Chris Scruggs - Tennessee

I saw Chris Scruggs, former/on-and-off co-front man and steel player with BR549, last April and I picked up the tour-only EP Tennessee. I had liked Chris’s contributions to BR549, notably his song “Honky Tonkin’ Lifestyle,” which first appeared on his independent solo debut of the same title (which I was never able to track down) and was later included on BR549’s Tangled in the Pines. Scruggs also brought a youthfulness and vigor to BR549, making him, if not a good replacement, per se, for Gary Bennett, at least a good inclusion in the post-Bennett BR549.

Scruggs continues the honky-tonkin’ in his solo shows, but with a more stripped down sound and a bit more rock ’n’ roll influence. His EP is a more ethereal, however, including solid, southern gothic–influenced interpretations of ’40s and ’50s country standards.

Listen:
Chris Scruggs - Wayfaring Stranger

This is America.

Listen:
Marty Stuart - Hobo's Prayer

Buy:
From Amazon

Top 10 of 2006, Part 2

Today we continue the sampling of my top 10 of 2006. Follow the link for more detailed commentary.

7. Old Crow Medicine Show - Big Iron World

Listen:
Old Crow Medicine Show - I Hear Them All

Buy:
From Amazon

6. Solomon Burke - Nashville

Listen:
Solomon Burke - Valley of Tears

Buy:
From Amazon

4. Hank Williams III - Straight to Hell

Listen:
Hank Williams III - D. Ray White

Buy:
From Amazon

Top 10 of 2006, Part 1

Head over to Americana Roots to see my top 10 albums of 2006. All ten albums are highly recommended and I've included a brief paragraph of explanation after each choice. Here are my favorite songs from albums 8, 9, and 10. Stay tuned for the rest of the count-down.

10. White Ghost Shivers - Everyone's Got 'Em

Listen:
White Ghost Shivers - Little Kisses

Buy:
From Chicken Ranch Records

9. Gary Bennett - Human Condition

Listen:
Gary Bennett - Headin' Home

Buy:
From Gary
From Amazon

8. Grayson Capps - Wail and Ride

Listen:
Grayson Capps - Give It To Me

Buy:
From Hyena Records
From Amazon

Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours - Merry Christmas from the Trailer Park

If you're looking for a campy, white-trash Christmas, and if you're looking to experience it vicariously, this CD by Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours is the one to get. And the music's pretty good, too. Unlike some white trash send up records, which are more concerned with the broad comedy, this CD also features some nice country and rockabilly sounds. Lead singer Antsy McClain also happens to do "serious" work, so don't think that he's a one-note novelty act.

Listen:
Antsy McClain - Christmas at the Trailer Park
Antsy McClain - She's Underneath the Mistletoe Again

Buy:
From Antsy McClain

Spicewood Seven - Kakistocracy

I got this CD more than a month ago but haven't had the time to review it until now. I figured that after tomorrow, it would be a moot point to feature a disc intent on effecting the political status quo.

"Kakistocracy" is "government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens," according to the American Heritage Dictionary. I don't think it's risky to guess to whom the Spicewood Seven are referring. This CD isn't a liberal diatribe, though. Including a dig at "hippie girl" protesters and lamenting the removal of "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, this album is more reminiscent of Merle Haggard's populism than Steve Earle's full-fledged liberalism.

The album touches on a variety of issues, but the focus is the war in Iraq. Unlike some east coast liberals, this album doesn't show disdain for military personnel and it touches on religion as a force for progressive social change in a way that the Democratic establishment doesn't seem to get. The rise of populist opposition to the war in Iraq as exemplified by this album and Haggard's recent album makes me think the GOP is going to be in trouble tomorrow. The Democrats' inability to seize this discourse on a national level, however, mystifies me and if they don't pull it off tomorrow it wasn't for lack of opportunity.

The album, masterminded by Tennessee State U. English professor Luke Powers and Austin producer Tommy Spurlock, features guest appearances by Leon Rausch (of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys), Rosie Flores, Elana Fremerman (of Hot Club of Cowtown), and Garth Hudson (of the Band), who provides a church pipe organ version of the Doxology/Old 100th entitled "Garth's Dox."

