Todd Snider’s next album The Excitement Plan, comes out June 9 and you can stream it now
listen here
I like Todd (and love-love-love the live show) but need a couple more listens to the album. Underwhelmed right now. But then, that has happened before to me some great albums (always on U2 records and R.E.M records, it seems).
Here’s Todd telling a great bar story about meeting Slash:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rijCrZOpj_Y]
Former Wilco band member Jay Bennett died at age 45 over the weekend. The multi-instrumentalist died in his Illinois home May 23. Things were pretty messed up for Jeffy Tweedy and him at the end for their time together, and Jay seemed to be searching for something. He wasn’t getting what he needed in the group, and left/was fired. His recent $50,000 lawsuit against the band for unpaid royalties was odd. This is just sad.
You can hear Wilco’s untitled new record (set for a late June release) streaming on their website site at wilcoworld.net.
John Fogerty has finished his next album, “John Fogerty: The Return of the Blue Ridge Rangers,” a sequel to his 1973 solo album. We don’t know when it’s coming out,” Fogerty tells Billboard.com. “We’re in talks. Stuff can change.”
OK. We can live with that, if that is your answer, Mr. Fogerty. T-Bone Burnett produced the record, which means it will be a bit of a departure in sound for Fogerty who has fully embraced his old CCR sound on the most recent records.
Here’s some Fogerty (with Kenny A. bangin’ on drums) from last year:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_wWxj4-5mM]
The Americana Music Association announced the nominees for its 8th Honors and Awards ceremony
The ceremony will be held September 17 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, during the Americana Festival and Conference. It’ll be hosted by Jim Lauderdale, featuring a band led by Buddy Miller.
NOMINEES
Album of the Year
Real Animal, Alejandro Escovedo
Written in Chalk, Buddy & Julie Miller
Jason Isbell & The 40 Unit, Jason Isbell & The 40 Unit
Midnight At The Movies, 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
The Belleville Outfit
Justin Townes Earle
Sarah Borges
Song of the Year
“Chalk”
Written by Julie Miller
Performed by Buddy Miller & Patty Griffin
“Country Love”
The Gourds
“Homeland Refugee”
Written by Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock
Performed by The Flatlanders
“Rattlin’ Bones”
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
“Sex And Gasoline”
Rodney Crowell
Duo/Group of the Year
Buddy & Julie Miller
The Flatlanders
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
Reckless Kelly
americana
Indiana Roots-Rockers The Elms Set Album Release; with Henry French and Shameless in Indy Friday; Mellencamp Box Set, More
The Elms’ new studio album, “The Great American Midrange”, is out on August 25 and will have 12 brand-new songs, recorded in Nashville and Seattle from February – April of this year. Their new single, “Back To Indiana”, will have its official premiere this Sunday on ABC during the national television broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 race
Of the local bands (regional bands?) that flip my Americana switch, they are one. And they team with an up-and-coming band to hit the Rathskeller in downtown Indy Friday (5.22) night. The Elms just wrapped recording a new album, and are out playing tracks from it. More of their crunchy, literate heartland rock. Henry French and the Shameless open up. Check out their webpage, ’cause you may not be familiar with who they are. If you are reading this, you will like it.
BONUS TIP: It is the outdoor biergarten with French from 7-8p and Elms rock from 8-11pm. Hands down, it is the best place to see live music in the summer. Stop arguing. Go see. Good beer.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IF3KBPD8hk]
Summer Roots Rock album releases…and more to come.
