Hickory Wind

New releases: July 7, 2009 by stacy

2009-07-03T06:35:33-05:00

Last week was Wilco, and this week it's a new release from Son Volt. It's almost too much to bear. Take a deep breath, stay with me ... we'll get through this.

Bombadil -- Tarpits and Canyonlands (Ramseur)
Drive-by Truckers -- Live from Austin, Texas [CD/DVD] (New West)
Jayhawks -- Music from the North Country: The Jayhawks Anthology (Sony Legacy)
I've got everything the Jayhawks ever released (except the Bunkhouse album, siiiiigh) and more, but a look at the tracklist on this two-CD set (plus DVD, if you spring for the deluxe version) has a lot to offer us loyal fans. Disc one is essentially a "best of," but the second disc is a delicious assortment of rarities, including "Falling Star" from Bunkhouse, that seems to me well worth the purchase.
Jim Lauderdale -- Planet of Love (American Beat)
Son Volt -- American Central Dust (Rounder)
The Young Fresh Fellows -- I Think This Is (Yep Roc)

The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team / National Champions by hal

2009-06-30T18:14:15-05:00

Unabashed disciples of Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, the Olympic Ass-Kickin Team plays hook-filled guitar rock loaded with large doses of Terry Anderson's twisted wacky sense of humor. "You Had Me At Get Lost" tells the tale of an infatuated ex who finds physical abuse and restraining orders signs of true love while "Wrong For That", with its Jaggeresque soul falsetto, finds a sad sack substitute lover looking to get his girl back into pole-dancing after she has another man's baby. "Found Missin' " is an updated Chuck Berry roadtrip tune with a "bop bop" vocal nod to Buddy Holly. Anderson's vocals on the thirteen tracks of bar-band rock recall both Keith and Tom Petty while the band harmonies on "About You" bring to mind "Big Star" . But it isn't all laughs as Terry Anderson has written the best baseball song of the year, a searing rocking indictment of Barry Bonds, with "Willie Mays" ( "756, is that homeruns or needle-pricks", "Hammerin' Hank still wears the crown" and "now you you should be erased, gone without a trace" ) and skewers the State of the Nation in "Pow'ful 'Merka".
The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team has not dethroned Chuck Berry or the Stones and they'd probably kick your ass if you told them they had but The Olympic Ass-Kickin Team prove on "National Champions" ( Doublenaught Records) that they rank up there with NRBQ and Dave Edmunds as true disciples.

Do yourself a favor and hop over to myspace and listen to "Willie Mays" by the Olympic Ass-Kickin Team.

Highly recommended.

New releases: June 30, 2009 by stacy

2009-06-29T14:49:06-05:00

Wilco! Wilco! Wilco! Ahem. The full (to the best of our knowledge) list:

Levon Helm -- Electric Dirt (Welk)
Brad Paisley -- American Saturday Night (Arista)
The Sweetback Sisters -- Chicken Ain't Chicken (Signature)
Kevin Welch -- Beneath My Wheels (Compass)
Wilco -- Wilco (The Album) (Nonesuch)

Another Rock Legend Dies by hal

2009-06-26T21:40:14-05:00

Sky Saxon, lead singer and founding father of the seminal sixties garage band The Seeds died Thursday. Their hit single from 1967, "Can't Seem To Make You Mine", has been covered by everyone from the Ramones to Alex Chilton (okay, everyone except Michael Jackson-who also died Thursday-just in case you missed it) .
Watch the Seeds performing "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" and their other hit single "Pushin' Too Hard"!
FYI-If these tracks are missing from your collection, "Can't Seem To Make You Mine" and "Pushin' Too Hard" are both available on the excellent compilation: "Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era" .

Rest in peace Sky!

New releases: June 23, 2009 by stacy

2009-06-22T00:13:56-05:00

Bjork -- Voltaic (Nonesuch)
Shawn Colvin -- Live (Nonesuch)
Dinosaur Jr. -- Farm (Jagjaguwar)
Patterson Hood -- Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs) (Ruth St./Thirty Tigers)
The Mars Volta -- Octahedron (Warner Bros.)
Tift Merritt -- Buckingham Solo [Live] (Fantasy)
Charlie Robison -- Beautiful Day (Dualtone)
Sons of Bill -- One Town Away (Thirty Tigers)
Regina Spektor -- Far (Warner Bros.)

Hickory Wind now taking submissions through ReviewShine by larry

2009-06-21T16:20:35-05:00

Hickory Wind is now taking music submissions through ReviewShine, a website that allows artists and promoters to safely and securely submit digital music to bloggers.

No more wasted paper & plastic -- no more worries about if the post office will get the CD to us in a playable format, or lose it altogether. It's not free, but it's way cheaper than sending physical CDs through the mail.

Just surf to reviewshine.com, sign up as a promoter, upload your album, and click "Hickory Wind" as a blog you want to submit to! We're guaranteed to get it immediately!

