Tell Us The Truth Tour - Washington, DC 11/25/03

Billy Bragg & Steve Earle
Photo by Emily DeBord

I caught the last stop of the Tell Us The Truth Tour last night at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC and what an event.

First the highlight. REM's Mike Mills led all the performers including Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Tom Morella and others in a rousing version of Neil Young's 'Ohio'.

Mills introduced the song by saying:

"This next song is by someone who has never been afraid to tell the truth."

Playing acoustic guitar, Mills then launched into an angry cover of 'Ohio' and changing the lyrics to:

"Tin soldiers and Bush is coming
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio."

By the end of the song, the audience was singing the chorus and Earle and Bragg were pumping their fists in the air. As they left the stage, several were flashing the peace sign.

It would be quite an evening even without the Neil bonus. Other highlights included, Lester Chambers "People Get Ready", Jill Sobule's 'You Will Never Love Me', Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morella (The Night Watchman) "House Gone Up In Flames", Boots Riley's 'This is For All', Steve Earle's 'Ashes to Ashes' and "John Walker Blue's", and Billy Bragg's 'The Price of Oil'.

Of course, there was a fair amount of criticism from the stage about the impact of media consolidation. With the elite mainstream media state propaganda machine now controlled by mega corporate conglomerates like Clear Channel, Disney, Viacom and GE, the public is much less informed than ever before (and it's always been pretty poor). With the media's relentless push of non-news celebrity stories like Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez/Ben Affleck, Paris Hilton, Kobe Bryant, etc. it has become harder and harder for people to obtain truthful -- much less balanced -- information on far, far more important issues impacting jobs, trade, environment, justice and politics.

The show closed with "The Time Has Come" with all the performers on stage leading the crowd through the chorus. As the crowd filed out of the 3.5 hour show, they were greeted by volunteers with clipboards for a variety of causes.

More on Media Consolidation on Tell Us The Truth Tour.

From PhreshWater.com @ The Orange Peel, Asheville NC 11.15.03 by S. Remington:

"The Tell Us The Truth show rounded out the evening by all the players taking the stage for one last set that started with Lester Chambers belting out a wild version of 'Lets Get It On'. Mike Mills, from R.E.M. then took the lead and rallied the players and crowd through Neil Young's 'Ohio' which the masses took notion to sing aloud in unison, it was a beautiful moment! Just when you thought things would wind down after the players left the stage they reappeared for thrilling encore version of 'The Time Has Come Today' with the crowd cheering along and fists pumping into the air.

It was definitely a great and memorable evening of politically charged music and information!"

More on music's impact on politics.

My Morning Jacket single 'RUN THRU'

From dotmusicdotmusic.com on My Morning Jacket's single 'RUN THRU':

"The first single to be pulled from 'It Still Moves', their major label debut album, reinforces the spectacularly hirsute Kentucky quintet's commitment to the gnarly, country-rock epic and their love of extravagant reverb.

Singer-songwriter Jim James is possessed of a voice of impossibly bruised, booze-soaked beauty, recalling both the fragility of FC Cornog (of East River Pipe) and Neil Young's ravaged glory."

The Tyde's and Ryan Adams

Over on reallyrather:

"One of this blog's biggest regrets of '03 is missing The Tyde's short summer tour, the highlight of which was apparently their night in Glasgow. 'Eugene Kelly from The Vaselines was there and we met Frances [McKee] as well,' band leader Darren Rademaker explained later to Soundsxp.

He also said this:

'I want to avoid being called Americana. I don't want to be compared to Ryan Adams, who's totally lame, he sucks. I met him one time and he was a totally cool guy and gave me all this bullshit: 'I wanna hear your music. Can you drop it off to me?' So I went to the trouble of dropping it off and I never heard from him again. In America he has a reputation as a 'guy slut'. It's when a guy chats up a girl and never talks to her again. It's like that but he does it to guys. So I got burned. He's not, like, horrible but I'd almost go see Sheryl Crow than listen to Ryan Adams.'

Gingersol "Who Cares"

Listening to the Gingersol tune "Who Cares" on MP3 from the The Train Wreck is Behind You CD. Really nice, evocative stuff. Mellow Wilco.

