Run, Don’t Walk to get Jimmy LaFave’s newest album – Depending on the Distance

 

New James Hand music coming soon

James Hand will be  at the Broken Spoke on Sept 4th, 2009  in Austin, TX for the CD release party for SHADOW ON THE GROUND on Rounder Records.

You can visit: http://www.jamesslimhand.com/music.html for audio clips! It sounds just like James — classic and country.

(AUDIO) Rosanne Cash to release The List on October 6 2009

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash will release her 12th studio album, entitled The List, on Manhattan Records on October 6th, 2009. This stunning work features Cash’s contemporary interpretations of 12 classic songs culled from a list of essential country tunes that her legendary father Johnny gave her in 1973, and filtered through her own unique, sophisticated perspective.

Known primarily for her stellar songwriting, Cash showcases her incredible voice on The List — her first-ever covers record. As a result, the album is Rosanne Cash like you’ve never heard her before as she embraces her heritage and sings for the pure love and beauty of these songs which have shaped who she is as an artist.

The idea for The List came about while Cash was on tour promoting her 2006 studio album, the critically heralded, Grammy-nominated Black Cadillac — a reflective song cycle about the loss of her father, mother Vivian Liberto, and stepmother June Carter Cash. During the well-received multi-media event Black Cadillac: In Concert, Cash told audiences how, when she was 18, her father became alarmed that his daughter appeared to lack a deep understanding of country music (having been obsessed with The Beatles and steeped in Southern California rock and pop music). Johnny gave her a list of the “100 Essential Country Songs” and told her that it was her education and she should learn them all.

“The list was far-ranging and thorough,” Cash says. “It was assembled from my father’s intuitive understanding of each critical juncture in the evolution of country music. There were old Appalachian folk ballads, and the songs of Jimmie Rodgers and Woody Guthrie. The influence of gospel and Southern blues were crucial. Then he segued into rockabilly and the birth of modern country music by way of Hank Williams, and up to the present, which was then 1973. He also included a couple of his own songs. I endeavored to learn them all and it was an education,” she says. “I looked to that list as a standard of excellence, and to remind myself of the tradition from which I come. This album enables me to validate the connection to my heritage rather than run away from it, and to tie all the threads together: past and future, legacy and youth, tradition the timelessness.”

Through her stylish interpretations, Cash manages to transcend genre on The List, proving that these songs deserve a permanent place in the American Songbook. Produced and arranged by Grammy-Award winner John Leventhal (Cash’s husband, who also contributes striking guitar work throughout), The List includes Cash’s covers of songs by The Carter Family (“Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow”), Hank Williams (“Take These Chains From My Heart”), Jimmie Rodgers (“Miss The Mississippi and You”), Hank Cochran/Patsy Cline (“She’s Got You”), Merle Haggard (“Silver Wings”), and Bob Dylan (“Girl From the North Country,” famously done by Dylan and Johnny Cash in 1969). The album also features a host of special guests whom Cash admires, including Bruce Springsteen (on “Sea of Heartbreak”), Elvis Costello (on “Heartaches by the Number”), Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy (on “Long Black Veil”), and Rufus Wainwright (on “Silver Wings”).

The List is the first album Cash has made since she underwent surgery in 2007 for a benign brain condition, from which she has fully recovered. When it came time to record a new album, Cash was happy to step back from the heavy themes of Black Cadillac and do a covers record that showcased her voice. It also has enabled her to finally share with the world the list of songs her father passed down to her alone.

“If my father had been a martial arts master, he might have passed a martial arts ‘secret’ on to me, his oldest child,” Cash says. “If he had been a surgeon, he might have taken me into his operating room and pointed out the arteries and organs. If he were a robber baron, he might have surveyed his empire and said, ‘Honey, some day this will all be yours!’. But he was a musician and a songwriter, and he gave me The List.”

