TybeeDawg’s Pick of the Litter 2012

               …Or, 2012? Where did THAT come from?

I've always really liked this line: Guy Clark’s late wife Susanna used to say Guy’s short-term memory was so bad he could hide his own Easter eggs. Those of us who have searched fifteen minutes for the car keys that are wedged firmly in our hands can relate, right? 

So I think it’s important to remember that Ruthie Foster’s amazing record, Let It Burn, came out way back in January.  When I was working up a list to share with y’all, I had listened to this thing for so long and often that it was like an old friend, so if anything deserves the Pick of the Litter’s Pick of the Year, it’s Let It Burn.

Otherwise, in no particular order, are my own favorite Easter eggs: 

Let It Burn - Ruthie Foster
Down At The Well of Wishes – Jon Byrd
Nothing’s Going To Change The Way You Feel About Me Now – Justin Townes Earle
Prior Convictions – Grant Peeples
Heat Lightning Rumbles In the Distance – Patterson Hood
I Like to Keep Myself In Pain – Kelly Hogan
Live In Alabama – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
There Is a Bomb In Gilead – Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires
Mountain Air – Bibb City Ramblers
Gloryland – Kevin Gordon
This Ones for Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark – Various Artists

Best of the rest:

Force of Nature Award: Delta Rae – Carry The Fire - Good looks, better harmonies.

What Sophomore Jinx?: Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls - The groundswell of support that took them from a fire barrel in Alabama to the stage of the Ryman in twelve months shows no signs of abating.

Best Live Performance:  (tie) Mike Cooley solo at Standard Deluxe (10/6) and Mike Cooley with the Drive-By Truckers Georgia Theatre (8/24)

Best festival: Junkfest 2012 – Organic. 

Best tour name: The “Stop Fucking Around and Play Outfit” Tour. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit.

Best Spotify Find - Nigeria 70 – a seriously funky collection of 70s Nigerian music that’s every bit as fresh today as it was forty years ago.

Curtis Lynch

Playgrounds Magazine

December 2012

Hundred Word Highlights - November 2012

 ...when ninety-nine and a half won't do.

Patterson Hood

Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance

Ato Records

The Drive-By Truckers frontman’s third solo record is also his best. The fallout from an unfinished novel, these songs exhibit the same southern literacy Hood is known for, but this time the themes are slightly interwoven, like flashbacks and echoes rumbling in the distance. Crunchy guitar anthems are traded for introspective tunes punctuated by banjo, pedal steel, piano and cello, then fleshed out with lines like the sky was as gray as an open chord. With help from fellow Truckers, Centro-Matic and vocalist Kelly Hogan, Patterson Hood has explored the forces of his nature and crafted a work of art.

Gov’t Mule

The Georgia Bootleg Box

Evil Teen Records

Webster’s definition of juggernaut doesn’t include guitar, bass and drums, but if he gave a listen to these sixty-two slabs of bluesy rock from three successive nights in April 1996 during the band’s slash and burn swath through Athens, Atlanta and Macon, he’d be more than willing to reconsider. Warren Haynes, one of the best true rock guitarists of the day, leads bassist Allen Woody and drummer Matt Abts, with help from fellow guitar slingers Derek Trucks and Tinsley Ellis, through Mule catalog stalwarts and covers from Little Feat, the Grateful Dead, Blind Faith, ZZ Top, Steppenwolf, and Chuck Berry.

Curtis Lynch

Playgrounds Magazine

November 2012

Americana Music Festival and Conference 2012

Americana Music Festival and Conference

Nashville, Tenn.