John Miller and His Country Casuals "One Excuse Too Many" (Shoeshine 2003)

From Americana UK Reviews:

" "One Excuse Too Many" strikes me as the kind of half-hearted and watered down honk-tonkery that passes for country music in Scottish line dancing circles. This isn't slur against the Scottish nation or Shoeshine, which is one of the finest indie labels in the country. And no massive disrespect to Miller or his casuals, but this album, whilst full of delicate picking and respectable singing, has no soul and wanders so close to the middle of the road that Neil Young would curse forcefully in it's general direction. To quote Thad Cockrell, there's definitely no 'alt' in this country. "

The Influence Roots of Neil Young

A diverse array of bands have been influenced by Neil Young;s sound over the years. From The Age:

"Many of this year's best albums, from bands such as My Morning Jacket, Grandaddy, Will Oldham and the Autumn Defense, have their roots in Young's soulful country sound. But Young says he's too busy with his own work to keep tabs on new music.

YOUNG: 'I listen to the radio, where you only hear what the corporate people decide you should listen to, so that's not rewarding. Hopefully now with the implosion of the record business, the radio waves will open up a bit. I just listen to stuff at parties, but I don't have time to go out and check on things.'"

More on music influenced by Neil Young.

Are Music Blogs The Great Hope For Rock Journalism?

From The Rock and Roll Report: : "Apparently it's a bad time to be a rock journalist. The decline of the music industry and the paucity of good magazines has left many a budding Lester Bangs to pound out their stuff on a lowly blog."

For more on the state of music criticism see Guardian Unlimited "Like falling off a blog":

"What they add up to is a fertile breeding ground for a new style of music writing - just when the trade needs it most. The ludic quality of music criticism merges with a serious approach to the subject rarely found in a mainstream that treats music as entertainment rather than art. Add encyclopaedic knowledge, genre-crossing frames of reference and a disregard for celebrity, and you have the key traits of the music blog.

Above all, music blogs are free from the business plans and targeted readerships that determine the content of commercial publications. It may be, as one blogger recently admitted, a 'hermetically sealed and potentially borderline-autistic pursuit', but this unregulated zone contains fantastic, stimulating and piercingly acute writing. Savour the moment before its protagonists have to find proper jobs. "

Note: I had to look up "ludic" - it means parody.

And over on blissblog - a Prog Blog - replies to The Guardian's proposition of blogging as 'borderline-autistic pursuit' :

"Must disagree with Mr Young on one point though, where he quotes in apparent agreement someone's remark to the effect that blogging's a 'hermetically sealed and potentially borderline-autistic pursuit'... sure this is the land of 'spotters and savants and data-hoarding obsessives, but no actually for me one of its major appeals is the sociality (or do I mean sociability?). The way conversations occur in near-real time; people take the baton of argument and run with it, then pass it on. That's why it reminds me a bit of the old music weekly press when writers would engage with each other, have debates across the pages and weeks--usually within one magazine, sometimes across the whole inkie-weekly terrain. "

Tracks Magazine Debut

And more from The Rock and Roll Report on another new music magazine.

In The New York Times "Betting on a Chancy Thing, an Adult’s Music Magazine" by DAVID CARR on Tracks magazine:

"The first issue features durable, adult-friendly performers like Sting, Ryan Adams and Robert Plant in a pure music format, one that avoids the broader pop culture sensibilities of more established magazines like Rolling Stone, owned by Wenner Media, and Vibe, owned by Vibe/Spin Ventures. Tracks pays little heed to of-the-moment bands like The Rapture and Killing Joke that are a staple of Spin. And it has none of the cheeky attitude of Blender, a more recent arrival from Dennis Publishing USA, or the teenage sensibility MTV's recently christened magazine. "

Neil Young's Influence

In a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone Neil Young was reluctant to take any credit for his impact on the grunge music scene:

" 'It's not me, it's just the music,' he says wearily. 'I play it, and they play it. Link Wray was doing it a long time ago. Then Hendrix, now we've got all the grungers and the distortion thing. It's just going farther and farther, which it should. It's being developed.'"

For more, see Neil Young Interviews.

Also, Neil Young's 2003 tour of Japan and Australia is over. Check out the Neil Young Greendale Reviews too.

