What is it about drinking and country music. If songs aren’t about trucking than they are invariably about drinking. And more importantly why do I like these songs? Me, a guy who has to stop drinking soon after the first one. I wrote about the Austin based band (duo) The Texas Sapphires back in 2006 here. There new record is called As He Wanders… and is out on April 6. You can order it here now.
“How Did I Get So Sloppy Drunk When I Was Drinking Neat” is the drunkenest song on the new record. Enjoy and treat this as a cautionary tale for the weekend ahead.
The band Big Smith from Springfield, Mo. had some nice high resolution pictures available for the press to use. But it’s this shot that gives you that “a picture is worth a thousand words” take on the band and it’s working class roots. I don’t know if Big Smith is one of these guys in the picture (they’re all pretty big as far as I can tell!) or if it’s just used for the collective. They are rather a large band at 6 members.
I’ve been a fan of the band in the past and always like their stuff. Word is the new record rocks a little harder than previous releases. On the song “Brady And Duncan” you can hear just that heightened level of urgency. The new record is called Roots, Shoots and Wings and is available here through MayApple Records. It’s a good `un.
Catch the band at their record release party at Off Broadway in St. Louis on Feb 20.
A couple of the goodtwangy websites have had news of a new Texas Tornados record. It’s due out in in March on Bismeaux Records and is called Esta Bueno. But no one shared an mp3 from the new record yet. Until now that is; here’s “Whose To Blame Senorita”.
It was my intention to post one of my “best of 2009″ repost series this morning but these guys have pre-empted that with their excellent 2010 album Stale Champagne.
State Champion is a band that personifies the mid-western work ethic; musically that translates to blue collar rock and rugged, sloppy garage-country. The band has spent some time in Chicago but are now based out of Louisville, KY. The sound on Stale Champagne is loose and the recording of is rough and ramshackle in all the right places. The band’s one sheet does a surprisingly good job of describing their ethos:
Having created a sound that is a product of its upbringing, with Sweetheart of the Rodeo on the radio, Bleach in the tape deck, and a Smog song stuck in its head, State Champion drives through forty minutes of sincerely howled, sloppily executed, stripped down garage-country on its full-length debut.
To make that paragraph perfect I’d just throw in a line about sitting on the porch and listening to Uncle Tupelo and/or driving down a dirt road listening to Big Star. But that paragraph pretty much sums up the band. The new album is available in early 2010 but I bet you can get it now if you send a nice email to Ryan at sophomorelounge@gmail.com.
Whether you’re a fan of Pettyesque rockers or Townes influenced gently fingerpicked tales of inner turmoil and torment there is something for you in the 5 song free EP by Austin based singer-songwriter Jonny Burke.
Catch Jonny in the new year opening up for James McMurtry. Get the EP free here or pay for it here. Here’s that Petty like tune but with an overtly bitter political tone (btw it features fellow Austinites The Band Of Heathens):
Honky-tonk Friday came a little early this week with the (virtual) arrival of the new record by Martinsville, Virginia natives Doug & Telisha Williams. The record’s called Ghost of the Knoxville Girl and sits squarely in the intersection of blues, country and roots. Much like the recent record from Eilen Jewell “Knoxville Girl” isn’t content to stick with just one genre. There are Bruce Springsteenesque social consciousness raising rockers like “20 Point 2″ and eerie murder/ghost ballads like the title track.
For honky-tonk fans it’s the first track that shines. I just love Telisha’s voice on “Kitchen Light” and the song features tasty pedal steel and just the right combination of bass and drums.
Yesterday’s post was from forty years ago. The music for today’s post is from this year but sounds like it was recorded a hundred years ago. Go figure! The Asylum Street Spankers’ new record God’s Favorite Band is a live concert recording of mostly gospel inspired music. But as you can see from the photo above this is not your grandpa’s gospel group.
To celebrate the new record the band is going out on a tour called Salvation and Sin. The first half of the show will feature the stomping gospel sounds of the new album while the second half will deal with more earthly, secular songs of lust, love and other important topics. Check their website for tour dates.
