Americana Music Releases for the week of Feb. 9th

Here are some of the music releases for the week of February 9th, 2010.   The artist’s names link to their websites or MySpace pages and the CD title links go to either Amazon or CD Baby for easy ordering.

MEG HUTCHINSON - The Living Side (Red House)
Lyric-based, contemporary acoustic songwriter.  Liken her sound to David Gray or Beth Orton with a poet’s sensibility like Joni Mitchell.  Originally from rural western-most Massachusetts, now living in Boston. One of my favorites of the genre.

k.d.lang – Recollection 2 CD Set and Recollection Boxset (Nonesuch)
In addition to the standard version’s 2 cds, this deluxe version includes a third cd featuring never before released live tracks as well as the never before recorded, ‘The Right to Love’ The DVD features 11 videos of rarely seen footage, 10 of which have never before been available for purchase.

THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND – Way Out West: Live In San Francisco 1973 (Shout Factory)
Taped at legendary venue Winterland, and featuring a killer mix of songs from the band’s first two albums (the second of which was yet to be recorded), this release captures MTB at a career peak, stretching out on stage and letting the music flow.

ALLISON MOORER – Crows (Rykodisc)
Ms. Steve Earle lets go of any hints of her Country history and focuses on a strictly pop sound for this one.  I prefer her earlier stuff.

MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHEY – Buckaroo Blue Grass II – Riding Song (Rural Rhythm)
expanding on the passions of the first Buckaroo Blue Grass album, creating fully acoustic Bluegrass versions of songs about the region to which “Murph” has been deeply connected for a lifetime – the American Southwest.  He reprises many of his classic songs performed with a stellar cast of top musicians and singers that includes; Carrie Hassler (“Wildfire”),  Sam Bush, Rob Ickes, Ronnie McCoury, Pat Flynn, Charlie Cushman, and Andy Leftwich.

RECKLESS KELLY – Somewhere in Time (Yep Roc)
This is a record we have been talking about making for over ten years and are so excited to have finally gotten it done. These ”Hardcore Cowboy” songs are what Willy and I grew up listening to and were some of the first tunes we learned as Reckless Kelly. This record truly took us back to our roots and reminded us how cool ”true country music” can be. This record is a tip of our hats to Pinto Bennett and The Famous Motel Cowboys for teaching us to be true to our music and ourselves.” Reckless Kelly

Coming soon… LAURIE LEWIS, JOE PUG,  BACKYARD TIRE FIRE, JOHNNY GIMBLE, WILL KIMBROUGH, CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS, JOHNNY CASH, CLEM SNIDE … more new releases.

Here’s a link to this week’s Americana Music Association  Americana Airplay Chart

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Freight Train Boogie podcast #56

Show #56 features the new CD by PATTY GRIFFIN called Downtown Church.  Other artists include MARK WEHNER, MAURA KENNEDY and the PACKWAY HANDLE BAND. The full playlist is posted below.   Check the artist’s websites and order their CD’s or downloads and tell ‘em you heard the songs on the FTB podcast.  Please  email me with any questions, comments or suggestions for the podcasts.

Please note that we are now on a new server… here’s the link to my Podbean page with a player on the bottom of the post…

Show #56

PATTY GRIFFIN- Little Fire Downtown Church
JOE FIRSTMAN – The One That Makes You Happy El Porto
PACKWAY HANDLE BAND – I’m Glad You’ve Got My Priorities So Straight What Are We Gonna Do Now
MICHAEL LAIDLEY – All Forgiven Little Talks
(mic break)
THE TAKERS – Drift Taker Easy
MAURA KENNEDY – Make It Last Parade of Echoes
GUY CLARK - Wrong Side Of The Tracks Somedays The Song Write You
PATTY GRIFFIN - If I Had My Way Downtown Church
(mic break)
MARK WEHNER – Find Another Man Wait… I Wasn’t Finished
SARA PETITE - Magnolia Doghouse Rose
PATRICK KAVANEY AND THE LAST DRAGS – Waking Song Darning Socks For The Apocalypse
JOHN EVANS - Name In Chalk Lollygaggin’
(mic break)
PATTY GRIFFIN - Coming Home To Me Downtown Church

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Americana Music Releases for the week of Feb. 2nd

Here are some of the music releases for the week of February 2nd, 2010.   Very slim pickings this week, and I’m not sure why other than labels are saving stuff for later Feb. and March for South By Southwest… The artist’s names link to their websites or MySpace pages and the CD title links go to either Amazon or CD Baby for easy ordering.