Emmylou Harris and the 40 Greatest US Bands Today

From The Rock and Roll Report a tip on an article from Guardian Unlimited on "The 40 Greatest US Bands Today" where Emmylou Harris comes in at #38 (with a score of 53):

"Since her historic hook-up with Gram Parsons in 1972, which left her inspired by Parsons' vision of fusing country music with a cutting-edge rock attitude, Emmylou Harris has been in the thick of it as singer, bandleader and, recently, a newly invigorated songwriter. She has guested with everybody from Bob Dylan and Neil Young to Steve Earle. Latest album Stumble Into Grace continues the creative renaissance kicked off by 1995's Wrecking Ball. "

An interesting methodology is used to determine inclusion and score with factors such as style and gigs.

Also included is Steve Earle and Wilco. For more on the other 39 acts see Guardian Unlimited.

And more on Emmylou Harris from Americana UK News: "Rolling Stone briefly notes that in the US at least Rhino Records will re-release five of her albums: 'Pieces of the Sky, Elite Hotel, Luxury Liner, Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town' and 'Blue Kentucky Girl' - all with bonus tracks on February 24th."

Sheryl Crow performs 'Hurt' on Johnny Cash Tribute

I watched the Johnny Cash Tribute broadcast the other night on CMT. It was quite well done as these things go. There seemed to be a limited amount of commercial interruption which is a tribute in and of itself.

The portion of the show I found to be quite compelling was an interview with Nine Inch Nail's Trent Reznor discussing Cash's cover of 'Hurt" from 2002. Reznor commented on what a surprise and honor it was to have Cash record the song and later the video, both of which have gone on to receive much acclaim.

The interview was interspersed with snippets of the 'Hurt' video. This was followed by Sheryl Crow performing 'Hurt,' a song about drug addiction. 'When he gave his voice to something, he dedicated his voice and his intellect,' Crow said. " She launched into a hearfelt acoustic rendition of 'Hurt' that was quite powerful and a show highlight.

In some ways it is quite ironic that a song that wasn't a Cash original has garnered so much attention. On the other hand, the song has introduced Cash to a whole new generation if fans. And that's a good thing.

Wilco in Recording Studio

From BILLBOARD word that the band is in a New York recording studio. The band is working on the sessions with producer/multi-instrumentalist Jim O'Rourke. Chris Shaw, best known for his work on Bob Dylan's 'Love and Theft,' is engineering.

The album, tentatively titled 'Wilco Happens,' will most likely not be released until late spring. Tracks include 'We are Finished Waiting for You Now' and 'Hell Is Chrome.' "

Remembering Elliott Smith

From NPR, a touching tribute of Elliott Smith:

"Singer-songwriter Elliott Smith died 10/23 at his Los Angeles apartment in an apparent suicide. The 34-year-old musician was known for fragile, haunting melodies that made him a star on the indie music scene, earning him comparisons to Nick Drake and Neil Young. We listen to one of Smith's songs in remembrance."

More on Elliott Smith, his life and music.

Tell Us The Truth Tour

From Pollstar:

"Billy Bragg kicks off the 13-date Tell Us The Truth Tour at the National Conference on Media Reform in Madison, Wis., November 7th. Steve Earle, Tom Morello, Lester Chambers and Boots Riley joined Bragg later in the show. The performers, along with other artists and organizations, mounted the tour as a means to educate music fans on media democracy issues and inspire grass-roots activism. "

MP3.com Sells Out to CNet

From No Rock and Roll Fun:

"So, MP3.com has been sold to CNet, who have big plans for the site. It's going to become 'the place you go to find out about music.' Which is great - perhaps - but part of that involves closing down the whole current MP3.com in the first week of December, and deleting the three quarters of a million tracks that people have trusted to the service. In other words, CNet appear to have bought a service that was working pretty damn well, and doing something fairly unique, and thrown out the very reason why it was popular. So it seems they were merely interested in the domain name. Vivendi Universal get something to set against their massive pile of debt; CNet get a nifty web address. Hundreds of thousands of bands get shafted as a result. "

Punk Rock Today

From DenverPost.com an article on punk rock music today "Hey, punk: That may be loud, but it ain't punk" by Ricardo Baca. The article wonders whether Joey Ramone would be proud or devasted by the state of punk today. Johnny Rotten and Neil Young are probably disappointed.

