Song of the Week: “Would You Tell Me Your Dreams” by Daniel Martin Moore & Joan Shelley
Next Tuesday 8 May sees the release of Farthest Field, a collaboration between two of Kentucky’s finest musicians, Daniel Martin Moore and Joan Shelley. The album, which has been described by poet Marianne Worthington as “quietly contemplative,” reminiscent of ancient Chinese poetry. “Would You Tell Me Your Dreams” provides a perfect example of this quality, with Moore and Shelley’s luminous vocals shimmering gently over a beautiful arrangement of guitar, banjo and piano.
According to Worthington, “Farthest Field…is best savored all at once, best considered as a single musical experience, because the music and stories walk us through a single day.” But until Tuesday, here is one of the songs, a perfect anthem for a lazy spring weekend.
Song of the Week: “Don’t Come Home A Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ On Your Mind)” by Loretta Lynn
Tonight in Lexington, country queen Coralee and the Townies debut a Loretta Lynn tribute show, which received quite the spread in today’s Lexington Herald-Leader. In honor of Coralee’s big night, we bring you Loretty herself, singing one of my personal favorites. Who you tellin’ what?
Better late than never, here are my picks for the year’s best albums. I’ve chosen twenty, but have taken the easy route by not ranking them, just because it would have been too hard to choose between them. So without further adieu, here’s a great year in music. Let’s hope 2012 can measure up. Cheers.
Ashes & Fire – Ryan Adams
In the past, Ryan Adams has been accused of not having a creative filter, releasing too many albums too close together. But with Ashes & Fire, he reminds critics and fans that he has few equals when he is at his best. Download “Lucky Now” and “Dirty Rain.”
21 – Adele
I’ll keep it simple: if you don’t love Adele, there’s something wrong with ye.
Night of Hunters – Tori Amos
A long-time Tori fan, she returns to form with Night of Hunters, following the half-baked Abnormally Attracted to Sin and the stunning Midwinter Graces, a winter solstice record. My favorites are “Shattering Sea” and “Edge of the Moon.”
Every Step’s A Yes – The Bees
Known stateside as A Band of Bees due to a trademark dispute, this British band has produced a record full of retro-sunshine with their latest release Every Step’s A Yes. Check out “I Really Need Love,” “Winter Rose” and “Silver Line.”
The Dreaming Fields – Matraca Berg
Surely the loveliest album of the year, The Dreaming Fields marks Berg’s return to recording following a fourteen-year absence. And it was well worth the wait. An achingly beautiful meditation on changing relationships, loss and survival, The Dreaming Fields belongs along the shelf alongside Emmylou’s Pieces of the Sky and Kristofferson’s The Silver Tongued Devil and I. Berg has scored a Grammy nomination for the scorching ballad “You and Tequila”—a mainstream country hit for Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter—and further shows off her elegant songwriting chops on “Silver and Glass” and the title track, which reads like a Willa Cather novel. And if I had a pound for every time I’ve listed to “A Cold Rainy Morning In London In June,” I’d take every one of you to high tea at the Orangery.
Biophilia – Björk
Easily the most adventurous, forward-looking record of the year, Biophilia is also one of the most emotional. With her trademark, soaring voice, Björk retells the creation of the universe with songs like “Moon” and “Mutual Core.”
Barton Hollow – The Civil Wars
This duo sports one of the musical stories of the year, selling over 25,000 copies of their debut studio album in its first week of release. Easily one of the year’s best records, Barton Hollow has given renewed attention to the Americana movement through the lush melancholia of “Poison and Wine” and the gritty title track.
The King Is Dead – The Decemberists
The King Is Dead was recorded in the wild, in a converted barn on an eighty-acre piece of Oregon countryside. With that setting, it’s no wonder that the album itself is suffused with organic, straightforward music. And then there’s Colin Meloy’s melancholy voice, an instrument as comfortable as an old pair of corduroys. Don’t miss “Down By the Water” and “January Hymn.”
Horses & High Heels – Marianne Faithfull
For some, Marianne Faithfull is an acquired taste. Her gravelly voice, ravaged by years of drug abuse in the 1970s, is a far cry from the bird-like lilt that graced 1960s gems like “As Tears Go By” and “In My Time of Sorrow.” But I would argue that it’s even better now, having acquired a weary wisdom that informs this stellar collection of songs, including R.B. Morris’s “That’s How Every Empire Falls,” “Back in Baby’s Arms” and “Eternity.”
