Americana literati Rodney Crowell continues down the path blazed by his previous three records with Sex & Gasoline. Crowell bounded onto the music landscape in 1988 with the Top 40 crossover album Diamonds and Dirt, which produced an astonishing five number one singles and a Grammy Award for the single ‘After All This Time.’ As part of Emmylou Harris’ original Hot Band, Crowell’s musical pedigree is unquestionable, at one time even earning him the right to remake Johnny Cash’s singular ‘I Walk the Line’ with Cash himself singing Rodney’s reworked melody. With his new album Sex & Gasoline, he continues to write about contemporary themes. Sex & Gasoline was produced by the legendary Joe Henry and contains what Crowell says are, “some of the best performances I’ve given to date.” For the new material Crowell and Henry brought in some of music’s most skilled sidemen including Doyle Bramhall II (acoustic and electric guitar), Greg Leisz (acoustic and electric guitar, pedal and lap steel, mandolin, mandocello and dobro), Patrick Warren (piano, pump organ and Chamberlin), David Piltch (upright and electric bass) and Jay Bellerose (drums and percussion).
THE SEX & GASOLINE FALL TOUR Tues., Oct. 14 ATLANTA, GA Smith’s Olde Bar
Wed., Oct. 15 NEW YORK, NY Nokia Theater
Thurs., Oct. 16 ATHENS, GA The Melting Point
Sat., Oct. 18 CHARLOTTE, NC Visulite Theater
Sun., Oct. 19 ANNAPOLIS, MD Rams Head On Stage
Tues., Oct. 21 ALEXANDRIA, VA Birchmere
Wed., Oct. 22 SELLERSVILLE, PA Sellersville Theater 1894
Thurs., Oct. 23 ALBANY, NY Sawyer Theatre at The Egg
Fri., Oct. 24 NORTHAMPTON, MA Iron Horse Music Hall
Sat., Oct. 25 NEW YORK, NY Town Hall Theatre
Mon.-Tues., Nov. 10-11 HOUSTON, TX The Mucky Duck
Wed., Nov. 12 AUSTIN, TX One World Theatre
Thurs., Nov. 13 DALLAS, TX Poor David’s
Sat., Nov. 15 DENVER, CO The Walnut Room
Sun., Nov. 16 ASPEN, CO Belly Up
Wed., Nov. 19 SAN DIEGO, CA Belly Up
Nashville, Tenn.– Austin-based guitar-slinger and songwriter Monte Montgomery will once again turn the music world on its well-tuned ear with the release of his self-titled seventh studio album on September 30th on Eminent Records with distribution through Thirty Tigers/Sony RED Music.
Named as one of Guitar Player Magazine’s “Top 50 All-Time Greatest Guitarists” and the only artist to win the “Best Acoustic Guitar Player” at the Austin Music Awards seven years straight, Monte Montgomery is world-renowned for his dizzying fretboard wizardry. Guitar hero status aside, Montgomery is also a multi-dimensional songwriter and storyteller as well as a talented arranger and remarkably soulful vocalist. He is one of the very few living guitar gods able to synergize technical shredding with deep soul connection in his songs and performances. Austin City Limits producer Terry Lickona describes the musician perfectly, “Monte Montgomery blows people away. There is no other way to describe it.”
On his self-titled release, Montgomery tastefully demonstrates a guitar flair that is mind-blowingly technically proficient without sounding overbearing, self-absorbed or pretentious. Occasionally percussive yet always fluid, Montgomery’s high-speed, vicious fingerpicking attack is beautifully accented by deftly placed harmonics, hyper speed fretboard work and neck bends. With the vertigo-inspiring swoops and dives, most are amazed when learning that this is an amplified acoustic instrument and not a Stratocaster. But what completes the six-string driven energy is the strength and depth of Montgomery’s storytelling and emotive, affecting vocals.
