 The Vintage Martins. Photo by Rolly Ladd. Stream "Ocean" via Soundcloud March 13, 2018 (Press Release) -- California/Texas-based bluegrass group The Vintage Martins have shared the lead single from their LP, Traveled, at PopMatters, who praised the song for creating "intricately-crafted, emotive landscapes of lush acoustic sound to get lost in." Traveled is out May 11th on Louisville, Ky.-based label Eastwood Records. Traveled is the debut record from acclaimed bluegrass group the Vintage Martins. The band is a culmination of a musical friendship between Eric Uglum and Bud Bierhaus which spans over three decades. The pair often perform as a trio, enlisting Ron Block (Alison Krauss & Union Station), and as a full band with the addition of Christian Ward (Sierra Hull) on fiddle and Uglum’s stepson Austin Ward (Kenny & Amanda Smith Band) on bass. While the instrumentation and songcraft of Traveled are indeed traditional bluegrass, Uglum’s production flourishes give the album a timeless sound that recalls the work of genre luminaries like Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss, and Sam Bush. Gorgeous two and three-part vocal harmonies lead the way amidst waves of lush acoustic instrumentation. The song choices reflect the group’s eclectic tastes, ranging from Bierhaus’ Sunday tent-revival originals to classic country (George Jones’ “Open Pit Mine”, Tom T. Hall’s “Only The Wind”) and legendary folk ballads (“Someday My Ship Will Sail”). California native Eric Uglum is an internationally known musician, producer, and owner of New Wine Sound Studio in Southern California. He has performed with several bluegrass luminaries like Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, James King, Stuart Duncan, Ron Block, Rob Ickes and many others. His debut solo album, Shenandoah Wind, was selected in 2010 as Album of the Year by Bluegrass Now Magazine.
3 Comments
 Billboard debuted the track “Give It All Up for Good”: http://bit.ly/2tC0yEv
CHICAGO, Ill. — An old upright piano, a snarling electric bass, Phil Spector-ized booming drums and seductive Cool School vocals get into a punk-blues brawl at the studio of Grammy-winning Black Keys producer Mark Neill. On their head-spinning new album, TheClaudettes summon vaudeville blues, ’60s soul and Cramps-like psychobilly. Behold Dance Scandal at the Gymnasium!, the band’s third full-length for Yellow Dog Records and first to feature their touring lineup of piano, drums, “Bass VI” guitar and three singers. Across all these songs, pianist/songwriter Johnny Iguana airs grievances about the numbing and divisive effects of an Internet-dominated world. “Nobody knows how to talk to each other these days,” begins the song “Give It All Up for Good,” while “Bill Played Saxophone” follows American political nemeses through periods of smoldering bitterness and revenge fantasies. “Death and Traffic” begs for stories of saved lives and heroism amidst the onslaught of bad news, then “Utterly Absurd” bemoans the age of the hair-trigger Google search: “Thought dies as transmission rise …‘fast and now’ killed ‘I know how.’” And need anything more be said about the prescience of “Naked on the Internet”?  Credit: Becky Fluke Nashville, TN – Four select markets for country music superstars and GRAMMY, CMA and ACM Award-winners Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town’s co-headlining The Bandwagon Tour, scheduled to go on-sale Friday, March 16.
The March 16 on-sale includes tour stops in Charlotte, North Carolina (7/12), Cincinnati, Ohio (7/13), Hartford, Connecticut (7/20) and West Palm Beach, Florida (8/4). Special guests joining Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town on The Bandwagon Tour include Turnpike Troubadours and The Steel Woods for select dates; both of whom joined Lambert for dates on her ownLivin’ Like Hippies Tour. Also, on the first weekend is Natalie Hemby, who has penned #1 hits for both Miranda and Little Big Town. In addition, singer/songwriter newcomer, Tenille Townes will join for all dates on The Bandwagon Tour.  Courtesy: Q Prime (Partial Press Release) On May 25th, Snow Patrol will return with Wildness, their first album in seven years, which finds the band searching for clarity, connection, and meaning, while staying true to the melodic songwriting prowess that brought them to prominence. Wildness taps into something raw and primitive, and lead-singer and songwriter Gary Lightbody says of the album: “There are many types of wildness, but I think it can be distilled into two: the wildness of the modern age, all it’s confusion, illogic and alienation and a more ancient wildness. Something primal, alive and beautiful that speaks to our true connectivity, our passion, our love, our communion with nature and each other. This is the kind of wildness the album is centered around. The loss of it. Trying to reconnect with it. To remember it.” Watch the new album trailer for Snow Patrol’s Wildness here.
Pre-order your copy of Wildness from the Official Snow Patrol store HERE to be among the first to access tickets to see Snow Patrol live.  Nashville, TN (Press Release) — Independent country torchbearers Jason Boland & The Stragglers have announced their ninth studio album Hard Times Are Relative, releasing May 18th via Thirty Tigers. Together with his longtime band The Stragglers, Jason Boland has remained a true craftsman of genuine, no-frills country music for nearly two decades. In a genre that too often focuses on style over substance, Boland puts substance at the forefront with his intelligent, insightful lyricism that challenges listeners to think beyond the obvious. His unwavering aversion to artifice and audacious attitude is reminiscent of the genre's forbearers, while his deep, baritone delivery and the band's spirited live performances have earned them a fiercely loyal following. Hard Times Are Relative finds Jason Boland & The Stragglers once again expanding the boundaries of what country music can be, while staying true to its original purpose: storytelling in the purest form.
