Re: Clip: Another interview with Jeff Tweedy
I LOVE that! Thank you so much for posting it. . . np. Southern Line, different but equal I enjoyed the Tweedy interview, too. See what can happen when a music writer doesn't ask JT about alt.country or no depression? Though it does seem as if the interviewer copped his brainy/smartassiness from Time magazine's Joel Stein, who copped HIS from... -- Terry Smith, who's sick of snow
TV This Week
Tonight (Monday) -- Alison Krauss Union Station on Letterman (rerun from 1997) Wednesday -- Chieftains on Rosie, Chieftains on Conan Wednesday -- RR HOF ceremonies on VH1, with Bruce Springsteen, Bob Wills, Dusty Springfield, Curtis Mayfield, Paul McCartney, Joel Somebodyorother, etc. Friday -- Steve Earle and Del McCoury Band on Conan -- Tom Mohr at the office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] at the home: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: Fred Eaglesmith/Ralph Stanley
It seems to me I remember Ralph Stanley doing a song about his brother Carter, but I don't know if it was recorded. "Hills Of Home." Written, at Ralph's request, by Wendy Smith, the same fellow who wrote "Sweet Sally Brown" and "Carolyn The Teenage Queen." I'm told that Eaglesmith encored with the Carter Stanley song at his show here, too. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
RE: Fwd: E-Squared vs. Billboard (fwd)
the chart in question is a sales chart, and the absence of a promoted-to-radio single is utterly irrelevant. Why is this true? It doesn't sound unreasonable that a single being promoted to country radio would have an impact on sales. Yes it is a sales only charts, but a single promoted to radio is not irrelevant to whether or not someone in the business knows the record is out, especially at retail.These things are connected, whether you believe it or not. It was mentioned as to perhaps a reason thet the Billboard editor missed it in the first place. Just another example of radio wagging the dog. The fact that the Kelly Willis record was missed is offered as another example of this, BTW. Jim, smilin'
RE: Fwd: E-Squared vs. Billboard (fwd)
the chart in question is a sales chart, and the absence of a promoted-to-radio single is utterly irrelevant. Why is this true? It doesn't sound unreasonable that a single being promoted to country radio would have an impact on sales. I have no doubt that's so, but whatever sells more copies than #20 on the chart and fewer than #18 on the chart should appear at #19 on a sales-based chart, regardless of whether there's a single being promoted. As I noted, this was the case with Skaggs' Bluegrass Rules! just last year. Yes it is a sales only charts, but a single promoted to radio is not irrelevant to whether or not someone in the business knows the record is out, especially at retail. As the article noted, presence on the chart is one way that folks at retail know a record's out, regardless of whether a single's being promoted. It was mentioned as to perhaps a reason thet the Billboard editor missed it in the first place. As I noted, Billboard had published a "spotlight" review of the album on January 23 (http://www.billboard.com/reviews/reviewdisplay.asp?ID=49012 ). Furthermore, without getting into a whole lot of detail, I know for a fact that Billboard's country chart guy was aware of, and interested in, the album just a couple of weeks before the release date. I suspect - though I have no way of knowing at this point, especially considering that the original source is still to be determined - that the problem occurred elsewhere, and the lame reasons offered are more in the nature of finger-pointing than of fact. In any event, assuming that the story's correct, it's pretty outrageous. The whole point of the album chart is that it's supposed to be objective, based on SoundScan sales counts, and the country chart is the only reasonable place to put the album. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
unsubbing
Just in case anyone is looking for me, I'm gone, outta here, SXSW bound, off-list until 3/23. Leavin' the snow behind, Stacey Hellcountry "supporting the Boston area twang scene" http://www.hellcountry.com [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bar Code Sticker Annoyance
I don't know what annoys me most - the broken cd case phenomena, the plastic wrapping frustration (opening it), the tearing off the bar code scanner sticker overlaying the cd, or the dreade dhidden bonus track that typically young bands think it's cool to do still, years after the technology is no longer novel. I'll definitely second the annoyance of the bar code sticker. There seems to be a large variation in the quality of these stickers. Some (very few) come off easily and in one or two pieces. On the other side of the spectrum, there are those stickers that absolutely refuse to come off in less than 25 small pieces and insist on leaving behind a sticky residue. Most are somewhere in between. For the longest time, I really loved the way that Rounder did it. My memory is a little fuzzy, but somehow their packaging had the bar code sticker as part of the cellophane wrapping and not actually stuck to the case. Alas, they seemed to have stopped this practice sometime in the last year or so because everything I've bought from them recently has the sticker stuck to the case. They were the only label that I am aware of that did packaging like that. Does anybody know why they stopped? Of course my favorite CD packaging does not have a bar code sticker at all... (I know, I know, there are good reasons for it). Tony Lombardi [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Bar Code Sticker Annoyance
For the longest time, I really loved the way that Rounder did it. Does anybody know why they stopped? Probably had something to do with their Mercury deal and switching manufacturers.
re: Rufus Wainwright
Had I been consulted, I'd have recommended he downplay the gay thing - which he emphasises to excess, all the time, and interminably - and just deliver the music. ?!? Are you serious? I mean, you must be joking right? I can't even imagine calling up an artist, who put out an album as great as Rufus' and actually tell him to "downplay the gay thing"? And if I did have the nerve (and the brash stupidity) I wouldn't be surprised at all if he told me to fuck off. In fact, if he *didn't* tell me to fuck off I'd be worried about the guy. I could go on and explain why I think this is incredibly lame, but instead I'll just let a recent bumper sticker I saw say it all nice and concise: =I don't mind straight people, =as long as the act gay. steve
iggy pop
The Iggy Pop documentary on VH-1 last night was awesome. It really made me want to see him live. I'm sure he's not as crazy as he once was...but some of the footage showed him as still being pretty damn wild on stage. I taped it if anyone missed it. I missed the first 5 minutes, but caught the rest. steve
Re: iggy pop
Steve Gardner wrote: The Iggy Pop documentary on VH-1 last night was awesome. It really made me want to see him live. I'm sure he's not as crazy as he once was...but some of the footage showed him as still being pretty damn wild on stage. I saw Iggy open for the Pretenders back in '85 or so. Way after his primo wild years, obviously, but he was still an unbelievable frontman. Great show all around, made even cooler by Chrissie Hynde getting down on her knees after the first couple of songs to say, "I just want to kiss the ground that Iggy Pop walks on." Purr. Is Dennis McGuire still out here? I was ragging on him one night for being old and he verbablly bitchslapped me by telling me about seeing Iggy seven nights in a row in Detroit, back in the early 70s, in a club the size of a hall closet. Bastard. Plus he has his Dad's leather biker jacket from the 50s. AND he saw the original Pretenders. He's my idol. Dave *** Dave Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Northern Ky Roots Music: http://w3.one.net/~newport Twangfest: http://www.twangfest.com
Clip: New Faces Show
New country acts get tepid response from radio execs By Tom Roland / Tennessean Staff Writer Record companies spent last week trying to gain the favor of the nation's broadcast media at the Country Radio Seminar, and the convention closed with the ultimate attempt, the annual New Faces Show. The show is an opportunity for recording artists to show their stuff to the decision-makers at radio who can make or break them. Thus, it's a crucial moment for each of the 10 acts selected. But, said one influential radio executive, if Saturday's lineup is the best the labels can do with new talent, it'll be a while before country gets out of its current funk. Nobody shot themselves in the foot during the show, but nobody got a standing ovation, either. Here's a look at the results, in order of performance: Chad Brock. His ballad Ordinary Life was a steel-tipped portrait of the blue-collar world, while The Lightning Does The Work hinged on an Indian Outlaw backbeat. Brock has a big voice, though he's not particularly unique. Radio gave him a good hand. South 65. 'N Sync meets The Oak Ridge Boys. Five cute guys in their early 20s deliver gospel-pegged harmonies and songs with big, sing-along choruses. They received a decent, though not overwhelming, hand. Gil Grand. Firmly country, Grand displayed a vocal conviction with a resonance reminiscent of Mark Chesnutt. Unfortunately, he had occasional pitch problems, though they weren't particularly devastating. Again, a decent, if not spectacular, reception. Jon Randall. Very smooth performance, and his rendition of the hauntingly lonely I Can't Find An Angel was chilling. Unfortunately, the audience had heard so many ballads by this point that the song's subtlety was lost on a crowd fighting post-dinner fatigue. Allison Moorer. Even though women are the strongest creative force in the business currently, Moorer was the lone female on the bill. Her husky vibrato and smoky tone succeeded, but her biggest stage move was to change the hand she wrapped around the mic stand. A good hand. The Great Divide. A country/gospel tune segued into a perfunctory rendition of Will The Circle Be Unbroken, and they followed with a country/rocker. With a rather gruff lead singer, the group leans toward Steve Earle, though it's a distilled version of him, at best. Applause was polite. Mark Nesler. The author of Tim McGraw's Just To See You Smile put a tinge of Waylon Jennings spirit into a Randy Travis kind of resonance on the solidly country Used To The Pain and sounded more like Billy Ray Cyrus on the breezy pop/country Baby Ain't Rockin' Me Right. Again, the reception was good, but nothing special. Trini Triggs. In the most obvious instance of pandering to the jocks, he toasted the ailing George Jones in a moment that went flat. His songs exhibited an island influence and a bit of Spanish flavor, but they were so wordy they allowed no room for any vocal uniqueness. He did, however, receive a fairly strong response. Shane Stockton. Left in the dust when Decca closed, he got a lot of humorous mileage out of being the only act without a label. After his gritty Geronimo, he got the biggest response of the evening. Monty Holmes. He followed a churning country opener with a George Jones-style weeper, but the crowd had substantially thinned out. Holmes got decent applause from those who were left.
