John Mellencamp has announced the release dates for two albums and a film documentary, and will hit the road for some summer and fall tour dates.
First comes the official announcement of On the Rural Route 7609, a four-CD set, coming June 15, that includes 12 unreleased tracks — including writing demos of “Jack and Diane,” “Authority Song” and “Cherry Bomb” and poetic readings of songs like “The Real Life” by actress Joanne Woodward. The 54 tracks and each disc is set up as an individual album with common themes rather than being presented in chronological order.
Many of Mellencamp’s biggest hits, such as “Hurts So Good,” “Paper in Fire” and “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” are not on the album.
“I have no interest in going back and putting together a bunch of hits,” Mellencamp explained on his website. “I had this idea of discovery. I think all of those songs (on On the Rural Route 7609) were overlooked…I thought this was just a good way to say, ‘OK, so this isn’t about hit records. This is about what the rest of these albums were about ”
Rounder Records, a new label for Mellencamp, will release No Better Than This, on August 3. Produced by T Bone Burnett, it’s an album of all new original songs recorded at a variety of historically significant locations around the South. Mellencamp told billboard.com that he wrote the thirteen songs included on the album during a thirteen-day span last spring.
“I was tightly focused,” he related, “I got up every day and wrote and wrote and wrote.”
Among the locations were the First African Baptist Church, the first Black church in North America dating to pre-revolutionary times. The original congregation and ministry were slaves; the church, in fact, provided sanctuary to runaways before emancipation. He and his wife Elaine were baptized there before the sessions commenced, and he has a home in the area.
They also recorded at Sun Studios, using a 1955 Ampex tape machine and establishing a makeshift recording booth in a construction shed in a vacant lot next door. Mellencamp and his musicians arranged themselves on the studio floor in accordance with markings that had been laid down by Sam Phillips many years before for optimal presence.
He also recorded in Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio is where Robert Johnson first recorded for Brunswick Records in November of 1936.
Filmmaker Kurt Markus documented the No Better Than This sessions for a movie that Mellencamp plans to use to open a run of theater shows that’s slated to begin in October.The concerts will include the movie, a stripped-down acoustic set with his band, a solo segment and then a fully electrified rock set.
He said the record was “the most fun I’ve ever had making a record in my life. It was about making music — organic music made by real musicians — that’s heartfelt and written from the best place it can come from”.
Mellencamp, who’s playing four shows in July, has plans for minor league baseball stadium dates with Bob Dylan later this summer, according to his website.
See tour dates
Track list on page 2
Rob Nichols
Indiana's Jason Wilber to Join John Prine on "Letterman" Wednesday
Indiana’s Jason Wilber will join John Prine and Jim James (from My Morning Jacket) on The Late Show with David Letterman this Wednesday night. Jason has played with Prine for many years, is also an Indiana-based Americana singer/songwriter, and has been part of the Hoosier Dylan/Springsteen/Hank/Johnny shows that have been rolling through the the state. Good guy who plays a tastefully dirty guitar. And that is a good thing. So is having James join the mix.
Prine’s performance is to push the upcoming album Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine album. Prine is playing shows the next weekend in Little Rock, AK, and Memphis (with the legendary-in-Memphis Keith Sykes opening up, before heading to Bonnoroo June 12. He also has a live album out, In Person & On Stage.
John Prine website
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Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows
Twelve newly-recorded versions of classic Prine songs
tracklist:
1) Justin Vernon of Bon Iver — “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)”
2) Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band — “Wedding Day In Funeralville”
3) My Morning Jacket — “All The Best”
4) Josh Ritter — “Mexican Home”
5) Lambchop — “Six O’Clock News”
6) Justin Townes Earle — “Far From Me”
7) The Avett Brothers — “Spanish Pipedream”
8) Old Crow Medicine Show — “Angel From Montgomery”
9) Sara Watkins — “The Late John Garfield Blues”
10) Drive-By Truckers — “Daddy’s Little Pumpkin”
11) Deer Tick featuring Liz Isenberg — “Unwed Fathers”
12) Those Darlins — “Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian”
Indiana Music – Max Allen Band – "Ending Sun"
There’s no arguing Max Allen has progressed from a teenage guitar wunderkind to a young-but-maturing blues player with chops. His “Ending Sun” album builds on his base of blues, yet gives listeners a record with a lilting twist.
