There were a couple of factors that drew me to the music of Catl. First was the name of their new record – With the Lord for Cowards You Will Find No Place. Second was their groovy cover art. And third was the fact that their brand of blues was described as dirty and scuzzy and punk. So yeah this isn’t the polished sound of blues coming out of Chicago or LA. It’s more akin to the delta sound except infused with rock and punk.

You can get this release from their label Electro Fi here or here through Emusic.

Church On Time

On Jan 12 the new record from T-Model Ford arrives on Alive Records entitled Ladies Man. T-Model is hailed as the real deal by those in the know. And I tend to agree; this is not some tame, polished, overproduced schlock. Instead it’s all rough around the edges and alive (no pun intended).

Pre-order it here.

Two Trains

I had a post all lined up for this morning, but then found this new song from the forthcoming Anti- Records release of A Stranger Here by Ramblin Jack Elliott. Here’s a contemporary of Bob Dylan’s who took a different path. Instead of co-opting his music for the marketplace Ramblin’ Jack Elliott remained true to his rural folk blues roots.

On his new record produced by Joe Henry the sound is altered slightly with weird atmospherics and creepy percussion added to the mix. Joe Henry always brings his own lush sound to a recording project and the same is true on A Stranger Here. I’m not sure what Anti- hopes to achieve commercially with their current roster of Betty LaVette, William Elliott Whitmore, and Mavis Staples but I like the direction they’re going in.

Soul Of A Man

Bakelite 78 is performing tonight (last night…oops) at Fitzgeralds along with Black Bear Combo and Jimbo Mathus (from Squirrel Nut Zippers fame). I’ve written about Chicago’s Bakelite 78 in the past and am happy to update you on the status of their new record. It’s called Delta Disc and it was recorded in Como, Mississippi by Jimbo himself with funding from Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs. The band is surely one of the few to incorporate styles as diverse as blues, swing, cabaret, dixieland and country.

The record release party is tonight (oops…sorry but it was last night!)

Buy it here.

Darkness On The Delta
Scotch

Bonus track from Jim Mathus

The Stranger

If you were really paying attention to the Americana music scene and truly had your ear to the ground you might have heard some rumblings about the band Avi And Celia. I know I’ve heard a thing or two – so I looked them up and got permission to share the lead off track from their new record Let It Rise.

“Rollin’ and Tumblin’” is a traditional song that’s been reworked by this duo. They’ve kept in tact that southern blues feel and added a few new lyrics to the tune. I suspect the new additions are the ones that make the song a little more about world peace and a little less about internal peace (of mind). The new record came out September 26 and is available now at Dig Station here.

Rollin’ and Tumblin’

The line graph above is a representation of the Songs:Illinois traffic trend. Can you tell which way it’s trending? Neither can I. While I’m happy with the number and quality of visitors I would like to see that trend going up instead of jumping all over the pace.

SO while this is dorky and a little pathetic I thought I’d ask for your help. I ask this because I truly love the music on Songs:Illinois. The writing leaves a lot to be desired, I know. But the music inspires me, often brightens my day, and never fails to move me in some small way.

SO SO I was thinking I’d ask you guys for help. If you’re a regular reader or even a newbie I thought I’d ask you to help spread the word about this little site. Email a friend or two, if you’re on Facebook do one of those little updates (ie “Fred Smith is loving Songs:Illinois right now”), add a link to me on any of your online sites, sign up for the email update, etc., etc.

I’d like to thank everyone else who links here especially the excellent web mashup Ample Sanity and my brother from another mother music blog The Late Greats.

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Here’s a little something that will make the spiders at Hype and Elbo.ws pick up this post. These songs are from the early 1900′s and have just been reissued on Tompkins Square. Read more about this fascinating release here.

Pre-order it here through Amazon.

Oysters and Wine At 2 AM

There was a moment a couple of days ago when I thought I’d change the subtitle of this blog to “Songs:Illinois: The music blog for adults”. I may change it yet. JJ Grey & Mofro are certainly a band for adults. In a way that few bands are able to JJ Grey combines a blues, southern rock, and 60′s jam band mentality with that famous Muscle Shoals sound and even some New Orleans funk. Sounds impossible, right? But check out the title track to his new record Orange Blossums on Alligator Records and tell me I’m wrong?!

Buy Orange Blossums here.

Orange Blossums

JJ Grey talks about Orange Blossums

In itunes via Alligator

Look, a lot of shit’s already been written about Tom Ovans and his record Party Girl. That’s because it came out as an import on an English label in 2007 and also because of it’s apparent greatness. There are two fine reviews (here and here) that are only lacking in the notable absence of mp3′s.

To rectify that here’s a couple of songs from Austin based folk-bluesman Tom Ovans (btw that’s the closest semblance of a label that will fit). The new record, Party Girl, is getting a nice re-release on the fine roots rock label 00:02:59 Records (Scott Kempner, Willie Nile, Christopher Denny). Buy it here.

West Texas Blues
Both Sides of the Night

David Olney’s Live At Norm’s River Road House Vol 1 is a hit and miss affair much like the man himself. He’s capable of writing disarmingly good songs but at other times he’s content to wallow in the kind of blustery blues rock that gives blues a bad name. When he’s at his best like on the Rounder releases High, Wide And Lonesome and Through a Glass Darkly his combination of literate, poetic lyrics and by turns somber and then preacherly delivery is hard to beat.

You can pre-order this August 26th release here now or here.

Who’s The Dummy Now

Bonus track from The Wheel:
Boss Don’t Shoot No Dice
Bonus track from The Migration
Speak Memory
Bonus track live via Folk Alley
Jerusalem Tomorrow

Of late Fat Possum has gotten into the reissue business. Not reissuing lost nuggets from the 50′s or even pre-war blues mind you, but instead lost classics from the past year or so. First there was the reissue of AA Bondy’s terrific solo debut and now the reissue of Wilem Maker’s self released record Stars Fell On.

“Red As A Rose” is a trance blues number that should appeal to fans of Charlie Parr and William Elliott Whitmore. It’s a bit busy in parts, but when the fog clears and you get Wilem’s possessed vocals and incendiary guitar it’s pretty special.

There’s a few copies left here or you can pick it up in September through Fat Possum.

Red As A Rose

Bonus tracks from the Big Legal Mess Records’ archive:

Goin Away – Elmo Williams and Hezekiah Erly
Believe – Famous L. Renfroe
Talkin It (Remix) – T Model Ford