Truth & Salvage Co.‘s show at Birdy’s in May was one of the best of 2010, and they returned Wednesday (Oct. 6) as part of WTTS’ Emerging Artists Concert Series, with a show at the Creation Cafe on the Canal in downtown Indianapolis. One day later (Thurs., Oct. 7), outlaw rocker Shooter Jennings will perform live in for Studio 92 before his concert at The Vogue that night.
It continues a string of excellent shows for the station, giving spotlight opportunities for roots rock bands. It also give WTTS the chance to brand its 92-3 VIP Room, keeping the concerts private for their listeners, who register online for a seat for a show. Comcast also records some of the performances on video for their On-Demand offerings.
We caught up with WTTS Program Director Brad Holtz, who talked about how Studio 92 has evolved (Band Of Horses, the Doobie Brothers, Train, David Gray and the BoDeans are among the artists who have appeared in 2010) and how the shows at the Creation Cafe, which started in August of this year, will continue in 2011.
Shooter Jennings
Four for the 4th: Great Independence Day rock tunes
Here’s four tunes – from obscure to almost legendary – for the July 4th holiday: The almost essential, completely incomplete list of Independence Day songs.
Play them loud at a party. All the right people will get it, and think you are the best host ever.
Shooter Jennings live on radio w/ Adam Carolla – Get the podcast
I’ve always liked to listen to Adam Carolla – when he was on with Dr. Drew, as a guest on other radio shows, and a little bit (though not as much) on his TV endeavors. He’s a talented radio guy/communicator in a time when (good/compelling) radio hosts are tougher to find…
So it’s nice to come across a podcast with Adam and one of the Rockforward faves: country rocker, second-generation hellraiser Shooter Jennings. Get Podcast here
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_25BCexy6c&feature=player_embedded#!]
Roots Rock Twang Report
by Rob Nichols
NUVO contributing writer (read all blog posts)
Shooter Jennings (Waylon’s hard-living, outlaw badass boy) released his new CD Tuesday, called “Black Ribbons” and recorded with his new band Hierophant. It is a concept record that had Shooter collaborating with writer Stephen King. King voiced multiple cuts on the 20-track release, featured as freewheeling a late-night DJ called Will O’ the Wisp.
I listened to the album. It ain’t today’s country music. Sounds like someone smoked a couple bowls, put on Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, and said “Hey man, we could do that”. The album is a little weird – both jarring and interesting. And a bit self-indulgent and pompous. Possibly brilliant.
Made while he was without a record label or management, Jennings told the LA Times he “felt like I was at rock bottom. I was feeling pretty voiceless, and depressed.” So he did what all depressed rockers do: he drove cross-country in an RV with his family.
“We were in the middle of nowhere, and every night about midnight I’d hear these programs on the AM dial. It was all this really scary talk about the ballooning police state, the globalization agendas and whatnot.”
Could be the leader to win the Oddball Album of 2010. And that’s OK.
Listen Here – “The Illuminated” from Black Ribbons
***
Nearby Show Rob Recommends: Bill Kirchen and Too Much Fun comes to the Lafayette Brewing Company in April 17th (it’s a Saturday night). The rockabilly guitarist from Ann Arbor, MI is best known as a member of the original Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. He’s also a crunchy Fender telecaster guitar player, and his music is tagged as “Dieselbilly”: part rockabilly, part truck-drivin’ music. He’s being brought to town by the terrific Friends of Bob live music co-op. An 8:00pm show, with doors at 7:00pm. Tickets on sale March 12th for $10, or $12 day of show. Kirchen released “Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods” in 2007; the title cut a greasy ode to Tele guitar slingers.
***
Gotta like that the new Johnny Cash release was #3 on the Billboard Album chart this week. “American VI: Ain’t No Grave,” sold 54,000 units. Sade (huh?) was the top album from last week (and for he third week in a row – what the hell is that about?) , selling 127,000 units of “Soldier of Love.” Country music’s Fleetwood Mac-ish Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now,” was second. Lady A sold 118,000 units, down 18 percent from the previous week. Overall CD sales CD sales were down 13 percent compared to the comparable sales week of 2009 with 5.99 million units sold.
