Show Me the Way Home, Honey

Asylum Street Spankers - The Last Laugh

Size: 99,3 MB
Time: 42:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Blues Folk, Americana
Label: Yellow Dog Records
Art: Front & Back

01. Didn't It Rain (3:09)
02. Never Goin' Back (3:52)
03. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water (4:59)
04. Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan (3:12)
05. Ludicrous Heart (4:09)
06. She Texted Me Goodbye (3:28)
07. Make It Rain (3:51)
08. The Swan (2:17)
09. Savor Every Day (4:41)
10. Fuck Work (3:18)
11. The Final Song (0:51)
12. Coffee Grindin' Blues (4:21)

If you've read the bio or heard the story of the Asylum Street Spankers, you probably know that the group was founded in 1994 at a booze-filled party at the Dabbs Hotel along the river in Llano, Texas, and for the next seventeen years left a swath of astounded audiences in its wake. Well, it appears that America's favorite old-time hellraisers have once again musically triumphed over overindulgence and memory loss. Or have they?

Christina Marrs, Nevada Newman, Charlie King and the other Spankers do recall getting together to play their final shows ever in April of 2011. They all remember setting up the three-day "Last Laugh" finale in their hometown of Austin, Texas at the Cactus Café, Ruta Maya and Spider House Ballroom. But, honestly, that's the last thing any of them remember.

Look: it's embarrassing for such an acclaimed band as this to have to admit that they honestly don't remember where their final album came from. What becomes clear upon listening to these recordings is that none of these songs has ever been recorded by the Asylum Street Spankers before. What's even clearer is this: the band is in their finest form ever here, living up to their firmly cemented reputation as an acoustic powerhouse. Who else can blend string-band virtuosity, multi-instrumental skills, tight vocal harmonies and counterculture wit like this?

Clearly, these were unforgettable nights for all those who packed the clubs and cheered on their internationally beloved hometown heroes. Hazily, the Spankers figure these must have been some of the most treasured personal moments of their 17-year career. Imagine the satisfaction of taking their fans through one last journey together, from the Tin Pan Alley and vaudeville echoes of their sound, through the country, blues, jazz and swing songs they've borrowed and created, all filtered through the punk-rock ethos at their core. "It must really have been something," Christina muses.

The Last Laugh

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Posted by kamane

Oznake: Asylum Street Spankers, Folk-Blues, Americana

Jimmy James - Cookin' With Hot Grease

Styles: Americana
Label: Independent
Released: 2010
File: mp3 @320K/s
Size: 92,4 MB
Time: 40:21
Art: front

1. Cookin' With Hot Grease - 2:16
2. Night Time Blues - 3:23
3. I Packed My Bags - 2:35
4. My Sweet Guitar - 3:13
5. Lovely To Me - 4:16
6. Layin' Em Down - 3:37
7. Hearts Of Stone - 2:51
8. Chicken Pickin' - 2:49
9. Precious Is A Visit - 3:12
10. Gotta Break Out - 2:41
11. Twisted By The Wind - 2:35
12. Old Honky Tonkin' Blues - 3:17
13. Walk In The Light Don't Run - 3:30

Notes: I have always been attracted to music. It allows me to travel without really going anywhere and it lifts my spirit. Most of my life I have been a big fan of Southern music and the artists who present it. At some point words for songs began to come to me and I would write down verses from time to time. Then I had a close call with the end which had a rather profound impact on me. While at home recovering my wife started encouraging me to get up and play my guitar. Then I stopped by Chip Tanner's studio to let him hear my stuff. Providence put us together and the rest is history. This is the work that came out of the year long session at “The Keeping Room” recording studio.
All songs recorded at The Keeping Room Studio, Quitman, GA
All songs performed by Jimmy James Sineath and the Hot Grease Band
Chip Tanner: guitar, mandolin, banjo, dobro, drums, harmonica and vocals, Johnnie Stacks: guitar, Sip Tanner: guitar, Eddie Claxton: bass, Will York: drums on Chicken Pickin'
Mixed by Chip Tanner at The Keeping Room Studio, Quitman, GA
Mastered by Gary Dibenedetto at Sudio D, Moultrie, GA
Photography by Lane Autrey, Apalachicola, FL ~ cdbaby