Inescapable is the reggae/Dave Matthews/Jack Johnson musical thread that runs through the album. The set is less a traditional Stratocaster-driven blues/rock record than an homage to a groovier, smokier day. Lyrically, Allen still takes dives into the Duke Tumatoe school of writing: sassy and ribald words mixing with jamming lead guitar (albeit less than previous records) with plenty of room for the band to breathe. But the album stretches to be more than a record of blues guitar sounds.
From the opener “Three Little Words”, Allen pushes forward his agenda of a polished, powerful production while revealing a Phish and Dead vibe. Though he lets loose a few solos (notably a nearly two-minute guitar fire on “Lazy”) Allen, drummer Shaan France and bass players Dave Robie and Ethan James are steadfast in maintaining a sound that never completely blows into musical jamming territory. That’s a good thing, mind you. This is Allen’s best sounding and most mature record to date.
That said, there are bits of indulgent matter, including the aforementioned “Lazy”, one man’s ode to staying on the couch, watching TV, belching and masturbating. But for every poor man’s Tumatoe moment (and there are a handful – I’m looking at you “Master Bedroom”) there are beautiful chord changes and pieces of music that are his best ever. “Carina’s Song” soars as a mid-tempo lament, with bright major chords into just the right amount of minor chords to color it melancholy. “Know Your Rights” succeeds as a Bob Marley-influenced instruction manual on how to handle the cops when they come a-knockin’.
And then there’s the album closer, a stone-cold killer version of Tupac’s “California Love”, complete with some Auto-Tune and rapping. No song on the record impacts more forcibly, with lyrics or music. Amazing performance from a white blues dude from Indiana. Shows both the depth of Allen’s talent, and the brilliance of Tupac’s songwriting.
It also presents a reason for Allen to continue to grow as a songwriter. His playing, especially live, is simultaneously guttural, gifted and sonically beautiful. His lyrics and writing still have room for some stronger, human condition understanding. Each of his past five albums hints at a deeper talent waiting to come out. This sixth record is a worthy slant to his style, and shows a more versatile side to one of the core blues artists of Indiana.
Max Allen Band website
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Upcoming Shows:
Max Allen Band
June 4 at Booney’s in Avon, IN – 8187 E. US Hwy 36 (Rockville Rd) – 8:00pm
Max Allen (solo)
July 2 Chateau Thomas Winery, 8235 E 116th St, Fishers – 7:00pm
July 3 The Cabana Room, 36 E Main St, Brownsburg, IN – 9:00pm
Best Early Season Music Fest? Ohio River Folk Festival This Weekend
One of Indiana’s best festivals, Ohio River Valley Folk Festival, moves into its fifth year this weekend (May 21-23). Look at the highlights of this one: brilliant and retro bands like Asylum Street Spankers and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Genuine legends Loudon Wainwright III and The Subdudes. And a full afternoon of regional artists on Sunday. You ever been to Madison? It’s freakin’ be-a-utiful. And the river folks like to have a good time. If you go, have a drink at the Broadway Tavern, the oldest bar in an old town, and then wander to Shipley’s at night. That’s where the party goes when it gets late. And then to Hinkle’s Hamburgers on Main St. for greasy gut bombs at 3am.
Oh, there’s more to hear. I’ve got your schedule below, and a couple video bits below to let you create your own preview…and may I say, The Subdudes will rock, and have for years.
