Wrinkle Neck Mules - Catfish & Color TVs (vid)

Really good vid of the Wrinkle Neck Mules performing the song Catfish & Color TVs on air last Thursday. This song is from their latest Let The Lead Fly.

Speaking of Drive By Truckers

As some of you may know, I've been spending the week in Cincinnati. One of the things I always try to do when I hit a new city is check out the local record stores. Thanks to some help from a few locals, I got some great tips for where the good record finds are in Cincinnati. Places like Everybody's Records & Mole's Records which is a sleepy little store right off UC campus that any vinyl hunter could easily spend a week in if unchecked (crates from floor to ceiling completely unsorted). One of the record stores I was told I HAD to go to was Shake-It Records. Shake-It from what I gather is somewhat of an institution in Cincinnati, and rightly so as it's one of the most eclectic, friendly, and organized record stores I've been to.

Now, on to the subject of this post. Shake-It Records is also a record label, and luckily for me, their latest offering is a Drive-By Truckers 7" that is Vol. 2 in a tribute to Muscle Shoals session legend Eddie Hinton (Vol. 1 is by Cincinnati native Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs). Now, click that Eddie Hinton link there because there is some interesting info there. For instance the DBT song Sandwiches  For The Road is based on the life of Eddie Hinton. As Dana Carvey would say in his Johnny Carson impression "I did not know that".

Now I haven't had a chance to listen to this yet, because my turntable is back home in Virginia, but I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on this. What I can give you though is a killer live version of side B: Everybody Needs Love

Download Drive-By Truckers - Everybody Needs Love (Live) here

Order Dangerous Highway: A Tribute To The Songs of  Eddie Hinton here

Drive By Truckers - After The Scene Dies (vid), and news

Here's a great vid of one of the new songs from The Big To-Do, due out March 16th. The band starts their Big To-Do tour tomorrow, and they are also offering a free download of the first single, a song called This Fucking Job. In even more DBT news, they will be screening the first ever DBT documentary entitled The Secret To A Happy Ending in Feb. I can't wait to see that!

From The Archives: Slobberbone - Last Show 3-13-05

Got a request for this the other day and wanted to get it in before I go out of town for a week. If I remember right, once upon a time I promised a Slobberbone sampler....well obviously I flaked on that, but never fear fine readers, because lucky for you Ninebullets.net's resident badass Romeo Sid Vicious recently created a "Through The Whiskey Glass" compilation of Slobberbone that is way better than anything I could have come up with. Check it out here: http://ninebullets.net/archives/diggin-on-slobberbone
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How 'bout some live slobberbone to kick off spring. This is probably the best boot I have found of theirs....not only because of the significance of it being their last show, but it's just a damned good boot. They play like it's their last show....running through almost all their best songs in a single night....plenty of debauchery as well. Here is a neat little write up I found on the show itself:

It was a sad day for Texas music on March 13, 2005. That’s when people from as far away as Europe crowded into a sold-out Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton to bid farewell to the State’s reigning ‘best bar band’. That final show was short on covers and long on remembrances, for the band and the audience alike. They resurrected a “Barrel Chested” era documentary film to kick off the night, standing quietly onstage while the film rolled on a screen set up near the entrance. Then they played for a little over two hours. While the album of the night seemed to be their second release, “Barrel Chested”, they managed to cover their entire career, but went sparingly on their last and most over-produced record, “Slippage”. Fittingly enough, the crowd seemed drunker than usual, even for a Slobberbone show. So while the beer and whiskey soaked crowd raised their bottles and glasses, the band kept playing songs about, mostly, drinking. When they first emerged on the scene way back in the early to mid 90s, they were compared to Uncle Tupelo, just like every other “alt country” rock band at the time; only these guys not only had a sense of humor, they, at least to this observer, didn’t take themselves quite as seriously as that by-then-defunct Illinois band. And like UT in the early days, their songs were part punk-rock, part southern-rock and part country. They mixed banjos and fiddles with the blaring electric guitars and channeled the feedback into glorious melodic anthems to lost love, lost dreams, and whiskey. Over the years, it became apparent that they probably owed more in the way of influence to Neil Young and Crazy Horse than to Uncle Tupelo. And now that it’s all over, it looks like frontman Brent Best will continue to play the occasional solo show and the rest of us, at least locally, can wait for the inevitable reunion shows. As far as bands go, it was a great run. Here’s to them!
-jitter

