Who knew?

So I just learned that this Saturday (5/18/09) is "Record Store Day" across the country, and apparently that means that there are a ton of vinyl and other releases coming out then.  My local record store owner was telling about the day, and having never heard of it, I did my usual "nod head and smile because I don't know what you are talking about" routine.  After talking to a friend who actually knows about such things, I looked into in a bit more detail.

Now I don't really care about most of the releases, but one kind of cool thing that caught my eye is a new Whiskeytown 7".  You can find out more info/backstory here.  Apparently it features two previously unreleased tracks from 1996: "San Antone" and "The Great Divide."  Not sure how limited the release is, but I think my local store received 3 or 4 copies, so probably 2500 or so nationally?  I'm sure it's few enough so that they'll sell out soon and be sold for way too much on ebay before you know it.

Surely not?

While randomly searching for Hayes Carll and what he is up to these days, I ran across this blog that says that he is releasing a Neil Diamond tribute album on 5/5/09. I don't have a problem with it if he is releasing such an album, but I can't find anything else about it, as the story that they cite as the news source is a broken link. I'm going to lean toward the opinion that this might not be true until I get confirmation from a few more places. In the meantime, I guess I'm just helping to spread news that may just be a rumor.

Stanley Marsh 3

(photo from here)

Check out some of Marsh's street signs here.

I guess maybe the fact that west Texas is a place where everything is always the same makes the work of Stanley Marsh 3 so much better than if he were in New York City or Paris or Marfa. I think it's awesome too that his projects still garner so much attention, as I'm writing mainly because Lubbockonline.com just published an article about his new water lily project.

If you are ever in Amarillo, it's almost an addictive thing to drive around and try to find all of the fake road signs that are in people's yards.

A blessing and a curse

Let me set the record straight right away - I don't have anything against Jason Isbell. He's got some good songs, and as far as I know he's a good guy. I also know that an artist doesn't really control who their fans are, and finally, I know that folks who go to see a headliner often don't pay any attention to the opener. Interestingly, he tends to bring really good bands with him on tour, even when they don't necessarily seem to fit with his fanbase.

For example, a couple of years ago, he brought Centro-matic on tour with him, who I was really wanting to see, so I'm pretty grateful for his good taste in openers. The thing I learned during that show that I didn't know beforehand was that Isbell shows really bring out a crowd that I hesitantly classify (because I hate to overgeneralize) as white trash. Once again, these people pay his bills, so like them or not, they are loyal fans, and I'm sure he's not complaining about that.

Last night, this contingent of fans was present once again, as Jason's concert featured opener Justin Townes Earle, who I have really been wanting to see after hearing some of cuts off of his new album Midnight at the Movies. Overall, JTE put on a great show with his sideman Cory Younts. I was surprisingly disappointed at the sound at the Bluebird Theater last night, as the mix made it extremely difficult to hear the vocals, and honestly, I guess they didn't see a problem with it the whole set, because it was basically the same poor mix all night. Maybe there were extenuating circumstances I wasn't aware of, but nonetheless, I was glad that I finally got the chance to see Justin. He embodies the performance style of the old Western Swing and Country folks well, and does a good job of bantering in between songs (when you can hear it).

The factor that made things even worse was that as the Isbell crowd grew, they were talking through the last half of JTE's set, to the point that it really made it hard to hear two acoustic instruments with vocals (did I mention the mix wasn't good?). To make it even worse, I sat in the back quietly judging the crowd. It really blew my mind that a number of people had worn their Drive-By Truckers shirts to the concert, but that gives you an idea of what the crowd was like. Overall, you could tell that the hipster crowd was basically non-existent, given the complete absence of silly hats.

The final thing I got to see, which didn't have anything at all to do with Jason Isbell, was the experience of watching people come up and talk to JTE by the merch table. He was in a hurry to leave, so I didn't see much, but I got a good taste of what his life must be like. The interaction that stands out was an older man who came up to him to shake his hand, and proceeded to tell him how much his dad's music meant to him throughout his life. Quite a heartfelt comment, but when you recognize that Justin's music career thus far probably includes people like this in every town, you start to recognize how good Justin is doing just to be cordial to these people on a regular basis. Comes with the territory I suppose, and he handled it well from what I saw.

If you haven't heard "Mama's Eyes" yet, go to his myspace and check it out.

Free music, but sadly, no free beer

Paste Magazine and Dale's Pale Ale, the beer I consider responsible for bringing cans back to popularity, have teamed up to give you free music to download. Click the above image to sign up. It's pretty simple overall - after you sign up, it takes you to a download page where you can download any or all of the available mp3s.

