Thursday Morning Mix

July 29, 2010

Scott Foley

Good Stuff aplenty on this episode of TMM. If you squint your eyes and ears and have a couple sips beforehand, sometimes Bobby Bare Jr sounds a bit like a raggedy Elton John. A Storm A Tree My Mother's Head actually sounds nothing like Tumbleweed Connection or even Too Low For Zero (possibly the first Elton John album I ever owned), but it could be Bare Jr's most mature release to date. Having said that, A Storm does feature songs "Your Goat is On Fire" and "Liz Taylor's Lipstick Gun," so ...

I'll be out from behind the mic next Thursday, which is too bad since Ronnie Fauss will stop by the studio to chat with my sub. I'll be making my first return trip to sweet, sweet Oregon since turning my back two and a half years ago. If I was a real americanite, I'd jettison my dislike of crowds and spend a day at this year's stellar Pickathon festival.

* Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, "Hello New Day" No More Beautiful World (EmmaJaya, 07)
* Justin Townes Earle, "Harlem River Blues" Harlem River Blues (Bloodshot, 10)
* Bill Kirchen w/Nick Lowe, "Shelly's Winter Love" Word To the Wise (Proper, 10)
* Larkin Poe, "Long Hard Fall" Spring an EP (DefPig, 10)
* Backyard Tire Fire, "Roadsong #39" Good To Be (Self, 09)
* Los Lobos, "Tin Can Trust" Tin Can Trust (Shout, 10)
* David Baerwald, "Compassion" Here Comes the New Folk Underground (Lost Hwy, 02)
* Will Sexton, "Move the Balance" Move the Balance (Self, 10)
* Mat D, "Resurrection Cadillac" Plank Road Drag (Self, 10)
* Chase Fifty Six, "Goodbye Princess" Allatoona Rising (Dirt Leg, 10)
* Paper Bird, "Colorado" When the River Took Flight (Self, 10)
* Chatham County Line, "Saturdays & Sundays" Wildwood (Yep Roc, 10)
* Robert Plant, "Angel Dance" Band of Joy (Rounder, 10)
* Crooked Fingers, "Black Rose" Reservoir Songs Vol 2 (Foreign Leisure, 10)
* Jessi Alexander, "Make Me Stay or Make Me Go" Honeysuckle Sweet (Columbia, 05)
* Sahara Smith, "Are You Lonely" Myth of the Heart (Playing in Traffic, 10)
* Ronnie Fauss, "Pistols in the Air" New Songs From the Old Frontier Vol 1 (FTG, 09)
^ Bobby Bare Jr, "Rock and Roll Halloween" A Storm A Tree My Mother's Head (Naked Albino, 10)
* David Jacobs-Strain, "West County Rain" Terraplane Angel (Self, 10)
* Blue Giant, "Run Rabbit Run" Blue Giant (Vanguard, 10)
* Seth Walker, "Lay Down (River of Faith)" Leap of Faith (Hyena, 09)
* Tift Merritt, "Never Talk About It" See You on the Moon (Fantasy, 10)
* Luke Doucet, "Ballad of Ian Curtis" Steel City Trawler (Six Shooter, 10)
* Ray Lamontagne, "Beg Steal & Borrow" God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise (RCA, 10)
* Fox Hunt, "Get Back Home" Long Way to Go (Self, 10)
* Mic Harrison, "The Only Road" Push Me On Home (Self, 08)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX

July 22, 2010

Scott Foley

I like the guys in Chase Fifty Six. I like the fact that they responded so promptly to my emailed request for a copy of their new Allatoona Rising CD after I discovered it via a post on the Nine Bullets weblog. I like the fact that, minutes after I debuted the excellent song "Mary Jane" on TMM, they shot me an email of gratitude. Jeez. They even posted fifty-five seconds of today's show on their website and their MySpace. More than that, I like the fact that Chase Fifty Six make good music.

I can't imagine Train would do the same if I were to become the three-thousandth terrestrial show to give their "Hey Soul Sister" some radio love. 'Course, I know better than to go there.

Just one of the reasons why focusing on our kind of music is still enjoyable and rewarding, even in a time when so much else is becoming less and less personable. I only wish the guys from Chase Fifty Six would've applied some digital magic to make me sound less like a fumbling dork on their radio capture ...

