenagers already into country from crapola to good
country etc Kind of like Dwight, Clint, Randy and Steve saved
country from Kenny Rogers in 1986 (of course Garth ruined all that.)
From tired, cliched country to another, richer style that will also
bring new fans to the genre. Like Nirvana converted Motley Crue and
Poison fans to punk ...
ok, but how many teenagers are there who are into any kinda country?
anyone know? does Garth have a teenaged audience? did Dwight Randy?
i'm genuinely curious.
verbose this aft,
carl w.
Well, Dwight and Steve snagged me when I was sixteen and was only listening
to 70's Willie, Waylon and Merle 'cause I felt (rightly) that contemporary
country sucked.
The last two big revolutions in commercial country (The Outlaws and Dwight
et al) spurred overall growth in the genre. In fact, the outlaws record
was the first country record to ever go platinum. Maybe the next
revolution ("the Austin takeover" is what I like to call it) will energize
disaffected country fans AND bring in bored rock fans who can't seem to get
their heads around hip-hop.
As for teenagers being into country right now? There sure are an awful lot
of them showing up at Garth's shows. Yet according to a friend in Asleep
at the Wheel attendance on the George Strait tour they did last year was
overwhelmingly 30+ and predominately female. So who knows? Maybe if
Nashville gave them something with at least a whiff of rebellion
Re: Americana guesswork
ok, but how many teenagers are there who are into any kinda country? anyone know? does Garth have a teenaged audience? did Dwight Randy? Garth and Shania are about the only ones with sizable teen audiences but I am amazed at how many youngsters know and love the music my band covers every weekend, and we don't do Garth, we do George and Faron nd Hank! NOW ONLINE, www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
Re: Americana guesswork
At 07:17 PM 1/19/1999 -0500, you wrote: JP writes: ok, but how many teenagers are there who are into any kinda country? anyone know? does Garth have a teenaged audience? did Dwight Randy? i'm genuinely curious. verbose this aft, carl w. I don't know 'bout your end of the nation, but here in sunny Arizona the number of younger country listeners...and, I might add, with lots of disposable income (which for me means they might buy my records) is big and getting bigger. Hell, I've got a 14 year old niece asking me if I know Garth. Then again, Phoenix radio went into the toilet years ago.g NP: 1R1R
Re: Americana guesswork
At 06:34 PM 1/19/1999 -0600, you wrote: Maybe if Nashville gave them something with at least a whiff of rebellion BINGO!
RE: Yiddish URL??
-Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Barry Mazor Sent: Monday, January 18, 1999 5:23 PM To: passenger side Subject: RE: Yiddish URL?? ..a Yiddish dictionary for travelers.. Neat--but where in heck do you travel to any more where anybody speaks it? Try Delancey Street, NYC. Nicholas Not much any more. Not muich! Did you know that the great Daily Forward paper, home of great Yiddish lit and democratic socialism, has been a weekly in English the last couple of years. And you find in today's NYC that the hundreds oif thousands of ex-Soviet Jews who moved to Brighton Beach and such are way more likely to speak Russian than Yiddish at all...It's becoming a passng language--but there are those who are working to keep it alive. Barry
Re: Americana guesswork
JP Riedie wrote:
Maybe the next revolution ("the Austin takeover" is what I like to call it)
will energize
disaffected country fans AND bring in bored rock fans who can't seem to get
their heads around hip-hop.
Hey I was just talking to someone about "The Austin" connection. My
recollection is the whole Americana(tm) thang, in the beginning, was pretty
darn heavy with Texas folks and seems to have a fair share today. Maybe they
should just move the chart folks to Austin where they can be around all the
folks making music.
Jamie
NP: The Lucky Strikes "Songs and Dance"
Re: Americana guesswork
Of course, what we really need is our own Nirvana. After hearing a bit of their new recordings and considering their slight but important impact at mainstream country with "California Angel" I'm thinking maybe The Derailers are the right horse on which to bet. "Alt country"(which are the worst two words in the English language to mass market anything) or whatever you want to call it covers such a wide spectrum of musical tastes that I don't think there can ever be the kind of general consensus needed to raise one band or one sub-genre to any kind of Nirvana-like stature. So far, the numbers just ain't adding up to any kind of "breakthrough" for "alt-what-ever-it-is". The fact is that most people just plain and simple don't like it. You would have to do one hell of a PR job to foist it off on the public. Some country version of Marilyn Manson or Rob Zombie might be able to briefly pull it off and we could ride on their coattails. More sex and drugs! For the most part, we're all a pretty conservative lot, and I doubt our "ethics" would ever allow us to go the route of Marilyn Manson. We need to get used to the fact that "alt country" is always going to be a sub-genre and turn that to our advantage through reciprocity and good old pre-CMJ DIY ethics. I'm done now. Tom Moran The Deliberate Strangers' Old Home Place http://members.tripod.com/~Deliberate_Strangers/index.html