Ceremonials - Florence + The Machine
There’s no sophomore slump for the flame-haired Florence Welch. Ceremonials is a worthy follow-up to 2009’s Lungs, a soaring collection of gems including the lead single “What the Water Gave Me, “Leave My Body” and “Heartlines.”
Hard Bargain – Emmylou Harris
The Queen of Americana returned this year with arguably her best album since Wrecking Ball. The album opener “The Road” has Harris reflecting on her time with musical soulmate Gram Parsons, while her cover of Ron Sexsmith’s “Hard Bargain” is shimmering.
Walk of Shame – Nikki Lane
South Carolina native Nikki Lane is the next big thang on the alt-country music scene. With the release of Walk of Shame, she has put the music world on notice with her authentic retro-country sound that is equal parts Tammy Wynette, Nancy Sinatra and Jenny Lewis. Even Vogue and Entertainment Weekly are paying attention, naming her as the Vogue Artist of the Week and to EW’s Must List respectively. But just as interesting as her music is her backstory. A high school dropout from Greenville, she moved cross-country to LA, dabbling in the fashion industry before taking a corporate job in New York. When her boyfriend left her and moved to Atlanta, she was brokenhearted and turned to the country songs of Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard. She found her voice and moved to Nashville, where she recorded an album she self-released that caught the ear of indie label IAMSOUND. To supplement her music gigs, she owns and runs a vintage shop in Nashville called High Class Hillbilly. Hers is an epic story, reminiscent of Tammy Wynette’s ascent from that beauty parlor in Tupelo, Mississippi. Essential tracks: “Gone, Gone, Gone,” “Coming Home To You” and “Lies.”
Sing It Loud – k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang
k.d. lang at the Ryman Auditorium takes the kudos for my favorite concert of the year. Along with her Siss Boom Bang band, lang marked her return to NashVegas with a grooving set largely taken from Sing It Loud. I dare you to not be stirred by “A Sleep With No Dreaming.”
Mission Bell – Amos Lee
I came across Amos Lee’s eponymous debut at a used record store when I was living in Washington, DC, and since then I’ve followed his career with solid CDs like Supply and Demand and Last Days at the Lodge. But with the searching Mission Bell, Lee has outdone himself, offering up a tight collection of songs held together by the soulful “Cup of Sorrow” and “Flower.”
In the Cool of the Day – Daniel Martin Moore
Gospel is a genre that is notorious for vocalists who over-sing, belting in feeble attempts to imitate artists such as Mavis Staples. But not Daniel Martin Moore. His vocals are crisp and understated, as on the classic hymn “Softly and Tenderly,” which features an achingly beautiful cello courtesy of Moore’s regular collaborator Ben Sollee and sterling harmony vocals from Haley Bonar. The contemplative “Set Things Aright,” the album’s final track, provides yet another example, with Moore’s tender vocals blending with those of Yim Yames (My Morning Jacket) and again with Bonar.
In the Cool of the Day is a stunning collection of traditional hymns and four original compositions. But what gives this record its transcendent quality is Moore’s decision to weave his own theology into some of the older songs while remaining true to their spirit.
Circuital – My Morning Jacket
Jim James & Co. return in their finest form yet with Circuital—hands down the best rock album of the year. From the full-tilt groove of “Victory Dance” to the golden slumbers of “Wonderful (The Way I Feel),” MMJ’s domination of the coolness quotient is far from ebbing.
Raven in the Grave – The Raveonettes
Transcendent: the best word to describe the Raveonettes. I can’t seem to get “War in Heaven” out of my mind.
Inclusions - Ben Sollee
Inclusions is the direct product of Ben Sollee’s journey to unearth his cultural and music roots, a fusion of the Appalachian folk music of his grandfather and the urban rhythm and blues that he was exposed to as a child in Lexington, Kentucky. The musical melting pot that resulted provided the record with its title. But Ben is quick to explain that it also refers to his concept of the arts, communities and personal relationships. “I love this record,” he stated in a recent interview. “I love it for all of its meanings, explicit and incidental. In these songs, I can hear the city I grew up in and the people that lived down the street.”
Sollee condenses these influences into songs like “Embrace,” where the slight dip of the bow on his cello and in his voice recall a mountain ballad from Appalachia. Or Kazakhstan. Those styles, he points out, are remarkably similar, and express the universality of the record itself: “People hear themselves in it.”
