Album Review: Audrey Auld : Come Find Me

Jun 5, 2011 Album Reviews

Come Find Me
Audrey Auld
Reckless Records

I used to read an online forum about Fred Eaglesmith called “The Digest” as religiously some folks follow their favourite sports team. That’s the first place I heard about Audrey Auld after she and Bill Chambers had played at the Roots on the River Festival in Bellows Falls, Vermont. Bill’s daughter Kasey Chambers was breaking big in North America with her album The Captain around that time and I remember being excited when I heard that title cut on a Sopranos episode.

Sometime after that I met my good friend and Austin-based singer-songwriter pal Joe Gee, who was as enthusiastic about Audrey and her music as as a dog is about meat. I have a picture of him sitting in a lawn chair in the pouring rain for one of her shows. Most of my encounters with this pretty, witty, humorous and sometimes ribald lady have been around Fred shows or events around North America.
It was a year or two later that I first saw Audrey at Roots on the River and heard her pronounce “Roots”(in her Tasmanian accent) as a North American might say “Ruts” and tell us that in Australia a root has the same meaning as a rut would over/up here! I next saw her perform at Saengerhalle in New Braunfels, Texas and now her name was Audrey Auld Mezera and she had an album called Texas. That show was the one that turned me into a fan…I bought the CD and played it a lot over the next few years.
In November of 2009 I was lucky enough to travel on a train from Winnipeg, Manitoba up to Churchill to see where I’d been born and to see Polar Bears while there were still some to see. It was a Roots on the Rails trip (www.flyingunderradar.com) with Fred Eaglesmith and his band, Washboard Hank & Lance Loree, Gurf Morlix, Jon Dee Graham and Audrey who was accompanied by the incomparable Andrew Hardin on guitar. What a hoot we had! Performers and passengers totaled around 90 folks and we played and drank and laughed and laughed and laughed our way up from Winnipeg, heading north past where the roads end and the trees get shorter and shorter, across the muskeg and snow to a small town on the edge of James Bay. There were daily open mics where I got to play with Mr. Hardin and Elsabe Kloppers, a naturalist and fiddler, song swaps with various mixes of performers, concert shows from all the pros and the very best part – late night jams in the baggage car! With the side doors open to vent the cigarette smoke and the back doors open where you could see the tracks rolling out from under the car, this was the place to be.
Audrey’s suitcase and beloved Taylor guitar had somehow travelled a different route to Winnipeg than she had and didn’t make it onto the train so she was without them on the two days up to and one of the days there in Churchill. The title cut and album opener ‘Come Find Me’ was written on this trip and may have originated as a little prayer from Audrey. It has a waltz time beat to it and I can’t read the words without hearing the melody in my head. If this CD is the first time you’ve heard Audrey, than this song is the invitation into her words and music.
I was and am a fan of all the performers on that trip but was most excited to get to spend some time around Jon Dee Graham. He was still in a lot of pain from a recent car accident and shortly after the trip he fell from a ladder…but’s he’s tough, profane and resilient and he goes on. Petals (for Jon Dee) is the fourth cut on the CD and is Audrey’s rap song about “The King of Austin”. I had heard the majority of these songs live and on a couple of EP’s before the CD but not this one. It immediately grabbed my attention with it’s poetry and beat. Ms. Auld-Mezera is good at tribute songs, on Texas she used her admiring pen to write about Woody Guthrie and Billy Joe Shaver and on this album she gives us “Orphan Girl”, with the lyrics by Australian Terry MacArthur, about Mary Gauthier, whom Auds has attentively covered in the past. She sings this a cappella to great effect.
I was closer to fifty than forty when I first heard “Forty”, a sardonic, minor key commemoration of that milestone in her life. The chorus of “I’m halfway home” made me think about my own mortality while smiling at the other wry observations in the song. I think Audrey Auld is the only Tasmanian I’ve ever met and she tells us about her birthplace in the song “Tasmania”. She has said in promo material that Tasmania has more trees than people and the song “Tree” examines the nature of beauty in inanimate objects, with a nice melody.
“Just Love” is a co-write with her husband Mez, and if there is such a thing as singles these days this song would be my pick for one. I first heard it at a concert at Gram’s Place in Tampa that was organized by my friends George & Marlene. I’m amazed that someone can write another song about the subject of love and make it profound, memorable and radio friendly all at the same time.
The album has a dozen tracks, the last song being “Bread & Roses”. It takes it’s title from an organization in California that brings artists into prisons to work with inmates. Audrey was working with them, going into San Quentin to do songwriting workshops with the residents and the rules are pretty stringent as to what can be brought into the facility. It’s my favourite song to attempt to sing but a lot easier because it’s included in her songbook “Write out Loud” and is available at www.audreyauld.com.
CD Baby lists Kasey Chambers, Lucinda Williams and Patty Griffin as other artists that you may like but this album, I feel, has appeal beyond the country rock or Americana genre. If you’re already a fan, you’ll love this album, if your new to Audrey Auld, accept her invitation to “Come Find Me”, you’ll be happy you did.