Full Disclosure: Larry Karnowski of Hickory Wind is a partner in Truer Sound LLC, the operator of ReviewShine. However, you can submit to lots of other blogs through ReviewShine too, like AmericanaRoots, Twangville, and The 9513 among many others.

Patterson Hood / Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) by hal

2009-06-21T09:57:42-05:00

Although Patterson Hood’s “Killers and Stars” (2004) had its moments, the lo-fi demo quality felt like the purging of personal odds and ends and outtakes. Interesting? Yes. Essential? No. "Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)", over fifteen years in the works with some tracks predating the Drive By Truckers, is the Patterson Hood solo disc fans have been waiting for. Produced by Dave Barbee (Sugar) the rawness of “Oscar” isn’t in the recording. It is found in the character sketches of a murderer, assorted lost souls and hard living. (Patterson has been kind enough to post a track by track description of the disc on his website ).
Hood finds glimmers of hope in the darkness. The “Pride of the Yankees” connects Lou Gehrig, King Kong and life as a father after 9/11 while “Grandaddy” finds Patterson, in a happy place, growing old and singing of life’s simple pleasures: “eat myself an apple”, “bounce you on my knee” and “hide chocolate candies all around the house”. With Patterson’s distinct voice, gritty songwriting skills and the guitars turned up, do tracks like “I Understand Now” and “Pollyanna” sound like the Drive By Truckers? Absolutely, but with “Murdering Oscar” finally seeing the light of day there’s no doubt who came first.

Release date: 6/23

Dog & Pony Show Benefit for Peter Case by hal

2009-06-18T18:30:07-05:00

Courtesy of YepRoc and Dave Alvin :

Hey Everyone,

Last year I staged the Dog And Pony Show benefit which was a three day celebration by musicians and music fans who came together to help pay the medical bills for some our friend's, (recipient's included the Gaffney family, Drac Conley, Candye Kane and the late Duane Jarvis).

To continue these efforts, this year the wise and generous writer/producer Don Foster has joined forces with us for a special evening of theatre on June 20th in Los Angeles. 100% of the ticket sales will be donated to our fund and go to the aid of our pal Peter Case.

Everyone attending will receive a copy of Man of Somebody's Dreams - a tribute to the late great Chris Gaffney ( listen! ). If you are in the LA area on June 20, please come show your support.

Thanks for your help brother Don.

-Dave Alvin, June 2009

Here's a link with more info .

The Red Stick Ramblers: My Suitcase Is Always Packed by adam

2009-06-17T20:08:36-05:00

My Suitcase Is Always Packed, the second Sugar Hill release from Louisiana’s Red Stick Ramblers, is roughly one-thirds Cajun, with the rest old-school of the sort that would sound happily at home on a Bob Wills tribute album. The two sounds are pretty discrete here; the main clues that it’s the same band are Linzay Young’s reedy vocals and the high quality of the playing.

Lyricalwise, I don’t speak French, let alone Cajun French, so songs like “Je T’aime Pas Mieux” and “Nonc’ Yorick” (both originals) are just a meaning-free accordion and fiddle driven blast to me. But in my native tongue, “Drinkin’ to You” is a catchy, lovelorn boozing song, “Bloodshot Eyes” is a lament for broken love worthy of Dwight Yoakam, and “Lay Down in the Grass” perfectly captures late-June torpor. The disc flags a little bit in the later tracks but goes out swinging with “The Barnyard Bachelor,” a bucolic-themed call-and-response sung from the perspective of a highly eligible rooster. Great summertime listening.

The Insomniacs / At Least I’m Not With You by hal

2009-06-16T22:19:48-05:00

The Insomniacs , a four-piece band, leave no doubt that they can sing, play and write the blues with the best of them on “At Least I’m Not With You” (Delta Groove). Vyasa Dodson’s originals sound so authentic they could be unearthed blues gems (I had to check the liner notes before I made that claim). The covers range from the Chicago blues chestnut “HooDoo Man Blues”, Johnny “Guitar” Watson’s “Broke and Lonely” and one of Little Richard’s lesser known tracks “Directly From My Heart To You”. The title track, “Angry Surfer”, “Maybe Sometime Later” and “She Can Talk” are four great new tunes that blend seamlessly with the blues covers. “At Least I’m Not With You” played live straight through from the first cut to the last would be a crowd pleasing set at any Blues Festival! The thirteen tracks on their second release range from Chicago, jump and piano blues to New Orleans R&B and make me think I need to track down a copy of their first disc "Left Coast Blues".

The Band:
Vyasa Dodson-vocals & guitar
Dean Mueller-bass
Alex Shakeri-piano & Hammond B-3
Dave Melyan-drums

With special guests:
Al Blake-harmonica
Mitch Kashmar-harmonica
Joel Patterson-pedal steel guitar
Jeff Turmes-tenor and baritone sax

Catch 'em live if you're lucky!

