Terrible Love (live on Fallon) – The National

I’m also gobsmacked by the album art, which sort of reminds me of this image. High Violet is out May 11 on 4AD.

CORRECTION: Fuel/Friends gets to give away the White Stripes’ new DVD of Under Great White Northern Lights and the companion live CD. My deep apologies for the confusion between me and the PR people (but hey, it’s still a cool prize, for free).

Under Great White Northern Lights was filmed to capture moments from Jack & Meg’s summer 2007 tour across Canada, from the big city venues to the smalltown bowling alleys. This tour (in support of Icky Thump) represented their last live performances for a good two years, until they recently resurfaced on Conan.

TO WIN: Leave me a comment telling me about either your favorite White Stripes concert moment or your favorite White Stripes song, and why. I will pick one winner before I board a plane to SXSW next Wednesday.

And speaking of White Stripes and SXSW in the same breath, how awesome does this look? I’ll be there, and try to not wear my Third Man Records shirt to the store that day. Last year at SXSW, in another one of those surreal moments that thankfully seem to pepper my life lately, I had tapas with the director of this film, Emmett Malloy, and we chatted about the making of this documentary. It feels full circle that I’ll probably get to finally see a screening of it at SXSW this year. Wahoo!

My little brother has been trying for about a dozen songs now to best me by sending me something marvelous that I’ve never heard. He’s far away living in Sydney with his Aussie girlfriend now, and I miss him terribly, so I was thrilled to let him win this latest incarnation of Stump The Sister.

Joseph Arthur’s duet with R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe wended its way halfway around the world from Down Under to the Rocky Mountain State, and the more I’ve listened to it, the more it’s grown on me and put roots down into me. Joseph has been recommended to me before several times, and I’ve long said that Michael Stipe has my favorite male vocalist voice of anyone, so his addition to this already-beautiful song is welcomed.

In The Sun – Joseph Arthur & Michael Stipe

The moment around 2:30 where Stipe muses, “I don’t know anymore what it’s for, I’m not even sure if there is anyone / that’s in the sun…,” I can feel the paralyzing indecision.

Joseph’s voice is gravelly and raspy, but somehow soothed, as if with honey and whiskey. It reminds me alternately of Ray LaMontagne and the Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones on the wails. I love this song.

From the 2006 iTunes exclusive In The Sun EP; he released about a jillion EPs and albums in 2008.

Last weekend I shuffled into a smalltown venue I’d never been to, on the streets of hippie enclave Manitou Springs (my neighbor to the west) to see Laura Veirs play and sing in a hometown show. I knew nothing about the opening bands, but was immediately smitten when lone Nelson Kempf from Old Believers came out on stage, kicked his looping beats into effect, and starting strumming and playing this:

It’s With You Now (Red River cover) – The Old Believers

His version was different in every way from this 7″ vinyl version with the full band (and female lead vocals). Not only were we treated to the purity of him alone, his earnest voice, and an acoustic guitar, but he led us all in a singalong (bold move for a first song from an opening band, but it worked. Completely). We sang along “all the love, all the love….” in time with that bass line, and I swooned for the lyrics. Everything suddenly felt very warm and very right.

When the rest of the members came out on stage to join him, the music they crafted for us was reminiscent of a cross between Apostle of Hustle and Josh Ritter. If it sounds like fun, that’s because it absolutely was, and I am now actively seeking what else I can find about this small band.

Granny’s Song – Old Believers

Their full-length Eight Golden Greats came out in ‘08, new one rumored to be in the works. Old Believersand Red River are both part of the Brave Records label out of Portland, and both are charming my speakers currently.

Denver musician Nathaniel Rateliff (formerly of the well-loved Born In The Flood) and his band The Wheel have completed their debut record In Memory of Loss on Rounder, under the production hand of Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Josh Ritter). It’s exciting for me to see these friends getting some of the attention that I’ve long thought they deserved. I’ve seen ‘em play in little clubs and on patios and at our hectic festivals, and Nathaniel’s voice always commands people stop, and listen, and feel what he is singing.

