RE: A Shuffle and a Hook?
oh wait...now that whole Blues Traveler song ("Hook") makes sense now Paul np: Pere Ubu - Datapanik Matt Benz wrote: a "Hook" is what grabs you about a song: a repeating riff, a catchy chorus, something that sticks in your heart and pulls ya in. A hook. -Original Message- From: Jeff Wall [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Subject: Re: A Shuffle and a Hook? okay, what's a hook? no fishing jokes please Jeff Wall
Re: CRS showcases (was: RE: clip: What's wrong with those people?)
BTW, who are Gil Grand and Monty Holmes? Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/ Holmes had an album out last summer, "All I Ever Wanted". Pretty much acoustic-based ballads, a few shuffles with steel guitar as mainstay throughout. Actually not a bad album and more country than what's on the top ten. His voice sometimes sounds like a fusion between George Jones and Colin Raye - some of the phrasing and style reminds me of that. I heard Gil Grand's name mentioned lately, just can't place him right now. Tera
Re: Townes Van Zandt
Arista/Austin? Isn't that label no longer? And what do we know about this new/old recording? A delicious feast or table scraps? Compared to other posthumous releases, it is as excellent as Rear View Mirror, as interesting as interesting as Last Rights or as awful as Highway Kind? So many questions. Neal Weiss? Hey, I really like The Highway Kind. What do you dislike about it? mike dougherty
Re: Tweedy quote
JG Roll said: I think that the bottom line is that Alt-Country is the commercial kiss of death. Nobody has really broken thru (Lucinda not excepted), and the radio format is a complete commercial wasteland. When you consider that these people (Wilco, etc.) are on major labels, and have been at this a long time, and want to keep their jobs, it shouldn't be such a mystery that they are very defensive when they seemingly cannot distance themselves from their past. Your first sentence sparked a few thoughts - alt.country seems to be music for we aging baby boomers as opposed to alt.rock or new country which seems to target the teen to twenties crowd. In a sense, alt.country is our nostalgia as much as a repackaging of "70's Metal Greats" or any of those compilations you can see advertised on TV. New ground isn't really broken inasmuch as being a crow pie sampling of styles which in some cases would not spark the interest of the primary album-buying public; not looking at statistics here, but I would say in general is the 16-30 aged crowd. There just isn't enough adrenaline to spark that interest. You can go back through the twentieth century and see that the predominating influential music of an era was rather high-speed frantic, sexually charged rhythms and lyrically suggestive vocals which seemed to "speak" to the adrenaline-laced, sexually confused, frustrated and seemingly manic-depressive alter states which is adolescence and partly the spirit which follows the freedom-as-adult concept.. Does alt.country at this point, speak to that audience? From flapper to big band swing to rockabilly to hard rock to alt.rock, it is a beat/style which is in keeping with the internal energy of a particular age group. Such that, at sixteen you may have worshipped at the altar of heavy metal, however at 35 or forty, you recognize that influence, smile a bit while still liking a good metal tune but you go on as you've grown with the myriad of transforming experiences encountered in your twenties, thirties and so on.At this point, we're ready for a mixture of nostalgia woven into our favorite rock and country artists and all the subgenres inbetween. Our internal systems have slowed (matured) a bit, craving substance over a quick fix. Alt.country is that musical balance for the baby boomer crowd, but it is not one which will enrapture or be embraced by the primary record buying public. Alt.country has to find a relevant "hook" with the teen to twenties crowd, "find" a breakout artist or just be content with receiving it's due in about twenty years. That, in my opinion is why Tweedy and others do not wish to be associated with an alt. labeling. "Music your mom and dad would like" to quote something else is not what platinum sales are all about. Tera
Walk Away Renee
Terry said: Anyhow, this is mainly just a sly plea for a modern alt.country band to cover "Don't Walk Away Renee." -- Terry Smith Jimmy LaFave does a great version of this song. -John
Re: Beantown Bound/Spurs
The Spurs are my pick for best band in the Boston area. Bostonians - don't miss 'em. Last time they played the Midway, people were dancing that I'd never seen move a muscle before. It was a strange roadhouse scene. John Tom Smith wrote: Evan wrote: I was wondering if anything interesting (twang or otherwise) was going on this weekend. The Spurs, a Western swing band, are playing at The Midway in Jamaica Plain. Haven't seen them, but have heard they're big fun. I'm coming to town to pick up some drums, so I'm goin'. Tom Smith
Re: Music you're dad would like
Gavin Martin dons his pipe and slippers before unearthing a few gems for the, um, older readers. Steve Earle got his first bluegrass lesson from Bill Monroe, the man who originated the keening hi-energy country sub-genre back in the 1930s. The fruits of the reformed smackhead's learning can now be heard on THE STEVE EARLE AND DEL McCOURY BAND's 'THE MOUNTAIN' (Grapevine) a new high water mark ... False construct. There's no way a person of *any* age wouldn't like great bluegrass, or this record. Most of the readers of N.M.E. have probably never heard of Steve Earle let alone Bill Monroe or bluegrass music. Whether this review will prompt any 16 year old indie kids, the vast majority of N.M.E.'s readership, to get into bluegrass is highly debatable. Andy, is this a column that the guy writes for "music older folks will like?" Is it in a rock-pop publication? Seems strange in a way. Strange indeed but probably not in the way that you think. It amazed me the album got a review at all let alone a grudgingly good one. N.M.E.'s sole aim these days seems to be to break the next big thing, hype them up and then knock them off their pedestal after their 15 minutes are up. Andy
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country
Your first sentence sparked a few thoughts - alt.country seems to be music for we aging baby boomers as opposed to alt.rock or new country which seems to target the teen to twenties crowd. In a sense, alt.country is our nostalgia as much as a repackaging of "70's Metal Greats" or any of those compilations you can see advertised on TV. New ground isn't really broken inasmuch as being a crow pie sampling of styles which in some cases would etc. etc. -- from Tera This stuff confuses me, as does the idea that a "movement" evolved around Uncle Tupelo and Tweedy/Farrar. A lot of folks, including a lot of "elderly" people on this list, have been listening to what's currently encapsuled in the alt.country category, for up to 30 years, and even longer. Nothing started with Uncle Tupelo, except for a stampede of non-Austin rock-n-rollers deciding to twang it up for awhile, and, thereby, making it a lot more difficult for people like me to pick the wheat from the chaff in the catalogs and record stores. So while there may be a lot of 40-year-olds gravitating toward the alt.country category, there's a lot of us who were hanging around listening to this stuff before Jeff Tweedy was out of short pants. -- Terry Smith ps enjoyed reading the transcripts of the A-list Nashville session musicians, from the 50s to early 70s, in the Journal of Country Music. I was wondering how much of those guys' nostalgicizing about the way things used to be, and about how the session business has changed, is understandable romanticizing, and how much is on point. One point they made was that these days session guitar and keyboard players don't have recognizable styles, while in the "old days" players had a signature sound, and if they didn't, they were in big trouble. (Thanks, Jon, for the issue.)
SXSW Music '99: Advice from the Sponsor
Two weeks remain until we start handing out badges and the fun begins throughout Austin. South By Southwest is going to happen again, like it or not. Planning for conference this year has been greatly enhanced by new services available at www.sxsw.com. Keeping track of who's playing where and when is a lot easier with our searchable bands database. We've also included simple text files of our music fest schedule for ease of printing, cutting and pasting. Here's a tip on arriving in Austin prepared: Print out your music fest information at the last possible moment. We're updating our band information several times daily and you'll want to have the most accurate list to plan from. We've finalized details for our panels and tradeshow, those are posted in our website and on the way to the printer for the analog version of the website we call the program book. We've got some great new speakers and exhibitors coming along with some old favorites. To those of you who are already registered, we're looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. We've worked our tails off to plan this thing, and we truly hope you find it valuable and entertaining. If you haven't registered yet, you may register online until March 8, after that walk up registration will at the Austin Convention Center Ballroom A, beginning March 17 at noon. P.S. If you're flying in, this is the last SXSW for the Robert Mueller Airport! Say goodbye to our tiny crowded field and get ready for Austin Bergstrom Airport for SXSW '00.
