Saving Country Music

I normally don’t do individual song reviews, but I’m making an exception.

I get many requests for reviews and many get turned away, many for being too mainstream. Not that I have problems with a more accessible sound if the music is still good, but my charter is to work around the edges and find the gems that the other media outlets gloss over. In the case of a band out of Ft Worth named Left Arm Tan and specifically their song “Wish,” the sound may be mainstream, but the message is right down my alley.

The song starts off with reminiscent lyrics about youth and you think “oh here we go again with the same old formula,” but as it progresses, “Wish” reveals itself as a wise, well-written, and poignant song. With the chorus, “Well I wish I wish I was me, instead of wishing I was someone I will never be,” the song hits on a theme I have discussed here often, but has never been put to song so well.

I think it is important when we talk about saving country music, that we don’t work from a position of envy. In truth the joke is on them. They may have the big money, the control of the radio stations and the media. But we have each other, and true themes mined from real life experiences. Let them have their fake world, we have real music.

Yes, this song probably curried my favor with the line:

“Well I see them up there receiving the Grammy award
Then I hear them sing live, their tune is flat as a board
Well I can’t understand not a word of their songs
I keep thinking someone might bang a gong.

But this isn’t necessarily an anti-Nashville song, it is more about the singer realizing that he shouldn’t be envying people living fake lives when he has something true already. The way the song works is brilliant, and the arrangement and production is superb.

Not every obscure independent/underground country band deserves a big break just because they try hard and are talented. But “Wish” delivers accessibility without sacrificing soul, and should deliver them a hit worthy of any country station’s rotation.

Two guns up!

Hank Williams III is known best for keeping the family traditions alive while forging new ones with his rebel ways. In what has become a tradition over the last few Hank III tours, one of the tour’s whistle stops will be for charity. The benefactor this time will be Happy Tails Humane, a charity Hank III has helped out before. Hank has also lent a hand to Homes For Our Troops a few times with charity concerts.

The concert goes down September 18th at The Loveless Barn in Nashville, with a charity motorcycle ride before the concert. Hank III has been an animal advocate for years, helping to find homes for stray dogs and cats, even pulling over his tour bus to check on loose animals. “Animals have been a real inspiration in my life, and helped me through some hard times.”

Here’s the particulars:

“Ride Happy is benefit for Happy Tales Humane! A no kill animal shelter in Franklin TN. Here’s what it’s all about: A scenic motorcycle ride through the beautiful countryside of middle Tennessee. Riders can register at Harley Davidson Cool Springs in Franklin from noon to 2:00 PM on the day of the ride. Destination is the one and only The Loveless Barn in Nashville. Best of all, Hank III will end the day of music with a concert at 6:00 PM. Tickets for the ride and concert are $40 per rider or $50 for a rider and passenger. Also available are concert only tickets for just $20.00.

“Join us on September 18, 2010 for a fun-filled day of Rock, Rides and Refreshments. VIP tickets will include a private meet and greet with Hank III. For more information contact khorner@happytaleshumane.com. To reserve your tickets today, call 615-791-0827 during our normal business hours; Tuesday through Friday 12PM-5PM and Saturdays from 11AM-4PM.”

(Ryan Bingham’s new album Junky Star is on sale for a limited time through Amazon for $3.99. CLICK HERE.)

Hey Ryan, it’s me, Country Music. I’ve been hearing some interesting things lately, about how you’re eager to dispel that your music is country. This puts me in a weird position, because I’m used to people using my name to call things “country” that are not. But I heard your first two albums, and though I wouldn’t say they are solidly country projects, without question there some country there, more country than most that fly my flag. And how about that Oscar, for a country song in a movie about a country star? Do you really think its that perplexing that some people think your music is country? It can’t be nearly as perplexing as some of your moves lately, including this one.

I mean what’s going on here Ryan, I thought we were buds? What, are you ashamed of me? Is it a sore subject with all of your new friends out in LA? If this is about you being ashamed that country has been overrun by pop then say so, but you didn’t seem so quick to distance from country when you were living in Texas and using traditional country infrastructure to make a name for yourself.

I mean, didn’t Lone Star Music help fund your first two self-releases? Didn’t your appearance on the BBC’s Bob Harris Country help you get your name out there? How about you playing on the COUNTRY Throwdown tour this summer, with Hank Jr., Jamey Johnson, Eric Church, etc.? Didn’t you spend years on the bull riding circuit? It doesn’t get more country than that!

