Jason Isbell: Southeastern BUY THIS

So.... These pages have once again been blank for too long. During this time your writer has not been idle attending two national Lutheran events and deciding whether or not to leave the one true church as well as going to Michigan a couple of times and maintaining a failing law practice and staying married blah, blah, blah... We still do not know. What this space will become but since I found something really excellent I wanted to share.

Jason Isbell formerly of the band The Drive By Truckers went solo a number of years ago. That band is much admired having reestablished the three guitar Allman Brother/Lynard Skynard brand of Southern (read American) rock music. Isbells singing is in the vain of Ryan Adams as far as tunefulness and mournfulness and that is quite a bit of fullness.  He really has a great voice.

Isbell eventually left the band (or they kicked him out) after descending into alcoholism and having a very public break up with his wife, the bands bass player Shonna Tucker. It was ugly, akin to the Richard and Linda Thompson break up where they would almost attack each other on stage. Isbell released a number of CDs with his band The 400 Unit but everything release had kind of a cursory feel to it.  Happily he tried out and found a new love, (singer songwriter Amanda Shires) but now has now come out with a solo CD that is easily, on the basis of songwriting alone, the best CD thus far in 2013. Hitting the high spots...

Stockholm could be a Ryan Adams song with his voice and as far as the harmonies. Just a really pretty song.

Elephant is simply a powerful, elemental song about a friend slow death from cancer. It is wrenching.  It is heartfelt. Isbell states. That inspiration was no specific person but when he was on his long binge, he frequented a bar over period of time and people just...disappeared as cancer took them.  So he made up a character and chronicled his relationship with her as she declined...
"She said Andy your better than your past.
Winked at me and drained her glass.
Sitting cross legged on a bar stool
Like no one sits anymore.
***
"I'd play her classic country songs,
She'd get high and sing along".
***
"I've buried her 1000 times.
Given up my place in line.
I don't give a damn about that now".
***
"One things very clear to me,
No one dies. With dignity.
You just try and ignore, the Elephant some how".

The Elephant becomes more and more of an issue and it is good to have it called out and in some cases acknowledged and even stared down. This is a little bit too heavy a song but it is awesomely constructed and presented on this CD. There are no wasted words in this song.  

But he alleviates the heaviness with his song about a night out on the. Road and almost dying in a Super 8 Motel with my favorite line being:
"It wasn't quite morning and I wasn't quite breathing".
I have felt like that.  Even in a. Fun song he looks pretty hard at the choices he was making.

Songs She Sang In The Shower is just a great song about being an asshole and going through relationships. It starts with being in a bar and our narrator saying to another patron, 
"There are two kinds. Of men and your not either one". 
It was the kind of thing I would have said in college if clever enough.  He thinks he is funny as he gets a black eye and his girlfriend on the way home, asks if he has "considered living alone", and leaves him.  Then he laments being the type of asshole that drives women away and he does so by being haunted by the songs the vicarious women sang in the shower. Great vehicle.  

Different Days is my favorite song on the CD talking at first to a stripper about how as a younger man he might have tried to help her out:
"But those were different days". 
Amen. 

He goes through a couple of vignettes reflecting how we all grow up, grow old and change. For me this is the stellar question in my. Life. How to age gracefully or more gracefully and how to reconcile the way I know I am supposed to be living my life with the mistakes I have made. In the past and he gives us great insight and perhaps even a little compassion. We get better and smarter if we are lucky and pay attention and although he never gets to redemption...

"Jesus lose the sinner but the highway loves the sin". 

Amen again.

This is just a brilliantly written and performed CD. I can recommend it without hesitation. Ad will stake my limited reputation on your. Enjoyment of it... But you got to listen to it.