SXSW meets MP3 (from Wired News; LONG)
Broadcast.com: MP3 Will Die by Judy Bryan 3:00 a.m. 15.Mar.99.PST AUSTIN, Texas -- Mark Cuban sees no good reason for MP3 to be the format for delivering digital music. He thinks distribution, not content, will be king, that pay-per-view services will eclipse free downloads, and that in everything digital a little babe will lead us. In the next several years, "MP3 will die," Cuban said. "The rate of change is accelerating to create an Internet dominated by digital media in shapes and sizes we can't even imagine." Animated and glib, and wearing jeans and a black company T-shirt, the broadcast.com president delivered the keynote speech at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, which runs through Tuesday. Cuban's slight southern accent betrayed his non-Silicon Valley roots. Broadcast.com is headquartered in Dallas. Despite its popularity, MP3 is here to be replaced, Cuban said. When an audience member remarked the recording industry and IBM were working out plans to use the codec, Cuban replied, "So what? Disco was a popular culture." And it died, too. People want audio off the Net, but MP3 is not the best delivery system for it, he said. One strike against the format, in Cuban's view, is that MP3 files are similar in size to streaming files, and the average person can't distinguish the difference in sound quality between an MP3 and a streaming file. "The [music industry's] marketing infrastructure will change," said Joe Cantwell, executive vice president of new media for Bravo Networks. "But the movement surrounding MP3, where artists can affect a greater sense of control over their work, will not change," Cantwell said. "The desperate and the successful are the ones who shape new markets." Cantwell used Chuck D as an example of an artist using his success to shape the new digital-music market. Five years ago Bravo's Independent Film Channel could have been counted among the desperate. Cantwell said the channel was launched by people who were passionate about building an audience for independent films. Although some folks laughed then, the channel has spawned a competitor, the Sundance Channel. David Pescovitz of MTV online said Cuban only said what others were thinking. "Someone had to be the first to say it," he said during a panel discussion Sunday afternoon. The Recording Industry Association of America has created a red herring in its campaign against piracy, Cuban said. Pirates are going to find a way to distribute illicitly, no matter what defenses companies create to safeguard music. "I'm a pirate, I'll pay US$11.98 and buy a CD, then copy it as much as I want to," he said. Cuban said companies that focus on thwarting pirates actually lose money. Protection and profits are practically mutually exclusive. "The more effort you spend protecting, the less effort you spend promoting and selling," he said. It's no surprise that the broadcast.com president would back streaming media -- it's his business. And, while he won't say whether broadcast.com has its eyes on RealNetworks, he predicted that someone -- probably a telco -- will buy buy the company, if for no other reason than to eliminate a competitor from the market. People want audio and video on the Net, Cuban said, and anyone who doesn't deliver it will be left in the dust. Content's reign is over, Cuban said. Content managers and distributors -- like broadcast.com -- will profit from content, not those who create it. Cuban has some interesting -- and conflicting -- ideas about digital distribution. He advocates the Grateful Dead approach of using content as a promotional tool: giving it away for nothing, and charging users for something else, a concert, in the Dead's case. So downloading will remain free, for the most part, Cuban said. But hosting Web sites will one day cost a lot. In an apparant paradox, Cuban said the best distributors will target niche audiences that are willing to pay for their passions, such as WCW wrestling fans, who pay Broadcast.com $5 to $10 to view matches they can't get or can't afford on cable. Cindy Cashman agreed with Cuban's prediction that a 15-year-old who doesn't want to do his homework will develop the next major media app. Her son, Erick Nelson, is a 17-year-old hacker who runs Cues.com, a site where users can design their own pool cues. "He's 17, but he's one of the geniuses [Cuban] talked about," she said. Nelson echoed Cuban's notion that pay-per-view is on its way as the Web's next big business model. "I think that if people want content enough they'll pay to see it, even if it's five frames per second and choppy," Nelson said. He and his peers are avid Net-video watchers, and he's working on a project that could employ the pay-per-view model. Bob
SxSW note: Tigerlillies
A special SxSW note for you lucky bastards who are going. I know there are a zillion great bands playing and you can't possibly see everyone you want to see. But if you get a chance, please try to work the Tigerlillies into your schedule (I'm not sure when they're playing). They're a veteran band from Cincinnati, been together 10 or so years. Hepped up garage pop, great stuff, they have a couple records out on Atavistic. Anyway, they were on their way to SxSW last year when their van was hit by a drunk driver. The band members were all injured, with the worst being the drummer's broken wrist, but their road manager and old friend was killed. The conference organizers saved them a spot, so they're heading back down this year. They're playing in Dallas, I believe on Wed, then heading to Austin. They're good guys and a great band. If you get a chance, go see them, and cheer like mad. They deserve it. Dave P.S. Are you still out here, Susan? *** Dave Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Northern Ky Roots Music: http://w3.one.net/~newport Twangfest: http://www.twangfest.com
RE: New Faces?
So I caught a video for what looks and sounds like a country version of the Backstreet Boys or one of them prefab pop groups for the preteen girls, with each guy having his own distinctive look, but all of em either cute (goatee, sideburns, big eyes) or studly (long hair, muscles), of course. Terrible song, despite pedal steel drapings, and the video had em all doing those little hand gestures to indicate emotions, so important to the prefab bands, as well as shots of basketball playing, motorcycle stroking, fishing, lying in bed, and standing around looking sad and pouty. Don't know if this is new or not, but it's a collision of two worlds best left worlds apart, me thinks. (WWJD or What Would Journey Do?) Matt
Re: Junior's FCC note wasn't a hoax...
On Sun, 14 Mar 1999, Bob Soron wrote: ... but it was vague and late. It took a while to find some confirmation of this -- http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/18420.html -- but I didn't want to say anything until I had it. Although I'm glad Dave posted CIAC's hoax page URL, and everyone should check it out before sending out that sort of thing, it's also good to make sure it *is* a hoax before labeling it one. Sermon over. The recent hubbub between phone companies notwithstanding, that thing Junior posted has been goin' around the internet for years -- so much so that it's on the CIAC hoax page. Maybe you should complain to the CIAC about them labelling it a hoax.--don
Re: Junior's FCC note wasn't a hoax...
On Sun, 14 Mar 1999, Bob Soron wrote: ... but it was vague and late. It took a while to find some confirmation of this -- http://www.wired.com/news/news/business/story/18420.html -- but I didn't want to say anything until I had it. Although I'm glad Dave posted CIAC's hoax page URL, and everyone should check it out before sending out that sort of thing, it's also good to make sure it *is* a hoax before labeling it one. Sermon over. Also just happened to run into this while perusing the Postcard digest: Dan and Scott have both pointed out that this is a hoax - I by NO means want to start a debate about this, but I want to clarify the issue here. The FCC and phone companies are NOT trying to tax the Internet, and Congress will not approve anything of the sort. The issue is specifically using the Internet to make "long distance phone calls". It's pretty easy to imagine: people with microphones and Real Audio feeds can talk to each other, albeit at a delay, without having to dial a long distance number. This is what has the phone companies up in arms and this is why they're leaning hard on the FCC. That seems to sum it up pretty well.--don
Re: iggy pop
Steve Gardner writes: The Iggy Pop documentary on VH-1 last night was awesome. It really made me want to see him live. I'm sure he's not as crazy as he once was...but some of the footage showed him as still being pretty damn wild on stage. I saw him on the "American Caesar" tour a few years back. Great show. It's not like he's cutting himself up onstage with broken glass anymore, but he's still pretty damn energetic for a guy his age. His band was basically Stoogesmania; not the Stooges but an incredible simulation. --Jon Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wollaston, Massachusetts
Fix-it-in-the-mix price drop
Got a flyer today from Arboretum Systems advertising their new Power Mac product, Arboretum Harmony. Now you, too, can "correct the pitch of the most tone-deaf singers and build lush multi-voice harmonies with a click of the mouse" for less than $400. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Clip: The state of country radio
Country radio programmers hear criticism at seminar March 15, 1999 By The Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Listeners are deserting country music radio stations because they're bored with the music being played, according to two teams of researchers who spoke at a convention of radio industry workers. More than 2,300 of the nation's 10,000 radio stations play country music, making it the most popular format in the United States. But ratings have dropped about 25 percent over the past two years. Researchers speaking Friday at the annual Country Radio Seminar said listeners are tired of hearing songs that are indistinguishable from one another, and they think programmers should be less loyal to established artists. "What's the expression? Beat a dead horse -- it still ain't going to run. That's what they do," said one man surveyed by Denver-based researchers Roger Wimmer and Matt Hudson. Another member of the focus group said he "couldn't tell Bryan White from Wade Hayes if they walked through that door." White and Hayes are young country music singers. Wimmer and Hudson showed video clips of anonymous interviews of focus groups conducted in Kansas City. Edison Media Research of Somerset, N.J., released statistics from a study of 611 country music fans in six metropolitan areas. "I find country's obsession with artists questionable at times," said Larry Rosin of Edison. He said 48 percent of the fans Edison surveyed thought their local station would play records by a superstar act, even if the music wasn't good. Rosin said pop radio stations were far less loyal to established artists than their country counterparts. He used Alanis Morissette as an example. After songs from the pop singer's "Jagged Little Pill" album were successful, "radio yawned collectively" at her follow-up album, he said. Rosin said the message given was that if Morissette's music wasn't up to snuff, her name wouldn't be enough to get it played. Country fans miss the outlaw movement of the 1970s when unique artists like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson were popular, the researchers said.
Re: Junior's FCC note wasn't a hoax...
Don: The recent hubbub between phone companies notwithstanding, that thing Junior posted has been goin' around the internet for years -- so much so that it's on the CIAC hoax page. Maybe you should complain to the CIAC about them labelling it a hoax. Hmmm, I'll leave y'all to sort this out and stay out of the forwarding business (Phil Clips does it best, and where have they been lately, btw???). I *did* get it from a reliable / informed friend, however, so I was kind surprised when it turned our, or possibly turned out, to be bogus Anyhow, back to HNC acts using N'Sync moves. Yikes, just when you thought it couldn't get worse...g. --junior
Re: Fix-it-in-the-mix price drop
On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, Jon Weisberger wrote: Now you, too, can "correct the pitch of the most tone-deaf singers and build lush multi-voice harmonies with a click of the mouse" for less than $400. I hadnt heard of this technology, although it isnt surprising. So, is this something that's regularly used commercially? Are we approaching the days when everyone is going to be Milli Vanilli? Will we swoon over gorgeous voices like those of Lucinda Williams or Kelly Willis only to find out, when we see them live, that they cant sing anything like they sound on their records? Will Miner Denver, CO
Re: iggy pop
Dave Purcell wrote: AND he saw the original Pretenders. He's my idol. Well, I saw the original Pretenders, anyway. They opened for the Who (who disappointed, as you'd expectg) at Kemper Arena in 1980. They were great, though there weren't 1,000 of 15,000 there who had much idea who they were. The way things played out, I was glad to say I saw the original band. b.s. npimh "Talk Of The Town"
RE: Fix-it-in-the-mix price drop
On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, Jon Weisberger wrote: Now you, too, can "correct the pitch of the most tone-deaf singers and build lush multi-voice harmonies with a click of the mouse" for less than $400. I hadnt heard of this technology, although it isnt surprising. So, is this something that's regularly used commercially? Yes; it's been discussed here from time to time. What's new in this story is the price, which brings the technology out of high-priced professional studios. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: Clip: The state of country radio
Well, well, wellmaybe if they started playing folks like Dale Watson, The Derailers, Duane Jarvis, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Rosie Flores, Kelly Willis, Jann Browne, Heather Myles, Mike Ireland, Lucinda, Lauderdale, Cisco, The Hollisters, Buddy Miller and Steve Earle they'd get those listeners back. .just a thought! Kate [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Listeners are deserting country music radio stations because they're bored with the music being played, according to two teams of researchers who spoke at a convention of radio industry workers.