"Thanks to what's been labeled 'punk-pop,' punk rock has been redefined and, more important, repackaged for the today's kids. Green Day's 'Dookie' changed everything almost 10 years ago with its punk rock-influenced pop music. In its footsteps came popular projects by the Offspring, Blink-182, MXPX and more recently, A Simple Plan and New Found Glory.

Leading the way in today's sanitized punk-pop invasion is Good Charlotte. The Washington, D.C.-based group, brought the assault full-on with the year-old release "Young and the Hopeless," the band's second. The CD is punk-influenced - its Misfits-esque design is familiar and it features guitarist Benji Madden in foot-tall hair spikes - although musically, it's a far cry from punk."

Bob Dylan and Neil Young

And speaking of musical collaborations, here's a link to the connection of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Two legends carry on, thrive and grow into the 21st century.

Lucinda Williams on Recording

From Acoustic Guitar :

"'I've always wanted to make a record like Neil Young and Crazy Horse,' says Williams, who is managed by Gary Briggs, Young's former A&R rep at Reprise Records, and is coheadlining an amphitheater tour with Young this summer. 'I wanted the new album to be rock 'n' roll and a real loose, jangly live thing. On the last tour, I wrote a lot and played many of the new songs, which was a big plus. When we went into the studio, we were ready to go. Most everything was road-tested, and I recorded with the same band.'"

Ryan Adams Rock'n'Roll

From The Times:

"It's a record that sounds as if he was out to show his label that he could make a commercial chart album just as easily. For there is no doubt that Rock'n'Roll will be huge. Like his previous efforts, it's very much a genre record. Heartbreaker echoed not only Dylan, but also Gram Parsons and Neil Young to create a classic acoustic troubadour sound that earned him a following among older fans. He followed it with Gold, a rock album on which the 1960s influences of the Stones, The Who and the Byrds all screamed out loud."

Joe Satriani covers Rockin' In the Free World

From Palm Beach Post "Satriani runs second to Vai again on G3 tour", November 2, 2003:

The G3 Tour, which Joe Satriani started in 1996, using former student Steve Vai and Texas virtuoso Eric Johnson as his opening acts. True to form, the first G3 Tour was the best -- even if Vai's showmanship and Johnson's wizardry repeatedly made Satriani's closing set anticlimactic.

"Satriani was the most tasteful of the three during the closing jams. His wretchedly sung take of Neil Young's Rockin' In the Free World may have ended the show with a whimper, but he out-soloed Malmsteen and Vai on Jimi Hendrix's Little Wing and Voodoo Chile."

More on Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World lyrics analysis.

Vanity Fair Music Issue & Annie Leibovitz' photos

From rockcritics daily on Annie Leibovitz' photos:

"Take her Vanity Fair panorama gatefold cover photos. There's something in the way Leibovitz presents her images of pop musicians--always an eclectic bunch, always looking like a Benetton advertisement for the more visible figures of the music industry--that is highly unnerving. Maybe it's that most of the subjects appear so pleased with themselves for being among such esteemed company (could James Taylor, Mary J. Blige, and Lucinda Williams possibly look any more sanctimonious in that photo?). Or maybe it's the complete flawlessness of it all.

Leibovitz seems to demand of her subjects that they give the audience precisely what they expect: so we get on this year's cover gallery a stoic Willie Nelson, a euphoric Queen Latifah (yes, the popular rapper Queen Latifah), former wild man Anthony Kiedis looking humbled but with a slight hint of 'madness' remaining in his glare. (To be fair, a couple subjects manage to transcend the conformist demands of her lens: Dr. Dre, for instance, is as implacable as ever.) "

Bettie Serveert at the Southpaw in Brooklyn, New York

From PopMatters Chris Fallon on Bettie Serveert concert on 8 October 2003 at the Southpaw in Brooklyn, New York:

"A recent Rolling Stone referred to the legendary Television as being akin to the Grateful Dead, of all bands, because of their prolonged, lyric-less jams which recall Jimi Hendrix's delightfully psychedelic excess, but filtered through the urban grime of early '70s proto-punk. Visser likewise channels the psychedelia of both Hendrix and Neil Young but in an even more rudimentary way -- close your eyes and you're not at an indie rock show in Brooklyn, you're at Kansas City's Royal Stadium, 1974, witnessing Neil Young duke it out with Steve Stills for improvisational guitar jam supremacy. At times even the surf rock of the Beach Boys can be heard beneath it all. And just before it becomes a retro rehash, van Dyk will step back into the jam, as unexpectedly as she departed, to resume belting out her raw but tender voice, switching up the focus of the song and easing us back into the present with lyrics about the 'pre-fab world' we're all living in. "

And speaking of reviews, check out Neil Young Reviews for concerts, albums, CDs, and movies/film reviews.

