Artist of the Month November, 2010 : Adam Carroll

Nov 3, 2010 Artist of the Month

This month’s artist once again comes from Texas. Carroll for me really stands out among the crowd of extremely talented songwriters from that region.

I’ve always felt that there is two types of songwriters that really make an impression on me. The first writes songs that are just brilliantly literary and poetic, almost untouchable in a way. The second is the songwriters that have a way of coming off as one of us, a common guy who writes songs that we all can easily relate to. Occasionally a songwriter finds a way to enter both of these realms at the same time. Sometimes it’s for a song, or an album and on very rare occasions they permanently reside there. Carroll belongs to the latter group.

His songs have a way of immediately connecting with the listener and at the same time, being completely beyond anything we could have written ourselves. The characters in his songs live in our neighborhoods but they are so elegantly presented within the song that it makes them seem larger than life.

Once you add in Carroll’s fine guitar and harmonica playing and his off kilter vocal delivery, you have an artist that in my opinion can hold his own in any songwriting circle, no matter how high up the ladder you go. Comparisons to John Prine and Townes Van Zandt seem to come at him from all directions and they are absolutely well deserved for once. I would throw others in the mix as well, Guy Clark, John Hiatt, and the list could go on. Basically think of all the writers that get every word right and go ahead and place Carroll in their midst.

I first heard of Carroll through a couple of Hayes Carll bootlegs, where Carll stated that if he could get away with it he would sing Carroll songs for half of his set and claim that he wrote them. This was a high praise from a songwriter that I respected so I thought I would check out some Carroll’s work. I ended up with a gem of a show, that was a song swap with Graham Weber (August’s Artist of the Month). That show sent me on a journey of discovering everything Carroll had to offer and I have yet to be disappointed thus far.

A few years later I got to see him live two nights in a row with Weber here in Ohio. I was not only impressed by the ah shucks stage presence that immediately held the audiences attention but that he was that humble and quiet off the stage. It almost felt as he did not have a grasp on just how great his songwriting is.

I have talked with many musicians and fans who have crossed paths with Carroll throughout the years and everyone agrees that he is one of the most immensely talented guys working today and that just being around him is an intriguing, humbling experience. From all accounts there is not a person out there that cares more about his craft than Carroll.

On stage he is engaging and funny, even though he has a tendency to fumble lyrics occasionally. Mark Jungers, another great Texas musician and producer of Carroll’s 2008 album Old Town Rock n Roll, once told me a story about Carroll opening up for him. He said the venue was packed and Adam came out at messed up the first three songs he tried on the audience. After apologizing and making light of the situation Carroll nailed the next tune and was received with a standing ovation. At the end of the night the merch table that held Adam’s records was almost completely empty. I thought that was a perfect example of how powerful this guy’s music is.

Carroll has a pretty full catalog for someone who has only been releasing material for just over a decade. To date he has four studio albums, two live records and a phenomenal release with another former Artist of the Month, Michael O’ Connor. Every one of these albums is phenomenal and it is very difficult for me to pick out just three to tell you to start with.

His debut record, 1998′s South of Town, made my list of five great debut records , where you can read my thoughts on it in some detail. This is definitely a situation where you can start from the beginning and work forward as Carroll came out of the gates in stride on this release.

His second release came two years later and contains some my favorite Carroll songs ever. Lookin’ Out the Screen Door was produced by Lloyd Maines who worked on Carroll’s first three studio efforts and his first live album. Among the highlights on this record are “Race Car Joe”, which Slaid Cleaves later covered on his album, Unsung, “Errol’s Song”, the story of a hunting partner of Carroll’s father who Adam looked up to all of his life, and “Karaoke Cowboy”, which tells of a failed Nashville singer living a different life of fame as a the karaoke DJ in a small town. My personal favorite on the album is Carroll’s ode to unchanging love, “Blondie and Dagwood”. One other song that is a favorite of other artists to cover and fans to hear is “Girl With the Dirty Hair” which was the first tune of Carroll’s I personally heard.

The next studio album that I want to touch on is Old Town Rock n Roll. Recorded in Mark Jungers garage with the help of Jungers and Canadian musician, Scott Nolan this album found Carroll captured in his relaxed finest. The looseness of this record allows the quirks of Carroll’s vocals shine through the perfectly written lyrics. While Maines always seemed to find a way to present Carroll’s work in a great light this record doesn’t try to mask the scars and marks on the songs and it really is a breath of fresh air.

The standouts are “Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffler”, “Hi-Fi Love, and “Highway Prayer” all songs that make you feel good sometimes smiling and sometimes just nodding your head in agreement. To close the album is a song that makes all older guitar players grin, “Porter Wagoner (AKA the Silvertone Song)”, tells of the gap between generations and the nostalgia that comes from a cheap guitar signed by a legend.

This article would be a failure if I did not mention how much I love both of Carroll’s live albums. Live at Cheatham Street Warehouse was released in 2002 and hits almost all the best songs from the first two records along with some great stories and a few previously unreleased songs. The story and version of “Errol’s Song” on this alone is worth the price of the album.

Earlier this year Carroll released the second live album, Live at Flipnotics. This time Carroll was joined by Scrappy Jud Newcomb on lead guitar and the songs span his entire career, including live versions of “Oklhoma Gypsy Shuffler”, “Home Again”, “The Girl With the Dirty Hair” and “Billy Gibbons’ Beard”, which appeared on he and Michael O’ Connor’s ablum, Hard Times.