Concert Review Number 6: Cracker At Blueberry Hill

Cracker came into town and hit the Duck room on July 65 It was...a GREAT SHOW! Now a good showm not a nice show...a GREAT SHOW! The Duck Room, in the absence of Mississippi Nights has become the premier small venue in town. The site lines are good and you can almost always work your way up to the stage. I dragged myself to the show (being an old man) and went solo (having no friends) and was convinced I would not be able to hold up but for the 100th time was rewarded by the burst of ebergy that great live music can deliver.

Magnolia Summer opened up and they have developed into one, if not THE best St. Louis band. Chris Grabau their lead singer and milti instrumentalist has a clear voice and a clear vision. Grabau spent most of the show playing a nice Gretcsh semi sloid body that just had a sweet sound. Sometimes he delves too far into Jay Farrar with his singing but the songs stand up and so does he and the band. They can play and I highly reccomend checking them out. It was a tight 45 minute set.

But...everyone...and I mean EVERYONE was their to see Cracker. David Lowery remains the funniest man in rock and they took the stage fairly promptly at 10:00. Lowery along with Guitarist Johnny Hickman have been rocking since Camper Von Beethoven first broke up in the ealy 90’s. Camper was an eclectic mix of rock, world music and..well...Balkan Beat Box. I could never get into it but when Lowery hooked up with long time friend Johnny Hickman and his rock hero guitar chops, it all came together.The band's website once noted Cracker as "The only band to ever open for both The Grateful Dead and the Ramones," a unique distinction which is also indicative of the band's sound and style. Cracker comfortably mixes influences and sounds ranging from classic country music, psychedelia, punk and folk into their brand of "Americana" style rock.

Lowery looks like a freak with a professorial beard and half moon glasses in tight jeans with legs that look too tiny to even hold him up. He looks like he has MS but has faught it off so far. The crowd sheered wildly and was made up of 20, 30 and 40 somethings once again showing the bands broad appeal. Over the evening they played all their hits but the early part of the set was made up of “Euro Trash Girl”, “Take me down to the Infirmary”, “Teen Angst” and several songs from their latest studio CD “Greenland”. The great thing about a band like Cracker is that they can take an album like “Greenland” which you might not have loved upon it’s release but when they play the tunes live...the rock your socks off and you cannot believe you missed their brilliance on your first 10 listenings. Songs like “Gimme One More Chance” (sounds like T-Rex), “Everyone Gets One For Free” and “Where Have Those Dats Gone” all seem brialliant when you Lowery and Hickman rip through them live.
I am a Lowery fan and loved his work in Camper Von Beethoven and all the production work he has done with other bands. Lowery put together a little chary on his website www.crackersoul.com which give you some ideas of his roots and relations. Cracker came into town and hit the Duck room on July 65 It was...a GREAT SHOW! Now a good showm not a nice show...a GREAT SHOW! The Duck Room, in the absence of Mississippi Nights has become the premier small venue in town. The site lines are good and you can almost always work your way up to the stage. I dragged myself to the show (being an old man) and went solo (having no friends) and was convinced I would not be able to hold up but for the 100th time was rewarded by the burst of ebergy that great live music can deliver.

Magnolia Summer opened up and they have developed into one, if not THE best St. Louis band. Chris Grabau their lead singer and milti instrumentalist has a clear voice and a clear vision. Sometimes he delves too far into Jay Farrar with his singing but the songs stand up and so does he and the band. They can play and I highly reccomend checking them out. It was a tight 45 minute set.

