Healing Tide by The War & Treaty. W & T is the duo of singers Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter. The album was produced by the great Buddy Miller, Americana music’s MVP. Joining the duo on "Here Is Where The Loving Is At" are the sublime Emmylou Harris and master fiddler Sam Bush.
The album was recorded in Buddy’s fantastic home studio (there is a YouTube video in which Buddy is interviewed. You should search for it.), live to tape. And it is smokin’! Michael and Tanya are fantastic singers, and providing them with musical accompaniment are Buddy on guitar, Brady Blade on drums, Adam Chaffins on electric bass, Jim Hoke or organ, and Russ Pahl on pedal steel, dobro, and banjo.
A really, really solid album, available on CD only (I got my copy from Amazon). Another reason to own a digital player!
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Free Life by Dan Wilson. Dan is a singer/songwriter, but not in the 1970's sense. He has had a number of his songs recorded by others (including The Dixie Chicks, from whom I learned of him), often becoming hit records. I understand he is also a member of Semisonic---whom I now have to check out, and earlier was in Trip Shakespeare. The album starts of meekly---a mid-tempo song sung by Dan, not a great singer. But by the end of the song, it has grown (via excellent production) into a majestic powerhouse! Great chord progressions---with an actual bridge, an endangered song element---vocal harmonies, guitar power chords, etc. Not a bad song on the album, all B's or better. I found a Mint- copy on Amazon for $2.79 plus 3.99 shipping. Sorry @slaw and @tomic601, the album has never been available on LP. ;-)
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The sole album (s/t, CD only) by super-group The Notorious Cherry Bombs. Headed by Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill, with assistance from some of the best studio musicians in Nashville (including producer Tony Brown, Hank DeVito, Richard Bennett, and Eddie Bayers). |
@loomisjohnson: I guess I just kind of relegated Twilley to the past, for years not going out of my way to see what he was up to. Starting out with such a killer album (Sincerely) sure established a high standard for him to live up to. It would be like The Beatles debuting with Sgt. Pepper!
He had a lot of bad luck, record company indifference, and perhaps a sound that just wasn’t to the public’s taste. I can’t get over how Petty came along behind Twilley, and zoomed on by him. For whatever reason (or reasons), Petty ended up having a major career, Twilley a minor one. I far prefer Twilley to Petty (a much better songwriter and singer, imo), but there’s no arguing with success.
On the other hand, Twilley's still alive. ;-) |
Oh sure @reubent. He was coming up around the same time as Matthew Sweet and the other better young singer/songwriters of the early-to-mid 90’s, but more rootsy, less Pop. I liked him pretty well, but for some reason not enough to have anything by him in the collection. I should add him to my list of things to look for, thanks for the reminder. |
Thanks for the title @reubent, I’m definitely going to look for a copy. He was one of the new guys all the young singer/songwriters I knew back then were talking about and listening to. I don’t remember Pete being as Rock ’n’ Roll at Dwight and Tom, but that was a long time ago, and my memory ain’t what it useta be!
I’m still haunted by the suicide of Elliot Smith. Elliot was living in L.A. in the latter-half of the 90’s, and was as well-respected by his peers as anyone I can think of. One Friday night he and I passed as I and my woman were exiting and he was entering a favorite restaurant (the name of which escapes me at the moment) on the border of Toluca Lake and Burbank, right across the side street from the Bob’s Big Boy. The doorway was kind of packed, and as we passed and our eyes met, he gave me the "Hey, man" nod. I returned the nod, but had to keep moving so as to not hold up the restaurant traffic. Not long after he took his life.
Two of the best new artists---Elliot and Kurt Cobain, both plagued with demons. The life forces that foster creative brilliance often bring with that gift a curse. I see it in Lucinda Williams as well; being her is no picnic. Hank Williams’ genius came at a very high price. I’ve personally known only one true genius, a songwriter who decided he didn’t want to pay the price a career in music demands. He died young anyway---only 55. Evan Johns---the most unique musician I ever worked with---lived hard and partied harder, dying almost destitute at age 60. I’m surprised he made it that long. |
Billy Bremner: No Ifs, Buts, Maybes (Gadfly Records). Available through Amazon.
Billy was in the supergroup Rockpile (with Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, and Terry Williams), and was briefly a recording member of The Pretenders. He has a number of CD-only albums, and this one’s a keeper. Good songs, real tasty guitar playing. Billy’s not a great singer, but he’s better than a lot of other guitar slingers.
The album was recorded in Sweden with Swedish musicians, all real good players. |
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the lone album by The Notorious Cherry Bombs (headed by Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill) is one of the greatest ever released. It's playing right now, and I continue to marvel at how good the music (writing, singing, playing) is. LP please! |
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The Houston Kid by Rodney Crowell, one of my very favorite albums. All killer, no filler! Guest appearance by Johnny Cash, Rodney's one-time father-in-law. |
Today I listened to a CD I bought on Discogs, He Walks Through Walls by Julie Miller. Julie is now a major artist---along with her husband/partner Buddy Miller, producer, singer, guitarist, and band leader for Emmylou Harris---in the Americana music genre (formerly known as Alt-Country). At the time of the recording and release of this album, however, she was an artist---as was Buddy---in the Contemporary Christian Music world. This album is on the MYRRH label, a major player in that world.
This album---produced by Julie, Buddy, and Dan Posthuma, is fantastic! It features Buddy's signature recorded sound (if you've heard any of his productions you know what I mean. If you haven't, get with it!), so I'm sure he engineered the recordings. The album contains earlier recordings of a coupla songs which later appeared---re-recorded---on her essential Hightone Records albums. Buddy & Julie, two of my most favorite artists working now.
As long as I'm at it, let me hip you to the fact that both Sam Phillips and T Bone Burnett came from the CCM world as well. In those days Sam went by the name Leslie, and her CCM albums are easy to find for cheap. Not as good (imo) as Julie's but that's an awfully high bar. T Bone produced Leslie's album The Turning (her transition from the spiritual world to the secular), which was issued on LP by A & M, and even a CD on DCC.
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- Something Peculiar by Julianna Raye. Delightful Pop, produced by Jeff Lynne.
- The Grays: s/t. Interesting later Beatle-esque style music (circa 1967), group members included Jason Faulkner (later of Jellyfish) and Jon Brion (who went on to do some major producing).
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The lone album by The Notorious Cherry Bombs, Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill's group, a title in serious need of finally being issued on LP.
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Geronimo by Shannon McNally, produced by Charlie Sexton. Though she has albums dating back to 2002, Shannon is new to me, this being the first album of her's I've heard. Though her very strong voice is quite different from Lucinda's (less "unique", less instantly identifiable, at least so far to me), her basic approach is not dissimilar from Lu's Bluesier material.
Shannon really sounds like she's "one of the boys", able to hold her own in front of a rockin' band, which Charlie and company certainly provide her with. The mix was done by Trina Shoemaker, who places Shannon's voice down in the mix---a thread in the musical fabric, which is how I think Blues should be done; it sounds more like live music, where the Blues lives.
I have her two most recent albums on their way to me, on LP.
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Rooftops by Larry Campbell (sideman/bandleader for Dylan and Levon Helm), a fantastic album of pure instrumental music played on acoustic guitar. Well recorded, too.
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Iris DeMent's latest: Workin' On A World. Sorry @slaw, released on CD only.
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