Hickory Wind

Michael Rank's KIN (review/interview/video) by hal

2012-04-15T19:57:51-05:00

Snatches of Pink frontman Michael Rank steps into and shares the spotlight on KIN (Louds Hymn Records) his most personal, emotional and impassioned disc to date. The album cover featuring a photo of a seated Rank looking at an empty chair hints at the subject matter: love and loss. The fourteen tracks, released (ironically) on Valentine's Day 2012, catalog the range of emotions experienced during the dissolution of his marriage: from self-pity and regret, to anger and resolve and everything in between. Rank bares his heart and sometimes his teeth as he clears the air, shreds some strings and begins to move on. Compared to past efforts KIN is toned down and twanged up but without losing its rock and roll swagger.
Michael is joined by a revolving cast of North Carolina all-stars including John Howie Jr., Sara Romweber, Jon Teer, Marc E. Smith, Daryl White, Alex Iglehart and Nathan Golub pulled from notable local bands such as Chatham County Line, Two Dollar Pistols, John Howie Jr. and the Rosewood Bluff, Patty Hurst Shifter, Trailer Bride, Calico Haunts and the Dex Romweber Duo.
Teer's fiddle rocks like a one man version of Alejandro Escovedo's string quartet on a handful of tracks and the mix of acoustic and electric guitars, drums, upright bass, lap and pedal steel give the disc a Sticky Fingers country rock edge. Rank is a self-admitted Stones fan and his vocals recall Keith Richards and Little Steven (if you can imagine them with a touch of Southern drawl you can easily connect the dots) and fans of either artist will find much to dig on this disc. Although the disc can be purchased at the usual outlets, KIN is currently available as a deal too good to pass up on Rank's website. You can purchase the beautifully packaged 2 disc set for $7 (including shipping and an immediate download) or you can buy and download it as a "name your price" deal. Richard and Linda Thompson released their classic love/marriage gone bad album Shoot Out The Lights in 1982 and if you can imagine the country honk rock side-project Keith and Gram might have recorded if drugs hadn't got in the way back in 1973 you'll have a pretty good idea what to expect from KIN thematically (the former) and sonically (the later). I've followed Ranks' career and would have considered myself a casual fan so KIN was not a totally unexpected pleasure. I thought I'd like it but I did not expect to be blown away. KIN's locked up a slot on my No Depression Best of 2012 list and I'm glad I rolled the diced and bought a copy.
Highly recommended.
Favorite tracks (stream them here) with a slice of lyrics-
"tongue"
Next time well I'll know better
Next time I'll do no wrong
Next time she won't be a crazy fuck with lies covering her tongue
"kin"
Not enough hours in the nightime
The days go on just a little too long
"straw man"
I don't think about you much anymore
They don't dream about you like before
"Arrowheads"
I lied when I said I didn't miss you cause god I did
But I lied when I said I didn't love you I always did
Please don't go away again
Please don't walk away with him
"the eye teeth"
So that's how you see me
So that's now who I am
Those years that I loved with you
They don't mean a damn
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HB-Congratulations on a great disc Michael. A bunch of review discs are stacked up next to my stereo getting ignored due to you and KIN! How long did it take you to write the songs? You cover a wide range of emotions and I admire you for putting it all out there.
MR-Thank you, man, I really appreciate you taking the time to listen. I had a few of the tunes in my back pocket but the lion's share were written during a two to three month period. I'd say 90% were written directly after my son's mom left me and our home. I suspect things become a cliche for a reason and heartbreak followed hot on the heels by creativity must rank pretty high on that list.
HB-Belated congratulations on becoming a dad. I remember listening to the title track from KIN for the first time and when you sang "I wish I'd never seen your face" to your son's mom I instantly thought wow, you really don't want to say that. And then you immediately make it alright with the line "Wish that boy had just landed here like some visitor from space". As cliched as it sounds I guess the cloud had a silver lining?
MR-That's actually the most important lyric on the whole album for me personally. When she walked out I was just so overwhelmed every day with the feeling of "I wish I'd never seen your face- I wish I had never met you". And then I would be instantly consumed with guilt for having those feelings because obviously if that were the case I wouldn't have this beautiful son in my life. The follow up line of "wish that boy had just landed here like some visitor from space" really resolved that for me. It made it OK to express the front half of those lyrics.
HB-Not to downplay anyone's importance or contributions but you were Snatches of Pink. You released a SOP disc titled Stag in 2005 and KIN is under Michael Rank and Stag with most of the same players. Was it because it is such a personal, emotional and raw disc maybe you felt it was your album rather than a SOP disc?
MR-The plan, even years before the split in my relationship, was for the next album to be a solo record. I had only done one, many many years ago for Caroline Records, and it just felt like time. I had all but stopped playing music, certainly stopped playing shows, once my son was born. When I went back to it I started gigging around town under the name STAG with sort of a Russian roulette approach to bandmates. It feels a bit awkward for me still to play under my own name so I guess I was just looking for that security blanket that comes with a band name. In terms of the album itself I think once the uncomfortably personal nature of the beast started becoming apparent there were probably some band members that were relieved that flag was flying under my name alone!
HB- The fidddle, pedal and steel guitar might not be what long time SOP fans would expect. I would have been more surprised if I hadn't seen you cover "Tall Dark Stranger" at the Buck Owens tribute in Durham last year. The mix of acoustic and electric guitars on KIN reminds me of "Sticky Fingers"-era Stones and your vocals are obviously Keith not Mick. Could you name some other influences, maybe surprises, that may have pushed you towards Americana.
MR-For me it was more closing up the backside of a circle that began with Send In The Clowns, the first Snatches of Pink album released over some 20 years ago. That album was up to its eyeballs in twang and it's where I started. Back then it was more about the influence of bands like Tex and the Horseheads, Jason and the Scorchers, The Pontiac Brothers, etc. This time around I had been spending a lot of time with the 70's albums of Waylon Jennings and Davis Allan Coe. A lot of Ralph Stanley, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt. I dig a lot of Chris Knight's writing as well as Jamey Johnson. I'm a big fan of Graham Lindsey, The Boomswagglers and also Joesph Huber (.357 String Band). I love Hank 3's Straight To Hell album. I really dug Shooter Jenning's Electric Rodeoalbum. But obviously the constant was, is, and always will be the "country filter" of the Stones.
HB-I was surprised when I first saw John Howie Jr. (Two Dollar Pistols and John Howie and the Rosewood Bluff) was drumming with SOP a couple discs ago. Did John nudge you at all towards the twangy side of things?
MR-First things first. John is hands down one of the greatest drummers anywhere, anytime, period. For a boy like myself, who is SO drummer fixated, to have both John Howie AND Sara Romweber on my album it is really make- a- wish territory. But in terms of nudging, never. What John has been, though, is an invaluable educator of this style of music. In fact just this last weekend I called him up and asked for a new reading list to head to the record store with.
HB- I read somewhere you put out a book of poetry. Could you talk a little bit about the book and if it is available?
MR-I've actually put out two. The first, titled "Feast", was my take on an Alice In Wonderland experience without any of the tomfoolery. It was a "children's story" not very much for children. The second work was called "Herodias" and I am still pretty pleased with that one. It's 'occult surgery' for lack of a better description. I got some copies in a closet and if anyone wants one just facebook message me or email me through the Snatches of Pink site.
HB-I really like your production on the disc and how you mixed your vocals. It really lets the listener lock in on your voice and the lyrics.
MR-Man, thank you, I really appreciate that. I have a long history of burying vocals and being a member of the surrealist approach to lyrics. And to be honest I think it hasn't done much service to my career. Although I feel I always provided a mood on my albums musically, I never gave the listener much to connect with lyrically. I really set out out on this album to break that habit. And it's been really cool to see the effect.
HB-You've been doing this for a few years, any rock and roll road tales of a weird gig or two you'd like to share?
MR-I think what really stands out for me in the rear view is that I've gotten to open for Iggy Pop, Johnny Thunders, The Ramones (at The Fillmore no less!), The Cramps, Nikki Sudden, Rocket From The Tombs and just a whole host of others. I don't know many folks who can say that and I'm pretty fucking proud of that. And it makes a badass list.
HB-Best of luck with the disc and thanks for your time.