Cookin' With Hot Grease



• John Hiatt - Crossing Muddy Waters
• Los Super Seven - Los Super Seven

Oznake: Jimmy James, Americana

Bap Kennedy - Let's Start Again

Size: 85,4 MB
Time: 36:30
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Blues Country, Americana
Label: Proper Records
Art: Front

01. Let's Start Again (3:31)
02. Revelation Blues (3:23)
03. If Things Don't Change (3:05)
04. King Of Mexico (3:27)
05. Song Of Her Desire (3:52)
06. Radio Waves (3:18)
07. Heart Trouble (2:58)
08. Under My Wing (3:12)
09. Strange Kid (3:12)
10. Fool's Paradise (2:47)
11. Let It Go (3:40)

"Let's Start Again" is Bap Kennedy's 6th solo album of original material. His original encounter with the record business was as lead singer and primary songwriter for cult Belfast rockers Energy Orchard, with whom he recorded 5 albums.

While Bap usually records in England and America, this time he wanted to bring together some of the top musicians in his native Northern Ireland to play on "Let's Start Again". The most local of the local talents is bass player and harmony vocalist, Brenda Kennedy, Bap's wife. Brenda is also a regular member of Bap's live band, as are two of the album's other musicians - drummer Rabb Bennett and virtuoso guitarist Gordy McAllister.

After the Celtic melancholy of "The Sailor's Revenge", there is a more upbeat rootsy Americana feel to "Let's Start Again". The country-roots style of the record is something that Bap's co-producer, Mudd Wallace first realised would suit Bap as far back as the early 80's.

Let's Start Again



• Shawn James - Shadows •
• Los Lobos - Los Lobos Del Este De Los Angeles •

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Posted by kamane

Oznake: Bap Kennedy, Americana

Chris Whitley & Jeff Lang - Dislocation Blues

Styles: Americana, Roots Rock, Modern Acoustic Blues, Slide Guitar Blues
Label: ABC Music
Released: 2006
File: mp3 @320K/s
Size: 156,2 MB
Time: 68:13
Art: full

1. Stagger Lee - 7:26
2. Twelve Thousand Miles - 4:36
3. When I Paint My Masterpiece - 5:00
4. Rocket House - 5:08
5. The Road Leads Down - 2:51
6. Dislocation Blues - 5:27
7. Forever In My Life - 3:54
8. Velocity Girl - 4:52
9. Ravenswood - 5:22
10. Underground - 4:18
11. Changing Of The Guard - 6:42
12. Motion Bride - 12:31

Personnel:
Chris Whitley: vocals, National guitar, bottleneck guitar, foot
Jeff Lange: amplified acoustic lap steel, national guitar, acoustic lap slide, acoustic guitar, loops, samples, electric guitar, fretless electric guitar, fretless banjo, bass pedals
Grant Cummerford: acoustic bass, electric bass, bowed bass
Ashley Davies: drums

