Tonight the Waymores, a trio of talented songwriters, will showcase their new album at a CD release party at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. We had the chance to preview the album a while back and loved it. Here’s our review:

If you’re 16, starting a band means finding rehearsal space in someone’s garage, convincing someone to play the bass and struggling to write your own material.
But what if that band comes along three decades later, after you and your friends have written songs for people like Johnny Cash, Trisha Yearwood, Kathy Mattea and Joe Cocker, and after you’re proven to be an adept solo performer?
That’s how you form the Waymores, a highly entertaining trio with an overflowing song catalog and a new self-titled album.
The Waymores include Don Henry, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and very funny performer, Sally Barris, a fine songwriter and soprano, and Tom Kimmel, an accomplished singer-songwriter and poet. That firepower pays off on The Waymores.
The album is being readied for official release, but it’s available at shows and is already one of our favorites of 2012. The material is first-rate, the harmonies are solid and the fun quotient is off the chart.
Some highlights:
-“Way More” is sort of the “Monkees Theme” for the band, a plea to a woman to abandon the bum she’s seeing, while also explaining the group’s name.
-“Singing Like A Byrd” joyously salutes Roger McGuinn and a bygone era when the world was “ringing like a Rickenbacker.” Just beautiful.
-Al Kinds of Kinds, written by Henry with Phillip Coleman, is also the leadoff track on Miranda Lambert’s new album. It’s a heartening celebration of diversity, told through a cross-dressing congressman, a self-dosing pharmacist and similarly colorful characters.
-“Can You See Me Now,” a song by Kimmel and Amelia White, is a touching song about realigning with others after an absence.
-Barris’ “Bright New World” closes the album on a sweet and optimistic note, segueing to a gentle cover of the Beatles’ “P.S. I Love You.”

Record stores – to the extent they’re still out there – should be advised to file this in two locations: “Americana Music” and “Unlike Anything Else in This Store.” Highly recommended.

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There’s not a lot of pressure on veteran country-rock band Poco with the release of All Fired Up, their first new album in a decade. They’re not looking for a single or sweating whether the new album will rival Legend or Cantamos.

On their 19^th studio album, Poco’s job is to deliver the sound their lifelong fans love and have as much fun as possible doing it. With All Fired Up, the band succeeds admirably on both fronts.

The current generation of Poco consists of founding member Rusty Young, Jack Sundrud, George Lawrence and newest member Michael Webb.

Webb, who also spent some time touring with John Fogerty, is a great addition. He plays guitars, mandolin, piano, bass clavinet, accordion and Hammond B-3, shoring up the classic Poco sound.

The title track opens the album with a hand-clapping statement of purpose: “Me and the boys are gonna make a little noise.” There’s a warmth and energy here, and Young’s familiar vocal is at the fore.

“That’s What Rock and Roll Will Do” is a celebration of lives led on the road and in the studio. It’s great fun and features a guest spot by legendary sax player Bobby Keys. Favorite line (and a succinct explanation of tinnitus): “Ears are still ringing from the night before,  so you turn it up just a little more.”

The most talked-about track will be “Neil Young,” dispelling the rumor that Rusty is Neil’s brother. It parodies Young’s Harvest-era sound, and assures us that “ If Neil Young was my brother, we’d hang out with one another” and Rusty’s mom would be more financially comfortable.

Other highlights include the touching “Regret” and the powerful “Hard Country.

In an era in which many musical careers seem to rise and fall in mere months, it’s reassuring and a bit inspiring to hear Poco in its fifth decade. All Fired Up is both fresh and familiar, and Poco’s rich legacy continues.

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By Paul T. Mueller

“We are who we are, not who we’re gonna be/ Every passing moment is ancient history,” Eric Brace and Peter Cooper sing in “Ancient History,” the first track on their latest CD, The Comeback Album. It’s a good choice for an opener, a catchy meditation on identity, impermanence and possibility that name-checks a range of people and places including Muhammad Ali, Jerry Jeff Walker, Sid Bream and the Astrodome.

It’s also a fitting start for a project by two Nashville singer-songwriters who seem to know a thing or two about personal reinvention. Brace is a former Washington Post music journalist who now runs the label that released this CD as well as fronting a band called Last Train Home; Cooper, among other jobs, is still writing about music (for The Tennessean in Nashville) as well as performing it and teaching college classes about it. As if that weren’t enough, each has a solo album scheduled for release later this year.

Comeback, their third collaboration, is marked by the kind of literate songcraft you’d expect from people who make their living with words. Brace and Cooper wrote or co-wrote nine tracks and covered three others. Best bets among the originals include “Thompson Street,” about a scruffy neighborhood in Spartanburg, S.C., and its colorful inhabitants; “She Can’t Be Herself,” a twangy and rueful goodbye song; “Nobody Knows,” a bouncy ode to life’s uncertainties, and “Boxcars,” whose upbeat tone is at odds with its theme of loss and regret.