The Minus 5 Get Down With Wilco

From +++ neumu [ datastream ]: The Minus 5 Get Down With Wilco by Ryan Dombal:

"What rock 'n' roll needs now is some good old-fashioned teamwork. While hip-hop and dance artists thrive on endless collaborations and guest appearances, rock bands rarely look to each other for a little help nowadays. And with so many great bands sprouting up all over the rock landscape, that's a damn shame. It's a good thing Scott McCaughey, onetime frontman for Seattle pop-rockers the Young Fresh Fellows, unofficial current member of R.E.M., and leader of the collabo-friendly pop collective the Minus 5, is around to prove that two heads can indeed be better than one. 'There are always people out there that I would love to do things with,' said the jovial singer, whose latest Minus 5 release prominently features one of the best rock bands going: Wilco."

More on Wilco, Jeff Tweedy & Neil Young.

Peter Bruntnell and Horse Stories

From Americana UK Reviews on the Peter Bruntnell and Horse Stories at the Borderline, London on 23rd April 2003 reviewed by Simon Endacott:

"James Walbourne’s guitar playing is already making waves on the circuit, but tonight his country picking and incendiary solos really lit up the songs, songs that were so strong to begin with. Together, the unassuming veteran and the young upstart are a formidable force. Two encores later, and a memorable version of Neil Young’s ‘Everyone Knows This is Nowhere’, you can’t help but think this is the beginning of something.

Johnny Cash Tribute Concert

From Yahoo! News:

"Stars from across the musical galaxy came together in Nashville to pay tribute to the late Johnny Cash. The legendary 'Man In Black,' who died of complications from diabetes on September 12 at the age of 71, was remembered in word and song by stars including Hank Williams Jr., George Jones, Brooks & Dunn, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Marty Stuart, Larry Gatlin, Travis Tritt, Sheryl Crow, Kid Rock, John Mellencamp, and even former Vice President Al Gore.

Steve Earle, who sang "Folsom Prison Blues," recalled that Cash came to Nashville as an outsider who broke conventions by writing his own songs and speaking his mind. "He did things exactly the way he wanted to do them and stuck to his guns, and proved that that can be done and be done successfully," Earle said.

From washingtonpost.com Down-Home Tribute to Johnny Cash :

"Sheryl Crow's version of "Hurt," the Trent Reznor song that became Cash's swan song, was chilling in a good way, and Kid Rock was on the money with his "What Is Truth." But poor George Jones fumbled his verse with the regrouped Highwaymen (with Nelson, Kristofferson and Hank Jr.), looking lost on stage while the other members jumped in to cover for him."

"And when it was clear that the grand finale had arrived, most everyone assumed they'd be hearing 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken,' but son John Carter Cash led everyone (including dozens of Cash family members called up on stage) in a sunny version of 'We'll Meet Again.' It was the perfect ending to a long but heartwarming evening."

Ad Vanderveen: Dutch Neil Young

From Americana UK Reviews on Ad Vanderveen's 'The Moment That Matters' (Unique Gravity 2003):

"Ok let's get it out of the way, this is the Dutch Neil Young, an almost perfect facsimile of his songwriting and performance style, he even has the great man's sister singing backing vocals. One good thing about it is that it is a distillation of all that is good about Neil Young (country rock). We have acoustic After the Goldrush numbers, guitar workouts with huge slabs of molten melody twisted and pulled into weird shapes and a complete absence of vocoders. What you also get is a Gillian Welch cover, some mandolins fluttering like fledglings ready to leave the nest and a 12 minute epic in the vein of Cortez the Killer complete with Crazy Horse guitar pyrotechnics as guitars reach for their extremes before exploding. If you like Neil you can't help liking this, he obviously cares about what he is doing and takes the time and effort to get precisely what he wants, which is, any way you slice it, classic Young. Well worth it for all those people who've ever enjoyed Like a Hurricane. "

And over on Vanderveen's site at www.advanderveen.com you can pick up a MP3 link to his cover of Neil Young's Powderfinger accompanied by his sister Astrid Young.