Tags: Audrey Auld, Fred Eaglesmith, jon dee graham

Album Review : Roger Marin Band : Silvertown

Nov 16, 2010 Album Reviews

Silvertown shows up on Wikipedia as being part of Niagara Falls, Ontario. I’ve heard Roger introduced as being from the Falls as well as from St. Catherines or Thorold, and if you’ve driven in that area lately you know it’s hard to tell where the individual towns end and another starts. I think that’s called urban sprawl. Roger’s previous two albums had a little more twang to them than this one…there’s still some twang but there’s a lot of rock and roll and an urban feel to it too.

The cover of this CD shows the band standing outside the Silvertown Chinese Theatre and by their attire and courtesy of a couple props they are trying to convey Grauman’s Chinese theatre from Hollywood. There’s even a couple of palm trees in the picture; I don’t know if palm trees grow in southern Ontario. I do know there’s a few in Port Dover, the hometown base of Fred Eaglesmith, in whose band Roger labored as guitarist/pedal steel player/bus mechanic. In Dover they take the palms into a nursery each fall and replant them in the spring. Roger is wearing a Homburg, holding a cane and has unfastened polka dot suspenders, a wide black clip-on tie and handkerchief on a white shirt that gives him a cross between a Charlie Chaplin and a Stan Laurel type look. Bass player Phil Bosley has abandoned his ubiquitous black tee shirt for a white button down shirt and grey sports jacket. Matty Keighan has a black tee but compensates with a sports jacket that can’t cover his ripped knee jeans. New guy guitarist Mike Tuyp peaks over Rogers shoulder and is too hidden for me to convey his sartorial choices.

The Grauman’s theme is continued with chalk outlines of RMB’s members hands (instead of the hands in concrete) on the back cover. It states that the album was recorded and mixed by Matt Kieghan and Roger Marin Band and was mastered by Matt. Kudos on that boys – the production sounds as awesome and better than many big studio efforts I’ve heard.

Track one – You Hate Yourself puts me in mind of rolling around town in a buddy’s car on a weekend night listening to Foghat and Aerosmith on the 8 track. It’s a co-write with Texas co-writing slut Mark Jungers who has also penned songs with Adam Carroll, Scott Nolan, Brock Zeman and probably dozens of other partners. I first heard RMB (there’s no the before RMB) do this song in Bellows Fall Vermont this past June. There’s a key part of the song where they all scream, onstage only Phil did, so when I put the CD on driving home it sounded strange to hear all the voices. It was a hell of a rock and roll scream though…right up there with the one in Won’t Get Fooled Again.

