Americana Music Association Award Winners

The Americana Music Association announced it's award winners at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Thursday 16th September.

Buddy Miller almost scooped the pool, winning Artist of the Year, Album of the Year, Duo of the Year (with his wife Julie) and Song of the Year (written by Julie and performed by Buddy and Patty Griffin). Gurf Morlix won Instrumentalist of the Year (and prevented a Buddy Miller scoop of all the categories he was nominated in). Justin Townes Earle (son of Steve) won the award for New and Emerging Artist. Justin will be in Melbourne at the start of October.

The awards cap off an amazing and difficult year for Buddy. He suffered a heart attached in February and underwent triple bypass surgery soon after. Now fully recovered he has had one of his best years as a musical career to date.


Nominees and Winners (in bold)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Real Animal, by Alejandro Escovedo

Written in Chalk, by Buddy & Julie Miller

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, by Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit

Midnight At The Movies, by Justin Townes Earle


ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Alejandro Escovedo

Buddy Miller

Justin Townes Earle

Raul Malo


INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR

Buddy Miller

Gurf Morlix

Jerry Douglas

Sam Bush



NEW & EMERGING ARTIST

Band of Heathens

Belleville Outfit

Justin Townes Earle

Sarah Borges


SONG OF THE YEAR

“Chalk,” written by Julie Miller, performed by Buddy Miller & Patty Griffin

“Country Love” by the Gourds

“Homeland Refugee,” by Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock, performed by the Flatlanders

“Rattlin’ Bones” by Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, performed by Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson

“Sex And Gasoline,” by Rodney Crowell, performed by Rodney Crowell


DUO GROUP OF THE YEAR

Buddy & Julie Miller

Flatlanders

Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson

Reckless Kelly

Tune into the show this week to here some songs from the artists listed above.

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions - Through the Devil Softly

Eight years since her last album (Bavarian Fruit Bread) and thirteen years since Mazzy Star's last album (Among My Swan), Hope Sandoval return with a new album - Through the Devil Softly.

The album was recorded with members of the Dublin band Dirt Blue Gene and will also back Sandoval on tour. Her main partner in the Warm Inventions, however, is drummer Colm Ó CíosÓig, better known as a member with My Bloody Valentine. He was also involved in the previous album.

If you are a fan of the previous work of Sandoval then you will enjoy this new album as it sort of continues on from where she left off. The familiar sultry vocals are back. And if you thought you'd never hear from Mazzy Star again, you will be surprised to hear that Sandoval has been working on material with Mazzy Star guitarist David Roback and new material could emerge some time in 2010.

Pavement to Reform!

Amazing news from Matador. Pavement are set to reform next year for a series of shows in New York and a World Tour (hopefully this includes Australia). As mentioned in the press release below, it may not be a permanent thing and no new material is planned. But who knows?

The band split in 1999 but have remained friends ever since.

"Ever since that fateful night in late 1999 when Pavement left the public eye with a final show at London’s Brixton Academy, we’ve often fantasized about the day when we could finally tell the world “yes, Brooklyn Vegan scooped us, Pavement are back.”

After years of speculation, the most important American band of the 1990’s is returning to the stage, with the lineup of Mark Ibold, Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich and Steve West reuniting for dates around the world in 2010. Please be advised this tour is not a prelude to additional jaunts and/or a permanent reunion". Matador Records

CLASSIC ALBUMS - Richard Buckner: Devotion + Doubt

Introducing a new segment - CLASSIC ALBUMS.
Focusing on classic albums in the Alt-Country/Americana genre.

In the first of an occasional series, on this weeks show (21/9/2009) I'll be focusing on Richard Buckner's 1997 release Devotion + Doubt.



Released by MCA it is currently out of print, although of course many second hand copies exist and downloads are available.

This was Buckner's second album following his debut, Bloomed, released in 1994. The songs on Devotion + Doubt deal with the painful subject of Buckner's divorce which he went through at the time and the feelings of sadness, loss and lonliness that followed. Hence they are somewhat introspective, low key and maudlin as a result. The album contains two of my favourite all time Buckner songs, "A Goodbye Rye" and "Lil Wallet Picture" and I'll be giving these two songs a spin during the show.