Monte Montgomery is a collection of love songs and straight-out rockers, where the artist is the author of 11 of the album’s 12 tracks. From the opener, the swampy, slippery, slide-driven “River” to the beautiful, well-orchestrated “Love’s Last Holiday” through the album’s closer, the well-crafted, dark “Midlife Matinee,” Montgomery exhibits his obvious songwriting chops, melding Motown soul with modern rock and holding onto enough twang to enrapture any Texas Music adherent. Montgomery is solidly backed by the rhythm section of David Piggott on bass and Phil Bass on drums and the addition of guest Reese Wynans’ (organ) on the Latin-tinged “Moonlight Tango” and the funky, jazzy “Could’ve Loved You Forever.”
Praised as highly for jaw-dropping live interpretations of the songs of his heroes Lindsey Buckingham, Mark Knopfler and Jimi Hendrix as he is for his original compositions, the lone cover here is the 10-minute-plus tribute-opus of Hendrix’ “Little Wing,” where Montgomery channels the spirits of the string gods. With the current industry trend to over process and create cut-and-pasted music, “Little Wing,” as well as the entirety of Monte Montgomery was recorded live in the studio with no overdubs. This record was accomplished with GRAMMY™-nominated engineer Rob Clark and produced by John Billings. According to Montgomery, “…some very clever mic placement techniques from Rob and John enabled us all to set up in the same room and just play each song straight through.”
If YouTube is where today’s stars are showcased, Montgomery is again in a class by himself. With millions of views of his fan-recorded videos, he’s a star on the Internet already. This coupled with a multitude of devoted fan sites and tributes from his devotees, the “Montiacs,” and a rigorous touring schedule which will place the musician in over 150 international cities this year, Montgomery is showing one convert at a time that it’s still all about the live performance. As the LA Times puts it, “The bottom line; don’t miss a chance to see and hear Monte Montgomery. He is a legend in the making. Astounding, unforgettable raw passion and artistry at its finest.”
Not since Joe Satriani and fellow Austinite Eric Johnson in the early ’90s has a guitarist broken through to the masses. It’s about time for a guitarist’s guitarist to return to the mainstream fold. Monte Montgomery is poised to make that leap.
Nashville, Tenn.– “I’m two sheets to the wind,” a rejected would-be lover announces on the upbeat title track on Empty Pockets, the second independent recording from Brooklyn-based Americana quintet Yarn, set for release on September 23, 2008, “and I’m callin’ on the bar again.”
Edgy, straightforward, occasionally defiant songs of life’s personal losses, outrages, and embarrassments, warmly delivered with a homey, good-natured, “whatcha gonna do” musical embrace–that’s not a combination commonly heard on many roots rock, alternative country or old school country string band records. But that’s the lyrical heart and textured, skilled instrumentals that mark Yarn’s harmonious, winning new song set. “Yeah, we may be in a sunny groove,” says the band’s lead singer and songwriter Blake Christiana, “but when you pay attention to what we’re actually talking about, it may be kind of heartbreaking.”
Several who’ve been paying attention to the rising band jumped in to join in on the music, often after just one Yarn encounter. Empty Pockets features affecting fiddler and vocalist Caitlin Cary (of Tres Chicas; Whiskeytown), “New Bohemian” Edie Brickell (harmony vocalist on the lazy ballad “I’m Down”), bluegrass and rock fiddle wizard Casey Driessen (of the Sparrow Quartet) and veteran newgrass banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka.
Yarn’s first album, a self-titled record released in 2007, reached #14 on the Americana Music Association’s Top 40 chart. Since the release, the band, which features Trevor MacArthur on guitar and harmony vocals, Andrew Hendryx on mandolin, Rick Bugel on bass, and Jay Frederick on percussion, has developed a passionate following up and down the East Coast, and on some side trips to Nashville. The band formed in the spring of 2006 as both an evolution and a break from Christiana’s long-lived jam-centered electric band, Blake & The Family Dog. Electric instruments sometimes appear in Yarn’s live shows, but this band focuses first on energetic acoustic instrumentation. As the band’s name, which references both the handmade and the saga, reflects on crafted, storytelling songs.
