“Songs of Wood and Steel” by Los Cenzontles and David Hidalgo in stores now – special guests include Linda Ronstadt, The Estrada Brothers, Pete Sears and Julian Gonzalez

(Los Angeles, CA – Tuesday October 21, 2008) – Los Cenzontles released their latest album “Songs of Wood and Steel” with the special collaboration of David Hidalgo from Los Lobos. The album has a very contemporary sound as it merges rock and blues meticulously with traditional Mexican music.

 

“Songs of Wood and Steel” is the seventeenth album  from   Los Cenzontles, which was co-produced by David Hidalgo who also sings, plays keyboards, electric guitar and traditional musical instruments as the guiro and guitarron jarocho. Other special guest include: Linda Ronstadt who sings “El Chubasco”, The Estrada Brothers on “Crei”, Julian Gonzalez on the song “Son de las Olas” and Pete Sears on “Red River Road”.

 

When asked about Los Cenzontles commitment to keeping Mexican musical traditions alive, Hildalgo said,   “What they are doing is beautiful for the community and it’s out of love and respect for the culture and the legacy of the music. It is really important and I am happy to do whatever I can to keep it going.”

 

The album includes 14 songs, which were recorded in Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center in February of this year.

 

Tracklisting:

1.     Mi Único Camino

2.     El Chubasco (with Linda Ronstadt)

3.     El Chivo

4.     Red River Road part One (with Peter Sears)

5.     Naninan Upirin

6.     Howling Moon

7.     Cien Años

8.     Quaking Giant

9.     Son de las Olas (with Julián González)

10.                        La Tragedia de Rosita

11.                        Las Ciudades

12.                        Creí (with The Estrada Brothers)

13.                        Volando en los Cafetales

14.                        Ojitos Negros

 

Los Cenzonltes will be touring several cities in the state of California were will perform songs of the new album.

 

October 25                 Fandango Jarocho, San Pablo CA

November 1               Day of the Dead, Hollywood CA

November 5               Knitting Factory (with David Hidalgo), Hollywood CA

November 12             Yoshis Oakland (with David Hidalgo), Oakland CA

 

More About Los Cenzontles: The Los Cenzontles Mexican Arts Center was founded in 1989 by Rodriguez, and provides training and performing opportunities in traditional Mexican roots music for singers, instrumentalists and dancers ages l0-25.  The touring group has recorded more than l7 cds, 2 of which were on famed folk label Arhoolie Records, and toured throughout the US and Mexico.  Los Cenzontles first met Hidalgo in 1994 when Rodriguez produced Papa’s Dream, the Grammy winning children’s album by Los Lobos, on which the group performed.   They also performed on the Los Lobos Kiko and the Lavender Moon tours in 2005-2006.

 

For more information on Los Cenzontles, please visit: www.myspace.com/themockingbirds or www.loscenzontles.com

Then and Now (#001)

I Only Want To Be With You

Dusty Springfield

Shelby Lynne

Shooter Jennings revives father’s old recordings

Link to free MP3 from this album (brought to you by TCB and Vagrant Records) Waylon Jennings: Outlaw Shit

Check out this Wall Street Journal story on the release as well…

AP: NASHVILLE, Tenn., Wed Oct 22

Back when Shooter Jennings set out to make an album with his dad, country music star Waylon Jennings, he was 16 years old and a big fan of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails.

The result was a collection of songs with psychedelic guitar parts and odd vocal effects that never saw the light of day.

Jennings set the project aside and forged ahead with his own career.

Now, almost seven years after his father’s death, he’s retooled the recordings and released them on a new CD, “Waylon Forever,” billed as the late country star’s final recordings.

“It’s more mature,” Jennings said recently of the new arrangements he added with his band, the .357s. “At the time, being 16, I think I didn’t know how to embrace subtly as much.”

His father sings on the eight tracks and plays guitar on two of them, “Jack of Diamonds” and “Lonesome On’ry and Mean.”

The disc features remakes of Jennings classics such as “Waymore’s Blues,” a cover of Cream’s “White Room” and a never-released Waylon Jennings composition called “I Found the Body.”

