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Danny Barnes Gets Himself Together
Danny Barnes' first collection in six years showcases a singular songwriter and player in peak form as Got Myself Together (Ten Years Later) reworks his classic album Get Myself Together a decade on (“Big Girl Blues,” “Get Me Out of Jail”). The Seattle-area resident simply strips songs to their essence on the new recording. “I spend a lot of time developing new contexts like the barnyard electronics aesthetic,” Barnes says. “Get Myself Together was my last acoustic-type recording and I get quite a bit of fan mail about it, but the label that released it went out of business. I wanted to make something with this record that featured more of my raw acoustic sound, as though I was kind of playing in your living room.” Folks notice Got Myself Together (Ten Years Later), releasing November 27 on Austin-based Eight 30 Records, delivering Barnes trademark story songs and impeccable banjo picking over and again on the album (“Rat's Ass,” “Cut a Rug”). “Danny Barnes' musical horizon is vast and elegant,” says legendary Texas songsmith Robert Earl Keen, who frequently enlists Barnes as banjoist in his touring band. “I've said many times that he is the world's greatest banjo player. Danny's singing swoops and soars by still waters and down rocky paths.” “It is heaven and earth,” says superstar Dave Matthews, who also frequently calls Barnes to bat in his live show. “It is Americana from the back porch to the pulpit.”
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"The extraordinary tale of Hawkins' life and music is at the heart of Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins. Imagine a homeless street musician with a soulful singing voice that earns him comparisons to Sam Cooke and he also writes songs that are lauded alongside Kris Kristofferson, Curtis Mayfield and Tom Waits. It would sound like a Hollywood B-movie if it hadn't turned out to be true." – Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times
Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins out now!
Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins is in stores now! CLICK HERE to purchase. Cold and Bitter Tears, the debut release from Eight 30 Records, marks the first tribute album to the soulful Venice Beach street performer, a legend overseas later in his lifetime but a songwriter largely overlooked in the States. Hawkins simply sang like songs were stamped on his heart at birth. Evidence: High watermarks on the new record such as “Big Things” (James McMurtry), “Cold and Bitter Tears” (Kasey Chambers), “Sorry You’re Sick” (Mary Gauthier), “Who Got My Natural Comb” (Shinyribs) and several other classics. Hawkins himself backs the point with the album’s hidden track, the moving unreleased demo “Great New Year.”
The Mississippi native, who died January 1, 1995 after a hardscrabble life and brief autumnal rise in popularity, might be gone but he’s clearly not forgotten. Americana power trio including singer-songwriter Kevin Russell (Shinyribs,The Gourds), artist manager Jenni Finlay (James McMurtry) and writer Brian T. Atkinson (author of I’ll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt) have lovingly co-produced Cold and Bitter Tears over the past year with sessions mostly in Austin at Stuart Sullivan’s Wire Recording.
UPCOMING RELEASE PARTIES:
November 6 - Lagunitas Brewing Co., Petaluma, CA
November 8 - Lagunitas Brewing Co., Chicago, IL
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| Johnny Irion's U.S. Elevator Transports
U.S. Elevator will transport you. Listen. You'll hear. The Santa Barbara-based outfit – the brainchild of Johnny Irion, musical partner and husband of Sarah Lee Guthrie – fills their music with loving and wily winks at 1960s and 1970s visionaries such as The Beatles, Neil Young and Crazy Horse and Gram Parsons yet stays thoroughly original, contemporary and richly melodic. Following Guthrie and Irion’s acclaimed 2013 album Wassiac Way (recorded at Wilco's Loft studio in Chicago), Irion assembled U.S. Elevator as the rocking alter-ego to the couple’s eclectic and unbounded folk music. Now, listen up to U.S. Elevator's self-titled debut! Organic sounds define the landscape: All the basic tracks were recorded live – without headphones, no less. “We just recorded each song until we got the right take on tape,” Irion says. “And that’s where Sonos, the big speaker company, came in. They came and lined the house with incredible speakers. We could walk around inside or in the yard and listen to the takes. I didn’t want to have a bunch of stuff to comb through. When I heard the right take, I’d say, ‘All right, we’re moving on.’ I call it the Polaroid approach. Then we’d put the tracks into Pro Tools.” U.S. Elevator dates back a couple years to a conversation Irion had with longtime friend Zeke Hutchins, who manages Deer Tick and others. “Zeke suggested that Sarah Lee and I make a pure folk record without the rockier element that I bring,” Irion says. “I took it pretty hard because I felt that Sarah Lee and I had found a sweet spot with our music. Though he agreed, he was saying, ‘Why don’t you put your rock stuff somewhere else and make a folkier record with Sarah Lee.’ So that opened a pathway for those tendencies to shine. Plus, I think a lot of my friends wanted to see me get back to my younger roots. They kept saying, ‘Don’t forget, you rock, dude.’” He sure does. U.S. Elevator undoubtedly would make Irion's '60s and '70s rock influences proud. Key element: Producer Tim Bluhm (Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, The Mother Hips). “Everyone knew Tim’s presence would make us rise to the occasion,” Irion says. “He is so respected in our world and in many others. And he knows how to run a Studer! His songs are amazing, and his guitar playing is sick! Tim’s harmony singing, songwriting, and lyrical ideas make this record really cohesive. Tim was Walter Matthau, and we were the Bad News Bears.”