A slightly extended version of this article with pics and video links was previously published on NoDepression

An interview with Kevin Gordon: Americana's Poet Laureate by hal

2012-03-09T21:45:26-05:00

The late great Townes Van Zandt oversimplified the issue when he declared “There’s only two kinds of music, Blues and Zip-a-dee-doo-dah.” Kevin Gordon's fan funded Gloryland (Crowville Media) may not be the blues but it certainly is not Zip-a-dee-doo-dah. With a poet's eye, a storyteller's ear and a rock and roll heart Kevin delivers twelve distinctly Southern stories that are both a magnifying glass and a mirror. The centerpiece of Gloryland is "Colfax/Step In Time" where a 7th grade marching band led by Mr. Minifield meets the KKK. The track has received well deserved praise from critics including Peter Cooper who declared: "We’ll empty your spit-valve for life if you find us anything more stunning than 'Colfax'". That may be true but you'd cheating yourself out of what might be the best disc of the year if you dropped your 99 cents at iTUNES for "Colfax" and stopped there. Yes, they do they still make albums and while Gloryland may not be a true concept album (whatever that is) there are themes that tie the tracks together into one unified record(ing). The strength of the bastardized religion(s) of "Gloryland" pale when compared to the purity of Pecolia's faith in "Pecolia's Star". There is the struggle to make sense of it all in these hard times: from the beggar with the fabricated story in "Trying To Get To Memphis" to the resilience of an artist advised to "put those dreams away" in "Don't Stop Me This Time". "Bus To Shreveport" chronicles a trip to a ZZ Top show that starts off like a Drive-By Truckers' road trip tune and disintegrates into darker mayhem, almost murder and a second appearance by the KKK. The album finishes, almost optimistically, with "One I Love" a full blown rocker that finds hope and strength in love even if:
"They might try to kill us, child
With their bombs bullets and guns
They might try but before I die
I'm gonna tell 'em your the one I love"
There are blues albums out there and you won't have a problem finding Zip-a-dee-doo-dah but if you love Americana and you're only going to buy one album this year this is the one to buy.
If you are not familiar with Kevin Gordon here is a link to a profile from the NYTimes and below is an interview I did with Kevin.
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HB: What a great disc from start to finish! Thanks for not “putting those dreams away”.
KG: Hal, thanks so much--I appreciate your interest in the record, and I’m glad you like it.
HB: Gloryland is a powerful opening track and of the Preacher, the President and the Suicide bomber, the bomber, if equally misguided, comes across as the most sincere.
KG: I saw the guy in the last verse not only as a perpetrator of violence, but as one of the victims here--I really resisted writing that verse, but it’s the most contemporary version of this kind of power play, by those who claim to have God on their side --seems like it’s the most barren, poverty-stricken, desperate communities where the dogma of the extremist is most persuasive. I’d say “Ms. Mamie”, the woman in the first verse, who’s a devotee of the televangelist, is in similar straits, though the way she’s co-opted isn’t as heinous, or violently harmful to innocent people. And as witnesses/targets of the contemporary mass-media machine, we are subjected to political language that is, if not patently false, laughably biased. Why so many people seem to fall under its sway, I don’t know--it bothers me, a lot. And heaven, paradise, glory, is always somewhere else, and beyond “the now”--so there is all this struggle and gnashing of teeth, etc., by people trying to get there from here. And in the process, some folks manipulate others, and that sacred path then becomes something less.
HB: Is "Colfax/ Step In Time" based on an actual incident?
KG: Yes, like most of my songs, it’s based on a real experience--this was something that happened in 7th grade; I was in the marching band at my school in Monroe, LA, and we traveled to other towns to march in Fall parades. Our director, Louis Minifield, was one of the coolest people I’ve ever met, though I didn’t realize it then, at that age. He could be coarse, hard to figure out, sometimes volatile, incredibly intelligent. One thing I couldn’t fit into the song was that he had to wear really dark glasses a lot of the time, because of a sensitivity to light (I think). I took private lessons from him, on afternoons when my mom had to work “bus duty”--watching the kids waiting for the bus(she taught at the same school). So I had these great interactions with Mr. (now Dr.) Minifield, where I learned some very basic things about music that I still remember. The way he would demonstrate how a certain phrase should be played--holding his horn in one hand, fingering the notes, expressing the dynamics with his free hand--I’ll always remember that. Anyway, I think those dark glasses influenced my own interpretation of the events toward the end of the song--that ambiguous ending . . . “straight ahead”, sure, but, what was he feeling? Courage? Fear? Hate? Forgiveness? Or a combination of those . . . and later it made sense to me that this kind of stoic heroism/determination fit in with some of the questions/issues from the title track and other songs on the record.
HB: Were the names changed to protect the guilty?
KG: My first impulse, when working on the lyrics, was to change the names . . . but it just felt wrong. The real names sounded so good to me, and I suppose for me personally it was a way of grounding the story--reminding myself that this did actually happen. This was the first song I’d written where I used last names--that’s what made it different. If it’s just a first name, it’s pretty generalized . . . but to add the last names made it obviously more personal.
HB: The Klan appears in "Colfax" and again on “Bus To Shreveport” when the narrator finds a “book on the KKK” in his Uncle’s car. A few years ago an elderly neighbor asked me “How many blacks are living on our street now?” and I not very bravely just changed the subject. Growing up how difficult was it having friends and/or family that harbored racist beliefs?
KG: I’ve thought about this question for days (and it’s something I think about a lot anyway). I know a lot of smart people, caring people, people I love, who are still pinned down by those attitudes. It’s a blame game, an insanely myopic worldview that keeps things simple: us vs. them. No thought or compassion required. Utter bullshit. What do you do? If you pray, you pray for those people. You speak your mind, when you can. If you make art, write songs, etc., you work through it that way, too. It feels like progress has been made, though in the age of Obama the old fear-based thinking(if we can call it thinking) has taken some really strange turns. Personally, the early influence of certain music and books just tore all that crap (the fear and constant discounting of African-American culture and people) down. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man changed my life--the spirit of Muddy Waters’ music taught me as much about what it means to be human as any lesson from a teacher or preacher.
HB: Would you name a few major influences: songwriters, poets and authors?
KG: Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Ray Charles, Lucinda Williams, Dylan, Greg Brown, Joe Price. Poets: Denis Johnson, Richard Hugo, James Wright, Ai. Authors: Mark Twain, Ralph Ellison, Flannery O’Connor, Faulkner.
HB: I’ve had that guy from “Trying to Get to Memphis” knock on my door. I guess a story designed to pull at your heartstrings is universal in these hard times.
KG: That one snuck up on me. I started thinking about the guy’s story . . . I didn’t really believe it at the time (he’s been here several times before), but . . . what if it were true? It’s that adult conundrum: do you do the right thing, or do you refuse to allow yourself to be fooled? Who’s the burden really on? And even if he’s lying, doesn’t the fact that he’s knocking on my door asking for money indicate that he’s in a bad way? And if so, if I am, as the saying goes, “my brother’s keeper”, shouldn’t I help if I can?
HB: “One I Love” is a great rock and roll love song. It’s the one track I can hear where the Springsteen comparisons come from.
KG: Thanks--that ended up being more about “love during wartime” than I’d anticipated; it, like the title track, was written during the Bush era, and I consciously tried to put certain things into the lyric that speak to some of those still-relevant issues. My friend and frequent collaborator Gwil Owen helped bring it all into focus--and it was his idea to change what was a darker, minor-key melody in the verses, to a brighter, major-flavored pop sorta thing. Ironic, yeah, but that major key brings in some needed hope.
HB: When I asked Todd Snider to describe his music he called it “Medicinal Americana”. Here’s a chance for you to describe your music!
KG: Ack! I have no idea. I tend to think of it as rock n’roll infused w/poetic language, but that doesn’t have quite the ring that “medicinal Americana” does. I used the phrase “indie swamp” online somewhere, not being completely serious--but that doesn’t really cut it either. They’re all songs--some are country, some blues, some rock n’roll, most (especially in the newer stuff) . . . hybrid species.
HB: Who was Pecolia, the inspiration for “Pecolia’s Star”?
KG: Pecolia Warner (1901-1983) was an African-American quilter from Yazoo City, MS--an important cultural force in her community, and now beyond (her quilts are in the Smithsonian, and other museums). I read about her in a book called Local Color, by Dr. William Ferris. Each chapter was devoted to a different folk artist, and was a first-person monologue, like the artist was talking directly to you. Some things she said about her life, her faith, and her art, really hit me hard. Ten minutes after finishing that chapter, I was writing the song.
HB: You’re obviously a great storyteller. Any weirdest gig stories?
KG: I’m working on a book of some sort that will probably have some of those in it, but a few stick out: the night in Chicago some drunken idiot, after being 86’d, threw a brick through one of the high windows at Schuba’s, after the gig; glass shards (and a brick) falling all over a crowd of people; a weekend with Gatemouth Brown in Iowa one February, when my truck (a diesel Suburban) got stolen while idling in the hotel garage one night; it was 40 below zero. Cops found it next morning, still idling, and except for a broken window, totally unharmed. Somebody just needed a ride home, I guess.
HB: Thanks Kevin and best of luck with the disc.
KG: You’re welcome!