JUNE 9
TODD SNIDER – THE EXCITEMENT PLAN
RHETT MILLER – RHETT MILLER
TODD SNIDER – THE EXCITEMENT PLAN
RHETT MILLER – RHETT MILLER
JUNE 23
TIFT MERRITT – BUCKINGHAM SOLO
LEMONHEADS – VARSHONS
PATTERSON HOOD – MURDERING OSCAR
JUNE 30
WILCO – WILCO (THE ALBUM)
LEVON HELM – ELECTRIC DIRT
JULY 7
SON VOLT – AMERICAN CENTRAL DIRT
THE JAYHAWKS – MUSIC FROM THE NORTH CO…
John Mellencamp will release a four-disc, 72-track box set titled “On the Rural Route 7609” this fall. The number 7609 is a reference to the fact that the set spans Mellencamp’s entire recording career from 1976 to 2009. It will include a disc of early demo recordings, two discs of various versions of well-known songs and previously unreleased songs, and a fourth disc that will include different versions of other material. It is estimated that 65-75% of the material on the box set will be previously unreleased recordings, whether they are demos or alternate versions of familiar songs or songs that were never released for one reason or another.
INDIANA AMERICANA: Stella and Jane
Even when comparing artists to other similar-sounding bands, there seems to be a musical flavor that runs through many of the artists who come from Indiana. A lack of pretension. A small, almost unnoticable degree of dirty rock in the sound. And usually a nod (or more) to some kind of 60 or 70’s rock sound, even from today’s younger bands.
Stella and Jane are Stella Weakly and Bobbie Jane Lancaster, based in Bloomington, and with harmonies Indigo Girl-like. But there is far more twang from these two (and the band that comes along) than to stop with that comparison. Soulful, folky and even three-chord rockish in places, the album “On With the Show” also features multi-instrumentalist Jeff Foster.
Concert Review – Hoosier Springsteen Show featuring Tim Grimm, Jason Wilber, Bobbie Lancaster, Gordon Bonham and White Lightning Boys
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_voEMwQcYgA]
Saturday night’s Hoosier Springsteen — a tribute to Springsteen’s music paid by Indiana artists — proved to be an inspired effort not only by the musicians, but also by the crowd, who hung in and responded throughout the three-plus hour show. It was the first edition of the event, put together by Indiana songwriter Tim Grimm, following on the Grimm-organized Hoosier Dylan tribute show.
Unlike doing a similar show for nearly any other artist, those on stage had to meet the challenge of doing more than simply singing Bruce’s songs. To be truly effective in capturing the essence of Springsteen, they had to hit on at least two of the three skills that make Springsteen legendary. They did.
It’s hard to miss on the songs. With few exceptions, Springsteen’s catalogue of songs is exquisite, with more tunes to choose from than could be played in one night.
Secondly, there’s the performance. While albums like “Nebraska” or “The Ghost of Tom Joad” are unarguably lo-fi affairs, picking a song from a record like “Born to Run”, “Darkness on the Edge of Town” or even “Born in the USA” means taking on the iconic music too. It’s either replicate or reinvent if you take a shot at those records.
And the third challenge is finding a way to add a little homage to Springsteen’s live show. The best live performer of his generation, the Hoosier Springsteen gang needed to bring the power, the touches of gospel and the push that comes with his live performance for the night to be a complete success.
Turning a rundown Crump Theatre in Columbus, Indiana into the perfect venue for a debut of a the Grimm-led series, the singer and actor took a break from performing in a stage play in Chicago to trek back to Southern Indiana and treat the 150 or so in attendance to a night that made us glad we were there.
Among the performers included Grimm, John Prine guitarist Jason Wilber, guitarist and songwriter Gordon Bonham, Bloomington-based singer and songwriter Bobbie Lancaster and hillbilly bluegrass band White Lightning Boys, plus a terrific backing band, highlighted by the spectacularly tasteful Troye Kinnett, from John Mellencamp’s band, on keys.
WATCH VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
Leaning heavily on “Nebraska” and “Born In the USA” material – 14 of the night’s 31 (!) songs were from those two early and mid 80’s records – the musicians found “Nebraska” perfect for a night of Americana songwriters playing Bruce music. Yet it was individual performances that elevated the evening’s best moments, when performers strayed slightly from the records.