***
One of those stories that we knew was probably already happening, and just couldn’t prove it: Four California men behind a ticket broker company have been charged with hacking into Ticketmaster’s website, buying up over 1.5 million tickets and re-selling them. As Wiseguy Tickets, they reportedly made $25 million between 2006 and 2009. The New York Daily News reports that for a Bruce Springsteen show at Giants Stadium in 2008, Wiseguy scooped up half of the floor tickets. They also hacked in to get concerts tickets for AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Hannah Montana, Coldplay and Phish. Among the companies they hit were Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Tickets.com, and Major League Baseball.
Roots Rock News: Shooter, Stephen King, Henry Lee Summer, Paul Simon's Kid
From the roots-rock home office – bits of news from my NUVO posting this week:
SHOOTER AND STEPHEN KING
Stephen King and Shooter Jennings will release “Black Ribbons”, a 70-minute album, with King providing the voice of Will O’ The Wisp, a late-night talk radio host who is in the last hour of his final broadcast before the airwaves are overtaken by government-approved and regulated transmissions. According to the news release, “With nothing left to lose, the radio host lets loose with a series of rants, punctuating his diatribes with 14 selections from Jennings. ” We love Shooter, and and this could either be the train wreck of the year, or could be jsut odd enough to be interesting.
INDY ACOUSTIC CAFE
One of today’s folk groundbreakers, Ellis Paul, visits Indianapolis on January 16 as part of the Indy Acoustic Cafe series. The show will be at the Wheeler Community Art Center, 1035 Sanders Street. Paul is part of the Boston school of songwriting – call it romantic folk-pop, call it acoustic intelligence, or I just call it good tunes with an acoustic guitar. Doors open at 7PM, Show at 7:30 PM. Tickets $17 advance and $20 at the door.
HENRY LEE SUMMER BACK ON STAGE
Got a chance to see Henry Lee Summer perform with ex-bandmate Zanna’s great little classic rock side project “4 On The Floor” in early January at Moon Dog’s in Fishers. Henry is releatively fresh out of rehab, and a bit rusty, but I will give him his due here: he seemed more engaged than the last time a saw him, which a has been a couple of years. His shows with his own side projects had become boring and I wanted more fire from Henry, even if he wasn’t going to play his own music with the Alligator Brothers or Candybomber. This time, there were flashes of his intensity and brilliance as a singer and bandleader, and my hope is that he keeps going forward, stays positive and knows he has fans and people who will support him again. And he should get a band (or even go solo with a guitar) and play his own music, ’cause we love that most. Our best to Mr. Swartz. Nice to see him back on a healthier road.
Henry Lee Summer – LIVE – Superstar Concert Series
North Manchester, IN – 1988
“Hey Baby”
PAUL SIMON’S BOY RELEASES ALBUM
Harper Simon :: REVIEW – from thatnashvillesound.com
Fair or not, the vocal comparisons between Harper and his father, Paul, are evident as soon as he opens his mouth. It’s really uncanny how similar his voice is with the layered echo-like lyrics- sounding a little like singing from the bottom of a well. Part folk, part country, many of the songs are obviously very heavily influenced by the humor and lyrical style of Simon and Garfunkel- albeit Simon and Garfunkel with a steel guitar. On the surface, that might seem like a strange or bitter combination- at once not original and original at the same time.
Read Review
IDEA I LIKE:
A series of classic album covers has been issued as a set of stamps by the England’s Royal Mail (their version of the US Postal Service). Other well-known record sleeves to have been made into first-class stamps include Pink Floyd’s Division Bell. The design on each of the 10 stamps shows a vinyl record coming out of its recognisable album cover.
