Letters from sinners & strangers (Weekly Show 24/3/08)

This weeks show featured interviews with Henry Wagons from The Wagons & with Dave Miles from the Hard Way plus Pete from the Skinners. Music was also provided by Wilco, Whiskeytown, Todd Snider, Old Crow Medicine Show, Felice Brothers & a whole lot more! To view the full playlist click here

HENRY WAGONS

Henry Wagons came in & played a couple of tunes. One, "Never been to Spain" is a song made famous by Elvis & a tune that Henry says he enjoys playing at gigs. Henry also played "Pamela May" from the latest Wagons album, "Curse of the Lightning". You can here Henry's performance by logging onto the PBS website & follow the links to the listen live section.

Henry is supporting John Hiatt at the following shows:
Thu March 27: Henry Wagons w/- John Hiatt @ Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Fri March 28: Henry Wagons w/- John Hiatt @ National Theatre, Melbourne

Following on from this the Wagons embark on their Lightning Strikes Twice Tour:
Sun March 30: The Retreat, Melbourne
Wed April 2: Electric Light Hotel, Adelaide
Thu April 3: Edinburgh Castle, Adelaide
Fri April 4: The Pub, Bendigo
Sat April 5: National Hotel, Geelong
Wed April 9: Oxford Tavern, Wollongong
Thu April 10: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Fri April 11: Woodport Inn, Erina
Sat April 12: Hopetoun Hotel, Sydney
Sun April 13: Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay
Thu April 17: Shark Bar, Miami Tavern, Gold Coast
Fri April 18: Bon Amici's, Toowoomba
Sat April 19: Sol Bar, Coolum Beach, Sunshine Coast

Henry recommends getting along to the Bendigo & Geelongs shows for an extra special "good" time!

Wagons latest video from Youtube for the song "Snake Bite"



www.myspace.com/wagonsmusic

DAVE MILES & THE HARD WAY

Dave Miles is a Melbourne based singer & songwriter with an iron in a couple of fires. One of his outfits, The Hard Way have just released their debut full length album called "These Blue Miles". It is available at their gigs or from their myspace page.

They are playing at the Old Colonial here in Melbourne on April the 5th & 11th with the Skinners. A admission price of $10.00 will also get you a six track ep with three songs each from Dave Miles & the Hard Way and The Skinners.

Dave Miles & the Hard Way on youtube



www.myspace.com/hardwayband

WILCO

Wilco are coming to town this week playing at the Palace in Bourke street (the old Metro with a new name).

Here is a couple of interesting performances

The first features Jeff Tweedy & the Bottle Rockets performing Passenger Side recently. Lead singer with the Bottle Rockets is Brian Hennmann. He was a guitar tech with Wilco in the early days & played a bit of guitar on the first Wilco album "A.M."



You can log onto the Wilco website & request songs for them to play (no guarantees that they will though). I played two songs as kind of request for the upcoming show, Far Far Away from Being There & Too Far Apart from A.M. If I had a bit more time I also would have played Via Chicago from Summerteeth & Dash 7 from A.M. (maybe next week).

Wilco - Dash 7



Some other clips from band featured this week.

Eilen Jewel - Drop down daddy



Old Crow Medicine Show - I hear them all



Todd Snider - Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White American Males

Too Crowded on the Losing End (Weekly Show 17/03/08)

The show this week featured some previously unheard songs from Whiskeytown from the deluxe edition of Strangers Almanac.

I also played a few songs from the fantastic compilation featuring songs played by Bob Dylan on his Theme Time Radio Hour that has just been released by Ace Records (distributed by Shock in Australia)

To view the full playlist click here

Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac Deluxe Edition (Geffen/Universal)

Released in 1997, when Adams was twenty-two, Almanac was Whiskeytown's major-label debut, and although the group was in upheaval, the record is remarkably polished, coloring Gram Parsons-style country rock with R.E.M.'s vocal drama ("Not Home Anymore") and the Replacements' beer-breath blues ("Yesterday's News"). The album is a minor classic, and this reissue proves Adams was ridiculously prolific even then.

Whiskeytown at the time of Strangers Almanac were:
Ryan Adams (Guitar, Vocals)
Caitlin Cary (Fiddle, Vocals)
Phil Wandscher (Guitar)
Steven Terry (Drums)
Jeff Rice (Bass)

Two original members, Skillet Gilmore (Drums) & Steve Grothmann (Bass) had recently left the band.

The newly expanded version will include previously unreleased Whiskeytown tracks plus several classic covers.