AUDIO
“Sea of Hearbreak” feat. Bruce Springsteen–
imeem: http://bit.ly/iwtMP
iTunes: http://bit.ly/UK8lj

“Long Black Veil” feat. Jeff Tweedy–
imeem: http://bit.ly/3XipTf

Jeff Tweedy discusses ‘The List’ with Meredith Ochs on Sirius|XM’s Outlaw Country channel–

The track-listing for The List is as follows:
1. “Miss the Mississippi and You”
2. “Motherless Children”
3. “Sea of Heartbreak” (w/ Bruce Springsteen)
4. “Take These Chains From My Heart”
5. “I’m Movin’ On”
6. “She’s Got You”
7. “Heartaches by the Number” (w/ Elvis Costello)
8. “500 Miles”
9. “Long Black Veil” (w/ Jeff Tweedy)
10. “Silver Wings” (w/ Rufus Wainwright)
11. “Girl From the North Country”
12. “Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow”

George Strait, Discusses His Upcoming Release, ‘Twang’

Tommy Castro: Free Download

Download “Monkey’s Paradise” from Tommy’s forthcoming Alligator release “HARD BELIEVER”

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY OF THE NEW Tommy Castro Band CD, “HARD BELIEVER”! All pre-order CDs will be signed and shipped on the CD release date, August 11.

Malcolm Holcombe “For the Mission Baby” coming Sep 29 2009

“Not quite country, somewhere beyond folk, Holcombe’s music is a kind of blues in motion, mapping backwoods corners of the heart.”
David Fricke Rolling Stone Magazine

Born and raised in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, Malcolm Holcombe is being recognized by the contemporary U.S and European folk/americana community as a performer of national stature, and an uncommonly unique guitarist/vocalist about whom Rolling Stone magazine says: “Haunted country, acoustic blues and rugged folk all meet [here]…”

A new Malcolm Holcombe CD, For the Mission Baby, is slated for release September 29, 2009. Recorded May 2009 in Nashville at Room and Board studios, this CD heralds a return to Malcolm’s folk and country-blues roots. Along with Malcolm’s distinctive vocal and guitar performance, Tim O’Brien (mandolin, mandola, fiddle, bouzouki), Jared Tyler(dobro), David Roe (bass), and Lynn Williams(drums, percussion) round out the ensemble, with Grammy award winner Ray Kennedy(Delbert McClinton, Steve Earle) producing and engineering. For the Mission Baby is comprised of 12 new and previously unrecorded songs, and proudly takes its rightful place in the growing legacy of Malcolm’s estimable musical catalog.

“Whether fingerpicking a delicate filigree around the gospel truth…or slapping out angry chords with percussive force…Holcombe supplies all the accompaniment his true-to life snapshots need. Like a neighbor confiding at a late night kitchen table, or Job lamenting his trials, these songs feel honest and timeless.”
Paul Kingsbury- American Songwriter

“Malcolm Holcombe sings in a gruff and dusty voice harsh with experience. But there’s a wisdom to his delivery, and a brittle beauty to his rootsy tunes, that make his music a pleasure to listen to.”
Jim Farber- New York Daily News

“From the first note I was drawn in. Malcolm Holcombe is an old soul and a modern day blues poet.”
Lucinda Williams

Kieran Kane’s new album Somewhere Beyond the Roses, in-stores in the US now

Kieran Kane, one of the godfathers of Americana music and founding member of the critically acclaimed Dead Reckoning record label, cracks a wide-toothed smile when talking about his new solo album, Somewhere Beyond the Roses. “We got together in a little room, basically sitting on top of each other, and had a musical conversation for two days. I’ve made somewhere between 12-15 albums and this is the album I’ve always wanted to make – I love this record.”

The “we” Kane is referring to is Deanna Varagona (Lambchop) on baritone sax, Richard Bennett (Neil Diamond, Mark Knopfler) on electric guitar, and Lucas Kane (Kane’s son and member of Kane, Welch, Kaplin) on drums. David Olney provides backing vocals on “Don’t Try To Fight It” and long-time collaborator and multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin sits in on steel guitar on “Unfaithful Heart”. “I heard Deanna playing at The Family Wash in east Nashvile”, says Kane, “She was accompanying a folk singer and playing the most delicate voice-like backing lines – it was absolutely beautiful. I approached Deanna a few months later about doing the album, she said yes, and off we went. When I told my friends I was making an album centered around the banjo and the baritone sax, they thought I was crazy…til they heard it. It works, doesn’t it?”