Re: Clip: The state of country radio
Kate writes: Well, well, wellmaybe if they started playing folks like Dale Watson, The Derailers, Duane Jarvis, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Rosie Flores, Kelly Willis, Jann Browne, Heather Myles, Mike Ireland, Lucinda, Lauderdale, Cisco, The Hollisters, Buddy Miller and Steve Earle they'd get those listeners back. .just a thought! I don't think that big changes are in the works, personally. Radio has been taking its lumps on this subject for years and they inevitably chalk it up to "a vocal minority of malcontents," or words to that effect. In addition, most of these artists are on small labels and don't have the dough to duke it out toe-to-toe with the majors in terms of pushing their stuff at radio. Finally, my most cynical belief is that collective change is unlikely simply because it sounds too much like the consultants admitting that they've been wrong. I recall a Dale Watson interview a couple of years back where he said that he would gladly accept a country music industry that was half its current size if it meant that the music got back to its roots as a result. If radio continues its current approach, he might just get his wish! --Jon Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wollaston, Massachusetts
Comas/Varnaline/Sparklehorse
Not that you asked... Sparklehorse came to town last Friday night and brought Varnaline along with them. Local band, the Comas opened. I absolutely am ga ga over Varnaline so whether or not I would go to this show was a no-brainer. However, I was really interested in seeing Sparklehorse since so many people on here are crazy about them. I went with Rick Cornell and saw him taking notes so I assume a full show review will appear in some magazine somewhere (nodep perhaps), but I still wanted to give me informal slant on the whole thing. The Comas started the show and I thought they were very very good. I immediately recognized the fiddler as Margaret from the Carbines...but don't think of this as a twangy venture. The lead singer played guitar and kinda sounded like Mac from Superchunk at times. The full band had an interesting sound that utilized all sorts of instruments (turntables, analog synths, etc). It ended up that all three of the bands this night reminded me of the Flaming Lips at one time to another; not the actual songs, but just the experimentation and the attention paid to the mixing of old and new sounds. The Comas are just another fine local band from the area. They don't have any recordings out right now, but I hear they are working on one. I'll buy it. Varnaline was next. If I redid my topten from last year "Sweet Life" would probably end up somewhere around #3 (just under Gerald Collier and Bare Jr). I was so looking forward to seeing them again that I felt like it was 1983 and Billy Squier was coming to the Cow Palace in San Francisco again - I could barely sleep at night. They played all sorts of songs, new and old, from their albums and all sounded great. The crowd seemed into it, too. They ended their set with the title track from their latest album and it was very very amazing. When the drummer kicked in after the long trancelike intro I thought the local dead would rise. All in all, they made me really really happy. Sparklehorse I had never seen before and I had only heard smattering of songs here and there. They started with an extremely slow and quiet number that caught the crowd attention. Have you ever noticed that sometimes the only way to catch an audience's attention in a loud rock show is to play quietly? Hmmm. Anyways, immediately I felt like the lead singer reminded me of someone. Near the end of the show I finally figured it out. Blasphemous as it may seem (to some people, not me) he reminded me of Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. Roger often sings in a way that is so quiet that it is almost a whisper (but they mix him real high so you can hear him) and he also uses weird electronic thingies to modify the sound of his voice. Mr. Sparklehorse (don't know his name) did the same, to great effect. A friend next to me said it was boring, but I liked it. Then again, I think "The Final Cut" by Pink Floyd is one of the greatest albums ever made...so obviously I'm whacked. :^) On the show went and Sparklehorse transformed many times, and I enjoyed all the different sides. The show was one of the best I've seen in a club in a long time. I was completely blown away. I've also started listening to all my Varnaline CDs over again. I need to get some Sparklehorse, though. The connection to alt.country was pretty darn slight. But it certainly was there, beneath the wash of noise and notes. 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: Clip: The state of country radio
Well, well, wellmaybe if they started playing folks like Dale Watson, The Derailers, Duane Jarvis, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Rosie Flores, Kelly Willis, Jann Browne, Heather Myles, Mike Ireland, Lucinda, Lauderdale, Cisco, The Hollisters, Buddy Miller and Steve Earle they'd get those listeners back. .just a thought! And a nice one, too, but also a questionable one. These folks are already on the air in many major markets, and they have albums out, too, yet they don't, with the occasional exception, seem to be drawing listeners and buyers in the kind of numbers that mainstream country radio is looking for, and it was getting away from, not moving toward, the twangier stuff that brought a lot of listeners in in the first place; why would moving toward it bring those people back now? I frankly think that what's happening is that the novelty factor is wearing off for a lot of the newer country listeners, and they're off to look for the Next Big Thing without much concern for whether it's labeled rock or pop or something else again. I haven't seen even a whisper of a desire for twangier, more hardcore country stuff in the coverage of the CRS that's been posted here - and in fact, the positive references to "outlaws" merely underlines the point, as the musical content of The Outlaws boom of the 70s consisted in large part of "breaking the rules" and "taking risks" by bringing more rock influences into the country mainstream. The best thing that can happen to country music right now is for the audience to shrink. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Clash tribute
Note the slight relation to a recent thread, or did those 25k posts
constitute a skein? g
Cover stories
A tribute to the Clash
I still remember when I stumbled across an LP of various
artists performing songs by Neil Young a decade ago and
thought to myself, "Wow, that's a pretty cool idea." These
days, of course, tribute albums are a common, even
mundane part of the endless flood of CDs that arrive in
stores every Monday at midnight, week after week, on
big labels and small. I'm not sure why major labels
continue to devote time and money to the tribute album,
because for all the publicity generated by compilations
dedicated to new interpretations of the work of, say, a
John Lennon, in the end the CDs never sell all that well.
Old John Lennon fans are probably more interested in
hearing real John Lennon outtakes than new recordings of
his old songs by Cheap Trick and a bunch of bands they've never
heard of. And even if you are a
Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, you may not want to drop 15 bucks for
only one Chili Peppers tune
and a bunch of other tracks by bands you don't care about. My guess
is that the tribute album has
survived as something of a creative indulgence for fortunate AR
types whose jobs otherwise
consist of chasing new bands around with checkbooks in hand, keeping
their fingers crossed, and,
from time to time, getting fired and rehired.
Whatever the motive, I still look forward to tribute discs, mostly
out of an abiding fondness for
cover tunes, a pop novelty unfairly discredited by hordes of GB
(general business) bands who
specialize in rote versions of Top 40 hits and, of course, the
Grateful Dead. Back when I was
playing in bands, it was considered a point of pride not to do any
covers -- until we heard the
Replacements' version of Kiss's "Black Diamond" on Let It Be and saw
R.E.M. open a show with
the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale." Suddenly, reinterpreting a
classic took on a whole new
meaning: covers became an integral part of a band's musical
identity, and it was perfectly
acceptable to judge an outfit by their choices. Those choices are
necessarily narrowed down to
material by a single artist on a tribute disc -- which isn't as
revealing as hearing, say, a band like
Hole pull a Duran Duran tune out of nowhere on stage. But you can
still judge a band by the quality
of their cover.
The new Burning London: The Clash Tribute (Epic; in stores Tuesday,
March 16) offers a dozen
or so contemporary artists the chance to do what they will with the
work of a now ancient punk
band whose songs have never been as popular to cover as the Ramones
or even the Sex Pistols.
That's partly because, with a few notable exceptions ("Train in
Vain," "Should I Stay or Should I
Go"), the Clash wrote songs that had some universal resonance as
anthems but were more often
than not self-referential ("Clash City Rockers," "This Is Radio
Clash"). Their best tunes were tied to
a specific time, place, and situation, whether it was visiting an
unwelcoming Jamaica as naive young
reggae fans ("Safe European Home") or simply squabbling with their
record label ("Complete
Control"). Their songs are so Clash-identified that they don't leave
much room for outside artistic
interpretation.
That's not a problem for Rancid, a band custom-made to play Clash
covers. They dig their combat
boots into the rebel rock of "Cheat" as if they'd been born
auditioning for the part of the Clash in
Calling London: The Punk Years, with Tim Armstrong singing as if he
had a copy of Black
Market Clash caught in his throat. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
handle the ska-flavored "Rudy
Can't Fail" with appropriate care; 311 put a Southern California
spin on the lyrics to "White Man in
Hammersmith Palais" (and prove that they've been a good band in
search of a good song all along);
and some outfit called the Urge do a respectable job with "This Is
Radio Clash," though it might
have been cool to hear what Fatboy Slim would do with what is
arguably the first ever big-beat
tune. Third Eye Blind had the clout to score an easy hit -- "Train
in Vain" -- but they
Austin-bound
I'll be leaving Tuesday morning for Austin and won't be back until next Monday night. If you have any P2 subscription problems/questions while I'm gone, email the fantabulous listmom Laura at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Looking forward to seein' lots of ya in Austin -- don't forget about Cherry Lou's P2 BBQ on Thursday! (And that means you, Weiss Bros.)--don
Re: Comas/Varnaline/Sparklehorse
Excerpts from internet.listserv.postcard2: 15-Mar-99 Comas/Varnaline/Sparklehorse by "Steve Gardner"@sugarhil Near the end of the show I finally figured it out. Blasphemous as it may seem (to some people, not me) he reminded me of Roger Waters of Pink Floyd. Mark Linkous is the fellow. Excerpts from internet.listserv.postcard2: 15-Mar-99 Comas/Varnaline/Sparklehorse by "Steve Gardner"@sugarhil Then again, I think "The Final Cut" by Pink Floyd is one of the greatest albums ever made...so obviously I'm whacked. :^) You and me both. I haven't listened to it in a long time, but it was my favorite record from the time it came out (1983) til about the time I discovered Camper Van Beethoven (whose Jonathan Segel -- currently touring with Sparklehorse-- and David Lowery teamed up for a track on the Clash tribute that Bill clipped) and Husker Du. Carl Z.