Not that I've ever heard any thanks from Emmylou for playing her music. Or Elizabeth Cook. Wouldn't mind hearing from Elizabeth Cook ...

"The drought is over. The lakes are rising. The shack is hot, sweaty, cramped and loud. But there’s always room for one more.

Come on in."

* Dave Gleason, "The San Joaquin" Turn and Fade (326 Records, 10)
* Derailers, "Genuine" Genuine (Lucky Dog, 03)
* Gordie Tentrees, "Alfred" Mercy or Sin (Self, 10)
* Elizabeth Cook, "All the Time" Welder (31 Tigers, 10)
* Mavis Staples, "You Are Not Alone" You Are Not Alone (Anti, 10)
* Billy Bragg & Wilco, "Hoodoo Voodoo" Mermaid Avenue (Elektra, 98)
^ Chase Fifty Six, "Mary Jane" Allatoona Rising (Dirt Leg, 10)
* Bobby Bare Jr, "Sad Smile" A Storm A Tree My Mother's Head (Naked Albino, 10)
* Elliott BROOD, "Second Son" Ambassador (Six Shooter, 05)
* Calexico, "Crystal Frontier (live)" Live in Nuremberg (Quarterstick, 10)
* Mike & Ruthy, "Who's Who" Million to One (Humble Abode, 10)
* Peter Case, "Somebody Told the Truth" Wig! (Yep Roc, 10)
* Jimmy Webb w/Mark Knopfler, "Highwayman" Just Across the River (E1, 10)
* Mumford & Sons, "White Blank Page" Sigh No More (Self, 10)
* Anne McCue, "Broken Promise Land" Broken Promise Land (Flying Machine, 10)
* Rose' Pawn Shop, "Dancing on the Gallows" Dancing on the Gallows (Self, 10)
* Scott H Biram, "Wreck My Car" Dirty Old One Man Band (Bloodshot, 05)
* Blue Giant, "Blue Sunshine" Blue Giant (Vanguard, 10)
* Frazey Ford, "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" Obadiah (Nettwerk, 10)
* Paul Thorn, "Weeds in My Roses" Pimps and Preachers (Perpetual Obscurity, 10)
* Emmylou Harris, "Wheels" Elite Hotel (Reprise, 75)
* Mountain Men, "How'm I Doin'" Made the Harbor (Parisan, 10)
* Robin Pecknold, "Be Yourself" Be Yourself (Grass Roots, 10)
* Jim Lauderdale, "Good Together" Patchwork River (New West, 10)
* Amelia Curran, "The Dozens" Hunter Hunter (Six Shooter, 10)
* Mat D, "Ribbon of Dirt" Plank Road Drag (Self, 10)
* Jimmie Dale Gilmore, "Thinking About You" Spinning Around the Sun (Elektra, 93)

Thursday Morning Mix

July 15, 2010

Scott Foley

Is there a more distinctive voice in americana than Frazey Ford? The only one that comes close is her former Be Good Tanya, Jolie Holland. Yet Ford's debut solo CD proves more cohesive and complete than any of Holland's albums. She also demonstrates a good amount of soul throughout Obadiah.

Also on this Episode, we wonder at the fates of two other artists. Why hasn't Amy Cook (produced by Alejandro Escovedo) caught on with our kind of radio? And how did Alejandro Escovedo himself finally make it to the top of the airplay charts?