and a News Article

MP3 @ 320

Download Slobberbone - Last Show here

Truesounds - Winter '10

Ok, so here's the latest Truesounds comp. This one features a couple of new names, most notably Michael Dean Damron. I'm really late to the party on this guy, but well...it happens right. My excuse was I thought his former band "I Can Lick Any Son Of A Bitch In The House" had a horrible name so I never checked them out. Damn.

1. Dustin Bentall Outfit - Three Thousand Miles
Off his latest Six Shooter. This song makes me smile

2. Mark Stuart and The Bastard Sons - Gone Like A Raven
Formerly known as The Bastard Sons Of Johnny Cash, this is off their latest Bend In The Road.

3. Michael Dean Damron - Father's Day
Former lead singer of I Can Lick Any Son Of A Bitch In The House, this is the title track off his latest

4. Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle - Downtime
Great little country rocker off their latest Let's Just Stay Here

5. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - Soldiers Get Strange
My latest favorite off their latest self titled album. So good

6. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights
Title track off his upcoming Feb. 16th release. Pre-orders available now!

7. Wrinkle Neck Mules - One Hand In The Furnace
Laid back country rocker off their latest Let The Lead Fly

8. Chuck Ragan - Don't Say A Word
Off his latest, Gold Country

9. Sam Baker - Cotton
Title track off the latest Sam Baker album. Hey ho hor

10. Malcolm Holcombe - A Bigger Plan
Really, really love this song off the latest album For The Mission Baby from national treasure Malcolm Holcombe

11. Kieran Kane - Way Down Below
Love, LOVE this song....hell the whole album, last year's Somewhere Beyond The Roses

12. Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar - Breathe Our Iodine
Was not very familar with Ben Gibbard, but the Big Sur soundtrack album this is off of, titled One Fast Move or I'm Gone, is killer

13. Bettysoo - Get Clean
You guys know I love Bettysoo, just another killer song off Heat Sin Water Skin

14. The Band Of Heathens - Golden Calf
Off their latest, One Foot In The Ether

15. Truckstop Coffee - Ghost Or Angel
Man, I just love this fricken song. Off their latest For Dear Life, which they are still offering on a "name your own price" basis

16. Jon Snodgrass - Fast In Last
From the solo album Visitor's Band of this Drag The River member

17. The Kill Devil Hills - Rosalie
Apparently this band is pretty big in Australia. I had never heard of them, and I dug this song off their latest Man You Should Explode

18. Headwater - Never Going Back
Another laid back country rocker, this time from canadian outfit Headwater. Off their latest Lay You Down

19. Blue Rodeo - One More Night
A FUNKY laid back country rocker. Off their latest double album Things We Left Behind

20. Drag The River - Best and Worst
Really could not think of a better song to end us out with. Off their latest Bad At Breaking Up

MP3 @ 192
Download Truesounds - Winter '10 here

Free Music Alert: D. Striker - multiple albums

Got alerted to this via an email of the video below. Needless to say it grabbed my attention so I headed over to their site and found that they are offering all their albums on a "name your own price" basis. You can listen to the songs prior to downloading. If you like it, throw 'em some dough if you can.

D. Striker reminds me a lot of the irreverent sides of Scott Miller and Mic Harrison, and knowing my love for them, you know I like this.

Watch this vid, go to the site, listen to the songs (they are pretty damned good, better than the vid in my opinion), and click the download album button if you dig it. You will be asked to name your price then and there, and provide an email to get the download link. Look on the right side for other albums (click "More Releases").



