Preview: The Lusitania, Kentucky Knife Fight in Midland, 7/19

It remains rare that Midland/Odessa gets a quality indie-rock show through town. No offense to the metal or punk fans, as I do appreciate them supporting their own form of independent music, but it's just not my thing.

Thankfully, our all-ages venue in the area, The Pine Box (510 S. Big Spring St., Midland, TX), is fairly open to most any music style. This Tuesday, July 19th, brings an outstanding show through town, featuring El Paso band The Lusitania, along with St. Louis based Kentucky Knife Fight.

If you have followed this blog much in the past, you know I have long been a champion of The Lusitania's work. Their latest release, last year's Rain & Rivers, was an outstanding effort, and since its release, the band has spent a good deal of time out on the road supporting fellow El Pasoan Jim Ward, of At the Drive-In, Sparta, & Sleepercar notoriety. In fact, after a short run of their own through the Midwest, they will connect again with Ward for a few more weeks of shows.

Kentucky Knife Fight brings a style of music that combines a diverse array of musical styles. Their Facebook describes the sound as combining "bluegrass, blues, and punk," which actually all present themselves fairly clearly upon a few listens. I might have had difficulty singling out those three influences on my own, so it was nice that they did the work for me. Either way, definitely worth checking out.

It's a Tuesday night in Midland, folks, what else do you have to do?

UPDATE: Here is the facebook page for the event. Tons of bands playing. So many that I am too lazy to look them all up.

The Lusitania - "Your Style" (kinda sorta NSFW, just sayin')


If your geography is conducive to such a thing, you can also catch these two bands, plus Estelline, at the Blue Light in Lubbock on Wed., 7/20.

Windfarm 2010 All-America Music Team

In an attempt at doing something other than a traditional "best of 2010" list, I've taken a bit of a different route, and instead, listed my favorite albums in the form of an All-America Team. What you'll find are not necessarily the best musicians at every position, but players from my favorite albums of the year broken out by position. Thus, many great musicians get ignored, although my main concern was including at least someone from each of my favorite albums this year.

Yes, I also know some of these are a stretch, but I couldn't just have 14 first team vocals, so there are a few picks that aren't necessarily full time on the instrument they are assigned to. Next year hopefully I can solicit votes from readers and bloggers alike to get a better compilation for this list.


Most Valuable Musicians
Every member of The National - High Violet

First Team
Vocals: John McCaulley III, Deer Tick - The Black Dirt Sessions
Harmony Vocals: Julie Davis & Joseph Pope III, Nathaniel Rateliff - In Memory of Loss
Guitar: Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
Bass: Murry Hammond - Old 97s - The Grand Theatre: Part I
Drums: Brian Moen, Peter Wolf Crier - Inter-Be
Banjo: Munly Munly - Munly & the Lupercalians - Petr & the Wulf; Slim Cessna's Auto Club - Buried Behind the Barn
Keyboard: Benjamin Tanner, Dylan LeBlanc - Pauper's Field
Pedal Steel: Jon Graboff, Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - III/IV


Second Team
Vocals: Win Butler, Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Harmony Vocals: Ryan Monroe - Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Guitar: Seth Avett, The Avett Brothers - Live Volume 3
Bass: Reid Perry, The Band Perry - self-titled
Drums: Julian Harmon, The Morning Benders - Big Echo
Banjo: Winston Marshall - Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Keyboard/Piano: Eric Earley, Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer of the Void


All-Texas Team
Vocals: Will Johnson, Centro-matic/South San Gabriel - Eyas
Guitar: Daniel Markham, One Wolf - One Wolf II: Secret of the Wolf
Pedal Steel: Colt Miller, Thrift Store Cowboys - Light Fighter
Bass: Brooks Kendall, Jr. - Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - The Apology, Part I
Drums: Rob Sanchez, Monahans - 2010 Recordings
Banjo: Glen Farris - Doug Burr - O Ye Devastator
Keyboards: Adi Kanlic - The Lusitania - Rain & Rivers


Other First Teamers

Autobiographer: Keith Richards - Life

Documentarian: Gandulf Hennig - Merle Haggard: Learning to Live With Myself

Live experience: singalong of "When My Time Comes" - Dawes - Fox Theatre, Boulder 06/19/10

Shameless Self Promotion: Windfarm - "The Proud Colorado Mountains of Townes Van Zandt" (Hey, I spent a lot of time on that post, so why not give it one more mention?)