Long before Americana became part of my musical lexicon, I liked Springsteen and John Mellencamp a lot and thought of Bruce as the urban and John as the country side of that coin. The title track of this CD – Silvertown, sounds like a co-write by those two guys. Roger released this song online as a preview to the CD, and it really caught my attention. I would have (and did) buy the album on the strength of this song alone. Thankfully the rest are really good too

Thirteen or fourteen years ago I heard Blackie and the Rodeo Kings’ first album, High or Hurtin’ a tribute to Willie P. Bennett. I immediately had to hear more and see the man himself. I searched on a very new World Wide Web (before Google!) and tracked him down playing in a band with some guy named Fred J. Eaglesmith who turned out to be from the same part of Southern Ontario as I am, and then I went to see the band at a weekend long festival near Port Dover. Roger was brand new in the band then. There’s been hundreds of Fred shows and weekends since then and I started travelling to Vermont, Texas and across Canada to see shows and meet up with friends from all over the world that liked this kind of music. Willie P. died way too young in February of 2008. The Christmas shows in Port Dover in 2007 were Mr. Bennett’s last with Fred’s band. Roger, who had gone off on his own a couple years before, was opening the shows solo and sitting in with Fred’s band that weekend. He told of a late night call from Willie where he’d answered the phone to hear him say “ Roger…write this down – Whiskey take me off the shelf. You’re welcome”, click. The song as presented here is great, and lists Mark, Joy Junger and Adam Carroll as co-writers.

I first saw Adam Carroll (and Hayes Carll and Chris Knight) in Bellows Falls, Vermont, in 2004. Friends thought I was crazy to travel that far to see a bunch of folks they’d never heard of. I made friends and saw music that changed my life that weekend, and when I got to Texas a couple of years later I saw Mark Jungers do a set at Gruene Hall because he had a song on a Fred tribute album. Scott Nolan was there that weekend too and a few years later he said “When I met Roger Marin and made friends with him I immediately became friends with about 200 other people scattered across this continent.’ I know what he means.

The first album is called Roger Marin Jr. The second is High Roads and attributed to Roger Marin. Silvertown is by Roger Marin Band, and it is very much a band album. It Brings Me Down penned and sung by Matt K. is about the road. It’s as bright as his smile and as cool as that beard of his. Phil checks in with Bring It Home which lists the various vagaries of living the life of a travelling musician, but also acknowledges that he loves it. Roger has always been egalitarian in sharing the mic with his bandmates onstage, and it’s cool to see them singing their own songs here. Phil recently made and met a challenge of writing and recording 30 songs in 45 days, I listened to several of them on Facebook and was very impressed. The album closes with How Ya Doin’ Tonight which is a cowrite with Erica Poley and former RMB member Rod Standish. The song switches from Roger’s daughters singing those words spookily over a languid drum beat, to Roger speaking some lyrics to James Standish freestyling rap style and back and forth throughout the song. It’s a cool way to end this excellent album which is available on CD BABY and iTunes. You can find Roger on line here.

Tags: adam carroll, Fred Eaglesmith, Mark Jungers, Roger Marin, Scott Nolan, willie p. bennett

Album Review : Robert Larisey : Nights Take Forever

Jul 18, 2010 Album Reviews

We all know someone whose life should be a song. He hangs out in all of the hole in the wall bars in town, telling stories to whomever will listen to them. You are not sure how old he is because he still drinks, smokes and gets in trouble like he might still be in his twenties, but the lines on his face, the bad prison tattoo and his seemingly endless tales of wisdom suggest he is approaching sixty. You are glad you are on good terms with this guy because although you’ve never seen it, you’ve heard all kinds of stories about what he is capable of if in the wrong mood.

Meet Robert Larisey, he’s just that guy from Carlton Place, Ontario and he plays guitar and has finally gotten around to writing those songs. I’m not sure how old Larisey is, but hearing the songs on Nights Take Forever I think he may have been around for quite some time before recording this, his debut album.

This record should come with a bottle of cheap bourbon, a pair of work boots and perhaps a pistol to protect you from the singer. The entire album exudes honesty and experience, even in the songs that Larisey himself hasn’t lived.

The sound on the record goes from Merle Haggard country to  Fred Eaglesmith type bluegrass. The core of the band on the album is well, mainly Blair Hogan whom I only had ever heard play bass. On this recording Hogan steps up alongside the great songwriting as the co-star and plays everything that was needed in the studio, including guitars, mandolin, piano and organ. Filling out the band for all of the record is first time producer, Brock Zeman who plays rhythm guitar and bass.

Highlights of the album include “3 Squares a Day”, the story of a man who who is on death row and his grieving mother. Larisey writes about the main character, “Some souls can’t be saved” before the man is executed.