The younger Jennings credits his girlfriend, Drea de Matteo, and his producer, Dave Cobb, with finally getting the CD released on Vagrant Records.

“They were pushing me, ‘You know, you’ve got to do this,’” Jennings recalled. “It was always there, but it was always intimidating to me to go back and try to revamp it.”

Until then, he said, “I wasn’t in a place yet to do it. In my own music and in working with my band and with my producer, I had to get to a place where I really felt it was the right time.”

Johnny Cash – I am the Nation

Crazy for Trying

Original Link – Crazy for Trying – Michael McCall – Nashville Scene

Lee Ann Womack’s new single, “Last Call,” could be a reply to George Jones’ “I Always Get Lucky With You.” In both, a guy who habitually ends his nights in bars tends to phone the same woman at closing time. In Jones’ song, he characterizes the moment—in his bluest, most slurring tone—as a lifeline that saves him from further descent. Womack knows the woman would see it differently.

In Womack’s song, when the guy calls, the woman recognizes the number on her caller ID. Only this time, she doesn’t answer. Instead, she visualizes the scenario: The bartender just announced it was closing time, and the guy is cradling a final glass of Johnny Walker Red as he realizes he’s going home alone. So he dials her number, because, as she sings, “I’m always your last call.” The lyrics eventually turn the phrase around, as the woman promises herself that this indeed will be his last call—at least to her.

Womack performs the song with sensitive restraint, pouring emotion into a few key phrases, just as Jones did on his 1983 hit—one of Jones’ standards that define what many country fans today consider as classic country music. Womack’s voice is just as effective and just as good at conveying the combination of pain and strength that the lyrics ask of her.

Likewise, the musical arrangement provides a good example of how Nashville can update country traditions without losing their emotional heft. Just as Jones’ producer Billy Sherrill blended steel guitar and country chord progressions with orchestrated strings and elegant piano, producer Tony Brown and Womack use a similar mix of old and new elements to create something powerful and fresh.

The same holds true throughout Womack’s exceptional new album, Call Me Crazy. She and her veteran producer combine traditional and contemporary ideas into spare, breathing arrangements that add nuance to the real-life dramas of Womack’s well-chosen material.

Womack’s love for traditional music occasionally steps to the foreground. There’s the mournful fiddle solo that opens “The Story of My Life,” the steel guitar that shadows her vocal melody in “Either Way,” the old-school chord progression of “If These Walls Could Talk,” and the laid-back Texas waltz rhythms of “Everything but Quits,” her duet with George Strait.

But those are shadings. For the most part, Womack and Brown focus on gentle washes of orchestrated strings, liquid chords on pianos and electric keyboards, and dispersed rhythms that bring a sophisticated maturity to these songs. It’s a combination that Womack has worked hard at perfecting, and once again she makes it work with amazing acuity.

From her introduction 11 years ago, Womack has been heralded for remembering that country music has a rich past that pre-dates the Reba/Garth/Shania revolution. Her old-school moves have won her critical favor and, at times, even commercial acclaim. But it has also led to a backlash by purists when she dares to enter contemporary territory; just as often, she’s struggled with radio programmers, who have sometimes embraced her and sometimes let her stumble.

Womack understands as well as anyone the difference between traditional country and what she does. The older style still flourishes today, even if country radio ignores it. Sunny Sweeney, from Austin, resembled a young Womack on her Big Machine Records debut. More pointedly, Houston’s Amber Digby and her band, Midnight Flyer, create Southwestern dance-floor country with all the gusto of a foamy head of beer. Her new album, Passion, Pride and What Might Have Been, is the place to go for those who think good country music ended when Ray Price stopped recording shuffle rhythms.

But Womack strives to make country music that acknowledges the past without living in it, just as Jones did in the ’70s, George Strait in the ’80s and Alan Jackson in the ’90s. That’s why she moved from Texas to Nashville—just as Digby, a Nashville native, moved to Texas to sing her kind of country.

All of which underscores what a minefield the term “traditional” can be. As with “punk” among rock fans, “organic” among health-food enthusiasts or “family values” among conservatives, the term is aimed specifically at those who seek it out. But, as any marketing whiz will attest, code words that draw passionate responses can repel as well as attract. Attach the term “traditional” to a song, and a big-time country radio programmer will respond the same way a gay couple would to a politician espousing a “family values” platform.