Notes: Dislocation Blues is the work of kindred spirits in a sustained moment of inspiration. Recorded in April of 2005, months before guitarist/vocalist Chris Whitley's death from cancer, the album finds the late Texan united with his Australian cohort, guitarist Jeff Lang, as they confront their emotions and, by the alchemy that is music, transform that interaction into poetry instrumental and verbal.
Whitley and Lang achieve this transmogrification with a mix of originals, traditional songs and, not surprisingly, two songs of Bob Dylan's. "When I Paint My Masterpiece is a jaunty romp that nevertheless betrays a certain nagging uncertainty through its mix of electric and acoustic guitars combined with the halting gait in the rhythm. "Changing of the Guard finds Whitley and Lang trading verses of the Bard's apocalyptic vision, the fluidity of their tradeoffs making it all the more regrettable the world will never get to see the two perform together live (though the two did do some selected dates together in 2004, early in their collaboration).
Thankfully Dislocation Blues fully documents their chemistry as they interact with the deferential rhythm section of bassist Grant Cummerford and drummer Ashley Davies. Whitley and Lang, who produced the album and ensured its release in the United States, refuse to prettify their music but therein lies the very foundation of its beauty. The pair conjures an air of menace through the deliberate pace they apply to the traditional tune "Stagger Lee, Whitley's falsetto vocal and the electric slide guitar winding around the changes like a shadow of a stalker. The title song is a mesmerizing travel through time, revealing Whitley's beat poet roots as means of commentary on our post-9/11 world.
Lang plays the role of younger brother to Whitley here, a figure with less experience and thus more unabashed hope. His voice is less parched and his guitar playing brighter on "The Road Leads Down and "Ravenswood. Twelve Thousand Miles is an original blues by Lang, where he demonstrates how he exorcises his personal demons as much by playing as composing. Whitley's previously recorded "Rocket House is shorn of its previously-recorded production accouterments and enlivened as an acoustic dreamscape that's no less evocative.
What might seem an odd choice here is the inclusion of Prince's "Forever in My Life. Yet Whitley and Lang take this somewhat overstated expression of devotion and turn it into an ode to primal desire. Like the almost hidden track "Hellhound on My Trail, performed by Whitley alone, it becomes a personal statement that haunts long after the performance is over.
The same can be said about Dislocation Blues in its entirety.
Visit Chris Whitley and Jeff Lang on the web.

Dislocation Blues



• John Hiatt - Crossing Muddy Waters
• Andy Squint - Down By The River

Oznake: Chris Whitley, Jeff Lang, Modern Acoustic Blues, Slide Guitar Blues, Americana

Doug Cox & Friends - BoneBottleBrassOrSteel

Styles: Americana, Roots, Slide Guitar Blues
Released: 1996
Label: Mala Hat Mountain Music
File: mp3@320K/s
Size: 100.8 MB
Time: 44:02
Art: front

1. Fanfarinette - theme to CBC's Discdrive - 3:00
2. Good Morning Blues w/ Long John Baldry - 3:35
3. Wrapped Around Your Finger - 4:18
4. Dave Macon Rag/Strawberry Creek - 2:51
5. Musta Notta Gotta Lotta - 6:01
6. In The Days of the Pied Pumkin - 3:57
7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - 3:46
8. Red Haired Shake - 1:55
9. The Layoff - 0:53
10. The Circle Game - 2:47
11. Suicide Creek - 3:14
12. Riley's Lullabye - 2:21
13. I Like To Slide w/ Ellen Mcilwaine - 5:19

Notes: Doug is joined on his second CD by a who's who of Acoustic Roots music including performances by Long John Baldry, Bob Bossin, Clive Gregson, David Grier, Ken Hamm, Ellen McIlwaine, John Reischman, Tony Trischka, Shari Ulrich and Diamond Joe White.
...a grand exploration of the diverse tones and moods that can be cast by a Dobro or a slide guitar... ~ by Robert Moyes, Monday Magazine, Victoria, BC
Cox hits every style the dobro can accomodate with its acoustic slithering, including blues with Long John Baldry, newgrass with Tony Trischka, David Grier and John Reischman, cowboy poetry with Diamond Joe White, as well as hard rock and mellow rock. The common thread is that he hires the best players for each style, and with Cox being among the most expressive of Dobro players, the results are stunning. ~ from the Chicago Tribune; by David Duckman
...everyone on the CD had a ball and the results show the versatility of the man and his Dobro...  ~ from Folk Roots Magazine
This is actually Doug Cox and friends like Long John Baldry, Bob Bossin, Ken Hamm, David Grier, John Reischman and plenty of others singing to and accompanying a lot of excellent dobro and slide guitar playing. Cox is the indefatigable Victoria singer-writer-instrumentalist with Travels With Charley and a great lover of guitar-based roots music. Here he indulges all his passions from blues to folk, including a great instrumental of Joni Mitchell's Circle Game, John Baldry singing on Leadbelly's Good Morning Blues and the gnarly I Like To Slide with Ellen McIlwaine. ***1/2 ~ by John P. McLaughlin, The Vancouver Province
...like his first disc, it sports an impressive line-up of guests...Cox sweeps across a lot of musical territory, from the theme to CBC-FM's DISC DRIVE program to the Dave Macon Rag, over to a tribute to Shari Ulrich's old '70s group Pied Pumkin to his ba! ckin g Diamond Joe White on a piece of social-comment poetry titled The Layoff. The production is first rate as are the liner notes and hopefully Bone Bottle Brass or Steel will give Cox some recognition on a national rather than only a regional level. ~ by Peter Nort, The Edmonton Journal ~cdbaby
Read more