ELEVEN HUNDRED SPRINGS – This Crazy Life (Smith Entertainment)
This Crazy Life is the follow up to 2008’s release Country Jam, which was produced by Lloyd Maines. From the opening title track, (a lament of life on the road) to the hard-driving party anthem “Great American Trainwreck” to the album’s first single “Show Me The Money,” which speaks to an emotion that people in these troubled times are sure to relate to.  A good if slightly derivative Texas band.

JOHN JORGENSON QUINTET – One Stolen Night (Pharaoh)
One-time Desert Rose Band lead guitarist  Jorgenson has been honoring the ghosts of gypsy jazz legends like Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli for a number of years now.  This new one carries on that tradition.

GARY STEWART – Cactus And A Rose/Collector’s Choice (Wounded Bird)
This single disc contains his 1980 gem “Cactus & A Rose” with a greatest hits compilation. That’s more than two for one in my book with this guy. While country at its core “Cactus..” has a heavy Southern rock vibe that carries the day with help from Bonnie Bramlett, Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts. Stewart died in 2003 and he didn’t leave an enormous catalog of music, but this would be a great starting point for those wanting to get a taste of his talents. (from Village Records) Amazon won’t have this CD until Feb. 23rd.

Coming soon… RECKLESS KELLY, ALLISON MOORER, MEG HUTCHINSON, JOHNNY GIMBLE, LAURIE LEWIS, WILL KIMBROUGH … more new releases.

Here’s a link to this week’s Americana Music Association  Americana Airplay Chart

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Freight Train Boogie podcast #55

Show #55 features the new CD by BLUE RODEO called The Things We Left Behind.  Other artists include LITTLE COUNTRY GIANTS, KARA SUZANNE and I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. The full playlist is posted below.   Check the artist’s websites and order their CD’s or downloads and tell ‘em you heard the songs on the FTB podcast.  Please  email me with any questions, comments or suggestions for the podcasts.
Please note that we are now on a new server… Podbean, and it’s not getting on ITunes yet… for now here’s the link to my Podbean page with a player on the bottom of the post…

http://freighttrainboogie.podbean.com/

Show #55

BLUE RODEO – Arizona Dust The Things We Left Behind
KARA SUZANNE – Doses Parlor Walls
MALCOLM HOLCOLME - Someone Left Behind For The Mission Baby
JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE & DAWN LANDES – Do I Ever Cross Your Mind
(mic break)
I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. - Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulet Shoulda Been Gold: 2001-2009
TOKYO ROSENTHAL – Ghosts Ghosts
DIANA CATHERINE AND THE  THURSTY TWEETERS – Walk The Spirit Ranch Sessions
BLUE RODEO – One More Night The Things We Left Behind
(mic break)
MOSS HENRY – What Have We Got Roll The Bones
LARRY HOSFORD – The World Outside Crosswords
LITTLE COUNTRY GIANTS – Trouble’s Hard To Find Fists Of Foam And Fury
MANDY MARIE AND THE COOL HAND LUKES – $600 Boots $600 Boots
(mic break)
BLUE RODEO - Venus Rising The Things We Left Behind

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Americana Music Releases for the week of Jan. 26th, 2010

Here are some of the music releases for the week of January 26th, 2010.   The artist’s names link to their websites or MySpace pages and the CD title links go to either Amazon or CD Baby for easy ordering.

ERIC BIBB – Booker’s Guitar (Telarc)
So it was for folk-blues troubadour Eric Bibb after a gig just a few years ago, when he was approached by a fan carrying a guitar case. Inside the case was a relic from the past: a 1930s vintage Resophonic National steel-body guitar that had belonged to Delta blues legend Booker White.    Booker’s Guitar inspired a song, and the song became an entire album – one that captures the spirit of the original Delta blues of the early 20th century and reinterprets it for a new era.  The remaining tracks, although recorded in rural Ohio on Bibb’s own guitars, sprang from the same well of inspiration. “Once I had written that song, I really wanted to make a complete statement and document my connection to the Delta blues tradition,” says Bibb.

BLUE RODEO – The Things We Left Behind (Telesoul)
2009 two CD release from the Canadian Roots/Rock outfit. If you still remember why you fell in love with music in the first place, if you still recall discovering songs on an albums that you never knew existed because radio wasn’t playing them, if you wondered if popular bands still cared about making great records then take the trip through The Things We Left Behind, Blue Rodeo’s 2009 studio album. In their 25 year career, the band have sold over four million records, won an unprecedented five Juno awards as Group of the Year.  Recommended!

GRADA – Natural Angle (Compass)
Now well established in Irish music circles, Gráda launches into the cross-genre world of new acoustic music, bridging traditional Celtic and Appalachian tunes and songs with contemporary pop and Americana songwriting. Produced by Tim O’Brien in Nashville.

