Before I forget to send this out (like I did Friday), I'll get this out nice and sort of early today. I'm still trying to figure out who has less of an internet presence. Terry Allen or Butch Hancock....
Is a song about a guy wanting to hear a train song actually a train song like "Wreck Of The Old 97"? I suppose the train song tent is large enough that there's no harm to including a few fringe train songs on the official podium of train songs. Why the hell not?
Incidentally, in this song, Todd Snider has one of my favorite lines ever in song: "girl, you're hotter than the hinges hanging off the gates of hell."
Artist: Todd Snider backed by members of the South Austin Jug Band
In case anyone cares, Alan Jackson's new record Freight Train is coming out today (3/30/2010) and the title track was written by Canadiana songwriting luminary Fred Eaglesmith. We here at FRR HQ are thrilled at the prospect of Fred getting a few sawbucks from the Alan Jackson music machine. As tribute, we've included Fred's live version of Freight Train from a show at Threadgill's.
[Also of note, the Freight Train record cover (below) features (a photoshopped version of) AJax leaning against a Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive (#5901) that sits in the Railroad Museum of PA in Strasburg. Yep, we've been there and taken a picture of that same locomotive. /End boasting.]
And finally, this seems to be the right time to segue way into FRR's first annual Month Of Train Songs! You knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Embrace it.
Mike McClure is an incredibly talented producer. However, had he never turned a nob on a Cross Canadian Ragweed record, he'd still be one of my favorite songwriters. Since his split from the Great Divide a few years back, he's been putting out great records left and right (Twelve Pieces And Camelot Falling are two absolute gems). That said, the next three FRR mailers are going to be from Mr. McClure. The first one is with the band a few years back at Threadgill's.
I recorded the Gourds at Threadgill's on October 3rd and it was an excellent show. Sadly, the whole recording was mired by some feedback making it somewhat unusable. Luckily, some of the tracks were salvageable. You can check them out below.
Definitely don't miss Kev Russell on the mostly-a cappella versions of God's House and We're In The Same Boat Brother.
I've long been a fan of the Gourds but somehow never really had much of an opportunity to record them (due largely to their legion of excellent tapers) until this past Saturday at Threadgill's. Here they are doing a 15-minute jam of Gin & Juice and some other classics mixed in. [File was too large to email. Right click on the track name to download.] Unfortunately, most of the recording was unusable but Gin and Juice came out in good shape.
Here's one of my favorite songs that's probably lost to the ages. I would love to see this on a Gourds record at some point and I'll leave it at that. This recording comes to us thanks to thanks to Mike Barnz, the Barbeque Warlock.
Here's the audio from Corb Lund's cd release show (for his new Losin' Lately Gambler record on New West Records) at Threadgill's South in Austin, Texas on Tuesday September 29, 2009. I don't know if it was because of ACL week or New West Records or the internets or the twitter or what, but there were a whole lot more people at this Corb show than I have seen in his Austin crowds (school night or weekend notwithstanding) ever. I was glad to see Corb getting the Austin recognition that talent such as his and the Hurtin' Albertans' deserves.
The boys were joined by Doug Moreland on fiddle for the last few songs and Hayes Carll on vocals for a cover of Carll's "Highway 87".
Between the crowd and the setlist, this was one of the most enjoyable shows of the year for me and a great survey of Corb's songwriting career. A bit from almost every record (except the first two) shows up here.
-Seven songs from Five Dollar Bill
-Nine songs from Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer
-Four songs from Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!
-Seven songs from Losin' Lately Gambler
-Zero songs from Modern Pain or Unforgiving Mistress
Stream the audio below or head over to the Live Music Archive and download the FLAC or MP3 files.
Here's the audio from Hayes Carll's (site, myspace) recent appearance at Threadgills (South) in Austin on the Sunday before Memorial Day. He's backed by a slightly revamped Gulf Coast Orchestra featuring Scott Davis (electric guitar, banjo, lap steel), Kenny Smith (drums), John Michael Schoepf (bass) and latest addition Ricky Ray Jackson (electric guitar, pedal steel).
The highlights for us are the new "Stomp And Holler" and the rocked up Scott Nolan tune "Bad Liver And A Broken Heart".
"Scott Miller's only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time who only Scott can see and hear. And so Scott finds himself leaping from town to town trying to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time his next leap will be the leap home...back to Knoxville." -Shane Walker, 2008.05.17
Friday (5/23) at the Continental Club Dustin Welch (myspace) kicks things off at 10p followed by the Lost Bayou Ramblers (site, myspace). Highly recommend both of these bands. Satuday (5/24) at Threadgill's South, Corb Lund (site, myspace) brings it back to the ATX. And of course, it's also Memorial Day weekend which means I will be hunkered down in a theater at some point catching up on the latest installment of the Indiana Jones series. I can't wait.
Gonna be a great weekend, Austin. Get out there and see some live music.