Using an unorthodox banjo tuning (Kane’s Kay banjo is always tuned to GCGCC), nine of Somewhere Beyond the Roses’ eleven tracks are written in the key of C, and include very few, (sometimes no) chord changes. “The genius of the players of the 1950’s: Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, Little Walter – I was obsessed with them and how they did so much with so little. The 1950’s-era two-chord concept has always been a big influence on my music, particularly so while I was writing the songs for this album.”

Kane’s vocals are stripped down, telling raw, intimate, and honest stories lived or once witnessed. “Why Can’t You” holds man in the grips of an unforgiving lover; “Unfaithful Heart” is a knife in the gut song about loving with restraint and trepidation; “Marriage of Convenience” may hit too close to home for some listeners with its unabashed candidness, and “More To It Than This” speaks to the road weary troubadour. “Back in the late 90’s, Jamie (of The O’Kanes) and I were on tour with Merle Haggard. We walk into the lobby of a hotel after a gig and there he sits, smoking a Camel, and he looks up at us and says “Boys, there’s gotta be more to it than this.” I’ve had that line in my head for 20 years, and it took David Francey to give it a musical life.”

Many of the songs written for Somewhere Beyond the Roses were done so at Kane’s lakeside cabin refuge in the Adirondack Mountains. “The song “Anybody’s Game” was written at the cabin after spending several days listening to African music. The straightforwardness of it completely speaks to me – and my banjo playing is inspired more by African banjo than American.”

Lyrics laden with spiritual and biblical imagery might be a result of the twelve years Kane spent as a Catholic school boy in New York state. “Catholic school is something only someone who’s lived through it can understand”, laughs Kane. And if the starter track, “Way Down Below” (which really lets Varagona’s horn groove, rip and shine) is an ashes to ashes approach to life on Earth, the hymn-like “Somewhere Beyond the Roses” is its antithesis, with promises of gates of “pearly gold” and a place to “rest our weary souls”. Kane adds the caveat, “it’s not necessarily heaven. It’s the other side of whatever you’re going through – heartbreak, addiction, loss.”

Kane’s creative abilities don’t end with songwriting. He’s also an accomplished and sought after visual artist – an original Kane painting has graced all three covers of Kane Welch Kaplin’s Compass Records recordings. However, Kane turned over the art design of this release to his daughter, Lucy Kane, making Somewhere Beyond the Roses a family affair. “I completely trust my kids in their abilities and I just let Lucy go on this one. It happened to work out perfectly that she picked a plane motif – it really speaks to the “other side” and search for freedom that is an underlying theme for many of the tracks on Somewhere Beyond the Roses.

Kieran Kane started his musical career in Nashville as a songwriter for Tree Publishing and in 1982 signed a deal with Elektra releasing a self-titled album which produced two Top Ten country hits: “You’re the Best” and “It’s Who You Love”. In 1986 Kane formed a duo with fellow songwriter Jamie O’Hara, called The O’Kanes. Between 1986 and 1990 The O’Kanes charted six singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, including the Number One single “Can’t Stop My Heart From Loving You”. Kane also wrote “I’ll Go On Lovin’ You” during this time, which went on to be recorded and made famous by Alan Jackson. In 1990 The O’Kanes disbanded, and in 1993 Kane was signed by Atlantic and released his next solo album, Find My Way Home, which was produced by Harry Stinson. After being dropped by Atlantic, Kane, along with Stinson, Kevin Welch, Mike Henderson, and Tammy Rogers founded independent and groundbreaking record label Dead Reckoning in 1993, with whom Kane released four solo albums. In 2004 Kane Welch Kaplin (Kieran Kane, Kevin Welch, and Fats Kaplin – joined by Lucas Kane in 2007) signed with Compass Records and have since released three albums: You Can’t Save Everybody (2004), Lost John Dean (2006), Kane Welch Kaplin (2007). His first solo album on Compass Records, Somewhere Beyond the Roses is available in US stores now.