PATTY GRIFFIN – Downtown Church (Credential)
Griffin has received multiple Grammy nominations and has toured the country relentlessly, creating avid followers wherever her music is heard. She is a natural songbird that can hush an audience with her performances, but Griffin’s power is in her passionate storytelling with a voice that is mournful yet uplifting. This is a collection of Gospel-infused songs produced by longtime friend, bandmate and acclaimed producer Buddy Miller at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN. Downtown Church brings to life Gospel songs that have influenced contemporary music in a way that only Patty Griffin can do.  I haven’t heard it yet but she is always excellent!

I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. – Shoulda Been Gold: 2001-2009 (American Beat)
The hawks are a great SoCal harmony-rich band in the tradition of the Springfield and the Burritos… but since they’re not exactly a household name,  this is a compilation rather than a best-of collection.  This 17-track collection includes two unreleased tunes and three new recordings, two of em with ex-Textones’ Carla Olson.

Coming soon… RECKLESS KELLY, ALLISON MOORER, MEG HUTCHINSON … more new releases.

Here’s a link to this week’s Americana Music Association  Americana Airplay Chart

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Freight Train Boogie podcast #54

Show #54 features the new CD by NANCY APPLE entitled Shine.  Other artists include HAIL THE SIZE, RANDY KOHRS and MATT THE ELECTRICIAN. The full playlist is posted below.  Here’s the iTunes link to subscribe to or download the show and here’s the direct download link to listen right now on your computer.  Check the artist’s websites and order their CD’s or downloads and tell ‘em you heard the songs on the FTB podcast.  Please  email me with any questions, comments or suggestions for the podcasts.

Freight Train Boogie podcast #54

NANCY APPLE – Blue Shine
RANDY KOHRS- Devil of the Trail Quicksand
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION – A Wedding or a Wake WPA
COLE MITCHELL – Out Of Control Primordial Reckoning
(mic break)
DAN VAILLANCOURT – Fall Winds Lovely Distractions
KATE REDGATE – Bitterroot Valley Goodbye Nothing Tragic
CHUCK PROPHET – American Man Let Freedom Ring!
NANCY APPLE - Cathead Biscuits and Gravy Shine
(mic break)
MATT THE ELECTRICIAN – Animal Boy Animal Boy
HAIL THE SIZE – Right Now I Can’t Die In LA
THE FAMOUS – Moving On Come Home To Me
BETH McKEE - Last Train To Memphis I’m That Way: A Salute to Bobby Charles
(mic break)
NANCY APPLE - Table For Two (Dinner For One) Shine

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Americana Music Releases for the week of Jan. 19th, 2010

Here are some of the music releases for the week of January 19th, 2009.  Some cool stuff here by some brand new bands.  The artist’s names link to their websites or MySpace pages and the CD title links go to either Amazon or CD Baby for easy ordering.

THE TERRY ADAMS ROCK & ROLL QUARTET – Crazy 8’s (Clang!)
NRBQ pianist Terry Adams unveils his new band The Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet with Crazy 8’s, ten tracks recorded live in the spring of 2009.  Adams’s new band rocks – they display consummate musicianship, a fearless approach, and fun, fun, fun.  Good news for music lovers everywhere. (Amazon)

BLUE HIGHWAY – Some Day: 15th Anniversary Collection (Rounder)
Ten classic recordings from Blue Highway’s Rounder recordings, including the 2008 IBMA Song of the Year, “Through the Window of a Train,” and the Grammy-nominated “Marbletown”. Also a brand new song  with a  guest appearance by Darrell Scott, providing lead vocals “Bleeding for a Little Peace of Mind.”

THE COAL PORTERS – Durango (April 17-April 30) (Prima)
Calling themselves  the world’s first “alt-bluegrass” act and the UK’s most entertaining bluegrass ensemble… led by expatriate American and ex-Long Ryder Sid Griffin.

MATT THE ELECTRICIAN – Animal Boy (self released)
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Matt Sever. He lived in Austin, TX, and he worked as a journeyman electrician. Every morning, he would go to work, and wire houses all day long in the blistering Texas heat, and then he would go straight to the bars and nightclubs of Austin to play his songs for whomever would listen.  Six albums later he has a distinctive and eclectic sound.  Good stuff!

MAURA KENNEDY – Parade of Echoes (Planned Effervescence)
“On her first “solo” venture, Ms. Kennedy unleashes her better pop angels and her most tormenting demons on “Parade of Echoes,” a near-Spectorian symphony of ebullient/anguished ruminations on any True Lover’s worst fears, denials and fervent hopes.” -Jim Musser, Iowa City Press Citizen

MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHEY – Lone Cowboy:Live & Solo (Western Jubilee)
After a long career, Michael Martin Murphey’s first real solo album features many of his hits like “Wildfire”, “Carolina In The Pines” and “Cherokee Fiddle”.