The first disc includes the original album, produced by Jim Scott, plus five live public radio performances recorded in Santa Monica 10/9/1997 on the program Brave New World for KCRW-FM.

The second disc features acoustic demo versions of "16 Days," "Avenues" and "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart" plus seven previously unreleased Whiskeytown tracks, including "Kiss & Make-Up" and "10 Seconds." Most of these tracks were recorded at the legendary Barn on Fire sessions. Recorded in a loft in Durham for Bloodshot Records the sessions acted as a warm up for the Strangers Almanac sessions to follow.
Steven Terry had just joined &Chris Stamey produced & played bass.

Most of the acoustic tracks on the second CD come from another session called the Baseball Park Sessions which began at the Modern Recording Studios in Chapel Hill by just Adams & Wandscher. Later the full band joined in (the original line up with Gilmore & Grothmann) to record a series of songs, most of which appeared on the bonus released of Faithless Street.

Also on the second disc the band also tackles Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams," Gram Parsons' "Luxury Liner," Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone" and the True Believers' "The Rain Won't Help You When It's Over."

Youtube Clips





Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan (Ace/Shock)



A 2CD set featuring 50 tracks, representing the 50 shows of the first series of radio shows. For those that are new to the show, each programme lasts an hour and has a different theme each week, for example Drink or Mother. Each track is introduced by Dylan with his dry humour, eclectic interest and vast musical knowledge. His voice does not appear on this CD, just tracks selected from the shows.

A further summary of what the show is all about & where to here it can be found on the wikipedia page here.

Track Listing:
Disc 1
1. Turn Your Radio On - GRANDPA JONES
2. Papa’s On The Housetop - LEROY CARR and SCRAPPER BLACKWELL
3. Shortnin’ Bread - PAUL CHAPLAIN & HIS EMERALDS
4. Seven Nation Army - THE WHITE STRIPES
5. Gun Fever (Blam Blam Fever) - THE VALENTINES
6. Pistol Packin’ Mama - AL DEXTER & HIS TROOPERS
7. Pistol Packin’ Mama - THE HURRICANES
8. Homework - OTIS RUSH
9. He Will Break Your Heart - JERRY BUTLER
10. Take It Away Lucky - EDDIE NOACK
11. Buddy, Stay Off The Wine - BETTY HALL JONES
12. Tears A Go-Go - CHARLIE RICH
13. Rich Woman - LI’L MILLET & HIS CREOLES
14. Laughin’ & Jokin’ - ERNIE CHAFFIN
15. Me And My Chauffeur Blues - MEMPHIS MINNIE accompanied by LITTLE SON JOE
16. If I Lose - THE STANLEY BROTHERS
17. I Sat And Cried - JIMMY NELSON
18. Beatnik’s Wish - PATSY RAYE & THE BEATNIKS
19. Devil In His Heart - THE DONAYS
20. Let’s Invite Them Over - GEORGE JONES & MELBA MONTGOMERY
21. Don’t Take Ev’rybody To Be Your Friend - SISTER ROSETTA THARPE with the Sam Price Trio
22. Good Morning Heartache - BILLIE HOLIDAY
23. Pouring Water On A Drowning Man - JAMES CARR
24. I Drink - MARY GAUTHIER
25. Mother Earth - MEMPHIS SLIM

Disc 2
1. Chain Of Fools - ARETHA FRANKLIN
2. Walk A Mile In My Shoes - JOE SOUTH & THE BELIEVERS
3. Cry Tough - ALTON ELLIS & THE FLAMES
4. Tommy Gun - THE CLASH
5. (Everytime I Hear) That Mellow Saxophone - ROY MONTRELL
6. Those Dj Shows - PATRICE HOLLOWAY
7. I Ain’t Drunk - LONNIE “THE CAT”
8. Eat That Chicken - CHARLES MINGUS
9. Mama, Get Your Hammer - BOBBY PETERSON QUINTET
10. How High The Moon - SLIM GAILLARD
11. Cool Water - THE SONS OF THE PIONEERS
12. Only A Rose - GERAINT WATKINS
13. I Walk In My Sleep - BERNA - DEAN
14. Stars Fell On Alabama - JACK TEAGARDEN’S CHICAGOANS
15. Mama Tried (The Ballad From Killers Three) - MERLE HAGGARD & THE STRANGERS
16. Big Long Slidin’ Thing - DINAH WASHINGTON
17. Black Coffee - BOBBY DARIN
18. I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water - THE CATS AND THE FIDDLE
19. Ain’t Got The Money To Pay For This Drink - GEORGE ZIMMERMAN & THE THRILLS with the Bubber Cyphers
20. Bottle And A Bible - THE YAYHOOS
21. Okie’s In The Pokie - JIMMY PATTON
22. If You’re So Smart, How Come You Ain’t Rich? - LOUIS JORDAN
23. Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio - SANTIAGO JIMENEZ
24. Mona - BO DIDDLEY
25. Roadrunner (Twice) - THE MODERN LOVERS

Finally here aer a couple more clips by a few of the artists I played today.

