They Had Me At Coen

I was reading to a review in the Wrap today on the upcoming Coen Brothers movie, Inside Llewyn Davis.

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/cannes-review-inside-llewyn-davis-92546

The reviewer Sasha Stone called it “breathtaking” and “likely to be one of the best films of the year.” Which is nice to hear, although it would be on my list of must-see movies even with bad reviews. On one hand, it is by the Coen Brothers whose films are always interesting in my book (whether the film all comes together or not). And the story takes place the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early Sixties. While the title character certainly has his Dylanesque qualities, the story actually is loosely based on folk singer Dave Van Ronk’s memoir.

Judging just from the trailer, Oscar Isaac looks quite convincing as a Village troubadour and the film also stars Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman and a rather Mitch Miller-looking F. Murray Abraham.

Despite its recent Cannes’ screening, the film is set to come out in December so maybe it’s best not to think too much about it yet.

John Fogerty’s Birthday & Album Party at the El Rey on 5/28

How do you think John Fogerty would celebrate his birthday? By making music, of course. Next Tuesday, May 28, he will be rockin’ all over the El Rey. Not only will it be his birthday, but also the release date of his hotly anticipated, long-in-the-works, Wrote A Song For Everyone (Vanguard Records).

On this new collection, Fogerty has recorded a dozen of his classic tunes with a wide range of great musicians, from Bob Seger (“Who’ll Stop The Rain”) to My Morning Jacket (“Long As I Can See The Light”); Keith Urban (“Almost Saturday Night”) to Jennifer Hudson (“Proud Mary”). Rounding out the disc are two Fogerty solo efforts: “Mystic Highway” and “Train of Fools.”

Who will be Fogerty’s special guests? It’s not for me to guess.

If you can’t score tickets, the show will be broadcast on AXS TV.

Duos Rule The Americana Award Nominations

I had the pleasure of attending the Americana Music Association’s Award nominee announcement event yesterday at the Grammy Museum.

It marks one of those times when the question “What is Americana?” arises. The list of nominees doesn’t really provide simple answers. While it might not have been the most diverse year of nominees, the nominees are certainly a strong set of musicians, who hail from Nashville and Texas as well as Oklahoma and Colorado.

Perhaps most telling is that the Album of Year nominees includes long-time favorites, like Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell and Kelly Willis & Bruce Robison along with a pair of newcomers who also are also up for Emerging Artist of the Year: John Fullbright and Shovels & Rope.

Shovels & Rope (Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent) had the most nominations (4) and also represented part of the trend of successful duos. In fact, all of the Group of the Year nominees are duos (Emmylou & Rodney, Shovels & Rope, Kelly & Bruce and Buddy & Jim).

Miller and Lauderdale also served as ringmasters for this nomination celebration, which was very fitting. Not only are both integral parts of the Americana movement but Lauderdale will again be serving as the emcee of the AMA’s award show, while Miller returns at the show’s band-leader. Lauderdale jokingly avoided giving his answer to the question, “What Is Americana?” his song choices with Miller included George Jones’ “The Race Is One” and the traditional “A Train To Carry My Gal From Town.”

 T Bone Burnett, before introducing the Milk Carton Kids, spoke about how American music (not just Americana) has been the nation’s “greatest cultural export,” and remarked how encouraged he has been by how many young performers have drawn inspiration from America’s rich musical history.

Joey Ryan of the Milk Carton Kids (whose music evokes the folk and country duos of the Sixties, Fifties and even earlier) mentioned how Americana fans actually listen to performers and appreciate songs with nuances. However, it was Lisa Marie Presley who got the closest to articulating what Americana music is when she described it as “good music that is ignored by the mainstream for the most part.”

It actually doesn’t really matter how you define Americana as long as those labeled Americana make the good music that Presley (who also sang a couple songs from her Burnett-produced album as well as announced the nominees with singer Elisabeth Cook) spoke of.

A complete list of nominees can be found at americanamusic.org, and the winner will be announced at the annual Americana Honors and Awards, which will take place on September 18^th at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. The show will be broadcast live, as was the nominee announcement show by AXS TV.

Go See Hear In L.A. May 13-19 (The Buddy & Jim Edition)

It’s one of those “when it rains, it pours” week. Some days come with too many choices and others have few choices.