Venue: Hi-Dive, Denver, CO

Song of the Year: "Red, Red" - Doug Burr - Specifically, the moment the drums come in on this song is the best musical moment of 2010 for me.

Close second place for song of the year: "Christchurch Woman" - Justin Townes Earle

Radio station: 1410 AM, KRIL, Odessa, TX

Record store find: Vic Chesnutt, Little (vinyl first printing)

TV show(s): Southland, Modern Family, Hard Knocks, Friday Night Lights, Dexter, Eastbound & Down, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, No Reservations, Human Target

Magazine Interview: "The Lost Lennon Tapes" - Rolling Stone

Sports blog: Feinstein on the Brink

Odd Celebrity Sighting: Vijay Singh on Pearl Street in Boulder (might have been 2009)

Best Daytrotter sessions: Nathaniel Rateliff - 06/21/2010; Dawes - 07/08/2010

Non-fiction book: Welcome to Utopia - Karen Valby

Album I rediscovered: The Dark - Guy Clark

Person who deserves Supporting Actor Nomination: John Hawkes in Winter's Bone

Best pick-up truck ever: This baby blue Chevy Scottsdale I saw at HEB -

The Lusitania - Your Style

I hope you've taken the time to check out The Lusitania's new record Rain and Rivers. It's definitely worth your time and money, so if you haven't, maybe this great song and music video will persuade you. (Lyrics are very slightly NSFW, especially if you work in a church)

West Texas area music calendar

Lots of great shows coming up around West Texas the next few weeks. Here are a few good ones I know about. Send West Texas area music listings to windfarmblog(at)gmail(dot)com if you want your show listed on Windfarm.

Go see Lucero in Lubbock this Sunday if you can. They are one of the better touring bands who regularly visits the Hub City, and even better, The Lusitania will be opening.

Lubbock
Oct. 8 - Hayes Carll - Blue Light
Oct. 10 - Lucero, The Lusitania - Bash Riprocks
Oct. 12 - Thrift Store Cowboys - Blue Light (CD Release)
Oct. 15 - Wovenhand - Bash Riprocks

Midland/Odessa
Oct. 14 - Eli Young Band - Dos Amigos
Oct. 21 - The Deftones - Dos Amigos

San Angelo
Oct. 15 - The Derailers - Steel Penny Pub

Abilene
Oct. 16 - Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward - Lucky Mule Saloon

Alpine/Marfa
Oct. 7 - Dale Watson - Padre's
Oct. 8 - Jon Langford - Railroad Blues
Oct. 8 - The Gourds - Padre's
Oct. 9 - Jon Langford - Padre's
Oct. 15 - The Derailers - Railroad Blues
Nov. 3 - Monotonix - Padre's
Nov. 19 - Ray Wylie Hubbard - Railroad Blues
Dec. 3 - Black Joe Lewis - Padre's

The Lusitania - Rain and Rivers

El Paso-based The Lusitania have been making the rounds touring across Texas and the Southwest for the past few years, steadily making a name for themselves with great songs and high energy performances. Their quality is apparent in the fact that they have found the support of fellow El Pasoan Jim Ward, known for his work with At The Drive-In, Sparta, and Sleepercar.

The Lusitania are yet another promising band in the canon of West Texas music. Out of a seemingly sparse landscape, great music continues to emerge, and not just run-of-the-mill music, but that which could hold its own in any major music market in the U.S. right now.

