Zach Aaron

Zach Aaron is absolutely new to me but I really like this track and will be checking him out in greater detail. The album has great reviews:

Lead track, I think, Hold The Line:



The album, his third, is Fill Dirt Wanted and quoting Paul Kerr from his review:

Recorded in Oklahoma, the album finds Aaron seeking succour from that old Okie, Woody Guthrie while maintaining a fine Texas voice with songs reminiscent of Guy Clark, Willie Nelson and Terry Allen. Recorded live straight to tape with a small ensemble, there’s a vibrancy to the songs which range from humorous talking blues to songs addressing the human condition and its attendant woes. Throughout the album, Aaron shines, his voice honest and earnest, an engineer of the human soul.

Praise indeed - and Zach obviously has a sense of humour going by the cover:

Lockdown Streaming Concert - Billy Bragg, Indigo Girls, Mary Chapin Carpenter and many more.

I hope this link works as this looks absolutely superb, I have signed up and from what I can work out starts at 10pm UK time

https://www.facebook.com/events/1692701624206287/

 

Little Steven - Full Concert

I am a massive long time Little Steven fan, how people get these things I do not know but hope you enjoy!

SCM - Artist of the week #2 - Faith Hill

Next up for the SCM is Faith Hill. She was one of my first introductions to Country Music especially This Kiss. Saw her co headline with hubby Tim McGraw at C2C, I was less than impressed with Tim who in my opinion was "tired and emotional".

Bob Dylan, New Album - Rough and Ready Ways

Bob Dyland has announced a new album of self penned material for the first time in 8 years. Details are pretty scant at the moment but I should imagine the personnel are in the main the touring band from the Never Ending Tour, mainstays Tony Garnier and Charlie Sexton certainly.

Dylan has"dropped" 3 tracks so far including the outstanding Murder Most Foul, and it bodes reasonably well....unlikely to gain much in the way of new fans but as always I am looking forward to it. A welcome change to the Bootleg sessions which for me have become a little stale since the outstanding Vol 8 Tell Tall Tales.







Update:

Sneak peek of the artwork. Rumour is Murder Most Foul will have a side / lp of it's own.

Songs for VE Day

I don't have much more to say that isn't said here, let us all hope the horrors of war are in the past. Peace to you all.

https://www.veteransgateway.org.uk/?msclkid=fa518c5a8bab15486287d2efa2b65e9e&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=MK%20-%20Bing%20-%20Veterans%20Gateway%20-%20BAU%20-%20UK%20Generic%20-%20Prospecting&utm_term=help%20for%20veterans%20uk&utm_content=Help%20for%20Veterans&gclid=CJj6udj8o-kCFVDcGwodukYHHg&gclsrc=ds

Brothers Osborne Lockdown Gig

The Brothers Osborne are going to be live  streaming a gig next Thursday May 14 at 2:30pm CDT which I think will be 7:30pm UK time, should be worth checking out. I think you have to join the fan club The Family which I think is free, or at least to a certain level free.

Check it out on facebook if you are interested.

Lucinda Williams - Good Souls Better Angels

I don't really know where you start with Lucinda Williams, amazing songwriter, great singer, maverick, punk, rocker....the Iggy pop of Americana!

Thank you to Mike Ritchie for most of this post. Mike presents a great show on Celtic Music Radio on a Sunday, always starting with a Neil Young track and playing outstanding music. Mike is alos a stalwart of the live music scene in Glasgow and beyond.

http://www.celticmusicradio.net

I would encourage you to check his show out, I am sure you wont regret it.

 The lastest release by Lucinda is described as a "tough and vivid and tender release" and I will just quote Mike below:

This gruff and gritty, rough and tough, politically-charged 12-track album - with trademark shards of tenderness and hope - muscles and hustles its way in to the already-impressive Lucinda Williams' catalogue stretching back some 40 years.

It is timely and offers a base for plenty of discussion as she rails against the unfairness life stirs up, a bombardment of global dangers, domestic abuse, family heartaches, tapping all the while into her love of Robert Johnson songs and Delta blues' power to marvellous effect.

Produced in Nashville by Ray (Car Wheels On A Gravel Road co-producer) Kennedy, her 15th album is strengthened infinitely by the quality co-writing that the triple Grammy-Award winner has enjoyed with husband/manager, Tom Overby. This is something she "always dreamed of - a relationship with someone I could create with."

We're not taken back to her childhood this time round as Williams is focused on tackling in song a world she sees as falling apart. Typically, she never writes obliquely or without candour: the difficulties are confronted, the guilty lambasted - the US president gets a mauling in Man Without A Soul.

Yet, unsurprisingly, the hard-times' songs are stamped with her own brand of real regret plus a never-far-from-the-surface dream of things getting better, as stoutly declared on the gorgeous groove of When The Way Gets Dark: "Don't give up / you have a reason to carry on."

With touring band Stuart Mathis (guitar), David Sutton (bass) and Butch Norton on drums it was inevitable the album would sound live and each player gets plenty of space to excel, complementing Williams' ragged and dusty vocals that seem to be swept into place at all the right moments.
Bad News Blues and Bone Of Contention swagger like hell but switch to Pray The Devil and you'll encounter a track shrouded by a Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds' brooding vibe shattered only by Mathis' fiery guitar.