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
OH boy. Man Terry, you really have my blood boiling up here in Ann Arbor, and I am sure this debate has happened here before. But I am gonna bite anyways. On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Terry A. Smith wrote: This stuff confuses me, as does the idea that a "movement" evolved around Uncle Tupelo and Tweedy/Farrar. I think you've got your head in the sand if you think that Uncle Tupelo was not at the helm of the current No Depression/Alt. Country ship. This does not mean that they are a great band or that there wasn't non-commercial country prior to UT, (much as one would have to admit there was brit-pop and skiffle prior to the Beatles -- or -- sexy Honky Tonk/RB prior to Elvis Presley). But whether or not you like them we wouldn't have the term Alt.Country or No Depression used as it is without a few select bands UT, Jayhawks to name a couple. A lot of folks, including a lot of "elderly" people on this list, have been listening to what's currently encapsuled in the alt.country category, for up to 30 years, and even longer. This reminds me of a teenager trying to take owenership of his favorite punk band or grunge band. 'I heard it first!! I heard it first". This really isn't relevant to the UT/Tweedy posts. I am 33 years old and have been listening to Hank WIlliams/Bill Monroe/Carters/Balfa Brothers/The Outlaws/Marshal Tucker/The Long Riders/Green on Red/Steve Earle/Dwight Yoakam et. al. for most of my life. Big Deal. I think the point here is not whether the knowledgeable listener appreciates the music, but rather simply from a marketing point of vew the demographic is worth a commercial major label working it. I think Tera's point was well made. The stuff that sells is adolescent/sexy hormonal . . . and Alt. Country, whether the 40 somethings own it or not, is not gong to sell on that level. It's not meant to insult the "elderly" g. Nothing started with Uncle Tupelo, except for a stampede of non-Austin rock-n-rollers deciding to twang it up for awhile, and, thereby, making it a lot more difficult for people like me to pick the wheat from the chaff in the catalogs and record stores. Well, I would somewhat agree with you here. But unfortunately there has always been wheat and chaff and posers and artists. It sounds like you resent UT in some way. Well you have that right. But you are making a senseless generalization here in my opinion. Whether you like UT or not they have had an influence and it is in many ways posistive. They are clearly not a traditional band . . . but they did turn a lot of people on to traditional music who may not have heard it. THey combined punk roots with a love for traditional music and caught people's attention. There are so many loaded words in the sentence above that I don't even want to touch it. Just remember that musicians have every right to be influenced by other music and to play what they want. And that in many cases there are people out there who think that it is a positive thing. Also, I would bet that many people take great solace in the fact that they can sort through the wheat and chaff. Some may even find it fun. What the 'non-austin' part has to do with anything I cannot even guess. IS Austin the only place where people can play Alt. Country?? So many rules to learn!! So while there may be a lot of 40-year-olds gravitating toward the alt.country category, there's a lot of us who were hanging around listening to this stuff before Jeff Tweedy was out of short pants. Uh. Well no doubt. So what?? Doesn't mean that Tweedy shouldn't play his music does it?? Does it mean that sub 40 people should ask permission to listen to him and/or the real alt. country?? I think you missed the point entirely, which is simply that the demographic is not 'Hit Record' material. Alt. Country people aren't old or over the hill -- but rather they very simply aren't teeny-bopper hit making parents'-dollar-spending major label marketing material. That's it. Whether or not you like UT (I am not even a huge fan) without them I say you don't have Alt. Country/No Depression and you may not even have the amout of re-releases that we see today. I also challenge the idea that Alt. Country suddenly includes Bluegrass, Countrypolitan, Old Time, Folk, Punk-a-billy, Cowpunk, etc. Those things existed as genres before Alt. Country and No Depression ever surfaced. I think ultimately the reason that all of those got thrown into the mix was to attempt (and one I would make too) to legitimize Alt. Country as a valid programming format for radio. And we are still losing this struggle . . . which leads back to Tera's point . . . -jim
Hi/Bye
Leaving for Texas in a couple of days, so unsubbing for a bit (okay, so you won't notice g). Hope we are able to meet up with some of you at the BBQ, and some of the shows. Play nice folks, keep those Big Jim Egos in check, and don't let Freakwater disband until I get back... Sarah W. -- == http://www.mindspring.com/~vincebell/ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ==
RE: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Jim says: I also challenge the idea that Alt. Country suddenly includes Bluegrass, Countrypolitan, Old Time, Folk, Punk-a-billy, Cowpunk, etc. Those things existed as genres before Alt. Country and No Depression ever surfaced. So did country-rock. I think ultimately the reason that all of those got thrown into the mix was to attempt (and one I would make too) to legitimize Alt. Country as a valid programming format for radio. I don't. I think that including those under the alt.country umbrella follows in large part from the counterposition of alt.country to mainstream country, which has been a big part (maybe too big g) of alt.country's definition. One point worth recalling - and I wish I could lay my hands on the interview - is that at least once one of the UT guys has said that part of their interest in doing country-influenced music was for the outrageousness factor, i.e., what could be more convention-defying to punk-oriented peers than getting twangy? Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: Tweedy quote
How can anyone say Tweety is reinventing himself by 'creating' tired old 70s pop? I'm glad Bill Monroe (another genre creator) didnt feel the same need. Although I have a feeling some of you will say it wouldve been cool for BM to take a crack at soft rock. -- From: Dutch [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Tweedy quote Date: Thursday, March 04, 1999 4:24 PM Sure its OK for an artist to "re-invent themselves" once in a while. Can anyone say Neil Young " Trans". Mr. Tweedy can say anything he wants and it doesn't change a thing. He comes from where he comes from and inspires who he inspires. Who knows maybe the whole alt-country/No Depression movement might benefit from a "Pet Sounds" impact type of album. Then again as an artist I know that any press is good press. Dutch Crowd of One -- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Tweedy quote Date: Thursday, March 04, 1999 1:30 PM Yes yes, no one likes to be pidgeon-holed and many want the freedom to re-invent themselves from time to time musically. All well and good. But methinks Mr. Tweedy protests too much that
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
James Gerard Roll wrote: > I think you've got your head in the sand if you think that Uncle Tupelo > was not at the helm of the current No Depression/Alt. Country ship. This > does not mean that they are a great band or that there wasn't > non-commercial country prior to UT, (much as one would have to admit there > was brit-pop and skiffle prior to the Beatles -- or -- sexy Honky Tonk/RB > prior to Elvis Presley). But whether or not you like them we wouldn't > have the term Alt.Country or No Depression used as it is without a few > select bands UT, Jayhawks to name a couple. In my best Beavis voice, I'd respond, "Uh...so what?" Uncle Tupelo wasn't at the helm of *anything*. The media made them, in retrospect, the leader of this so-called movement. Terry's point is well stated: country rock/roots rock has been around for a long damn time (as you well know) and it doesn't mean a hill of beans that a bunch of journalists who wouldn't know Commander Cody or the Scorchers from their own arses have declared UT as grand champeen of this last round of country rockers. I like UT a lot, but they weren't originators, they were simply a band the media folk latched onto. People can say it all they want, but it doesn't make it so. > This reminds me of a teenager trying to take owenership of his favorite > punk band or grunge band. 'I heard it first!! I heard it first". This > really isn't relevant to the UT/Tweedy posts. I am 33 years old and have > been listening to Hank WIlliams/Bill Monroe/Carters/Balfa Brothers/The > Outlaws/Marshal Tucker/The Long Riders/Green on Red/Steve Earle/Dwight > Yoakam et. al. for most of my life. Big Deal. Big deal, indeed. I agree completely with Terry, though -- it does get awfully fucking tiresome to read the tripe about UT starting some big movement, especially when one reads the oft-repeated claims that they somehow awakened a type of music that had been dormant since Gram Parsons died. Terry isn't trying to sound like the coolest guy on the block because he's been there, done that, he's just pointing out that it's a lot of bollocks. I'm sure I'll be just as annoyed when roots rock (god, I hate the fucking alt.country tag) makes it's next mid-decade resurgence in 2005 and some annoying kid is talking about being inspired by the ghost of Whiskeytown. On an unrelated note, it's ironic that Jim brings up Kerouac in reference to Tweedy because I'll gladly nominate Jack as the most overrated of the Beats. No one would've heard jack about Jack if Ginsberg hadn't tirelessly shopped and promoted his work. "On The Road" will always be a jackoff work compared to Ginsberg's best stuff. But that's matter for another list, I suspect g>. Not attacking you, Jim, you just happened to hit on a couple of my pet peeves. A lot hungover and a little cranky, Dave P.S. If this newest round of roots rock is so damned great, why are 95% of its leading lights from the previous go-round (Alejandro, Earle, Alvin, etc.)? *** Dave Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Northern Ky Roots Music: http://w3.one.net/~newport Twangfest: http://www.twangfest.com
Re: Tweedy quote
You can go back through the twentieth century and see that the predominating influential music of an era was rather high-speed frantic, sexually charged rhythms and lyrically suggestive vocals which seemed to "speak" to the adrenaline-laced, sexually confused, frustrated and seemingly manic-depressive alter states which is adolescence Though I found myself nodding along with most of your assertions, Tera, I would insert one caveat. While Elvis Presley would certainly win a lot of votes as this century's most influential performer, and his music was certainly frantic AND highly-charged sexually, it wasn't quite so simple. He also took his cues from non-frantics like Dean Martin and the "White" hit parade, and his example is repeated often, for even the most "suggestive" musicians. The pop charts have been something that has affected even the most marginal of musics--in one way or another--and in some cases it was good, in others not. Thus, some alt.country musicians may be struggling with this very punk sense of "How commercial is too commercial?" Or from the record company's/financial investor's side: "How country can alt.country be and still make a decisive commercial impact?" Lance . . .
Re: UT/Media/my take
I think that the media did help get the word out about UT, but it was in response to reaction from all the kids that were diggin their sounds. I think that it is not so much that the media did not know about the Commader Cody's etc, but that the kids digging UT did not have a clue about them. To the kids, UT was the first they ever heard of this stuff.
Re: Beantown Bound/Spurs
John Magee: The Spurs are my pick for best band in the Boston area. Bostonians - don't miss 'em. Last time they played the Midway, The Spurs are wonderful. Not only are they great musicians, the band is great fun. They don't play out that often, it's definately worth the trip. Just so you know, you need a car to get to the Midway. Or take a taxi. It's not in the best part of town. people were dancing that I'd never seen move a muscle before. It was a strange roadhouse scene. I think John was actually one of those non-dancers dancing at my last Spurs' show. I always complained that the men in Boston never danced. Well, they don't appear to dance in Nashville either. marie
RE: Beantown Bound/Spurs
I think John was actually one of those non-dancers dancing at my last Spurs' show. I always complained that the men in Boston never danced. Well, they don't appear to dance in Nashville either. [Matt Benz] Let me guess: they stand around, holding a beer, staring at the band and nodding along. It's the guy thing to do.
Re: Tweedy quote
"Chris Orlet" [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: How can anyone say Tweety is reinventing himself by 'creating' tired old 70s pop? Your slam at "tired old '70s pop" is just as ignorant as other people's slams at "tired old twangy country music". Don't be a moron. Bill Gribble
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Dave Purcell wrote: reference to Tweedy because I'll gladly nominate Jack as the most overrated of the Beats. No one would've heard jack about Jack if Ginsberg hadn't tirelessly shopped and promoted his work. "On The Road" will always be a jackoff work compared to Ginsberg's best stuff. Wow, we must be of very differnt taste, Dave, because I don't think that Ginsberg (or many other people, much less Beats) have ever touched 'On the Road' (or for that matter even the last paragraph of 'On the Road'), Subterraneans, or Dharma Bums. At least we are consistantly opposed!! g -jim ps -- for me the term 'alt. country' indicates the combination of (post Nirvana) ALT-rock and traditional COUNTRY. UT/Jayhawks exemplefy this movement. I mean how can people deny UT's influence when the Alt. Country Bible (No Depression) is named after one of their albums?? Somebody help me here?? (by the way I am aware that the term 'No Depression' has its roots at the very least in The Carter Family -- but I would bet a quick survey of Peter Blackstock and Grant Alden would reveal that they used the term with UT somewhat in mind).