September 12-15, 2012 

Will Kimbrough

 Humans have always been fascinated with the cyclical nature of things. We can’t help it; we’re born into a world filled with rhythms and sequences, of life and death and rebirth. The sun comes up, then it slides behind the horizon, but it comes back again. Around us, plants and animals and friends come and go, and love may bloom, wither and fade just the same. The pain of loss and the potential for rebirth is evident in nature and it is what fills the churches every Sunday.  It’s that dichotomy that allows poets, artists and musicians to create works that touch each of us in unique ways.  And so it was during the Americana Music Festival. Time after time, performers reached out to us with the fragility of age and the passage of decades, touching both the audience and the younger performers. Those newer artists are the ones who will carry on, when the ravages of this world have partially faded the memories and words of folks like Woody Guthrie or Guy Clark.

Tift Merritt at Americanarama - Grimey's

Because the mission of the Americana Music Association is to grow and promote the Americana brand and increase awareness of the genre with the public, by necessity that means blending the newer artists with the legends. And the combination of the old and the new, that cycle of loss and renewal, gave birth to several poignant moments.  During the awards show at the Ryman Auditorium, Americana legend Guy Clark (whose tribute album This One’s For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark, won album of the year honors), sang My Favorite Picture of You, which was written about his wife Susanna, who passed away in June of this year.                           Accompanied by Shawn Camp (co-producer of the tribute record) and Verlon Thompson, Guy imbued the song with the love of his wife and, at that moment in time, his reflection and memories of their forty year marriage, so his momentary lyrical lapse during the song can be not only forgiven, but understood. The awards show, once again impeccably timed and chock full of special musical events, had no shortage of “best of” moments, from the opening Green Onions with Booker T. (Booker was given a Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist by Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood) who also sat in with the evening’s New Emerging Artist award winners, the Alabama Shakes.   It was only a year ago that less than a hundred of us were huddled around a fire barrel with the Shakes on a cold night in Alabama and now, this young band lit a fire on the hallowed Ryman stage and the crowd responded with thunderous cheering.

Delta Rae outside the Ryman Auditorium.

Showcases of new and established artists crossed each other all weekend – an all-star tribute to Levon Helm (featuring the Trigger Hippy rhythm section, Paul Thorn, Patterson Hood, Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, and Hayes Carll) against newcomers Delta Rae (who caught the attention of everyone outside the Ryman during a TV interview with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain) and Shovels and Rope; guitar legend Richard Thompson at the Station Inn up against the Punch Brothers; John Hiatt, Darrell Scott and Steep Canyon Rangers all taking the stage at the same time, and Rodney Crowell opposite Buddy Miller & Lee Ann Womack – it’s just all a series of choices, none of them bad. 

Sam Bush at Musician's Corner.

But if there was a defining moment, among all that I saw and all that I missed, it would be this: A Thursday afternoon showcase on Broadway, featuring legendary songwriter Chip Taylor (Angel of the Morning, Wild Thing), Will Kimbrough, Brigitte DeMeyer, and Norwegian singer Paal Flaata. Flaata had recorded a tribute record to Taylor, covering his many hit songs, titled  But before the two could play a festival in Norway, the tragic shootings at Utöya happened, and the cancelled festival became a benefit for the victims. A new song by Chip, This Darkest Day, came from that horrible incident and with the help of Flaata (who has an amazing range and is truly an incredible singer), Kimbrough, Paul Griffith and Dave Jacques (the rhythm section from Daddy), and guitarist John Platania (who played on Van Morrison’s classic Moondance), delivered up a hymn to the living and a tribute to the departed. I’m fairly sure the room was silent, save for the sounds from the stage.

Dave Jacques on bass, Chip Taylor, Paal Flaata.

So, in 2012, we’ve lost Levon Helm, Susanna Clark, 69 people in a senseless attack in Norway, and many more for many reasons, none of them good. But we know, as sure as we know the sun will rise tomorrow, that humans will continue to make art. And it may not be easy, and often it will be painful, but it will be real.

And in the words of Jim Lauderdale, THAT’S Americana.

Curtis Lynch

Playgrounds Magazine

October 2012

Vintage Memphis 45s spinning at Grimey's.

Good advice from the High Watt.