“Bible Belt” is a standout track that further illustrates this point, especially with its pointed lyrics describing how the outside world often invades the intimacy of a couple with its social mores and prejudices, preventing inclusion and acceptance. “We didn’t ask your permission/And I won’t wear your bible belt,” he declares, his voice rife with defiance over the contrasting reverberations of gentle drum brushes and jarring horns.
Bella – Teddy Thompson
Written following his breakup with an Italian woman called Bella, Thompson and producer David Kahne (Regina Spektor, Paul McCartney) set out to craft a record that lived up to the meaning of her name—beautiful. That they succeed is due in no small part to Thompson’s plaintive voice, a piercing tenor that is perhaps the most ethereal natural instrument in pop music since Roy Orbison. It is no coincidence that many of the arrangements are rooted in the Orbison sound. Lush strings and a haunting guitar build the tension on “Take Care of Yourself,” soaring and strumming until Thompson offers a powerful climax in a pristine falsetto.
Smother – Wild Beasts
An indie rock band formed in Kendal, England, Wild Beasts returns with their second studio album, Smother, a synthesizer-infused collection of songs full of emotion and vulnerability. “Lion’s Share” and “Bed of Nails” are among my most listened-to tracks of the year.
Honorable Mentions:
Only In Dreams – Dum Dum Girls
I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive – Steve Earle
Metals - Feist
Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
Torches - Foster the People
Lights - Ellie Goulding
Here We Rest - Jason Isbell & 400 Unit
The Storms Are On the Ocean – Kieran Kennedy & Maria Doyle Kennedy
Must-read commentary by Naomi Wolf published in The Guardian (UK) about her inadvertent arrest in New York. At the end, a searing quote that I can’t get out of my mind:
‘The police are now telling my supporters that the permit in question gave the event managers “control of the sidewalks”. I have asked to see the permit but still haven’t been provided with it – if such a category now exists, I have never heard of it; that, too, is a serious blow to an open civil society. What did I take away? Just that, unfortunately, my partner and I became exhibit A in a process that I have been warning Americans about since 2007: first they come for the “other” – the “terrorist”, the brown person, the Muslim, the outsider; then they come for you – while you are standing on a sidewalk in evening dress, obeying the law.’
Song of the Week: “Hello Goodbye” by Lake Street Dive
After catching their lively showcase earlier this month at the Americana Music Festival, I immediately bought Lake Street Dive’s eponymous album. Released in late 2010, the record manages to capture the energy and chemistry of their live shows with original songs that combine jazz and classical sensibilities with catchy, pop-laden hooks. And at the center of it all is lead singer Rachael Price’s rich, soulful voice, capable of conveying a plethora of emotions in only a few notes.
So friends, feast your eyes and ears on “Hello Goodbye.” I dare you not to dance.
On the last evening of the festival, Thirty Tigers and the UK’s SummerTyne Americana Festival hosted a party at the Hard Rock Cafe. As the gloaming descended on the Nashville skyline, the next big thang on the Americana scene took the stage. Clad in a bright turquoise minidress, replete with Wanda Jackson-like white fringe, Nikki Lane electrified the room with songs from her recently released album Walk of Shame. By the time she performed her acclaimed track “Gone, Gone, Gone” (see video below), the crowd was riveted.
And how could they not be? Part Tammy Wynette, part Nancy Sinatra, Lane still manages to be her own original incarnation, with her sly, irreverent lyrics and scorching stage presence. ”How many of y’all have ever done the walk of shame?” she teased the crowd halfway through the short set, which responded with yelps and applause. “That’s what I thought,” she purred into the microphone, launching into the album’s title track.
Readers, take note: Nikki Lane is a name to remember, if she doesn’t evaporate by spontaneous combustion first.
After stopping by the Southern Festival of Books’ author’s reception, my crew and I made our way to the Bluebird Cafe for the incredible Marshall Chapman’s Twelfth Annual Literary-In-The-Round. Long a highlight of the annual Southern Fest weekend,this year’s ensemble included Chapman, Grammy nominee Matraca Berg along with bestselling novelists Clyde Edgerton (Raney) and Mark Childress (Crazy In Alabama). Chapman and company had the audience in stitches—with humorous story songs by Edgerton and witty prose by Childress—and lyrical awe with songs by Chapman (including many from her latest release Big Lonesome, which I hailed as “her masterpiece” in a review for Paste) and Berg, whose album The Dreaming Fields is sure to end up on this year’s “Best Of” lists.
“Hell of a show,” one audience member hollered to Chapman as he left after midnight. “Sure was,” she replied with a grin, running her fingers through her mane of unruly silver hair. “Sure was.”