Jun 19 2009 9:30P
Trails End Saloon Oregon City, Oregon
Jun 20 2009 9:00P
Roadhouse 101 Lincoln City, Oregon
Jun 26 2009 8:00P
The Upstage Port Townsend, Washington
Jun 27 2009 9:30P
Cascade Bar & Grill Vancouver, Washington
Jul 3 2009 9:00P
San Dune Pub Manzanita, Oregon
Jul 4 2009 9:30P
Duff’s Garage Portland, Oregon
Jul 5 2009 6:00P
Portland Waterfront Blues Festival Portland, Oregon
Jul 10 2009 8:00P
Arcadia Blues Club ARCADIA, California
Jul 11 2009 9:30P
Humphrey’s By The Bay - Backstage Live San Diego, California
Jul 14 2009 8:00P
Shanachie Pub Willits, California
Jul 16 2009 8:30P
Ukiah Brewing Ukiah, California
Jul 18 2009 6:00P
Poor House Bistro San Jose, California
Jul 19 2009 3:00P
Powerhouse Pub Folsom, California
Jul 20 2009 8:00P
Alex’s Plaza Restaurant and Bar Ashland, Oregon
Jul 26 2009 6:00P
Centrum Blues Festival Port Townsend, Washington
Jul 27 2009 8:00P
Centrum Blues Festival Port Townsend, Washington
Jul 28 2009 8:00P
Centrum Blues Festival Port Townsend, Washington
Jul 29 2009 8:00P
Centrum Blues Festival Port Townsend, Washington
Jul 30 2009 8:00P
Centrum Blues Festival Port Townsend, Washington
Jul 31 2009 8:00P
Centrum Blues Festival Port Townsend, Washington
Aug 1 2009 8:00P
Centrum Blues Festival Port Townsend, Washington
Aug 4 2009 7:30P
National Night Out in Knott Park Portland, Oregon
Aug 5 2009 6:30P
Music in Meinig - Meinig Park Sandy, Oregon
Aug 28 2009 8:00P
Biscuits & Blues San Francisco, California
Sep 11 2009 7:00P
Blues & Brews for the Rivers Edge Trail Great Falls, Montana
Sep 21 2009 8:30P
Blue Monday - The Alamo Springfield, Illinois
Sep 24 2009 9:00P
Slippery Noodle Inn Indianapolis, Indiana

And if you can't make it to the Cat's Cradle for a show.... by hal

2009-06-14T22:54:31-05:00

Here is a short list of several must see outdoor shows for our North Carolina HickoryWind readers :

Southern Village
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

June 21 John Howie Jr. and Rosewood Bluff

Outdoors at Duke Gardens

July 1 - Dex Romweber Duo

July 29 - Peter Holsapple & Chris Stamey

FOR TICKETS: visit dukeperformances.org or call 919-684-4444.

Cat's Cradle in the NYTimes! by hal

2009-06-14T22:42:28-05:00

First Todd Snider and now the Cat's Cradle !
I had no idea the NYTimes was so hip (I knew Todd and the Cradle were).

Todd Snider Interview in the NYTimes by hal

2009-06-13T22:38:30-05:00

Step 1: Read Craig Marks' great interview with Todd Snider here .
Step 2: Buy a copy of "The Excitement Plan".

Thanks to Marvin, my NYC hipster connection, for passing the link along.

New releases: June 16, 2009 by stacy

2009-06-12T13:48:59-05:00

Clock Hands Strangle -- Distaccati (Chocolate Lab Records)
Ha Ha Tonka -- Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South (Bloodshot)
Sarah Jarosz -- Song Up in Her Head (Sugar Hill)
Phil Lee -- So Long, It's Been Good to Know You (Steadyboy)
Maura O'Connell -- Naked With Friends (Sugar Hill)
Rhonda Vincent -- Destination Life (Rounder)
The Waifs -- Live from the Union of Soul (Compass)
Holly Williams -- Here With Me (Mercury Nashville)
... of THAT Williams family. Hank I is her granddad; II is her dad; III is her half-brother. A quick scan through MP3s indicates the album is as mainstream country as the label affiliation would imply; but there's a little kernel of something deeper in there. Worth a check-out.

New releases: June 9, 2009 by stacy

2009-06-05T14:12:04-05:00

Trey Anastasio and Don Hart -- Time Turns Elastic (Rubber Jungle)
British Sea Power -- Man of Aran (Rough Trade Us)
Nanci Griffith -- The Loving Kind (Rounder)
Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey -- hERE aND nOW (Bar/None)
Kasabian -- West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (Red Ink)
The Low Anthem -- Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Nonesuch)
Rhett Miller -- Rhett Miller (Shout! Factory)
Todd Snider -- Excitement Plan (Yep Roc)