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
At 10:14 AM -0500 05/3/99, Dave Purcell wrote: In my best Beavis voice, I'd respond, "Uh...so what?" Uncle Tupelo wasn't at the helm of *anything*. The media made them, in retrospect, the leader of this so-called movement. Terry's point is well stated: country rock/roots rock has been around for a long damn time (as you well know) and it doesn't mean a hill of beans that a bunch of journalists who wouldn't know Commander Cody or the Scorchers from their own arses have declared UT as grand champeen of this last round of country rockers. I like UT a lot, but they weren't originators, they were simply a band the media folk latched onto. People can say it all they want, but it doesn't make it so. Well the genesis of this thread had to do with the way Tweedy is being perceived as distancing himself from the alt-country tag at seemingly every opportunity in interviews. The tag itself orginally gained wide currency to describe UT and similar bands, didn't it? Earlier bands in similar styles had other tags applied to them, such as roots rock, country rock, etc. Personally, I don't argue that these tags couldn't also be applied to UT, but Tweedy isn't bringing up these tags in his interviews. As I remember the articles, Tweedy specically addresses whether he would define his band as being part of the "alt-country" or "No Depression" movements. I don't think the point (originally) was whether UT originated or pioneered this style of music, but simply that they found themselves described with a label that didn't exist until after they had already started playing in that style. If Tweedy didn't set out to define himself with this tag -- as perfomers in well-established, long-defined genres such as blues or country do --, but rather found others defining his music for him, perhaps it's not surprising that he doesn't feel much loyalty or committment to keep using that tag. Ross Whitwam[EMAIL PROTECTED] Molecular Pharmacology Therapeutics Program Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NYC
Blatant plugs for Memphis gigs
Here are a few more blatant plugs for upcoming Memphis gigs. You must be musically hip to be on this list, if you do not wish to receive further notices, please just let me know. If you want to add a friend to the list, let me know ... thanks! Be sure to read far enough down to catch the CORDELL JACKSON GIG! THIS SATURDAY, March 6 8 pm Otherlands on Cooper NANCY APPLE (accompanied by ROY BREWER on fiddle and mandolin) will open for BROOKS WILLIAMS. 8 pm at the Hi-Tone at 9:30, MARK HARRIMAN celebrates the release of his CD REMIND ME TO FORGET at Newby's CRASH INTO JUNE celebrates their new record, FROM BLIND TO BLUE. NEXT WEDNESDAY NIGHT, March 10 at THE SOUTH END Memphis Songwriter Stage NANCY APPLE celebrates women's month with A GIRL THANG featuring Memphis songwriters in the round STEPHANIE NEEDHAM MISTY WHITE and the host you can't get rid of NANCY APPLE show starts at 9:30ish. no cover, what a deal Get of the couch and come (bring something for the tip jug) NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT at KUDZU's THE TWANGLERS showtime, whenever you get there, we will start the new garage band featuring Nancy Apple (vocals/guitar/bad jokes), Calvin Turley (drums), Bruce Lester (guitar, vocals), John McLure (bass/vocals), and Glen (steel) band members subject to change 1 hr before show time. Remember the more you drink, the better we sound. E-mail me if you are interested in us being the drunken band inappropriately dressed at your next corporate event. Cheatin, drinkin, lyin, stealin songs, also great for weddings and birthday parties. Have twang, will travel.. TUESDAY, MARCH 16 at JUSTINs GRILL (next to Walgreens in the Wal-mart Shopping Center at Riverdale and Shelby Drive) JUSTINs SONGWRITERS in the ROUND featuring A GIRL THANG FOR MARCH the one and only CORDELL JACKSON, know as the Rockin Granny from the Budweiser commercials. Owner of Moon Records. Also featured KLAUDIA PLODERER, Inside Sounds recording artist originally from Belgium. KIM RICHARDSON, destined to be bigger than the Dixie Chicks (and Im not talking dress size here) also NANCY APPLE, 3 time Premier Player nominee for songwriter (ok, that was a downright self serving plug to make me feel better!!) Showtime is 7:30 so you early birds can come out They have good steaks at Justins too!!! (and I don't think there is a cover charge!) MARCH 25 at the BLACK DIAMOND KEITH SYKES SONGWRITER SHOWCASE Not sure of the line up yet, but it is always great. $10 cover. Show starts around 8 or 8:30. MARCH 26 at THE SOUTH END THE NANCY APPLE/JAY HARRINGTON BAND (Jay feels funny using Cadillac Cowgirl, can't imaging why. ) Showtime not sure yet opening act not sure yet Come one out, that band will all be there. All Nancy and Jay's originals, plus those great covers that you love, from Lucinda to Hank Williams. And even some George Jones MARCH 27 at THE MAP ROOM (drum roll please) ROY BREWERS NEW ROCKABILLY BAND Go Check this out MARCH 27 at DAVIS KIDD NANCY, JAY and JASON rock up the cafe (half de-calf, half full tilt boogie!) Early gig 7-9:30 come on out YA'LL Ok, that's it. Hope to see you at a gig soon. If you are a band that wants to be mentioned in future notices, e-mail me baby! Love, Nancy THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE MEMPHIS MUSICIANS TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING, PLEASE PAY THE COVER WITHOUT TOO MUCH BITCHING! Thanks (and guest list weezles, we don't mind letting you in for free, but please refrain from talking throughout the entire show!)
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
James Gerard Roll [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I mean how can people deny UT's influence when the Alt. Country Bible (No Depression) is named after one of their albums?? Somebody help me here?? ND is *some* people's bible. Honestly I have never even seen a single issue of it. Last night I read a couple of the interviews in the ND book and I was not blown away by the writing. And I have never listened to a single Uncle Tupelo album. I saw Son Volt on Austin City Limits and they bored me. People's experiences are different, even within a "community" like alt.country/P2. Bill Gribble
Coltrane book?
Good morning, Anyone know of a good Coltrane bio to recommend? Or even a good book that looks at the whole (or some) of the bebop jazz greats? Gift shopping today. Neal Weiss
Re: Bare Jr. on Conan?
YES GRIMEY DID WEAR HIS PAJAMAS!! I saw it - they rocked - I love Dean's hair (which is most certainly not permed). It was great! -- From: "Dave Purcell" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "passenger side" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Bare Jr. on Conan? Date: Fri, Mar 5, 1999, 10:39 AM Linda R. Kawaguchi wrote: Did anyone seen Bare Jr. on Conan last night? My goddamned VCR didn't tape it (it couldn't have been my programming skills). What'd they play? How'd it sound? What'd they look like? I didn't see it, but a pal did. Said they rocked, played "You Blew Me Off." Grimey did not wear his silk pajamas, which is unfortunate. Dave *** Dave Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Northern Ky Roots Music: http://w3.one.net/~newport Twangfest: http://www.twangfest.com
Swingin' Doors, 3/4/99
The first hour of last night's show should be up on the KCMU web page in the next day or two. Listen in at: http://www.kcmu.org/listen.htm Lloyd Green - Green Strings Del Reeves - Good Time Charlie's Five Bucks - Right Now! Neko Case - Rated X (3/11 at the Tractor) Loretta Lynn - You Wanna Give Me A Lift Johnny Paycheck - I Drop More Than I Drink Wanda Jackson - Reckless Love Affair The Gourds - (the new way of) Grievin' Smokin' (3/28 at the Tractor) Little Sue - Ode to Lynnie Mae (3/6 at the Tractor w/ the Souvenirs) David Olney - C'mon Through Carolina Steve Earle the Del McCoury Band - I'm Still In Love With You Rosie Flores - Little Bit More Biller Wakefield - Steel Crazy Charline Arthur - Burn That Candle Maddox Bros Rose - Pay Me Alimony Jack Guthrie - Oakie Boogie Del McCoury Band - Don't You Think It's Time To Go Jeff White - Stay Away From Me J.D. Crowe The New South - Careless Love Ricky Skaggs - I Believed In You Darlin' Bill Monroe his Bluegrass Boys - Close By Souvenirs - Tired Of Missing You (3/6 at the Tractor w/ Little Sue) Conway Twitty - Next In Line Moe Bandy - It Was Always So Easy To Find An Unhappy Woman George Strait - Lefty's Gone Lefty Frizzell - That's The Way Love Goes Freedy Johnston - Coffee, Coffee, Coffee Kelly Willis - Wrapped Vern Gosdin - Set 'Em Up Joe Ernest Tubb his Texas Troubadours - Walking The Floor Over You Eddy Arnold - Texarkana Baby Pete Krebs the Gossamer Wings - Take Me Away Damnations TX - For Awhile (3/13 at the Crocodile w/ Richard Buckner) Chris Mills - Funeral Date (3/7 at the Tractor) The Pinetops - Sweet William The Cop Cisco - Hard Times Again The Derailers - Lover's Lie (request) Faron Young - Everytime I'm Kissing You Carl Pearl Butler - Don't Let Me Cross Over Lonesome Bob - What Went Wrong (request) Hadacol - Messed Up Johnny Horton - I'm Coming Home (request) Roger Miller - Dang Me (request) Norma Jean - Don't Let The Doorknob Hit You Buddy Miller - Lonesome For You International Submarine Band - Blue Eyes Connie Smith - Two Empty Arms Merle Haggard - The Bottle Let Me Down (request) Johnny Bush - Each Time Bobbie Gentry - Papa Woncha Let Me Go To Town With You Richard Buckner - Gauzy Dress In The Sun (3/13 at the Croc. w/ Damnations) Beaver Nelson - One Car Collision The Flatirons - Wild Fire Gillian Welch - By The Mark Jimmie Davis - Sewing Machine Blues Jimmie Rodgers - Any Old Time Swingin' Doors can be heard Thursdays from 6-9pm on KCMU 90.3FM in Seattle. Email me if you have any questions about the music played.--don
Re: Coltrane book?
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Good morning, Anyone know of a good Coltrane bio to recommend? Or even a good book that looks at the whole (or some) of the bebop jazz greats? Eric Nisenson's "Ascension - John Coltrane and His Quest" is good. The book "Jazz Anecdotes" is pretty hilarious reading and goes right across all time genre zones. As for Miles' autobiography suitability as a gift, I'd be careful about who I'd give that to! Tom Smith
Re: Tweedy quote /generations
Tera wrote: - alt.country seems to be music for we aging baby boomers as opposed to alt.rock or new country which seems to target the teen to twenties crowd. Just a quick note as I gather breath to respond to Jake's epic call'n'response from yesterday - I think if you look at the P2 Survey you'll see the untruth of this. I'm convinced that alt-country is a (as Monsieur London puts it) "tailbust" and "gen-x" phenomenon. A glance around the audience at any alt-country show I've attended shows it skewing way to folks in their late-20s to mid-30s, with a smattering of younger and older. The punk connection of the "insurgent" side in particular makes the demographics fairly easy to track. Refer back to the Wilson-London chronicles for various bafflingly vague descriptions of the broader implications of this general pattern. I do think it's important that alt-country has a Gen-X connection (and as Jake noted, even a few years difference in age has some important implications for where in musical-cultural history you'll stand). And I'd also assert New Country is much more boomer-oriented than is alt-country - thus HNC takes its rock influences from Billy Joel, not from the Clash. Carl W.