Speaking of Hard Times, it may well be my favorite record released this year and if not it is damn close. An album with a theme of Gulf Coast losers it really is a great collaborations. Carroll and O’Connor take turns singing the lead parts on the songs, and co-wrote most of the material on the record. “Billy Gibbons’ Beard” is my favorite song that Carroll sings on it. It is sad and funny all at the same time, which is a common thread on the album. The other Carroll standout is the title track which is kind of self explanatory.

Overall Carroll’s career is already amazing and shows no signs of slowing down. I would really suggest buying everything in his catalog because there is not a bad one among them. Also do yourself a favor and go see this guy live if he ever comes near you. You can learn more about Carroll on his site here.

Tags: adam carroll, Graham Weber, Guy Clark, Hayes Carll, john prine, Mark Jungers, michael o'connor, slaid cleaves

Artist of the Month, October 2010 : Peter Cooper

Oct 2, 2010 Artist of the Month

Originally from South Carolina and presently located in Nashville, Peter Cooper is a man of many trades. He is a music critic (The Nashville Tennessean), a producer (Fayssoux McLean’s Early), a professor of country music history (Vanderbilt) and most importantly an amazing songwriter and performer. For the purposes of this article we will focus on the latter of this list and his short but brilliant recording career.

My personal introduction to Cooper’s music came the way that I discover so many artists, through a live recording. I was listening to a copy of one of Todd Snider’s What the Folk performances and in between sets Peter comes in and plays two quick songs. The first of the two tracks was one of the greatest crowd grabbing opener’s ever. “Nirvana Was Better Than Pearl Jam” is funny and probably true. It is the kind of song that makes the crowd pay attention to you even if they have never heard of you. Following that was the song that instantly had me interested in finding more out about Cooper, “What’s the Use”. It follows along as the obviously over intoxicated hero makes one bad decision after another during a night that should have ended three drinks and two bars before. What really struck about the song was the way he injects conversation into a song seamlessly with lyrics such as “You say you’re gonna cut me off, leave me be, you say you got a word for people like me… it ain’t a good word, you don’t have to say it again”.

I began frantically scouring the internet to find out more about this guy to no avail (at the time he had no website and this was just prior to the Myspace craze) , so I sent a message to the Todd Snider listserve asking if anyone had any more information for me. To my surprise my answer came in the form of an email from Cooper himself. He introduced himself and told me that he had just released his debut ep, Clown Juice.

Not too long after that I was excited to find out that Peter would be opening up for a run of Snider shows I would be attending in Dayton. This was my first chance to see him live and as he has done every time that I have seen him, he blew me away. Cooper put on the best opening set I  have ever seen especially from someone that was virtually unknown by the crowd. He is engaging on stage, fills the space between songs with witty banter and always seems to nail the tunes.

Since then I have had the opportunity to see him live on a number of occasions. He was gracious enough to come to our bar and do a show a few years ago and Jerry Brightman, former pedal steel player for Buck Owens, met him there and they put on a spellbinding three hour show filled with Cooper’s originals and appropriate covers.

In addition to releasing two full length solo records since then he has also teamed with Eric Brace of Last Train Home to put out two phenomenal records. Earlier this year I had the chance to go see them together live two nights in a row which you can read about here. Prior to the second of those shows the two of them stopped by the home studio to appear on our podcast which can be downloaded here.

Normally, at this point in the article I would break down my favorite three or so recordings of the artist, but I  am going to do a little something different on this one. Cooper’s second solo release, The Lloyd Green Album, and his second collaboration with Eric Brace, The Master Sessions, are actually my two favorite of his releases but, since they were just put out this month I will be doing full length reviews of them hopefully today. I will just say that it is remarkable that the same person released two of my top ten records of the year.

I would like to highlight Cooper’s first three efforts because they were also very good.

The aforementioned ep, Clown Juice, contains three additional songs other than the two that he played that night in Nashville. “Gospel Song” (which will later re-appear on The Lloyd Green Album) is still my favorite Peter Cooper song. Does a line get any better than, “There’s gonna be some wreckage when your dreams and your habits collide”? “Andalusia” is the story of Hank Williams Sr. and Cooper’s grandpa and their interactions in Andalusia. Rounding out the ep is the song, “Thompson Street”, the place in Spartanburg, South Carolina where Pink Anderson sang.

Arriving three years later in 2008, Cooper’s full length debut, Mission Door, really opens the door to what he is capable of as a songwriter. Immediately you notice that Cooper has found a muse instrumentally in Lloyd Green who is a session work master playing pedal steel on countless number one hits. Green’s absolutely flawless pedal steel playing weaves its way in and out of this entire album, perfectly complimenting the outstanding songs and also setting us up for the next Cooper record that would bear his name.

Something that really begins to show on this record is Cooper’s ability to tell someone’s story through a song. He can make anyone’s life seem significant whether or not they were famous. This is a feat that many have tried and few have mastered and Cooper does it better than anyone. One such song on Mission Door is “Take Care”, the story of Townes Van Zandt that both idolizes him and does not pull any punches when it comes to his shortcomings.