But...everyone...and I mean EVERYONE was their to see Cracker. David Lowery remains the funniest man in rock and they took the stage fairly promptly at 10:00. Lowery along with Guitarist Johnny Hickman have been rocking since Camper Von Beethoven first broke up in the ealy 90’s. Camper was an eclectic mix of rock, world music and..well...Balkan Beat Box. I could never get into it but when Lowery hooked up with long time friend Johnny Hickman and his rock hero guitar chops, it all came together.The band's website once noted Cracker as "The only band to ever open for both The Grateful Dead and the Ramones," a unique distinction which is also indicative of the band's sound and style. Cracker comfortably mixes influences and sounds ranging from classic country music, psychedelia, punk and folk into their brand of "Americana" style rock.
Lowery looks like a freak with a professorial beard and half moon glasses in tight jeans with legs that look too tiny to even hold him up. He looks like he has MS but has faught it off so far. The crowd sheered wildly and was made up of 20, 30 and 40 somethings once again showing the bands broad appeal. Over the evening they played all their hits but the early part of the set was made up of “Euro Trash Girl”, “Take me down to the Infirmary”, “Teen Angst” and several songs from their latest studio CD “Greenland”. The great thing about a band like Cracker is that they can take an album like “Greenland” which you might not have loved upon it’s release but when they play the tunes live...the rock your socks off and you cannot believe you missed their brilliance on your first 10 listenings. Songs like “Gimme One More Chance” (sounds like T-Rex), “Everyone Gets One For Free” and “Where Have Those Dats Gone” all seem brialliant when you Lowery and Hickman rip through them live.
I am a Lowery fan and loved his work in Camper Von Beethoven and all the production work he has done with other bands. Lowery put together a little chary on his website www.crackersoul.com which give you some ideas of his roots and relations.

More overlooked is the brilliant Johnny Hickman. Hickman looks like a cross between Rick Springfireld (gone bad) and Shcneider the super in “One Day At A Time”. He rips it up and appearantly can play anything from 4-4 bar blues to country and disco and everything in between. He just plays so well and frankly has such a good time. The band over all was as tight as any I have seen lately. No set list, Lowery calling out the tunes as they go and the band ripping into each and every one. He...inspires me.
They played for almost two hours ending with favorites “Low” and “Seven Days” and frankly...tearing the house down. A two hour show in that sweaty little room is an accomplishment and these guys sweat and bleed it...everyday. So me....I went home tired..... and I went home happy.

More overlooked is the brilliant Johnny Hickman. Hickman looks like a cross between Rick Springfireld (gone bad) and Shcneider the super in “One Day At A Time”. He rips it up and appearantly can play anything from 4-4 bar blues to country and disco and everything in between. He just plays so well and frankly has such a good time. The band over all was as tight as any I have seen lately. No set list, Lowery calling out the tunes as they go and the band ripping into each and every one. He...inspires me.

They played for almost two hours ending with favorites “Low” and “Seven Days” and frankly...tearing the house down. A two hour show in that sweaty little room is an accomplishment and these guys sweat and bleed it...everyday. So me....I went home tired..... and I went home happy.

Record Review 9 Southern Culture on The Skids: Countrypolitan

Southern Culture On The Skids (SCOTS) has redefined white trash rock for years. Rick Miller who handles the guitar and male vocal chores might or might not be the bastard son of Roger Miller but he certainly is not the half brother of the tunefull and too good looking Rhett Miller of the Old 97’s. I am a SCOT’s fan come lately. They have been around since 1986. A Chapel Hill North Carolina band they have had the same three people, Miller, Dave Hartman on Drums and well coifed Mary Huff on bass guitar. They won me over when opening for BR-549 at the Pageant about two years ago when they stole the show.

According to Wikipedia, “SCOTS music is generally very upbeat, as they usually write and perform songs about dancing, sex, and fried chicken, which are main themes in songs such as "Cheap Motels," "Soul City," and "Eight Piece Box" respectively. They are also known for their live shows, which often include throwing fried chicken and banana pudding into the audience, and audience members invited to dance onstage.” All true. They simply put on a great rocking show and Miller does the surf guitar as well as anyone (including Dick Dale) and can more then hold is own in rockabilly. He makes it scratch and pop.
Not that there is anything wrong with dancing, sex and fried chicken but they chose to do this CD as one of covers of other artists and they go all over the map with some...interesting choices. Do not look for respectful Buck Owens and Hank Williams and Carter Family homilies. They do touch some country greatness like their take on Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me”, but they also reach into some odd “country” choices like the Kinks “Muswell Hillbillies” and the Who’s “Happy Jack.” Unlike most cover CD’s this is not really a romp but seems to be a well thought out focus on showing their range. There are some mis-steps such as in Roger Miller’s “Engine Engine Number 9” and T-Rex’s “Lifes A Gas” does not make the transition but this CD is worth the price of admission and right now seems to be a critics darling.