Columbus singer Dale Sechrest opened each of the two sets solo, “Cover Me” appropriately starting the show, followed by the obscure “Jesus Was an Only Son” to a hushed crowd. Wilber, a hell of a guitar player, introduced the band with a rollicking “Hungry Heart” and the first magical moment of the night, teaming with Bonham and Kinnett for an angry “State Trooper”. Lancaster provided the first glimpse at her engaging stage persona and “aw shucks, ain’t I a killer singer?” voice with a bluegrass-inflected “All I’m Thinking About is You” from the “Devils and Dust” album.
Grimm joined for Lancaster for a smoldering duet of “I’m on Fire,” the band’s restrained playing and Kinnett’s mid-80’s keyboard touch gluing the song together, making it new and classic at once. Perfect.
Bonham’s first turn at vocals came with Nebraska’s” “Reason to Believe”, morphed into a country shuffle, complete with Lancaster and two friends dancing behind the band. The band stayed with the 1982 album for “Open All Night”, creating a jubilant rock song that had the audience moving up front to dance and Jason and Gordon trading searing leads. Another keeper.
Poet Matthew Jackson provided a breather with his first of three appearances, reading original poetry, before the White Lightning Boys turned in an Avett Brothers-like performance of “I’m Goin’ Down”, followed by the economic hardship song “Youngstown” from The Ghost of Tom Joad.
Grimm and his wife Jan dueted beautifully on the sad story song “Highway Patrolman”, before the group hit on a set of tunes that became the best segment of the night. “Devils and Dust” started the momentum with a great vocal from Tim, and a more uptempo performance than on the record, followed by “Johnny 99,” featuring stinging leads from Bonham’s Fender Telecaster.
But it was the Wilber/Bonham duet on “Born in the USA” – just two guys, two Telecasters and a bit of a crowd singalong too – that told the crowd why they came. Wicked guitar playing and Wilber emanating a comfortable yet forceful energy on stage perfect for the song and the night. That song led into the full band’s rousing and fun “Glory Days.”
Lancaster grabbed “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep” off the Seeger Sessions” record, released in 2006, with Kinnett’s accordian playing and Lancaster’s southern lilt working together. “My Hometown” wrapped the first set up, and it clicked along nicely, in part because she changed the lyrics to reflect a daughter instead of a son in the song.
A more ragged second set began with a trio of songs from the bluegrass White Lightning Boys, on stage for “Old Dan Tucker”, “Nebraska” and “Mrs. McGrath”, followed by Grimm and Wilber for the title cut from “The Ghost of Tom Joad”. Sechrest came back for Seeger Session’s obscure “Eye on the Prize”.
Give the band extra kudos for next tackling one of the legendary anthems of Springsteen canon. “Racing in the Street” is long, beautiful, and iconic. Not the easist to pull off, but they did. “Used Cars”, and a pair from the 1995 “Greatest Hits” album followed, with Tom Clark contributing a lovely sax solo during “Secret Garden,” replete with Wilber playing along, eyes closed, fully in the moment.
Grimm led “Blood Brothers” with son Conner onstage playing bass, and they stayed for a joyous “Thunder Road”. Bonham burned in a rendition of “Atlantic City”, using a fiery Bruce concert arrangement.
An unexpected “Meeting Across the River” off “Born to Run” from Jason led to a finale of the title cut from that 1975 record, putting a fitting cap on a Springteen length live show.
For a Bruce fan, it was special to watch some of the best from our little state tackle Jersey’s chosen son. And give the crowd credit for making the night fun and helping make the first shot at performing this show a winner. Worth a trip to Danville to see the next outing on June 20.
Dylan and Mellencamp Announce Tour, plus Old Crow, WhoaTiger! and Drive-By Truckers
ROCK TWANG NOTES:
»New Old Crow Medicine Show video for “Caroline” from the Tennessee Pusher album
watch it here
»Chuck Mead, the co-founder of the former band BR549 will release a new album, Journeyman’s Wager, on May 12.