Also, seeAstrid Young & Ad Vanderveen page.

The Preston School of Industry's new Monsoon

Preston School

From Americana UK News:

'The Preston School of Industry's second full-length album will be released early next year, according to frontman Scott Kannberg. Titled Monsoon, the ten-track disc features cameos from the Minus 5's Scott McCaughey, 'who did an amazing Lindisfarne mandolin part,' and all of the members of Wilco, who played assorted instruments found in the basement 'while high on my BBQ chicken,' says Kannberg."

Andy Olmsted “Find Your Way Home” (Fat Cuz Records 2003)

From Americana UK Reviews:

"As the cover of "Find Your Way Home" features the Longfellow Bridge across the Charles River almost eclipsed by a snowstorm, and as I've traipsed over it and up Mass Ave in similar conditions, I immediately warmed to Andy Olmsted, as I figure we'd already done some bonding. Add that to a gentle folk/country sound that is somewhere between The Handsome Family and the acoustic side of Neil Young, and you really have something going here. It's not wall-to-wall classic numbers, but it's very likeable, and it walks a line which shows an appreciation nonetheless of classic singer-songwriter-isms as well as a nod to the happily downbeat. If it's possible to imagine, vocally Olmsted sounds like the bastard love child of the aforementioned Canadian and Tom Petty, and it's their collective slight sneer that gives an edge to proceedings."

Eleventh Dream Day

From The Indiana Digital Student article "Many bands still Young at heart" by Val Tsoutsouris on Eleventh Dream Day, a guitar band from Chicago :

"Eleventh Dream Day is another story. If Teenage
Fanclub's goal was to augment Neil Young-style melody
and high tenor vocals, then Eleventh Dream Day's was to peel more
paint. The recent reissue of Prairie School Freakout
(Thrill Jockey Records), their 1988 debut, shows a
band as much ahead of the grunge movement as the more
famous Pixies with guitarists Rick Rizzo and Baird
Figi slashing each other at the wrists with sizzling
feedback, the interplay similar to what Young has
tried to achieve with his backing units."

Also, Eleventh Dream Day, reissued their second album and their Wayne EP which contains an excellent cover version of Neil Young's Southern
Pacific.

Bottle Rockets and No Depression

From No Depressioncover article in the Nov. issue is on the Bottle Rockets by Scott Manzler. Bottle Rockets' Brian Henneman is discusses David Gates & Bread:

'What's funny, is when you get right down to it, David Gates isn't THAT far away from Neil Young.' Several months later he adds, 'It's true, I believe that. It's not the chasm Neil Young lovers might think that it is, if you think about it. It's that singer-songwriter heartfelt kind of thing.

With Neil, just naturally, it's cooler, and it's more shrouded with that hippie voice, you know. If he could sing [Henneman appropriates a whining drawl] 'I want to make it with you'- you know, if he did that on Tonight's the Night, nobody would question it. Nobody would ever say, 'Listen to that sappy crap.' Henneman continues: 'Neil Young always had a great melody, and so did David Gates. It's just, David Gates had that sweet voice, and he had the production that they used. But you just gotta imagine Neil Young singing it. And then it can work.'"

James William Hindle and Neil Young

From reallyrather:

"Spanning the spectrum between Neil Young and Simon & Garfunkel, James William Hindle has hit a rich vein of robustly melodic but soft-hearted songwriting. You will be safe and Hollow bodies are a great pair of gnarly chuggers a la Nadine; Doubt and Celebration lovely waltz-time plunkers garlanded with some spangly, twangly guitar. The shuffling, harmonica-laced campfire ditty Country song and jaunty Hoboken (think Bright side of the road as done by whimsical indie boy not Belfast bruiser) both score. Best of the bunch, however, are Come down slowly and Shadows cast a lie, shimmering, mid-tempo grooves which do all you hope they might - no wrong turns, natty solos, perfect hooks, and tambourines! There's a '70s feel to the last pair which isn't flagged up quite so obviously as on Josh Rouse's latest, but fans of his will feel right at home in Prospect Park."