See Stamps
SAME AS IT EVER WAS:
Three country acts who are sure-fire draws and have played the fair recently will be back in 2010 at the Indiana State Fair. The State Fair has announced that Rascal Flatts will perform August 7, Keith Urban on August 14 and Sugarland on August 20. Sugarland is always good, and Urban is one of the best country rockers, though has been here a few times now, some the excitement might wane for this, though the show will be killer. Rascal Flatts, however, is imitation vanilla, bland and full of fake sugar. Whatever. The State Fair does a pretty damn good job each year, between the free stages and the new Indiana Opry Barn and the main Grandstand. So make that point clear.
Urban won Best Male Artist at the recent People’s Choice Awards. However, he also gave the word to illegally obtain music.,saying “I don’t even care if you download it illegally, give it to your friends, I really don’t care.”
MusicRow.com has an interesting and misguided letter and commentary posted, upset about what Keith said:
“I wonder what his label, Capitol Records Nashville, has to say about his statement?” Cliff Doyle writes. “And what about his co-writers and other songwriters on Music Row whose talents he depends on to continue with his hugely successful career? Can they afford to work for free?”
Here’s the deal: His label can’t say anything of value. Urban is in a position that doesn’t require a label, just distribution. Capitol pissed? He can go somewhere else. And his magic is on stage, where he is the best guitar player/performer/showman in country music, and maybe (outside of Springsteen) all of rock music. Good for Keith. Tougher for those who haven’t made it yet to succeed without a label? I say no. – not for the ones that matter. The bands that hit the road/clubs/festivals and do it on their own are usually the best. Look no farther than Jennie Devoe right here in Indianapolis. Sure, she has fans in those who run labels, and many covet her music, but she sees what others like her know: control + talent+ drive = success on your terms. Just a different path, and different way to measure success, than 10 years ago.
Roots Rock: Shooter Jennings, Rob's Shuffle and Pete Seeger
ROOTS ROCK TWANG NEWS: No, I’m not live from SXSW. Would be cool, I’m sure. Austin is righteous. But get this: Metallica played a show at Stubbs BBQ Friday night. Metallica at SXSW? That ain’t right. The word that they were going to play the festival even reached Indy before the show. Still, what was billed as a secret gig at South By Southwest on Friday night (March 20) had the band buzzing through a 13-song set. And the tie in? It was part of the Guitar Hero: Metallica showcase. Just over 2,000 fans were allowed in. Reports had the joint guarded by a dozen police officers and 75 security guards. Yep. Secret gig….
***
THREE MORE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: Nickel Creek’s singer-songwriter and fiddler Sara Watkins is releasing self-titled debut. It is interesting for the wide range of collaborators for its 14 tracks, among them Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas, Tom Petty keyboardist Benmont Tench, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Led Zep’s John Paul Jones produced the album in L.A. and Nashville. Sara Watkins hits stores April 7.
Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder, John Mellencamp, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen are among the dozens of musicians who will celebrate American folk music legend Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday with a gala concert at Madison Square Garden on May 3. Other performers will include Kris Kirstofferson, Tom Morello, Billy Bragg and Ben Harper.
Max Weinberg’s 19 year-old son Jay will fill in on a “small number” of Bruce shows, replacing his Dad, who has a new old gig as the Conan O’Brien “Tonight Show” bandleader when Conan debuts in his new time slot. This will no doubt see a continuing “the world is ending” frenzy among Springsteen fans with too little other stuff, like real life, to do. Our lesson? That’s just the way life is; you make decisions based on what you can do and make the best of situations that will never be perfect. It’s only rock and roll, for goodness sakes. It’s the Hippy Hippy Shake.