If you want to burn bridges, well hell man, don’t let me stand in your way, in fact I’ll light the torch myself! But I don’t want to see a Waylon Jennings album or a pearl snap shirt near your new hatless, Hollywood Heights scene, and don’t come crying back to me if Marc Ford and the rest of your LA good time buddies leave you high and dry. No country concept albums, no “reconnecting with your roots” projects in the future. You don’t want to be known as country, then fine. ITS OVER!!!

Have fun stroking your Oscar.

–Country.

Man it is fun to be spot on right. But let’s not bury the lead, that being that you can now listen to Justin Townes Earle’s new album Harlem River Blues in its entirety through NPR’s First Listen. These are not previews, this is every song, and they will be available until the release date of September 14th.

Since your lovable, huggable Triggerman is such a titan of the music world, I have a had a copy of this album for a few weeks now, and when I first heard it, all of my fears about the direction of Justin Townes’ music were realized. Since then I have warmed up to it a little more, but what I was hearing was JTE catering his sound to what I’ve characterized many times as the “NPR bumper music” crowd.

This was the inspiration for a story I wrote called NPR’s Adverse Effect on Country & Roots Music. I honestly had no idea at the time that NPR would be the advertising vehicle the JTE camp would use, but simply from just listening to the music, I could tell that is what they were aiming for. A quote from that article:

“Another (album) is Justin Townes Earle’s upcoming Harlem River Blues. I predict this album will be huge, even though there’s a good chance it will get a neutral, or even a negative review from me. There’s just no direct connection with the roots in his music any more. It has been cleansed for top NPR compatibility. As his press release reads, it’s “more mature” than his previous albums. Well I guess that makes me immature.”

And make no mistake, I am a Justin Townes Earle fan. I named his album Midnight at the Movies my Album of The Year last year. I’m a huge supporter of his label Bloodshot Records, and believe it or not, a supporter of NPR. It’s good that JTE and other artists have an outlet for their music through NPR. And it’s not that this album is bad, its just not what I go dumping my bucket into the JTE well for.

I will have a full review coming up soon, but in the meantime give a listen yourself and leave your thoughts below. I want to be wrong about this album, but as the release date marches closer, I just keep being proved right.

On Friday (8-27-10) I saw Ruby Jane Smith perform at The Kessler Theater in Dallas, TX. I was going to write a review for the show, and then write Ruby a fan letter because I was so moved by the performance. As I was writing the letter I noticed I was writing a quasi review as well, and so I decided to post it here in lieu of a traditional review.

Do yourself a favor if you haven’t already and check Ruby Jame out at www.therubyjaneshow.com, or better yet go to YouTube and do a search. As I said once before, you need Ruby Jane in your life.

Listen. I’m a man from Texas, and men from Texas are taught not to wear their emotions on their sleeve. But as simply as I can put it, you have touched my life in an indelible way. You have given me hope for the state of music and life in general where before there was only dejection.

I may be twice your age, but when I look at you, I look up. Music has been the passion of my life, and in 32 years, I have never been so moved as I have been by you and your music.

I saw you for the first time just two short months ago and was blown away, with very few criticisms I could draw from the performance. Somehow in such a short time and from such a lofty perch, with dedication and talent you were able to soar to even newer heights that I never thought would be possible, for any one of any age. And what makes my mind stir with rabid curiosity and wonder is what will the next two months bring, let alone two years, and a lifetime of musical expansion ahead of you.

This time the stage show was much more refined. It was wise for you not to show up on stage until it was time to play. Keep the audience tickled with anticipation until the music is ready to start. I also though you handled yourself on stage better. You talked less than the last time, though when you did talk you endeared yourself to the crowd with your humility and pureness. You’re more comfortable with your vocal style now, it comes more natural. And somehow you figured out how to take your violin playing up another notch, with your solos featuring even more blazing runs and attack, but still they were articulated with tremendous feeling.

Still I look at your music and wonder why I am so passionate about it, and I have come to realize that it has only partly to do with the music Ruby Jane. A lot of it has to do with you, as a person. There are many great musicians out there, many great songwriters and singers, many prodigies. But there’s only one Ruby Jane. The music is sort of like a spotlight. Life is so cluttered, and there’s so many people in the world that the beauty of the individual can so easily get lost. Your music says to people, “Hey, look at me,” but when they see you as a person, that is what creates such intrigue and delight, and what makes Ruby Jane an artist for the ages.

Since the history of mankind, humans have had a tendency to unrealistically romanticize that they live in the worst of times, whether they are referring to the economy, crime, culture, etc. So I don’t want to come across as too dramatic, but I will say that our world right now is severely lacking in young girls to look up to, especially in music. You are what the world needs right now Ruby Jane, and all you have to do to show thousands of little girls that is to be yourself. You don’t need to give any long speeches or public service announcements, you can prove to them how beautiful they can be if they insist on being themselves, and not what a hyper-commercial, oversexed society wants them to be.