Maverick Mag: Johnny and June Carter Cash

The latest issue of Maverick has an extended special feature on Johnny and June Carter Cash.

So what is alt.country/Americana anyways?

When I first started this blog, I was trying to explain to a friend what the alt.country sound was all about. It's definitely a difficult genre to define because of the evolving boundaries. Even more so because of all the variations on alt.country like Americana, hick-pop, y'all-ternative, etc.

So I found this article by Tom Cox from the Observer over at Americana UK that tries to answer the question "What's Americana?":

"It sounds like a lot to ask, yet it's possible that this ultimate modern movement - this genre that provides an opposition to everything stodgy and corporate - is already here. The fact that it's been around for a bit, growing in ranks, right under our noses, just makes it an even more perfect response to everything transient in pop. It's been called Americana, neo-country, and alternative country, and it was born - depending on who you ask - when the American grunge movement died, when the angelic country soul singer Gram Parsons declared his vision of 'Cosmic American Music' in the late Sixties, or when Hank Williams first strapped on his two-dollar guitar.

Over the past five years, it has encompassed the hick-hop of Jim White, the cosmic bar blues of the Jayhawks, the doomy porch songs of the Handsome Family, the ragged exile-on-back-street rock of Whiskeytown, the leather-trousered gal power of Lucinda Williams and the northern gothic chill of the Willard Grant Conspiracy, to name just a fraction. To give you a measure of its diversity, it wouldn't be too strong to say that if every musician in the world making any music other than alternative country died tomorrow, rock music would suddenly be in its healthiest state for years. "

Jason Walker & The Last Drinks “Ashes & Wine”

From Americana UK Reviews:

"Jason Walker, singer/ songwriter & novelist, is a leading figure on the UK Americana scene. 'Ashes & Wine', the eagerly awaited follow up to 'Stranger to Someone' is also hot on the heels of his excellent biography of genre legend Gram Parsons, 'Gods Own Singer'. So does Walker deserve his place at the top? With closest rival Peter Bruntnell's magnificent 'Ends of the Earth' already released, the pressure is on. Easing us in gently with the country pop of 'Your on your Own', the first truly smouldering track is the Stonesy 'Dissatisfaction'. Walker is enjoying the performance so much he urges the band to play it 'one more time' as his acoustic guitar re builds the crumbling riff before bringing it to a close in a wall of feedback. Awesome stuff. 'Please Save Your Tears', another highlight is a slovenly, slacking rocker that suggests that Neil Young's Zuma, or indeed Son Volts Trace, are never far from JW's mind, while 'Last Drinks' is a modern rewrite of The Stanley Brothers 'She's More to be Pitied' & every bit as good a song. The record closes with 'Looking Out', the most sonically challenging track here. It includes retro 'must haves' the Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, a Flaming Lips style Theramin & (not such a must have) a whistling solo... Yankee Hotel Foxtrot it isn't, but a tasteful finale. This is, quite simply, a great record."

The Man in Black is gone but not forgotten

From E! Online News well deserved honors:

"Johnny Cash was awarded three of Nashville's highest honors at the Country Music Association's 37th Annual Country Music Awards Wednesday--Single of the Year and Video of the Year for his cover of the Nine Inch Nails song 'Hurt,' and Album of the Year for American IV: The Man Comes Around.

The audience rose to its feet for an ovation as son John Carter Cash and daughter Kathy Cash accepted the awards for their late father.

'It's amazing my father had such a life that he could expose himself and still never lose his dignity and his charm,' Carter Cash said.
The award show featured a tribute to Cash, who died September 12 at age 71 from complications of diabetes. Artists such as Sheryl Crow, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams Jr. took the stage to perform some Cash classics. "

My Morning Jacket

From neumu's editor Michael Goldberg:

"My Morning Jacket's sound is good ol'-fashioned '70s-style rock that somehow mixes the spastic and stylistic musical approach of the Flaming Lips to a 1970's Neil Young (think After the Gold Rush) aesthetic. With his voice drenched in reverb, James croons lyrics of love, lust and wide-open spaces in a way that only James (with his falsetto) can produce. "

From marusin.com - archives:

"When you hear My Morning Jacket, you instantly hear Neil Young in Jim James' voice. You hear a sound that could be something like the Flaming Lips meets Lynyrd Skynyrd (I think I read this comparison before and it's so true). Every song on 'It Still Moves' paints a thick sound landscape that you would normally associate with a band like the Flaming Lips, but it's all organically generated. This is the sound that comes from old tweed-colored amplifiers and big old wooden organs who've had their share of beer spilled on them.