RE: Fwd: E-Squared vs. Billboard (fwd)
Jon said he couldn't find this story anywhere, Here's the URL: http://www.rollingstone.com/sections/news/text/newsarticle.asp?afl =rsnNews ID=7287ArtistID=1314origin=news I just pulled it up. Either I missed it (and I spent 15 minutes or so looking for it, searching on "Earle," "Billboard," "McCoury" and a couple of other tmers), or they just got around to posting it on the site (the piece is dated Friday, but I couldn't find it there yesterday). Thanks, Jim. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
clip: Steve Earle, Picking Up on Bluegrass
..some new quotes from Steve 'n' Del (and a commentator familiar 'round these parts)... Steve Earle, Picking Up on BluegrassWith 'Mountain,' Rocker Scales Skepticism of His Turn to Tradition By Bill Friskics-WarrenSpecial to The Washington PostSunday, March 14, 1999; Page G01 NASHVILLESteve Earle has been a lot of things since he started making music: hard-knocked troubadour, rockabilly punk, tattooed arena-rocker, real-life outlaw. It's tempting to write off these phases as caprice or artifice, but each has been an expression of his innate rebelliousness. His new album, The Mountain (E-Squared), a collaboration with the Del McCoury Band, which joins him for shows at the Birchmere on Wednesday and Thursday, finds Earle remade yet again. On the album cover, he sports banker's pinstripes instead of his usual biker black. And he plays bluegrass, a musical genre so traditional that for many of its fans, drums and amplifiers are anathema. It's a confounding move, but there's nothing ironic or false about it. As his heartfelt liner notes attest, Earle loves bluegrass, so much so that he slogged his way through weekly picking sessions, what he calls bluegrass boot camp, to hone his skills as a guitarist. Bluegrass is the original alternative country music, says Earle, sitting at his desk at E-Squared Records, the independent Nashville label that he runs with former Jason the Scorchers manager Jack Emerson. It was the very first music that the industry here targeted and marginalized intentionally. It was a conscious decision. Country radio's prejudice against traditional music is actually a bit of a tradition itself. By the early '60s, even the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, couldn't get his songs played on country stations. Prior to that, country deejays wouldn't think twice about spinning the latest Monroe or Flatt and Scruggs records alongside hits by honky-tonkers Hank Williams and Kitty Wells. God bless Chet Atkins's heart and Owen Bradley's heart, says Earle, referring to the architects of the uptown Nashville Sound of the '50s and '60s. But they wanted a larger, more urban audience, and the banjo was the first thing that went. It sounds like a conspiracy theory, but believe me, it's true. Earle, 44, is no recent convert to bluegrass. When he was 7, he saw Monroe play at the Grand Ole Opry. And he gravitated toward grassers when he moved to Nashville in 1974 as the bass player in Guy Clark's band. I was part of a little circle of Texas songwriters, and we hung out with bluegrass players because they were the other bohemians, Earle recalls. They were the other outsiders. Earle lost touch with the bluegrass community--and everyone else for that matter--around 1990, when he bottomed out on drugs for several years. Toward the end of 1994, he served 60 days for possession of heroin in Nashville's Criminal Justice Center--and since then, he says, he's been clean. Earle's 1995 all-acoustic Train a Comin,' though, found him turning to the bluegrass fold. The album featured several pickers well known to fans of mountain music. One of them, Peter Rowan--who like Del McCoury is an alum of Monroe's Blue Grass Boys--became Earle's mentor; another, the late Roy Huskey Jr., became one of his closest friends. Earle dedicates The Mountain to Huskey, while a cast of all-stars pays tribute to him on the album's closing track, Pilgrim, a song Earle wrote the morning of the upright bass player's funeral. Earle first hooked up with the Del McCoury Band in 1997, when he invited the band to play on I Still Follow You Around, a bluegrass song that appears on his otherwise rock album El Corazon. Before that, the McCourys had recorded a version of one of Earle's tunes, If You Need a Fool; Earle had also used Ronnie McCoury, the premier bluegrass mandolin player of the '90s, on his own recording sessions as well as those of acts he has produced. In the fall of '97, Earle and the McCourys then played a gig together at Nashville's Station Inn. (Earlier this month, they sold out four shows there in less than a half-hour.) That was when I decided that this record was going to be a bluegrass record, says Earle. Playing with Del and the boys that night was just the most fun I've ever had. That night the two acts huddled around a single microphone. Del's high, lonesome wail and Earle's nicotine rasp made for unlikely but affecting harmonies. Even more striking was the way the bodies of the six pickers would weave in and out as they took their solos in front of the mike. Earle and the McCourys recorded The Mountain, an album that conveys the immediacy of their live shows, in much the same way. Steve was on one side of the room, and we were all lined up across from him, explains Ronnie McCoury, 34. That's how we recorded. There were no overdubs, really. The biggest adjustment, says Del McCoury, 60, has been working with just one microphone live, something
Red Meat in L.A. this weekend
If, like us, you're just too damn cool for sxsw... Red Meat will be playing in Los Angeles on Saturday night, March 20 at Jack's Sugar Shack in Hollywood. The fabulous Mark Linett will be recording us live, and we're playing two sets. Not too sure what we're going to do with the live recording yet, but when Mark Linett says he'd like to record you, it's a rare opportunity. So if you're in L.A. this weekend come on by and make some noise! Who knows, we could turn 'er into a live cd... Owen Owen Bly Ranchero Records Oakland, CA
Re: clip: Steve Earle, Picking Up on Bluegrass
Tucker Eskew clipped: Earle first hooked up with the Del McCoury Band in 1997, when he invited the band to play on "I Still Follow You Around," a bluegrass song that appears on his otherwise rock album "El Corazon." I like that misnamed song title; sort of adds a whole new meaning to the song. gNice piece though. b.s.
PLAYLIST - Monday Breakfast Jam: A Morning Drivetime Show 3/15/99 KRCL 91FM, SLC, UT
Here is the playlist for Monday Breakfast Jam on KRCL 91FM, SLC, Ut for Mar. 1r, 1998. Monday Breakfast Jam is an eclectic morning drivetime presentation totally programmed and present by me over KRCL 91FM in Salt Lake City, a non-profit, volunteer operated, listener support community radio station with a 19 year history of bringing diversity in music and information to the state of Utah. The show generally revolves around contemporary singer/songwriters, folk, folk-rock and rock artists. A little bluegrass, jazz, world or spoken word pieces thrown in. If, after reviewing this playlist, you feel that your music would fit in the general vicinity of what I do, feel free to forward me copies at the snail mail address below. Be aware that it is station policy that any mail, regardless of recipient name on it, arriving at the station address is consider property of the station and not the individual programmer. Thanks to all the artists who have forwarded stuff for their kind (and much appreciated) support. Feel free to forward me any promo material. It will get listened to for possible inclusion on a later show. The Iceman (Doug Young) email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] snail mail: Doug Young 3855 Nordin Ave. Ogden, UT 84403 Station copies should be mailed to KRCL 230 S 500 w, Suite 105 SLC, UT 84101 Attn.: Music Director Format: Cut Artist Album Label MONDAY BREAKFAST JAM PLAYLIST FOR March 15, 1999 YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANTRUSTED ROOT RUSTED ROOT MERCURY DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH WHEN I'M CRYIN" DANCING ROOM ONLY THE SUNDOGS PARHELION TONIGHT IS JUST FOR USCELTIC WOMAN (various) MARIAN BRADFIELD VALLEY ENTERTAINMENT ONCE YOU SAID YOU LOVED METHE SKY ROAD FRANCES BLACKCELTIC HEARTBEAT LOVING HANNAH SONG FOR IRELAND MARY BLACK BLIXSTREET CHINA DOG PERFECT OBLIVIOUS MOON PAT MALONEY RATRICK DUBLIN BLUES DUBLIN BLUES GUY CLARKASYLUM PHILOSOPHER'S STONE BACK ON TOP VAN MORRISSONPOINTBLANK ARE YOU STILL MAD SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE ALANIS MORRISSETTE MAVERICK NO CONNECTION TIMBRE SOPHIE B. HAWKINSCOLUMBIA FIVE IN THE MORNING TEN YEAR NIGHT LUCY KAPLANSKY RED HOUSE WHY DO I ALWAYS WANT YOU IF THIS IS ROCK'N'ROLL, I WANT MY OLD JOB BACK THE SAW DOCTORS SHAM TOWN FUNKY CIELI LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY BLACK 47 GADFLY DANCE CALLED AMERICA ONCE IN A LIFETIME RUNRIG CHRYSALIS WRAPPED WHAT I DESERVE KELLY WILLIS RYKODISC THE WAY I AM THIS AIN'T OVER YET GRETA LEEself-release CIRCLES IN THE WIND DRIVE CHRIS WEBSTERCOMPASS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE SUN AND THE MOON GRAND BAR SCHEMES SCOTT KIRBY NEW VISION MY BACK PAGES JOHN STEWART DARWIN'S ARMY JOHN STEWART DARWIN'S ARMY APPLESEED WASTING TIME BULL SAY ZUZU BROKEN WHITE PASSING TIME CENTRAL RESERVATION BETH ORTON ARISTA SPIT AND TEARSHALF MAD MOON THE DAMNATIONS TXSIRE LEAVING IDAHO HORSES AND HILLS ALLEN DOBB RESOURCE FLY LIKE COWBOYS HORSES AND HILLS ALLEN DOBB RESOURCE HOW TO FIGHT LONELINESS SUMMERTEETH WILCOREPRISE PLAY THE GREEDHEMPILATION II DAR WILLIAMS w BLUE MOUNTAIN CAPRICORN BUNCH OF KEYS CROSSING THE BRIDGE EILEEN IVERS SONY A STOR MO CHROI TEARS OF STONE THE CHIEFTAINS w BONNIE RAITTRCA HANDS ON THE WATERSTRAIGHT OUTTA IRELAND (various) LESLIE DOWDELL GEFFEN LAKES OF PONCHARTRAIN BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME (various) HOTHOUSE FLOWERS VALLEY ENTERTAINMENT STAR OF COUNTY DOWN PEARLS FROM THE OYSTER OYSTER BAND COOKING VINYL SOUTH AUSTRALIA IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITHGOD THE POGUES ISLAND I THREW IT ALL AWAY