Visit the D. Striker official site to download albums

From The Archives: Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Ray Wylie Hubbard, & Bobby Rambo - Three Teardrops Tavern 1992

I have gotten a couple requests to re-up this because there was a problem with one of the zip files. This thing is so damned good. Like I said below basically just Townes and Guy and Ray Wylie and Bobby Rambo are filler. Fantastic sound, and I also love the simplicity of the artwork I made for this one.
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Someone left a comment asking where to start with Townes Van Zandt and if I have any shows of his....well of course I have some shows, and here's a brand spankin' new one. All I have to say about this one is DAMN!! The sound on this one....EXCELLENT, the performances on this....EXCELLENT!!
This is basically a Townes and Guy show with Ray Wylie and Bobby Rambo thrown as a bonus. After listening to this a couple times, I'm honestly surprised this hasn't seen official release yet....it's that good. The version of Townes' "Marie" on here kills me. Other bonuses on here....learn a little back story to Guy's L.A. Freeway, learn why they call it the Three Teardrops Tavern (now a Duccati dealership). Highlight is by far the Townes and Guy singing trading songs off and singing together at the end.
This is the first I've ever heard of Bobby Rambo, but I'm very impressed by what's on here, an artist I will have to find more about. Oh and if you still want to know where to start with Townes, get Live at The Old Quarter (especially if you like this)

MP3 @ 192 (206MB)
Download Three Drops Tavern here

Three Faces West (Ray Wylie Hubbard's first band) - The Outpost, New Mexico, 1972

So here is the treat I promised you. This is some amazing stuff right here. Now I only expect the most hardcore of Ray Wylie fans to be familiar with Three Faces West. You see Ray Wylie Hubbard started out as Ray Hubbard, folkie, playing what he called "Cosmic Cowboy Music". He was contemporaries with Michael Martin Murphy, B.W. Stevenson and Steve Fromholz (on this recording). He had formed a band with Rick Fowler and Wayne Kidd called Three Faces West and recorded an album in 1969 that according to Steve Fromholz, was the only album more obscure than his own debut album. This was before Willie moved back to Texas, and the music they were making along with Townes Van Zandt and The Flatlanders was very much the beginnings of the Texas "progressive country" scene that would come to dominate the Texas music scene throughout the 70s. This is an audio time capsule of that era.

(Below: Three Faces West 1969 L-R Wayne Kidd, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Rick Fowler)

Now like I said, this is folkie stuff. Those only familiar with Ray's output from the last two decades may be taken off guard by this. Musically this has more in common with Crosby, Stills, and Nash than greasy slide guitars. You've got harmonizing, and lots of acoustic guitars going on here. There are glimmers though of Ray's future recorded output, such as Healing Preacher and an early version of his song Portales (which is also on his first solo album, and his 1992 album Lost Train Of Thought).

I feel like I'm talking too much about Ray Wylie's input when there are other amazing artists on this set as well. Such as Steve Fromholz, who is probably most famous for touring with Steven Stills (which he talks about here), and writing The Texas Trilogy which was later recorded by fellow Texan Lylle Lovett. Some of the other artists on here are slightly more obscure. Dan McCrimmon who worked closely with Fromholz makes a few appearances, and you also have the other members of Three Faces West, Rick Fowler and Wayne Kidd. I could not find any info on those two, or what they are up to now, but I have to wonder if the Rick Fowler from Three Faces West is the same Rick Fowler who runs this Karate School right outside of Dallas. It is good to see however that Bill and Bonnie Hearne are still together, still playing and still recording.

If anybody has any information about what some of these folks are up to now, I would love to know just because this is such a great recording. Yes did I mention that. Not only is this recording historically important to "Progressive Country", "Americana", "Texas Country" or whatever the hell they are calling it this week, it's also a fucking great recording with damn near perfect sound. I would give this a solid A in the sound category.  If you are a die hard fan of Ray Wylie Hubbard....you're gonna want to get this. If you are a fan of "progressive texas cosmic americountry music" you are going to want to get this. If you are a fan of country rock and folk rock in the vein of Crosby Stills and Nash you will likely want to get this as well.