I looked near and far for today’s entry. My search took me all the way to Scotland. And what did I find you ask? Jangly power pop from the band Dropkick and their new record Abelay Hotel. The band has received plenty of accolades and some of them are quite funny. For instance the BBC called them “Scotland’s finest alt-country power pop band” (like there are dozens of them roaming the countryside!!) and the Scotsman said they were “Scotland’s 3rd best band for 2009 … fabulous melodies a-plenty and more hooks than Bob Nudd’s fishing bag” (I just find that bit about “3rd best” kinda funny). Astonishingly enough I wrote about the band here first.
If you’re going to write a power pop song with the word “California” in the title you had better give it a little bit of those wonderful sunny Beach Boy harmonies. The band accomplished that and even added a little Smithereens-like ruggedness. Buy the new record here in the states here at CD Baby.
I don’ have much time so please don’t hold the length of this post against me or more importantly against Jess Klein. Jess hits three of my musical pressure points: she’s originally from Boston (so am I), she recently relocated to Austin (I love Austin!), and she’s cute (shouldn’t matter, but it does). Her new record Bound To Love is influenced by the rootsy nature of that Texas town. And this song, “Postcard”, is dusty and nostalgic in just the right amounts. It sounds like very early Lucinda Williams (which is a very good thing).
There was a time when I religiously followed Camper Van Beethoven. I liked their sound more when it was frantic folk based rather than punky. I also followed all the spinoff bands and solo records. That time has passed though and I no longer am up to date on all the goings on in the old Camper Van clique. Enter McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
However, when I heard about this record by Victor Krummenacher and Alison Faith Levy of The Sippy Cups I was intrigued. From Victor’s past recordings I knew he leaned more folk/country than punk. Together Victor and Alison have that kind of California americana sound. A sound that is dusty but at the same time refined. I think of Chuck Prophet and Dave Alvin being in that same mold as well. Here’s a sample from their new debut record Time For Leaving. Pick it up now at the newly redesigned CD Babyhere.
I honestly don’t know where I’ve been on the new Owen Temple record. His criteria for appearance on Songs:Illinois are many (”the force is strong with this one”): he’s an Austin singer songwriter with debts to Guy Clark, Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt, he is #1 on the Euro Americana chart, and he’s net savvy enough to give away his new record for free.
“Golden Age” is a song about his old Austin stomping grounds (O Henry’s Back Forty) and its demise when the new Hilton went up downtown. Usually you’ve got to take my word on an album with just one song as a sample of its wares. But with Dollars and Dimes you’re free to download the whole thing here courtesy of Owen Temple. In return you should check him out on tour this summer
At this point, after being in the music blog racket for a number of years, I don’t have any misconceptions about my role. I have a small blog that will never break out traffic wise because I choose not to write about the band of the minute. But I’ve really taken this approach a step too far lately by purposefully trying to write about bands that stump Elbo.ws and Hype Machine. One such artist is the British singer songwriter Ian Williams. A quick search on both sites reveals no other post about this British artist.
The new EP by Ian Williams has just been released by Adventure Club Records. Although Ian is originally from Wales he makes his home now in Leeds and is part of that city’s americana/alt-country movement. Here’s the “Amputation song” from Bible Black Heart. I think you’ll see why this gently strummed, richly sung song deserves time on songs:Illinois.
If you’re like me and are wondering who the hell Arty Hill and the Long Gone Daddy’s is and why their 5 year old debut record Back On the Rail is in the top ten of the Americana Charts then let me explain. the band’s debut has just recently been re-released. And apparently this 5 year old honky-tonk is better than most of the stuff coming out at the moment. Unfortunately I don’t have anything from Back On The Rail but check out these samples from the band’s followup Bar Of Gold.
I may all be a little late catching up with Arty Hill but now that I have them on my radar I’m going to play closer attention. Their next project is a Hank Williams tribute that mixes covers with originals called Montgomery On My Mind: The Hank EP.
So I’m back from LA. Did you miss me? Anyway. I’m back and better than ever. Or not. We’ll see.
One of my most highly anticipated records of the year from the alt-country genre is Gina Villalobos‘ record Days On Their Side due out July 12.
Here’s the title track. Of course it’s only a small sample of the new record but through it you will hopefully get the gist. And if you don’t I’d namedrop Lucinda Williams and Kathleen Edwards as contemporaries who are also able to sound both tough and emotionally frail at the same time.