I myself have said, “Ruby Jane was sent to earth by God to save country music.” But this is me putting my desires and expectations on to you. Ruby Jane was sent to earth to be Ruby Jane, and the reason that you have drawn the attention of so many so far is by being yourself, and being afforded through fortunate circumstances to follow your dreams.

Though you have to keep your humility, even when fans like me pump you up and throw all manner of compliments your way. You will have demons and failings, but you will learn from them. And we all can learn from you as well.

I sometimes wonder if adults and people your age frustrate you, if you see them doing things that are self-destructive and wonder, why? Its because if they’re not being themselves, a bottomless hole opens in their soul and insists on being filled. Bad things can fill that whole, but so can music, and music can inspire and fulfill and bring people back to where they belong. As much as I can write and promote music, I can never fill the hole myself. You can, and you do.

But of course you already know all of this Ruby, you’re so wise. It’s almost silly for others to try to give you advise. Instead we should try to step back and watch the flower bloom, and provide it with support and nourishment. Though advise should never be taken fleetingly or as an insult.

I’m a fighter Ruby, not a lover, which makes my wild passion for your music a little curious to many I’m sure, including myself. If they saw you perform live once though, they would understand. Videos and recordings do no justice. I will fight for you Ruby, that is my promise. And this is no charity. No amount of hours pecking at a keyboard could ever repay the amount of grace I have been afforded through the Ruby Jane experience.

And maybe I am more of a lover than I am willing to admit. Maybe your music has helped me realize that. Because the love and passion I have for you and your music is not normally what a fan would have for an artist, it is more the passion one would have for family. And I have a feeling most of your fans would say the same thing.

Thank you, Ruby.

Kyle “The Triggerman” Coroneos

Earlier this week it was announced that Omni Hotels would be participating in a new massive convention center project in downtown Nashville, and that this project would include an expansion of the Country Music Hall of Fame, doubling the size of the Hall. (You can read details of the project HERE).

Many music lovers and country music traditionalists are excited by the announcement. As much as many Nashville institutions such as Gaylord Entertainment and major labels are seen as robbers barons of the best music interests of Music City, the Hall of Fame has been an exception to the rule.

But some applauding the expansion have maybe forgotten where this convention center project started, and how we got to this point, specifically that another hall of fame, The Musician’s Hall of Fame, was eminent domained by the City of Nashville and bulldozed to make way for the new building. And that since the Musician’s HOF was only given 10 days to vacate, many of its antiquities were caught in the Nashville flood this Spring and destroyed.

Another interesting wrinkle to this story is that one of the reasons the Musician’s HOF and Nashville could not come to a buyout agreement before the building was bulldozed is because the operators of the Musician’s HOF said they were promised space in the new convention center where they could re-create the Hall, but later that proposal was pulled.

“We were told that they would provide us a place to go for free while the construction was goin’ on for the convention center for the next three years, and then we would move into the new convention center. They brought plans over, they had the plans drawn out for us.” says Joe Chambers, owner/operator of the Musician’s Hall.

At that time there was no mention of expanding the Country Music HOF as part of the convention center project. As much as I’m am happy to see such a large commitment to the Country Music HOF by Nashville through the convention center, it’s hard not to wonder if the dissolving of the offer to the Musicians HOF came about after the City approached the Country HOF to be part of the project, or vice versa.

And the Musician’s HOF isn’t the only one feeling wronged by the convention center project. The other jilted lover in this sticky game of city politics is none other than Gaylord Entertainment, Nashville’s second-largest employer, and right now the keyholder to the mother church of country music, The Ryman Auditorium, and WSM’s Grand Ole Opry.

They say politics makes strange bedfellows, and this was the case with opposition to the new convention center. Gaylord, not really known as a champion of the little guy, gave $8,500 to an organization called “Nashville’s Priorities” when the convention center was just a proposal. The group was constructed to fight the project, and by proxy, save the Musician’s HOF.

But Gaylord was being no steward of history. The reason Gaylord fought the new convention center is because at the time their Opryland convention center was the only big game in town. Nashville’s relationship with Omni was a direct threat to Gaylord’s convention revenue, which has caused a major strain between Nashville and one of its largest land owners and corporate citizens. (Read more about the reasons for the Nashville/Gaylord strained relationship and the implications).

Gaylord’s biggest beef is that public money will be used to build the convention center that Omni will profit from. Omni will also receive tax breaks from the city, with the idea that a new employer and new tax revenue from more conventions will in the long run benefit the city.