Hard Times Are Relative is immediately gratifying country with a conscience and a shot of adrenaline. The theme running throughout much of the album focuses on our complicated relationship with the past and accepting the inevitability of change. Songs such as "Do You Remember When" and "Tattoo Of A Bruise" address the need to preserve our history, while "Predestined" questions how much we control the future. Hard Times Are Relative was recorded live to tape, a trademark of the band, and co-produced by The Stragglers, David Percefull and Adam Odor.  Courtesy: 117 Group NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 12, 2018 Press Release) -- Grammy Award winner John Berry has released the single “Beautifully Broken,” written by Jenny Slate Lee and Tiffany Arbuckle Lee. An accompanying video for the song, produced by CJM Productions in Nashville and directed by Jeff Moseley can be watched onlinehere. Both the song and video were simultaneously released on the WSM 650 AM radio program Coffee, Country and Cody and Heartland TV online. The music is the title track for the exhilarating new feature film, “Beautifully Broken.” The song, which features heartfelt lyrics, is perfectly paired with the compelling film that tells the riveting true story of three families, worlds apart, whose paths seem unlikely to cross. Music is available for streaming on Spotifyand download on Amazon Music and iTunes.
“When I was pitched this song and watched the movie, I was immediately committed to the project,” said John Berry. “The emotion conveyed in the lyrics and throughout the movie ties perfectly with the movie and I am grateful to be a part of this project.” The movie will be released nationwide later this year and you can hear John Berry's version of the soundtrack featured at the end of the film as credits roll. The movie has been getting positive reviews and filling up advance release theater screenings. Watch the trailer at beautifullybrokenmovie.com.
Jackson, Mississippi’s Young Valley offers points of view from songwriters Zach Lovett, Dylan Lovett and Spencer Thomas with a trading of ideas and styles from traditional country to southern-tinged rock ‘n' roll. Since the release of their debut album No Filter in 2014, the boys have toured 34 states over the span of a couple years sharing the stage with Shooter Jennings, Lucero, American Aquarium, Phosphorescent and Futurebirds.
The band recorded their sophomore self-titled album early last year at Dial Back Sound in Water Valley, MS and the 10-track effort is set to be released this spring. “Well-rehearsed, well-refined, raw” they told Find It In Fondren (a popular Jackson neighborhood magazine) calling it a record that “falls off the bone.” They recently released one of the album's tracks, "Til I Cross Your Mind," a roots rocker about the demise of a relationship that's highlighted by the sextet's harmonies, acoustic guitar-work and firm backbeat. Check it out above. Young Valley's self-titled album will be available April 20th. Click here to pre-order all formats. Austin Guitarist Jeff Plankenhorn Shifts into Solo Spotlight with 'Sleeping Dogs' due May 4th3/9/2018  Watch the video for "Sleeping Dogs" HERE
AUSTIN, Texas (Press Release) — When Jeff Plankenhorn, arguably one of the busiest and most highly regarded guitar players on the Austin music scene, tells you that he “hardly ever takes sideman gigs anymore," take it with a grain of salt. Yes, it’s true he’s made a concerted effort to carve out more time for his own solo career ever sinceissuing his breakout second studio set, 2016'sSoulSlide — and he aims to find even more of that “me time” come the May 4, 2018 release of his new album, Sleeping Dogs on Spike Steel Records.But as far as scaling back on the whole sideman thing goes ... bear in mind that there’s a big difference between “hardly ever” and never. Namely, the former still leaves the guy just enough wiggle room to happily say “yes” when legends (and friends) on the level of Ray Wylie Hubbard or the Flatlanders need a can-do guitar man for a sold-out theater engagement. Or, say, when fellow A-list Austin sideman “Scrappy” Jud Newcomb — the MVP co-producer of Sleeping Dogs — finds out he can’t make it to a very special Johnny Nicholas gig in Hawaii, and asks “Plank” if he’d be up for subbing for him. Who in their right mind is going to say no to that?  March 9, 2018 – The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) has announced the finalists for the 2017 competition. Please click here to view the complete list.
Established in 2002, the International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is the world's largest and most prestigious songwriting competition and is open to all professional and amateur songwriters. Having received more than 16,000 entries from 130 countries, 344 songs have been selected as finalists in a wide variety of genres. Winners will be announced in April, 2018. Winners will be selected by a panel of high-profile recording artists and music industry executives from Sony, Capitol, Sire, Elektra, Glassnote, Island, Razor & Tie, Concord Label Group, Warner Bros. Records, Alligator, Wind-Up, Interscope, New West, Black River Ent., Word, Syco, and many more. Click here for the list of judges. ISC will award more than $150,000 in cash and prizes, including an overall Grand Prize consisting of $25,000 (US) cash, and more. A total of 71 winners will be selected in 23 categories of music. All entrants retain full rights to their songs.
Luke Winslow-King will release his sixth album Blue Mesa (pre-order link) on May 11 via Bloodshot Records. The album announcement comes with the launch of the album’s first single "Leghorn Women."
Blue Mesa was recorded in the Tuscan fortress village of Lari, Italy and features long-time collaborator and Italian blues guitar dynamo Roberto Luti, Chris Davis of King James and the Special Men, and Mike Lynch (Bob Seger, Larry McCray) on organ. For more information visitHERE. |
BLOGROLL
B-Sides and Badlands Hitting All The Right Notes Key Music News Dreamspider's Blog Farce the Music TJ Music Archives
October 2024
|
RSS Feed