Lee Ann Womack appreciates the term’s double-edged nature. Now that Patty Loveless no longer records for a major label, Womack represents the most tradition-friendly female artist still likely to get played on corporate country radio. But the dilemma this presents has surfaced repeatedly through her career.

She first drew attention by releasing several of the most hardcore country songs to reach radio in the ’90s, including the ballad “Never Again, Again” and the sassy “I’ll Think of a Reason Later.” But she achieved her greatest success when she shifted toward the contemporary in 2000 with the award-winning hit “I Hope You Dance.” She also weathered her biggest career letdown with her most strident pop-country move, the 2002 album Something Worth Leaving Behind.

Since then, she’s concentrated on finding a way for tradition-based music to fit into modern country’s pop-flavored format. Call Me Crazy certainly succeeds creatively—let’s hope radio sees the potential for these songs to bring a needed depth to the format as well.

International Country Artist Rodrigo Haddad Named Ambassador, Releases New Album

(Nashville, TN – Oct. 22, 2008)  Brazilian country music artist Rodrigo Haddad has been named a 2008 International Country Music Ambassador following the release of his latest album, From Brazil to TN.

The award, presented by the International Country Music Day Organization (www.ICMDAY.org), named Haddad and international promoter Judy Seale as the two Ambassadors for 2008 on Sept. 17.

“I’m so happy to receive this award.  It’s an honor and will only inspire me to work harder,” said Haddad.

The rising Latin American star also recently released his sophomore album, From Brazil to TN, which took nearly two years to complete.  The recording process began in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but eventually moved to Nashville, TN, where Haddad finished the album at County Q Studios.  Eleven of the album’s fourteen tracks were written by Haddad.

“My new album is a dream come true,” he said.  “Recording in Nashville is a unique experience and I’m really proud of the way it turned out.  It’s a big step in my career.”

Haddad will perform a handful of dates in Nashville in support of From Brazil to TN in November.

Tuesday, 11/04/08 – Cadillac Ranch
Thursday, 11/06/08 – Ri’chard’s Louisiana Café
Tuesday, 11/11/08 – Commodore Sports Bar & Grill

Haddad was a performer at the very first CMA Global Artist Party prior to the CMA Music Fest in 2004.  His first album, Ten Years and More to Come was released in 2005 and he was nominated for the CMA Global Country Artist Award in 2007.  He has been performing for more than a dozen years and receives extensive radio play across Europe and Latin America. 

For more information, visit www.rodrigohaddad.com

Music review: Hank Williams III is stirring things up again

Original Link

“Damn Right Rebel Proud” (Sidewalk Records)

Hank Williams III would have you believe he’s just another redneck, hiding out in east Tennessee with a pistol, a case of beer and a bad attitude.

He may be, but he’s an artist, too.

A natural-born storyteller – like his father, his grandfather and presumably every ornery member of the cantankerous line – Williams not only carries on the family tradition, he builds on it on his latest album with the kind of lyrical virtuosity the original Hank used to transform country music. His subject matter just happens to be a little different.

But “Damn Right Rebel Proud” isn’t all whiskey, weed and wild women as Hank III would have us believe. Sure, there’s plenty of that stuff. But his “Damn Right Rebel Proud” shows you can’t dismiss him as a wannabe redneck who knows his audience.

There are moments of pure beauty and uncommon insight from a man capable of playing top-notch traditional country music and subverting it in the same instant.

Williams covers the same kind of ground he worked in three previous albums, but he carves it up in new ways both musically and lyrically. He sings directly to and about his audience – guys who work for a living, count out change for a six pack and get betrayed by the system.

On “3 Shades of Black,” he sings: “Depression misery and hellacious fun … We’re a certain breed and we don’t like you/Some are junkies, some are freaks and some are everyday ghouls. “Wild and Free” is a slow piece spiked with a mocking steel guitar and plenty of venom about “Livin’ hard, wild and free.” “Me & My Friends” takes the traditional down-and-out country song and pushes it into a zone of truthfulness your buttoned-down Nashville songwriter wouldn’t venture with its acerbic opening line: “I’m all messed up and drivin’ around town.”