Another standout on this record is “Yesterday” which follows a few characters as they longingly look back at the things they once had and come to the realization that their time may be numbered.

Perhaps the finest song on the album is the almost assuredly autobiographical, “Whiskey Plowboy”. We follow Larisey as he happily raises hell throughout his entire countryside, making friends and enemies along the way.

We live in an interesting day for music. Twenty years ago this album probably never would have gotten made. I get the feeling that Larisey is happy just playing some shows in local bars and going about his life. With the lowered cost of recording and the lack of reliance on major record labels to get things heard, Zeman was able to capture what is an album that needed to be heard.

Hopefully this record is met with some success so that Larisey continues to show up in the studio and share the songs that he has lived with us. After you listen to this you will want to teach your town’s version of Robert how to play guitar and write great tunes so that you too can have some great entertainment as you sit in your work boots, drinking a few shots and clutching that pistol just in case.

You can find this album on iTunes and CD Baby and learn more about it on Zeman’s Mud Music page on his website.

Tags: album review, Blair Hogan, Brock Zeman, Fred Eaglesmith, Merle Haggard, Robert Larisey

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

Album Review : Fred Eaglesmith : Cha Cha Cha

Jun 10, 2010 Album Reviews

So I am finally getting around to reviewing the latest release from Fred Eaglesmith. I have to say I am pretty taken with this record even with only a few listens. The sound is new, with Fred adding a Bossa Nova sound to the music and featuring the background singing of the Fabulous Ginn Sisters, but the songs are all Fred.

This album also features a rock base similar to what was on 50 Odd Dollars which is a welcome sound for me. Listening to the record makes you feel like you are watching a movie. One where the antihero, a gunslinger or gambler, is falling love with a woman who can’t decide if she is going to return the sentiment. You can just see multiple scenes in border town bar with Fred and his band as the house band.

Lyrically the record is fantastic, with Eaglesmith delivering some understated vocals that fit the feel of the record perfectly. The backing vocals from The Fabulous Ginn Sisters help add to the haunting, desperate feeling of Fred’s voice and lyrics.

Highlights of this record for me start right at the beginning of the album with “Careless”. Here Fred tells the woman that she has been “careless with his love” and compares himself to a favorite pair of pants that she only wears out to dance. This song sets the tone both lyrically and sonically for the entire album.

The next track that really grabbed a hold of me is “Sliver of the Moon” . Eaglesmith lists things that are around him that are proving that he has fallen for a woman. I think we all have experienced the bliss and fright associated with the realization that the narrator is describing in this song.

“Dynamite and Whiskey” is a tune that just flat out sounds cool. It has a cool rocking beat and Fred almost speaking/ whispering the lyrics with the Ginn Sisters distorted in the background.

One final track that I really enjoy is “Car”. The same scorned man is now seeing the woman of his desires everywhere he looks. The desperation really comes to a head in this song.

About a month ago I posted a list of things that would make me happy in the world of music and one of those wishes has been answered. Cha Cha Cha reminded me why I love Fred Eaglesmith. Once again, Fred has ventured off in another direction musically and he really hit a home run with this one. By far my favorite Eaglesmith record since Bailin’ .

I do have to mention that it was weird not to hear the recently departed Willie P. Bennnett on the album, but I think the addition of the Ginn Sisters did a good job of adding something to the record without being derivative of the past recordings with Bennett.

You can order the record now on Fred’s official site and it looks like it will be available via other outlets next week.

Tags: Fred Eaglesmith, the fabulous ginn sisters, willie p. bennett

R.I.P. Matt Scott

May 15, 2010 Rant

You may be asking yourself, who the hell is Matt Scott ? Matt Scott was an uncle of mine that I was very close to for years and he’s been on my mind a lot lately.

To fully understand why this is relevant and why I have been thinking of him recently, I must give you the short version of the back story of our relationship. I grew up pretty close to him and my aunt; my mother and I even lived with them for a short time when I was too young to remember it. For most of my youth he was just my uncle. When I was 18 or 19 we were all at a family gathering and he asked me if I knew who Keb’ Mo’ was out of the blue. Well, I was absolutely floored, never having thought about what it was my Uncle Matt listened to much less figuring he was into Keb’ Mo’.