Patty Loveless to Release Mountain Soul II in September

Nashville, Tenn. (July 8, 2009) – Fans of roots music have asked Patty Loveless for years to reprise the Appalachian sound of her 2001 Mountain Soul CD, and now she has.

Saguaro Road Records will issue Mountain Soul II on September 29. Like its predecessor, the album will feature Patty’s crystalline country vocals amid bluegrass-tinged instrumentation.

“It’s Appalachian, bluegrass and country combined,” says Patty of her upcoming collection’s sound. “You should never try to duplicate something like Mountain Soul. What you should do is enhance. So this is like a continuation.”

The first Mountain Soul CD was issued June 2001 and as a result of fan response, Patty Loveless was invited to perform on the critically acclaimed “Down From the Mountain” tour. She says that experience introduced her to a whole new audience.

“I was blessed to be able to expose my music to people who normally don’t listen to country music. They loved the more organic, roots-y thing, but they don’t listen to mainstream country. I met quite a few people who told me that. They kept wanting me to try and recapture that sound. They’d say, ‘When are you going to do another record like this? We love this album.’ I guess they kind of talked me into it.”

As before, Patty surrounded herself in the studio with a stellar supporting cast. Her husband and producer Emory Gordy Jr. recruited fiddler Deanie Richardson, Dobro player Rob Ickes, singer Jon Randall and harmony vocalists Rebecca Lynn Howard, all of whom had backed Patty on the original Mountain Soul. But Mountain Soul II has some new textures as well. Bluegrass greats Del and Ronnie McCoury participated, as did Vince Gill, Carl Jackson, Bryan Sutton, Mike Auldridge, Emmylou Harris, steel guitarist Al Perkins, Patty’s 16-year-old vocal discovery Sydni Perry and several other visitors to the Music Row recording sessions.

“We just had such a great time,” says Patty. “It was like we were singing and playing for each other. We wanted to try and make it live, as much as possible. There were no drums, so everybody gravitated towards each other’s inner rhythms. We started the sessions on a Monday, and we finished that Thursday evening. I had so much fun making this record that I didn’t want it to end.”

The repertoire on Mountain Soul II ranges from the traditional gospel tunes “Working on a Building” and “Friends in Gloryland” to contemporary compositions such as Jon Randall’s gorgeous ballad “You Burned the Bridge” and Barbara Keith’s soaring folk ode “Bramble and the Rose.” The daughter of a Kentucky coal miner, Patty restores the original mining lyrics to Harlan Howard’s 1962 classic “Busted.”  On the Emmylou Harris song “Diamond in My Crown,” Patty’s vocal is accompanied by a harmony part from its originator. Emory’s co-written “When the Last Curtain Falls” is a honky-tonk masterpiece. The lovely melody of “Fools Thin Air,” penned by Susanna Clark and Rodney Crowell, is drenched in bluegrass harmony. The throbbing “Prisoner’s Tears” is backed by sighing steel guitar.

Patty Loveless reemerges as a songwriter on Mountain Soul II with “(We Are All) Children of Abraham” with Emory as her collaborator. The team also co-wrote “Big Chance.”

“It all just came together,” says Patty of the Mountain Soul II recording sessions. “It was like we were in my living room performing.  I loved being around those folks. Having all of those people in there, you felt like you were at a really special get-together.”

Mountain Soul II is the follow-up to Sleepless Nights, Patty’s Grammy Award nominated debut album for Saguaro Road. To date, the singer has issued eight Gold Record albums, four of which have gone on to Platinum status. Patty Loveless is also noted for such chart-topping hits as “Timber I’m Falling in Love,” “Chains,” “Blame it on Your Heart,” “You Can Feel Bad” and “Lonely Too Long,” as well as such enduring fan favorites as “I Try to Think About Elvis,” “How Can I Help You Say Goodbye,” “I’m That Kind of Girl” and “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am.”