BoneBottleBrassOrSteel



• Dan Baker - Pistol In My Pocket
• Kelly Joe Phelps - Roll Away The Stone

Oznake: Americana, Doug Cox, Roots, Slide Guitar Blues

Los Lobos - Los Lobos Del Este De Los Angeles

Styles: Tex-Mex, Americana, Mexican Traditions
Label: Independent
Released: 2000
File: mp3 @320K/s
Size: 91,0 MB
Time: 39:26
Art: front

1. El Canelo (Son Jarocho) - 3:47
2. El Pescado Nadador (Ranchera) - 2:43
3. Sabor A Mi (Bolero) - 3:51
4. Flor De Huevo (Son Locos) - 1:54
5. Cielito Lindo (Cancion Mexicana) - 3:44
6. La Iguana (Son Jarocho) - 3:21
7. El Cuchipe (Cancion Boliviana) - 2:21
8. Imploracion (Bolero Ranchero) - 2:33
9. Guantanamera (Guajira) - 4:48
10. La Feria De Las Flores (Ranchera) - 2:42
11. Maria Chuchena (Son Jarocho) - 3:57
12. El Bon Bon De Elena (Plena) - 3:39

Personnel:
David Hidalgo - Bass, Guitar, Guitar (Steel), Vocals
Conrad Lozano - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Louie Pérez - Drums, Guitar
Oscar Roasa - Banjo, Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals

Notes: One of the most acclaimed American bands of the 1980s and '90s, Los Lobos were seasoned musical veterans with nearly 15 years of experience under their belts when they scored their first hit in 1987 with a cover of Richie Valens' "La Bamba." Though their time as pop stars was short, the group -- who enjoyed calling themselves "just another band from East L.A." -- won over critics and a legion of loyal fans with their bracing mixture of rock, blues, Tex-Mex, country, R&B, and Mexican folk sounds, with the band's sound ranging from gentle acoustic ballads to the outer limits of experimental rock. While often cited as one of the great bands of Latino Rock, Los Lobos' eclectic sound in fact defined them as a vital example of America's cultural melting pot.
Los Lobos were formed in 1973 by guitarist/accordionist David Hidalgo and percussionist Louie Perez, two students at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles who discovered they shared eclectic tastes in music. Recruiting two other Garfield students -- guitarist Cesar Rosas and bassist Conrad Lozano -- they put together a band which they dubbed Los Lobos del Este (de Los Angeles), a take-off on the celebrated Norten~o band Los Lobos del Norte. While their interests ranged from hard rock to free jazz, the new group began exploring the Mexican folk music they grew up with, and they soon found themselves regularly playing weddings, parties, and Mexican restaurants in East Los Angeles.
As an acoustic folk group, Los Lobos cut a self-released album in 1978, Del Este de Los Angeles (Just Another Band from East L.A.)
In 1978, when Los Lobos were paying their bills by playing weddings and Mexican restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area, they put out an independent album of their traditional Tex-Mex songs with a pumped-up rock & roll feel. The album, Del Este de Los Angeles, established their sound and provided a jumping-off point for David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez to start writing their own material. The LP has since been released by Hollywood Records on CD (not to be confused with their similarly titled box set Just Another Band from East L.A.) and is an interesting glimpse into the band on the verge of breaking away from their traditional roots and pushing into creating their own influential style.