Further along in the album is the greatest marriage of sports and song ever, “715 (For Hank Aaron)” is a brilliant song even if you aren’t a baseball fan. Written while Barry Bonds was chasing Hank, the song chronicles the real life struggles that Hank faced when he was legitimately breaking the home run record.

“Sheboygan” looks at the idea of predestination through a different window, one where even acts that aren’t the most ambitious or moral can be looked at as divine. Along the same lines is “One By One”, the best track on the record. In this one the narrator commits a heinous crime after having a one-sided conversation with a bartender basically justifying his upcoming act.

Later in 2008 marked the beginning of what will hopefully be a long lasting collaborative endeavor between Cooper and Brace with the release of You Don’t Have To Like Them Both. While this album only hints at what they produce together live and have mastered with their new release, it is full of remarkable songs and harmonies. They had not yet begun writing too many songs together and had both recently released their own albums, so they decided to fill the spaces in  the record with covers of songs that were written by friends of theirs.

Among the songs and songwriters chosen for this album was David Olney and his song “Omar’s Blues #2″, which in my opinion is the standout on this record. It exhibits the harmonies that these two find that have the ability to transform any song into a masterpiece. Todd Snider’s “Yesterdays and Used to Be’s” is another track that is excellent cut on this one. Cooper takes the lead vocals on this and delivers a first class version of his good friend’s tune.

The only song that the two wrote together on the record was “Lucky Bones”, a song that Brace began with Jim Lauderdale and later finished with Cooper’s help. Brace takes the lead helm for this one and it is an amazing country tune that would have sounded right at home at any honky tonk in the country.

That wraps up the first part of Cooper’s recording career. I promise to have the reviews of the new ones up in the next few days, because they are both spectacular. If you are not familiar with Cooper check out his site here or Red Beet Records’ site here. As a selfish side note, I’d like all of you to buy two copies of every one of his albums so that he can start to think about quitting that nagging day job as a music critic and therefore make more frequent trips to Ohio to perform.

As always the reward for making it through my long winded ramblings, here is a video clip I filmed a few years ago of Cooper playing “Sheboygan” as part of an opening set for Snider at the Canal Street Tavern in Dayton.

Tags: eric brace, Jerry Brightman, Last Train Home, Lloyd Green, peter cooper, todd snider, Townes Van Zandt

Artist of the Month, September 2010 : Jon Dee Graham

Sep 2, 2010 Artist of the Month

A few years ago I was starting to dig into the Ray Wylie Hubbard catalog and listening to some live stuff as well. On a particular show, Ray starts to tell a story about writing a verse about a local drummer and not being sure what to do with it. He played the verse for his friend Jon Dee Graham to get his opinion on it. Graham’s answer? Write a verse about me.

So the song “Name Droppin’” was born and my introduction to Jon Dee’s music was inevitable because I had to find out more about this guy for sure. Luckily the same guy who had sent me the Ray Wylie show had some Jon Dee as well.

This was just prior to Graham releasing Full so the show I received started out with this marvelously gritty sounding song about a pirate ship, “Tie a Knot”. I was hooked from the opening guitar line and as soon as I  heard Jon’s voice I knew I had discovered something I was going to love.

I went on his website to see what was available and noticed he would be in Ohio soon, so I booked him to play at the bar and got a copy of Full in the mail.

For those of you who are not familiar with Graham, he is a Texas native and an Austin legend. He spent the beginning of his career playing guitar in the influential punk country bands The Skunks and later The True Believers (Alejandro Escovedo’s band) before embarking on his solo career.

He is a three time member of the Austin Music Hall of Fame and winner of SXSW’s Musician of the year in 2006. To this date he has released 7 solo studio albums, has had a documentary made about him and his songs were covered by a list of Texas music legends for a benefit record to help with Graham’s son’s doctor bills.

Now back to the story. So I have Jon Dee booked for a Saturday night and I’m still not really sure what to expect, I just know that the one album of his that I have is quickly becoming one of my favorite records. Unfortunately it was the worst turnout we ever had for a show and I had to pay 2/3 of the guarantee out of my pocket.

The redeeming factor was that Jon Dee went out and blew us all away for almost three hours making the investment absolutely worth it. He was completely in control of the stage both in song and banter. At the beginning of the second set he decided that it felt more like a living room with the few people that were there and unplugged his guitar and did not use the mic at all. It was amazing.

Jon Dee Graham writes songs that are so honest the word honesty does them no justice. Graham pulls no punches with anyone including himself in song at that is what really makes him stand apart from everyone else.

As always I am going to pick a few albums to really highlight from his catalog but, I have to mention the song “Faithless” from the album, Escape From Monster Island first. While not one of my favorite albums of his this song is one the best songs ever written in my opinion. It is one of the songs that you can play when you are not feeling so grand and it immediately gives you hope.

The first album I will discuss is 2004′s The Great Battle, his last release on New West Records. This record is a perfect example of Graham’s ability to write great songs with a pop sense to go alongside his gravelly vocals and perfectly timed guitar playing. The first song that really stands out on this one is “I Don’t Feel That Way”, a track that shows the growth of the narrator in his way of looking at life. “The Majesty of Love” is a song that shows how highly Graham thinks of his wife. This is a theme that Jon Dee really attacks from an angle that is not at all cliche. He has a self deprecating manor when speaking of himself in a relationship that really hits home with all of us that has a significant other that has to put up with our many shortcomings.