Rain and Rivers, produced by Ward and Gabe Gonzalez, was recorded at Clap of Thunder Studios in El Paso and is being released on Civil Defense League Records. You can download or buy a physical copy of the record here. The record finds the band re-recording some previously released material as well as putting a good deal of new material to tape as well.

Rain and Rivers offers new versions of Lusitania staples such as "Wolves," "Bottle Neck Blues," and the Bukowski-esque "Spoils of War," as well as the previously vinyl-only songs "Down the Tracks" and "Tributaries." Beyond that, however, you'll find a number of great new songs. "Your Style" far and away stands out as my early favorite, and I find myself either playing it on my ipod or singing it aloud in not always appropriate places. However, this new song doesn't stand alone, as the growling rocker "'Til My Heart Gives Out" fits perfectly in the Lusitania's catalog, adding some great vocal harmonies into the mix for depth. Alternatively, the album's second song, "A Line in the Sand" is more uptempo and should be a fantastic song for the live show.

The Lusitania have put in a lot of dues touring the last few years, and the release of R & R will only bolster their efforts. The album is a solid full-length effort that should be appreciated by fans both old and new. These guys are deserving of a great deal of success, and this album is a good step toward getting their names out. Spread the word.

none of this just in

One final West Coast note:
I'm convinced that if you are looking for old country music vinyl, then the Bay Area is a great place to look. Not only are there a number of good stores like Rasputin and Amoeba in SF and Berkeley, but I am of the opinion that people just don't buy country vinyl there much, and so you've got a pretty good chance of finding some cool stuff.

Okay, one more final west coast note:
For all you vinyl collectors who have noticed, at least to a small extent, that record store owners are less pretentious these days now that they are on such a shoestring budget, never fear, I'm pretty sure the record store clerks in the bay area are just as pretentious as they ever were.

Just finished reading:
the new Dave Eggers book, Zeitoun. It is amazing! It's written in the style of What is the What? and I found myself flying through it because I just couldn't put it down.



















Didn't have a chance to write about it:
but I was able to catch one of the Lusitania's Denver shows a couple of weeks ago. All of my praises were backed up by their show. This band is really tight and their live shows are awesome. I hope they catch on up here, because all the show was lacking was a high energy packed house. By the way, Vinyl Collective is now carrying their 7" split with Buckeye.

Stumbled upon news:
that Alternative Tentacles is reissuing Secret South, a hard to find album by Denver's 16 Horsepower. If you don't have this album, you should strongly consider checking it out if for no other reason than to hear the cover of Dylan's "Nobody 'Cept You." The album will be reissued on LP and CD, each with a bonus DVD included. Vinyl originals of this album have gone on ebay for around $75 or more in recent years, so this reissue makes it a bit more accessible. However, it also leaves vinyl collectors to question whether they are bidding on an original or a reissue version on ebay, so for all it helps, there are some downsides as well. Also, I still can't decide whether it's worth it to buy reissue vinyl anyway.

I totally missed this:
but the recent Zach Galifianakis interview on the Tonight's Show was hilarious. He seemed much more in his element than when he was on Dave. I love Dave, but I felt like he was just going through the motions asking Zach questions and it wasn't very natural. Make sure and watch part 1 & part 2.

The Boulder Avett Brothers' show:
is now sold out. Let's hope we make it out alive.

I really enjoy:
telling people that if we ever have a son we're going to name him "Billiam," but call him "Will."

The Lusitania come to Colorado

One of my favorite up and coming bands will be in the great state of Colorado beginning this weekend. The Lusitania, from El Paso, is making a short run through the state, and I strongly recommend that you make a point of catching one of their shows. The band currently has an 8 song EP out and a 7" vinyl split, which together combine for a set of amazing songs. For those of you playing the record collecting game at home, you should pick up a copy of their 7" vinyl while it is still available, because I get the feeling one of these days in the not-too-distant future it will be a collector's item. Give them a listen and go check out their live show at one of the upcoming shows.