Bradley Wik and the Charlatans / Burn What You Can And Bury The Rest by hal

2012-01-16T22:26:27-05:00

Bradley Wik and the Charlatans' Burn What You Can And Bury The Rest (release date 1/17/12) proves that rock and roll is not dead but it is in fact alive and well. Bucking the recent trend of popular bands that don't rock Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, The Decemberists, etc. Wik saw the (his) future of rock and roll and yes, as Jon Landau predicted, it was Bruce Springsteen. Wik delivers eight straightforward, somewhere between Born to Run and Nebraska era, Bruce influenced and inspired tracks. Bradley paints moody rural scenes of snowplows, cars, girls, beers and dreams. No cowboy hats, pickups or whiskey, Burn What You Can, doesn't pretend to be anything it is not. Yeah, there is a touch of alt-country/Americana but a better description might be blue-collar rock. Wik is a talented songwriter mining the same thematic workingman's highway as Springsteen and Tom Petty (and before that the Stones and Chuck Berry) . If this disc was available on eight-track these eight tracks of guitar, bass, organ and drums would sound just right blasting out of the speakers of your " '66 Chevelle" on your drive home from the factory on a Friday night. Follow the links and you can stream "The Old House" with Brianne Kathleen and you can download "Midwest Winters" (courtesy of XO publicity). Although it is only January, I'll predict Burn What You Can and Bury The Rest will be my pick for debut disc of the year and it should be a contender for a Top Ten Discs of 2012 when December rolls around.

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HB-Congratulations on a great disc Bradley! It almost made my Top Ten of 2011 until I realized it won't be officially released until January 17, 2012. It look at it as you've got a running start towards my NoDepression best of 2012 list!

BW-Thank you...

HB-You can't write "You can hear the plows at 2:30 in the morning" without having experiencing it. What was your experience with snowplows and "Midwest Winters"?

BW-Yeah, I wrote this song while I was living in New York but the song comes from when I was eighteen, still in High School and working at the factory. The place almost exclusively manufactured chrome accessories for Harley Davidson, so needless to say, I thought it was such a cool place to work. Except very soon I realized what hard work really was. It was a great learning experience for me. And even though I was only supposed to work a certain number of hours since I was still in school, they didn't care at all. They just paid me cash for any time I worked over the legal limit, so I worked there a lot.

That whole first verse is just me talking about working those days (some of which I skipped school to do) in the winter when we started at six in the morning and ended at five at night. Those plow companies must have made a fortune cause they were always working, and all night if need be. But it only took an hour or two and everything was immaculately white once again, so needless to say they had their work cut out for them. But I wasted so many days driving in the snow only to catch a glimpse of the sun before getting to work and, like the song says, it was gone by the time we were done. I remember those days as a big turning point in my life. I exclusively worked and hung out and lived in a world so much older than my days. I lost touch with my High School peers as they seemed so immature and naive as far as I saw it. Some of those mornings, heading out, I felt torn. I knew, on one hand, that I was still in school and mostly still a child so I shouldn't be sweating such a tough job. But I also knew I was on the cusp of adulthood and very quickly moving towards it. I wanted to be carefree and irresponsible but there were other people(co-workers) who depended on me to show up and do my thing. It was a ball-busting work but I wouldn't trade it for anything. We had a lot of good times too though, as those guys liked to party hard and brought me along to a lot of things I, in retrospect, probably shouldn't have been doing. Well, so it goes...

HB-I've never heard of your guest vocalist Brianne Kathleen? She adds a nice touch to the two tracks she sings on.

BW-That actually came about quite randomly, as it were. She had recently moved back to the west coast, as I had, and was singing in my guitar players’ band, Jettison Bend. He had invited her out to one of my shows and she obliged. Needless to say, she liked the show, since they are always a fun, rockin' affair.

Well, fast forward to a few months later, I was in the middle of recording my album and I had always wanted to have a girl sing on "I am not Afraid" sort of a duet type deal. She happened to be free that day and she came in and sang. I have to say I was so blown away by her performance, as she had never heard the song before, that I had her sing on "This Old House" as well. If I can say so, and I can since it’s my interview, she is just as beautiful as her voice, and I'm still in awe of both her performance and her. Brianne also just recently released her debut album entitled "Blue Heron Grey" and I had the pleasure of being a part of it, both in singing and mixing the record.

HB-Could you name a few albums/artists that have inspired you? Obviously Springsteen but maybe a few surprises?

BW-Well, AC/DC(Bon Scott era) is a huge influence on me, though you may not always be able to hear it. "Love at First Feel" "Big Balls" the whole High Voltage album I mean, come on. "Rock 'N' Roll Singer" is my anthem, my whole inspiration for rocking practically. Led Zep, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, CCR, Christ I could talk music all day. I am huge Hold Steady fan. I've seen them so many times, especially since I used to live in Brooklyn. Mountain Goats, Neutral Milk Hotel. Possibly surprising is Linda Ronstadt. Her album Heart Like a Wheel is so well produced, the sounds on it are amazing. And the song selection, I love it, Little Feat, hell yeah. She was the first Lady of Rock N' Roll, touring stadiums and whatnot but that album is by far her best..