Here is a great article that talks about Ray Wylie Hubbard's early days as a singer/songwriter

I didn't make the back artwork for this because it would have been to hard to put 4 discs on one thing and well I'm not sure anyone even uses the back artwork. All the info is included in the info file (which I updated to correct some info and song titles), and I will include the track list in this post below. Also worth mentioning is even though I don't have an exact date for this. At one point they mention Labor Day being next weekend which means the most likely date for this recording is August 25th, and 26th of 1972. It's obvious this was recorded over at least a two night set so, that's the best guess I have.

I would like to also mention that if anyone has a digital copy of the out of print Three Faces West album, or the out of print Fromholz album please pass it along to me and I would be greatly in your debt.

Disc 1
1. Won't You Listen To Me - Steve Fromholz
2. She'll Sing For You - Steve Fromholz
3. Banter - Steve Fromholz
4. Rock And Roll Woman [Buffalo Springfield] - Steve Fromholz 
5. Stubby Intro - Steve Fromholz
6. Stubby - Steve Fromholz
7. Dimmy Jeans Banter - Steve Fromholz
8. I Will Try - Steve Fromholz
9. Everybody's Going On The Road - Steve Fromholz
10. Rest Area Waltz Intro - Steve Fromholz
11. Rest Area Waltz - Steve Fromholz
12. Banter - Steve Fromholz & Dan McCrimmon
13. Man With The Big Hat - Steve Fromholz & Dan McCrimmon
14. Saxton County Wildman Intro - Three Faces West
15. Saxton County Wildman - Three Faces West
16. Square Dance Banter - Three Faces West
17. Swing Your Partner One More Time - Three Faces West
18. Kansas Legend Intro - Three Faces West
19. Kansas Legend - Wayne Kidd & Dan McCrimmon
20. Portales Intro - Three Faces West
21. Portales - Three Faces West
22. Banter - Three Faces West
23. You Can Only Say So Much [Michael Martin Murphy] - Three Faces West


Disc 2
1. West Texas Highway - Three Faces West
2. Freeway Church Of Christ Intro - Three Faces West
3. Freeway Church of Christ - Three Faces West
4. Portales - Three Faces West
5. Grizzly Bear Intro - Three Faces West
6. Grizzly Bear - Three Faces West
7. Everybody's Going On The Road - Three Faces West
8. Banter - Three Faces West
9. Love Just Comes Along (Then It's Gone) - Three Faces West
10. Jazzbo Dancer Intro - Ray Wylie Hubbard
11. Jazzbo Dancer - Ray Wylie Hubbard
12. Wildfire Intro - Three Faces West
13. Wildfire [Michael Martin Murphy] - Three Faces West
14. Healing Preacher Intro - Three Faces West
15. Healing Preacher - Three Faces West


Disc 3
1. Black Eyed Peas Intro - Three Faces West
2. Black Eyed Peas - Three Faces West
3. Tin Can Jamboree Intro - Three Faces West
4. Tin Can Jamboree - Three Faces West
5. Everybody's Going On The Road Intro - Three Faces West
6. Everybody's Going On The Road - Three Faces West
7. Me and My Uncle Intro - Three Faces West
8. Me and My Uncle [John Phillips] - Three Faces West
9. Piece of His Cross - Three Faces West
10. Morning Stormbird Intro - Ray Wylie Hubbard
11. Morning Stormbird - Ray Wylie Hubbard
12. Drunken Lady Intro - Three Faces West
13. Drunken Lady Of The Morning [Michael Martin Murphy] - Three Faces West
14. Closing Banter - Three Faces West
15. Grizzly Bear - Three Faces West
16. West Texas Highway - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
17. White Line Fever [Merle Haggard] - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
18. Boy From The Country Intro - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
19. Boy From The Country [Michael Martin Murphy] - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
20. You Ain't Going Nowhere [Bob Dylan] - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
21. Blue Morning - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
22. Muddy Boggy Intro - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
23. Muddy Boggy Banjo Man [Ray Wylie Hubbard] - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
24. Wild Geese Intro - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
25. Wild Geese [Ian Tyson] - Bill & Bonnie Hearne
26. Rock Me On The Water [Jackson Browne] - Bill & Bonnie Hearne