»The New Bluegrass: Five Acts to Watch: From rollingstone.com
Legends Del McCoury and Sam Bush weigh in on Old Crow, Avett Brothers, O’Death and more
read story here
»The folks over at indianapolismusic.net have a post about Whoa!Tiger. Guitar-driven pop/rock/blues. They have some dates at Locals Only on the calendar. Worth a listen.
read article here
Listen to music here
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZR51d2cpu0]
Live at Paste – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
The former Drive-By Trucker doing an acoustic performance of “The Blue” live in the Paste Magazine studio. The cut is from their self-titled sophomore release that came out in February.
watch video here
»Drive-By Truckers leader Patterson Hood will release his second solo album, Murdering Oscar (and other love songs), on June 23.
***
WILD THING + CRIMSON AND CLOVER = ROOTS
The most accessible (though derivative) thing that Pricnce has done in a long time is his new “Crimson Clover” (his variation of the title) on one of his new albums released this spring. He melds Tommy James and the Shondells with The Troggs to create a nicely done cover hybrid. And he appeared on Ellen (!) to play it. So let’s go to the video. (For the record, I like this version…)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXmI6p-HMAA]
I’M DIGGIN…Pandora Radio on the web
Pretty simple. Create your own music mix by entering artists and titles, and they make a streaming “radio station” for you. It’s on now as I am writing. Rob’s Roots Rock Radio. It’s quite good, I must say. When I created it, I believe I entered The Bottle Rockets, Bruce Springsteen and The Del Fuegos as core artists and everything was based on similar artists and styles. Since then, I’ve added J. Geils Band, John Eddie, Dan Baird, WIll Hoge, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Chuck Berry, Bob Seger and the Bodeans.
It is streamed at 128kbp, so the sound is about like FM. I like it better than LastFM.com, a similar site. Listening just now, it moved into a classic rocker bender and I heard cut from the J. Geils’ mediocre Love Stinks album, “The Joker” from Steve Miller, a live “Running on Empty” from Jackson Browne and CCR’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” with a gorgeous Hammond B’3 coming through that I hadn’t always heard. But then went more alt-country Bottle Rockets, Uncle Tupelo and then served up a band called Prisonshake.
You can’t rewind. Catch them as they fly by. Fast forward to the next tune if you want. No commercials. Try it if you haven’t. And if they woud just make it possible to upload your own audio pieces and really start to allow users to make it their own, then it would earn my coveted “Best Thing Ever” stamp of approval. It is just shy of that designation now .
hear Rob’s Roots Radio
THIS COULD BE INTERESTING DEPT.
Called “An uncanny tribute to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, featuring Matt Ryan and American Dream” on their website, the band comes to the Bluebird in Bloomington May 13th and the Vogue in Indy on May 14th. I can’t ever remember a Springsteen tribute band coming through here. I have watched their video online. I think it could be fun for Bruce fans. A band playing a couple hours of Springsteen is OK with me anytime.
watch preview video
»Lengthy and excellent Bob Dylan interview online. He talks about his favorite songwriters, and namechecks John Prine, Jimmy Buffett(!) and more. Check out the dates below…he will play in South Bend and Louisville, if you arew looking for the nearest shows.
read article here
Bob Dylan’s Ballpark Tour Dates:
Bob Dylan has just announced a new lineup for this year’s summer concert tour. Along with Willie Nelson, this summer, The Bob Dylan Show will also feature John Mellencamp, marking just the second time in the past 24 years that these three performers have shared the concert stage.
Mellencamp: “We’re going out there with the full band and we’ll be playing material from over the past 30 years–a combination of new and old material including songs from Life Death Love and Freedom and songs that haven’t been recorded yet. We’ll be playing for about 75 minutes each night.”