Matraca Berg had only been on stage at the Rutledge last night for five minutes when a longtime Nashville resident who works in the music industry offered some commentary on her performance. Leaned against the brick wall to the right of the stage, she extended her long finger from the neck of her Michelob Ultra in Berg’s direction. “In over twenty years of living here, I have never seen anything to equal that.”
“That” is Berg’s trademark melancholy and gorgeous lyricism, artistic integrity and droll wit, which shone for the capacity crowd in the intimate setting. Accompanied by uber-talented Nashville musicians Andrea Zonn on fiddle and harmony vocals, and Dan Dugmore, Berg offered up a set of songs that included “If I Had Wings,” “You and Tequila” (nominated for the Country Music Association Song of the Year, thanks to a cover by none other than Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter), “Clouds” and the title track to her latest album The Dreaming Fields, the latter which saw her move from her guitar to a mellow piano. When she took a request for her final song of the evening, a male voice bellowed across the room: “Strawberry Wine!”
“I can do that,” she laughs, launching into the Grammy-nominated number made famous by Deana Carter.
Matraca Berg, flanked by Dan Dugmore and Andrea Zonn
Afterwards at the Cannery Ballroom, a joint set by 2011 Americana Music Association Artist of the Year Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale brought down the house, with many attendees gathering in the back of the room and dancing with drinks in hand. A lengthy, raucous set by the North Mississippi Allstars followed with gritty numbers including “Shake (Yo Mama)”, “Snakes in My Bushes”, “Keep the Devil Down” and many songs from their 2011 album Keys to the Kingdom.
Song of the Week: “Harlem River Blues” by Justin Townes Earle
Last night at the Ryman Auditorium, Justin Townes Earle strode onto stage with his guitar to perform “Harlem River Blues,” the title track of his latest album, which took home the Americana Music Association Song of the Year trophy. Moving back and forth on his long legs, Earle had the audience in the palm of his hand, backed by a band that included the amazing Buddy Miller, and Luther and Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars.
The Americana Music Association Awards were held tonight before a boisterous, sold-out crowd at the Ryman Auditorium. Hosted by Jim Lauderdale, the evening was a fast moving blend of onstage banter, presentations and acceptance speeches, and most importantly, damn good music from many of the nominees and winners.
The ceremony kicked off with a performance of the hymn “I’ll Fly Away” featuring Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Buddy Miller, Jerry Douglas and Don Was in honor of the tenth anniversary of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
Lucinda Williams accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting, followed by yet another win for musical god Buddy Miller as Instrumentalist of the Year, which award presenter Raul Malo dubbed a “big shock.” Miller also nabbed the trophy for Artist of the Year.
The Avett Brothers took the Duo/Group of the Year Award, and the boys from North Carolina graced the stage two more times, backing New/Emerging Artist Award nominee Jessica Lea Mayfield during her performance of “For Today” and then with a song of their own, “The Once and Future Carpenter,” which garnered them a standing ovation.
Justin Townes Earle
The always dapper Justin Townes Earle crooned his song “Harlem River Blues” to much fanfare from the audience, returning to the stage to collect the trophy for Song of the Year for that track only moments later. He was soon followed by the Civil Wars, who turned in a stellar performance of “Barton Hollow,” once again bringing the crowd to its feet.
The Civil Wars
In an interesting twist to the evening, Britons nabbed three awards, with New/Emerging Artist going to Mumford & Sons, Album of the Year awarded to Robert Plant for his epic Band of Joy and the Trailblazer Award presented to legendary deejay and musician Bob Harris, also known as Whispering Bob.
Gregg Allman was provided an emotional homecoming to the city of his birth, as he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance. His rendition of “Sweet Melissa” offered a melancholy coda to the evening, which was capped with an ensemble rendition of the rollicking gospel number “Glory, Glory Hallelujah,” featuring Amos Lee, Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, the McCrary Sisters and others, with Allman playing a bluesy organ.
Gregg Allman, Robert Plant, Patty Griffin
Following the awards show, many in the audience filtered out to musical showcases at venues across town. I caught the last songs of Carrie Rodriguez’s set at the Cannery Ballroom, followed by the Jayhawks, who played a mixture of old tunes and new numbers from their latest release Mockingbird Time, which currently occupies the No. 1 position on the Americana charts.
The Jayhawks
Tomorrow night: Matraca Berg, Elizabeth Cook, Buddy Miller & Jim Lauderdale
via returntoappalachia