SOUTH MEMPHIS STRING BAND – Home Sweet Home (Memphis Int’l)
A new band featuring Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars), Alvin Youngblood Hart and Jimbo Mathus (Squirrel Nut Zippers). They were greatly influenced by the Mississippi Sheiks, Gus Cannon & the Memphis Jug Band and other string bands and jug bands of their ilk, as well as Mississippi Delta and Hill Country blues. If you love this music you’ll like their faithful interpretations.

Various Artists – Crazy Heart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (New West)
The soundtrack to the acclaimed new movie about a down-and-out country singer with new songs by Ryan Bingham, Jeff  Bridges and more, produced by T Bone Burnett.  A real nice collection.

WYLIE & THE WILD WEST – Unwired: Western Jubilee Warehouse Live (Western Jubilee)
Wylie & The Wild West’s latest CD was recorded during a live concert at the Warehouse Theatre in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “A little jump-and-kick country with a touch of mellow, down easy. We made a point of including a good jag of our acoustic material so I thought Unwired would be an appropriate title,” says Wylie.

Coming soon…  PATTY GRIFFIN, ERIC BIBB, I SEE HAWKS IN L.A. … more new releases.

Rest in Peace… CARL SMITH, KATE McGARRIGLE, BOBBY CHARLES …

Here’s a link to this week’s Americana Music Association  Americana Airplay Chart

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Freight Train Boogie podcast #53

Show #53 features the new CD by RAY WYLIE HUBBARD called A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C).  Other artists include SOMEBODY’S DARLING, CHRIS KASPER and YELLER BELLIES. The full playlist is posted below.  Here’s the iTunes link to subscribe to or download the show and here’s the direct download link to listen right now on your computer.  Check the artist’s websites and order their CD’s or downloads and tell ‘em you heard the songs on the FTB podcast.  Please  email me with any questions, comments or suggestions for the podcasts.

Show #53

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD – A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C) A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C)
CHRIS KASPER – Ain’t No Saint Chasing Another Sundown
MADISON VIOLET – Baby In The Black & White No Fool For Trying
YELLER BELLIES – She Blames It All On You Here To Suffer
(mic break)
FREEDY JOHNSTON - Lonely Penny Rain on the City
MICHAEL ONEILL - Take Me Away Ain’t Leavin’ Your Love
SOMEBODY’S DARLING – Horses Somebody’s Darling
RAY WYLIE HUBBARD – Pots and Pans A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C)
(mic break)
GEORGE KILBY JR – Let The Melody Live On Let The Melody Live On
CORRINNE WEST – Lady Luck  The Promise
NOLAN McKELVEY – Regarding Proposition (H)8 A Matter Of Time
TOM GILLAM – (When You) Come Around Had Enough
(mic break)
RAY WYLIE HUBBARD – The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C)

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Americana Music Releases for the week of Jan. 12th, 2010

We made it through the holiday music release doldrums and this is the first week with some new music to mention.   Here are some of the music releases for the week of January 12th, 2009.  The artist’s names link to their websites or MySpace pages and the CD title links go to either Amazon or CD Baby for easy ordering.

RAY WYLIE HUBBARD – A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C) (Bordello/Thirty Tigers)
It wasn’t that long ago that Ray Wylie Hubbard allowed to an acquaintance that he wouldn’t mind being a hybrid of Guy Clark and John Lee Hooker. Now, I’m no seer or mystic, but my instincts suggest that wish came true. And then some.  He writes the kind of songs that make you want to ride along no matter where he’s going, because you know it’s gonna get strange somewhere along the way.  Recommended.

FREEDY JOHNSTON – Rain on the City (Bar None)
Rain on the City is Freedy Johnston’s first album of new originals in eight years. Recorded in Nashville with producer Richard McLaurin, it’s one of the best song collections of Freedy’s career, featuring a diverse array of rockers, heartbreaking twang, even hints of blue-eyed soul and bossa nova.

RANDY KOHRS – Quicksand (Rural Rhythm)
Producer and country artist Randy Kohrs was born in Iowa, where he picked up the acoustic guitar at the age of eight. He would eventually learn electric guitar, acoustic and  Dobro, lap and pedal steel, mandolin, upright bass, and banjo, Kohrs began backing other artists, including Patty Loveless, Tom T. Hall, Holly Dunn, and Hal Ketchum.  In 2008 he won a Grammy for his contribution to Jim Lauderdale’s album The Bluegrass Diaries. The single, “Devil of the Trail” begins the album which contains styles ranging from hard driving bluegrass to blues, transcending genres solidifying Randy as a pioneer in progressive acoustic music.