Hear the full new version of “Early Spring Till” over on the Vanity Fair profile, and download it for free on Nathaniel’s website. Vanity Fair? Holy crap, go go Denver music!

The Vanity Fair piece says, “his tenor voice and gospel-inspired harmonies are fit only for a silent cathedral.” My own version of this cathedral they envision would be when I saw The Wheel on the Meadowlark patio late last summer, and underneath the canopy of twinkling lights in the late August evening they levied a heavy, reverent silence over the normally talkative hipster crowd. Everyone –everyone– was listening then, and now, you’ll soon have a chance too.

These songs are now so much more fleshed out and filled in, but still leave a space for Nathaniel’s distinctive voice to reverberate. “Early Spring Till” is much changed, but still with that soaring chorus that always makes my day feel a little more bearable. Are you tired? Do you feel wrung out? Have you fallen from where glory sprouts? At least Nathaniel understands.

This remains one of their most commanding songs, among many strong contenders:

Early Spring Till (demo version) – Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel

In Memory of Loss is out April 27th on Rounder Records.

Nathaniel is playing several SXSW shows next week (next week!!), including our Mile-Hi Fidelity Party party this year. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel are playing along with Houses, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Pirate Signal, TAUNTAUN — all some of my favorite Denver bands. You should absolutely come.

THE WHEEL IS EVERYWHERE THIS SPRING
*with the Low Anthem
# with Megafaun
% with Ra Ra Riot & Delta Spirit
@ with The Tallest Man on Earth
Mar 17 – Lamberts – C3 Party @ SXSW, Austin, TX
Mar 17 – Ale House – official SXSW showcase 9pm, Austin, TX
Mar 18 – Hotel San Jose – High Road Party @ SXSW, Austin, TX
Mar 19 – Habana Calle 6 – Mile Hi-Fidelity @ SXSW, Austin, TX
Apr 2 – The State Room, Salt Lake City, UT *
Apr 3 – Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO *
Apr 4 – The Slowdown, Omaha, NE *
Apr 5 – Huckleberry’s Pizza, Rock Island, IL *
Apr 6 – Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL *
Apr 7 – The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI *
Apr 9 – Vaudville Mews, Des Moines, IA
Apr 10 – The Waiting Room, Omaha, NE #
Apr 27 – Barnstormer III, West Liberty, IA %
Apr 28 – Barnstormer III, Milwaukee, WI %
Apr 29 – Barnstormer III, Lake Geneva, WI %
Apr 30 – Barnstormer III, Champaign, IL %
May 1 – Barnstormer III, Maquoketa, IA %
May 21 – The Mill, Iowa City, Iowa @
May 22 – Carleton College, Northfield, MN @
May 23 – Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN @
May 25 – Pabst Theater, Milwaukee, WI @
May 26 – The Dome House, Bloomington, IN @
May 27 – The Brass Rail, Fort Wayne, IN @

(top pic from my Wheel/Bon Iver set from last summer)

There is a new photography book detailing the touring and creative lives of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, captured by multi-talented band guitarist Neal Casal. It’s called A View Of Other Windows and I don’t have it yet, so can’t speak to the quality beyond what I’ve seen of Neal to know that he has a knack for capturing small moments, which I love.

I was, however, taken by the little b-side song “Memory Lane” used to soundtrack the trailer for the book. It was released on the special UK/Ireland versions of Cardinology, and perhaps selected here because of its line about “pictures taken by someone else…”

Memory Lane (UK bonus track) – Ryan Adams

I studied in Florence ten years ago, and still parlo a bit of the italiano (although not as well these days as I would desire) and I love being called a “ragazza americana” once again.

Los Angeles quintet Everest first caught my ear with their sunset-tinged, FM-radio feel of Ghost Notes, released in 2008 on Neil Young’s Vapor Records label. After they recorded the album using all analog equipment and “old school” tape machines at Elliott Smith’s New Monkey Studios, they put in time touring with Neil, as well as folks like Wilco and My Morning Jacket.