“Damn Right Rebel Proud” is at its best – like Hank III – when its jacked up and drivin’ hard. “H8 Line” and “Long Hauls & Close Calls” are the highlights. The two tracks are pieces of country psychedelia that feel like a hard night of partying with a few unsavoury characters.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: “The Grand Ole Opry (Ain’t So Grand)” is Hank III’s anthem for the campaign to get his grandfather reinstated into Nashville’s country music hall of fame. It’s irreverent, hilarious and profane enough to twirl Minnie Pearl’s hat right off her head.

Top Ten Old Time Memphis Records

Original Link

Having recently returned from Memphis’ annual Gonerfest (a three-day musical showcase built around the bands the stalwart local label and record store, Goner Records, promotes), it seems only right to lay down a list of some of my favorite old-time Memphis records. Mind you, as Gonerfest illustrates, Memphis still brims and bustles with music of every style and beat.

 

The following are just a few of my all time faves, records I return to again and again. They may be hard to track down, but they’re worth the effort. Even if you can’t find the original 45’s, all of these songs have been reissued over the years.

Each entry below is accompanied to a link to an audio/video version of the song. Check’em out. Fall in love. Seek out the vinyl.

So without further ado, and in no particular order except equal greatness, my Top Ten Old Time Memphis Records:
 
1. Johnny Ace, “Pledging My Love.” Romantic, haunting, creepy. This ballad from the tragic R&B star (he died in a Russian Roulette accident in 1954) has been used in many a movie, including Abel Ferrarra’s “Bad Lieutenant.”

2. Rufus Thomas, “Memphis Train.” The clown prince of Memphis soul recorded for Sun Records and more famously, Stax Records. This raging R&B ode to love and trains is hard to beat.

3. Charlie Feathers, “That Certain Female.” Why Mr. Feathers is only appreciated by a cadre of die-hard roots music enthusiasts and rockabilly nuts is beyond me. Check out the LPs available from Norton Records.

4. Billy Lee Riley, “My Gal is Red Hot.” With a raw, gravely voice and a manic stage presence, Riley cut his best material for Sun Records, both as a front man and as a session musician. This song, covered by many a retro rockabilly, is one of his finest offerings.

5. Booker T. and the M.G.s, “Green Onions.” Recorded at Stax Records, otherwise known as Soulsville, U.S.A., this is one of the best brooding, strutting instrumentals of the ’60s from one of the South’s first interracial music acts.

6. The Prisonaires, “Just Walkin’ in the Rain.” Just one of the many great groups obscured by Elvis Presley’s tenure at Sun Records, the Prisonaires were actual Tennessee state prisoners that the warden allowed out — accompainied by armed gurads — to record at Sam Philips’ burgeoning R&B studio. The 45 went on to sell over 250,000 copies.

7. Bill Justis, “Raunchy.” Another killer instrumental from Sun Studios, this catchy and kooky number features the warbly-yet-wonderful sax work of Justis himself, who took over blowin’ duties when the session player assigned the instrument failed to show up to the recording date.

8. Jerry Lee Lewis, “Whole Lotta Shakin.’” His personal foibles have been the subject of movies, documentaries and books, but the important thing to remember is that the Killer recorded some of the most energetic, foot-stomping songs of the ’50s. This is just one of them.

9. Sam and Dave, “When Something is Wrong With My Baby.” They may be best remembered for “Soul Man,” but this hot buttered ballad, penned by Isaac Hayes and his Stax writing partner, David Porter, is a beautiful, juicy slice of classic ’60s soul.

10. Carl Mann, “Mona Lisa.” A love song penned around the famous portrait, this is yet another sadly underappreciated Sun Record, featuring smart lyrics, precise playing and a bouncy energy that can’t be denied.

MUST LISTEN: Punk/Indie Greats Honor The Man In Black – Check Out The Exclusive Full Album Stream Link

All Aboard: A Tribute To Johnny Cash  In Stores Today  

Check Out The Exclusive Full Album Stream on www.Punknews.org!