Disc 4
1. West Texas Highway - Three Faces West
2. Rainbow Man - Three Faces West
3. Ricochet - Three Faces West
4. Me and My Uncle - Three Faces West
5. Banjo Breakdown - Three Faces West
6. Blackbird [The Beatles] - Three Faces West
7. You Can Only Say So Much - Three Faces West
8. Southwestern Pilgrimage [Michael Martin Murphey] - Three Faces West
9. Coming Down To The Metroplex - Three Faces West
10. Saturday Night [The Eagles] - Three Faces West
11. Won't You Listen To Me [Steve Fromholz] - Three Faces West
12. Wildfire - Three Faces West
13. Black Betty - Three Faces West

MP3 @ 192
Download Three Faces West - The Outpost 1972 here

Ray Wylie Hubbard - Drunken Poets Dream (vid)

I'm just going to go ahead and declare this Ray Wylie Hubbard week at ATS, which means I have something extra special for you folks coming this weekend. For now though, enjoy this excellent high quality HD vid of Ray Wylie performing and acoustic version of the song Drunken Poet's Dream off his new album.  This was recorded during last weeks Music Fest in Steamboat, Colorado by the fine folks over at Music Fog who are doing God's work when it comes to capturing great artists on high quality vids.

Album Review: Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is No C)

It's been 4 years since Ray Wylie Hubbard's last album Snake Farm. That album was a massive chunk of blues, county, and rock so greasy the pharmaceutical industry had to start manufacturing Lipitor commercially.* In those 4 years Mr. Hubbard has been pretty damned busy. Touring all over the place, helping Hayes Carll get the attention he deserved, writing a script, getting said script turned into a movie, turning his son Lucas into a genuine guitar slayer, launching a music festival, hosting a weekly radio show, and writing and recording the album I am supposed to be talking about here.

The album takes it's title from the first song, and while it's certainly a mouthful of an album title, the song, much like "Knives of Spain" from his 2003 album Growl, sets the tone for the entire album, . And that's the closest comparison I can make for this album....it's very reminiscent of Growl's bluesy grit, groove, and tone as Ray Wylie is so fond of saying. I would venture to say this is his bluesiest effort to date, with greasy slide guitar licks augmented by those mystically poetic lyrics that have become his trademark. In the promo copy that accompanies this album, it states that Ray Wylie once wished he could become a hybid of Guy Clark and John Lee Hooker....an admirable goal to aspire to and one that I for one think he has transcended. 

Now let's talk about some of the songs on here. Currently my favorite is "Black Wings", which if you've watched any of the vids I've posted on here you should have heard before. The lyrical imagery of this song just kills me: "fly away on them ol' wings, black as they may be/shimmering like a leslie and a hammond B-3" and "trusting in a duo-jet and a 9-volt battery/fly away on them ol' wings, black as they may be". He also name drops the Stella guitar in this song....which I'm only mentioning so I can brag that I have one! Another song I want to point out is the lone ballad on this album called "Loose". This song is the odd man out on this album but it's so fucking good it's like finding a chicken nugget in your french fry box. This song is the bait that finally hooks you on this album right before the fire and brimstone of the last three songs kicks in. I'm pretty sure these last three were intended for the Last Rites of Ransom Pride soundtrack, and holy crap are they mood setters. The final song let's you know it's THE FINAL SONG. Fans of the show Deadwood should certainly enjoy the final stretch.