CHECK OUT THE NEW VIDEO:
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| James McMurtry For Your GRAMMY Consideration
Attention GRAMMY voters: James McMurtry's "Complicated Game" is up for consideration for Americana Album of the Year. The voting deadline is November 4. CLICK HERE to stream the album!
The McMurtry band kicks off their Southeast tour this month, hitting New Orleans, Mobile, Chattanooga, Tampa, Athens, and more! CLICK HERE for all tour dates and don't miss a show near you!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: CLICK HERE to check out Jenni Finlay's travelogue through Europe and back with James McMurtry (featured in Polished Steel).
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| At Long Last: A New Project by Matt The Electrician
Digital copies are NOW available for "Bear" and "Never Had a Gun" at Bandcamp, CDBaby, iTunes and other various outlets! CLICK HERE to purchase NOW!!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: CLICK HERE for Matt The Electrician's recent eTown performance!
Having spent nearly two decades building a fervent fan base for his music, touring 150-plus days a year and regularly pulling hundreds out to shows in his current hometown of Austin, TX, Matt wasn't sure if a typical album cycle was the right path for a working class musician like himself. Instead, Matt is embarking on a 7" series of releases (with digital distribution as well), beginning with the first on October 23! Each 7" release will find Matt collaborating with a different artist, including Dana Falconberry and LIttle Brave, with more collaborators to be announced. Each 7" will be released as soon as they are finished, following their predecessor by three or four months. For the initial 7", Matt worked with Austin, TX bluegrass collective Wood & Wire. Matt's expertly distilled songcraft is buoyed by Wood & Wire's acoustic instrumentation. For example, "Bear" is a gorgeously rendered examination of growing old and living in a constantly expanding city. "Never Had A Gun" immediately draws you in with it's opening line, "Never had a gun, think it would be heavy, if I was the only one," driving forward with haunting harmonies, instantly memorable melodies and banjo and mandolin wrapping around heavy acoustic guitar. You can learn more about the project HERE. SUBSCRIBE for the limited edition full set and you'll get a new 7" with digital download code every couple months in the mail!
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| Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez Bring Back a Classic
Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez simply make magic. Evidence: Red Dog Tracks (2005). The short-lived but potent Americana duo's final album – following 2002's Let's Leave This Town and 2003's The Trouble with Humans – deftly showcased two singular voices marrying into a perfect blend. Excellent news: After being out of print for years, Red Dog Tracks is back – and with bonus tracks! (“Willow Garden,” “Unglorious Hallelujah,” and an alternate take on the title song have been appended to this 10th Anniversary edition.) “Folk music – Americana, singer-songwriter, alt-country – doesn’t get much better than this,” No Depression said about the record. “Here is the new standard of duets that all others should be judged by.” Red Dog Tracks peaked at #3 on the Americana chart and #1 on the European Independent Country chart. The lead single, Keep “Your Hat On Jenny” spawned a great video directed by Traci Goudie (Patty Griffin, Richard Linklater, Emmylou Harris). Additionally, Rodriguez became a co-producer with Chip and brought in an entirely new band, featuring the master Bill Frisell on guitar. The resulting record was their crowning achievement. Quick background on this seamless partnership: Chip Taylor was a legendary songwriter (“Wild Thing,” “Angel Of The Morning”) returning to music in 2001 when he saw Berklee-trained Carrie Rodriguez playing fiddle on stage in Texas. He added her to his touring band and after pushing her to give singing a try and within weeks their duets were the highlights of the show. Shortly after, Taylor wrote an entire album of songs for the two to sing together and a short yet powerful partnership was born. His sharp songwriting has never shined more brightly. “I just want to get some sort of a chill from a song,” Taylor told CMT. “I mean, I know when I was a kid and listening to the early Sun records or the race records, I go back now and listen and I didn’t even know half the lyrics. I was singing them wrong, but it didn’t make any difference. It was the feeling you get from them. A great song just communicates. It doesn’t have to communicate in your language. A person who doesn’t speak a word of English can still get totally carried away by 'Wild Thing' or 'Angel of the Morning.' There’s a spirit that transcends words.”