Later in the album, the song “Robot Moving” has some great lyrics in it. “I swore I’d never use the word irony in a song, the irony is that I never meant to live this long, yeah but I did”. A final original on this record that is a favorite of mine is “Something to Look Forward to”. Another song about the daily life of a working married man just looking for ways to make it through the tough times.

Rounding out the highlights of the album are a cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest” and the best version I’ve ever heard of the traditional “Lonesome Valley”

Full was released in 2006 and is on my short list of top 25 albums of all time. From start to finish this record is phenomenal. It has a little bit of everything, hope, love, rock n roll, death, drugs, everything you need in a great album.

The song “Holes” is such a great Rock n Roll song that it prompted me to call a friend (also a Jon Dee fan) simply to tell him what he already knew, “Holes is just a kick ass song, goodbye”. “Swept Away” is the story of a staged death, used to get away and start a new life. It also became the title to the aforementioned documentary featuring Mr. Graham.

Also previously mentioned, “Tie a Knot” has the nastiest feel to it of any song on the album and it is an absolute delight to listen to. I wouldn’t care if he was just saying a bunch of nonsense in this song because it sounds so damn cool, fortunately it has great images like “The wounded inside are weeping Portuguese wine” throughout the tune.

“Remain” is another song written for his wife. Before he played this live he asked if there was anyone in the crowd married to a musician. When a few hands went up he told them that there was a special place in heaven just for them and went into the song. “Cigarette ashes everywhere, I’m almost gone even when I’m there” pretty much sums up the life a musician’s wife has to deal with every day.

The last song I will discuss off this album is “Something Wonderful”, which is another great Rock n Roll song that brings us all hope when times are rough. Seeing live footage of this track on Youtube makes me crave to see him with a full band sometime in the future because this song is an event.

A few years ago we almost lost Jon Dee to a serious car crash. His first words to the officer who arrived on the scene were “It’s not as bad as it looks” which became the title of the album he released after his recovery. I am not going to go into a lot of detail on this because you can read my review from earlier this year here. I will say that it has continued to grow on me and when I am not listening to Full I  find myself putting this one on quite a bit.

If this article hasn’t convinced you to check out all of his recordings please shoot over to his website and peruse all of the stuff there. I guarantee if you listen to him for a short while you will feel better about going out to face the day.

One more quick story I have to mention. Not only does Jon Dee Graham release great albums, play amazing live sets and save cats from burning buildings (okay I may have made that one up) but he also builds friendships. When I was promoting the show at the bar I went into the local guitar shop to hang a flier. I was amazed that in my little hometown someone approached me immediately for tickets. The person was part owner of the store and we started a conversation about Jon Dee. Turns out he had seen Graham a few years earlier opening for John Hiatt at the Birchmere in Virginia. We immediately hit it off and now are the best of friends. If you listen to the podcasts on this site you would know him as Matt Hill, producer, engineer and master of all things recordings.


Here is Jon Dee performing “Faithless” completely unplugged from the show I mentioned. The angle of the camera is poor but the feel of the song is definitely there.

Tags: jon dee graham, ray wylie hubbard

Artist of the Month, August 2010 : Graham Weber

Aug 1, 2010 Artist of the Month

I have read or heard Weber compared to the likes of John Prine, a young Bob Dylan, Todd Snider, and an early Wilco era Jeff Tweedy. All of those comparisons are fair enough but they really fall short of accurately describing Weber. All that needs to be said about Graham is that he is a great songwriter who has digested the catalogs of all the greats and came through with a voice and a sound all of his own.

Weber began his musical journey in his native Ohio early in this decade. Starting out a little later in life than some, he cut his teeth in various bands in the area before embarking on his solo career. After recording and releasing the mostly acoustic, Naive Melodies in 2003, Graham decided to make a bold move and departed Ohio for the overcrowded songwriting scene of Austin, Texas.

When I asked him a few years later why he decided to make this move at a time when he had begun to develop quite the following in Ohio, Weber replied, “I could have stayed and made enough money in Ohio as a medium sized fish in a small pond (I would argue that most of Ohio’s music scene is just a mud puddle, unfortunately), but I wanted to see if I could make an impact in the ocean that is Austin.” Quite the undertaking indeed, it did not take long for Austin to begin noticing that this guy was not just another wanna be Prine.

The Texas community seems to have embraced Weber and rightfully so. Long time Austin resident, Slaid Cleaves almost immediately took Graham under his wing and has served as a mentor since his arrival . Graham quickly made his move up to playing all of the best venues in the Austin area both as an opener for greats like, Snider, Guy Clark, Ellis Paul etc. and as a headliner.

I personally got turned on to Weber’s music on accident. I received a song swap that Graham had played shortly after the move to Texas with Adam Carroll and was completely floored by the depth of the songwriting that was coming from this unknown artist. After a little research, I was disappointed that he had come from Ohio and that I had never had the chance to see him here. At the time Naive Melodies was his only release so I bought it to see if this one live recording was a fluke or if this was the real deal.

I got the disc in the mail and put it in my car stereo that day, there it stayed for a solid two weeks. Although Weber himself is now disappointed in his debut, I to this day feel that it is one of my favorite records perhaps of all time. The emotional honesty that flows out of all the songs on this record serves as a great introduction to the seemingly complex simplicity that Weber has a way of portraying in almost all of his works.