country radio
After wrappin' up Swingin' Doors last night, I tuned to one of Seattle's commercial country stations. They were playin' John Anderson's "Straight Tequila Night," one of my favorite country songs of the '90s -- alt. or otherwise. While it's true that modern country radio's programming is erratic at best, they're still capable of knockin' one outta the park. For those interested in hearing actual country music -- as opposed to roots-rock, f*lk, etc. -- you're still quite likely to run into it on mainstream country radio. And you're certainly gonna hear a lot more of it there than you will on your local AAA station.--don
Clip: Tom Petty finds inspiration in San Francisco
Check out the bottom of this article for opening acts. = Petty Finds Inspiration in San Francisco Rocker returns to Fillmore before launching tour, CD James Sullivan, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, March 5, 1999 ©1999 San Francisco Chronicle URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/03/05/DD77323.DTLtype=music Tom Petty remembers how giddy he was on the last night of the Heartbreakers' historic 20-show run two years ago at the Fillmore. The final show stretched to four hours. ``We just caught a wave, and we were gonna ride it to the beach.'' The adrenaline, he says, carried over into the recording for ``Echo,'' the band's new album, due next month. To jump-start a summer tour, the Heartbreakers begin another Fillmore engagement Sunday; they'll play seven sold-out shows. Before the last time, Petty says, he'd never even been inside the Fillmore. ``I just showed up uninitiated,'' he says. Still, it was his idea. ``The history had a lot to do with it. I wanted to put the band in a residency setting, to play just for the sake of playing. ``We weren't promoting anything. We didn't have any agenda. And it was a very successful experiment for us. I think we enjoyed it more than anything we've ever done with the Heartbreakers.'' One of rock 'n' roll's most consistent performers since his breakthrough more than 20 years ago, the 48-year-old Petty has outlasted punk, New Wave and spandex metal with a straight-ahead style rooted in the British Invasion, pop psychedelia and other radio staples of his Florida childhood. ``We've been very blessed with a loyal audience,'' he says. ``We've just tried to stay honest with them, and that gives us longevity. We've never particularly tried to get into a suit of clothes. ``I knock wood. It's just wonderful that people still want to hear it.'' One bit of proof: Petty's ``Greatest Hits'' is still on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, six years after its release. After Petty issued a few albums billed to himself without the Heartbreakers -- guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, bassist Howie Epstein and drummer Steve Ferrone -- the 1997 Fillmore stay reconfirmed the group's confidence. ``We have a damn good rock 'n' roll band,'' says Petty in his casual drawl. The Fillmore shows ``really played a huge part in inspiring us -- not just to do the record, but to carry on.'' Judging by the first single ``Free Girl Now,'' ``Echo'' finds the Heartbreakers even more direct than usual. Not that the band best known for its buzzing, unfussy rock songs -- ``American Girl,'' ``I Need to Know,'' ``Jammin' Me'' -- has ever been accused of self-indulgence. ``It's a very simple record, very unadorned,'' Petty says. ``People are telling me it's much more of a rock 'n' roll record, in the sense of faster tempos and louder guitars, than what we've done in a while. ``I'm very pleased with it -- more so than I usually am.'' The one medium in which Petty can be considered avant-garde is videos. When his self-titled debut got its first break in England, he became one of the first American artists to make film shorts for his songs. ``In England, it was not that abnormal to make a little promo clip you could send to the TV shows. ``When I was given (MTV's) Video Vanguard award, I said, `All this because we didn't want to go on `Merv Griffin,' '' he says, punctuating the thought with a familiar ``heh-heh.'' Rest assured he won't be mailing in his Fillmore performances. ``No two shows will be the same,'' Petty promises. Confirmed opening acts include Lucinda Williams and War. Two years ago, of special guests included John Lee Hooker and the late Carl Perkins. ``I've been very fortunate. I've developed a lot of friendships with people I admire musically.'' Last time, he says, the Bay Area proved itself the ideal place for the residency ``experiment.'' ``I've always felt that San Francisco has a very open-minded audience. I thought they'd be more open to us performing as a house band, rather than doing a medley of our hits. ``I think I was right.'' CONCERTS TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS: The band's seven Fillmore shows are sold out.
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Jim's ps -- for me the term 'alt. country' indicates the combination of (post Nirvana) ALT-rock and traditional COUNTRY. UT/Jayhawks exemplefy this movement. I mean how can people deny UT's influence when the Alt. Country Bible (No Depression) is named after one of their albums?? Somebody help me here?? (by the way I am aware that the term 'No Depression' has its roots at the very least in The Carter Family -- but I would bet a quick survey of Peter Blackstock and Grant Alden would reveal that they used the term with UT somewhat in mind). As usual with this stuff, it all depends on how you look at it, and from what distance. When Uncle Tupelo came along, I listened to 'em and liked 'em quite a bit. Some of their records, both pre- and post-breakup, are among my favorites. But to this listener, at least, they didn't stand out stylistically from stuff I'd been listening to before. The Scorchers, Escovedo, Alvin, etc. They just sort of went into my record collection among all the other roots-oriented stuff I'd been throwing money at for years and years. It was only later that I started reading about their influence, etc. I'm not denying that influence, but just noting that, as Dave said, it probably has as much or more to do with circumstance and context as it does with the actual music. This applies to any music at any time, I guess, though with some music -- Elvis, the Beatles, Charlie Parker, Elmore James, Mozart, etc. -- the substance transcends or reinforces circumstance. All the yammering about Uncle Tupelo and alt.country by young squirts who wouldn't know Lefty Frizzell from Whitey Ford did get a little annoying, I'll confess. This debate, finally, really hinges on how narrowly you want to define alt.country. If you define it as punk-oriented guys playing guitar-driven rock with country undertones and heartland attitudes, who showed up in the mid- to late-80s, then I'll agree, you're probably correct about Tupelo and their influence on the genre. Draw the category a bit wider,though, and you're gonna have to contend with everybody from the Amazing Rhythm Aces to Mason Profit, from Rank and File to the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed, from Ricky Nelson to Doug Sahm, from Carlene Carter to New Grass Revival, and on and on. And how does "No Depression" as a name for a magazine prove anything about Uncle Tupe's music itself? They're the media, right? If they see Uncle Tupelo as big influential innovator, that's fine. But it doesn't necessarily prove anything. -- Terry Smith ps I think Jim might have taken my post a little bit wrong, because, I'll admit, it didn't have a great deal to do with Tera's post that was copied in that message. Her post just indirectly sparked those thoughts; I wasn't necessarily challenging her argument.
Re: country radio
In a message dated 3/5/99 12:11:16 PM EST, don yates writes: for those interested in hearing actual country music -- as opposed to roots-rock, f*lk, etc. -- you're still quite likely to run into it on mainstream country radio. And you're certainly gonna hear a lot more of it there than you will on your local AAA station.--don as long as you don't mind listening to the all the dreck in between. but i guess that's par for the course with pretty much all commercial radio (the exception being kpig in northern cal).
Re: country radio
After wrappin' up Swingin' Doors last night, I tuned to one of Seattle's commercial country stations. They were playin' John Anderson's "Straight Tequila Night," one of my favorite country songs of the '90s -- alt. or otherwise. While it's true that modern country radio's programming is erratic at best, they're still capable of knockin' one outta the park. For those interested in hearing actual country music -- as opposed to roots-rock, f*lk, etc. -- you're still quite likely to run into it on mainstream country radio. And you're certainly gonna hear a lot more of it there than you will on your local AAA station.--don Well, yes and no. I don't have an AAA station, so I can't speak to that. But I do have three country stations pre-set on my car radio, and I can drive to work -- about 17 minutes -- without hearing one tune worth listening to on any one of those stations. Bland, formulaic, non-threatening, slick jingles, with a few cute phrase formulations, the same guitars, etc.* But then out of nowhere, they'll play something great -- Lee Ann Womack, Randy Travis, Anderson, Vince Gill (they've been playing that country shuffle duet lately), Dwight -- etc. So if you tune in and expect to be blown away, best be prepared to wait a while. And maybe pre-set nine or ten stations, just to be safe. -- Terry Smith * of course, this applies to most commercial radio, no matter the genre.
Tweedy generations - cont'd
Tara, to clarify, it seems to me you're shouldering that "boomer" mantle/stigma in vain, if I'm reading you right. Amerians born after 1960 are not really baby-boom material, for myriad reasons social-and-economic chronology. For instance, if Watergate is one of the first news events you were able to follow (or even remember), that distinguishes you fairly obviously in cultural experience from anyone old enough to have had class interrupted by the announcement of Kennedy's assassination - we Watergate-era children never had quite the same cultural innocence to lose. Which has a lot to do, I'd reckon, with the eventual coming of punk, as well as with the interest in country as some sort of purer heritage from the antediluvian age - I don't think it's just coincidence that alt-country adores pre-seventies country (Hank, Buck, Cash, Jones, etc.) and is squeamish about almost everything thereafter. There's a generational sense that any mainstream culture made in our lifetimes must be by nature corrupt, stained by original sin. That a band as big as the Beatles could be seen as great artists and countercultural heroes by broad consensus is a basically alien concept to everyone too young to have participated, methinks. [With the possible counter-example of Star Wars, but that's total escapism. Nobody claims Star Wars galvanized the youth of America, tho in fact it did cause a huge shake-up in HOllywood and thus in the culture at large.] I'll shut up now ... carl w.
Re: Tweedy generations - cont'd
Noted I'd spelt Tera's name wrong. Mea culpa.
Re: Townes Van Zandt
Hey, I really like The Highway Kind. What do you dislike about it? I thought it showed TVZ at his worst. The performances were woozy and slurred to me. I could almost imagine him falling off the bar stool. The polar opposite was Rear View Mirror, which came out around the same time. Really wonderful live performances. NW
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Who's are the Scorchers? NW Some overrated roots band from the 80s. The future of nothing, as far as I can tell. marie
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Reply to: Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED) Who's are the Scorchers? NW Some overrated roots band from the 80s. The future of nothing, as far as I can tell. marie As far as I can tell, Jason and the Scorchers was an important cowpunk band. And a hell of a live band. Hans P.
Re: country radio
half the time I either laugh out loud at the cliches or think, "cripes it sounds like lawrence welk!!". I'll give you the folk point though - you won't hear that on Country Radio and as most public radio stations' licenses are held by institutions of higher learning, their airwaves are rife with it. Most is as cliched as the worst country stuff. I guess that's academia for you. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "passenger side" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: country radio Date: Fri, Mar 5, 1999, 11:20 AM In a message dated 3/5/99 12:11:16 PM EST, don yates writes: for those interested in hearing actual country music -- as opposed to roots-rock, f*lk, etc. -- you're still quite likely to run into it on mainstream country radio. And you're certainly gonna hear a lot more of it there than you will on your local AAA station.--don as long as you don't mind listening to the all the dreck in between. but i guess that's par for the course with pretty much all commercial radio (the exception being kpig in northern cal).
RE: country radio
half the time I either laugh out loud at the cliches or think, "cripes it sounds like lawrence welk!!". Lots of people have been doing that for as long as I've been listening to country music. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: country radio
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Jennifer Sperandeo wrote: half the time I either laugh out loud at the cliches or think, "cripes it sounds like lawrence welk!!". Which is pretty much what folks outside the traditional country music audience were doin' back in the '50s and '60s when listening to country radio, Jenni. The more things change...--don
Scorchers
BTW: The career of Jason The Scorchers was launched by Jack Emerson. Emerson ist, with Steve Earle, co-founder of E-Squared Records. And Jason Ringenberg was recently one of the presenters of the 1999 Nashville Music Awards. Hans P.