This One's For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark

Various Artists

http://www.icehousemusic.com/

As presents go, it’s hard to beat what Guy Clark’s friends got him for his 70^th  birthday. An all-star collection of buddies, road partners and fans got together and recorded 30 of his songs and called it This One's For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark. It may be for him, but thankfully, it’s also for us.

The guest list is elbow to elbow with folks like Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Rodney Crowell and Vince Gill; Texans like Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, and Ray Wylie Hubbard; Verlon Thompson, Steve Earle and John Townes Van Zandt II.  The core Nashville band of Shawn Camp, Thompson, & pianist Jen Gunderman recorded these tracks live in studio with the help of Lloyd Maines, Mike Bub and Kenny Malone and are consistently flawless throughout.   Camp co-produced with Grammy-winner Tamara Saviano, who is working with Guy on his much-anticipated biography.

The highlights are stunning: Patty Griffin pulls The Cape around her like it always belonged there; James McMurtry’s take on Cold Dog Soup is chilling; Camp delivers the best version of Homeless I’ve ever heard; and the duet Emmylou Harris and John Prine make out of Magnolia Wind make the record worth owning. And while no song is a clunker, too many add clutter. Given the number of songs Guy has written, and the artists he’s influenced, the record could easily have been twice as large.  But a better record would be half this size.

The fact that I can complain about the record being too big while silently listing three or four songs I wish had been on here tells you what kind of songwriter Guy Clark is, what an American treasure he is and why these artists lined up to be part of this.

Curtis Lynch

Playgrounds Magazine

December 2011

Bibb City Ramblers

Mountain Air

GrooveNRecords

http://www.bibbcityramblers.com/

Sometimes it seems like the creation of a record or the evolution of a band is like making a roux – you take a few, seemingly simple ingredients and when they’re blended, stirred and simmered over time, they release a balance of flavors that become something special and unique.  And that’s where the Bibb City Ramblers find themselves with their newest release, Mountain Air.  The addition of Gini Woolfolk Davidson  on bass and vocals and Wildman Steve on washboard and vocals have given the mandolin of Brian Fowler and the vocals and guitar of “Dirty “Dan Davidson the room to realize the most complete Ramblers recording yet.

The title track opens up the disc, a high-flying ode to the Rockies and features the first of four appearances from Mosier Brothers fiddler David Blackmon. Throughout the twelve tracks, you hear a band defining itself while remaining difficult to pigeonhole. Dan’s bluesy picking and Brian’s blistering mandolin playing, along with Blackmon’s fiddle, rise from the rhythmic pad laid down by Steve and Gini and combine to create high energy Americana with tinges of newgrass on the instrumentals Red Mule Ride, the mandolin workout Slick Willie, Booze Mountain, and especially the barn-burning closer Whitetail Ridge, and old-school country on Are You Cheatin’ On Me and Hangover City. Gini’s tunes Katie McGee and the chilling 3 Bullets prove that the fightin’, killin’, cheatin’ and drinkin’ aren’t just left to the boys.

Trying to stake out a corner of the musical world is a difficult thing to do, but on Mountain Air, the love of a good story and an honest tune can be something the Bibb City Ramblers can call their own.

Curtis Lynch

Playgrounds Magazine

April 2012

Pick up your very own copy at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bibbcityramblers.