If you are not familiar with them I would suggest going out and getting their CD “Dirt Track Date” to really get a feeling for them. This is not thinking mans music. If your looking for depth or feeling go get a Modest Mouse CD and put a gun in your mouth but for my money their version of the song “Venus” for out shocks the Shocking Blue. All in all this is a CD for fans of the band, or fans of the weird. I like it but I would never put it on for strangers. 7 1/2 Slingers out of 10
Your iTunes Composite for Souther Culture on the Skids
1. Nitty Gritty
2. These Boots Were made For Walking
3. Venus
4. Soul City
5. Banana Puddin
6. I learned To Dance In Mississippi
7. Camel Walk
8. Muswell Hillbillies
9. Liquored Up and Lacquered Down
10. Dirt Track Date
11. The Wet Spot
12. 8 Piece Box
13. Fried Chicken And Gasoline
14. Country Funk
15. ‘69 El Camino
16. Voodoo Cadillac
17. Oh Lonesome Me

Album Review 7: The Silos "Come On Like The Fast Lane"

Walter Salas Humara started the Silos around 1985. Since that time he has released thre or four brilliant CD’s (”Cuba”, “Susan Across The Ocean”, “The Silos” and 2004’s “When The Telephone Rings”). For Cuba Rolling Stone voted the band the best new artist. The album “Cuba” along with Uncle Tupelos work did as much to shape the next 15 years of alt-country as anything. He has a substantial body of quality work. Before the Silos he was a Gainsville boy with his band The Vulgar Boatmen who put out some really fine music and he has had a side project called “The Setters” with Alejandro Escovedo, another favorite of mine. Here is what he Hamara says about Gainsville:

"It's where I spent my college years learning a lot and drinking a lot. It's a special place - a crossroads of Marxist dialectic and simple values and realities. I'm looking forward to the G”ville show and the kick-off of a tour that will take us through many of our old haunts and some fresh ground. We're super proud of the new album and thank our lucky stars it happened the way it did."

My biggest surprise was that the is no Wikipedia entry for the Silos or for Salas Humara. Perhaps that will be my project on another day. Anyway, as I said their last album was the semi-brilliant “When The Telephone Rings.” It was mournful and rocked my socks off so...I was disappointed by this album. The critics and the press releases all compare the album to Television and Velvet Undergorund with better pop lyrics. That is...generous.

It is on Bloodshot which is one of my favorite indie labels and they had a little release telling us what Humara thought the songs were about:
1. Behind Me Now
No time left to worry about what horrible consequences the narra-
tor’s actions have wrought on the ones he is about to leave behind.
He’s about to find out what’s on the other side.
2. Fall On Your Knees
Baby’s keeping you up the part of your night not devoted to the
big Rock Show? We all know life gets tougher the older we get,
so we save a little piece for our souls and hang onto it with all
our might.
3. Tell Me You Love Me
Ah, the travails of Modern Romance. Just tell me you love me.
4. I Won You Won
Breaking up will be good for both of us? Especially if there’s a
party going on and our remote control is tuned in.
5. Keeping Score
Time just a keeps on rollin’ along. There are no second chances.
Don’t be a fool. Be Here Now.
6. People Are Right
He’s leaving town. She steals his car. He later finds it with a note
attached. Just when he’s realizing the truth is always grey, he gets
the call ...
with us when we give up sane for crazy.
8. Top Of The World
So what if the baby can’t drive..... we can! Get behind the wheel
and just drive like hell. There’s nothing like it.
9. Days Gone By
There’s a lot of news, a lot of Talking Heads. It’s a endless stream.
A lot of things we have very little effect on. Sometimes we don’t
even have any control over our most intimate relationships. An-
other reason to Be Here Now.
10. Sunset Morning
Love is strange. Love is beautiful. Sit back and let it roll all over
you.
11. Never Leaving
When you find the right one, let yourself go and wallow in the best
thing that’s ever happened to you.
12. Out Of Our Way
There are many who will stop at nothing to get their way. Politics,
Religion, Economics - Is there any difference?
13. Kickass
You don’t need another man. You are kickass.