Los Lobos Del Este De Los Angeles



• Los Super Seven - Los Super Seven
• John Hiatt - Crossing Muddy Waters

Oznake: Los Lobos, Americana, Mexican Traditions

John Hiatt - Crossing Muddy Waters

Styles: Heartland Rock, Americana, Folk-Rock, Acoustic Blues
Released: 2000
Label: Sanctuary
File: mp3@320K/s
Size: 86.3 MB
Time: 37:41
Art: full

1. Lincoln Town - 4:01
2. Crossing Muddy Waters - 4:02
3. What Do We Do Now - 2:56
4. Only The Song Survives - 3:58
5. Lift Up Every Stone - 3:13
6. Take It Down - 3:58
7. Gone - 2:55
8. Take It Back - 3:02
9. Mr. Stanley - 3:31
10. God's Golden Eyes - 2:26
11. Before I Go - 3:35

Personnel:
John Hiatt - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Harmonium, Vocals
Davey Faragher - Bass, Tambourine, Foot Stomping, Vocal Harmony
David Immerglück - Mandolin, Slide Guitar, Electronic Mandolin, Guitar (12 String Acoustic)

Notes: Two and a half decades into a career that's never delivered the stardom forecast by legions of champions, John Hiatt has settled into a niche that's about as comfortable as a maturing singer-songwriter could ask for. No longer a major-label priority, Hiatt has hooked up with the stalwart folk label Vanguard for his 15th release. Crossing Muddy Waters adroitly captures Hiatt's comfort and confidence. Not so much blues as blusey, Crossing Muddy Waters features 11 new Hiatt compositions, half of which feel instantly familiar. The rambunctious "Lift Up Every Stone" sounds a little like some of Tom Waits's more accessible recent efforts, while "Take It Down" is a love-lost lament that's as heavy as a foggy evening. Crossing Muddy Waters was cut in three days and features only two accompanists--the uncommonly sympathetic Davey Faragher and David Immerglück. Just goes to show that Hiatt moves just fine when he's not dragging a lot of added weight and heavy expectations behind him. --Steven Stolder

John Hiatt's 16th effort is a marked departure from his work of the previous 25 years, and a vast improvement over 1997's disappointing Little Head. Hiatt retrenched and recorded his first drummer-less, predominantly acoustic record for Vanguard. It's a sympathetic match and a smart move, since the company has a long, rich history working in the unplugged medium before it became trendy. The result is the most natural and relaxed John Hiatt album in years, and a welcome addition to his extensive catalog. With just a duo of acoustic multi-instrumentalists, Davey Faragher and David Immergluck (both longtime associates), Hiatt pulls out some of the most earnest, down-to-earth songs of his career. He sings like a man rejuvenated, totally at ease with his surroundings, and plays with the laid-back, homespun honesty that has infused his best work. Although some comical lyrical touches remain, the majority of the album is a sober reflection on lost love ("What Do We Do Now," the title track) and the resulting psychological scars. Hiatt's voice has never sounded better; its coarse edges sometimes straining for high notes works perfectly with this craggy, unpolished music. The mandolin is the most distinctive instrument here, and its brittle, trebly, crisp tone gives the disc an underlying tension, especially on the ballads that comprise the majority of the album. Heart-rending, sincere, stripped down yet multi-faceted, John Hiatt has taken a step forward by taking a small step back. Although not quite in a class with career highlights like Bring the Family or Slow Turning, Crossing Muddy Waters is a subtle treat and an album whose watercolor brush strokes paint a vibrant picture of stirring delicacy. ~ Hal Horowitz

Crossing Muddy Waters



• Michael Hakanson-Stacy - Bottle On My Finger ...Blues To My Shoes •
• Andy Fairweather Low & The Lowriders - Zone-O-Tone •

Oznake: John Hiatt, Americana, folk-rock, Acoustic Blues

Los Super Seven - Los Super Seven

Styles: Tex-Mex, Americana, Latin Folk, Mexican Traditions
Released: 1998
Label: RCA
File: mp3@320K/s
Size: 95.2 MB
Time: 41:35
Art: front