The album was produced by J.D. Foster, a producer of note who has worked with many artists including another show favorite, Richmond Fontaine. It was recorded in the famous Wavelab Studio in Tuscon Arizona by Craig Schumacher and Nick Luca. Future Calexico members Joey Burns and John Convertino, then in Giant Sand acted as the backing band with Howe Gelb and Marc Ribot. The wonderful pedal steel is provided by Lloyd Maines.

Buckner recorded another album, Since, in 1998 for MCA before being dropped by the label. Now days he is signed to Merge and they released his most recent studio album Meadow in 2006. A new album is expected in 2010.

Buckner's Website
(He is obviously not a fan of illegal downloads! But who is?

Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print

Drive By Truckers (DBT) have been making music together for 13 years resulting in seven critically acclaimed studio albums which could not contain all of the songs written by the band. DBT recently dug into the New West Records vaults and put finishing touches on a selection of songs that were never quite completed. The result of the collaboration is The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008), a 12 track album of previously unreleased and rare songs. The Fine Print features songs written by band members past and present, including Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell. Seven of the songs come from the Dirty South era, a highly creative time for DBT. The record also contains four covers including 'Rebels' (Tom Petty).

Track Listing:

1. George Jones Talkin’ Cell Phone Blues
2. Rebels
3. Uncle Frank (alternate version)
4. TVA
5. Goode’s Field Road (alternate version)
6. The Great Car Dealer War
7. Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)
8. When The Well Runs Dry
9. Mrs. Claus’ Kimono
10. Play It All Night Long
11. Little Pony And The Great Big Horse
12. Like A Rolling Stone

Black Crowes - Before the Frost ... Until The Freeze

Before the Frost....features 11 new Black Crowes' studio songs. A second album, titled ...Until The Freeze, will be given away for free exclusively through a unique download code included in Before The Frost... CD as a thank you to their fans for two decades of support. The free album ...Until The Freeze has eight new original Black Crowes' studio songs plus a cover version of the Stephen Stills classic "So Many Times." Before the Frost...Until The Freeze, were recorded over a series of five nights at Levon Helm Studios. Although both are studio albums, all the new material was performed and recorded in front of an intimate audience of the band's fans.

Track Listing as follows

Before The Frost… (CD Track Listing)
Good Morning Captain
Been A Long Time (Waiting On Love)
Appaloosa
A Train Still Makes A Lonely Sound
I Ain’t Hiding
Kept My Soul
What Is Home
Houston Don’t Dream About Me
Make Glad
And The Band Played On
Last Place That Love Lives

…Until The Freeze (Free Download Album Track Listing)
Aimless Peacock
Shady Grove
Garden Gate
Greenhorn
Shine Along
Roll Old Jeremiah
Lady Of Avenue A
So Many Times
Fork In The River

Band of Heathens - One Foot in the Ether

The new album is available September 15th. Two tracks are available to download free of charge from their website Band of Heathens

Track Listing is as follows

Track Listing
1. L.A. County Blues (free download on website)
2. Say
3. Shine A Light
4. Golden Calf
5. What's This World
6. You're Gonna Miss Me (free download on website)
7. Right Here With Me
8. Let Your Heart Not Be Troubled
9. Somebody Tell the Truth
10. Look at Miss Ohio
11. Talking Out Loud
12. Hey Rider

A.A. Bondy - When The Devil's Loose

A.A. Bondy, (the initials stand for Augeste Arthur) is otherwise known as Scott Bondy and he started out his musical in a rock band called Verbena. Drawing comparisons to bands like Nirvana they eventually came to the attention of David Grohl and he produced their major label debut "Into the Pink" for Capitol Records in 1999. Verbena spilt in 2003. Bondy emerged again in 2007 from his home in upstate New York with a new name, a new folk sound and his debut solo album "American Hearts". Originally on the label Supersonic it was re-released by Fat Possum in 2008 to wide acclaim.

The new album "When The Devil's Loose" was released in late August once again on Fat Possum (Spunk/EMI in Australia) and received even wider acclaim than his debut.



A.A. Bondy on Myspace