Williams tackles depression on Big Black Train. The pace drops, her voice cracks like she's not going to reach the end of the verse and her intuitive band cushion her pain. Melancholy is commandeered gloriously again on Shadows And Doubts, which addresses the growing pitfalls of social media engagement.

The lady from Louisiana expertly navigates the album with verve, subtlety and a glow all of her own yielding potent, gutsy outbursts and signature, low-key, affecting tracks like the final song, Good Souls, where she implores: "Keep me with all of those / who help me find strength / when I'm feeling hopeless / who guide me along /and help me stay strong and fearless." 

Strong and fearless is a description that fits Lucinda Williams perfectly on this raw and vivid collection.

With Ray Kennedy producing (check out his work with Steve Earle which I will be posting on soon, and the craft of Lucinda it is hard to see where it could go wrong and this album does not disappoint.

And from the magnificent Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

SCM - Artist of the week #1 - Ashley McBryde

Never one to let a good idea pass me by (plagiarism I think it is called) over on facebook a group of fans have a "Scottish Country Mafia" page which discusses country music, gigs etc. It is a good page with lots of people way more knowledgeable about Country music than me.

They have an artist of the week so on an occasional post I will simply copy some of their shares.

First up is Ashley McBryde who I do not know an awful lot about except to say she has done it the hard way as far as I can make out, working her way up through the industry. Her albums have grown in confidence and popularity and I saw her described as someone who makes "brutal honesty sound as bright as hell*. Her signature songs, "Girl Goin' Nowhere," and the excellent"American Scandal".
 which is an absolute favourite.

Due to lack of knowledge I wont say too much more but here are some of her  tracks which I hope you enjoy:

Get It On #2 - Songs for troubled times UPDATED!! Theme change

Very topical theme tonight on get It On. Probably something that has been on most peoples minds recently, troubled times indeed and I for one am worried at the apparent rush to relax the "rules" but that is not a debate for here.

So songs for troubled times....Bruce has ben writing consistently about "troubles" and making searing social commentary more than any other main stream artist, from My City of Ruins, How Can a poor man stand such times and live, we take care of our own, long walk home, hey blue eyes, 41 shots, devils and dust, rocky road....and that is just the start.

Watch the spike lee film on New Orleans and Katrina if you can, it is different but I see so many parallels where the poor, the elderly and infirm and the minority groups are being disproportionately affected by this crisis



However lets be positive and uplifting here is Bruce with a song of hope and redemption - rise up people we need it!



Bonus track make of it what you will



UPDATE

They changed the theme, it is now happy songs to make you sing along. Not to worry I stuck with the Boss:



Gie it laldy!!

Get It On #1 - Songs which reference books.

I thought a good idea, one which I should have done before, would be to mirror suggestions I make to BBC Scotland Get In On show. If you don't know thw format is a theme every night Mon-Thursday. I have been contributing for years and this should give a good flavor of the kind of things I like I suppose.

First up is "songs which reference books". The obvious is the Bible but I am up with two of my all time favourite artists, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie.



I am not sure if there is an official video for this track, I happen not to like the version with Tom Morello as I find his guitar really intrusive and the song is taken from a moody reflective piece to a bit of not very good stadium rock. In my opinion of course.

Bowie is, well 80's Bowie in this one but I love it:





Bonus track!

Josh Ritter Silo Sessions - Covers Night and Lady Gaga!

I managed to catch the Josh Ritter silo session last night which was excellent, really intimate and he always has a lovely with him, his joy of music shines out. Donations were for a US Foodbank which is fantastic.

Amongst his cover versions was a Lady Gaga song called You and I which was outstanding, I find her a bit of an enigma, amongst all the weird (to me) dressing up there is a fantastic singer and sensitive songwriter in there.

Anyway....hopefully there will be a couple of clips put up which I can share and in the meantime here are a couple of Josh tracks, and Lady gaga!

Songs for the Lockdown #1 - Trouble Came Looking For Me, Ricky Ross

None of these tracks will be specifically about the current covid / lockdown situation. I am not making a particular political point. But people are hurting, livelihoods are ruined, physically and mental health affected and families bereaved in the most awful circumstances.

I would like to post some songs from my favourite artists which resonate with me at this time.

I will start with Ricky Ross and the title track from his outstanding album Trouble Come Looking. I will not make much comment on these, perhaps a lyric or two:



Keep a watch out for things you never can see......

Blue Rose Code Water of Leith

Ross Wilson, aka Blue Rose Code, has new material coming out soon with the single Starlit being played along with some chat tonight on Another Country with Ricky Ross.

To my absolute shame I went to a great gig in Biggar with a couple of good friends, and although I had seen him a couple of times before it was a special night as Ross was living and recording in Biggarat the time. Anyway I dutifully bought the Water of Leith  lp and couldn't wait to play it, but it got caught up in some general madness at the time and by co-incidence I dug it out at the weekend and it is even better than I recalled, highly recommended.

I think he is fairly unique with a blend of folk, country, celtic and rock. Reminds me of some of Van's best material - but different.

I hope you like these tracks, the whole album is just so....evocative.

Josh Ritter - Silo Session Tonight Cover Versions

Josh Ritter has been doing some great lockdown sets, inventively entitled Silo Sessions. His ltest album is excellent as always and produced by Jason Isbell.

Tonight at midnight UK time he is performing cover versions and it promised to be a great listen. All his donations go to charity.

Hopefully this link should get you there:

https://www.facebook.com/joshrittermusic/videos/512162679738604/