Re: To hoax or not to hoax
actually, the email that's being sent around talks about a bill in Congress dealing with the internet and local/long distance phone rates. There IS NO BILL remotely like this. That email, indeed, IS a hoax and I cringe every time it's sent to me (several times a week). The FCC story, however, is real. Most folks who cover Washington, including the FCC, know that the idea of charging long distance phone rates for internet access is a political hot potato. The warning applies, though -- don't send around bits of "news" that you've been emailed without checking them out. On another note: -- there IS a real virus floating around -- called happy99.exe (or something similar). I've received this executable as an attachment four times in the past week, but, thank goodness, didn't open it. If you open it (it's a little video of fireworks in the sky), it'll attach itself to every email that YOU then send out! boo! there's evidently a fix at an url that someone mailed. me. This really IS a virus! dq NP:Elena Skye
SXSW doings
Hey in case ya missed it the first time--there's a pre-SXSW party tomorrow night (Tuesday) at my house that starts around 6. Performing in my living room will be Jim Roll, Ana Egge, Slim Chance and Beaver Nelson. There'll be plenty of food and beer and a couple of surprises are in store as well. g Let me know if you're gonna be around and I'll get you directions. Also wanted to let y'all know that special guests on the New American Roots Music show on KOOP (91.7 FM) this week will be Dave Schramm, Kate Jacobs and Hillbilly Idol. Those up at 9AM on Friday (yeah, right) be sure to tune in. Now back to yer regularly scheduled in-fighting... Jim, smilin and dialin
Re: To hoax or not to hoax
Diana Quinn wrote: On another note: -- there IS a real virus floating around -- called happy99.exe (or something similar). I've received this executable as an attachment four times in the past week, but, thank goodness, didn't open it. If you open it (it's a little video of fireworks in the sky), it'll attach itself to every email that YOU then send out! boo! there's evidently a fix at an url that someone mailed. me. This really IS a virus! An addendum from the Computer Virus Myths page (http://www.kumite.com/myths/): *** 28 Jan 99 I GOT SWAMPED again with email concerning MSNBC reporter Bob Sullivan's story about "Happy99.EXE." Let me remind everyone: 2.8 trillion other filenames might also contain a virus or Trojan horse. We may wind up reading an MSNBC story about each one. I can't remember 2.8 trillion filenames, so I boiled it down to just two sentences: Beware any file sent by someone you don't know. Beware any file sent by someone you DO know. Let me also remind everyone: computer security alerts never die ... they just get a new life-cycle. *** Dave *** Dave Purcell, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Northern Ky Roots Music: http://w3.one.net/~newport Twangfest: http://www.twangfest.com
RE: A Pop Quiz
Well, very few people jumped on this, so the masses have spoken: no more quizzes after this. I thought it might be fun, butYou people either never listened to the radio, are ashamed that you did know these, gave a flying fuck, or you'd rather argue about Dancing Queen. And then you don't even know the words to Dancing Queen (see below), so what do you all know? Maybe I should have thrown in a few big words to get the brainiacs involved. Or signed it under Cantwell's name...but I'm not bitter g Anyway, FWIW, here's the answers: Name the song and band. 5 points a question. "Tongue tied or short of breath, don't even try. Try a little harder." -1982 [Matt Benz] "Too Shy" KajaGoogoo "Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time; I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark." -1982 [Matt Benz] "Total Eclipse of the Heart" Bonnie Tyler "Pretty eyes, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man." -1971 [Matt Benz] "Tiny Dancer" Elton John "That rich guy you've been seein' must have put you down..." -1966 [Matt Benz] "The Poor Side of Town" Johnny Rivers (has anyone covered this great song?) "I never cared too much for games, and this one's drivin' me insane; you're not half as free to wander as you claim." -1975 [Matt Benz] "I'm Easy" David Carradine "Johnny and Eddie and me and Jimmy and Jack are gonna do a little number on the teacher when she turns her back." -1983 [Matt Benz] "Sexy Seventeen" Stray Cats "I can't lie, I can't tell you that I'm something I'm not, no matter how I try. I'll never be able to give you something that I just haven't got." -1977 [Matt Benz] "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" Meat Loaf So I'm on a ride and I want to get off, but they won't slow down the roundabout. I sold the Renoir and the TV set, don't wanna be around when this gets out." -1983 [Matt Benz] "The Reflex" Duran Duran "...and with her head upon his shoulder his young and lovely financee. From where I stood I saw she was cryin and through her tears I heard her say..." -1973 [Matt Benz] "Billy Don't Be A Hero" Bo Donaldson The Haywoods or something like that "Guilty feet have got no rhythm." -1984 [Matt Benz] um.some George Michael song... "I see on us the shore beneath the bright sunshine, We walked along St Thomas beach a million times. Hand in hand. Two barefoot lovers kissin in the sand." -1976 [Matt Benz] "I Like Dreaming" who knows, who cares? "Once in every life, someone comes along, and you came to me, it was" -1977 [Matt Benz] "It Was Almost Like A Song" Ronnie Milsap "On a morning from a Bogart movie in a country where they turned back time. You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre contemplating a crime." -1976 [Matt Benz] "Year Of The Cat" Al Stewart "Look around, be a part, feel for the winter but don't have a cold heart." -1978 [Matt Benz] "Lady" Little River Band "Sun goes down on a silky day; quarter moon walkin thru the Milky Way. Oh you and me baby, we could think of something to do. It's the" -1977 [Matt Benz] "It's The Right Time of The Night" Jennifer Warrens "And I would've walked head on into the deep end of the river, clinging to your stocks and bonds, paying your H.P. demands forever. They're comin in the morning with a truck to take me home." -1975 [Matt Benz] "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" Elton John "Friday night and the lights are low..." -1977 [Matt Benz] "Dancing Queen" ABBA "Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of bein' a king...and then became one..." -1971 [Matt Benz] "I Am, I said" And no one heard no not even the chair. Or cared. Neil Diamond "Woman you want me, give me a sign and catch my breathing even closer behind." -1983 [Matt Benz] "Hungry Like The Wolf" Duran2 "Don't get too tiredfor love. Don't let it end. Don't say goodnight to love. It may never be the same again. Don't..." -1979 [Matt Benz] "Don't Say Goodnight (Tonight)" Paul McCartney Wings "I see you, you see me. Watch you blowing the lines when you're making a scene." -1981 [Matt Benz] "Private Eyes" Hall Oates "Money talks. But it don't sing and dance and it don't walk. As long as I can have you hear with me, I'd much rather be." -1978 [Matt Benz] "Forever In Blue Jeans" Neil Diamond "When I was young, I never needed anyone. And makin' love was just for fun." 1975 [Matt Benz] "All By Myself" Eric Carmen "Just a small town girl on a saturday night looking for the fight of her life." 1983 [Matt Benz] "Mainac" Michael Sembello "There was a man, a lonely man who lost his love thru his indifference. A heart that cared that went unshared until it died within his silence. And ** the
Jo Dee Messina?