Monday, for example, has Ex-Cops sticking around in town for a show at the Bardot, while nothing has come up on the radar for Wednesday. Thursday has the Devendra Banhart show at the Fonda (although new album Mala has gotten good notices) and the Hospital Ships docking at the Bootleg. Jordan Geiger’s latest project, which has a CD Destruction in Yr Soul, covers an intriguing, eclectic sonic landscape.

Hospital Ships

Tuesday, however, features a Sara vs. Sarah showdown, with Sara Bareilles coming to the El Rey and Sarah Jaffe delivers her fierce tunes at the Mint, where she shares the bill with fellow Texan Bob Schneider. The Music Tapes brings its mixed-media Traveling Imaginary show to the Bootleg.

However, Tuesday’s top choice is the Buddy Miller/Jim Lauderdale appearance at the Troubadour. Americana music would not be what it is today without the contributions of these two, who finally got around to recording together. Buddy And Jim, which came out last December, is a real gem. It’s a rare chance to see these two former Angelenos playing in town. Opening the show is the impressive young singer/songwriter Max Gomez, whose Rule The World is a worth discovering.

The weekend starts a bit slowly. The main attractions are Richard Thompson, who brings his “Electric” band to the John Anson Ford and folk legend Tom Rush, who has a pair of shows at McCabe’s.

Things get quite overstuffed on Saturday. Dan Wilson, who has gone from semi-fame in Semisonic to being a go-to songwriter, headlines McCabe’s on the 18^th. The Texas band Sons of Fathers arrives at the Bootleg hot on the heals of their self-titled debut, which is a powerful serving of Americana rock.

Sons of Fathers

A pair of intriguing female singer/songwriters have Saturday night gigs. Pi Jacobs showcases her new EP UrbaniCana at Molly Malone’s on Saturday while Mia Maestro will be found at the Hotel Cafe. Also notable on the 18^th, is the Danish soul-pop duo Quadron’s appearance at the Getty.

Pi Jacobs

A good place to wind down on Sunday is at the Grand Ole Echo, where the wonderful Eilen Jewell is a main attraction. The Hotel Café also has a strong bill, featuring the wily songsmith Freedy Johnston and Blue-Eyed Son’s crisp, melodic rock. This L.A. band will be celebrating its new CD, Shadows On The Son.

You Just Never Know Who’s An Eddy Arnold Fan

I read that next week, there will be a tribute album for the late, great country star Eddy Arnold, who would have been 95 on May 15. Now there’s nothing odd with a tribute project for this music legend. Arnold was an architect of the “Nashville Sound” of the 1950′s and was a a long-time member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame. However, the man who so wonderfully sang “Make The World Go Away” has pretty much faded from the public’s memory.

This new tribute, entitled You Don’t Know Me: Rediscovering Eddy Arnold, aims to make people, particularly young music fans, familiar with Arnold’s songs. In a world where Jack White produces Loretta Lynn and Wanda Jackson and Rick Rubin resurrected Johnny Cash‘s career, it is not surprising that it is a rock ‘n’ roller who is behind this Arnold salute. However, who would have guessed that this Arnold-loving rocker is Cheetah Chrome, of the pioneering punk band The Dead Boys.

Now I grew up in Cleveland, a few years following Chrome. Maybe he watched Hee Haw on Channel 8 like I did. Or maybe he discovered Arnold’s music while he has been living in Nashville over the past years. Whatever the reason, it looks like Chrome, along with his co-producer Don Cusic, has assembled what looks like a terrific collection, with contributors covering a wide musical spectrum (from New York Dolls’ Sylvain Sylvain to Herman Hermits’ Peter Noone; Frank Black to Mandy Barnett).

Here is the full songlist:

“Anytime,” Chuck Mead
“Bouquet of Roses,” Melinda Doolittle
“Cattle Call,” Pete Mroz
“Don’t Rob Another Man’s Castle,” Frank Black
“How’s The World Treating You?,” Mandy Barnett
“I’ll Hold You In My Heart,” Bebe Buell
“It’s a Sin – Alejandro Escovedo
“Jim, I Wore A Tie Today,” Lambchop
“Johnny Reb, That’s Me,” Jason Isbell
“Just A Little Lovin’,” Chris Scruggs
“Love Bug Itch,” Pokey LaFarge
“Make The World Go Away,” Bobby Bare Jr.
“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue,” Peter Noone
“Texarkana Baby,” Jason Ringenberg
“That Do Make It Nice,” Sylvain Sylvain
“That’s How Much I Love You,” the Bluefields
“What Is Life Without Love,” Cheetah Chrome
“Wreck of Old ’97,” Drivin’ n’ Cryin’
“You Don’t Know Me,” Mary Gauthier

You Don’t Know Me: Rediscovering Eddy Arnold comes out May 15 on Plowboy Records (a label run by Chrome, Cusic and Shannon Pollard, who is Arnold’s grandson).