* Cadillac Sky, "Tired Old Phrases" Letters in the Deep (Dualtone, 10)
* Buddy & Julie Miller, "Holding Up the Sky" Buddy & Julie Miller (Hightone, 01)
* Shannon McNally, "Lovely" Coldwater (Self, 09)
* Rose's Pawn Shop, "Danger Behind the Wheel" Dancing on the Gallows (Self, 10)
^ Frazey Ford, "One More Cup of Coffee" Obadiah (Nettwerk, 10)
* Bap Kennedy, "Last Adventure" Howl On (Lonely St, 09)
* Justin Townes Earle, "Harlem River Blues" Harlem River Blues (Bloodshot, 10)
* Pieta Brown, "Shake" One and All (Red House, 10)
* Alejandro Escovedo, "Down in the Bowery" Street Songs of Love (Fantasy, 10)
* Cindy Bullens, "Love Gone Good" Howling Trains & Barking Dogs (MC, 10)
* Amy Cook, "I Wanna Be Your Marianne" Let the Light In (Self, 10)
* David Childers & the Modern Don Juans, "Little Summertime Girl" Burning in Hell (Little King, 07)
* Matt the Electrician, "Got Your Back" Animal Boy (Self, 09)
* Mike & Ruthy, "Covered" Million to One (Humble Abode, 10)
* Tim Barry, "Will Travel" 28th & Stonewall (Suburban Home, 10)
* Old 97s, "Rocks Off" Mimeograph EP (New West, 10)
* Delta Spirit, "Salt in the Wound" History From Below (Rounder, 10)
* Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, "Kiss Before I Go" Jacksonville City Nights (Lost Hwy, 05)
* Anne McCue, "Don't Go To Texas (Without Me)" Broken Promise Land (Flying Machine, 10)
* Justin Rutledge, "Heart of a River" Early Widow (Six Shooter, 10)
* Guthrie Kennard, "Streets of Juarez" Matchbox (Rango, 10)
* Howe Gelb, "Cowboy Boots on Cobble Stone" Alegrias (Self, 10)
* Robbie Fulks, "Georgia Hard" Georgia Hard (Yep Roc, 05)
* John Mellencamp, "No Better Than This" No Better Than This (Rounder, 10)
* Eilen Jewell, "I'm a Honky Tonk Girl" Butcher Holler: Tribute to Loretta Lynn (Signature Sounds, 10)
* Sahara Smith, "Real Thing" Myth of the Heart (Playing in Traffic, 10)
* Harley Dean, "Hellbent on Lovin' You" Brighter Days (Self, 10)
* Mollie O'Brien & Rich Moore, "Ghost of You Walks" Saints & Sinners (Remington Rd, 10)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX
July 8, 2010
Scott Foley

My hard drive collapsed this week, disproving my theory that I could function independently of my laptop. My weekly habit is to store up songs and downloads for the week, then burn a CD the morning of TMM. To my knowledge, they're still there, dormant, awaiting their wake-up call on my ineffective hard drive.

Which doesn't mean that I didn't offer anything new on this Episode. I sat on Frontier Ruckus for quite some time (I don't really know why), but unleashed it here, as well as a nice new Luke Doucet (which does an impressive job of being an americana tribute to Ian Curtis that sounds a bit like a rootsy Joy Division). I didn't take immediate radio action on Delta Spirit for a couple weeks, either, but really enjoy their sound. Props to anyone who can come up with an effective name for the sort of indie rock/alt.country racket played by folks such as these (and Blitzen Trapper, et al.). My best effort so far: Neck-beard rock ...

Thursday Morning Mix: Featuring the best of americana, alt.country, roots music and neck-beard rock.


* Honeycutters, "On My Mind" Irene (Buttons Down, 09)
* Tallest Man on Earth, "Drying of the Lawns" Wild Hunt (Dead Oceans, 10)
* Becky Schlegel, "Colorado Line" Dandelion (IGO, 10)
* Mystiqueros, "You've Got a Way" Agave (Blue Boot, 10)
* Dave Gleason, "Turn and Fade" Turn and Fade (326 Records, 10)
* Townes Van Zandt, "Tecumseh Valley" For the Sake of the Song (Rhino, 68)
* Frontier Ruckus, "Nerves of the Nightmind" Deadmalls & Nightfalls (Ramseur, 10)
* Chatham County Line, "Ghost of Woody Guthrie" Wildwood (YepRoc, 10)
* Fred Eaglesmith, "Careless" Cha Cha Cha (Lonesome Day, 10)
* Les Sampou, "My My My" Lonesomeville (Self, 10)
* Dovekins, "Golden Pennies" Assemble the Aviary (Self, 10)
* Boxmasters, "Sylvia's Mother" Twistable Turnable Man (Sugar Hill, 10)
* Tom Russell w/Dave Alvin, "Blue Wing (live)" Veteran's Day (Hightone, 08)
* Luke Doucet, "Ballad of Ian Curtis" Steel City Trawler (Six Shooter, 10)
* Eilen Jewell, "Fist City" Butcher Holler: Tribute to Loretta Lynn (Signature Sounds, 10)
* Mike Stinson, "Ashes of a Dream" Jukebox in Your Heart (Stag, 10)
* Sara Petite, "Magnolia" Doghouse Rose (Self, 10)
* Delta Spirit, "Scarecrow" History From Below (Rounder, 10)
* Shinyribs, "East TX Rust" Well After Awhile (Nine Mile, 10)
* Ray Lamontagne, "Beg Steal & Borrow" God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise (RCA, 10)
* Amelia Curran, "Hands On a Grain of Sand" Hunter Hunter (Six Shooter, 10)
* Marah, "Broke Down Wagon" Life is a Problem (Valley Farm, 10)
* Nora Jane Struthers, "Greenbriar County" Nora Jane Struthers (Blue Pig, 10)
* Paul Thorn, "I Don't Like Half the Folks I Love" Pimps and Preachers (Perpetual Obscurity, 10)
* Kevin Welch, "Midnight and Noon" Patch of blue Sky (Music Road, 10)
* John Henrys, "Stars Align" White Linen (9lb, 10)
* John Mellencamp, "Coming Down the Road" No Better Than This (Rounder, 10)