The covers are well chosen too: Tom T. Hall’s “Mad,” a classic country tale of carousing and consequences; Karl Straub’s “Carolina,” a sweetly played ballad of alienation, and David Halley’s sad country waltz “Rain Just Falls.”

To go with their own guitars and harmonized vocals, Brace and Cooper get some great backup here, from the likes of Lloyd Green on pedal steel, Dave Jacques on bass, Jen Gunderman on keyboards, Fats Kaplin on violin and mandolin, and Rory Hoffman on a host of instruments, from clarinet and accordion to practically anything with strings. Listed as “special guests” on “Mad” are Mac Wiseman and Marty Stuart on vocals (Stuart also contributes mandolin) and Duane Eddy on guitar.

This kind of music is about the storytelling as well as the playing, and Brace and Cooper excel at both.

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The nominees:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Buddy & Jim, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
Cheater’s Game, Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison
From The Ground Up, John Fullbright
O’ Be Joyful, Shovels & Rope
Old Yellow Moon, Emmylou Harris/Rodney Crowell

SONG OF THE YEAR
Birmingham – Shovels & Rope
Good Things Happen to Bad People – Richard Thompson
Ho Hey – The Lumineers
North Side Gal – JD McPherson

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Buddy Miller
Dwight Yoakam
Emmylou Harris
Richard Thompson

EMERGING ARTIST OF THE YEAR
JD McPherson
John Fullbright
Milk Carton Kids
Shovels & Rope

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell

Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison

Shovels & Rope

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Doug Lancio
Larry Campbell
Greg Leisz
Jay Bellerose
Mike Bub

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There’s a moment on the Chet Atkins and Les Paul album Guitar Monsters (Real Gone Music) where the two playfully compare notes on CB radio and Dolly Parton’s attributes. It’s an exchange that simultaneously signals just how long ago Atkins and Paul recorded the LP, and how much fun they had doing it.

This 1978 album, their second together, showcases the two virtuoso guitarists in a playful and informal setting. Paul came from pop and jazz and Atkins from country, but they admired each other and their talents were truly complementary on this release.

“Over the Rainbow,” “I Want to be Happy” and “Give My Love to Nell” are musical highlights, and you’ll enjoy the pair’s spirited banter on “I’m Your Greatest Fan.”

Alive on Arrival/Jackrabbit Slim –Steve Forbert

Blue Corn Music has released Steve Forbert’s first two albums in a deluxe package that includes 12 bonus songs. It’s a reminder of just how rare it is for a singer-songwriter to release two consistently excellent albums at the outset of a career.

Neil Young did it. So did Jackson Browne and James Taylor. But Elton John didn’t (Empty Sky was no Elton John.)  Carole King didn’t, although Tapestry was a heck of a second album.

Forbert’s Alive on Arrival was a vibrant debut, sporting enduring songs like “Goin’ Down to Laurel” and “You Cannot Win if You Do Not Play.” For an encore, Forbert delivered the ambitious Jackrabbit Slim, kicking off the LP with “Romeo’s Tune,” an idiosyncratic hit record that he’s played for more than three decades.

Forbert is an amazingly consistent artist and every album offers up new treasures. You can have that kind of career when you build on a foundation of quality, as evidenced by this new collection.

Complete Original #1 Hits – Eddy Arnold

Album titles don’t come any more straightforward than this one. This Real Gone Music release includes the 28 Eddy Arnold songs that rose to #1 on the Billboard country chart, beginning with “What is Life Without Love” in 1946 and concluding with “The You Can Tell Me Goodbye” in 1968.

It’s a rich anthology that tracks both Arnold’s early career and the evolution of country music. Arnold’s use of strings and lush arrangements broadened his appeal well beyond country music audiences. Highly recommended.

By Ken Paulson

It’s hard not to listen to a new CD when it’s pitched as a melding of power pop and roots music. Is that like Eric Carmen covering Wilco? Or the Avett Brothers recording Badfinger tunes?

The curiosity factor aside, Partner in Crime, the new album from Detroit Band Jeremy Porter and the Tucos, proves to be a fun and  energetic collection of songs that bring NRBQ and even Brownsville Station (on “Make Out King”) to mind.

Favorite tracks: “Castways,” “Pizza Girl” and “Barely All the Time.”