Yarn may be a city band that gelled into the harmonious unit it has become. The process took place in hard-working, regular landmark stands of New York clubs, including Kenny’s Castaways and Hill Country. There’s a lot of Gram Parsons-inspired county soul in the songs they deliver, from the hard honky-tonk of “I Feel So Low” to the Whiskeytown-channeling, alt-country tones of “Christopher Street,” to the exuberant string band pyrotechnics of “Can’t Slow Down.”
Knitting together the band’s distinctive tone are Christiana’s smooth, controlled, and expressive lead vocals, which reflect an unmistakable core toughness for all of their polish. The vocals put Blake right in line with a group of singers he admires and is receiving comparisons to in early reviews – Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, Ryan Adams, Rick Nelson – or Jerry Garcia in his Old and In the Way string band vocalist mold. And Andrew Hendryx’s fluid, contemporary mandolin stylings add to the “old and new, flinty but friendly” Yarn tone across their varied song set. The addition of fiddle, dobro and lap steel on Empty Pockets adds instrumental breadth.
“We’re not trying to say anything too deep,” Blake Christiana says, of the yarns spun on Empty Pockets, “though maybe some are deeper than others! Mainly, these are just some easy-to-swallow songs. We mean to entertain people.”
Praise for Yarn’s Empty Pockets:
“Empty Pockets — an unusually smooth, low-key collection of heartfelt, bluegrass-tinged alt-country songs.” – T. Ballard Lesemann, Charleston City Paper
“…simply great writers and musicians playing songs that the common man can relate to…” – Jeffrey Kurtis, Today’s Country Magazine
Tour Dates:
September 23 – New York, NY – Rockwood Music Hall
September 25 – New York, NY – National Underground
September 26 – Burlington, VT – Nectars
October 2 – New York, NY – Hill Country
October 3 – Albany, NY – Valentines
October 18 – Chestertown, MD – Andy’s
October 30 – New York, NY – Arlene’s Grocery
November 1 – Charlottesville, VA – Fellini’s
November 2 – Raleigh, NC – Slim’s Downtown
November 5 – Knoxville, TN – Blue Plate Special
November 6 – Johnson City – Cahootenany’s
November 7 – Asheville, NC – Jack Of The Wood
November 8 – Harrisonburg, VA – Clementine Cafe
November 14 – Manchester, CT – Main Pub
December 4 – New York, NY – Arelene’s Grocery
Lost Highway is set to release LITTLE HONEY on October 14th, the new album from three-time Grammy Award-winner Lucinda Williams.LITTLE HONEY, Lucinda’s must eclectic album to date, features a duet with Elvis Costello (“Jailhouse Tears”) and guest vocals from Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs.
ON TOUR NOW:
9/25/2008 – Asheville, NC – the Orange Peel
9/26/2008 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theater
9/27/2008 – Charleston, SC – North Charleston Performing Arts Center
9/29/2008 – Charlotte, NC – Belk Theater
9/30/2008 – Raleigh, NC – Memorial Auditorium
10/3/2008 – New York, NY – WaMu Theater at MSG
10/4/2008 – New Haven, CT – Shubert Theater
10/7/2008 – Albany, NY – The Egg: Hart Theatre
10/8/2008 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theater
10/9/2008 – Montreal, QC – Metropolis
10/11/2008 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
10/12/2008 – Rochester, NY – Harro East Ballroom
10/14/2008 – Ann Arbor, MI – Michigan Theater
10/15/2008 – Columbus, OH – LC Pavilion
10/17/2008 – Nashville, TN – War Memorial
10/19/2008 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
10/20/2008 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
10/21/2008 – Des Moines, IA – Hoyt Sherman Auditorium
10/23/2008 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
10/23/2008 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
10/24/2008 – Chicago, IL – Riviera Theater
10/25/2008 – Madison, WI – Orpheum
11/5/2008 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
11/5/2008 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
11/7/2008 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre
11/9/2008 – Edmonton, AB – Arden Theatre
11/10/2008 – Calgary, AB – Jack Singer
11/12/2008 – Vancouver – Vogue Theater
11/13/2008 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
11/14/2008 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
11/16/2008 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
11/17/2008 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
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Taking it Back to the Roots! 