One of the biggest influences on me, most of my favorite music, is old R&B. I'm talking Motown, Smokey Robinson, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye and Martha Reeves topping that list, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, I could go on. I love all of it. But by far the first and biggest influence on my was Michael Jackson. He was the first musician/performer I really loved. I used to go up and down the aisles at the Piggly Wiggly singing "Bad" and embarrassing my mom when I was six and seven years old and have never lost interest in that amazing record or Michael. If it weren't for him I don't know where I would be, probably still working in that factory...

HB- Weirdest gig?

BW-This would definitely have to be a show I played whilst I was living up in Seattle. I worked with this guy who was well connected in the music scene of Seattle. He was kind of a hipster right when hipsters were gaining strength as a people. He was the kind of guy who on his company insurance questionnaire said he drank at least 12 alcoholic drinks a week. So he wasn't very smart but he liked to party so thats what appealed to me. Anyways, he invited me out to this music venue which was new and cool but I couldn't go for whatever reason. But I figured I'd book a show there because back then I was a folk singer and played anywhere they'd let me bring my harmonicas and play a few tunes. So I got a show there, without ever seeing it, and was quite excited about it to boot.

So the day of the show I set out to the venue and I can't find it. It has an address which doesn't seem to exist. Finally I knock on the door of what looks to be an abandoned building which is within the street address of where I'm supposed to be. After a few minutes of knocking, someone comes to the door and says "Who are you?" I say "I'm Bradley Wik I'm supposed to play tonight but I'm not sure where" I explain what's going on and he says I'm at the right place. I walked in and it looked like, no was, an abandoned warehouse. There was shelving full of shit and debris everywhere. I again told him I was scheduled to perform that night and he directed me to the "backstage area" which was outside behind the warehouse. All there was out there was a couch, which looked like it had been found on the curb, and a fridge, outside mind you. The fridge was full of beer so I didn't complain. Even weirder was the fact that the guy I was playing with was from Wisconsin as well. Somehow we had both found the shittiest venue with a fully stocked beer fridge. It almost seemed fitting. The stage was a piece of concrete that had fallen off the wall and there were speakers somehow, and very precariously, hanging from the ceiling. We got hammered and played the show. There was a surprising amount of people who were there just hanging out and drinking. It ended up not being too bad. I sold some cd's and got drunk... Can't ask for much more.

HB-Wik's recs: You really need to check out ________ if you haven't heard them.

BW-I love talking about music but I'll keep it fairly short. One, the Joy Formidable. Their debut record is awesome, full of hard rocking and noise and wonderful pop melodies. The aforementioned AC/DC record High Voltage which is unbelievable in its awesomeness. Ryan Adams new record Ashes and Fire is so amazing, the production of that record rivals anything he's ever done. Also, his voice just continues to get better and better. I just saw him live and its even better than the album. Brianne Kathleen's debut record Blue Heron Grey is phenomenal, and not just cause I got a chance to work on it. It was always amazing and I am lucky she let me help her with it. If somehow you haven't heard Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, get a clue and make it happen. His version of "Way Over There" is one of my favorite songs ever.

HB-Thank you and best of luck in 2012 with Burn What You Can, Bury The Rest!

BW-Thanks again...

Bradley Wik and the Charlatans

(Left to right) Nick Kostenborder:Drums, Brian Bergstrom:Lead Guitar, Bradley Wik:Lead Vocals, Guitar and Sasha Shybut: Bass

Originally published at NoDepression.

The Coloradas / Review and Interview by hal

2012-01-12T21:38:58-05:00

Roy Davis and the Dregs' alt-country flavored Deadweight (2008) was one of those nuggets that make listening to all the "free" music worthwhile. Davis and company (some old and some new) shift gears on The Coloradas' self-titled debut swerving into the bluegrass lane while retaining much of what initially made me a fan. Davis is a talented songwriter with a voice that at times recalls Jeff Tweedy and (early pre-falsetto) Ryan Adams but The Coloradas is more of a band effort than Davis' previous albums and might have more in common with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' take on rural music than the previous mentioned alt-country icons. Frequent collaborator Bernie Nye handles lead vocals on several tracks including the questionably optimistic hardluck "A Brand New Day". The dozen drum-free tracks have a rustic feel closer to front porch folk music rather than either traditional bluegrass or newgrass. Hailing from Portland Maine The Coloradas probably aren't sitting on their front porch picking and singing their version of rural mountain music in January but that's what I see when I put on their disc and close my eyes. You can listen to complete tracks from the album here and you can check out the video for "Crooked Youth" following the interview with Roy.

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HB-Congratulations on your new disc by The Coloradas! How did it end up as a band project rather than another Roy Davis disc?

RD-Thanks Hal, we're totally excited about it. Bernie and I have been collaborating for so long (on all of the three albums under my own name), and he's always been a part of the songwriting process, but this is the first time I convinced him to let us record three of his songs, with him singing. "A Brand New Day", "Red Dress", and "Enid" all feature Bernie. And they are amazing songs. Putting it out under a band name is something I've always wanted to do, and finally decided to go for it with this one. Also, we met Joe Walsh, Amanda Kowalski and Steve Roy in Portland last winter, who are all locally residing but nationally and internationally renowned bluegrass musicians, and their creativity was such a big part of this record that it only made to sense to release it as a collaborative effort.

HB-I hear bluegrass influences but also Todd Snider ("A Brand New Day") and Steve Earle's Train A Comin'album.

RD-Those are both generous comparisons. Steve Earle is one of my favorite songwriters, I really like most of his older records, and the latest (I'll Never Get out of This World Alive) is pretty excellent. The two prior I didn't really get into. Like a lot of my favorite songwriters, he's really good at telling a story from the perspective of one of the characters, rather than his own.

HB-I know you've shared the stage with Girls Guns and Glory. I wish I could have seen that show!

RD-GG&G are both a staggeringly entertaining band, and top notch fellows. Ward has an incredible voice that is much louder and more expressive than you'd expect after a conversation with him. He's a pretty modest and polite guy. We'd love to come play with those guys down your way! I'll mention it to him next time I see him.

HB-Who have you been listening to lately?

RD-I just re-bought this album that I used to listen to a lot when I was in high school and had lost along the way. Marc Ribot, who played guitar for Tom Waits among others, put out a couple records with a group of cuban musicians and called it Los Cubanos Postizos. Many of his records are more straight forward jazz, and I don't get too excited over lots of jazz records, but that one is very simple and thoughtful and I've been listening to it a lot. Ribot is an amazing guitarist. I'd like to get better at lead guitar (not for this project, really, but for the future). I spend most of my time so focused on songwriting that tricky guitar work falls by the wayside. Best left to the professionals, I guess. Joe Walsh, who plays mandolin on this Coloradas record, is a creative and melodic force. Playing lightning fast and technically accurate are always trumped by a sense of melody and tastefulness in my book, and Joe has all of those things.

As far as songwriters: David Bazan, Gillian Welch, that Bob Dylan guy, Immortal Technique.

HB-Any tour dates for the Coloradas?

RD-Right now, we're just playing regionally through January and February, doing CD release events in Portland here (January 20th at One Longfellow Square) and Portsmouth (January 16th at The Red Door). Winter is a slower season for most bluegrass-type bands, so we'll be hitting the road in the spring and summer and heading all over. Also, Europe in Spring! We've connected with a cool independent label out of Dresden, Germany called Hometown Caravan, who is printing this Coloradas record on vinyl for us and we're looking to play and promote the record overseas in the spring and summer.

HB-Anything special planned for the CD release party?