I've got tickets to see Vince Gill this summer. This will be my first time seeing Gill and I'm really looking forward to it - "The Key" was my second favorite CD last year (Dave Alvin's was number one). I just found out that Jo Dee Messina is opening up. Anybody know anything about her? The only song she does that I'm familiar with is "Bye Bye", which is a catchy enough pop song. I gather from the lack of talk about her here, though, that her music is nothing special, but I thought that I'd ask. Tony Lombardi [EMAIL PROTECTED] np: Avengers - Died for Your Sins
Playlist: Tennessee Saturday Night
Howdy, I'm chucking this over the wall. This week TSN was going to feature live music from Johnson City's very own Bystanders (featuring P2-er Rob Russell), but the unexpected snowfall caused a tractor trailer accident on the interstate resulting in me arriving at the studio nearly 30 minutes late and making an on-air plea to the Bystanders to turn around and go on to their paying gig and avoiding the mess near the station. (It just wasn't my day for hooking up with fellow P2ers. A genealogy workshop at the historical society on Saturday also kept me from meeting up with Jeff Wall on his trek to Middle Tennessee. Hopefully, I'll catch the son-of-a-gun on his return trip to Virginia.) So, here's a slightly abbreviated version of Tennessee Saturday Night for your reading pleasure. Contact information, etc., follows the play list. Tennessee Saturday Night -- Show #25 -- 6 PM to 9 PM (Tonight's show began at approximately 6:30 PM) WDVX-FM -- Clinton/Knoxville, TN -- March 13, 1999 Tennessee Saturday Night -- Red Foley with the Cumberland Valley Boys -- Heroes of Country Music, Vol. 2 -- Rhino The Maker's Mark (not sure if this is the right title) -- The Bystanders -- Live at the Down Home (3/13@Tomato Head, Knoxville) New Broom Boogie -- Al Dexter and His Troopers -- Hillbilly Boogie Widow Maker -- Jimmy Martin -- Truckin' On -- Starday (an unfortunate choice for a song given the situation on the nearby interstate...) Homegrown Tomatoes -- Guy Clark -- Keepers -- Sugar Hill Battle of New Orleans -- Johnny Horton -- America Remembers -- TeeVee Cadillac Man -- The Cadillac Cowgirl with Her Back Door Men -- High on the Hog -- Sur Blue Guitar Stomp -- Leon McAuliffe and His Western Swing Band -- Hillbilly Boogie -- Columbia Across the Alley from the Alamo -- Pine Valley Cosmonauts with Robbie Fulks -- Salutes the Majesty of Bob Wills -- Bloodshot Sweet Kind of Love -- Pine Valley Cosmonauts with Jon Langford -- Salutes the Majesty of Bob Wills -- Bloodshot Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues -- Jimmy LaFave -- Trail -- Bohemia Beat (tonight's featured artist on "Fringe" following "TSN") Jimmie's Texas Blues -- Jimmie Rodgers -- The Singing Brakeman -- Bear Family Walls of Time -- Ricky Skaggs -- Ancient Tones -- Skaggs Family Fraulein -- Jimmy Martin -- 1954-1974 -- Bear Family I Feel the Blues Moving In -- Del McCoury -- Don't Stop the Music -- Rounder Custom Made Woman Blues -- Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard -- Hazel Alice -- Rounder Foggy Mountain Breakdown -- J.D. Crowe the New South -- Live in Japan -- Rounder Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine -- Tom T. Hall -- The Essential Tom T. Hall -- Mercury Engine, Engine #9 -- Roger Miller -- King of the Road -- Bear Family The Bottle Let Me Down -- Merle Haggard -- The Capitol Collector's Series -- Capitol Stop That Ticklin' Me -- Grandpa Jones -- Nashville Classics: The 50s -- RCA Banana Boat Song -- Country Gentlemen -- The Early Rebel Recordings: 1962-1971 -- Rebel Nashville Cats -- The Del McCoury Band -- The Family -- Ceili Interstate Waltz -- John Hartford -- The Walls We Bounce Off Of -- Small Dog-a-Barkin' I Just Want to Thank You -- The Isaacs -- Increase My Faith -- Horizon When God Dips His Love in My Heart -- Alison Krauss the Cox Family -- Now That I've Found You -- Rounder Will the Circle Be Unbroken -- The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band -- Will the Circle Be Unbroken -- EMI When There's No Around -- Tim O'Brien -- When There's No One Around -- Sugar Hill These Hills -- Iris DeMent -- Infamous Angel -- Warner Brothers Daddy's Little Pumpkin -- John Prine -- The Missing Years -- Oh Boy A White Sport Coat -- Marty Robbins -- A Lifetime of Song -- Columbia I'll Come Running -- Connie Smith -- The Essential Connie Smith -- RCA I'm Barely Hanging on to Me -- Johnny Paycheck -- The Real Mr. Heartache -- Country Music Foundation Missing You -- Webb Pierce -- Honky Tonk Songs -- Country Stars I Wouldn't Put It Past Me -- Dwight Yoakum -- A Long Way Home -- Reprise I Wanna Go Back There -- Dolly Parton -- Hungry Again -- Decca She's Left Me for Good Again -- The Bystanders Amanda -- Waylon Jennings -- The Essential Waylon Jennings -- RCA Billy from the Hills -- Greg Brown -- Slant Six Mind -- Red House Your Old Love Letters -- Porter Wagoner -- The Essential Porter Wagoner -- RCA It's a Great Life -- Faron Young -- Live Fast, Love Hard -- Country Music Foundation Crying Steel Guitar Waltz -- Jean Shepard -- Honky-Tonk Heroine -- Country Music Foundation Love's Gonna Live Here -- Buck Owens -- The Very Best of Buck Owens, Vol. 2 -- Rhino My Baby Don't Dance to Nothing But Ernest Tubb -- Junior Brown -- 12 Shades of Brown -- Curb No Vacancy -- Merle Travis -- The Best of Merle Travis -- Rhino ...and the snow turns to rain as a Tennessee Saturday Night comes to a close. If you'd like to submit music for the show, be a live guest, etc., please feel free to contact me at: Shane Rhyne 208 W. Glenwood Avenue, #2 Knoxville, TN 37917 Take care, Shane
Re: Boot recommendations?
Brad Bechtel [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: But no black, relatively plain, pointy tipped cowboy boots. So what's a good brand? What's a good brand to avoid? Any tips for a finer shopping experience? I have a pair just like you describe (well, almost... they're ropers). They are Justin bullhide and I got em here in Austin. I don't know too much about boot brands but these are of fine construction, fit great, and are comfortable as can be. I had to look a while to find plain ones, too, even in a bootopolis like Austin. Good luck, Bill Gribble
RE: clip: Hightech Hag
Interesting piece (I think I can live without any more detailed exposition of Haggard's Y2K predictions). However, when he says: "If there was an Elvis Presley, a Hank Williams or a Jimmie Rodgers out there, maybe we ought to let him on the air and see what he sounds like. There's got to be somebody out there, but I don't think we'd hear him nowadays because he's been refined and he's been made to play with that same band _ that *same band.* Oh, my god, I'm so tired of that one drummer I could shoot him!" we ought to keep in mind that Merle's been using the same drummer, Biff Adam, for about 30 years, so presumably it's "that one" in particular that he's tired of, not a long-term drummer per se - otherwise someone ought to warn Biff to keep an eye out g. He's also been using the same steel player for about the same amount of time. Haggard is referring to the stable of hired studio guns in Nashville who pop up on a startling number of recordings by various artists, fostering the homogenized sound known nationwide as new country. I guess that is who he's referring to, but any inference from this that it was a different situation prior to new country would be incorrect. IMO, the critical factor isn't as much the musicians as it is the producers. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
earle vs billboard
jon said: 2) the chart in question is a sales chart, and the absence of a promoted-to-radio single is utterly irrelevant and 3) Bluegrass Rules! was in a similar position (artist absent from country chart for a long time, no single), and it appeared on the same chart discussed here last year, no problem. #2 - Yes, it does matter. It is relevant. Maybe it shouldn't be, but the facts are that it is relevant. #3 - Yes, Skaggs had a single. It was "Little Maggie" steve
Re: Jo Dee Messina?
Jon Weisberger wrote: The only song she does that I'm familiar with is "Bye Bye", which is a catchy enough pop song. And more of the same. A redheaded energetic entertainer with a mild Shania flair for performance and POP, POP, POP Music... That's about right, at least judging by her singles (I haven't heard any albums) and the way she presents herself in the press. She's been the featured artist on CMT all month. Definitely the pop side of things though she is entertaining to watch and I think she's pretty winning. That's from watching cable though, not paying for a live show. b.s.
Re: SxSW note: Tigerlillies
Hey there, Dave sez... On Mon, 15 Mar 1999 12:02:33 -0500 "Dave Purcell" [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: A special SxSW note for you lucky bastards who are going. I know there are a zillion great bands playing and you can't possibly see everyone you want to see. But if you get a chance, please try to work the Tigerlillies into your schedule (I'm not sure when they're playing). Since I have my elaborate SXSW matrix in front of me, The Tigerlillies play Maggie Mae's East Thursday at 1am. P.S. Are you still out here, Susan? Stop calline me Susan. Later... CK - already in Austin and the weather is beee yooo tiful. ___ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
RE: earle vs billboard
jon said: 2) the chart in question is a sales chart, and the absence of a promoted-to-radio single is utterly irrelevant and 3) Bluegrass Rules! was in a similar position (artist absent from country chart for a long time, no single), and it appeared on the same chart discussed here last year, no problem. #2 - Yes, it does matter. It is relevant. Maybe it shouldn't be, but the facts are that it is relevant. It's not relevant according to Billboard's own description of what the chart is - a ranked list of current release sales (it's copyrighted by Billboard *and* Soundscan). #3 - Yes, Skaggs had a single. It was "Little Maggie" OK, point taken, but that was about as token a single as you can have out. Besides, the more I think about it, the lamer the "we didn't know about it" half-excuse offered by Billboard is, since the album had already been on the Gavin Americana chart for two or three weeks, and you can bet your bottom dollar Billboard reads that. Plus which, as I said, I know for a fact that Billboard's country chart editor was aware of, and interested in, the album. I expect someone in New York took a pencil to the chart and crossed The Mountain out.
Re: Boot recommendations?
Cowboy boots hurt, there's no getting around it. A slave to fashion in the jurassa-alt.country days, I wore the damn things for years, and the only use I ever found for them was, one time I was shooting a rodeo for a small paper in SW Colorado, and when an avalanche of wild bull started heading my way, the pointy toes were perfect for scampering up the chain-link fence on the side of the arena. I tried wearing my old ones a couple years ago, and just about strained myself a hernia in disebelief that I could ever have worn these things on a regular basis. Anyway, your question. K Mart sells dandy cowboy boots, leastways they used to. Another cowboy boot story. I used to wear them in college, back east, and one spring break, my pal and I went out to New Mexico, both, of course, sporting our cowboy boots. On a beer stop in Tulsa, a group of local boys saw us, spotted our cowboy boots, and in between uproarious laughter, declared, "Ha, you fellers are wearing cowboy boots, you must be from Ohio." That's around the time I learned the word, "apocryphal." -- Terry Smith
Iggy/Pretenders/Clash/Ameritwang
Whine, whine, whine. "I got to see him here." "Oooh, I wish I was there." That's why I stay in Detroit. Despite its present day music mundaneness, I got to experience so much when Detroit was still Rock City. First, if you Igster fans ever blow through town, be sure to hit Lili's in Hamtramck (just 1/2 block away from my place). They have a virtual shrine to Iggy, where he is worshipped like a prophet. Occasionally when he's in town, he'll stop by to take Lili out to dinner. Wild as he is, he's one hell of a nice guy. And I got to see him play at the place with a local band attempting to do "I Wanna Be Your Dog" to about 50 people. Second, I got to see Pretenders circa 1981 and The Clash circa 1980 at a great place for punk rock in Detroit: The Motor City Roller Rink. Mention that venue to any alternative music aficianado over 35 whom grew up in thistown, and a tear is libel to be shed. Some absolutely fantastic bands played there. Note to Paul Ameritwang: Just drove by the Latin Quarter (note to readers: we both saw Red Hot Chili Peppers and Young Fresh Fellows there), and it looks like it's being gutted or torn down slowly. Mitch Matthews Gravel Train/Sunken Road np: Treorchy Male Choir "March of the Men of Harlech"
Re: Boot recommendations?