THURSDAY MORNING MIX

July 1, 2010
Scott Foley

Two Golden State artists offer new albums on this Episode: Dave Gleason and Mike Stinson. Of the former, Dave Alvin waxes, "If Dave Gleason walks into the room, I set my guitar down." The songs on both releases feature a timeless quality. Gleason's Turn and Fade favors a more country-rock groove, while Stinson's Jukebox in Your Heart sounds like a honky-tonk record from anytime in the past forty years (actually, Stinson has since relocated to Houston, TX, tho his sound remains firmly in California ...).

Also debuting on this Episode, Howe Gelb's attempt at transplanting flamenco music into the Arizona desert, and a promising, stark recording from north of the border in Amelia Curran.

* I See Hawks in LA, "Byrd From West Virginia" Shoulda Been Gold: 2001-2009 (American Beat, 09)
* Jeff Tweedy, Roger McGuinn and Jay Bennett, "James Alley Blues (live)" Harry Smith Connection (Smithsonian, 98)
* Chatham County Line, "Crop Comes In" Wildwood (Yep Roc, 10)
* Gurf Morlix, "Madalyn's Bones" Diamonds To Dust (Blue Corn, 07)
* Sally Spring, "Mentone Alabama" Made of Stars (Sniffinpup, 10)
* Norman, "Hay Hay Make a Wish" Hay Hay Make a Wish (Timber Carnival, 10)
* Mollie O'Brien & Rich Moore, "New Boots" Saints & Sinners (Remington Rd, 10)
* The Beauties, "You and Me" The Beauties (Six Shooter, 10)
* Son Volt, "Jukebox of Steel" American Central Dust (Rounder, 09)
* Howe Gelb, "Uneven Light of Day" Alegrias (Self, 10)
* 30Db, "Lick #6" One Man Show (Sci Fidelity, 10)
* Eilen Jewell, "Man I Hardly Know" Butcher Holler: Tribute to Loretta Lynn (Signature Sounds, 10)
^ Mike Stinson, "Other Side of the Blues" Jukebox in Your Heart (Stag, 10)
* Drive-by Truckers, "Day John Henry Died" Dirty South (New West, 04)
* Jimmy Webb w/Lucinda Williams, "Galveston" Just Across the River (E1, 10)
* Stone River Boys, "Love On the Dial" Love On the Dial (Cow Island, 10)
* Cindy Bullens, "Misty Hills of Tennessee" Howling Trains & Barking Dogs (MC, 10)
* Mark Olson, "Wind and Rain" Many Colored Kite (Ryko, 10)
* James McMurtry, "Peter Pan" It Had to Happen (Sugar Hill, 97)
* Amelia Curran, "Bye Bye Montreal" Hunter Hunter (Six Shooter, 10)
* Sunny Sweeney, "From a Table Away" internet single (Republic, 10)
* Dave Gleason, "Radio 1965" Turn and Fade (326 Records, 10)
* Old Californio, "Mother Road" Westering Again (Self, 09)
* Jason Isbell, "Cigarettes & Wine (acoustic)" Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit (Lightning Rod, 09)
* Susan Cowsill, "Dragon Flys" Lighthouse (Threadhead, 10)
* Larry Jon Wilson, "Heartland" Larry Jon Wilson (Drag City, 09)