The bottom line is that the CD is very solid and for me was uninspired. With such a great body of work and so much talent it seems like it could almost be a throw away. It was recorded in 4 days. No fact about the Cd would have surprised me less. On a positive note there is not an unpleasant song on the CD and the more you listen to it the more it grows on you. It is simple straight ahead unaffected, non-poser rock. Parts of it are sweet. “Behind Me Now”, “Tell me You Love Me” and the title cut make it a worthwhile puchase no matter what. The 6th track, "People Are Right" has some sweet lap steel noodling that although not life changing...it works. This is hard for this Diner being a huge Silos fan. I like the CD but I am calling it non-essential and giving it 7 1/2 Slingers out of 10.

The Silos will be coming to “Off Broadway” soon. He puts on a great show always playing the same miked up acoustic guitar with a lot of effects that make it sound like whatever kind of guitar he wants it to be. It is a fun rock and rollshow and should not be missed.

All that having been said here is the quintessential iTunes composite of the Silos and Salas Humara and the Setters

1. Commodore Peter
2. Tennessee Fire
3. Change The Locks
4. Lets Go take Some Drugs (and drive around)
5. Mom Out Dancing
6. Shaking All Over The Place
7. Nothings Going To Last
8. I Want To Be Your Dog
9. Susan Across the Ocean
10. Evageline
11. When The Telephone Rings
12. My Big Car
13. The Only Love
14. About Her Steps
15. Cuba
16. Love Is A Beautiful Thing

Record Review 5: Lucinda Williams WEST

Lucinda Williams.... it is hard to listen to ANY Lucinda Williams CD without marveling that she has not stuck a gun in her mouth. The daughter of Arkansa Poet Laureate Miller Williams (not that artsy southern people and their kin ever kill themselves) Lucinda has been writing what is simply some of the most heartfelt, painfully sung music of my lifetime. She is not a pretty lady. She has been hurt by men and hurt by life. She has serious questions about God... but she knows her way around a hook and a melody and her voice is about the most “real” thing I have had the pleasure of hearing live.


Williams had a tough early career starting in 1979 and 1980 with “Ramblin” and “Happy Woman Blues”. These CD’s show the rudiments of her style and showcase her voice but the booze and cigarrettes had not accomplished all of their magic yet. It was not till 8 years later when she released “Lucinda Williams” that some critic began to talk and her recording on “Change The Locks” (an old Silos tune which is simply pne of the BEST break up songs ever) that anything more then critics began to take notice. They say her breakthrough came in 1998 with the BRILLIANT (capital B) “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road” but I (and there is no one more important then me) would patiently (sort of) explain to you that the earlier “Sweet Old World” was really the the CD that put her on every critics list. (and I would be right...again.) “Sweet Old World” was 1992 and “Car Wheels” 1998. One thing she has never been is prolific. In 2001 she put out “Essence” which was for me a foregettable step backwards until hammering another one over the fence with 2003’s “Worl Without Tears”. Now only 4 years later she gives us “West”.