Brad Bechtel [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: But no black, relatively plain, pointy tipped cowboy boots. So what's a good brand? What's a good brand to avoid? Any tips for a finer shopping experience? I just bought my 6th pair of boots today, Laredo Brand on sale for $90, all leather so a good buy for the $. Started wearing boots 3 years ago and maybe I've gone a bit overboard. Except for my bike boots they are all pointy toe style and range from my python skin stage boots at $250 a pair to my everyday generics at $79. If you want the best there are plenty of high dollar boots out there but I have yet to tell much difference other than the price. I don't wear anything else except tennis shoes every once in a great while. Mike Hays http://www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
Boot Recommendations-Austin
I'm hopin' to pick up some kickers down in Austin this weekend. Anyone out there know the best place to go? Thanks, Erik Gerding Ultapolitan Records [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: iggy pop
VH1 is repeating "Iggy Pop: Behind the Music" tomorrow (Tuesday ) at 10 p.m. (Central). Cool show, but they spent a bit too much time on the story of Iggy Jr. -- Tom Mohr at the office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] at the home: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: clip: Hightech Hag
Merle says: Oh, my god, I'm so tired of that one drummer I could shoot him!" I bet Merle's referring to the "drummer" producer Don Cook invented and has cloned to all the other Nashvile producers, the one with the BIG ASS SNARE DRUM! Mike Hays http://www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
Re: Boot recommendations?
black, relatively plain, pointy tipped cowboy boots. I picked up a pair of black Justin boots with pointy toes and subdued stitching at Allen's on S. Congress in Austin a couple of weeks ago. So far, bueno; they feel and look good. I think they're doeskin, which makes them lighter than my last pair, which were made by Dan Post and are still hanging in there strong 15 years after they left the store. If they feel the least bit snug, you might want to try the next size up. For good reason, cowboy folklore has plenty of guys buried in their boots, not because they wanted it that way, but because nobody could get the damned things off! Tom Smith
Re: Boot Recommendations-Austin
A couple of places (not sure if they are still around, though) Tiny's Boot Shop--East First just east of I35 Cadillac Jack's--North Lamar Allen's Boots--South Congress Jamie Erik Gerding wrote: I'm hopin' to pick up some kickers down in Austin this weekend. Anyone out there know the best place to go? Thanks, Erik Gerding Ultapolitan Records [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Boot Recommendations-Austin
Erik Gerding wrote: Anyone out there know the best place to go? Apparently Ohio.
FYI: alt.music.no-depression now available
As seen on my news server... From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (S.Smith) Newsgroups: alt.music.no-depression Subject: New Group Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 23:25:19 GMT Organization: WWWeb World Lines: 12 Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452 Xref: news.macromedia.com alt.music.no-depression:3 Status: N This is a new Usenet group that has been created for the discussion of "No Depression" bands, as well as roots/revival bands and their influences. Have patience, since it will take a few weeks for this group to eventually make it's way around to all the news servers out there. Glad to see this new group come about. SS
Re: Bill Anderson article
Jon Weisberger wrote: The guy is a monster When I hear the name Bill Anderson I have to contend with "I Get The Fever" going through my head for a day or two. That tune and it's instrumentation really suits his voice. WWWestern
Old punk on XDU
For all of you who saw the Iggy Pop bio on VH-1 last night and are craving some old punk rock, tune into "Inflammable Material" on WXDU Tuesday 3/16 from 5-8pm when the Three Geeks will be bringing you three more hours of old classic punk. Expect to hear stuff from the Stooges, Stiff Little Fingers, the Dead Boys, the Damned, Richard Hell, Wire, Radio Birdman, and others. Call in requests too, because we like 'em. 919-684-8870 For you out-of-towners remember that WXDU is live on the web 24 hours a day at www.wxdu.duke.edu. From there click on the real audio link. See ya. Steve (a geek) -- Steve Gardner - Topsoil: A Century of Twang - Sun. 12-3pm WXDU 88.7FM Durham NC and on the Net at www.wxdu.duke.edu * [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.topsoil.net *
John Prine news
Plucked the following from Monday's Billboard website news...thought it might be of interest throughout (sorry about the screwy formatting). *** Singer/songwriter John Prine has finished scenes for a Miramax film, "Daddy And Them," written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton. Prine plays Thornton's brother in the comedy, which is due this fall and also features Laura Dern and Ben Affleck. Meanwhile, Prine has begun recording "In Spite Of Ourselves," a duets album of classic country material due in late summer on Oh Boy Records. Among those joining Prine on the album are Iris DeMent, Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, and Connie Smith. Finally, Prine will tour this spring after one-and-a-half years off. The trek starts March 25 in Bristol, Tenn., and includes June dates at the Fleadh Festivals in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. Prine will hit Europe in July and August. *** Jack Copeland Shawnee, Kansas "I tried to sing rock for awhile. But when you have a hillbilly accent like mine, it's hard to sing 'Cold as Ice.' It takes too long to say 'cold.' " -- Danni Leigh in cable TV interview
Boot Recommendations-Austin
New boots? I think Dan Post are the most comfortable while still looking sharp The pair of mine I wear most often are Dan Post. I have cooler-looking ones, but none more comfortable. Jamie mentions these new boot stores in Austin: A couple of places (not sure if they are still around, though) Tiny's Boot Shop--East First just east of I35 Cadillac Jack's--North Lamar Allen's Boots--South Congress Dunno about Cadillac Jack's. Allen's, in my experience is a bit generic if you want honest-to-god *pointy-toed* roach-killers. Tiny's is smaller and tends toward the high end, but they're very knowledgeable and have a better collection of hipster/cool boots (you know, one's with flames, cowskulls, cool inlay, TX flags, etc). They have cheap bootjacks there too. (the little thingies that let you pull 'em off easily). Last time I was there, the autographed photos of satisfied customers made up a regular P2 gallery of greats g. So Tiny's is my favorite new store down there. For really cool ones you might check out vintage places too, like Under the Sun (next to the Continental Club), which usually has an impressive selection of vintage boots in very good to excellent condition. Also: most boots in ordinary stores are *not* the really pointy ones. As I prefer maximum pointiness myself, I've learned the hard way how difficult it is to find these. For the really pointy ones (sometimes referred to as "X-toed") you have to look a little harder, except at showbiz-oriented new joints or a hipster joint like Under the Sun, which basically carries *only* that variety. There are a couple of other vintage stores with cool boots on South Lamar, although I forget their names right now. Neither of them has as many as Under the Sun, however. --junior
Re: clip: Hightech Hag
the Hag said; and I've got a studio here close by. . . . It rains a lot up here. That's low pressure, and low pressure is good for recording. . . . On a postcard day, the music sounds a little brittle." Wow; is that true, producer and P2 musicians? Interesting... dan
Re: Clip: New Faces Show
jon clipped wrote: Jon Randall. Very smooth performance, and his rendition of the hauntingly lonely I Can't Find An Angel was chilling. Unfortunately, the audience had heard so many ballads by this point that the song's subtlety was lost on a crowd fighting post-dinner fatigue. Can anyone back me up on this one (or prove me wrong): Wasn't this the "country singin' kid from KY" on MTV's "Real World" when they were in So. CA? For some reason I wanna say his name was Jon. Rave On, Paul
Re: Iggy/Pretenders/Clash/A********g
Mitch Matthews wrote: Note to Paul Ameritwang: Just drove by the Latin Quarter (note to readers: we both saw Red Hot Chili Peppers and Young Fresh Fellows there), and it looks like it's being gutted or torn down slowly. well, it's too bad they haven't had a decent show there since 1990. for those uninformed about the deco of detroit, i believe the Latin Quarter was an old dance hall (from the days of dance halls? let's say the '30s?) I don't recall there being much around it, but when you looked really close, you could see the history there. (i'm a sucker for cool old buildings) For the record, I also recall seeing a The Veldt/Jesus Mary Chain show there as well...FWIW. Paul np: WRCT - "The Fear Whiskey Show starring P2's own Carl Zimring" (that's how he's billing it these days g (j/k)
Re: Clip: The state of country radio
or something else again. I haven't seen even a whisper of a desire for twangier, more hardcore country stuff in the coverage of the CRS that's been posted here - and in fact, the positive references to "outlaws" merely underlines the point, as the musical content of The Outlaws boom of the 70s consisted in large part of "breaking the rules" and "taking risks" by bringing more rock influences into the country mainstream. Jon's probably correct when he expresses doubts that there's some great untapped audience out here for hardcore country stuff. Maybe if John Travolta makes a movie with a Pentium-powered electronic bull, in a Texas dance hall, while occasionally battering a younger version of Debra Winger, that'll spark some renewed interest in hard country, but I wouldn't hold your breath. (Wait a minute, "Urban Cowboy" sparked an interest in soft country. Oh well.) As for rock influences on country, Jon's made this point before, and it's well documented, but I'd argue that there's rock influences and then there's rock influences. The sort of rock influences that's "corrupting" commercial country music these days is, for the most part, banal, done-a-million-times bar-band type junk that was cliched when the Doobies were hacking away at it in the Seventies. Take Shania. The other day I was reacting as I usually do when I see or hear her, gagging, and then it came to me. I don't have a problem with her because of what she's doing to country music; the problem involves what she's doing to rock. The same applies to Garth Brooks. Viewed from a rock perspective, these folks are living and breathing cliches. And they're popular as hell. So, my point? It's easier for me to explain why this stuff turns me off, if I do it from the perspective of a rock fan. Coming from the country side, the main reason to have a problem with Shania (and her increasing progeny) is her desertion of "real country," and as Jon and others have so well argued, the notion of pure or real country music isn't unlike a toddler's idea of Camelot. Also, I know that Jon's rhetorical chops, with regard to rock, aren't nearly as sharp as they are with country. g -- Terry Smith np a review copy of Steve Wynn's new one. I'll report back.