 

 

 

Go See Hear In L.A. May 6-12 (The Nickel Creek Non-Reunion edition)

This week’s shows answers the questions (if vaguely) where will Sara Watkins, Sean Watkins and Chris Thile do while in L.A. May 9-10 and answers the question – if indirectly – what is Ione Skye up to

Tuesday finds a record release show for Joshua Radin at Largo. His new self-release Wax Wings is inspired by the story of Icarus.  Ben Lee celebrates his new CD Ayahuasca: Welcome To The Work a week early with a concert at Besant Lodge. This album is, to quote the press release, “a ‘sonic document’ of his experiences with the medicinal plant Ayahuasca. 100% of his royalties will go to MAPS (The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) and the Amazon Conservation Team. The CD packaging (designed by his wife Ione Skye Lee) comes with embedded wildflower seeds.

Laura Stevenson

The delightful Ash Reiter has a show at the Satellite with Yoya and Young Hunting on 5/7 while Laura Stevenson plays the Echo. Her recently released Wheel offers a powerful set of music that is intimate and grand, quiet and loud.

The Dustbowl Revival continues its Wednesday night residency at the Mint on the 8^th. The Overstreets New Orleans Jazz Band and the California Feetwarmers will be joining them. Bluegrass legend Roland White stops by the Coffee Gallery Backstage on Wednesday and then will be picking at McCabe’s on Saturday. The Troubadour hosts a dynamic duo of duos – Bleached and Ex-Cops. The Milk Carton Kids will be strumming up some fun at Largo on Wednesday and Thursday night.

Things will undoubtedly be festive at the Echoplex as Of Montreal comes to play on the 9th. UK pop singer Kate Nash showcases her new work, Girl Talk, at Santa Ana’s The Constellation Room on the 9^th and the Troubadour on the 10^th. The lovely Sara Watkins also has a pair of local shows – she’ll be at the Bootleg on Thursday and McCabe’s on Friday. Thursday show will be particularly interesting because also on the bill is Fiction Family – a collaboration between Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman and Sara’s brother, Sean Watkins.

Just to make life more Nickel Creek-y, Chris Thile will play Largo on the 10^th with guitarist Michael Daves. Their collaboration, Sleep With One Eye Open, contains their versions of classic bluegrass tunes. Friday also finds Jay Brannan at the Hotel Café while the Mint welcomes a terrific tandem of Jerry Joseph and Walter Salas-Humara. If you are looking for the answer to Man or Astro-Man?, it might be answered at the Echo on the 10^th.

Tom Jones

Meanwhile Saturday’s question might be Jim James or Tom Jones? Mister My Morning Jacket has a solo sold-out show at the Fonda. Jones, who has another terrific rootsy album, Spirit In The Room out, plays the Troubadour Saturday and Sunday night. Long-time Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne brings his one-man show of music, photography and stories to the Mint on the 11^th .

The weekend wraps with singer-songwriter Catie Curtis coming to McCabe’s. Stephen Kellogg showcases his upcoming solo outing Blunderstone Rookery at the Hotel Café, with Rebecca Pidgeon also on the bill. The Hollywood Forever’s Masonic Lodge hosts a rather unique show featuring the music of Chrysta Bell and the visuals of David Lynch.

Tom Morello’s May Day Gift

It’s no surprise that Tom Morello is celebrating May Day – also known as International Workers’ Day – by combining music and politics. The activitist/musician is offering up a quartet of tracks from his Union Town EP (originally released on New West Records in 2011) as a free download today on the Teamsters website (teamsters.org).

Tom Morello

The selections include two versions of “Union Town” (one studio and one live in Madison ) bookending “A Wall Against The Wind” and “I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night.”