SEE FULL SCHEDULE ON PAGE 2
Rolling Stones to go to #1? Urban and Phish roll (and rock) Keith and the boys
With the Rolling Stones “Exile on Main Street” re-released, I read today on Robert Hilburn’s (longtime LA Music writer) Twitter feed that the package may hit #1 this week on the album chart, which is nearly unheard of for a true, non-compilation re-release (think about all those Elvis songs repackaged. Or the Beatles. I don’t count them). Also makes me think back to what Late Night with Jimmy Fallon pulled off last week – producers brought in a band each night to perform their version of a tune off that legendary Stones album. It became a perfect example of making a show feel niche and cool and retro too. The week became nicely hit-and-miss. Even when some artists struggled to make their take a definitive version (Green Day on “Rip This Joint” and Sheryl Crow on “All Down the Line”), they still looked like they were having fun. And when a band found the magic and had a great performance (Keith Urban with “Tumbling Dice” and Phish with “Lovin’ Cup”), it was great music TV.
Below are two of the best. Seen them yet? I can’t find the Phish version anymore, so I substituted a smart next-best take.
Urban’s band is straight up rock and roll here and gives us the side of the artist that’s been drowned out by Nashville hitmaking pop bullshit on his recent albums. Bonus: Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell joins them.
And Phish? They were freakin’ inspired and just so damn good on their song. Put any anti-jam band bias in your pocket for five minutes (I did) and just get into it
KEITH URBAN (from the show)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhFWH9OUt-o]
PHISH (live version from film “Phish 3D”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrbdtsLSy0Y]
Petty Plays Two Songs from New Album on SNL – The verdict? Petty Zep, Man
Tom Petty on SNL 5.15.10
Petty with no guitar? That never happens. Heavy duty, Jimmy Page-ish Mike Campbell guitar playing? That should happen more. The longtime Heartbreaker guitar slinger stretches out and added a dirty slide solo as they played “I Should Have Known It” (from their new album) for their first song on the season finale of Saturday Night Live. It was Zeppelin Blues, wrapped into a Petty sound we haven’t heard from him for, maybe ever. I like it. More interesting than recycling his “Learning to Fly sound” It makes the Hearbreakers a suddenly retro-but-not-like-themselves band – though the Mudcrutch swamp fury obviously rubbed off on what they have done for the new record, Mojo, due out June 15.
After reuniting in 2008 with his former Florida-based band (which was actually Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, plus original Mudcrutchers Tom Leadon on guitar and vocals and Randall Marsh on drums), they made a a heavier-than-Petty jam-based rock album. It still had roots in the Petty base of pop/rock sound yet probably was recorded puffing on some good weed; more “Exile on Main Street, less “Turn, Turn, Turn”
And that sound, from what I’ve listened to online and now seen, has carried into this TP and the Heartbreakers album. And the first song Saturday night on SNL rang with that vibe
Hear’s a peek at the album version – Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers – “I Should Have Known It” – official video
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_iBKacXIA4]
For their second tune, which was slotted into the final ten minutes of the broadcast, they came with a new blues-rock number, with Scott Thurston holding down a pulsing harp and a band rocking a Chicago electric blues groove. Much more tangibly retro, with a vibe culled from old Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley records. Not as interesting of a performance, until the two Mike and Tom guitar solos, played simultaneously with echoing leads.
Here’s what it is: You’ve got the kind of music that sounds good turned up loud, after three beers and some grilled burgers in a garage or backyard patio, on a summer night. The album and sound may be his most interesting and gut-invoking music in ten years. Or since that last Mudcrutch album.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (with Drive By Truckers) play at Deer Creek (Verizon Wireless Music Center) in Noblesville July 10.
One more thing: In November 2009, Petty told Rolling Stone’s David Fricke that it was his intention to record the album live in the studio without overdubs. He said the album is “blues-based. Some of the tunes are longer, more jammy kind of music. A couple of tracks really sound like the Allman Brothers — not the songs but the atmosphere of the band.”