This new discovery led to us spending the entire evening discussing different blues guys and finding out that we shared an obsession with not only blues, but all kinds of music. Over the next few years he became one of if not my best friend. We shared many a night with good smoke and better music. He was the only person in my family that not only understood my need to own more music than one person could ever need, but he had the same affliction.

At least once a week we would get together and play the game of “have you heard… (insert artist name) and copying the other’s cd’s. He turned me on to Steve Earle and Billy Joe Shaver. In turn I got him into Gov’t Mule and the Drive-by Truckers. We would go on to discover a plethora of new artists together. I remember the first time I heard Todd Snider. I had traded for a Snider show and was listening to it in my car, three songs in my plans had changed, I was going to Matt’s because he had to hear this guy.

All of this has been filling my mind lately because Fred Eaglesmith has released a new album and I am eagerly awaiting it’s arrival in my mailbox. Fred was one of Matt and my best discoveries. I had just arrived home late one evening from work and I got a phone call. On the other end of the phone was an excited Uncle Matt, “you have to come over now and hear what I just downloaded”. I  had no choice, I changed clothes and headed over.

When I walked in the door there was a song playing on his computer that immediately had me intrigued after only hearing the chorus…

Time to get a gun

That’s what I’m thinkin’

I could afford one

If I did a little less drinkin’

Time to put something

Between me and the sun

When the talkin’ is over

It’s time to get a gun

What the hell was this and more importantly why had I never heard it before. Matt goes on to tell me, this is Fred Eaglesmith, an artist he had stumbled onto and found a few tracks of on limewire or something. He proceeded to play me, “Alcohol and Pills”, “Spookin’ the Horses”, “He’s a Good Dog”, and “Wilder Than Me” . Man, was this stuff good.

The next day, he and I went to the locally owned record store (remember when those existed) and had the proprietor order us up some Eaglesmtih albums. (Side note: There is a lesson here record companies…we downloaded, liked, and immediately bought everything available) . Over the next couple of weeks we digested as much Fred as we could possibly stand.

To this day anytime I hear anything by Fred, I immediately think of Matt. There are so many songs that were just perfect for my uncle. He was a car guy (“Pontiac”, “Mighty Big Car”) who drove fast (“105″) and who loved his dogs more than most humans (“He’s a Dog”, “I Shot Your Dog”) . He was also not a perfect man and Fred had songs that addressed that as well (“Drinkin’ Too Much”).

My Uncle Matt passed away very unexpectedly at a fairly young age. He had given up drinking and was getting all of his health problems under control so it came as a total shock when I got the call saying he had died. It’s been going on three years now that he has been gone. I was two days away from leaving for my wedding when he died and I thought he would not have wanted me to dwell on his passing. I don’t think I ever have really come to terms with his death, but I  do so a little at a time. My aunt has since married again to a great guy, who takes care of her, but sometimes it’s hard for me to see her without Matt and I’m not sure that will ever go away.

As they were cleaning out his things, my father called asked me if there was anything that I wanted of his to remember him. I  thought long and hard and decided that no, none of his material possessions could ever give me the memories of my Uncle that the music we shared would, so I didn’t need anything. So now whenever I am looking through a cd case of mine I will come across an album or a mixed disc with his writing on it and I have to listen to it. They inevitably make me sad and happy at the same time.

So in a week or so my copy of Cha, Cha, Cha will arrive via the postal service and I will spend a couple of hours listening to it and assuredly Matt’s memory will come up. I  know everyone has a person in their past that leaps into their minds when a certain song, album, or artists comes out of the speakers. I’m not talking about the annoying ex-girlfriend who played the shit out of Janis Joplin, but rather someone who you have shared a positive musical experience with. I’m asking you to join me in remembering those people this week and break out that old tune, have a drink, laugh, cry a little and just remember.

In Matt’s Memory here a couple of Youtube clips, the first is Fred Eaglesmith “Time to Get a Gun” and the second his personal theme song, “Mustang Sally” performed by Buddy Guy.