Re: country radio
alow me to update: "cripes, it sounds like Billy Ocean!" -- From: Don Yates [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "passenger side" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: country radio Date: Fri, Mar 5, 1999, 12:07 PM On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Jennifer Sperandeo wrote: half the time I either laugh out loud at the cliches or think, "cripes it sounds like lawrence welk!!". Which is pretty much what folks outside the traditional country music audience were doin' back in the '50s and '60s when listening to country radio, Jenni. The more things change...--don
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
On 5 Mar 1999, Bill Gribble wrote: ND is *some* people's bible. Honestly I have never even seen a single issue of it. Last night I read a couple of the interviews in the ND book and I was not blown away by the writing. And I have never listened to a single Uncle Tupelo album. I saw Son Volt on Austin City Limits and they bored me. Geez, this medium sucks. I am merely stating that one of the main journals reviewing Americana music (does anyone dispute this?? I am sure there will be) is named after a UT album. If you don't accept this, than I suggest you look up the Origin of the terms Postcard and Postcard2 . . . to which you surely must agree you participate. -jim
Recordable CD Players
Hey all, I've been thinking about picking up a home CD Recordable unit. Does anybody out there own one, or have you heard of a particular brand/model that is supposed to be good? Does the quality vary alot between brands? Also, is there any audible difference between getting a home unit (stereo component) and buying one for a computer with the intent of duping music? thanks -- Shawn _ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
Lawrence Welk (RE: country radio)
half the time I either laugh out loud at the cliches or think, "cripes it sounds like lawrence welk!!". Lots of people have been doing that for as long as I've been listening to country music. On a totally different tangent, I have been listening to the upcoming Spade Cooley record that Bloodshot is releasing soon and my first reaction was "This sounds like Lawrence Welk!" Maybe not as cheesy but the accordion and the western swing arrangements have that "champagne" sound. I must be getting old, though, I kinda liked it. g Jim, smilin'
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Terry A. Smith wrote: ps I think Jim might have taken my post a little bit wrong, because, I'll admit, it didn't have a great deal to do with Tera's post that was copied in that message. Her post just indirectly sparked those thoughts; I wasn't necessarily challenging her argument. Perhaps. I just find it frustrating that there is a debate as to whether on a concrete level, UT/Son Volt/Wilco can be associated with the origin of the Americana/No Depression/Alternative Country movement. To me it is a no brainer. And it seems highly relevant that both the No Depression Magazine and the Listserves 'Postcard' and the offspring 'Postcard2' are all directly related to UT songs and albums. I AM NOT CONDONING OR JUDGING THE QUALITY OR INTEGRITY OF THESE BANDS, MAGAZINES, OR ASSOCIATIONS, OR ADOPTING THEM FOR MYSELF. JUST ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THEY EXIST FOR MANY (NOT ALL) PEOPLE. I am defintely done with this topic. -Jim
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Terry A. Smith wrote: And how does "No Depression" as a name for a magazine prove anything about Uncle Tupe's music itself? They're the media, right? If they see Uncle Tupelo as big influential innovator, that's fine. But it doesn't necessarily prove anything. -- Terry Smith except that MY ONLY POINT was that the media has dubbed them as the originators of this movement and that THAT is what Tweedy is distancing himself from. --JR
Labels and other headache-inducing stuff (long)
I have a feeling some of you will say it wouldve been cool for BM to take a crack at soft rock. Chris Orlet OK, in an attempt to tie up some of the loose synapses in my head (and on this list), let me begin by undressing this statement. First of all, there is no such thing as "soft rock." If the creature at hand is "rock," by definition it is not "soft." "Soft Rock" and "Lite Rock" were ways for the industry to categorize more easily the pop, ballad-oriented stuff guys like Paul McCartney--who had been typically associated with "Rock" and provides an easy example--were doing. And I think this is some of the problem with this infernal, good-for-something-we're-just-not-sure-what-it-is ND tag. Whether Uncle Tupelo invented "alternative country" or not is very debatable, but that they've been categorically represented as such isn't. They have become the point guards for this movement-that-may-or-may-not-be, and it's forced all concerned to react accordingly. That is, the media players, label players, and most importantly, the musical players themselves have to reckon with this "alt.country/ND" tag. For some it's restrictive, while for others it's liberating, and a way to sell more records to a relatively-defined consumer base. For some of the media folks it's a convenient way to identify, for an otherwise uninformed public, who these young cats are. Unfortunately, these press clippings are then read by the artists themselves who don't wish to be represented as such. The labels (in general, I'd say) don't really care how their artists are represented as long as they can recoup their investment. If it helps to be "alt.country," fine. If "ND" is the tag-du-jour, that's OK, too. Hell, if "rock 'n' roll" meant anything--and, as far as I'm concerned that's what most of these folks are doing--than that now-meaningless label would be dripping off of every AR guy's tongue by the end of the day. The problem seems to be that many of these artists have grown up (as artists and fans both) with a defined antagonism toward the music industry. Many of them started as punks, and they've seen their friends get signed by labels looking to cash in on the latest trend ("Grunge," anybody?), pigeonhole these artists into whatever market they thought they might fit, market these bands for maybe 15 minutes, and then, subsequently drop them when the band--surprise, surprise--didn't "make it." (Does anyone else recall the debt that the Jayhawks accrued with American Records??) So, while guys like Tweedy seem to be protesting the boxes with which they've been assigned (by a largely indifferent media industry, and a single-minded music industry, upon which the former is dependent for promos and other perqs), I think it's nothing more than a savvy--which is not to say, altogether mature--reaction to their paradoxical situation. On the one hand they want to be seen as artists with an individual vision (and represented as such), but on the other hand, they're contractually obligated to an animal that doesn't care about art as much as it does profit. So, while these artists would be wise to start their own record labels (see: Bad Religion, Black Flag, Fugazi, Ani Defranco), and thereby control (better) their place in the market, they would probably then lose access to the powerful machinery which allowed them to have even the tiniest of voices in the first place--distribution, major radio markets, Rolling Stone, that ever-elusive possibility of appearing on SNL, etc. And now you wonder why there are so many band guys who are either junkies, drunks, or members of AA?? This shit is depressing. But we are here for the music, and whatever we choose to call it, I think we've done a good job of keeping the music primary. Even if the music sucks, as in the case of the Goo Goo Dolls. Kidding!! Lance . . . "Kids, you tried and failed miserably. The lesson here: Never try." --Sage advice from one Homer Simpson
Re: country radio
"Caribbean Queen" was a swell song. -Original Message- From: Jennifer Sperandeo [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Friday, March 05, 1999 1:17 PM Subject: Re: country radio alow me to update: "cripes, it sounds like Billy Ocean!" -- From: Don Yates [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "passenger side" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: country radio Date: Fri, Mar 5, 1999, 12:07 PM On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Jennifer Sperandeo wrote: half the time I either laugh out loud at the cliches or think, "cripes it sounds like lawrence welk!!". Which is pretty much what folks outside the traditional country music audience were doin' back in the '50s and '60s when listening to country radio, Jenni. The more things change...--don
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Exactly, man. The facts is the facts. Hell, I went right out and I bought a pistol right after I heard "Gun" because I worship Uncle Tupelo. And that's not all - when Anodyne came out I rented a car and drove to the New Madrid fault and slept there for a few days in my flannel t-shirt and blue jeans. I then went out a bought a house with a screen door so, I, too, could have my friends over to sing. We would all have our whiskey bottles with us and bitch about the boss and how we just couldn't rip ourselves from our hometown. Those guys SPOKE to me man. They were real. They knew the struggle of farming, just like I did. -Original Message- From: James Gerard Roll [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: passenger side [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Friday, March 05, 1999 1:24 PM Subject: Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED) On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Terry A. Smith wrote: ps I think Jim might have taken my post a little bit wrong, because, I'll admit, it didn't have a great deal to do with Tera's post that was copied in that message. Her post just indirectly sparked those thoughts; I wasn't necessarily challenging her argument. Perhaps. I just find it frustrating that there is a debate as to whether on a concrete level, UT/Son Volt/Wilco can be associated with the origin of the Americana/No Depression/Alternative Country movement. To me it is a no brainer. And it seems highly relevant that both the No Depression Magazine and the Listserves 'Postcard' and the offspring 'Postcard2' are all directly related to UT songs and albums. I AM NOT CONDONING OR JUDGING THE QUALITY OR INTEGRITY OF THESE BANDS, MAGAZINES, OR ASSOCIATIONS, OR ADOPTING THEM FOR MYSELF. JUST ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THEY EXIST FOR MANY (NOT ALL) PEOPLE. I am defintely done with this topic. -Jim
Re: Scorchers
Hey, a Scorchers thread, howaboutthat? Hanspeter Eggenberger wrote: BTW: The career of Jason The Scorchers was launched by Jack Emerson. Emerson ist, with Steve Earle, co-founder of E-Squared Records. Jack was also the band's original bassist. Dave *** Dave Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Northern Ky Roots Music: http://w3.one.net/~newport Twangfest: http://www.twangfest.com
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Exactly, man. The facts is the facts. Hell, I went right out and I bought a pistol right after I heard "Gun" because I worship Uncle Tupelo. And that's not all - when Anodyne came out I rented a car and drove to the New Madrid fault and slept there for a few days in my flannel t-shirt and blue jeans. I then went out a bought a house with a screen door so, I, too, could have my friends over to sing. We would all have our whiskey bottles with us and bitch about the boss and how we just couldn't rip ourselves from our hometown. Those guys SPOKE to me man. They were real. They knew the struggle of farming, just like I did. Tee-hee, this are funny. You know, there's something about comedy that just makes me laugh. Lance . . .