Naive Melodies displays the heartache that Weber was feeling after a failed relationship, the insecurities of starting a new relationship and his biting sense of humor.This ability to channel such contrasting emotions is the thing that makes Weber stand out among his peers and makes a live show a must see appointment.

“Tight Rope Walking” is still one of my favorite songs in his catalog. “I know your nose caught the smell of whiskey, and I know I came in seven hours late, I can’t believe that you even missed me, tight rope walking that thin line between love and hate”, he sings in this song chronicling the difficulty of finding balance in a relationship.

Inspired by the late Johnny Cash and rapper Snoop Dogg (trust me it works just listen), “Late Show Someday” captures that animosity towards someone who has scorned you and infuses the anger with a sensational amount of humor. This song is completely over the top and that is exactly where it should reside.

I don’t think you can talk about this album and not mention “Oh Roberta” the song that so impressed Slaid Cleaves that he included it on his Unsung release, an album of covers written by his favorite unknown writers. Weber’s song holds its own against a collection of songs from really great songwriters. “Do you still see my silhouette when your lashes start to close, I’d like to know oh Roberta where have you gone?” is my favorite line in this song, sang to the one who got away.

Shortly after settling in Austin, Graham set out to record his first Texas album. With a lot more instrumentation, a great studio band and some impressive guest musicians the result was Beggar’s Blues. Hitting the streets in 2006, this release shows the growth Weber’s song crafting had undergone in just a short time and further established his ability to conduct the emotional roller coaster that is his albums.

Starting off the album is the fast paced, lyric filled “After All”. This song really represents Weber’s mastery of word play. “Self proclaimed soothsayers say they know what no one else knows” , it’s lines like that make this song memorable.

“Love and Money” once again shows Weber’s sense of humor in this song about the impossibility of mixing the two things we need most in life. Along with Weber’s strumming on the acoustic this song features a killer horn section almost giving it a Vaudeville feel. It’s a departure from what he normally does and man does it work.

Inspired by his first Texas Independence Day, Weber wrote the amusing tale of trying to make it in the music business, “Stars and Circles”. While the narrator may not have what it takes to “make it” he is happy enough eking by in the Texas sun.

Perhaps my favorite track on the album is “Avenue A”. The story of a road weary musician trying to find a drink on a Sunday morning in Lower Manhattan. Weber’s vocals in this one really give the lyrics their depth and meaning. He almost sounds like this was recorded after a day like which is described in the song. “They won’t serve Bloody Mary’s til twelve hours til Monday, so I’m shaking and waiting on Avenue A” , the chorus pretty much sums up the song.

2008 saw the release of Weber’s most recent album release, with his most ambitious recording project yet, Door to the Morning. The production value on this one really ratcheted up the quality of the record. Employing more of a pop sensibility and a little bit of Rock n Roll feel, this album is Weber’s best yet. It’s always nice when a great songwriter begins to really find his way in the studio without losing what made him great in the first place and that is what Door to the Morning accomplished for Graham.

The opening track, “Snow in July” is the prime example of the improvement in the recording. Backed by a full band with great piano and organ parts, Weber is able to maintain the lyrical mastery while really delivering an upbeat rockin’ number. “Sometimes your friends turn to foes and it snows in the dead of  July” is just one of the great lines that Weber drapes over the musical backdrop the studio band lays down.

Following the upbeat feel of the opener, comes the piano and slide guitar ballad, “Candle So Close”. Included in this song are very good backing vocals by Graham’s wife, Michelle Keffer. You can tell those two have spent many a night singing together, because her voice beautifully compliments his tired drawl in this one.

My favorite song on this one is the acoustic and pedal steel based, “Bite Your Tongue”. This one finds Weber at his lyrical best in a song of a lover leaving.

In addition to the three studio albums I have discussed, Weber has released two live samplers that feature unreleased material and the in between song banter that makes his live performances so much more than just a guy with an acoustic guitar.

What amazes me about seeing Graham live is that he is constantly writing songs. Some writer’s see the process of writing a song as work and with Weber they just seem to fall out on the paper. He is consistently writing better stuff that he has already released. He is one of those guys you wish lived in the studio, because he forgets so many of the great songs he has written. One of my favorite things to do is request a song I have heard him play prior and see if he remembers it. If you go see him anytime in the future ask him to play “The Hooker and the Hitman” , an eight minute song of an unlikely love, and tell him Adam told you to do it.

Perhaps the most telling thing I can say about how great I think Weber is, is that I have had to purchase all of his records at least twice each because I have given them away to share them with others.  I found out that he is currently working on the follow up to Door to the Morning. Tentatively titled, Women, it is going to feature a mostly female backing band and harmony vocals in addition to a co-write with Slaid Cleaves. I know I am looking forward to this release which will hopefully come later this year.

Weber will making his first trip back to Ohio in two years in a couple months and I hope to catch a show or two and have him on the podcast. In the meantime you can visit his website www.grahamweber.com and find links to buy his records and such. Later this week I will post a live Weber show to download.