Their new efforts from the forthcoming On Approach (April 20) definitely sound more Led Zeppelin to these ears than hazy, golden hippie rock that I’ve best loved from them in the past, and it makes me feel riled up, in a good way:

To take with you: this song is an absolute favorite from that first album, one that gets stuck in my head for days at a time and simultaneously evokes Buddy Holly and springtime — two things that I could use this week:

Trees – Everest

I also greatly enjoy their performance of “Rebels in the Roses” from their killer Daytrotter session. I look forward to hearing where they go next.

A HANDFUL OF EVEREST TOUR DATES:
3.04 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent w/ Big Light
3.05 – Los Angeles, CA – Natural History Museum “First Fridays” w/ Deer Tick
3.17 – Austin, TX – Maggie Mae’s (Vapor Records SXSW showcase; 1AM)
3.18 – Austin, TX – SXSW
3.19 – Austin, TX – SXSW
3.20 – Austin, TX – SXSW

Today as I drove from Ohio to Indiana and pondered what a Hoosier actually was, I listened to two artists who seemed to embody those snowy midwestern hills and endless highway: Justin Townes Earle and Joe Pug. I paired their CDs together as homage to the fantastic concerts I saw last weekend in Denver: one at the Bluebird with the both of them, and then a house concert on Sunday night with just Joe Pug in a breathtakingly intimate living room setting in Boulder.

Relentlessly polite and wholeheartedly earnest, Justin Townes Earle seemed to have landed from another era completely, but his music rang true and struck directly. If I were casting a movie set in 1940s Atlanta, and I was looking for a counterweight to the golden guy that the girl is going to marry, a man who shows up perhaps selling hairbrushes or snake oil with a half smile and the promise of adventure – I’d cast JTE in a heartbeat. His lanky, super-slim frame draped with a classy suit just a fraction too short as he threw himself wholeheartedly into the performance of his songs. The cover art of his 2009 record Midnight At The Movies shows Justin sitting next to a gorgeous starlet in a movie theater, drenched in green light and a flickering glow, and in so many ways that is how his music feels.

Justin fully seems to somehow straddle the world of WWII America and the bluegrass hills and Appalachians, as well as the modern alt-country rock scene – even some intangible nod to the punk aesthetic. I wouldn’t mess with him, but I’d believe him and let him buy me a drink so he could tell me a story.

His music surely feels old-timey, all waltzing rhythms and “yes’m” tips of the lyrical hat, but seeing him live cemented for me that his earnestness makes all the difference in making this still feel like a vital, youthful genre. There is no shtick that I could detect. This is the style of music he makes, and he means it no less than Nirvana or Thao Nguyen or any other number of young folks in passionate bands.

Justin dedicated a bittersweet end-of-the-night rendition of “Midnight At The Movies” to Chris Feinstein (aka Space Wolf), bassist for Ryan Adam’s Cardinals who died unexpectedly at the age of 42 in December. They were apparently NYC neighbors. The slow-wheeling song was one of the sweetest things I’ve heard out in the night air in many months – it was a 3am slow dance, the bartender wiping the tables, the snow falling somewhere very far away from these warm walls. But then lest you forget his range of influences, he also covered both Buck Owens, the Carter Family, and The Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait” (with stand-up bass and fiddle), alongside his own well-crafted tunes.

There’s a part in movie Crazy Heart that I’m probably going to misquote, but when Jeff Bridges is picking at his guitar, writing a song, and he asks Maggie Gyllenhaal’s character if she knows the song, and she’s sure she already does. “The best songs are always the ones you think you’ve heard before,” he tells her – and that’s precisely how I felt the first time I heard this song:

Midnight At The Movies – Justin Townes Earle

Justin also recently recorded a Dolly Parton cover with Brooklyn artist Dawn Landes:

Do I Ever Cross Your Mind – Justin Townes Earle & Dawn Landes

While on-stage, Justin also referred to opener “Joe Fucking Pug” as having put out one of the best albums of the year (an assessment I can get behind), and even though I only caught half his set due to a persistent snowfall, Joe completely blew me away. Again. As always.