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Dave Purcell wrote: As far as I can tell, Jason and the Scorchers was an important cowpunk band. And a hell of a live band. Hans P speaketh the truth, except that you can replace "was" with "is." Yeah, and Jason R.'s solo Cd a few years back was (is) the future of country music. Can you say, "It hit the charts with a resounding thud"? I thought you could. Overrated, overamped, overhyped, overplayed, overexposed, overdone, and over-the-top. Just digging Dave here..I loved them during their heyday, can't go down that road any longer. However "Absolutely Sweet Marie" off of the EP hit me like a shot between the eyes. What a perfect way to extend my appraciation for punk which was running on empty at that time. That is, I was tiring of indy punk material but still craved the energy. Bring on some meldoy and here came along cowpunk. I thought I was saved. Jerry NP: Lucy Kaplansky - Flesh Bone
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Jeff Copetas dreamt this up: Exactly, man. The facts is the facts. Hell, I went right out and I bought a pistol right after I heard "Gun" because I worship Uncle Tupelo. And that's not all - when Anodyne came out I rented a car and drove to the New Madrid fault and slept there for a few days in my flannel t-shirt and blue jeans. I then went out a bought a house with a screen door so, I, too, could have my friends over to sing. We would all have our whiskey bottles with us and bitch about the boss and how we just couldn't rip ourselves from our hometown. Those guys SPOKE to me man. They were real. They knew the struggle of farming, just like I did. then lance davis wrote: Tee-hee, this are funny. You know, there's something about comedy that just makes me laugh. to which I add: yeah. huhuh! Especially when it sets a complete moron like me on the high road to knowing more about things. thanks Jeff, I see now. forget all that stupid stuff I said about Tweedy/UT peoples. k? I was dum . . . -jim
Re: Swingin' Doors, 3/4/99
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Don Yates wrote: Freedy Johnston - Coffee, Coffee, Coffee So glad to see this here...great cover version of the Tom T. Hall song. Thanks for playing it Mr. Yates. PS: Next time you hear of Collier playing around your parts, drop me (us) a line, if you wouldn't mind. JC NPIMH: Real: The Songs of Tom T. Hall
Re: Obit: Eddie Dean
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, James Nelson wrote: His most famous composition was the hokey but sincere and emotional "I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven," written with friend Hal Southern. Which may be true, but Eddie Dean wrote lots of other fine tunes, including country music's first bonafide cheatin' song, "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)."--don
Re: Swingin' Doors, 3/4/99
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Jerry Curry wrote: PS: Next time you hear of Collier playing around your parts, drop me (us) a line, if you wouldn't mind. No problem -- Friday April 2nd at the Tractor Tavern. See ya there, Jerry.--don
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Terry A. Smith wrote: And how does "No Depression" as a name for a magazine prove anything about Uncle Tupe's music itself? They're the media, right? If they see Uncle Tupelo as big influential innovator, that's fine. But it doesn't necessarily prove anything. -- Terry Smith except that MY ONLY POINT was that the media has dubbed them as the originators of this movement and that THAT is what Tweedy is distancing himself from. --JR Actually, you made a few more points than that. My point, whether it dovetails apositively with your point or not, is that whatever media proclaimed Uncle Tupelo the originator of alt.country MUSIC suffer from a musical blind spot that's several decades huge. No argument, however, with the reality -- which is that somebody's wrongheaded assessment of Uncle Tupelo as a Brand New Musical Thang did, in fact, inspire a revitalization of the country-rock genre -- young rock bands playing country-type material. So we're both right -- they started something, but that something was started under false pretenses, whether UT intended it or not. I'm sure they didn't. Hey, there's no harm in arguing this stuff, is there? My wife thinks I'm dense, too. -- Terry Smith
Re: Obit: Eddie Dean
Don Yates says: On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, James Nelson wrote: His most famous composition was the hokey but sincere and emotional "I Dreamed of a Hillbilly Heaven," written with friend Hal Southern. Which may be true, but Eddie Dean wrote lots of other fine tunes, including country music's first bonafide cheatin' song, "One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart)."--don Uh, actually Cary Ginnell wrote that, Don. You can take it up with him, if you like. g Jim
RE: Recordable CD Players
Also, is there any audible difference between getting a home unit (stereo component) and buying one for a computer with the intent of duping music? As far as I know, there's no audible difference, but there's a financial one, as a friend of mine recently discovered: the standalone, home units require discs that cost substantially more than the ones used in computer peripherals (he says he's paying $6-$7 a disc, as opposed to $1-$2). As I understand it - and if I'm wrong, I have no doubt that someone will correct me - the difference is related largely to a royalty that goes to the record companies, purportedly to offset the cost of unauthorized duplication of CDs; the discs used in the computer peripherals are exempt because of their double duty as data storage media. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
A Question
Question: As I first heard the term "alternative country" applied, reluctantly and for lack of a better term (a search for a better phrase was underway but never found) to bands musicians who didn't, for one reason or another, fit into the prevailing "Hot New Country" format, either because they were "too country" or because they added the "wrong" kind of rock music to their mix -- on one hand, Jimmie Dale Gilmore; on the other, Clay Blaker, and on the third hand, bubbling-under artists like Kevin Welch or Steve Earle; artists who, furthermore, weren't part of a discernable genre like bluegrass or rockabilly, except where they were filed under "folk" by default, my question is; If they're not "alt country" or "alternative country" according to the UT/No Depression revisionism, er, I mean yardstick, then, we're back to the original problem being batted around back then (and when *did* this start, btw? Bob Soron?) which is: What DO we call this stuff? The Other Alternative Country, Whatever That Is? And what DO we do call country that is too country for either mainstream radio or "alt-country?" That has negligble rock content, and hews close to the *country* side of things? "Real Country" isn't acceptable, apparently. "Hard" gets mixed up with "Alt." "Traditional Country" doesn't work for several reasons. "New Traditionalists?" Oh wait, that was tried. "Post-Traditionalist Country?" "Neo-Classic Country?" "Post-Classic Neo-Traditionalist Country?" "Too Country For YOU, Buddy?" (Not you, Buddy. g) Just WONDERING. Seems like an awful lot of country-type music falls through the cracks between mainstream radio and the UT/No Depression camp. --Cheryl Cline P.S.: Coming Soon: Boomers and Gen X, Tailbusters and Teenagers: Pfui. Plus! Reactions Arising From Assorted Buttons Being Pushed; and Chips Residing on Shoulders Reactivated and Proving Troublesome. (Later, though. After lunch. After work. Maybe Monday. g)
Clip-Buckner reissue
Also, look for the Slow River/Rykodisc rerelease of Richard Buckner's debut album, BLOOMED, on May 18, 1999. Originially released on Glitterhouse in Germany in 1993 and in the United States on DejaDisc in 1994, BLOOMED was an out-of-nowhere debut from a then 28-year old drifter who helped define the "No Depression" movement of the early '90s. Rave reviews from the press, including a Top Twenty Album of the Year nod from Spin magazine, earned Richard a deal with MCA; near constant touring and similarly praised follow-up releases earned him a devoted and rabid fan base. The rerelease of BLOOMED (out of print for three years), includes 5 bonus tracks, each staples of his live set, never before recorded. The new release has been completely re-mastered and is presented with new artwork.
Clip-Old 97's
Good thing the movement they're distancing themselves from here is decades old and can take the hit. g Old 97's Get Feedback From Frank Black On New Record Old 97's 28.8 RealAudio Coming off the momentum from its just-wrapped preview tour, the Old 97's are continuing to build up steam towards the release of its new album, "Fight Songs," due out on April 27. According to band guitarist and vocalist Rhett Miller, the new Old 97's record -- which had been originally titled "Imaginary Friends" -- finds the group exchanging its alt. country garb for a "slightly more Britpop kind of guitar sound," a sound featured on the first single, "Murder (Or a Heart Attack) [28.8 RealAudio]. A departure from the "cow-punk" chops of the band's critical breakthrough, "Wreck Your Life" as well as its 1997 major-label debut, "Too Far to Care," Miller admits that the end result of the new album caught him off-guard. After finishing an early mix of "Fight Songs," Miller felt a little insecure about whether the record might alienate some fans, and sent off copies of the album to family and friends -- including one Frank Black -- for feedback. "I felt very weird after [the record] was done, because I knew it was not really in the same vein as our other three records," Miller told MTV News Online. "It's so far away from the 'No Depression' movement that we'd been associated with, so I was a little worried (laughs). So I sent copies of the CD to a few people, one of which was Frank Black." "He had approached us at an Old 97's show a while back," Miller continued, "and of course we all love him and the Pixies. So, when [Black] called me back and said he really liked ['Fight Songs'], I knew we had passed the bar. Unfortunately, his favorite track, 'The Villain,' ended up getting left off the U.S. version of the album, but I think we're using it as a bonus track on the Japanese import. Sorry about that Frank." Even though the new Old 97's record doesn't come out until next month, fans can catch a snippet of another track from "Fight Songs," entitled "19" [28.8 RealAudio], that is being used on promotional spots for the WB drama "Felicity" throughout March.
RE: Lawrence Welk (RE: country radio)
On a totally different tangent, I have been listening to the upcoming Spade Cooley record that Bloodshot is releasing soon and my first reaction was "This sounds like Lawrence Welk!" Maybe not as cheesy but the accordion and the western swing arrangements have that "champagne" sound. I must be getting old, though, I kinda liked it. g Welcome to Club Geezer, Jim. Cooley and Welk were essentially direct competitors in Southern California in the early-mid 50s. That's a bit after the period covered by the Bloodshot transcriptions comp, but even so... Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: Recordable CD Players
At 10:16 AM 3/5/99 -0800, you wrote: Hey all, I've been thinking about picking up a home CD Recordable unit. Does anybody out there own one, or have you heard of a particular brand/model that is supposed to be good? Does the quality vary alot between brands? Also, is there any audible difference between getting a home unit (stereo component) and buying one for a computer with the intent of duping music? thanks -- Shawn If you the thought of having to go beyond 'Plug 'n Play' doesn't frighten you, a computer CD recorder is the way to go. Besides the difference in price for media noted in Jon's reply, the hardware for stand alones is more expensive as well and not nearly as versatile. Stand alones won't create CD-ROMs, for example. I've have my Plextor 4/12 for just over a year now, and have burned over 150 CDRs without any major problems, and I highly recommend it. Plextor has an excellent reputation for quality and customer service, but they are also among the priciest. If you don't mind rooting through a lot of pointless debate, the comp.publish.cdrom.hardware is an excellent starting place for more information.
RE: Recordable CD Players
At 02:55 PM 3/5/99 -0500, you wrote: Also, is there any audible difference between getting a home unit (stereo component) and buying one for a computer with the intent of duping music? As far as I know, there's no audible difference, but there's a financial one, as a friend of mine recently discovered: the standalone, home units require discs that cost substantially more than the ones used in computer peripherals (he says he's paying $6-$7 a disc, as opposed to $1-$2). As I understand it - and if I'm wrong, I have no doubt that someone will correct me - the difference is related largely to a royalty that goes to the record companies, purportedly to offset the cost of unauthorized duplication of CDs; the discs used in the computer peripherals are exempt because of their double duty as data storage media. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/ How does this industry kickback work? Do labels like Bloodshot, Hightone and Rebel see any of this? Seems suspicious to me. Is anyone out there using a computer peripheral for music duplication? How is it working? D.
Re: A Question
Cheryl Cline wrote: What DO we call this stuff? I know you're being semi-sarcastic but: Having a country influence and not being on country radio doesn't seem to me to make this stuff all of a genre, even though the same people will often like most of it. "Rootsy stuff" usually does in conversation. It'd behoove writers to call things by more specific and evocative terms. The Old 97s should be called "Dallas Calling pop-punk roots" while Dale Watson should be called "stubbornly retrograde hard country," the Geraldine Fibbers should be called "AIDS-era sonic twang," etc. etc. Delineating the relationship to the alt-country media/marketing/social-scene should be done in a separate sentence. ("Tweedy hates being called alt-country, even though most everyone blames him for the movement;" "Hadacol is a bit of an alt-country bandwagon band"; "Don Walser isn't quite sure what the kids mean by alt-country.") All in the spirit of your rules-for-critics. Cheryl also wrote: P.S.: Coming Soon: Boomers and Gen X, Tailbusters and Teenagers: Pfui. Um, just to forestall being torn to well-chewed chunks by the sharp incisors of the Cline wit - and knowing that I was waxing purple and puffy in some of my previous contributions to this - I would like to state for the record that generational distinctions only have very very general application and that one's place in cultural chronology is no more or less important than one's place in cultural geography, gender, race, class and smarts, among other elements of life. *Of course* age has no necessary relation to, for instance, being a utopian hippie, or a cynical slacker, or whatever. These are all contingent generalities. I was addressing demographics in the frame of Jake's essay, but I too hated the Gen-X shit when it was coming down the pipe fast and furious in the early nineties. However: in retrospect, I have to say the best of the commentary it generated was more accurate than I wanted to admit. And I don't think it's foolish to say that the particular cultural moment you grew up in, along with the economic conditions and prevailing politics, is an important influence on who you become. We don't question that when we talk about people who grew up in the Depression and in the Jazz Age, so it seems fair to speculate about it in terms of the eighties boom, the eighties-nineties recession, David Letterman and grunge. Any overblown claims of explanatory power are hereby dampened down. But I'd still like to hear what Cheryl thinks. Carl W.