Speaking of Hayes Carll who I mentioned a couple paragraphs up, this album also features Ray Wylie's version of the song "Drunken Poet's Dream" which he co-wrote with Hayes. Ray's version strips the song down to it's essence and while the lyric about paying his student loan seems out of place, Ray still makes you believe every last word of the song with his grizzled voice dancing above the overdriven guitar licks. Rays version made me hear lyrics I had never paid attention to in the song before, and that is why I am such a fan of his music. He doesn't just sing a song.....he propels the lyrics out of the speakers and into your ears in such a manner that makes it nearly impossible to ignore them. Even with all that amazing guitar work by his son Lucas going on.

Buy Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C) here

(download links removed per request, stream the songs here, or stream the whole album here)
Listen to Ray Wylie Hubbard - Black Wings here
Listen to Ray Wylie Hubbard - Loose here

(*while this fact remains to be proven, it should be noted that both hit the market in 2006....coincidence?...) 

FINALLY!, a (real) Last Rites of Ransom Pride teaser

So you guys know I've been waiting for this movie to come out since I heard of it. I mean, it's a western starring Kris Kristofferson, & Dwight Yoakam, and it's written by Ray Wylie Hubbard. Also soundtrack by Ray Wylie himself. Did I also mention the gun totin' dwarf!!??

View the trailer here at the official website http://lastritesfilm.com/  Make sure to poke around the site to see some more goodies, and more vids can be found here. Apparently this is some kind of viral marketing thing too, so if you go to http://whokilledthedwarf.com/ you can sign up to get a peak at another teaser. (I haven't got mine sent to me yet....waiting on "the siamese twins" or some mess)

Word is that this will be a digital download some point early this year.....which I hope means the within the next 6 weeks. A shame this thing will not see nationwide release, but fuck I can't even find Crazy Heart playing at any theater within 100 miles.

In related Ray Wylie Hubbard news, look for his latest album A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkment, Hint: There is No C. next tuesday at your music vendor of choice (pre-order at Raywylie.com and get an autographed copy).

Free Album Alert: Joey Kneiser (of Glossary) – The All-Night Bedroom Revival

For those who enjoyed the free Glossary album I posted about a few months ago, I've got good news. Glossary frontman Joey Kneiser is offering up his brand new solo album for free as well. It's DAMN good folks, especially to be so free!! As to be expected, this is little quieter, introspective and personal than the Glossary stuff

Here's a big thanks to Joey and Glossary for offering up free goodies like this!

Download Joey Kneiser - The All Night Bedroom Revival here (you can also still download the Glossary album The Better Angels of Our Natures if you missed it the first time)

Don't miss this folks. The price is right and it's fucking good!

Vic Chesnutt & The Amorphous Strums - The 40 Watt 6/14/02

As I'm sure most of you guys are aware, songwriting legend Vic Chesnutt passed away this past Christmas day. I don't have much to say about this other than it's a great recording though there is some background chatter throughout that is not too distracting. It just adds to the "live" atmosphere. If you are unfamiliar with Vic's large body of work I would recommend downloading this free mp3 sampler from his official site to whet your appetite. His style of songwriting and singing is very subtle and subdued but it works it's ways into the deepest valley's of your brain. He will be missed.

MP3
Download Vic Chesnutt - At The 40 Watt here
(Also available HERE along with other Vic Cesnutt shows)

2009 ATS Readers Poll Results

So the readers poll is closed, and here are the results. Thanks all who voted. This one is dominated by DBT and it's affiliates

#1 Drive By Truckers - The Fine Print (with 35.4% of the vote)

#2 Steve Earle - Townes (with 34%)

#3 Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - s/t (with 33%)

#4 Justin Townes Earle - Midnight At The Movies (with 27.8%)

#5 Ryan Bingham - Roadhouse Sun (26.8%)
#5 Todd Snider - The Excitement Plan (26.8%)

#6 Levon Helm - Electric Dirt (22.7%)

#7 Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar (21.6%)

#8 Lucero - 1372 Overton Park (20.6%)

#9 Son Volt - American Central Dust (19.6%)

#10 Buddy & Julie Miller - Written in Chalk (18.6%)