And now for the upcoming shows (in CO & elsewhere):
Fri., July 31st - Bash Riprocks in the Depot - Lubbock, TX with Thrift Store Cowboys & One Wolf
Saturday, Aug. 1st - Triple Nickel Tavern - Colorado Springs, CO w/ Drag the River
Sunday, Aug. 2nd - 3 Kings Tavern - Denver, CO
Monday, Aug. 3rd - Surfside 7 - Fort Collins, CO
Tuesday, Aug. 4th - Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO w/ Action Packed Thrill Ride
Wed., Aug. 5th - Phil's Radiator - Pueblo, CO
Fri., Aug. 7th - Dry River - Tucson, AZ
Sat., Aug. 8th - The Modified - Phoenix, AZ


The band was nice enough to take time out while they are on the road to do a brief email interview. They didn't even question the fact that I can't count, and numbered the four questions 1, 1, 3, 4.

1. How would you describe the band's sound right now? Has it changed in any way compared to your past recordings?

I would describe it as heartfelt songwriting mixed in with drunken barroom rock and roll with a cherry on top.

1. You've been recording a new album lately. Do you have a few details you could provide about how that process is going, and what your release plans are for the record?

We're recording in El Paso with Jim Ward (Sparta). We're about halfway done. It's sounding great and we're really excited for it's release. Hopefully we'll have it done in the next two or three months, after which we will begin shopping it around.

3. How is the rock/indie scene in El Paso right now? Is there strong support of independent bands & music?

There are a lot of talented groups in El Paso and a lot of good music being made. Only downfall right now is good venues to play in.

4. Anything else we should know about the Lucy?

Be on the lookout for the record soon. We'll be touring again come early January.

This isn't really new, but...

Sleepercar "A Broken Promise"


Bands from West Texas just make me feel good about the world. I love it that Jim Ward has been to rock stardom and back, but continues to live in El Paso, and is apparently helping some friends of his get a new bar started there. I understand he is also helping to produce the new Lusitania album, which will no doubt add to the legacy of El Paso music.

I've not had the chance to see Sleepercar live yet, but am hoping to make a point of it next time they come through town. In the mean time, he has recently released the second of three solo EPs, this one entitled In the Valley, On the Shores, that from what I can tell, are only available here.

I wish I still had the article, but I remember years ago, just after the break up of At the Drive In and subsequent formation of the Mars Volta and Sparta, there was an article detailing the best selling albums by Texas artists over the calendar years. What I remember was that the Dixie Chicks were first, and Sparta came soon after them on the list. They were a band most people hadn't heard of, but it turned out the ATDI fans were so rabid I think basically every single one of them bought a copy of the first Sparta album (and probably the first TMV album as well). Okay, maybe that's not a good story, but I thought it was pretty cool at the time.

Everyone wants to say they were in on the ground floor

So we've all got our friends who are the ultimate in "one-upsmanship" when it comes to discovering new bands.

(I'm thinking especially of people who date their Old 97s fan status by what album they started listening to the band on. Mine was Too Far To Care. Not super early, but in my defense, I was only 13 when their first album came out.)

That said, the funny thing is that so rarely are bands really good when they first begin. Sure they have a few good songs that maybe sound a little too much like someone else, but it typically takes a few years of writing/touring/recording to develop anything of note. So where am I going with all of this? Nowhere fast?

Hopefully not, because the main reason for writing this is to note my recent discovery of a great band from El Paso called The Lusitania. I really just came to know about them from the line-up at Tuggfest, and have been getting increasingly impressed with the music on their myspace. They've got one album out and a 7" split out some time soon.

While they do have elements of a number of the bands that they list as influences, the important thing is that they are just a good listen. They've got a good mix of twang, vocal harmonies and rock all at the right times. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more about this band, and I hope you'll take the time to check them out. Their CD is super cheap, and it's all a DIY operation right now, which is the best time to start supporting a band.

So if nothing else, check out their myspace, go see a live show on their upcoming tour if you can, and get in on the ground floor.