Re: Recordable CD Players
At 12:26 PM 3/5/99 -0800, you wrote: If you the thought of having to go beyond 'Plug 'n Play' doesn't frighten you, a computer CD recorder is the way to go. Besides the difference in price for media noted in Jon's reply, the hardware for stand alones is more expensive as well and not nearly as versatile. Stand alones won't create CD-ROMs, for example. I've have my Plextor 4/12 for just over a year now, and have burned over 150 CDRs without any major problems, and I highly recommend it. Plextor has an excellent reputation for quality and customer service, but they are also among the priciest. If you don't mind rooting through a lot of pointless debate, the comp.publish.cdrom.hardware is an excellent starting place for more information. What is required for this, software-wise. How much was your Plextor 4/12? D.
CRS (Country vs. AAA)
All this talk about AAA vs. Hot Country is pretty interesting. I have a couple personal observations on the subject. Let me start by letting you all know that radio completely and utterly sucks in the Raleigh area. There are two great college stations (WXDU and WXYC, in that order g), after that it's all pretty wretched. When the two college stations are playing something I don't like I switch first to 96 Rock. They are a new station that probably uses the trade-term "Active Rock." Basically they play everything from old AC/DC and Metallica to Bare Jr and Green Day. At least it is interesting, and I have to admit that when some old AC/DC tune comes on I'm crankin' the stereo up to 11. We don't have a AAA station here, but we have 4 (or more) hot country stations. I listened to them pretty often for about a year and a half. When the stuff started sounding good to me I knew my musical taste was dying. When ya find yourself singing along with Shania's "Still the One" (isn't that a Pepsi song?) you know it's time to rethink your listening activities. Hot Country is definitely *easy* to listen to, but isn't that the point? Interesting though? Hardly, at least not for me. I would be overjoyed if we got a AAA station like WNKU, or even the ultra big KFOG from San Francisco. Sure, they aren't perfect but when compared to the rest of commercial radio you could do much worse. So, everyone quit your bitching. At least you have a few stations that play good music *sometimes*. Oh, and Don said this: I'm not sure what needs explaining. Most AAA radio's a sterile mix of "classic rock" (i.e., overplayed boomer music) and tepid adult pop. That same definition could be used for Hot Countryexcept the overplayed part. Instead of playing old hits, they just continue to manufacture songs that sound like last months hits. $100 CD Player in the car was the best investment I ever made. Cheers. Steve == Steve Gardner * Sugar Hill Records Radio Promotion [EMAIL PROTECTED] * www.sugarhillrecords.com WXDU "Topsoil" * A Century of Country Music [EMAIL PROTECTED] * www.topsoil.net ==
Re: Obit: Eddie Dean
On Fri, 5 Mar 1999, Jim Nelson definitely wrote: Uh, actually Cary Ginnell wrote that, Don. You can take it up with him, if you like. g Oops! Sorry for the misattribution, Jim.--don
Re: Chicago Calendar
I dunno if these count as additions or changes or both, but this week's House of Blues ad says that Dick Dale is the 11th, not the 4th, which means I may be able to go out on my birthday after all. And the Metro's got some benefit going, including folks such as Langford, Escovedo, Fulks, Mavis Staples, and some less roots-oriented stuff. I think it's the same night that Devil in a Woodpile are headlining, but don't remember for sure. (The DiaW show starts late, while this benefit's early.) And that Wilco instore is also going to be broadcast on 'XRT, for those who'd rather have trading fodder. Bob
Re: Beantown Bound/Spurs
At 8:16 AM -0600 on 3/5/99, marie marie wrote: I think John was actually one of those non-dancers dancing at my last Spurs' show. I always complained that the men in Boston never danced. Well, they don't appear to dance in Nashville either. Hey, back in the day, I used to lose serious water weight out on the dance floor. Up until the last, folks like Sleepy LaBeef could get me out there for four or five hours. And I was hardly alone. You must've just been going to the wrong shows. Bob
Re: Recordable CD Players
At 10:16 AM -0800 on 3/5/99, Shawn Devlin wrote: I've been thinking about picking up a home CD Recordable unit. Does anybody out there own one, or have you heard of a particular brand/model that is supposed to be good? Does the quality vary alot between brands? Also, is there any audible difference between getting a home unit (stereo component) and buying one for a computer with the intent of duping music? You can read the huge FAQ at www.fadden.com/cdr. (If I've gotten that wrong, someone please say something.) I don't know if it has anything about the stereo component units, but I can't imagine there's much audible difference between those and CDRs for your computer. (Though that FAQ makes the point that the error correction algorithms may ensure that it never sounds the same way twice anyway.) I've got a Yamaha 4416 and like it quite a bit. Although it's a CDRW unit, it seems to have trouble with some CDRW blanks. But it's succesfully burned every normal CDR blank I've tossed into it, including generic cheapos. (You can't play CDRWs anyway -- they're only useful for backing up data, not for music.) Bob
Re: Recordable CD Players
If you own a Mac, I'd recommend getting a copy of Adaptec Toast (version 3.5.6 is the most current). If you own a PC, Adaptec's Easy CD Creator does the job. Either will burn audio CDs; if you're doing multimedia development, you can make your own presentations and have them automatically play when the CD is inserted into your PC. http://www.adaptec.com can give you more information about their software. I'm using a Sony doublespeed recorder from 1995 that has worked flawlessly ever since we bought it. I've done this more times than I'd care to admit. If you own a Macromedia product, chances are it came from this CD burner. Further details available privately to those who really need to know. np: Buena Vista Social Club
lack of definition -- is that so wrong?
Since everybody always asks, upon finding out that I have a band, "What kind of music do you play?", I have had to think about genre definitions way too much for my own good. Still, I don't have a good answer. Here are a couple of recent incidents that reveal the inadequacy of prevailing terminology/attitudes: * a girl from the bluegrass program, working with a tutor in our center, asks me about my band; as I start to name off bands she might have heard of that we might have some similarity to, I use the unfortunate term "alt.country." "Like Shania Twain?" she asks. I try to hide my disgust ... but do not succeed! *at a gig last weekend in Bristol (the "birthplace" of country music) a couple of young ladies enter the club's door while we are playing our opening number, one of our "countries" tunes. They watch in amazement for about 30 seconds, shake their heads and leave. Half an hour later, another set of ladies, a few years older, walk through the bar door while we're playing one of our hardest-rocking songs; the watch in amazement for about 30 seconds, shake their heads and leave. Disturbed at this phenomenon, I asked the doorman during the break, "Are we THAT ugly?" He said, "Yes, but that's not why the didn't come in -- the first group hated country, and the second group didn't want to hear any of that 'acid rock.' So that's us -- Acid Country! ___ 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: Lawrence Welk vs. Spade Cooley
Brad quotes the notes from Spadella!: "Cooley signed with Decca in 1950. Now augmented by a string section, his band swelled to 25 pieces. Their overwrought recordings bore little resemblance to the spirited country swing of their earlier heyday... Which, IMO, is a little harsh, though probably fitting right in with, er, certain sensibilities. I've got a tape of Cooley TV shows around somewhere, and though there's certainly some overwrought stuff on it, a lot of it is definitely spirited country swing, albeit with more of a pop sheen. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: Coltrane book?
I'll second Nisenson's "Ascension" for the Coltrane bio. I've got a couple Trane bios and some are horrible. One of my favorite jazz books is David Rosenthal's "Hard Bop" which covers that particular brand of jazz from the 1955-65 era. Not bebop, but the music played by the likes of Art Blakey, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Miles, Trane, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown, etc. in those days. Great writing on great music. Another good jazz book is John Litweiler's bio "Ornette Coleman: A Harmelodic Life." But be careful, not all jazz fans are Ornette Coleman fans (but should be) ;-) Gregg === Gregg Makepeace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Guess they didn't know about Joe Ely's tour with the Clash. UT was a decade too late. Yeah but, can't a decade too late also mean brand new to a new generation? NW
Re: Recordable CD Players
If you don't mind rooting through a lot of pointless debate, Hilarious
Re: Scorchers
In a message dated 3/5/99 12:38:14 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Jack was also the band's original bassist. I saw them play their first show. good thing he became the manager, cause he was a terrible bass player. Slim
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
In a message dated 3/5/99 12:14:35 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I am merely stating that one of the main journals reviewing Americana music (does anyone dispute this?? I am sure there will be) is named after a UT album. I thought that was a Carter Family song. I have decided that I hate alt. country, and love country and western music. Slim
Re: lack of definition -- is that so wrong?
On Sat, 6 Mar 1999, Rob Russell wrote: have heard of that we might have some similarity to, I use the unfortunate term "alt.country." "Like Shania Twain?" she asks. I try to hide my disgust ... but do not succeed! Well, applying the abbreviation "alt" to mean alternative to the mainstream, I would say indeed.Shania Twain does play "alt. country". That's an alternative to traditional/classic country. Just a different application of the abbr. alt. in my book, but a valid one, noe the less. NP: Gary Allen - non alt.country Jerry
Re: Tweedy quote
Howdy, Dave: I'll gladly nominate Being There as one of the most overrated records of the 90s. There aren't enough good songs on there to make a good single disc, let alone two. I heart Dave Purcell. Take care, Shane Rhyne Knoxville, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fw: SXSW '99 Free Outdoor Stage Info
VH-1, Entertainment Weekly, Musicland and KLBJ-FM present the 1999 SXSW Free Outdoor Stage located in Waterloo Park at 12th and Red River. +++ Friday, March 19 - gates open at 5:00pm 6:00pm - Fastball (Hollywood Records) 7:00pm - Joe Ely and friends +++ Saturday, March 20 - gates open at 3:30pm 4:30pm - The Damnations TX (Sire Records) 5:30pm - Spoon (Vapor Records) 6:30pm - The Gourds (Munich Records) 7:30pm - Guided By Voices (Matador Records) a new release is expected soon, recorded with producer Ric Ocasek In association with B.E.A.M., proceeds from the sale of Jim Beam canned drinks go to benefit H.E.A.R. There will be plenty of food and beverage sold on-site so leave your coolers at home. (Sorry, no outside food or beverage is permitted in the park.) H.E.A.R. (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers) is a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness of the real dangers of repeated exposure to excessive noise levels which can lead to permanent, and sometimes debilitating, hearing loss. (Known spokesperson for H.E.A.R. is Pete Townesend.) B.E.A.M Foundation (Benefiting Emerging Artists in Music) is a valuable resource supported by Jim Beam Bourbon providing emerging artists with grants, rehearsal space and more. Known spokesperson for B.E.A.M. is Pat Dinisio of The Smithereens (who will be at the B.E.A.M. stand in the SXSW Trade Show). To learn more about H.E.A.R. and B.E.A.M. visit their on-site kiosks at Waterloo Park during the free outdoor shows. SXSW Music runs March 17-21, 1999 in Austin, Texas. Stop by our website (www.sxsw.com) for more information on our events, to register online, or to drop us a line. ##Register early to get the discounted rate at the SXSW host hotels.## Persons with e-mail addresses who have requested materials about events or have registered are automatically added to the general listserv(s) for the conference(s) in which they are interested. If you ever want to remove yourself from a listserv mailing list, you can send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the following command in the body of your email message: unsubscribe nameoflistserv or from another account, besides the one which is subscribed: unsubscribe nameoflistserv accountaddress Send an e-mail to "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" if you have specific conference questions you cannot find answers to at our website (www.sxsw.com).