Here is a video of Weber playing “I’ll Take Texas” an ode to his adopted home:

Tags: adam carroll, Artist of the Month, bob dylan, Graham Weber, john prine, slaid cleaves, todd snider

Artist of the Month, July 2010 : Brock Zeman

Jul 7, 2010 Artist of the Month

This month we venture north of the border for the Artist of the Month. Canadian, Brock Zeman puts out better Americana music than most everyone in the States as far as I’m concerned. With six studio efforts and a live album under his belt already this 28 year old has quite a body of work in a short time.

I first heard Brock when I was still promoting shows on a regular basis and he sent me an email. Anyone who does any promoting knows that these emails flood your inbox about everyday and you are really looking for something that stands out in them. With Brock’s, he threw out a couple of names that caught my eye. He had opened for Chris Knight and Fred Eaglesmith and in fact was then touring with ex-Eaglesmith band member, Dan Walsh.

I listened to a few clips on his site and went ahead and booked the show on a Thursday night (show available soon on this site). When Brock showed and played one of the best shows I saw that whole entire year to a crowd of ten of us, I was hooked. It was quickly obvious that the name dropping in the email was unnecessary and that Zeman’s songs could easily stand on their own two feet amid songs from any songwriter.

This guy has songs filling his pockets. He is constantly writing and it seems that he can write about any topic and really in any style he chooses. He can make you laugh one minute and bring the tears the next. On top of that he is a phenomenal showman, weaving stories and songs seamlessly together.

His songs whether on album or live have an energy that just draw you in. I know that it has become the cliche, go to description but his voice is definitely whiskey drenched, which fits his songs perfectly. I would recommend all of his records but, I do have some favorites.

Welcome Home Ivy Jane from 2006 features Brock with his band, The Dirty Hands. This album brings out the country side of Brock as well as any of his recordings to date. There a few rockers on here as well, but the slower songs are what stand out the most for on this one. “Cindy” is a letter to an ex lover full of lies of how well he is doing and reminds me of Waits’ “Christmas Card From a Hooker” tune with a few new twists. “Saturday Night” is the next in a long line of songs about what happens after the last chord is struck and the band finishes it’s gig for the night. More upbeat is ” Down in the Basement” the story of Brock staying in a very un-kept basement that after a few hours and perhaps some paranoia inducing drinking, seems to contain all kinds of strange characters and objects. Of his earlier albums this one stands out as my favorite.

If you are like me you have come across a bootleg of unreleased demos or outtakes from one of your favorite artists and thought, man these versions of the songs are so much better than the ones they ended up releasing. 2007′s Bourbon Sessions from Zeman and Walsh is that bootleg only it was released. Recorded over a couple of days and a lot of shots of bourbon in Walsh’s home studio this album is right in my wheelhouse. The stripped down feel of the songs that Zeman was just kicking around at the time completely captures what seeing Brock live is like. With little to no overdubbing the album just allows the master song craft to shine through.

My favorites on this one are hard to pick because really top to bottom this one is a must listen. “Don’t Ya Tell Jimmy” caught me immediately because I am a sucker for gambling tunes, and this one is a classic. Also on the album is a ramped up stomper of a tune about a night in a very rough bar, “Blood on the Hardwood Floor”. A couple of stories of eventual murder round out my picks for this one in “Rock Fence” and “Something’s Gonna Crack”.

The final album I will go into is Zeman’s latest studio effort, $100 Difference. Released in late 2008, this record brings out the rock n roll in Zeman. A lot of the tunes on this one include a full out rockin’ band and are generally more up beat than some of his earlier stuff.

“Girl With a Gun” according to Brock, is about a relationship where you are completely afraid of the woman. “Train in Me” is a track that appeared in bare parts on The Bourbon Sessions, but here is a rocked out ode to everyone’s favorite subject. The album closer is “Once Upon a Saturday Night” and it follows the narrator through a night of drunken mischief that ends in a lot of needed apologies. Over all it is one of Brock’s finest releases to date.

Zeman also released his first live record last year with “Live @ Acoustic Grill”. I have just recently gotten a copy of this so I can’t really go into a lot of detail about it. I can say that the line up on the record is Zeman, Walsh, and Blair Hogan on bass and it features a number of previously unreleased songs. I have seen that line up on three occasions and every time it was amazing.

Shortly after the release of the live record, Zeman and Walsh parted ways and Hogan is now playing all of the lead guitar in the live sets. From what I’ve seen via Youtube clips, this change has not altered the quality of the show whatsoever as Hogan is a phenomenal guitar player. He also plays a few other instruments at times on stage and therefore brings a little something extra to the table.

Zeman, who is currently on Busted Flat Records, is almost certainly working on his next release even as you read this. I know for a fact that he is sitting on stockpile of material so it is just a matter of finding time in his schedule to hit the studio.

In addition to his own music, Brock has ventured off into the realm of producing and has recently released an album by fellow Canadian, Robert Larisey, on his new record label, Mud Music. From the tracks I’ve heard it is also going to be a great record and it features Zeman on bass and Hogan on multiple instruments.

Unfortunately for those of us Stateside we will not be getting the chance to see Zeman live for awhile as he is currently booked all year in Canada. You can, however, visit his website and buy all of his albums, which I would highly recommend. You can also find his email on the site and begin sending him messages asking for his return to the states.

Look for that first live show to appear here later this week as a download in mp3 format. Also look for a review of the Larisey album later this month.