1. El Canoero (ft Cesar Rosas And Ruben Ramos) - 3:20
2. Piensa En Mí (ft Freddie Fender) - 3:54
3. Mi Ranchito (ft Rick Trevino) - 3:51
4. Un Beso Al Viento (ft Cesar Rosas) - 2:31
5. La Sirena (ft David Hidalgo) - 2:53
6. Un Lunes Por La Mańana (ft Freddy Fender) - 3:18
7. Plane Wreck At Los Gatos (Deportee)(ft Joe Ely) - 3:38
8. La Morena (ft Ruben Ramos) - 2:56
9. Margarita (ft Flaco Jimenez And Cesar Rosas) - 3:26
10. La Madrugada (ft Ruben Ramos) - 2:40
11. El Ausente (ft Rick Trevino With Campanas De America) - 3:39
12. Río De Tenampa (ft David Hidalgo, Rick Trevino And Doug Sahm) - 4:22
13. Las Norteńitas (ft Flaco Jimenez) - 1:00


Personnel:
David Hidalgo (vocals, guitar, drums, bass, percussion, requinto, hidalguera)
Rick Trevino, Joe Ely (vocals, guitar)
Flaco Jimenez (vocals, accordion)
Cesar Rosas (vocals, six-string bass, guitar, guitarron, jarana)
Freddy Fender (vocals, acoustic bass)
Ruben Ramos (vocals)
and
Joel Guzman (vocals, percussion, accordion, piano, organ, background vocals); Doug Sahm (vocals); Campanas De America (violin, trumpet, jarana, guitarron, background vocals); Megan Levin (harp); Ricardo Ramirez (acoustic bass); Max Baca (four & six string basses, drums, background vocals); Gilbert Isais (electric bass); Sarah Fox (background vocals)

Notes: This southwestern super session brings together Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, Chicano country stars Freddy Fender and Rick Trevińo, Texas rocker Joe Ely, norteńo accordion wizard Flaco Jimenez, and Tejano bandleader Ruben Ramos to pay homage to the Texan-Mexican tradition. The music is acoustic and generally string-driven, with guitars and violins recalling early mariachi and dancing accordion lines. There are some great party tunes, but ballads are the rule, and Trevińo and Fender both show superb grace in their vocals. Ely turns in a heartfelt version of Woody Guthrie's "Deportee," but almost all the songs are in Spanish (with translations in the booklet). Each features only one or two of the headlining singers and there is none of the crowded feel of some all-star efforts, just a relaxed and swinging exploration of the classic Tejano sound. ~ Elijah Wald

Los Super Seven



• Dan Baker - Pistol In My Pocket •
• Old Crow Medicine Show - Carry Me Back •

Oznake: Los Super Seven, Americana, Mexican Traditions

Dan Baker - Pistol In My Pocket

Size: 76,3 MB
Time: 32:44
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Alt. Country, Folk, Americana
Label: Dan Baker
Art: Front

01. Pistol In My Pocket (2:06)
02. Threw Me Down The Well (3:21)
03. Never Alone (2:32)
04. What I'm Looking For (3:40)
05. Up On The Roof (2:09)
06. Down In The Canyon (4:39)
07. One Of Them (3:50)
08. She's Not Gonna Call (2:30)
09. Coming Home (5:08)
10. Not Gonna Say It (2:44)

Dan Baker was living in Chelsea MA, during the recording of his new record. A small city on the outskirts of Boston, Baker describes the city as "A place littered with factories, oil tanks, and pot holes! surrounded by great heaps of salt and scrap metal". Being influenced by his surroundings Baker wrote many songs about the town, one even making it onto the record, the title track "Pistol in my Pocket", Baker states, "That song came about from a conversation I had. I was talking to the clerk at the 7-Eleven down the street. He was telling me about all the times his store had been held up! at one point he said pistol in my pocket and I guess that just got stuck in my head".
The city of Chelsea, luckily for Baker, is also where 1867 Recording Studio is located. A former Masonic Temple, the studio boasts 60 foot vaulted ceilings with walls still equipped with their masonic images and moldings. Baker knew he had found the right place so he called in his band and they got to work. The recording process was fairly straightforward; they all set up in the middle of the temple/live-room and cut everything live.
The result is Dan Baker's third record, "Pistol in my Pocket". A record that finds Baker more matured and in command of his craft. With songs of betrayal and revenge as well as songs of love-lost and love-regained. A small record with a big punch: gritty, raw, but heartfelt and nostalgic, and much like Baker's first two records you'll be hanging onto every word. This is a great record, with everything you've come to expect and more from this great New England based singer/songwriter.