Rob Russell
Sorry, everyone, for the intrusion...but could Rob Russell give me a holler offlist? Thanks! Owen Bly Ranchero Records Oakland, CA
MMs?
Howdy, Someone (I have forgotten who, in this seemingly unending back log of e-mail... you people do have other hobbies, jobs, etc., don't you?) mentioned Eminem (sp?) earlier in the week. I had never heard of him/her/them until then, but received this link in my weekly e-mail from Rolling Stone... http://www.rollingstone.com/sections/vtheater/text/default.asp?afl=mail2 I have no idea what the excitement is all about... Take care, Shane Rhyne Knoxville, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED] NP: Eminem's video on my computer... yawn...
Re: Recordable CD Players
At 03:39 PM 3/5/99 -0500, you wrote: At 12:26 PM 3/5/99 -0800, you wrote: If you the thought of having to go beyond 'Plug 'n Play' doesn't frighten you, a computer CD recorder is the way to go. Besides the difference in price for media noted in Jon's reply, the hardware for stand alones is more expensive as well and not nearly as versatile. Stand alones won't create CD-ROMs, for example. I've have my Plextor 4/12 for just over a year now, and have burned over 150 CDRs without any major problems, and I highly recommend it. Plextor has an excellent reputation for quality and customer service, but they are also among the priciest. If you don't mind rooting through a lot of pointless debate, the comp.publish.cdrom.hardware is an excellent starting place for more information. What is required for this, software-wise. How much was your Plextor 4/12? D. The Plextor 4/12 were going for $425+ back in 2/98. Since then, they've come our with an 8 speed writer, so I'm sure the price has dropped. You'll need a SCSI card for the Plextors and some others, but there are IDE writers as well. 2 speed IDE writers can go for as little as $200, but I have no idea of their quality. As for s/w, I use Easy CD Creator for CDROMs and Nero for audio CDs. My computer is a P90 w/ 32M, so the hardware requirements are no big deal.
Playlist: The Boudin Barndance - 3/4/99
The Boudin Barndance - 3/4/99 Dan Ferguson WRIU-FM, 90.3 Kingston, RI Thursdays 6-9 pm Welcomed in-studio guest Jack Smith this evening on the Barndance. A rockabilly-and-then-some hero in these parts, Jack's got his first full- lengther in 11 years called "Can't Help Myself" just out on Run Wild Records. (P2 DJ pals be on the lookout for this baby on which Mr. Smith offers many looks.) Talked and spinned the record and also previewed his show with Bill Kirchen (who produced the record) coming up on Saturday night at The Call in Providence. First-time Barndance spins this evening in addition to the Smith disc included a brand new circa early '70s "Best of" collection from Cliff Waldron the New Shades of Grass that features some pretty pleasing 'grass sounds to these ears. Butt-Shaker of the night? "Can't Help Myself" from Jack Smith with a sizzling guitar assist from Kirchen. Onto zee goods Buck Owens, et al/ Buckaroo / Box Set / Rhino (intro) Kelly Willis - Cradle of Love / What I Deserve (Rykodisc) Beaver Nelson - One Car Collision / The Last Hurrah (Freedom) The Flatirons - Crazy Train / Pryaer Bones (#Past) Mike Ireland Holler - Biggest Torch / Learning How to Live (Sub Pop) Kelly Willis - Take Me Down / What I Deserve (Rykodisc) Rose Maddox - Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms / Sings Bluegrass (Capitol) Cliff Waldron, et al - I'm Lonesome Without You / Best of (Rebel) Earle McCoury's - Texas Eagle / The Mountain (EE) Damnations Tx - Black Widow / Half Mad Moon (Sire) Supersuckers - Roadworn and Weary / Must've Been High (Sub Pop) Waco Bros - Hello to Everybody / WacoWorld (Bloodshot) Skeets McDonlad - Fort Worth Jail / Don't Let the Stars (Bear Family) World Famous Bluejays - Mud Flap Boogie / 7" (Diesel Only) Red Sovine - Truck Drivin' Son of a Gun / Giddy-Up-Go (Starday) Bill Kirchen - Womb to the Tomb / Have Love Will Travel (Black Top) Jack Smith - Drive Johnny Drive / Can't Help Myself (Run Wild) The Rpitones - Barbedwire Scars / Cowboy's Inn (Bloodshot) Lightnin' Hopkins - Meet You at the Chicken Shack / Texas Blues (Arhoolie) Chuck E. Weiss - Jimmy Would / Extremely Cool (Slow River) Evan Johns - Love is Murder / Love is Murder (Freedom) Roy Loney Phantom Movers - Evil-Hearted Ada / 7" (Norton) Teen Rockers - Road Block / Concussion!!! (Mr. Manicotti) Jack Smith - King of the Show / Can't Help Myself (Run Wild) Jack Smith - The Penny / Can't Help Myself (Run Wild) Jack Smith - Can't Help Myself / Can't Help Myself (Run Wild) Jack Smith - Cadillac Jack / Can't Help Myself (Run Wild) Jack Smith - Neon Highway / Can't Help Myself (Run Wild) Jack Smith - Nothing Takes the Place of You / Can't Help Myself (Run Wild) Ramrods - Riders in the Sky / 7" (Amy) Bill Kirchen - Hot Rod Lincoln / Hot Rod Lincoln Live (Hightone) Larry Hart - Freight Train / Boppin' Tonight (Ace) Scotty Moore trio - Have Guitar Will Travel / Fernwood Rockabillies (Stompertime) Wes Bryant - I Just Want Your Love / West Texas Bop (Ace) James Hand - Little Bitty Slip / Shadows Where the Magic Was Biller Wakefield - Grinding Gears / The Hot Guitars of (HMG) Ramblin' Ramblers - Rock Roll Joys / 7" (Dee Jay Jamboree) The Scamps - Enchilada / Frolic Diner Vol. 1 (Romulan) Burton Mooney / Corn Pickin' / Legends of Country Guitar / Rhino (outro) Enjoy. Boudin Dan N.P. - Lone Justice
RE: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
Guess they didn't know about Joe Ely's tour with the Clash. UT was a decade too late. and the unfortunate part of this is joe ely has yet to really find his decadeone of those artists who has been mining this "genre" (whatever the hell you folks want to call this genre) for yrs and yrs yet has never really broken thruyes, he has a nice base of people who like and respect him but he has never made that big jump and that is shame
Townes Van Zandt birthday and my show birthday ! Invitation for all !!!
Hello to all, Townes Van Zandt birthday is 7 March so tomorrow my friend from Radio B-92 Zikica Simic will play two hours show about Townes. You can hear it on www.opennet.org and search for Radio B-92. His show is called DOWN ON THE CORNER and it is from 15-17 hours central european time. All i know is that time difference between IOWA and Yugoslavia is 7 hours. Noon in Yu means 5 am in Iowa. My show tomorrow will also be dedicated to TVZ and my radio show will has it's 4th birthday 25th of March (but i'll have show 27th of March) so i'm inviting you all to send your music wishes and suggestions what to play in birthday show. We prepared a lot of prizes for our listeners. Alex Aleksandar Lazarevic p.fah 80 11400 Mladenovac Serbia Yugoslavia [EMAIL PROTECTED] tel.+381 11 8220 554
Re: Tweedy quote/alt.country (LONG and IRRITATED)
In a message dated 3/5/99 9:14:18 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: /colorBig deal, indeed. I agree completely with Terry, though -- it does get awfully fucking tiresome to read the tripe about UT starting some big movement, especially when one reads the oft-repeated claims that they somehow awakened a type of music that had been dormant since Gram Parsons died. Yah. Actually, all UT started was P2. Well, and Postcard, of course. Well okay and No Depression Magazine, but, hey. Linda "it's not about the music it's about the internet" Ray
Here you go. . .
Hank Williams III wants to be characterized as alternative country. . .for whoever's keeping score. BTW his show at Lounge Ax tomorrow night was cancelled today. Linda
Re: Townes Van Zandt birthday and my show birthday ! Invitation for all !!!
Happy Birthday Alex! Please play The Handsome Family, "Drunk by Noon" Sparklehorse, "Sunshine" Freakwater, "Jesus Year" (It's the only birthday song I can think of off the top of my head) Have fun! Linda
Re: lack of definition -- is that so wrong?
I wrote: have heard of that we might have some similarity to, I use the unfortunate term "alt.country." "Like Shania Twain?" she asks. I try to hide my disgust ... but do not succeed! Jerry wrote: Well, applying the abbreviation "alt" to mean alternative to the mainstream, I would say indeed.Shania Twain does play "alt. country". Absolutely -- I ain't disagreeing with you. The incident just shows how flimsy the term is, don'tcha think? I mean ... ah, hell, whatever Rob Np. A tape of myself saying, "I will not over-intellectualize my ideas about music, I will not over-intellectualize my ideas about music, I will not over-intellectualize my ideas about music, I will not over-intellectualize my ideas about music, I will not over-intellectualize my ideas about music, I will not over-intellectualize my ideas about music, I will not over-intellectualize my ideas about music," ad infinitum. ___ Rob Russell Johnson City, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://listen.to/thebystanders
Nothing like an Elvis movie...
Just got back from our little movie house down the street (one of the last single movie houses in the DC area, with a 40' CinemaScope screen). They're having a 50's film fest, and "Jailhouse Rock" was on the bill tonight. Lot of great shots of Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and (I think) DJ Fontana - go ahead, ask me who THEY are. Also - Purcell take note - potential great band name in the scene where a girl comes up to Vince (Elvis' character) and says "We all think you're really 'Goneville.'" There's been talk of closing the Old Greenbelt Theatre. All I can say is they damn well better not do it... -- Geff King * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * http://www2.ari.net/gking/ "Don't let me catch you laughin' when the jukebox cries" - Kinky Friedman, "Sold American"