I am a fan. I generally do not review, listen to, or think about any musician (even one I just pick up) without being a fan. Williams songs are all deeply caring about her characters. Many of them seem to be to friends along the way, a lot to men who have wandered in and out of her life. She is not an angry chick, just a weathered one who never seems to learn that men...are just men. “Are You Alright” kicks it off in fine style. The first line, “Are you alright, all of a sudden you went away...” finishing with “Are you alright, cause I need to hear from you,” tell you everything you need to know. But the nice thing about Williams is she loves her characters and she loves that they have been in her life and might come back. The second song...”Mama You Sweet” is sweet. Send it on a mix tape to mom on Mothers day so everyone knows how cool you are. “Learning How To Live” might be a fill for “Are You Alright”. The 4th song “Fancy Funeral” will likely be popular but is a simple ode tonot spending money on a funeral but instead spending it on stuff now and making beautiful but cheap goodbyes. Next is “Unseffer Me” and for me it is the CD’s stopper. She is asking...begging for her lover to make it right. She does this a lot but simply...no one does it better. “Everything has changed” leaves her emotionally dead after another break up. “Come On”...a break up song starts with “Dude Iam So Over You”. I do not know how you feel about these songs as a woman but as a man I wish I could inspire this kind of angst in any woman. “Where Is My Love” is just a voice song...”Is my love in Helena eating sweet potato pie?” Kurt Cobain could not have gotten away with this but with her...it feels good even with the occasionally trite chorus. The next song “Rescue” seems to be that lesson that she can sing about but never learn...”He can’t rescure you, he can’t pull the demons from your head”. Indeed. “What If” is a pretty and politcal ballad. “Wrap My Head Around That” is... you will not believe this...a break up song. It kicks up the artistry a little more though. She has always had a song or two on each CD that through odd pacing and purcussion just...seem to glow (Like “Hot Blood” from “Sweet Old World”). it almost feels like a Lou Reed rap. “Words” is a tribute to the comfort of writing and “West” is a commercial for the California Board of Tourism with a nod to the folks in New Mexico and Arizona as well.





This is out on the “Lost Highways” imprint which is Universals noble but ultimately stupid effort to have a pretentious alt-country, indie label to give it some credibility in that market. They have some great artist but a lot of it is forced...this is not. She put together some good musicians for this one. Doug Pettibone is a pretty guitar player and Jim Keltner has been “drummer for the stars” since i have been listening to music. She throws in the classic Bill Frisell and adds Gary Louris (Jayhawks) for some background vocals and it is all just...pretty. This is a good CD. It has been long awaited like all her CD’s so it is critically acclaimed. She just has so much talent and so much angst and that...that voice. You get the feeling on every CD that there is just so much crazy shit going on her head every day that it really must be hard just dealing every day.
One of the great things about a new CD from Lucinda is the chance you get to go back into the catalogue and look at what she has done. Although not prolific it is a solid body of work. In that regard I give this only 7 out of 10 Sliders. Also as a new feature I am providing....since I do go back and review the whole catalogue, a new feature and that is the artists essentail iTunes composite which you can go download. That is why I am here. Here goes:

1. Change The Locks
2. Steal Your Love
3. Get Right With God
4. Passionate Kisses
5. Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
6. Six Blocks Away
7. Right In Time
8. Unsuffer Me
9. Are You Alright
10. Bleeding Fingers
11. Fruits of My Labor
12. Those Three Days
13. Pineola
14. Hot Blooded
That would not be a bad 14 bucks to spend.

Rants

So for a number of years...say 20, I have been a fan of a genre of music known by various affectations including Alt-Country, Americana, Roots, Twang et-cetera, et-cetera, et-cetera...I like it. It speaks to me. Alt Country took me back a long time ago to “doscover” the beauty of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens, The Carter Family, The Louvin Brothers and many, many, more. Alt-Country was about to “break through” and become mainstream with the movie “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” but...didn’t quite, although the songs “Oh Death” and “Man of Constant Sorrows” along with the beautiful crooning of Gillian Welch we finally spotlighted for a larger audience. Alt Country has as its foundation the old time vocal and musical and lyrical traditions of gospel and country. I would say the Carter family might be the fount out of which my twang flows. This basic, stripped down beauty was discovered in the lat 80s and early nineties by various kids playing punck rock (including but not limited to Belleville’s own Uncle Tupelo) where you had this beautiful, powerfully angry and disenfranchised music. Hee Haw meets Black Flag. It was a beautiful thing, angry and awkward but still graceful and always...always respectful of the music. The immediate roots paid homage to Neil Young but once you scraped back the first layer of Crazy Horse feedback you started to see all those layers of country imagery, coal mines, working people, drunks and...people...just real people.
Wikipedia as always does a fairly nice job with it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt_country