On a side note, before I left for L.A. I recorded an interview and picked a couple of tracks for Hype Radio wearing my Swedesplease hat. I’m in the beginning of the show after the Akron Family song.
The last mention of Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers) on Elbo.ws was Nov. 14, 2008 by you know who (me!?). And that’s a shame. Jimbo has gone from making a likeness of string band, delta blues and jug music with SNZ to straight up southern fried country rock with his new solo record Jimmy the Kid. This new sound is being called “inner-planetary honky tonk music.”
If the music doesn’t go viral maybe the album art will create a controversial puritanical storm instead. Buy the new record here or here.
If this guy was Joe Ely or John Prine I wouldn’t have hesitated to write about these songs. If these were new songs by either of those two I would have made a big stink and gotten to them asap. But Mickey Clark is a bit of a mystery to me so this post sat for a bit. I’m sorry it did.
Mickey’s story is a familiar one of a singer songwriter who almost made it, struggled around the edges of fame, and then left music for a long while to raise a family. In his heyday though Mickey Clark was playing with Kinky Friedamn, Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson, Steve Goodman and many more. He was headlining festivals when Lyle Lovett and Lucinda Williams were opening up for folks at the same festivals. Here’s a nice interview/piece from the Houston Press.
Winding Highway is Mickey’s entre back into the world of music and a great one it is at that. Besides his great songs and voice the record features guests John Prine, Kinky Friedman, Jerry Jeff Walker and Sam Bush. It came out in February on ear X-tacy Records and is available here on Amazon.
“Don’t Piss On My Boots” features a duet with John Prine.
Scott Miller’s had a successful solo career since leaving the V-Roys. He has released three consistently good records on Sugar Hill. He has worked with Patty Griffin, Tim O’Brien, and Jim Dickinson and he has toured the country religiousely for years.
All that hard work has led to releasing his new fan funded record on his own label. Of the five bands profiled this week on Songs:Illinois Scott Miller is the third to go this route. I’d call that a trend. His new record is titled For Crying Out Loud. Scott’s been known in the past for his humorous songs and I’m sure there are plenty on this record. But I’ve only heard this one song and it’s the last one on the record and closes it out with a whimper rather than a bang.
I got an email with a long backstory about the band Old Californio and their new album Westering. For me the whole thing was a waste of space. Not that the email wasn’t informative and well written but the key fact for me was that Dave Gleason is a fan and plays on the record. That’s all that needed to be said. See, Dave Gleason (and his west coast consorts like Mike Stinson and Tracy Huffman) has been making some of the best alt-country honky-tonk for a decade or so now. His stamp of approval goes a long way.
The new record is due out April 21st and was produced by Alfonso Rodeñas (Mark Olson / Ben Vaughn/ Los Tigres Del Norte). Westering Again was recorded in a converted garage that used to serve as a chicken coup and you can hear that rootsiness in the song “Mother Road”. You can also hear nods to the Grateful Dead, Wilco, Jayhawks and Gram Parsons. The band is celebrating the release of the new record on April 5 at The Grand Ole Echo.
I’m generally against animal cruelty. But I can’t overlook this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Sarah MacDougall is an ex pat Swede living in Vancouver. Her brand of polished folk pop is perfect for Songs:Illinois while her Nordic routes make her an ideal artist for Swedesplease. Sarah’s new record, Across The Atlantic, came out this year on the excellent little label Copperspine.
“Crow’s Lament” is a great example of the eclectic nature of this new record. The song’s a whirling dervish of a tune about death. It features Sarah’s lusty vocals, some of the unusual instrumentation from the record (dobro, weissenborn, lapsteel, odd percussion, rhodes, and pedal steel) and clever lyrics.
You can buy the new record here or here (and I heartily recommend that you do!).
James Intveld looks like his music sounds. Really, click below on “Walk With Me” and see what I mean. “Walk With Me” is off James’ third album Have Faith which came out in 2008.
James is playing The Continental Club on March 21st as part of SXSW.
Glad you found me at my new url. Songs:Illinois is committed to writing about music that is under-appreciated and unique. I've found that the music I write about shares a couple of traits. And they are: lyrical integrity, musically diverse, and written/performed by compelling characters.
Most songs found here are free and legal and have been provided by either the artist or label. If for some reason you'd like to have a song removed, please email me at cbonnell (at) gmail.com.
