For now the second time in a row and in as many years, Melissa Carper and her cohorts have crafted an exquisite work of audio goodness that mesmerizes with its wayback sound and style, stealing you to a simpler era in music when everything made more sense, and the foundations of music were set.
An important subset of the country/roots revolution we’re currently enjoying is women who are fearlessly hearkening back to the very earliest times of American music before it was all corrupted by fads and financial incentives. This is where Sierra Ferrell has found fertile ground, and so has Melissa Carper.
The fate of the sideman in music is one of always playing second fiddle to the big star. But one of the things we love about the other players in a country band is they generally don’t care. Though many times they do an equal share, if not the majority of the heavy lifting for the music, they’re just fine blending into the background.
The Carper Family is at it again with a brand new album called Old-Fashioned Gal, and it’s a family affair featuring The Carper Family troika of Melissa Carper, Beth Crisman, and Jenn Miori, right beside some of the brightest talents of Austin, TX’s old-school country scene. The Carper Family girls can shift from Western Swing, old-school country, folk, covers and originals, embellishing it all with exquisite three-part harmony.
The Carper Family illustrates the unfair, unreasonable amount of talent, and specifically female talent, that can be found in Austin, TX on any given night. And that is what The Carper Family does; they are a working, local band, playing many nights a week at various Austin venues. Back When proves that this local band deserves more national, and international attention.
For the last 6 years, Wayne “The Train” Hancock playing Austin, TX’s legendary Continental Club on Thanksgiving Night has slowly morphed into a full blown tradition. Though Wayne is based out of Austin, he plays in town maybe twice a year, keeping his A-Town appearances exclusive, and special. Opening this year was the greatness of Lucky Tubb with His Modern Day Troubadours.
As we speak, Lucky Tubb is in the studio recording his new album, and when I spoke to him at The Cash Bash, he gave me some hints of what he’s working on, including a duet with the legendary Wayne “The Train” Hancock. “Me and Wayne Hancock are going into the studio next week and […]
It was one of those times when I had to reach over and pinch myself: here I was interviewing none other than Wayne “The Train” Hancock. It went down behind The Mesa Theater in Grand Junction, CO on 7-12-09 as part of Johny Wrong’s First Annual Hootenanny (to read the review of the show click […]