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| Luke Pruitt - IN STORES NOW!!
Luke Pruitt released Songs of Home, Pt. 2 on October 9, the full-length follow up to his 2014 debut EP Songs of Home, Pt. 1. This edition is a concept record with two main storylines, one from the point of view of the character Pruitt created in his song “County Fair” from the debut EP and the other from the point of view of the Mexican immigrant in true stories gathered from personal interviews conducted by Pruitt. The record works as a narrative that Pruitt describes as “a sort of op-ed on the American dream in a pre- and post-9/11 America.” “I wanted to write a record that told a complete story,” Pruitt says of his second studio album, recorded over four days at The Sound Emporium in Nashville, TN with Producer Calvin Turner (Marc Broussard). “I guess, thematically, you could compare it to some of the concept albums that Willie Nelson made in the '70s, but I approached it more like I was writing a novella. It takes place before and after 9/11 and has two main storylines, the first one about a millennial kid who is graduating high school and leaving for college the summer after 9/11, and the second is about some friends of mine who are immigrants from Mexico. I did some personal interviews with them, and they took great pride in telling me about their journey to America and setting roots down in a new home.” CHECK OUT THE NEW VIDEO:
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Songfarmer: Workshop, Books, and now The App!
On the weekend of November 20-22, longtime songwriting collaborators Owen Temple and Gordy Quist (of the Band of Heathens) will again host Songfarmer™, a weekend-long songwriting workshop. First launched in May 2014, now their fifth edition of the workshop will be held on Lake Travis in the beautiful hill country just west of Austin, Texas. Registration for the fall session is open for a few remaining spots, and they have opened waiting list spots for a spring 2016 session. In addition to the live, in-person workshop, registration for online sessions is also available through the website, www.songfarmer.com. Gordy and Owen founded Songfarmer in 2014 to provide tools for songwriters working to create more and better songs. Now they are celebrating the release of the first book in a three-book series titled “Songfarmer: Writing More and Better Songs" and the release of the Songfarmer App, an online tool for strengthening songwriting habits and for getting a song growing. Find out more about the workshops, the books, and the app HERE. Onward...
CLICK HERE for reviews on Yelp of past workshops (from December 2014 and July 2014)
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| Squeaky String Productions Website Launching Soon!
We are please and proud to unveil our new company, Squeaky String Productions. Squeaky String is the umbrella company for Eight 30 Records, Burgundy Red Films, Catfish Concerts, and the countless other projects we have going on. Stay tuned to see what we have going on next!!
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| Just a note of heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you.
Have a wonderful thanks-giving.
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| Check out the website HERE
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| CLICK HERE for Jenni's behind-the-scenes look on the road (and in the air) in Europe with James McMurtry (featured in Polished Steel)
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| Cold and Bitter Tears: The Songs of Ted Hawkins record release party at Waterloo Records
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| A limited number of Matt The Electrcian T-Shirts are available HERE
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| "Copper Canteen" LIVE by James McMurtry
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| Brennen Leigh is releasing a tribute album to country music legend Lefty Frizzell. Click here to support the project and reserve your copy.
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| Songfarmer with Gordy Quist and Owen Temple
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| Tim Easton performs Adam Carroll's "Highway Prayer" LIVE
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| "Keep Your Hat On Jenny," by Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez
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| EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Tim Easton's "Goodbye Amsterdam"
Support Tim Easton's American Fork HERE
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| COMING SOON:
Kent Finlay, Dreamer
Available March 2016
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LISTEN UP TO WNCW - our FEATURED STATION for November.
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| CLICK HERE to schedule your next recording session at the Woodshed!
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| CLICK HERE to find out all that is happening in November
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The November Newsletter is brought to you by our lovely supporters:
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CLICK HERE to find out how YOU can be a part of The Newsletter
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