(Audio) George Strait to release Twang – August 11

“Living For The Night” (audio)

Nashville, TN (July 7, 2009)  – George Strait’s “Living For The Night,” the first single from his upcoming album TWANG, hit the Top 15 mark in just three weeks making it one of the fastest rising singles of his career.  The song, written by Strait, his son Bubba Strait and legendary songwriter Dean Dillon sits at #15 this week on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and #13 on the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart. With the debut single racing up the charts, the street date of TWANG has been moved up to August 11, 2009.

“It makes a papa proud to have my son contributing to the creation of this record,” Strait admits. “We had a great time writing with each other and then Dean adding his magic made it even more special. I hope the people that buy this record have as much fun listening to it as I had making it.”

“Living For The Night” marks the first time Strait has penned a song since “I Can’t See Texas From Here” from his 1982 debut – Strait Country.  Strait co-wrote two additional songs on TWANG – “He’s Got That Something Special” and “Out Of Sight Out Of Mind.”  Bubba Strait also wrote the track “Arkansas Dave.”

Co-producing this thirteen-track disc with legendary producer Tony Brown, Strait proves again why he has sold over 67 million albums throughout his record-breaking career. TWANG, Strait’s 38th album, was recorded at Shrimpboat Sound Studio in Key West, FL. It is the same studio where they recorded Strait’s last two award-winning albums.

2009 has already been a year of accolades for Strait. His platinum-selling Troubadour was named “Best Country Album” at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in February.  In April, Strait was the fifth artist ever to receive the Academy of Country Music’s Artist of the Decade honor.  Most recently, he headlined the kick-off event at the new Dallas Cowboys’ stadium, selling out the venue is less than an hour.  The concert was hailed by the Dallas Morning News as “an extravaganza” that “showcased Strait at the pinnacle of his musical game.”

With a career spanning more than 25 years, Strait has 57 #1 singles to his credit, which is the record for more Number One hits than any artist in history including Elvis.  His 33 different platinum or multi-platinum albums have earned him the most RIAA platinum certifications in country music and third in all genres behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley.  Strait was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006, making him one of a few artists to receive such an honor while still actively recording and producing music.

Track Listing for TWANG:

1.  Twang – Jim Lauderdale, Kendell Marvel and Jimmy Ritchey

2.  Where Have I Been All My Life – Sherrie Austin, Will Nance and Steve Williams 3.  I Gotta Get To You – Jim Lauderdale, Jimmy Ritchey and Blaine Larsen
4.  Easy As You Go – Steve Bogard and Rick Giles
5.  Living For The Night – George Strait, Bubba Strait and Dean Dillon
6.  Same Kind Of Crazy – Delbert McClinton and Gary Nicholson
7.  Out Of Sight Out Of Mind  – George Strait and Bubba Strait
8.  Arkansas Dave – Bubba Strait
9.  The Breath You Take – Dean Dillon, Jessie Jo Dillon and Casey Beathard
10. He’s Got That Something Special – George Strait, Bubba Strait and Dean Dillon
11. Hot Grease And Zydeco – Gordon Bradberry and Tony Ramey
12. Beautiful Day For Goodbye – Doug Johnson and Pat Bunch
13. El Rey – Jose Alfredo Jimenez

Delbert McClinton to release new album

The three-time Grammy® Award winning artist Delbert McClinton has not changed his musical formula, but he’s subtly enhanced the flavors on his thirteenth studio album Acquired Taste. The reflective lyrics provide one of the wisest and most introspective albums of the Texas roots music legend’s musical career.  The new record, available August 18th from New West Records, was produced by Grammy® Award winning producer Don Was (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt).  Acquired Taste will be released as a 14-track CD as well as a deluxe CD/DVD with never before seen performances from one of his Austin City Limits TV appearances.

Acquired Taste Track List:

1. Mama’s Little Baby

2. Starting A Rumor

3. Can’t Nobody Say I Didn’t Try

4. Never Saw It Comin’

5. Do It

6. I Need To Know

7. People Just Love To Talk

8. Until Then

9. Willie

10. Wouldn’t You Think (Should’ve Been Here By Now)

11. She’s Not There Anymore

12. When She Cries At Night

13. Cherry Street

14. Out Of My Mind