See also their non definitive list of Alt-Country artists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alternative_country_musicians
About the same time these new country stars started coming on the scene. Vince Gill, Toby Keith, that Mc Graw fellow, Kenney Chesney, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley...the list goes on and on and we will not even get to the women. Bands like Alabama, Lonestar and most recently Rascal Flats. All these bands had several things in common, big pretty hats, big pretty teeth, big belt buckles and...oh yes...they all sounded like the Eagles. I do not mean in a general way...they sounded like the Eagles in very specific, totally ripped off ways. Do not get me wrong. I loved the eagles and I respected the genre of country rock embodies by bands like theirs and Poco, the Byrds, the great Gram Parsons... this was good stuff in the 70s and it carried me into high school with sweet songs and steel guitars and just a little L.A. (and I do not mean lower Arnold) polish. But the Eagles with hotel California changed. Henley took over the band and they found a formula that sold billions and...well, that was that. Jow Walsh who was ihteresting as a solo act was a side show, Henley ran the show with pretty psuedo deep songs and talented guys like Timothy B. Schmidt (formerly of Poco) all sang and harmonized and followed along...and made millions.

These Big hat country bands grabbed the sound as their own but everyone over looked the fact that this was not country music at all. It was slick, LA country rock. Sure these guys moved to Nashville but only as a marketing ploy. Then came 9-11 and they all became Big Hat patriots...and then I really got sick. Country music as much as Jazz and Rock are Americas root contribution to the world of Music. Country music is about struggling with your demons (and losing a lot). It is about dark truths, alcoholism, failed marriages (not just unhappy relationships), God, the devil, addictions, failures, hard truths, real life. I mean it was a real Country tragedy when a married Johnnie Cash went public with June Carter. Broke her families heart that she could sin like that. Got him banned from the sacred Ryman auditorium. Forced him to write “Ring of Fire” to document his main. These new Big Hat country boys are pretty but they understood none of the angst that goes with being country. As the band the Hangdogs in their critique of this genre said:

“You give Hank his do but sound more Eagles-esque with every breath
If your so country...drink yourself to death.”
Indeed.

So, if you like this music I feel sad and dismissive of you and that is pretentious and likely unforgivable but...it just feels to the humble diner reviewer that it has neither soul nor substance. I love America and I guess everyone loves Chevy trucks but they do not move me like when Jay Farrar (The Wagner “voggner” of alt country) sings:

“Catching an all night station. Somewhere in Louisiana, sounds like 1963 but for now...sounds like heaven.”
In Son Volts “Windfall” That is good stuff. It is also a genre that can make fun of itself with Robbie Fulks odes to “Roots Rock Wierdos” and “Countrier The Thou” making fun of pretentious turds like myself.


Beware of pretty people pretending to sing country music. These people have not suffered rejection and pain enough as the ugly alt country boys. Alajandro Escovedo (former mex/L.A./punker is certainly as bad looking as any ugly badger. Farar looks like every kids you made fun of in the schools Audio/Visual “club” and if he would not have discovered guitar would certainly have been a king hell Dungeons and dragons player. Jeff Tweedy (now of non alt country Wilco but formerly of Tupelo) now looks like an angry Hobbit, Robbie Fulks and elongated Howdie Doody, Lucinda Williams an ageing crack whore, Walter Silas Humara (Silos) a bad skinned Cuban thug, gary Louris of the Jayhawks is the ageing Tiny Tim, Bryan Henneman of the Bottlerockets (the original angry Hobbit)...the point being that these are not pretty people. Ugly people sing better songs. There. I said it.