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Americana Music News — Dates for Patty Griffin’s U.S. and UK tour have just been announced. The tour supports the release of her New West album American Kid.
The schedule:

May

30 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel

June

1 – Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom

2 – Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere

3 – Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere

5 – Brooklyn, NY – Celebrate Brooklyn

6 – Philadelphia, PA – Verizon Hall

7 – Boston, MA – House of Blues

8 – Waterville, ME – Waterville Music Hall

11 – Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall

12 – Chicago, IL – Athenaeum Theatre

13 – Minneapolis, MN – Pantages
15 – Bozeman, MT – Wilson Theater

18 – Vancouver, BC – Chan Center for the Performing Arts

19 – Seattle, WA – Neptune

20 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom

23 – San Francisco, CA – Fillmore

25 – Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern

July

19 – Gateshead – The Sage Gateshead

20 – Manchester – Royal Northern College of Music

21 – Perth – Perth Theatre

23 – Milton Keynes – The Stables

24 – Birmingham, UK – Glee Club

25 – London, UK – Union Chapel

26 – Cambridge, UK – Cambridge Folk Festival

August

17 – Lyons, Co – Rocky Mt. Folks Festival

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Americana Music News – Courtney Jaye, a Nashville-based artist whose new album Love and Forgiveness draws on classic pop,  will appear at an in-store at Grimey’s in Nashville on May 7, the album’s release date. She’ll also perform at the Stone Fox in Nashville on May 10.

We don’t understand the reference to Neil Young and the Band in the press materials, but we can certainly hear the influences of Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark and Linda Ronstadt. That’s plenty for us.

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By Ken Paulson

We’ll have what Willie Nile is having.

35 years on, Nile is making some of the most ambitious and rewarding music of his career.

American Ride builds on the spirit of his fine 2011 album The Innocent Ones and its anthemic  “One Guitar.” This time around, the rousing  “This is Our Time” is the opening call-to-arms.

There’s a duality evident throughout the album. Tracks like “Sunrise in New York City” and “There’s No Place Like Home” couple reassuring sentiments to sing-along arrangements. But then there’s “God Laughs,” a striking and irreverent song that will provoke reflection, indignation and laughter, but not from the same people. And in the middle of all this is a sterling cover of Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died.”

American Ride is all over the road, but in a very good way.

Rendezvous in Rhythm –Hot Club of Cowtown – Gold Strike Records

The Hot Club of Cowtown – Elana James, White Smith and Jake Erwin – has delivered a thoroughly charming collection of jazz standards, with a nod to Left Bank influences. It’s just fiddle, bass, guitar and vocals, intimate and energetic at the same time. Favorite tracks: “Avalon” and “The Continental.”

 Go Jane Go – Dead Reckoning Records

Fans of Kieran Kane, the Dead Recknoers and David Francey are in for a treat with the release of Go Jane Go. This collaboration teaming of Kane, Francey and Lucas Kane grew out a tour of Australia. It’s stripped down and as basic as Americana music comes, delivering strong songs in an intimate setting.

The Bright Spots – Randall Bramblett  - New West Records

 Here’s an impeccably soulful album by Randall Bramblett, a storied session musician and former member of Sea Level. He’s also a fine writer and vocalist, bringing to mind Bonnie Raitt and late-period Nick Lowe.  Favorite tracks: “Til the Party’s Gone” and “My Darling One.”

 A Date with the Everly Brothers – The Chapin Sisters – Lake Bottom Records

Cribbing the title of this collection from a classic Everly Brothers LP, the Chapin Sisters deliver faithful covers of some of Don and Phil’s best work.  It’s a fun listen that includes some surprising song selections.

More new releases:

Rule the World – Max Gomez – New West Records

Todd May – Rickenbacker Girls – Peloton Records

Jerry Miller – New Road Under My Wheels – Signature Sounds

Bovine Social Club – Eclipso Records

Steven Casper and Cowboy Angst – Trouble – Silent City Records

Sweeter Songs – Craig Jackson Band – Green Records

No Regrets – Juliet and the Lonesome Romeos – Tree O Records

Gold Boots Glitter – Wheeler Brothers – Bismeaux Records

Blanket of Stars – Glen Eric – Dodu Records

By Ken Paulson

There was a time when pop and politics were often intertwined and two new releases from Real Gone Music nicely illustrate that.

The Hello People were known for their “mime rock,” essentially a mime performance punctuated with songs. Yes, that was a weird concept even for the late sixties. Fusion, released in 1968, is genteel and jazzy pop, with a number of politically-minded compositions. Most notable is “Anthem,” a modest FM hit that told the story of a draft resister being sent to prison: “I’m going to prison for what I believe.”

The Hello People would go on to play with and be produced by Todd Rundgren ,but Fusion was their most ambitious and rewarding album.

Wilderness Road used humor to make its political points. Its second album Sold for the Prevention of Disease Only is laden with country, rock and parody. Band members had ties to Chicago’s Second City Comedy troupe and a good part of this entertaining album from 1973 sounds like comedy skits set to music. That’s most notable in the band’s extended send-up of evangelical preachers.

It’s adventurous and surprisingly fresh 40 years on.

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