ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

November 16, 2013

Scott Foley

list of things to do: 

Americana Holiday  (Sat 12/21)
Mix Holiday  (Mon  12/23)
Americana Favorites  (Sat 12/28)
Mix Favorites  (Mon 12/30)
Colorado Favorites  (Mon 1/6)

 ... and there you have it.  Please add these to your calendar, your social media and whatnot, and make sure to tune in with a warm eggnog and a good friend (or a good eggnog and a warm friend) to wrap up your 2013.  Time will tell if I can fill 5 hours with quality Colorado music from 2013 ...  My expectation for the Monday Mix shows is to do the countdowny thing from 3-6 (pm, mountains time). 

But, hey.  I did manage to play 6 Canadians in a row to start out this Episode of R&B.  So that's possible.

After spending some time with Blue Rodeo's new record, a couple things come to mind:  1) Geez, these guys must be really old; and, 2) Why did Blue Rodeo never really break into the country that put the "american" into americana?  With In Our Nature, Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor verge on nearly 3 decades of performance, including more than a dozen albums, a place in Canada's Music Hall of Fame, and at least 11 Juno awards.  Like the more celebrated Louris/Olson, the Keelor/Cuddy team writes sparkling, clean pop music that just happens to demonstrate a rootsy bent.  The opener, "New Morning Sun" brings to mind mid-period Jackson Browne, while tunes like "Tell Me Again" smack more of the deep roots of our kind of music. Blue Rodeo have had a squeaky-clean sound for years, largely free of dust and dirt, a sound that hasn't seen the garage for perhaps 30 years.  Still, an album like In Our Nature stands as a reminder that Blue Rodeo deserves a good deal of credit for the long-ago development of the americana and alt.country sound.  All it takes is a quick listen to "Tell Me Again" or "Mattawa" to remind me. 

^  Blue Rodeo, "Tell Me Again"  In Our Nature  (TeleSoul, 13)
*  Tony Dekker, "Talking In Your Sleep"  Prayer of the Woods  (Nettwerk, 13)
*  Lynn Miles, "Million Brilliant"  Downpour  (Lynn Miles, 13)  D
*  Deep Dark Woods, "Red Red Rose"  Jubilee  (Sugar Hill, 13)
*  Fred Eaglesmith, "Train Wreck"  Tambourine  (Self, 13)  D
*  Sadies, "Leave the World Behind"  Internal Sounds  (Yep Roc, 13)
*  Wanda Jackson w/Shooter Jennings, "In the Cold Cold Night"  Rockin' Legends Pay Tribute to Jack White  (Cleopatra, 13)  D
*  Bottle Rockets, "Indianapolis (demo)"  Bottle Rockets/Brooklyn Side  (Bloodshot, 13)
*  Uncle Tupelo, "Blue Eyes"  Slaughter Rule  (Bloodshot, 02)
*  Howe Gelb, "Vortexas"  the Coincidentalist  (New West, 13)
*  Fruition, "the Wanter"  Just One of Them Nights  (Self, 13)  D
*  Pines w/Dave Simonett & Erik Koskinen, "Highwayman"  single  (Red House, 13)  D
*  Matt Skinner Band, "One Left In the Chamber"  Native Stranger  (Tapadero, 13)  C
*  Corb Lund, "Expectation & the Blues"  Five Dollar Bill  (Stony Plain, 02)
*  Mason Jennings, "Number of the Sun"  Always Been  (Stats & Brackets, 13)  D
*  Trampled By Turtles, "Codeine (live)"  Live At First Avenue  (Banjodad, 13)  D
*  Shonna Tucker & Eye Candy, "Lonely People"  A Tell All  (Sweet Nectar, 13)
*  Jon Snodgrass & Dead Peasants, "On the Outside"  Songs of Tony Sly: a Tribute  (FatWreckChords, 13)  C
*  Drag the River, "Song For My Roommates"  Drag the River  (Extra Mile, 13) C
*  Hard Working Americans, "Down To the Well"  Hard Working Americans  (Melvin, 13)
*  Allison Moorer, "Think It Over"  Hardest Part  (MCA, 00)
*  Jason Boland & the Stragglers, "Bottle By My Bed"  Comal County Blue  (30 Tigers, 08)
*  Jim Lauderdale, "When Jones Came Home"  Black Roses  (Sky Crunch, 13)  D
*  John Doe, "Just For the Hell of It"  Songs For Slim  (New West, 13)
*  Blitzen Trapper, "Thirsty Man"  VII  (Vagrant, 13)
*  Casey James Prestwood, "Ain't So Bad"  Honky Tonk Bastard World  (Self, 13)  C
*  Honey Don't, "Heart Like a Wheel"  Heart Like a Wheel  (2Dolla Reccas, 13)  C,D
*  Songs:Ohia, "I've Been Riding With the Ghost (demo)"  Magnolia Electric Co  (Secretly Canadian, 13)
*  Robbie Fulks, "I'll Trade You Money For Wine"  Gone Away Backward  (Bloodshot, 13)
*  Whiskey Bottles, "Baby You're Bad Luck"  Grandville  (Self, 13)  C