RD- The CD release party is January 20th at One Longfellow Square, my favorite place to play in Maine. They have great sound and a cool atmosphere. Listening-type rooms are always my cup of tea (am I getting old?). We have help from lots and lots of incredible Maine bluegrass musicians, including the aforementioned Joe Walsh and Steve Roy, plus Seth Doyle, Tyler Lienhardt, Calvin Goodale, and Willy Crichton. We have special guests This Way playing a opening set.

HB-What were you doing in Europe? Work or play?

RD- A little bit of both. My girlfriend is Austrian and lives in Bregenz, right next to the German and Swiss borders. So I took a couple months to visit her, and I ended up connecting with Elmer Rabes at Hometown Caravan Records and we decided to work together to release the album on vinyl in Europe. All the while, I had lots of work to do to prepare for this CD release here in the US. Being an independent musician has lots of perks when it comes to control over creativity and deadlines, setting your own schedule etc. but it also involves lots of boring, clerical duties that I can't afford to outsource. But as long as it means nobody owns me, I don't mind doing it. Especially if I can do it in the Austrian Alps.

HB-Thanks Roy and I hope to see you in NC!

Roy Davis (guitar, vocals, songs)
Bernie Nye (banjo, guitar, harmonica, vocals, songs)
Joe Walsh (mandolin, vocals)
Amanda Kowalski (upright bass)
Calvin Goodale (vocals)
Steve Roy (upright bass, fiddle, vocals)
Jon Nolan (tambo,vocals, recording guru)

Originally published at NoDepression.

Why didn't I like these discs? by hal

2012-01-08T22:49:46-05:00

The discs by these well-known artists just didn't click for me: Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt, Ryan Adams, Steve Earle and Wilco. It isn't that I don't dig these artists. I've seen them all live multiple times. I have every official release from each artist as well as a slew of bootlegs. I know many readers put them on their 2011 lists.
I guess that's not really a discussion but more of an observation.
Instead I found the following discs to be my 2011 favorites:
1-Jason Isbell "Here We Rest"
2-Girls Guns and Glory "Sweet Nothings"
3-Todd Snider "The Storyteller"
4-Dave Alvin "Eleven Eleven"
5-Joe Ely "Satisfied At Last"
6-Drew Kennedy "Fresh Water and the Salton Sea"
7-Emory Quinn "See You At The Next Light"
8-John Howie Jr. and the Rosewod Bluff "Leavin' Yesterday"
9-Los Fabulocos "Dos"
10-The Bottle Rockets "Not So Loud"

Originally published on NoDepression.

Finnishing up 2011 with Jonathan Rundman and Sarah Pajunen's "Kaivama" by hal

2012-01-08T22:42:43-05:00

I've been a fan of Jonathan Rundman's music since a double dose of review discs landed on my desk over at HickoryWind. Jonathan's previous albums were filled with hooked filled gems, more power-pop and rock than Americana or roots. On their self-titled disc Kaivama (Salt Lady Music, 2011), Jonathan and Sarah team up to shift gears and explore their shared Finnish heritage. The album's title is derived from the Finnish word kaiva meaning to delve or to dig and when they dig they hit roots, Finnish roots. The fourteen instrumental tracks are a mix of new songs authored by the artists and older traditional Finnish folk tunes. Kaivama highlights Sarah's skillful fiddle playing and the multi-talented Jonathan adds guitar, banjo, mandolin, harmonium, organ and piano. Polished yet rustic, subdued but powerful this truly is roots music with the ability to transport the listener to another continent and another time. If you'd like to know more an interesting interview with Jonathan was published in, appropriately enough, The Mining Journal.

And with that I'm finished with my last disc of 2011!

Richard Thompson : Morris On :: Jonathan Rundman and Sarah Pajunen : Kaivama.

Sarah Pajunen and Jonathan Rundman
Finnish-American excavators

Originally published on NoDepression.

Sean's 10 Favorite Albums of 2011 by sean

2011-12-30T13:55:54-05:00

I don't generally do the whole New Year's resolution thing, but if I were to start a list I'd begin with "more time to write." I can assure you, though, that the lack of verbiage doesn't indicate a lack of thought. As always, there were at least 10 other albums that could have made it onto this list.

10. "21," Adele: No one was more surprised than me that I fell in love with this album. But it's not a shocker by any means. What a voice.
9. "Bad as Me," Tom Waits: A different kind of voice, but virtuosic nonetheless.
8. "Here We Rest," Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit: Isbell is making it easier to forget that he once was in another band.
7. "Go-Go Boots," Drive-By Truckers: Recorded at the same time as last year's "The Big To-Do," but in no way does it sound like leftovers.
6. "Helplessness Blues," Fleet Foxes: As good as this album is, the bigger revelation was seeing them live and discovering they really can harmonize like that.
5. "The Whole Love," Wilco: Being their own label boss suits these guys.
4. "The Harrow & the Harvest," Gillian Welch: Welcome back. It's been too long.
3. "The King is Dead," The Decemberists: On which the band finds its inner R.E.M., much to my pleasure.
2. "Middle Brother," Middle Brother: 1a might be a more accurate ranking for this one, which combined the talents of Deer Tick's John McCauley, Delta Spirit's Matthew Vasquez and Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith to great effect.
1. "Nothing is Wrong," Dawes: Their second album was a step forward. The next one might bring them the audience they deserve.

Larry's Top Five Albums of 2011 by larry

2011-12-27T13:18:35-05:00

Top Five Albums of 2011
1) The Decemberists : The King Is Dead
2) Fleet Foxes : Helplessness Blues
3) Gillian Welch : The Harrow & The Harvest
4) My Morning Jacket : Circuital
5) Steve Earle : I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive

And the honorable mention goes out to my favorite independent album of the year (it would be number #6 above):
Boca Chica : Get Out of Sin City.

Happy 2012!

Mud, Blood and Beer's Gone for Good EP (and two free full length downloads) by hal

2011-12-18T20:40:32-05:00

NYC's Mud, Blood and Beer have followed up their self-titled debut disc with another dose of guitar-heavy tunes flavored with a touch of twang and jangle on Gone for Good. Mining the usual influences (see interview that follows) several tracks on MB&B's latest have a Nuggetsish (made up word) 1960's feel. With at least one foot in the alt-country camp "Mine the Light" adds pedal steel (David Kaye) and is the most country flavored track and one of my favorite tunes from the disc. My only complaint, and perhaps a selfish one, is the brevity of the disc but Jess Hoeffner (songwriter/guitar/vocals) was kind enough to talk with me about perseverance and the problems and pleasures of completing the project.

HB-Warren Zevon sang about "piss, sweat, jizz and blood". Cool lyrics but not really a great band name. Blood Sweat and Tears? Taken. How did you come up with Mud, Blood and Beer?

JH-The four of us come from very different music backgrounds, but one of the few areas of overlap between us is Johnny Cash. After one of our earlier rehearsals we were drinking at a pub around the corner from our rehearsal studio in Manhattan trying to come up with a band name and Stephen (our bassist) suggested the name which as you probably know comes from a line in the Shel Silverstein/Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue": "And we crashed through a wall and into the street kicking and a gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer". The sentiment seemed to reflect who we are-kind of grimy, raw and gin-soaked.

HB-Congratulations on the new EP. It's a nice follow up to your self-titled debut.