Jon Byrd

Down at the Well of Wishes

Longleaf Pine Records

www.jonbyrd.com

Alabama born Jon Byrd up and moved to Nashville by way of Atlanta’s Redneck Underground and has since been loosely affiliated with a talented group of singer-songwriters based in East Nashville, and rightly so.  One of Byrd’s songs appeared on the RedBeet Records 2006 compilation Music From East Nashville Vol. 3 and he recently contributed vocals on a track for Eric Brace and Peter Cooper’s Tom T. Hall tribute album I Love: Tom T. Hall's SongsOf Fox Hollow. But while many of the others in this collective are known to dip a toe or two into the river of classic country, Byrd takes a running leap and dives in head first. From the retro font across the front of the cover to the “stereo” banner along the top, this could have been a Capitol release in the late 60s or early 70s. The nine songs clocking in at 37 minutes would have fit nicely on two sides of a vinyl record, too. But don’t get me wrong: this is no period piece. These tunes are as timeless as they are timely. Over a backing of pedal steel and twangy lead guitar, Byrd’s vocals are as warm as good bourbon and go down just as easy. All the songs are strong, well constructed pieces, but my favorite is Alabama Asphalt, a bluesy, Jimmy Rodgers-style tune with slinky lap steel licks by Pat Severs. For country music as it should be, give a listen to Down at the Well of Wishes.

Curtis Lynch

Playgrounds Magazine

February 2012

TybeeDawg’s Pick of the Litter 2011

“Whatever satisfies the soul is truth.”― Walt Whitman

“All the shopping malls and restaurants and airports are riddled with low-fidelity loudspeakers, which apparently have developed the ability to reproduce by themselves; these are all connected to a special programming service called Music That Nobody Really Likes, and you cannot get away from it.” That’s from author/humorist Dave Barry, and we’ve all felt that way at one time or another. Fortunately, there’s a special programming service called TybeeDawg’s Pick of the Litter that can take care of that little problem for you.

With that, here are the records that satisfied my soul in 2011:

Record of the year:

I Love: Tom T Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow – Eric Brace and Peter Cooper & Various Artists. On this remake of Hall’s classic country album, Cooper and Brace have rediscovered the imagination of youth and reintroduced it to a new generation. Pick: Sneaky Snake by Buddy Miller and Duane Eddy.

Debut record of the year:

Alabama Shakes – EP – A refreshingly unassuming mix of retro-soul, blues and R&B. Buy their record. See them live. Now. Pick: any of the four songs on the EP.

Live record of the year:

Songs and Stories – Guy Clark –America’s finest living songwriter plays a set in your living room and brings his friends. Pick: L.A. Freeway.

Cover song of the year:

Go-Go Boots - Drive-by Truckers – The Muscle Shoals sound figures prominently on DBT’s new one as the band continues to make exciting, visceral music. Pick: Eddie Hinton’s Everybody Needs Love.

Car song of the year:

Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns – John Hiatt – Hiatt continues to produce amazing roots music time after time. Best track: Detroit Made.

Best of the Rest:

Harlem River Blues - Justin Townes Earle - Wherein Justin finds his own voice. And it’s a good one. This record cuts across genres and generations, much like his dad and his namesake. Pick: Christchurch Woman.

The Lost Cause Minstrels - Grayson Capps - On Grayson’s best record yet, he spins tales gleaned from barrooms, bordellos and backwaters of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Pick: John the Dagger, Coconut Moonshine.

The Harrow and the Harvest - Gillian Welch – Her first record in eight years is also her finest, full of songs equally new and threadbare, comfortable and timeless, and each and every one a dusky, shadowy jewel. Pick: The Way It Goes.

A Pre-existing Condition – David Dondero – David’s deceptively simple mix of covers and his own quirky songs made this quiet, acoustic record one of my favorites. Pick: Not Everybody Loves Your Doggie Like You Do.

2011’s crop of music was some of the tastiest yet. I’m encouraged with the growth of the Americana genre and its inclusion in both the Grammys and the dictionary. Technology continues to evolve and expand the availability of artists to the public. I’ve had a great time building and sharing playlists with Spotify, for example. There’s still a long way to go, though. What passes for popular music in all the major formats is as exciting and innovative as dirt. Too often form and façade is substituted for heart and soul and we’re way too willing to sit back and take it. If you make resolutions, then resolve to find some new music and share it with friends. Get out and hear live music and support the artists. Forget Occupy Wall Street, let’s Occupy Abbey Road, Beale Street and Music Row!

Curtis Lynch

Playgrounds Magazine

December 2011