I guess you could say that 'It Still Moves' can be classified as southern/country-tinged rock. To me, it's the kind of music that would pair well with a cold beer and a shot. Remember this is Kentucky we're talking about: It's 'Bourbon', not 'Whiskey'. "

From Americana UK Reviews : of "My Morning Jacket 'At Dawn' (Wichita Records 2003):

"... the purpose of this review is merely to affirm that it is every bit as good as they say it is. 'At Dawn' is a stone cold classic, which everyone who has ever loved The Flaming Lips, Neil Young or Grandaddy should rush out and buy straight away. From Louisville, Kentucky (Sid Griffin's hometown, oddly enough), MMJ make simple, beautiful music which makes you contemplate the glories of life and this small, polluted planet that we live on. To use the Neil Young analogy, it takes the styles of 'Harvest' and 'On the Beach' and mashes them up with 'The Soft Bulletin' and 'The Sophtware Slump'; some of the songs are half formed and barely strummed, but provide an spectacular aural amphitheatre for Jim James' haunting but sanguine vocal presence. Much of it appears melancholic on first listen, yet there's a latent, almost miss-able, streak of joy and wonder running through the entire production, which has the potential to comfort and provide emotional sustenance, whilst the music, ostensibly a variety of alt-country, transcends that genre and several others.

2003 Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert

The 17th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert

The 17th Annual Bridge School Benefit Concert was held on October 25th and 26th, 2003 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, CA.

Performers included Pearl Jam, Wilco, Counting Crows, Willie Nelson, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

For setlists and reviews, see Bridge School Benefit Concert 2003 Review page.

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Farthing Auditorium, Boone, NC- 10/21/2003

From review in Jambands.com by Kris Kehr :

"Speaking of Bill Monroe, at the end of the set she mentioned that Bill ended every show she ever saw with 'I'll Fly Away' (me too) and so she ended her set with this beautiful spiritual classic. Of course the audience would not let them leave and the 2 returned for a three-song encore. The second song was an unnamed new composition that one member of the audience deemed 'awesome' and I would say was heavily influenced by Neil Young's 'On The Beach' album in mood and chord structure and also the vocal arrangements of CSN, although the audience member said it simpler. They were brought back one more time for my favorite of their covers, Neil Young's 'Albuquerque'. I left feeling good about myself, with a tear in my eye."

Johnny Cash covers Steve Earle, Neil Young and more

A Johnny Cash CD Set called "Unearthed" featuring numerous cover versions is scheduled to be released latre in November. From E! Online News - :

"The first three discs, respectively subtitled Who's Gonna Cry, Trouble in Mind and Redemption Songs, include Cash's rendition of Steve Earle's 'Devil's Right Hand,' Roy Orbison's 'Down the Line' and Neil Young's 'Heart of Gold' and 'Pocahontas.'

Other material unearthed includes some of Cash's unreleased duets, including Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" with Joe Strummer, Cat Steven's "Father and Son" with Fiona Apple, Chuck Berry's "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" with Carl Perkins, "Cindy" with Nick Cave, and "Like a Soldier" with Willie Nelson. "

For other Neil news, see Neil Young's Greendale page.

Some Girls cover "Only Love Will Break Your Heart"

Some Girls with Julianna Hatfield covered Neil Young's "Only Love Will Break Your Heart" at Iota Club, Arlington, VA on 9/21/03. An enjoyable show with an ernest rendering according to those present.

More on other bands covering Neil Young songs.

Wilco MP3

From largehearted boy, a boy, a girl, and his radio:

"Grab the live version of Wilco's 'Cars Can't Escape' from their September 20, 2003 show as well the studio version of 'Let Me Come Home'."

Wilco download.

More on Wilco and Neil Young.