7/2, Sauget, IL (GCS Ballpark)
7/4, South Bend, IN (Coveleski Stadium)
7/8, Louisville, KY (Louisville Slugger Field)
7/10, Dayton, OH (Fifth Third Field)
7/11, Eastlake, OH (Classic Park)
7/13, Washington, PA (Consol Energy Park)
7/14, Allentown, PA (Coca-Cola Park)
7/15, New Britain, CT (New Britain Stadium)
7/19, Syracuse, NY (Alliance Bank Stadium)
7/21, Pawtucket, RI (McCoy Stadium)
7/23, Lakewood, NJ (FirstEnergy Park)
7/24, Aberdeen, MD (Ripken Stadium)
7/25, Norfolk, VA (Harbor Park)
7/28, Durham, NC (Durham Bulls Athletic Park)
7/29, Sevierville, TN (Smokies Park)
8/4, Round Rock, TX (The Dell Diamond)
8/5, Corpus Christi, TX (Whataburger Field)
8/7, Grand Prairie, TX (QuikTrip Park)
8/11, Glendale, AZ (Camelback Ranch)
8/12, Las Vegas, NV (Cashman Field)
8/14, Fresno, CA (Chukchansi Park)
8/15, Stockton, CA (Banner Island Ballpark)
Video: Social Distortion's Mike Ness, Springsteen Rock Bruce's 2nd LA Show
Whether you know it or not, I temper my enthusiasm for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Not everyone likes him, and I’m OK with that. Probably have never been to a show, but whatever.
In honest-to-Telecaster truth, I believe Bruce and the band will, 50 years from now, have gone down in history as the most legendary rock and roll band ever. I have never been disappointed at a live show. Never. I have seen 15. And that ain’t many, I realize, compared to the crazies. He is the gold standard; other artists have to give a killer live show or there’s no love from me.
And it really helps if they write great songs.
Those are the rules, fair or not, when you read the Rockforward blog.
Yet, there is a big, big stack of rock and roll/roots rock/Americana artists and music I love – all non-Bruce. Great music from hundreds of bands. We have favorites. We have music and bands newly discovered. And there’s lots and lots of music that I hear and turn you on to, because it’s what turns me on. That’s the idea and promise.
And right now, I am loving the video posted today (Friday (4.17) of Springsteen and Social Distortion’s Mike Ness at Bruce’s second night in LA Thursday. They are rocking Social Distortion’s “Bad Luck”. The guitar playing is incredibly rockin’ and just when you think it’s all done…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZPpL_gGzlE]
Setlist:
Badlands
Candy’s Room
Outlaw Pete
No Surrender
Adam Raised a Cain
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Youngstown
Raise Your Hand
Proud Mary
Growin’ Up
Hungry Heart
The Promised Land
The Wrestler
Backstreets
Bad Luck (w/ Mike Ness)
Lonesome Day (w/ Jay Weinberg)
The Rising (w/ Mike Ness and Jay Weinberg
Born to Run (w/ Jay Weinberg)
* * *
Hard Times
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land
Glory Days
Roots Rock Notes: Gaslight Anthem live acoustic, Wilco on tour, Petty kicks back, Son Volt's new album
I have your audio, your video, the news you didn’t know, and it’s all free. Unbelieveable, I know.
.: Hey, ho, rock and roll. Deliver me from nowhere… :.
GASLIGHT ANTHEM’S BRIAN FALLON LIVE ACOUSTIC
•Brian Fallon and his band The Gaslight Anthem are one of the (deservedly so) hot bands right now – schooled in the art of the garage rock and the rock-with-a punk-edge bands like The Replacements. “I don’t think there would be a Gaslight Anthem without the Replacements,” Fallon told SPIN Magazine. He played an acoustic cover of the Minnesota indie band’s “Left of the Dial,” and it is posted on the magazine’s website.
Watch 3 song acoustic session including “That ’59 Sound” and “Left of the Dial”.