Tags: Billy Joe Shaver, Drive-by Truckers, Family, Fred Eaglesmith, Gov't Mule, Steve Earle, todd snider, Youtube Clip

List : 5 Things That Would Make Me Happy

Apr 22, 2010 Lists

Everyone likes lists, they make things easy to see and understand. Furthermore, everyone likes making lists, whether it be top-tens, things to do, best/worst, etc. Well what the hell, I thought I’d go ahead and make my own list. This list has no glue to hold it together except that these are all things that would me happy in the realm of music. The items on the list appear in no particular order. Some of these inevitably will happen, some could possibly happen, and some are completely ludicrous. So keeping in mind those caveats, let’s get to the list.

1. A new Jackie Greene album soon.

Not only do I love Jackie Greene but, it has now been two years since Giving up the Ghost came out.  Let me also (since this is my list) ask that this hypothetical new Jackie Greene record be as good as its predecessor. Some would probably argue that 2006′s American Myth is Greene’s best record, but I’m here to tell you that they would be wrong. Ghost had a little of everything that Greene can give you, some folky, some bluesy, a little pop feel, and a couple of down right ball busting rock n roll songs. So here’s to hoping that Mr. Greene sees this and expedites that new record.

2. The forever rumored to be coming soon follow up to Voodoo from R&B singer D’angelo finally comes and is somewhat worth the wait.

D’angelo ? You might ask, not necessarily in line with the other artists that have been written about in the short life of this site. Yes, D’angelo this guy is great. It’s like Snoop Dogg and Otis Redding had a love child and God granted this imaginary child with a kick ass band and said go forth and sing. Then in this story the hero child seems to squander his talent by making only two albums in fifteen years, touring sporadically, and smoking entirely too much pot. I still listen Voodoo on a regular basis, and this new record has been the subject of rumors off and on for years. The latest of these rumors has the record hitting the shelves late this summer and perhaps having Prince involved. Needless to say it has me interested.

3. Fred Eaglesmith’s new release, Cha Cha Cha, reminds me why I love Fred Eaglesmith again.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what Eaglesmith did on Tinderbox, I’m all for an artist stretching their wings from time to time and it’s not like I hated the record, it was just not one of my favorites. For that matter neither was Milly’s Cafe (which by the way was not out of his wheelhouse) nor was Dusty. So that makes three straight studio records since I was really thrilled about an Eaglesmith release. I have liked all three of those releases, but man I would kill for another Lies, Lipstick and Gasoline or Drive-In Movie.

4. Tommy Womack finds some commercial success.

I could think of nobody else that survives in the indy singer/ songwriter world that deserves it more than Tommy. The man is a great songsmith, a talented guitar player, an amazing performer, and most importantly a genuinely good guy. I have had the pleasure of promoting a number of shows with Tommy in the last couple of years and he is always very humble and grateful for not only the gig itself but, for everyone who comes out to see him. Tommy has seen some good fortunes recently with a new Daddy record and with Jimmy Buffett choosing to cover a song that Tommy co-wrote with his pal Will Kimbrough. So here’s to hoping the Parrotheads embrace “Nobody from Nowhere” and it brings some recognition and financial windfall to Tommy’s doorstep.

5. Tom Waits turns back the clock.

The first Tom Waits record I got into was the Grammy winning Mule Variations, so needless to say I am a huge fan of his newer records. However I feel that I got cheated by my not being able to witness the great live shows he was putting on during the mid to late 70′s. I’d love for Waits to do a tour of small, smoke filled bars with a stripped down band, sit down behind the piano or stand at the mic and start delivering versions of the songs off of Small Change, Blue Valentine, and Heart of Saturday Night. Not only would it just be an amazing atmosphere to be able to experience it would be great to see where songs like “Christmas Card from a Hooker” and “Small Change” would go with Tom now. This one would fall under that ludicrous heading, but one can hope.

So there you have the first official list on The Broken Jukebox. I would imagine I am not alone in wanting these things to happen. Feel free to drop a comment with a few things you would like to see happen this year in music.

Tags: D'angelo, Fred Eaglesmith, Jackie Greene, Lists, Tom Waits, Tommy Womack