The portion of the proceeds from this album are being donated to The Center for the Intrepid rehab facility being built at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Listen:
Spicewood Seven - 21 Guns (For Cindy Sheehan)

Buy:
From CD Universe

Caught in the Webb: A Tribute to the Legendary Webb Pierce

To be honest, before I picked up this tribute album, I didn't really know that much about Webb Pierce. I'm not sure I could have named more than a couple songs of his. "There Stands the Glass" was his one really big hit, and BR549 covered "Honky Tonk Song." But somehow I know most of the songs on this CD. I guess he was a bit more prolific than I knew and is well remembered by classic country radio.

This is a remarkably successful tribute album. Like many country tribute albums, this one has a house band, led here by Kenny Vaughan, that gives a unifying sound. The individual needs of the singers aren't ignored, though; the band is able to adjust according to the style of each guest. The contributions from Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Dale Watson, and Willie Nelson, all highly distinctive artists, fit well within their individual bodies of work.

Being such an even album, there isn't one obvious stand out track. I'm going to post the contribution from the disc's producer, Gail Davies.

Also, the proceeds from this album go to the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Listen:
Gail Davies - Love Love Love

Buy:
From the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation
From Amazon

Gary Bennett - Human Condition

I'd been holding off on buying this CD for Gary Bennett's show last Saturday at Knuckleheads in Kansas City. I'm not glad I held off, but I am glad I finally got it. Well, maybe I am glad I held off; he signed my copy.

Gary played in front of a modestly-sized but enthusiastic crowd on the newly-moved outdoor stage. His set was on the short side, but he played all of this album (I think) as well as quite a few BR549 numbers and standards/covers. After the show he was very friendly, signing everybody's CD and chatting. He commented to someone in front of me that he had played just about everything that his touring band knew.

This CD is a bit of a departure, focusing much more on songwriting than any of the BR549 discs. That's not to say that the music isn't compelling, though; this is no singer/songwriter album. Gary plays finger-style guitar on one track, but largely leaves the instruments to a good cast of supporting players, including notables such as Marty Stuart, Kenny Vaughan, and Lloyd Green. The result is a musical background that is both compelling and focused on the songwriting.
The sound has a touch of the "retro" feel of BR549, but without the frantic energy. This meshes well with the theme of weariness that pervades the CD.

Listen:
Gary Bennett - Headin' Home

Buy:
From Amazon

Hank Williams III - Straight to Hell

Tomorrow night I'll be missing Hank III in the KC/Lawrence area for the fourth time in a year and a half. Hopefully he doesn't stop touring before I leave my second shift job, 'cause I'm looking forward to seeing him again.

I was originally hesitant to buy this album due to knowing many of the songs. I really enjoy the discovery of buying new albums and hearing stuff I don't know, and I thought that might be missing from this purchase as even two years ago when I last saw him at the Bottleneck, he was playing half of these songs. (That show on archive.org.) However, the arrangements are quite a bit different than what I remember and the bootleg versions I've come to know.

This album relies heavily on old-time instrumentation, going without drums for half of the tracks, often preferring dobro to the more countrypolitan steel, and featuring some amazing claw-hammer banjo by BR549's Donnie Herron. Hank name-checks the '70s outlaws several times, but the sound of this record largely bypasses a Texas influence, instead giving us a thoroughly Appalachian sound, although updated to include more than a nod at Hank's parallel interest in metal.

Lyrically, this album borders on the disturbing, concentrating on death and personal destruction of the chemical sort. I read an interview in which he said he isn't really that big of a hellraiser, that he saved his partying for on stage, but this album claims otherwise. Also, his insistence on the whole the-South-will-rise-again thing is somewhat annoying, especially when he parallels that with "real country" rising again, as if pop country was just another way northerners where subjugating the south. (I'm sure all the Dixie-loving Toby Keith fans would disagree.) However, when his celebration of rural Appalachian culture turns positive, such as in this song about the several famous residents of Boone Country, WV, this disc really hits the spot.

Listen:
Hank Williams III - D. Ray White

Buy:
From Amazon

Marty Stuart - The Pilgrim

Marty Stuart is one of a handful of country musicians who have managed to find success in both the pop country and alt.country circles. Coming up in the music business as a bluegrass sideman, then forging out on his own as one of the "new traditionalist" pop country stars of the late '80s/early '90s, then, as pop country passed him by, recording one of the best no-adjective country albums of the '90s instead of becoming a "parody of [him]self in a themepark."

He's commented that "Hobo's Prayer" is his favorite song off The Pilgrim. It's mine also.

Listen:
Marty Stuart - Hobo's Prayer.mp3

Buy:
From Amazon