To further convince you to check out more of Brock’s stuff here is a video of him performing “The Juggler”, a song about a performer in traveling show, with Blair Hogan

Tags: Brock Zeman, Chris Knight, dan walsh, Fred Eaglesmith, Youtube Clip

Artist of the Month, June 2010: Michael O’Connor

Jun 3, 2010 Artist of the Month

Like many people before me, I first discovered Michael O’Connor as a guitarist.

I was listening to some live Slaid Cleaves shows and found myself drawn to the extremely tasty lead guitar licks I was hearing.

Inevitably, on all of the recordings Slaid would introduce O’Connor as the guitar player.

From there I went on to find out that over the last couple of decades O’Connor has lent his talents to many Americana legends including, Cleaves, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Susan Gibson, Adam Carroll and others. It became clear that if you were anywhere near Texas and needed a guitar player to add class and dignity to your record or live show you sought out O’Connor.

Interestingly enough my first looks into who O’Connor was did not unearth his solo work. Thank the heavens for Slaid Cleaves’ 2006 release Unsung, an album of cover songs that featured two tracks by Mr. O’Connor. On an album filled with finely crafted songs, O’Connor’s “Devil’s Lullaby” stands out in my opinion as the best song.

So now I had to know what else was out there from this guy. I found his website (yeah I know how difficult right?) and saw that he was about to release a new album, his second. I went ahead and bought his first release, Green and Blue (2000) that was produced by Ray Wylie Hubbard.This record was very bluesy and rough. The highlight for me is “West Memphis Blues”, a pretty straight forward blues tune.

After that, I kind of forgot about O’Connor for awhile. Green and Blue got lost amongst the records that I hadn’t listened to enough and then I downloaded a live show featuring O’Connor in a song swap with Adam Carroll. Finally I got to hear O’Connor sing the songs from Unsung along with a ton of other tunes that I had never heard before. O’Connor’s songs once again stood up against a great songwriter’s. On this show there are acoustic versions of songs from Green and Blue as well as most of the songs from his second release Giants From a  Sleepy Town (2007).

Well, I began obsessively listening to this show, especially the O’Connor songs on it. I contacted his wife who does his booking and attempted to have him come up here to do a show, which unfortunately did not work out. A couple of years passed and Carroll and O’Connor released the best album of the 2010, Hard Times.

With the new record being released, I had to get my copy of Sleepy Town finally as well as Hard Times. There was 7 years between the release dates of Green and Blue and Giants From a Sleepy Town and in that time, it seems that O’Connor found his voice in the studio. The songs on this album are phenomenal and the sound is great. I do not mean to disrespect the efforts of his first record, but this second release is amazing.

Among the highlights on this release are the aforementioned “Devil’s Lullaby” which features some of the greatest imagery I’ve ever heard in a song. “The sirens wail and the church bells chime, Sounds like the Devil’s Lullaby”, sings O’Connor in this one. Another absolutely stunning song on this record is the Tom Waitsish, “Trampoline”, which details the struggles of a working musician in a graphic nature.

I can’t sing the praises of this album enough, the songwriting is superior and it’s always refreshing when an artist is recorded in a manner that lends itself to the songs. It definitely seems that O’Connor grew into his own in the time between albums.

After I  listened to O’Connor’s second solo effort a few times, I moved on in an excited manner to Hard Times (2010). Here was an album that could not disappoint, two excellent songwriters collaborating on a collection of new songs with a common theme, gulf coast losers.

I was right this album is great, by far the best thing released so far this year. Once again, O’Connor’s skills stand out. He and Carroll co-wrote 9 of 11 songs on the record with the remaining two songs featuring one of them singing a cut from the others previous record.

The two of them take turns singing lead on the record, and in my opinion O’Connor drew the high card when he sang, “Bernandine” the story of a gambler praying to the patron saint of gamblers and addicts. O’Connor once again channel’s late 70′s Waits on the track “Throw a Nickel” which is also one of the better tracks on a great album. O’Connor also does a great job on the Adam Carroll penned “Highway Prayer” from Carroll’s release Old Town Rock and Roll.

Over the years O’Connor has solidified his spot amid the Texas music scene first with his superior guitar playing and more recently with his excellent solo work. While I am happy that it seems he will continue to appear as a sideman, I  hope that he focuses more of his time on his songwriting career. Whatever he does be sure that I will always pick up any album with his name anywhere on it.

You can learn more about Michael O’Connor and buy all three of his releases on his website, www.michaeloconnormusic.com.

As a bonus here is a download of the song swap I mentioned earlier in the post: Michael O’Connor and Adam Carroll 03-20-2007 . Just right click save link as.

Tags: adam carroll, Artist of the Month, michael o'connor, ray wylie hubbard, slaid cleaves, susan gibson

Artist of the Month, May 2010: Greg Klyma

May 1, 2010 Artist of the Month

Coming later this month Greg Klyma will be the first guest in our podcast series. To honor that I have decided to also make him our first Artist of the Month.

Greg is from Buffalo, NY and for the last dozen or so years has been traveling the country in his van, playing shows, and recording great records. His music touches in all the areas that encompass Americana drawing from very eclectic influences. His live shows are some of the most entertaining you will ever get to see, a perfect blend of humor and serious songwriting that many people attempt and very few actually achieve. He has 6 releases to his name as a solo act, 5 studio and a recently unleashed live disc, and is currently working on putting together a live DVD as well as beginning to break ground on a new studio effort.