The first installment has an awesome new track from Slaid Cleaves, and another great one by Laura Gibson (sounds so much like Bosque Brown). Unfortunately I wasn't in the mood to try a ton of new stuff, so I only downloaded a few others beyond those. Nonetheless, it's well worth it. Did I mention it's free?

Sad

So thanks to a reader (how a Toby Keith fan found this blog I will never know), it turns out that both Kris Kristofferson and Toby Keith are denying that the reported 2003 exchange between them, noted in Rolling Stone magazine, ever happened. The Tennessean covers most of the details here.

While some have noted that if neither side remembers the story, it probably didn't happen, I have to wonder why the hell Ethan Hawke remembers it, as he is the one that wrote the story? I'm sure some will attribute this to him being some disconnected Hollywood type or (fill in the blank comment about "liberals"). However, of all things to start an article with, this was an amazing account, and I find it odd that he would contrive a story that was going to be read by millions of people, and had to have known it would be subjected to serious scrutiny if it wasn't true. I expect that Rolling Stone didn't hold the article up to normal scrutiny because it was from a celebrity author, but I could be wrong about that too. Or maybe they just didn't want to spoil such a good story.

I guess we may never know, but I for one, am saddened to learn that this is being denied, as it was about to become my favorite story.

Update: While I think all parties involved are hoping this blows over, this blog has a bit of information (evidence? conjecture?) that Kris had told the story to others after it happened and that his memory might not be all it used to be. In summation, we still have no idea where this story came from.

I watch these things so you don't have to

I always feel really embarrassed afterwards when I let people know I watch things like the Grammy awards or the Academy of Country Music Awards, but nonetheless, here I am doing it again. The ACM's are on tonight, and now that Nashville owns Texas country, I couldn't help but watch for the folks who are nominated that I had occasion to share a stage with back "in the day" (Eli Young, Randy Rogers). Sad, I know, but such is life.

Usually my watching the country music awards involves me finding out what the hell has been going on in country music for the last year, typically followed by a good deal of disgust and throwing things at the TV. Nonetheless, here's my thoughts so far:

"Johnny and June" - by Heidi Newfield - I don't respect anyone that sings about Johnny Cash in a way that is this obvious. If you sing about Johnny Cash, you better do it in a way that no one can tell. This song is 100 times worse than all the bad covers of "Folsom Prison Blues" I've heard over the years, and yes, I do still walk out of any establishment for the duration of the song when I hear someone play it.

Toby Keith just played. There's not an online link to it, but the new Rolling Stone, with Lil Wayne on the cover, has a great story about Kris Kristofferson putting TK in his place a few years back. Read it in the bookstore if you can't justify buying it, but it's well worth it if you take some pride any time you hear a real country musician taking the wind out of Toby's sails.

Someone just got compared to Waylon - this is going to be good. Jamey Johnson...this stuff is going to put me in my grave.

Jamie Foxx introducing George Strait. I can get on board with this. No matter what George is doing now, he can do no wrong as a result of his work in the 80s.

Looks like he's still got it. I'm going to have to put in a vote for him for Entertainer of the Year.

The Lady Antebellum performance is taking away my last energy. I'll update again if I can, but I'm pretty sure it's all downhill now that George has played.
.......
I'm back, if only briefly. Sugarland just accepted their award for Best Vocal Duo, and made the comment that their band would "blow your face off." Kind of funny really, with them not being country and all, and makes me think of a real country musician, Billy Joe Shaver, who really did nearly blow a guy's face off. Now that's country music.
.......
John Rich just played. Not even going to dignify him with a degrading comment.

now Miley Cyrus - I guess she's sticking to the demographic that doesn't care (as much) about the racist remarks she made a few months ago and then fake apologized for.
.......
Brad Paisley gets top male vocalist. I can live with that - anything that keeps KC or TK from winning. Plus, he did "When I Get Where I'm Going," which gives him a pass on most of his questionable songs.
.......
and blah blah blah it's over now. nothing of note left to report.

Not a lot to tell you..

But this Telegraph Canyon video is worth a watch. They are on tour out west starting next month, but Lubbock, you don't have to wait that long. They'll be at Bash's 2 with Monahans and One Wolf on April 11th.

Old Dark Hymns from Casey Parks on Vimeo.

Also, just ran across this new interview with Amanda Shires. Thanks to Chris Oglesby with Virtual Lubbock for doing this interview, and also for helping to put together the Lubbock music showcase at SXSW. Please check out his book Fire in the Water, Earth in the Air: Legends of West Texas Music, if you haven't already. Hopefully if you haven't picked up a copy of Amanda's West Cross Timbers you will do so soon. I'll try and post some more detailed thoughts on it later on.