country music

Video of the Week: "Holy Ghost Fire"

Dusty Wright — Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:00:21 +0000

Video of the Week: "Holy Ghost Fire" Dusty Wright August 6, 2019 - 16:00

Topics

Music Review

Add new comment

Album of the Week: Way Out West

Dusty Wright — Thu, 25 May 2017 12:06:40 +0000

Album of the Week: Way Out West Dusty Wright May 25, 2017 - 08:06

Topics

Music Review

Tags

country music

Marty Stuart - Way Out West (Superlatone Records)

I've always been a fan of the Mississippi-born Marty Stuart. The dude can play just about any style of Americana and his latest effort -- Way Out West -- expands his musical universe to include some real tasty surf 'n' twang. Produced by Tom Petty and The Heartbreaker's guitarist Mike Campbell, you know the amps are going to be cranked, but crisp, the playing tight, but not too tight, and the tunes catchy as hell -- not a clunker in the lot. Happy to report you can check all those boxes. Add Marty's "fabulous" backing band, His Fabulous Superlatives, who are just that, and you have the recipe for some real fine ear candy. And let's give props to guitarist Kenny Vaughn who has always been one of Nashville's guitarists guitarists, and as usual he gets to shine. On the surfabilly instrumental "Torpedo" you can frug to the two guitars, bass and drums attack. It's like Duane Eddy meets The Ventures. Watch out for that giant wave, ya landlubbers! And the trippy cinematic "Way Out West" song is pure Wall of Voodoo meets Angelo Badalamenti. Hey, Mr. Music Supervisor, this song is perfect for David Lynch's Twin Peaks reboot. Come to think of it, all of the tracks are worthy. Marty and the lads will be touring this fall with Chris Stapelton and their own shows right now -- click here for dates. In the meantime, pick up a vinyl copy. Your turntable will be stoked that you did. peace, Dusty

Guy Clark, Master Craftsmen, 1941-2016

Jon Geffner — Tue, 17 May 2016 16:26:39 +0000

Guy Clark, Master Craftsmen, 1941-2016 Jon Geffner May 17, 2016 - 12:26

Topics

Music Review

Tags

country music

The year 2016 continues to take some of our best and brightest stars. We have lost Bowie, Prince, Merle, and a slew of others. I don’t have to go through all of the names. I generally put up a quick, "Well, we lost another great one" post on Facebook. This will not be one of those, because the latest loss -- Guy Clark, who passed away on May 17 at the age of 74 -- hits me hard.

I first saw Guy Clark at the Bottom Line in New York in the early 1990s as part of a round-robin singer/songwriter show that also featured John Hiatt, Joe Ely, and Lyle Lovett -- a line-up I would see three or four more times over the years. I had been a great admirer of Hiatt, Ely, and Lovett. I had no idea who Guy Clark was. While three of my favorite musical artists fawned over Guy Clark like students learning at the feet of a master, all Clark wanted to talk about was how great Townes van Zandt was. I was actually more impressed with Clark's humility than his performance.

Not that I wasn’t impressed with his performance. I was. It was steady, laid back, and dignified. But, truth be told, I was not blown away. There have been times where I have seen a performer for the first time and been compelled to go out and buy his or her CD the next day. I had no such compulsion in this case. About a month later, however, I was combing through the bins and Soundtracks in Huntington, New York, and I came across Clark's Texas Cookin’. Remembering Clark's effortless and accessible cool, his unassuming elder statesman persona, and the high praise heaped on him by three other great artists, I grabbed the CD. From that moment on, I was an unabashed fan. The songs were literate and worked on an emotional level. The music had a bit of a swing to it. The chords were colorful. The credits were a who’s who of great artists -- Waylon, Emmylou, Rodney, Jerry Jeff -- which further spoke to the high esteem he had earned among his peers.

The songs he left behind are classics. "Desperados Waiting for a Train" (which I think of as his “Pancho and Lefty”), "Randall Knife," "LA Freeway," "Anyway I Love You," "The Cape." The list goes on. I used to grow tomatoes in my back yard and could not pick them without "Homegrown Tomatoes" running through my mind. Eventually I would give in to the temptation and sing along to the song in my head.

If I were to construct a country music Mount Rushmore, Guy Clark's face would be right up there. I would use the image from his Dublin Blues album, which evokes a sort of West Texas Beethoven. Like the man himself, it's a classic.