I first came across Greg as an opener for Todd Snider about 5 years ago and was completely taken in. He came on stage and immediately launched into a version of Subterranean Homesick Blues fused with Gloria, so right off the bat Dylan and Morrison. Midway through the song he breaks a string and doesn’t miss a beat, finishes out the song and makes jokes about having to change it. As an opener he has just lost precious time to win over the audience in a short set but, he went on to deliver a half dozen well crafted originals and walked off the stage with the crowd in his hand. Since then I have purchased all of his records and seen him numerous times here in Central Ohio.

I’d could spend time breaking down all of his releases, but that would get a bit long winded so I will focus on his last two releases which really capture what Klyma is all about.

2008′s Rust Belt Vagabond is Greg’s finest song writing achievement. It is not uncommon for someone to continue to grow as a songwriter, but this record almost renders all of his previous releases irrelevant. That is not to say that the rest are not good, but rather to say how great Vagabond is.

Often times musicians adopt new home cities and become affiliated with that new place, whether it is Nashville, Austin, New York or any other music city. In Greg’s case he is firmly entrenched in his Buffalo heritage although it has been over a decade since he officially lived there. Throughout the album the listener experiences Buffalo both in general and in a way that is personal to the storyteller. You can tell Klyma is both proud of Buffalo and saddened that like so many cities in the Rustbelt has seen better days and he is not going to let us forget it.

The crown jewel of the album is “Two Degrees in Buffalo” which really makes you feel like you are from there or need to visit. The 7:32 epic makes great use of the title in wonderful plays on the words. The narrator wants us to remember Buffalo for all of the good things it has brought to the country as a whole and to its inhabitants. The song is Klyma’s masterpiece at this point in his career and if I were anyone of import in the city of Buffalo I would be fighting to make this the official anthem of the city.”Father Baker” is the story of local hero from an orphanage that by Klyma’s time had become part of a cautionary tale for parents to tell their children. “Helen Rose” chronicles a the struggle to find common ground between a mother and her daughter in-law. For good measure Greg includes a version of the legendary folk song, “Erie Canal” to end the album.

Vagabond is not entirely about Buffalo, another city that has fallen in recent memory albeit due to a much different cause makes an appearance in two songs. Shortly after Katrina, Greg visited the ruins of New Orleans which like many before and after him gave him inspiration for song. “Roll Me Away” tells of a man that is not going to leave his land even when faced with a certain catastrophe. “Parish of St. Benard” is the story of a neighborhood hellbent on rebuilding after the tragedy, but having trouble finding the means to do so. It’s easy to see that this trip deeply affected Klyma in the emotion which these songs are delivered.

Overall this album is absolutely a must have. Klyma is showcasing his ability as a songwriter in an amazing way on this one. While the overall mood of the record may feel a little somber at times there are glimmers of hope all along the way. The production is right on and there are a good number of phenomenal musicians make an appearance including, Jonathan Byrd (guitars and vocals), Sick (fiddle and backing vocals) and Tom Bianchi (electric and upright bass).

That now brings me to his newly released live record, KlymaLive in Buffalo. Recorded fittingly at Sportsman’s Tavern in Buffalo in early 2009, this was a long time coming. As a fan I have been waiting for this since I really began to get  familiar with his songs. The album calls up songs from all of his previous releases except Rustbelt Vagabond and some previously unreleased material and is currently only available at shows. What really sticks out in the live set is his story telling and between song banter, something you can never get from a studio release. When you see Klyma, you really see a show not just a guy playing music. Throughout the evening he has the ability to take you through the entire range of emotions and never leaves you bored. On this release you also get to hear him play both the guitar and the mandolin showcasing his musical abilities in addition to his song writing chops, and crowd drawing personality.

Highlights on this record include “New Clothes”, from the album of the same title, and the story of how the song which was about him wanting to leave his band and set off on his own took on a completely different meaning when a fan tells him of what she took from it. What have become Klyma classics, “Bean Bag Chair” and “One Foot in the Grave”, from Not a Complicated Guy, both of which are humorous tunes. A narration from a washed up actor in “Bad B Western” off of In The Meantime. He Closes the set with a play off of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” which along with its back story is one of the funniest things I have ever heard live and a real crowd killer, “I-40, Roland, OK”.

The live record is a complete and total success for Klyma. I know it was something that people were clamoring about for years and that he waited until he felt he could do it justice. If you go and see him and want a reminder of what you heard, this is the perfect buy. So often live records are so produced and planned out they don’t represent what the artist normally delivers live and this is not the case with KlymaLive in Buffalo. Every time I have seen him live, Greg has been this good or better which is really what makes this release special.

Well that was still long-winded but you have to love writing on the internet where there are no word counts. Be sure to look for the podcast as it becomes available and go look up Mr. Klyma if you aren’t familiar with him and if you are drop him a line and tell him you want a copy of those discs, or go see a show. You can find Greg at these places online

Official Site: www.klyma.com

Myspace: www.myspace.com/gregklyma

Reverb Nation: www.reverbnation.com/gregklyma

Tags: Artist of the Month, greg klyma, Podcasts