Pistol In My Pocket



• Jack Klatt and the Cat Swingers - Mississippi Roll •
• John McGale - John McGale & Friends Of The Devil •

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Posted by kamane

Oznake: Dan Baker, folk, Country, Americana

Old Crow Medicine Show - Carry Me Back

Notes: With the upcoming release of their new album, Carry Me Back, it looks like Old Crow Medicine Show have retaken the mantle of American roots music superstars, and they’re doing so by going back to their roots as a tough-as-nails old-timey stringband. After 2008?s disappointing Tennessee Pusher, and after a hiatus from touring over band members leaving and returning, it’s about damn time! The only downside to the new album is that it doesn’t really reflect the current lineup of the group. Since Carry Me Back was recorded, founding members Critter Fuqua and Ketch Secor have been reunited after years of separation. Founding member Willie Watson has parted ways with the group, as has mandolinist Cory Younts, and though you won’t hear him on this album, old-time fiddle prodigy Chance McCoy has now joined the band. But so what? We’ll be happy when a newer album comes out with the current lineup, of course, but this one will tide us over nicely until then.
Newer member, songwriter Gill Landry, remains on Carry Me Back, and on the new album has more of a hand in the songwriting, which is good news. Landry was an amazing signing for the group, though it went largely unnoticed by national press. Originally Cajun, Landry should be well known to any roots music fan in the Northwest from his solo work and his work with the legendary street performing jugband The Kitchen Syncopators. Their last album, Underwood, now sadly out of print, is one of my favorite roots music releases of the past decade. Hands down. It’s that good. Check out this interview by Chris Mateer of No Depression to get a better idea of who Gill Landry is. On the new album, Gill takes on the beautiful and rather sad song “Genevieve,” and I believe brings in a Syncopators song, “Steppin’ Out.” Anyways, I’m not clear on all the politics behind these changes, but it sure looks to me like Old Crow’s circling the wagons and focusing inwards on what they do best: punked-out stringband music.
On Carry Me Back, the group sounds more acoustic than ever, focusing on the hordes of banjo, guit-jos, and banjo-what-have-yous that gives them much of their rhythmic punch. Ketch Secor’s rough-as-fuck fiddling is back, which was always one of my favorite parts of the band. In truth, this album is seriously folkie. It sounds like a 21-st century version of Woody Guthrie’s vision, all hopped up on populist pride and pissed-off that times they aren’t a-changin’. “Half Mile Down” sounds like a 70s folk stringband, but the lyrics rage against flooded valleys from government dams. “We Don’t Grow Tobacco,” one of the best tracks on the album, sounds like a drunken barroom brawl and focuses its energy on out-of-work farmers. “I will chop that wicked weed/til my hands and fingers bleed/Workin’ like a mule/maybe more... And I sure am sad to say/We don’t grow tobacco ‘round here no more.” But it’s not all working-class politics. Old Crow Medicine Show cut their teeth on slice-of-life Southern folk songs and there’s plenty of that too, from the title track “Carry Me Back” which sounds like an Appalachian old-time song to “Steppin’ Out,” which could have just as easily been recorded by the Memphis Jug Band back in the day. On other bands, this kind of Southern nostalgia would come off as a bit forced, but the beauty of Old Crow Medicine Show is that they’re having too much goddamn fun to care, and their infectious joy in their own music swings the listener along with them. It’s good to have you back, boys!

Oznake: Old Crow Medicine Show, String Bands, Americana, Contemporary Folk, Bluegrass