“Mayor Karl Dean is proposing that Metro government chip in some hefty incentives, including $103 million in tourism taxes over 20 years, $25 million in tax increment financing in 2011 and a partial abatement of 62.5 percent of Omni’s property taxes.”

So what does all this have to do with Saving Country Music?

The lower Broadway region of downtown Nashville is the last bastion of what Music City used to be. Large civic projects like the new convention center continue to gobble up landmarks and venue space that keeps the music in Music City. Furthermore strains in the relationship between Gaylord and Nashville could have long term implications on Nashville landmarks like the Grand Ole Opry. If Gaylord decides Nashville is no longer a good place to do business, they may start to sell off their properties in the downtown corridor, or restrain future projects, like reopening the Opryland Themepark.

Right now there is a war raging for the heart of Nashville, and the city-backed convention center is where the battle is being fought. The Country Music HOF expansion was likely brought up as a way to appease the grass roots concerns for the project. Though the idea sounds good, I will be a little speculative until we see just how this expansion fleshes out. And as for Gaylord, they could go a long way toward appeasing the grass roots themselves.

I had no idea what to expect when driving down into Dallas to see Willis Alan Ramsey perform. Information on the legendary, but somewhat reclusive songwriter is scant at best. No website, no calendar or social network sites to help. If you’re not religiously scanning the fine print of your local alternative newsweekly, and you don’t live in or near Texas, you’re likely to miss him.

And when you’re dealing with a singer/songwriter playing acoustic solo, especially when it is one known in many circles for his songs that other people performed, you never know what the quality of the performance is going to be. Is the show going to be built around the novelty of seeing this person perform their own songs live, with no real value in the performance itself? Fortunately with Ramsey, the performance had value–high value–vaulting his legend and his top shelf songs even higher into my musical ethos.

Willis Alan Ramsey’s legacy began in the mid-70′s Texas Outlaws music scene in Austin. His first and only 1972 self-titled album released on Leon Russell’s “Shelter” label became a thing of legend. It was the album Austin’s top musicians recommended to each other, with Waylon, Jimmy Buffet, Jerry Jeff Walker and others covering songs from the LP. His second album, whose release has been rumored for going on 40 years now, has become just as legendary, with ravished Ramsey fans craving more of the magic the first album delivered.

But no album has been released, codifying Ramsey’s mystique. At the same time Ramsey-penned songs have slowly creeped out into the public conciseness, songs like Lyle Lovett’s “North Dakota” and “That’s Right You’re Not From Texas,” teasing Ramsey nation that his songwriter heart was dormant, but not extinct.

Ramsey was first presented to me by Jan Reed’s definitive book on the Texas Outlaw scene, The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock as a reclusive, withdrawn songwriter conflicted by the music business. My curiosity pricked, I got a hold of his virtually unavailable album and drank the Kool-Aid whole.

Live Willis Alan Ramsey gives up nothing to any acoustic performer or signer/songwriter you can name. What surprised me most was his soul. On the album his voice is somewhere between Kermit the Frog and Kenny Rodgers, but especially at the beginning of his set, he was more Taj Mahal, with an ebony heart belting out ridiculously rich dirty muddy bloody blues. Ramsey plays guitar with a pick on his thumb, making occasional use of the harmonica harness and a glass slide. His fingerwork is entrancing, but the best part is the ragtime-era blues inflections he sings with and the way he uses his depth from the microphone to create stress and emphasis to the phrases, all while his foot taps the beat on the bottom of the mic stand.

If lack of long haul touring had allowed rust to form, I couldn’t tell, in his performance and in the stage banter and stories between songs. Though there was one rusty moment during his song “Northeast Texas Women” that turned into probably the most memorable moment of the night. Ramsey was born in Birmingham and now lives in Colorado, but Dallas can hold claim to him as much as any city. If you want to see Dale Watson, you must see him in Austin to get the full effect. You could make the same case for Ramsey in Dallas. And during his tribute to Dallas women he garbled the words, but the hometown crowd was right there to rally around him, singing him back on track until Poor David’s Pub was a virtual choir carrying the song made famous by Jimmy Buffet and Jerry Jeff Walker to the rafters.

Ramsey’s wife, singer/songwriter Alison Rogers (also a Dallas native) spelled him between sets and is an enigma of her own. She was admittedly rusty, but delivered solid performances and later joined Willis on harmonies. Alison has a very intriguing air to her. She has eyes the size of Cajun tires, and just by looking at her there’s something that makes you think that in 15 minutes she could impart enough wisdom to you to make you cry. My guess is in her day she left men dead in her wake.