ROB’S “FIRST 5″ IPOD SHUFFLE EXPERIENCE – Week 3
Inside the randomness that is my digital library. It put the ipod on shuffle and the first five songs that come up each week I share. Comments always welcome between friends…
1. “For No One” -Beatles
Not a hit, right? Yep. Just another Beatles song, right? Well, this one little song makes me remember just how freakin’ brilliant these guys were. I really think nearly every song off of every album (exception? “Revolution #9”) was worthy of being a hit song, or played on the radio or said something profound. Many times, it did all three. This song, from Revolver, speaks of lost love and failed opportunity more accurately than nearly all the 2,369,000 songs on the same subject that have come since it was originally put on vinyl.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQCi6ASHVUM]
2. “Open Cages” – Jethro Easyfields
From his Elixir album, I put this on the ipod as I was getting ready to write the story on him for NUVO. I have come to relish the slow build and the delayed gratification of his songs. I haven’t a problem with the live feel of the recording and the non-slickness (OK, roughness) of the phrasing. But his writing says something about people who live in Indiana. To me, it says we are not too city and not too country. We are Midwesterners. Like us or move along.
3. Battleship Chains” – Georgia Satellites
While “Keep Your Hands to Yourself” was the well-deserved money song from the band’s self-titled debut album, it was “Battleship Chains” that was the record’s secret bubble gum pop song, rolled in raunchy rock dirt, a little too loud for radio. But I think it has always sounded good loud. And elicits a volume knob clockwise turn when it comes on. Rick Richards, not Dan Baird, on lead vocal.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQr7RxYec-0]
4. ”Welcome to Chinatown” (Live)” – John Mellencamp
Johnny Cougar playing at a club called Four Acres from a bootleg version that refers to a radio broadcast. The song would appear on his John Cougar album. BONUS: This is shortly before he formed the complete, most important band of his career – the one that would tour and record for the Scarecrow and Lonesome Jubilee records. DOUBLE BONUS: The Little Bastard dumps in parts of “My Sharona”, “It’s Only Rock and Roll” and tries to get the audience to yell something dirty on the radio. Power chords, Larry Crane’s rock and roll guitar and even a piano solo paired with that classic Mellencamp “screw you” attitude. A mediocre song given new life live. A gem of a bootleg.
5. “Wicked, Twisted Road” – Reckless Kelly
One of the very best of the Red Dirt genre – bands mainly from of Texas and Oklahoma that are Americana and alt-country with even more twang and in-your-ear guitars. This one is one of the more intimate numbers. From the Reckless Kelly Was Here live album. Think Steve Earle, if he was 30 years old and off of heroin.
Here’s what it all looks like…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpUXrDrUfDM]
***
GOOD WEIRD NEIL
In a previous blog. we told you about Neil Young’s new album Fork in the Road, due April 7.
Watch great interview with Letterman about the car:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_vzNH0nkX4]
Neil now has a bunch of videos related to the record’s release. And Neil’s weird, man. A good weird. Like the “I don’t give a shit, I’m right” dude who really is right…
Watch the “Johnny Magic” video here in all its lo-fi brilliance. Neil in a car…singing.
AND FINALLY…
CMT Crossroads featuring Shooter Jennings and Jamey Johnson premieres Monday, March 23) at 10pm on CMT. I saw Shooter at the Music Mill a couple years ago. He rawks…
Shooter listed his top 10 songs and albums on CMT.com.
Songs
1. “Seed of Memory,” Terry Reid
2. “Belle of the Ball,” Waylon Jennings
3. “The Writ,” Black Sabbath
4. “She Shook Me Cold,” David Bowie
5. “Sea of Japan,” Earl Greyhound
6. “Astronomy,” Blue Oyster Cult
7. “Feelin’ Better,” Hank Williams Jr.
8. “Wild and Blue,” Jessi Colter
9. “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around,” Black Mountain
10. “Black Helicopter,” Matthew Good
Albums
1. White Mansions, Various Artists
2. The Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nails
3. The Man Who Sold the World, David Bowie
4. Ol Waylon, Waylon Jennings
5. White Album, the Beatles
6. Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd
7. Seed of Memory, Terry Reid
8. Phases and Stages, Willie Nelson
9. The New South, Hank Williams Jr.
10. Consolers of the Lonely, the Raconteurs
Bonus Shooter: country-frying the Dire Straits…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts2TjN6uatc]