Re: iggy pop
Steve Gardner writes: The Iggy Pop documentary on VH-1 last night was awesome. It really made me want to see him live. I'm sure he's not as crazy as he once was...but some of the footage showed him as still being pretty damn wild on stage. I recall reading the review in the paper of the Pearl Jam show in Pgh last summer. Iggy was the opener. The basis of the review was to say IGGY BLEW PEARL JAM OFF THE STAGE! It raved about Iggy's performance and said that Pearl Jam would have a hard time beating him...to which they failed miserably. Iggy/Stooges covers npimh (in no particular order): 1970 - Mission of Burma 1969- Sisters of Mercy Loose - Blake Babies The Passenger - Siouxsie the Banshees Search Destroy - Red Hot Chili Peppers (didn't EMF do this too?) Funtime - R.E.M. Loose - Buick McKaine Paul
PLAYLIST: Fear Whiskey 3/15/99
This is the Fear Whiskey playlist for this week's show. Fear and Whiskey can be heard every Monday from 7-10pm ET on 88.3fm in Pittsburgh (a.k.a. Mitch's favorite city on the continent, a.k.a. the cherry on the icecream float) and on AudioActive, Winamp and pretty much every mp3-based program via http://www.wrct.org. Past playlists are available at http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~cz28.fear.html. Some fine new music came in to the station this week, including gems from Jim O'Rourke and the Old 97s. ARTISTSONG sam prekopfaces and people jim o'rourke ghost ship in a storm dave alvinblue wing john faheysun gonna shine in my back door someday blues ted hawkins watch your step jim roll train jack logan bob kimbell four men in a car tarnation there's someone joel phelpsat el paso clodhopper1000 days of shame steve earle the del mccoury bandleroy's dustbowl blues greta lee i hate the cold run onanything you say victor krummenacher now that you're gone kelly willis cradle of love robbie fulks forgotten but not gone cat power taking people bonnie prince billy a minor place scott4miss goddess nr.2 beta band dr. baker yo la tengo big day coming american music club big night richard thompson the ghost of you walks james mcmurtryno more buffalo old 97s jagged graham parker stick to me calexico tulsa telephone book bob wills his texas playboyshome in san antone hayseed cold feet hogwaller ramblersmama don't you cry david olney snowin' on raton alejandro escovedosway van morrison high summer wilco she's a jar willard grant conspiracy no such thing as clean feelies slow down built to spillyou were right husker du games roky erickson never say goodbye tom russell iris dement acres of corn fred eaglesmith water in the fuel pamela martin presley's psalm beau brummels laugh laugh
Re: Clip: The state of country radio
From: Terry A. Smith Coming from the country side, the main reason to have a problem with Shania (and her increasing progeny) is her desertion of "real country," and as Jon and others have so well argued, the notion of pure or real country music isn't unlike a toddler's idea of Camelot. Correct me if I'm wrong here (and I've been meaning to bring this up about Shania), but since when was Shania ever really "Country." From what I've read about her, she was singing pop songs in a Vegas format in some vacation lodges in Canada. It just so happens that the one person that "discovered" her was from Nashville. Her musical background before that time was pretty much "Pop" bands playing in Ontario. It seems to me that Shania had a dream of one day making it big in the music industry, and when she got her chance, she took it. Had it been some guy from LA vacationing in Canada who asked her to come back with him so that she could be Sony's new star recording artist, we would be listening to her as the latest Pop Diva, and all these questions about her allegiance to "Real Country" music would be completely irrelevant. This is pretty evident by the fact that instead of folding to the whims of Nashville and becoming another music publisher's puppet, she fond Mutt Lange (or should I say he found her), who in return allowed her to do things her own way. It is simply guilt by association that it was someone from Nashville that opened the doors for her to do what she has always wanted to do from the start. If you're going to blame anyone, blame Nashville for still holding onto her. Derek ducking and hiding
Re: John Prine news
On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, Jack Copeland wrote: Meanwhile, Prine has begun recording "In Spite Of Ourselves," a duets album of classic country material due in late summer on Oh Boy Records. Among those joining Prine on the album are Iris DeMent, Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, and Connie Smith. Now that is right up my alley. If all my favorite big-tent alt-country acts spent the next year recording duets of classic country material, I would not complain at all. I believe we'd have a bumper alt-country crop that year. Will Miner Denver, CO
Re: iggy pop
I catch the Iggy Pop VH-1 doc on sunday too. what a fascinating story...I mean, life. He must be a "double freak." A freak for his on and off stage behavior and a freak for surviving. but I'm glad that he has. AND he saw the original Pretenders. I saw the Pretenders on their first tour with the English Beat opening. must have been around 1980. it was a terrific show but what I remember was a drunk woman flirting with my younger brother who was around 13. He reallly remembers that show. MichaelBerick
RE: A Pop Quiz
Postcard List said: [Matt Benz] "Walk Away Renee" I fergit who.. THe Left Banke
Gatton in Vintage Guitar Magazine
Well, you all know who my my gee-tar hero is, and April's issue of Vintage Guitar Magazine has a decent bio on him, along with interviews from cohorts on stage and such. Mitch Matthews Gravel Train/Sunken Road np: First single off of Mitch Matthew's solo project, a song entitled "South By South Waste"
SXSW update: final
This is the final SXSW update that I'll be giving, since I'm leaving for Austin bright and early tomorrow AM. Apologies to anyone I've left off this or previous lists. These are the lucky P2 attendees: Marie Arsenault Austin Motel Junior Barnard I'm sure Junior mentioned where he's staying, but I fergit Doug Baxter and his wife, Christine Town Lake Holiday Inn (I managed to pry this info out of Doug) Dan Bentele Austin Motel Rusty Berther (upping the Australian P2 quotient to 2) accomodations ??? Sophie Best staying at Smilin' Jim's Jim Catalano HomeGate Suites Jim Cox staying in some generic apartment he rented John Flippo Austin Motel Richard Flohil staying at Erica Wissolik's Randi Fratkin staying at Erica Wissolik's Ms. Wynn Harris staying at HER dad's Joyce Homan staying at a friend's house across from the Austin Motel Chris Knaus Meshel Watkins Austin Motel Jake London Austin Motel Barry Mazor Omni Hotel Alex Millar Austin Motel, room 152 Linda Ray accomodations to be determined Tony Renner HomeGate Suites Jim Roll and Laura Eckenrod staying at a friend's house Bill Silvers Austin Motel Deb "Numbers" Sommers staying somewhere, I'm sure Tiffany Suiters, Kim Di Pietro HomeGate Suites Jamie Swedberg Austin Motel Stacey Taylor Austin Motel Jeff Weiss Corrie Gregory Homegate Neal Weiss Colleen Morrissey Austin Motel Sarah Wrightson and Vince Bell who I'm mortified to have left off both previous lists Don Yates Deborah Malarek staying at Laura Fowler's me and my husband Eric Austin Motel and of course, the Austinites: Jim Caligiuri Jayne Cravens Cherilyn DiMond Jim Fagan Laura Fowler Jerald Corder Chad Hamilton Lurker Cory Horan Slim Kelly Erika Wissolik Due to unforeseen circumstances, Steve Kirsch will not be attending. We'll miss him. See y'all in Austin. We'll raise a Shiner Bock or three to absent P2 friends.
RE: Clip: The state of country radio
I frankly think that what's happening is that the novelty factor is wearing off for a lot of the newer country listeners, and they're off to look for the Next Big Thing without much concern for whether it's labeled rock or pop or something else again. I haven't seen even a whisper of a desire for twangier, more hardcore country stuff in the coverage of the CRS that's been posted here - and in fact, the positive references to "outlaws" merely underlines the point, as the musical content of The Outlaws boom of the 70s consisted in large part of "breaking the rules" and "taking risks" by bringing more rock influences into the country mainstream. The best thing that can happen to country music right now is for the audience to shrink. Using up my "me too" quotient for the month, I'll say that I think Jon has this exactly right. The line- dancing-for-yuppies era is pretty well dead and buried, the suburbanites who embraced HNC in the late 1980s and early 1990s have moved on, as Jon notes, to whatever--Hootie or Lilith Fair or God knows what--and pop acts like Shania Twain and, er, Shania Twain have begun to give up any vague association with country music. That's the most convincing explanation for why the balance seems to be shifting, on country radio and on CMT, back toward a preponderance of music that we may or may not like, but that we can all agree, I think, is indisputably what we think of as country music, unlike some of the more pop-oriented HNC stuff. That's why Junior and other folks, me among them, are finding it so much easier to listen to mainstream country radio lately. --Amy
Re: Clip: The state of country radio
In a message dated 3/15/99 9:40:41 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Just happened to be station-surfing Sunday morning on the way back from the gig in Knoxville and came across Elton John's "Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer" rock/pop operretta -- it features, in addition to overblown strings and an overall baroque-rock arrangement, a pedal steel! I seemed to have forgotten about EJ using steel in a lot of his 70's stuff. "Tumbleweed Connection" was an amazing album. I still listen to it every once in a while. Was it alt. country? Slim
Re: Iggy/Pretenders/Clash/A********g
Excerpts from internet.listserv.postcard2: 15-Mar-99 Re: Iggy/Pretenders/Clash/.. by [EMAIL PROTECTED] np: WRCT - "The Fear Whiskey Show starring P2's own Carl Zimring" (that's how he's billing it these days g (j/k) Well, no, but it might interest you, Paul (as wel as Alex) that Miss Scratchy of the Deliberate Strangers is guesting on the program for the next few weeks. ObIg: I found Sunday's Iggy Pop "Behind the Music" a nice change of pace from the recent Leif Garrett/David Cassidy bios, though they're fun in their own way. Haven't seen the GFR one yet, though I am reminded that the Butthole Surfers used to have a female bulldog named Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad. American, not presently in a band, Carl Z.
Re: SXSW update: final
It has been determined that yours truly will have a room at the Days Inn University-Downtown. What good it will do anyone to know that remains to be seen. In my experience, there's never been live music in my hotel room so I've generally been where there is. Still. . .there's a first time for everything! See you at the P2 party! Linda
Re: Clip: The state of country radio
Using up my "me too" quotient for the month, I'll say that I think Jon has this exactly right. The line- dancing-for-yuppies era is pretty well dead and buried, the suburbanites who embraced HNC in the late 1980s and early 1990s have moved on, as Jon notes, to whatever--Hootie or Lilith Fair or God knows what--and pop acts like Shania Twain and, er, Shania Twain have begun to give up any vague association with country music. That's the most convincing explanation for why the balance seems to be shifting, on country radio and on CMT, back toward a preponderance of music that we may or may not like, but that we can all agree, I think, is indisputably what we think of as country music, unlike some of the more pop-oriented HNC stuff. That's why Junior and other folks, me among them, are finding it so much easier to listen to mainstream country radio lately. --Amy I'm still not sure "the balance is shifting." Believe me, listening to country music radio these days is 50 percent luck. And it has been for years. If you tune in one day, you just might hit on Gill's shuffle duet that's getting play, and then maybe Sara Evans or Dwight. But you're just as likely to pick a day when three or four nice-sounding lounge singers with cowboy hats begin sappy ballad time. You're more likely to hear it, unless you're lucky enough to strike paydirt and find a station that's pickier, or grants the freedom to be pickier. Like Mike's. The thing is, I've been tuning in to this stuff for a long time, and the minutes when there's actually something interesting getting play haven't increased, at least from what I can notice. Of course, there's always the possibility that the ornery cuss who owns our local country station is deliberately sabotaging the playlist just to piss me off. - Terry Smith