ELLIS PAUL – The Day After Everything Changed (Black Wolf)
Sumptuously produced, The Day After boast a full array of songs both personal and socially aware, from the gloriously soaring title track to the heartbreaking, Randy Newman-styled portrait of a post-Katrina New Orleans in Hurricane Angel. If there’s a more devastating indictment of the events surrounding that defining moment in history we’ve yet to hear it. I need to keep feeling refreshed; says Paul. I’m looking around and trying to learn new things, experience other people’s music and stories. I have no idea where I’m headed, but I think it’ll make me a broader artist. Recommended. –Direct Current

SHARON SHANNON – Saints & Scoundrels (Compass)
Shannon is a talented young Irish accordion player. The album includes many special guests, including Shane MacGowan, Imelda May, Jerry Fish, and the Cartoon Thieves. Featuring the very special “Saints and Angels” written by Mike Scott of  The Waterboys’ for their Fisherman’s Blues album (but not included on the release) performed by Sharon with The Waterboys in the first ever reunion of the iconic 1989 line-up.

PERCY SLEDGE – My Old Friend the Blues (Blues Boulevard)
Stickered with the names of its illustrious guest artists, My Old Friend The Blues shows that after 60+ years Percy Sledge can still locate the emotional essence of a song.  Producers Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg designed the album to mimic the soulful, laid-back vibe of Norala Studios in Alabama, where  HE cut most of his early sides

Coming soon… Crazy Heart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, SONNY LANDRETH, MAURA KENNEDY, THE TERRY ADAMS ROCK & ROLL QUARTET, BLUE HIGHWAY, THE COAL PORTERS, PATTY GRIFFIN… more new releases.

Here’s a link to this week’s Americana Music Association  Americana Airplay Chart

Bill Frater
Freight Train Boogie

Reader’s Top Ten CD’s of 2009

Here’s what some of the faithful Freight Train Boogie readers sent in as their best music of 2009…

Jakub Anderle

1. Son Volt – central american dust
2. Slaid Cleaves – everything you love will be taken away
3. Ben Nichols – last pale light in the west
4. Gina Villalobos – days on their side
5. Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs – the only thing that matters
6. Lucero – 1372 overton park
7. Justin Townes Earle – midnight at the movies
8. Richmond Fontaine – we used to think the freeway sounded like a river
9. Corb Lund – losin’ lately gambler
10. Paul Burch – still your man

Peter BatchelorTop Ten Of 2009

James Hand – Shadows on the Ground
Robert Earl Keen – The Rose Hotel
Lyle Lovett – Natural Forces
Hayes Carll – Trouble In Mind
Paul Burch – Still Your Man
Gretchen Peters & Tom Russell – One To The Heart, One To the Head
Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women
Eilen Jewel – Sea Of Tears
Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses- Roadhouse Sun
Corb Lund – Losin Lately Gambler

Top Reissues of 2009
Fire In My Bones – Raw, Rare & Otherworldly African American Gospel 1944-2007
Nuggets of the Golden age of Gospel 1945-1958
Everything goes back to these classic sides of gospel music.

Niek de Boer
Top Ten of ‘09
1. Walt Wilkins-Vigil
2. Leeroy Stagger-Everything is Real
3. Tom Gillam-Had Enough?
4. Slaid Cleaves-Everything you love will be taken away
. Ben Kweller-Changing Horses
6, Wrinckle Neck Mules- Led the Lead Fly
7. Michael Dean Damron- Father’s Day
8. Dave McCann & The Firehearts- Dixiebluebird
9.  Corin Raymond-There will always be a small Time
10 Nick Hensley-Love Songs for Angry Men

Dependable Freight Train Boogie reviewer Don Grant has been pretty quiet during 2009, he checks in with this note… Considering that I was pretty much out of the loop last year, (damn those slings and arrows), I’m not qualified to name the ten best releases of 2009, but I will present ten that I liked a lot.

Sass Jordan – From Dusk ’Til Dawn
Willy Clay Band – Blue
Rosanne Cash – The List
The Lovell Sisters Band – When Forever Rolls Around
Tom Russell – Blood and Candle Smoke
Beth Browne – In Your Arms
Great Lakes Swimmers – Lost Channels
Booker T. Jones – Potato Hole
Guy Clark -Somedays The Song Writes You
Tony Denikos – Already Gone

New Releases for 2010 coming soon!