WILCO IN BLOOMINGTON w/ Hawk and a Hacksaw opening
•A legendary alt-country band, right? One step removed from Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Tweedy and his band are in Bloomington for a show at the 
IU Memorial Auditorium on April 16. It’s not sold out; kinda interesting. The band plays two nights in Milwaukee before coming to Bloomington, and both of those are sold out, though the proximity of Milwaukee to Chicago aids that sale. (you can hear two previous concerts on their website)
According to the band site, a still-untitled next Wilco album is nearing completion. Jim Scott and the band just finished mixing in Jim’s studio in Valencia, California. They list song titles, though the record isn’t sequenced and some titles may change:
Deeper Down
Conscript (aka I’ll Fight)
One Wing
Solitaire
Wilco (the song)
Country Disappeared
Everlasting
Bull Black Nova
Sonny Feeling
You and I
WILCO American Tour Schedule (from wilcoworld.net)
APR-14 MILWAUKEE, WI PABST THEATER
APR-15 MILWAUKEE, WI PABST THEATER
APR-16 BLOOMINGTON, IN IU AUDITORIUM
APR-17 ATHENS, OH TEMPLETON-BLACKBURN ALUMNI MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM
APR-18 KNOXVILLE, TN TENNESSEE THEATRE
APR-20 ATHENS, GA CLASSIC CENTER
APR-21 ASHEVILLE, NC THOMAS WOLFE AUDITORIUM
APR-22 BIRMINGHAM, AL SLOSS FURNACES
APR-23 OXFORD, MS LYRIC OXFORD
APR-25 NEW ORLEANS, LA NEW ORLEANS JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVAL
JUN-12 CINCINNATI, OH ARONOFF CENTER
JUN-13 MANCHESTER, TN BONNAROO
ROCK TWANG NOTES:
→Son Volt will return this summer with their sixth-full length album. The new record is titled American Central Dust.
→Rosanne Cash is dipping back into her childhood for her next album, “The List”.”‘The List’ is based on a list my father made for me when I was 18 years old,” Cash tells Billboard. “He called it the ‘100 Essential Country Songs’ and said if I learned this list, I would be truly educated. We are culling about 15 songs from the list, and re-interpreting them, with the respect of an archivist…”.
→Ron Wood said that he’s recorded about a dozen songs for a solo album called “More Good News.” Produced by Bob Rock and Wood , with gueststhat include Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.
→Sister Hazel plays at the Bluebird in Bloomington on Friday night.
LA TIMES DOES BRUCE:
“We played on the last tour and there were some empty seats here and there and, well, there shouldn’t be any empty seats at an E Street Band show,” he told the LA Times. “I hold pride that we remain one of the great wonders of the world . . . so sometimes you got to remind people a little bit.”
read full story
REMASTERING THE BEATLES
The Beatles whole catalog is going to be digitally re-mastered and released on September 9. The remastered discs will be available individually in stereo and in two box sets – one stereo and another in mono. Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles for Sale, Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, The Beatles (The White Album), Abbey Road and Let It Be all get remastered, plus Past Masters I and II.