JH-Thanks! We're really happy with it, especially considering all that went into the recording process. We were really happy with our first album but the studio time to make a record like that became prohibitively expensive. I'm fortunate enough to have quite a few friends who are recording engineers so I spent about six months picking their brains and investing in some recording equipment. I spent a few months experimenting with the new gear and finally felt comfortable enough to try and make a record. We recorded drums, bass and some scratch guitars/vocals in our drummer's living room and then spent a few weeks overdubbing guitars and vocals at my place. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the creative control of being able to record whenever the mood hit me (as long as my kid wasn't asleep in the next room). About halfway though the record, we had a falling out with out other guitarist/songwriter so when he left we were down to only half the songs. With the project nearly complete we decided to release it as an EP instead of as a full-length record. We had initially discussed perhaps either taking the time to write more songs or maybe waiting to find a replacement guitarist/songwriter. But not wanting to delay the project any longer we just wrapped it up and called it an EP. On a personal level, I just needed closure so that I felt like we could have a clean break and move on to bigger and better things. We were fortunate enough to find a new guitarist/songwriter Jon Glover and he brought a lot of fresh ideas and enthusiasm to the project. He came out to my place one Saturday and tore through a bunch of guitar solos and some additional rhythm guitar parts that really complemented the songs. He's an immensely talented guy and we're fortunate to have him in the band.

So with all of our tracking completed I brought my files to my friend Greg Thompson to mix the songs. Greg is a fantastically gifted musical engineer who won a Grammy award for his work with They Might Be Giants. He took my raw DIY tracks and turned it into a really great sounding record. I'm very fortunate to have so many really talented friends. I think the songs on Gone for Good are the best we've done (so far). They're introspective and thoughtful but at the same time it's a big loud rock record. It's definitely and album that's meant to be played really fucking loud while driving way too fast. If you're in NYC come out to our album release party on February 4th at The Bitter End!

HB- I hear the Byrds, The Long Ryders, Jason and the Scorchers and Uncle Tupelo. But feel free to tell me if I'm wrong or if you' like to add some other bands that have influenced you.

JH- Yeah, I'm a huge Uncle Tupelo fan and I absolutely love Son Volt too. Jay Farrar just burns with authenticity which is something I really value. Drive-By Truckers is a big influence as well-they just have so many incredible songs. When I was a kid I listened to R.E.M. for years and that is definitely reflected in the songs I write. CCR too! I love the simplicity of their song structures and arrangements and the raw power with which they're delivered. An amazing band. Neil Young, The Sadies, Waco Brothers, The Silos and Blue Rodeo too.

HB-In concert do you throw any covers in your sets?

JH-We almost always throw Hank Williams' "Six More Miles" somewhere into the set. It's just an incredible song that's fun top play. We do it fast and twangy. We're currently working on a version of the Blaster's "Long White Cadillac".

HB-I can't quite put my finger on it but on a few tracks I got an alt-country sound but with an almost sixties rock sound?

JH- Jon added more of a Don Rich vs. Danny Gatton vibe to flesh out the psychobilly elements hidden in the songs. He's a ferocious guitar player, Jon and Stephen (bassist) were in a rockabilly band together about ten years ago so they both come to the table with those influences filtered through a bit of a garage/punk window as well.

HB- Weirdest gig?

JH-We played a show at NYC's Rodeo Bar in February the night of the worst snow storm in 75 years. Big, crazy gig, and it was pretty obvious that the folks who made it out to the show despite the storm were there to party. It was just a wild fun night and we played for almost three hours. Of course, when it was over I had to dig out my car from beneath four feet of snow but hey man, that's rock & roll. It's not always pretty.

HB-Thanks Jess and best of luck to you and the band with Gone for Good in 2012!

JH-Thanks! Gone for Good is available now at www.mudbloodbeermusic.com for only five bucks and you can download our debut disc Mud Blood and Beer here for free!

HB note: While internet stalking the band I stumbled across this info from Jess:

"In February 2011 I participated in the RPM Challenge the goal of which is essentially to write, record and produce an entire album (10 songs or 35 minutes of original music) in just 28 days. The resulting record is called Crooked Highway, a fun side project featuring Jess Hoeffner and Stephen Sperber of Mud Blood and Beer. Here is a download of Crooked Highway. We hope you dig it as much as we do."

Stephen Swalsky (bass), Jon Glover (guitar/vocals), Stephen Sperber (drums), Jess Hoeffner (guitar/vocals)

This review was originally published on NoDepression.

Ronnie Fauss' "any lovin' way but wrong" EP by hal

2011-12-11T11:33:15-05:00

Ronnie Fauss' most recent EP any lovin' way but wrong (2011) features covers of four songs from songwriters than hold a special place in his heart. It is hard to argue with Blaze Foley, John Prine, Todd Snider and Kris Kristofferson as touchstones and influences and Ronnie's raspy voice compliments the songs written and recorded by singer-songwriters known more for their songwriting rather than their singing. But then NoDepression readers aren't looking for the next fabricated pop American Idol. If you're a NoDepression reader that worships at the Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt/Wilco branch of the alt-country tree you'll find plenty to enjoy on any of Ronnie's four honest heartfelt EPs.

Sure that all sounds great but how can I persuade you to actually check out Ronnie's music? How about as an early Christmas gift from Ronnie? Go here and you can download Mulligan (2010) for free! If you dig it, and I think you will, you can purchase any lovin' way but wrong here. I chatted with Ronnie briefly about "any lovin' way but wrong" and his upcoming full length cd.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

HB-Ronnie could you share your thoughts on each song/songwriter from your new EP?

RF- "Clay Pigeons"
I learned about “Clay Pigeons” (and of Blaze Foley) from John Prine’s “Fair & Square” record. It sounded just like a Prine original to me, I was surprised to learn he didn’t write it. The song has so many lines that are pure gold. It’s complicated and it is simple all at once. The more I learn about Blaze the more I am fascinated by him – such a tragic, talented, beautiful figure. It turns out that I had been familiar with his work without knowing it. Lyle Lovett had covered his work and one of my favorite Lucinda Williams songs (“Drunken Angel”) is about him. He really deserves more recognition. As a fellow Texan I’m proud to try and do my part.
RF-"Just The Other Side Of Nowhere"
I just love this song. I know it’s been covered a ton by artists way more qualified than me, so I’m not carving any new ground here. But I had this idea for a stripped-down version with just guitar, banjo, and harmony on the chorus. I really wanted a back porch feel on this one. I can only hope I achieved that. I love Kris Kristofferson’s drive – the legendary stories about handing out tapes in Nashville, landing his helicopter on Johnny Cash’s property to get his attention. I’ve never gone quite that far, but I can relate.
RF-"Happy To Be Here"
Todd Snider is my original inspiration for getting into this whole crazy singer-songwriter business. I was in on him from the beginning. I picked up his first album at one of those big chain music stores back when big chain music stores existed. I saw him on his first full band tour through Texas, in downtown Ft. Worth in the mid 90’s. I was blown away by everything about him – his lyrics, his take on old time gospel and the energy of his full band. I’ve seen him many times since and it seems he never stops evolving. I’d love to open for him some time. He represents a lot of what I love about the current state of “our kind” or music. I’ve been playing “Happy to be Here” live for a few years now, my version is much slower than his original version. If you stop and notice, that song has a lot of weight to it; as most of his material does.
RF-"Sabu Visits The Twin Cities Alone"
If Todd got me started, John Prine kept me going. I picked up his Anthology on New Year’s Eve, 2000, and was blown away. I’ve since collected all of his studio albums. I don’t need to try and articulate his genius. Anyone reading this article here probably already knows. He is so great at juxtaposing the heavy with the light from song to song. He also does it within the same song and this is a perfect example. I always suspected that this is one of his more under-rated works. And that was confirmed when I was told that I am actually the first person to ever cover it on a recording! That’s just crazy to me. If you type in “Sabu visits the Twin Cities Alone” on itunes, 2 artists come up: John Prine and Ronnie Fauss. Perhaps the only thing we have in common. He’s in another stratosphere.