Punk/Indie Greats Honor The Man In Black 

Lineup Includes: The Bouncing Souls, The Dresden Dolls (Feat. Franz Nicolay Of The Hold Steady), The Gaslight Anthem, The Sainte Catherines,  

 Ben Nichols  Of Lucero, Chuck Ragan And Many More!

 

Anchorless Records To Donate All Profits To The Syrentha Savio Endowment (SSE)
Non-Profit Organization Providing Financial Assistance  
 To Underprivileged Breast Cancer Patients  

All aboard the Johnny Cash Express! Boasting a lineup of punk and alternative rock’s most indie minded artists, proudly wearing their hearts on their sleeves while effortlessly blending Punk Rock with Americana, this new homage to the spirit of Johnny Cash is good for the soul and for our communities. Anchorless Records will be donating all the profits of All Aboard: A Tribute To Johnny Cash to the Syrentha Savio Endowment (SSE), a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford the expense of fighting breast cancer.

The range of songs chosen include Johnny Cash’s first single (The Flatliner’s covering “Cry, Cry, Cry”) and travels through a long and unparalleled career to the last single released by the Man in Black, “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” performed by The Gaslight Anthem. It is our hope that through this record we are able to introduce a new generation of music fans to the songs and importance of Johnny Cash via their favorite artists. The liner notes include quotes from each artist, expressing their feelings on the impact Johnny Cash has had on them both musically and personally.

 

The vinyl version of All Aboard features an alternate version of “Delia’s Gone” by Ben Nichols of Lucero.  

Anchorless Records has partnered with www.Punknews.org to bring music fans an exclusive full album stream of the release. Listen to the entire record now at: www.punknews.org/bands/allaboardatributetojohnnycash.

All Aboard: A Tribute To Johnny Cash

Track Listing:

1. Man In Black: The Bouncing Souls

2. Country Boy: Fallen From The Sky

3. Wreck Of The Old ’97: Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music)

4. Let The Train Whistle Blow: Joe McMahon (Smoke or Fire)

5. Delia’s Gone: Ben Nichols (Lucero)

6. God’s Gonna Cut You Down: The Gaslight Anthem

7. Cocaine Blues: The Loved Ones

8. Give My Love To Rose: OnGuard (feat. Jason Shevchuk of Kid Dynamite and None More Black)

9. I Still Miss Someone: Casey James Prestwood (Hot Rod Circuit)

10. Hey Porter: MxPx

11. Cry,Cry,Cry: The Flatliners

12. Ballad of a Teenage Queen: The Dresden Dolls feat. Franz Nicolay of The Hold Steady

13. Folsom Prison Blues: Chon Travis (Love = Death)

14. There You Go: The Sainte Catherines

15. I Walk The Line: Russ Rankin (Good Riddance, Only Crime)

16. Bonus Track/Vinyl Only: Delia’s Gone (Alternate Version) Ben Nichols (Lucero)

About The Syrentha Savio Endowment (SSE)

The Syrentha Savio Endowment (SSE), an Internal Revenue recognized non-profit organization, provides financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford the expense of fighting breast cancer. Since their inception in 2002, SSE has raised funds through a handful of programs including The Shirts for a Cure Project, The SSE Benefit Concert Series, annual charity dinners, awareness walks and online auctions. SSE has awarded gifts to organizations that help women in struggling neighborhoods find the means to fight this killer. For more information on SSE see www.syrentha.org.

Chris LeDoux’s Band “Western Underground” Releases New Single Carries on LeDoux Music Traditionle!

Nashville, TN- Filled with the powerful and energetic influence of the late Chris LeDoux, recording group Western Underground is set to release a new single to country radio titled “Good Ol Days To Come.”  After years of touring with LeDoux as his backup band Western Underground is still carrying on the legendary cowboy’s music while also making some of their own.

In light of the times we are currently living under we could all use some “Good Ol’ Days to Come” and Western Underground delivers it not a moment too soon.  The new single hits the radio airwaves on October 27th.

Western Underground has been busy touring the country this past summer and garnering new friends on their My Space page.  The band also has a song featured in a new documentary called America’s Core. The featured song, “King of Wyoming” is from the current CD, UNBRIDLED.

Check out Western Underground’s new music and read the latest news at www.myspace.com/westernunderground or at www.westernunderground.com.