Trailer Bride (Melissa Swingle!)



Jim White - Searching for the wrong eyed Jesus



Happy Easter

Whiskey in My Whiskey (Weekly Show 10/3/08)

This week I played a couple of new songs from the Felice Brothers & Chatham Country Line. Local music was supplied by the Idle Hoes, Jane Dust & Dogsday.

To view the full play list click here.

The Felice Brothers hail from the Catskill Mountains in up state New York & three members of the band actually are brothers. James, Ian & Simon are three of seven children that grew up in the woods around Palenville in the Catskills. They credit this upbringing as a major influence on their music, this & a steady diet of Hank Williams, Blind Willie McTell & Jimmie Rogers. The fourth member of the band is a shady character simply named Christmas who is apparently a published novelist & dice player.

The Felice Brothers new self tilted album, recorded mainly in a chicken coop is out now on Team Love.

Here is a live clip of the song I played "Whiskey in my Whiskey"



The Chatham County Line are a Bluegrass band or as they call it, an acoustic country band who come from North Carolina & were formed back in 1999 by Dave Wilson & Greg Readling. Wilson was in the band Stillhouse & after that band broke up he spent some time with Readling in the backing band for Tift Merritt. Joining with some long time Stillhouse fans, John Teer Chandler Holt, Chatham Country Line was born. The new album IV is out now on Yep Roc & follows on from 2006's Speed of the Whippoorwill.

Here is the video for "Let it Rock" from the new album.



Local music this week.

The Idle Hoes have their debut coming out on Friday March 14th called "Little Victories". Recorded by Craig Pilkington at his Audrey Studios & at Mick Thomas's Two Feet High & Rising studio (both located here in Melbourne). The band are launching the album at the Corner Hotel on Friday April 4th with Clinkerfield (who are also launching a new album on the night).


Jane Dust is Melbourne based singer-songwriter & one time member on the band Muddy Spurs. Her new album is called "A Spray of Red from the Deep" & was recorded by Dave Graney & Claire Moore at their Ponderosa studio. Moore provided some percussion on the album were required, otherwise it is an acoustic affair.

Jane is launching her album on Sunday March 30th at Bar Open (317 Brunswick st Fitzroy) with special guests Kim Salmon, Claire Moore & Leon Stackpole.

Here is a clip of Jane's from Youtube.



Finally I played a song from Dogsday's self titled 5 track ep. After a break of nearly ten years while the band spent time raising kids & paying off the mortgage, they are back! Check local gig guides for details on the EP's launch date sometime in March or April. Here is live cut from the EP

No Depression - No More (Weekly Show 3/3/08)

For the full playlist from this weeks show click HERE.

The key element to this weeks show is the news about the pending demise of the No Depression Magazine (follow link to the website for a full transcript from the magazines editors). The main reasons for the demise are stated as falling revenue from advertising & the rising cost of printing. I can also see other factors such as the increased use of the Internet & the use of myspace & youtube by record companies & music fans alike to get the message out there. A bi-monthly magazine such as No Depression is out of date as soon as it hits the stands. They say they will continue on line but we sure will miss the great articles (something the Internet is not good at) & informed reviews.

Anyway this week I paid tribute to the magazine with a few choice cuts from artists most associated with the magazine. When the last one comes out in May, I'll probably devote a whole show!

Here is an Uncle Tupelo clip of the song that started it all



This weeks show also featured three songs from ex-Jayhawks members who all have solo albums out. Tim O'reagan & Mark Olson put theirs out last year & Gary Louris's Vagabonds is just out now.

Vagabonds was co-produced by Black Crows front man Chris Robinson. He also worked with Louris on the forthcoming reunion album with Mark Olson called " Ready fro the Flood". It was actually recorded before Vagabonds but it's release has been held over while the focus it on the solo albums. Ready for the Flood is due in mid 2008.

Here is Gary Louris singing "True Blue" from the new album.