Mulligan i can't make you happy new songs for the old frontier
HB-I've enjoyed the photos you've used for your EP covers. Is there a story behind the "any lovin' way but wrong" artwork?

RF-That’s a picture of my grandparents, my great-aunt and uncle, and a mystery couple – when they were young, maybe taken in the 40’s. I have loved that picture since I was a boy, something about the way they’re all dressed up to the 9’s (Mad Men!), enjoying life. I love my grandparents and miss them terribly, they were the best!

HB-From my count that is four EPs in a row and I've enjoyed them all but when are you going to open the floodgates and put out a full album?
RF-Very soon! I was fortunate enough to receive some backing that will allow me to make my first full length record, I’m hoping it will be completed and released by the middle of next year. I’m excited to take that step, to “put my big boy pants on” if you will. It will take everything up a notch – higher expectations, higher commitment level. I can’t wait to get it out into the Americana marketplace, and then hit the road and meet the great music listeners that make up this community. I think I’m ready…2012 should be a great year!

HB-Thanks Ronnie.

Originally publish at NoDepression.

The Shurman and Family Holiday Album Vol I by hal

2011-12-07T23:23:26-05:00

The Shurman and Family Holiday Vol. I? I really wasn't looking for another Christmas album tonight but I hit play and heard a mix of Texas twang, a dash of blues and a dose of alt country that caught my ear and makes this a welcome addition to a genre that has encouraged everyone from Elvis to Esquivel, from Buble to Beiber to put out a disc. This disc was my introduction to Shurman and they sound like they could hold their own with the Bottle Rockets, Charlie Robison, Terry Anderson and the Olympic Ass-Kickin' Team and the late great Backsliders and that's not exactly faint praise. This is the first I've heard of the band and I'm looking forward to digging into their back catalog and checking out their new album Inspiration (2/12/12). Is this a perfect Christmas album perfect? Almost. Dwight Shrute from The Office once said "My heart just melts when I hear the sound of children singing...... Ha! Not really." I could live without track 11. But that's just me and I never liked going to my own kids' Christmas Chorus concerts. I guess that's why they invented the skip track function.

December Tour Dates, in support of
The Shurman & Family Holiday Album, Vol. 1

Friday, December 9, 2011 SHURMAN'S Christmas
Bizarre @ House of Fifi Dubois
123 South Chadbourne Street, San Angelo, TX Set: 9:00 PM, All Ages

Friday, December 16, 2011 Cody Canada & the
Departed's "Toy Bash 2011" @ Heritage Hall
220 West Broadway, Ardmore, OK Set: 7:00 PM, Doors:
6:00 PM, All Ages Tickets: $20/$25 DOS Gen Admission & $30/$35 DOS Platinum
Also Playing: Whiskey Meyers, Cody Canada and the
Departed

Friday, December 16, 2011 Afterparty for Cody Canada
& the Departed's "Toy Bash 2011" @ 2 Frogs
2646 West Broadway Street, Ardmore, OK Set: 11:30 PM,Doors: 11:00 PM, All Ages

Saturday, December 17, 2011 Wormy Dog's Annual
Christmas Bash @ Wormy Dog Saloon
311 E Sheridan Ave., Oklahoma City, OK Set: 10:00 PM, Doors: 8:00 PM
All Ages, Tickets: $5

Wednesday, December 21, 2011 Shurman & Family
Xmas Jubilee @ Antones
213 West 5th Street, Austin, TX
Set: 8:00 PM
All Ages, Tickets: $10

Shurman is:

Aaron Beavers (vocals/songwriter)

Mike Therieau (bass)

Harley Husbands (guitar)

Craig Bagby (drums)

Girls Guns and Glory's "Sweet Nothings": a review and an interview by hal

2011-09-07T20:09:42-05:00

Girls Guns and Glory play hook-filled country honk-tonk with a dose of 1950's rock and roll it into a style that might actually be alt-country. They wear their influences and hearts on their sleeves on Sweet Nothings (Lonesome Day Records) and it wouldn't be a stretch to add the tracks from their latest disc to your Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Marty Robbins, Dwight Yoakam, Chris Isaak party mixtape. Frontman Ward Hayden displays some impressive pipes as he croons and cracks his way through eleven tracks with a dose of Elvis swagger. Ward's songwriting deals with matters of the heart, heartbreak and hard livin' but avoids slipping into the drunk whiskey cliches that litter country music. If life was fair you'd hear these tracks on country radio (Hey, Dwight did it) but until that happens pick up a copy, make a mix tape, throw a party and wait for your friends to ask "Who is that?!"

And now for the interview with GGG's singer and songwriterWard Hayden:

HB-Inverted Valentine,Girls Guns and Glory's third, was one of my favorite discs of 2008. You've just released Sweet Nothings which is one of my favorites of 2011! Could you talk about recording the disc and working with Paul Q. Kolderie (Pixies, Radiohead, Warren Zevon and Uncle Tupelo) and Adam Taylor (Sarah Borges and Portugal the Man).

WH-Recording this disc was a long time coming. It was been almost 3 years since Inverted Valentine had first been released. I'd had in my mind for those 3 years that it would be awesome to do an album with Paul Kolderie and Adam Taylor. Adam had mixed Inverted Valentine and I'd long been a fan of Paul's work. His discography really speaks for itself. I'd been talking with Paul and Adam about making a GGG album with them and when the time came to get back in the studio they were our first call. We actually brought them 28 new songs, but after the first, and as it turned out, only day of recording demo's, Paul and Adam whittled that batch down to just 2 song: "Root Cellar" and "Maryanne." They sat us down and actually gave us a homework assignment. They told us to think about exactly what kind of album we want to make, and that they felt that what they were hearing in "Root Cellar" and "Maryanne" was a sound, energy and feel that they felt we could craft a strong album around. In the past we'd cherry picked what we felt were the best songs from the bigger batch, but with this project we refined our search to building the album around that rockabilly, Buddy Holly-esque sound that Paul and Adam felt worked best with the current line up of the band. With that in mind I actually wound up writing about half the songs that ended up on the album in the two week period between our demo session and when we returned to Camp Street to start recording. It actually felt like w'd been granted permission to break from our mold and it was fun get that high energy flowing in the studio. They had so many cool ideas, especially with the guitars. Chris was like a kid in a candy store. They kept bringing out different guitars to try, including a few oddities like a Fender Bass Six. And we liked using their echo-plex so much that I sold one of my guitars after the sessions to be able to buy one for myself. Plus, our bass player, Paul Dilley, got to record with the vintage Epiphone Bass Jeff Tweedy had used on the Uncle Tupelo "No Depression" album, that was pretty awesome and it sounded bad ass. That thing can growl.

HB-I love the recitation you insert into "Last Night I Dreamed"!

WH-Thank you. I'd forever wanted to put a recitation like that into a song. And and forever liked the Eddy Arnold song "Throwing Rice at the Girl I Love." I wrote that song while I was sleeping one night on the couch in my living room. The dream was exactly as it's told in the song and was one of those very real feeling experiences. So when I woke up I picked up my guitar and the song was already there, I just had to recall the situations from the dream of seeing someone I cared for walk downt he aisle with another man and then waking up and realizing that had actually happened and that she was married to someone else now.

The dream immediately reminded me of that Eddy Arnold song. The recitation just felt like the right thing to put into the song, just a way to lay the experience all out and compare and contract the situation using the idea of both literal and figurative dreams and how they can intersect in real life.