Pug is a songwriter of uncommon weight and heft, and rare purity and conviction. If you’ve gotten jaded as to the effect that a simple well-written song can have when howled and emoted from the main stage, under the dust particles swirling in the stage lights, just go see Joe Pug (or Josh Ritter, for that matter) and have those convictions washed off and set aright. His set was an unrelenting cavalcade of identification with so many of the sentiments he elucidates, using only the right number of words and devastating acumen.

Then, two nights later I got to see Joe Pug again, packed shoulder to shoulder with 45 other people, on the couch and in the kitchen and kneeling on the floor in the living room of a home modestly-sized for half that many friends at best. I feverishly noted the setlist, since I had the overwhelming feeling that I was witnessing the best show I might see this year. Maybe ever. Hard to say.

JOE PUG – HOUSE SHOW
Nation Of Heat
I Do My Father’s Drugs
Unsophisticated Heart
Hymn #35
Nobody’s Man
The Door Is Always Open
Speak Plainly Diana
Called By Many Names (unreleased song)
These Days
Sharpest Crown
Hymn #101

I’ve never been to a house concert before Backforty Presents made this one possible. I was startled by the intimacy, as I think many of us were. I am used to (and prefer) my shows small and earnest, but often with the artificial barrier between performer and audience hedged cleanly by the drop-off of the stage to the sticky floors below. As eager as I was, it felt almost too intimate at times, especially given the songs he performs – sharper at excising things from my heart than any scalpel. It would be akin to kissing a stranger at a loud, smoky nightclub or kissing them on a quiet Sunday morning at the sun-drenched kitchen table. In such close quarters, there is nowhere to hide.

Joe is amiable and has grown, even in the last year, to become a more confident performer (no doubt a byproduct of the sheer insane number of shows he’s played). But again, the intimacy of this show and the immense wall of camaraderie reverberating back to him seemed to also take him a bit by surprise. As the final note from opening song “A Nation Of Heat” died out into the suburban condo living room, the thunderous applause that rained down like a tidal wave might have even made his eyes shine with a bit of extra glossiness as he broke into a wide smile, if my perceptions were correct. And I felt the same way.

“Not So Sure” is a gem of a song from the new album, chronicling a gnawing disillusion, with ennui mushrooming in its lyrics. When Joe stood four feet from me, stared somewhere intensely at the back wall, into space, while he plucked the opening notes and launched into lines like: “I bummed expensive cigarettes, I wrote John Steinbeck’s books / I undressed someone’s daughter, and complained about her looks” – I was done for. Then it happened again and again with his songs piercing us all, peaking at the final “Hymn #101” in front of my nose. That is such an incredible song, I couldn’t believe I was seeing it in an environment like that.

Not So Sure – Joe Pug (from his new album Messenger)

Hymn #101 – Joe Pug (from his Nation of Heat EP)

After seeing Joe Pug (twice) and Justin Townes Earle in the same weekend, I woke up Monday morning feeling a radiant, warm glow tingling around me like an aura. Did that really happen? Do shows like that still occur, despite the jadedness of life?

It did, and they do.

[See all of my photos from the show on the Fuel/Friends Facebook fan page; house concert photo credit Todd Roeth]

For their upcoming album Permalight (out March 2 on Brushfire) they have assembled 11 short videos with the help of Tyler Manson and Emmett Malloy, filmed in and around the Bay Area. This one shows our favorite organ donation recipient out and about, with his awesome hair and his good attitude.

This retro-feeling song starts the album, with the singsong falsetto opening before the handclaps hit:

Solitary Gun – Rogue Wave

Read more about their adventures and concept behind the filming over at IFC (including the Zach Rogue’s love of Bluebottle coffee – yum) and watch all the video vignettes from around the SF Bay Area as they are unveiled at the Rogue Wave site.