→The David Lynch Foundation’s Transcendental Meditation benefit in New York became a Beatles reunion of sorts as Ringo Starr joined Paul McCartney on stage for the show’s three-song finale at Radio City Music Hall
read story here
***
BAND THAT I LIKE w/ FREE DOWNLOADABLE BOOTLEG
John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives
John Paul Keith is a native of Knoxville, TN, living in Memphis and has played in a lot of bands (The V-Roys, among others). Listen to his tunes on myspace and if you want to (BOOTLEG ALERT) download a free live album of his work, click on this link
“This was a gig I did in Knoxville at the Corner Lounge about 3 years ago, with a pickup band put together by Jeff,” Keith said. “This was an important gig for me at the time, because I hadn’t played my songs in public in about 2 years, and it was really great to play for the home folks. It really inspired me to get going again. Not long after that show, the One Four Fives eventually got together in Memphis.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ndm2esvpx4]
***
ROB’S “IPOD SHUFFLE EXPERIENCE – Week 5
•Inside the randomness that is my digital library. Shuffling the iPod, and we take the first five tunes, starting now:
1. “Lookin’ For Love” – J. Geils Band
From a bootleg recorded in Detroit in 1977. They are the only band I have never seen live that I really wanted to. I grew up in Michigan, so word would filter out of Detroit that the band had played some four-hour show at a club. By the time they went big with Freeze Frame in 1980, the nastiness was a bit worn off. Their live albums before that, especially “Blow Your Face Out”, are essential.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRezwP_znTc]
After spending most of this decade on hiatus, they played the new House of Blues club in Boston in February and will return to Detroit to play the Fillmore April 24.. The HOB set was reportedly great, as the Patriot-Ledger described the band as “light-years beyond every expectation, inhumanly tight despite a lengthy hiatus, and palpably enjoying every minute of their return”.
2. “That’s What I Am” – Dan Baird
Off his first solo record “Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired”, this is a party song set to a Chuck Berry-meets-Replacements groove. The hit off this album was the cute but cool “I Love You Period”. I saw this tour in Fort Wayne, with a band that had (speaking of the Replacements) Slim Dunlap on guitar.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFpsDAL4oKE]
3. ” So Hard Done By” – The Tragically Hip
Who the hell is Tragically Hip, you ask? Probably one the most critically acclaimed rock and roll bands to come from Canada. Another show I saw in Fort Wayne (at the same bar as Baird too). Really underplayed on radio stations of America. They are like a Canadian Cheap Trick – been around forever, melodic songs, and great live show. They also harken back to the 70’s with echoes of REO along with a definite 1990’s alt rock taste, yet not overwhelmingly so. I hear BoDeans in their music too.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vHEV3llaHY]
4. ”Kiss Me in the Dark” – Randy Rogers Band
Some of that great Red Dirt country rock, out of Texas and Oklahoma. One of my favorite sounds is this little genre. Cross Canadian Ragweed, Stoney Larue, and Charlie Robison are just a few who have made a career touring Texas. Rogers has now been on Letterman and “The Tonight Show” in the past year.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoBlryfjlCc]
5. “Fallen Angel” (live) – Poison
I’ve got no problem pledging my love to the golden age of Poison, and it survives, even through the whole Bret Michaels “Rock Bus of Love” thing. Part bubble gum rock, part heartland rock (the band is from Pennsylvania, in case we all forgot), and complete candy. Plus the original members are still together, so that counts fror something. Guilty pleasure? Your call.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5lTt0jZ330]
AND FINALLY
•Excellent interview with Tom Petty on his website from late last year that I just came across. It includes the greatest answer ever to the the following question:
Interviewer: “Tell me about a day-in-the-life of Tom Petty, off the road and out of the studio. What’s on the itinerary?”
Tom Petty: “It could be any number of things. That house I have on a lake plays a big role these days. I get some books, sit around and read for awhile, then maybe go out on my boat and try to catch a few bass, come in and watch a few movies in the evening, maybe smoke one, play guitar or noodle at the piano. But this not working thing is, for me, really harder than working” (laughs).
Read full interview (.pdf) – interviewed by Warren Zanes, former guitar player for Del Fuegos and now a Ph.D who teaches, and was a past VP of Education at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
BONUS: I am in Indianapolis. Heartland and shit. So I want to feature some Indiana roots rockers on the blog; there are many around who fit not-so-neatly into the Americana genre. Look for them here soon.
Meanwhile…
“Check check. One-two. Testing one-two…ssss. Ch…ch…Check.”
Let’s make sure this thing is on…
[audio:http://www.rustybladen.com/mp3/blueflannelshirt_studio.mp3]
Blue Flannel Shirt – Rusty Bladen