HB-The liner notes state that "This was the last project recorded at Boston's Camp Street Studios in Cambridge, MA". I apologize for my ignorance: What happened to it and why is its closing significant?

WH-The building the studio was in had been renovated within the last year or so, so once that happened the rent at the studio greatly increased. To the best of my understanding it no longer made sense to keep the studio in that space with the overhead being so high. Really a shame, that was one of the best studios we had here in Boston.

HB- One of my favorite tracks is "1000 Times". How did you and Sarah Borges get together to record the duet?

WH-I'd written that song a couple years back and had never done anything with it. It used to be in a different key as well and have a very different feel to it.

But, what's funny, is that I had always imagined someone like Sarah Borges singing on it. So, once we were a few days into the project I mentioned to Paul and Adam that I'd love to try this song I had that was written as a duet. I mentioned that to them and the idea of Sarah singing on it and instantly they were like, "let's see if she can do it tomorrow!"

HB-One critic (okay that was me raving about "Inverted Valentine") described your sound as "the vocals of Dwight Yoakam, Raul Malo and Chris Isaak with a touch of twang, Roy Orbison and Marty Robbins" but what do I know Ward. Could you name a few influences as a singer and a songwriter?

WH-My biggest influences as a singer would be people that I never get any comparisons too, so I'm not sure what that says, haha. But Otis Redding was huge for me, I used to sing all his songs up in my bedroom. I loved to way his voice could carry so much power and emotion. I couldn't hit some of his ending phrases as strong as he could, so I would break my voice into falsetto to be able to get the notes better. When I started writing my own songs, those cracks and breaks worked their way naturally into the vocal delivery. It's really what my voice wants to do, I just let it take the path of least resistance.

Johnny Cash also had a big impact on me as a singer and songwriter. I really appreciated how different he sounded from everything else I'd ever heard. I was 20 yrs old when I deeply immersed myself in his song catalog. I remember sitting in my car in a bus station parking lot and missing my bus because I couldn't drag myself away from the song "Don't Take Your Guns To Town." I was so caught up in the story of the song and the way he was telling it. He made the song such a visual experience, he tells his songs with such conviction that you can't help, but believe every word he has to say.

My biggest songwriting influence is Hank Williams, and also a lot of punk rock that I listened to as a teenager, especially The Ramones. The Ramones energy, melodies and primal chord progressions really resonated with me and when I started to write my own songs I found that not only did I gravitate towards those progressions as a listener, but also as a songwriter. There's a reason the 1, 4, 5 progression has been used so often in popular songs, it's perfect. So, once I learned some chords on the guitar I started trying to channel Hank when I'd sit in my room and start strumming. The way he could take a situation and lyrically strip it to the bone and be so openly honest with feelings that common sense or pride would typically make you keep inside. That was a barrier I realized I'd have to break through if I wanted to feel good about creating a song. I wound up accepting the truth of my flaws and the value of truth when I wrote my first song, "Beautiful Girls," but it took about 3-4 months before I worked up the courage to play the song for anyone. But, once I did it was all over, I've rarely questioned since whether to omit something because it was too soul baring. There's beauty in the ugliness and the heartache and if you're not singing about it, then you're only covering half the story.

HB-Do you have any favorite songs GGG covers in concert?

WH-One of my favorite songs lately has been Blaze Foley's "Clay Pigeons." We've only started covering it live. It started as a song we'd all sing along with in the van, but recently at a recording session in New Hampshire at about 2 in the morning we decided to put Chris on Banjo, Mike on Guitar and Paul on his Upright Bass and cut it live in the room with Mike and I singing the lyrics. Now it's something we'll bring out on special occasions, something where the crowd is really listening and could get something from the depth of hope and despair in those lyrics and the beauty of that melody.

HB-"This Old House" and "Sweet Nothings" are a little more electric and rock a little harder than the other tracks.

WH-Both of those tracks are songs that had far less electric origins, but as we were tracking them with Paul and Adam they encouraged us to change the arrangements and amp up the energy in both tracks. "Sweet Nothings" was actually born more of a swamp rocker, something with a CCR type of sound. But, after we played around with the feel of the song it eventually found a home with that early rock 'n' roll, almost rockabilly sound.

We recorded that song the same day Sarah Borges was in the studio with us, and I knew we'd found a good feel for it when she stuck around to hear it all come together. She had a lot of positive feedback on that tune for us, and when I sent her the album so she could hear "1,000 Times" she sent me a message back saying she's had "Sweet Nothings" stuck in her head since the day we recorded it in the studio.

HB-I know GG&G tours quite a bit. Could you share a "weirdest gig" story?

WH-We've had a lot of weird gigs over the past few years, but if I had to choose a weirdest gig it would probably be a show we played at the EquiBlues Festival in France. Earlier in the day I'd been punched in the eye by a now former band member, who was experiencing things that were not of this world and was believing that people were trying to kill him. After leaving the hospital with a concussion and a big black eye, I found out that he'd been taken a few hundred miles away to another hospital for psychiatric care. So, as we were sitting at a hotel table in the middle of France, more or less in disbelief of everything that had happened, the fellow next to us leans over and in English says "I could play bass for you." Turned our he was a Fiddle player from Houston, TX named Scott Johnson, and was on tour in Europe with another band who happened to have the next 2 days off. We borrowed a bass, taught him about 18 GGG songs and an hour later we took the stage in front of 2,000 enthusiastic and curious French festival fans. The show was a blast and the experience really brought the band closer together. Helped us learn we could get through almost anything and still make a good show happen.

My favorite part of the whole ordeal was a few months later I saw a blog online from France that included a picture of me and the caption read, "Ward Hayden & his beautiful black eye." All I could do was laugh and think, "man, that was wild."

HB- Thanks Ward. Best of luck to you and the band! See you in NC!

WH-Hal, much thanks for getting in touch and for the interest in GGG. I truly appreciate it. Hope to see you down in NC again soon!!

Girls Guns and Glory are:
Ward Hayden, vocal and acoustic guitar
Chris Hersch, electric guitar
Michael Calabrese, drums and vocals
Paul Zaz Dilley, upright and electric bass

Originally published on NoDepression.

Article on Ted Murphy's Life & Death by larry

2011-08-30T08:39:30-05:00

This article over at the Raleigh News & Observer really captures Ted's zest for life. I'm proud to have some of his writing grace our site.

Tom Russell, Lucinda Williams and Calexico play Dylan! by hal

2011-08-28T22:57:20-05:00

Tom Russell named his latest album Mesabi (9/6/11-Shout! Factory) in tribute to Bob Dylan, who was born at the foot of the Mesabi iron range and inspired Tom to become an artist. Tom saw Dylan perform "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" in Los Angeles in the early sixties and now Tom has recorded "A Hard Rain" as a duet with Lucinda Williams, backed by Calexico. Here's the real treat: the track is available to stream or as a free download!

Enjoy.

Farewell to Ted Murphy by larry

2011-08-16T21:03:07-05:00

Friends, I'm very sad that one of our Hickory Wind authors and friend, Ted Murphy, passed away last night. He had been battling cancer since 2008. A helluva funny guy with great taste in music, Ted wrote briefly for Hickory Wind back in 2009.

He leaves behind a wife, three young children, and a lot of memories for friends and neighbors. So long Ted, we'll miss you!

I'll leave y'all with a "greatest hits" of Ted's Hickory Wind contributions: reviews of JTE's "Midnight At The Movies", Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey's "hERE aND nOw", and Son Volt's "American Central Dust".