Willis Alan Ramsey may only have one album to his credit, but he had plenty of material, even with leaving possibly his best known song “Muskrat Candlelight” (turned into the hit “Muskrat Love” by America and Captain & Tennille) on the bench. He played until 12:30, nearly three hours of music and banter, until Poor David’s Pub felt like a living room and a private concert.

Two guns up!

On Thursday (8-26), former body double, current heartfelt songwriter, and overall general badass Tonya Watts will be chatting LIVE with YOU, if you so choose. The deal will go down at 7 PM time of the Central persuasion, in the live chat room of www.am1670.org. This will all transpire during the airing of the Highwaywoman Radio Show starring Brigitte London, and this episode will include an interview with Miss Tonya as well.

Among other things you could discuss with Tonya might be her upcoming California tour dates, which include a reunion of the quasi supergroup “It Came From Nashville” that includes Tonya, Waylon Payne, Travis Howard, and Austin Hanks.

Looks like I’m a step behind this story, but apparently country star Clay Walker has joined a growing list of artists sideways with country label Curb Records. That list includes heavy hitters Leanne Rimes, perfume magnate Tim McGraw, and the Hank Williams legacy of Hank Williams Jr. and Hank III.

Just like with Tim McGraw and Leanne Rimes, Walker disapproves with how Curb packages and releases music among other things. Curb’s attempt is to boost sales, but releasing previous material along with new material in a non-cohesive manner confuses fans and makes artists look like money grubbers.

Clay’s most recent album She Won’t Be Lonely Long was released on June 8th, but in February, in a very unusual move, Curb released a five song EP with the same exact name, which included two new songs and three old ones from his previous album Fall.

When interviewed by CMT, Clay said “That’s a pretty sore subject with me. I just try to avoid talking about it.” But as the interview went on, Clay let slide some hints of where his problems with Curb lie. “The only thing that strikes me is that we need to get more music out quicker to the fans,” says Walker, who had to wait 3 years between the Fall and She Won’t Be Lonely Long releases, not including the clumsy EP project. Part of the problem was a producer change in the middle of recording. Tim McGraw and Hank III have also battled Curb over timely release of their material.

Another beef has to do with single releases. Clay asserted that a track he wrote himself called “Summertime Song” would have been a better single, but Curb released “Where Do I Go From You” instead. “There can only be one boss,” Clay said, “and we know who that is. But it’s OK. That’s the way it goes.”

Clay also hinted that music gets “manipulated” by Curb, and that all the he can contribute that doesn’t get manipulated is the song structure and words.

“You still have to write great songs for people to live with. It’s something that can’t be manipulated. You can manipulate music with Pro Tools. You can manipulate voices. But you cannot manipulate words. They are what they are. And the melody is what it is. So the song’s the only thing that’s non-changing in our business.”

Clay does give credit to Curb for their “promotional muscle,” but in what appears to be a three year running battle, Curb has figured out how to get sideways with yet another one of its superstars.

Organizers are working on plans for original country music Outlaw Billy Joe Shaver to be honored by Corsicana, TX, the town he was born in.

Tentative plans include renaming a portion of the street Billy Joe grew up on in Corsicana to “Billy Joe Shaver Way,” as well as adding a prominent “Billy Joe Shaver Way” exit off of Interstate 45. Shaver’s dad left before he was born, and so his grandmother would watch him while his mother traveled to Waco for work. Corsicana is where he received his “8th Grade education” made famous by his hit “Georgia On A Fast Train.” (Shaver dropped out to pick cotton with his uncles.)

There’s also plans for a Billy Joe “Appreciation Day,” tentatively set for Tuesday, October 12, with “several Texas and some out of state artists who have agreed to appear.”

Billy Joe’s 2002 album Freedom’s Child includes a song called Corsicana Daily Sun in which Billy Joe recalls leaving his grandmother’s side, and later reminisces about the simple pleasures of Corsicana life.

*****UPDATE*****UPDATE*****UPDATE*****

AJ, whose been a big help with this story, just posted some additional info in the comments:

“This was the brainchild of Kris Smith, music writer for the Navarro County Times. She also said they would likely have an unveiling of the I45 signs around 4:00 in the afternoon, and then a tribute concert beginning at 6:30 (on Oct 12th, 2010).

James G. Odom said, “Billy will be there. He seemed to get a big lift when I told him about it Friday. The show will be acoustic, and participants will sing Shaver songs only. No one is being paid. Whether Billy plays is purely up to him.”

Please note: These events are still being planned and organized so details might change in the future. I’ll try to keep everyone updated when times, places, and people are set in stone.