Happy Birthday Patti Smith!

Here's a fired up Patti Smith singing People Have The Power accompanied by U2 in Paris recently.

Whaddya mean you don't know Ken McIntyre

Here's his brilliant 6/8 swinger Mercedes from a Copenhagen session with Kenny Drew, Alex Riel & Bo Stief in '74.

Golden Country Classics @ The Cameron House, Wednesday

Doug Paisley will be playing with pals Chuck Erlichman, Bazil Donovan, Don Rooke & Mike Belitsky from 6-8pm. 

Laura Cantrell unveils new song written with Greg Trooper

Watch Laura perform "Can't Tell A Soul" with accordionist Charles Giordano and guitarist Mark Spencer.

Detroit's Moonwalks rock Night Owl NYE @ The Old Laurel, Thursday

Detroit's Moonwalks join Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor, Tess Parks, The Auras, B17 & The Green Rays.

Radiohead's proposed theme song for Spectre

Here's Radiohead's superior unused theme for the Bond movie Spectre which Sam Smith claims he hasn't heard.

Happy Birthday Dave Bartholomew!

Celebrating the cornerstone New Orleans trumpeter/bandleader Shrimp & Gumbo and some of that mellow Jax.

Dr. John's Rock & Roll Santa Claus

A Christmas wish from Johnny Paycheck

Happy Birthday Victoria Williams!

'Tis the season so here's Vic's charming version of The Christmas Song sung with T Bone Burnett and company. 

One For The Holidays: Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Jo Carol Pierce

Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Jo Carol Pierce reprise an old fave "Reunion" co-written by Jo Carol.

Happy Birthday Chuck Mead!

Nashville honky tonk holdout Chuck Mead is outstanding in his field. 

Whaddya mean you don't know Loy Clingman

Here's Loy Clingman's original version of "It's Nothing To Me" produced by Lee Hazlewood in 1957.

Texas top hand Don Walser plays the Poker Party

Watch late great country yodeler and Texas Plainsmen singer Don Walser on Art Fein's Poker Party circa '96.

One For The Weekend: Dr. Ross

Here's the great Dr. Ross performing Junior Parker's "Feelin' Good" one-man band style in 1965.

Happy Birthday Keith Richards

Here's Keef's interview with Andrew Graham-Dixon for a BBC2 documentary. 

Ray Price, Carl Butler & Grandpa Jones live in 1959

This Opry broadcast is topped by Carl Butler's honky tonk gem "You Just Don't Steal From A Poor Man"

We're Loud Athens w/ New Bomb Turks

New Bomb Turks are featured in the new Slovenly Records documentary We're Loud Athens due January 15.

Happy Birthday James Booker!

Remembering the great New Orleans pianist/composer with his stellar 1978 performance at Montreux.

Preview Numero's new Project Twelve series

Just in time for Christmas, here are clips from the first seven rare LPs in Numero Group's new subscription series.

Happy Birthday Curtis Fuller!

Celebrating Curtis Fuller's birthday with a couple of his stellar performances from 1960 and 1957. 

Alela Diane unveils Cold Moon @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre, tonight

Alela Diane and guitarist Ryan Francesconi are opening for Joanna Newsom at Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Singer/songwriter Alela Diane and fellow Portland-based guitarist Ryan Francesconi (who arranged Joanna Newsom's "Have One On Me") have uniquely collaborated to create Cold Moon out now on Rusted Blue Records/Believe Recordings.

The two musicians talked at a friend’s show in October 2014, chatting about how they were both experiencing creative standstills. Ryan was lacking inspiration to make more instrumental music, and Alela was at a loss for how to dive into writing a new record after the birth of her daughter. A few days later, Ryan asked Alela if she would be into collaborating and then sent her several recordings of intricate guitar pieces. Alela listened on repeat while staring out the window at the changing leaves, initially unsure how to sing even a note over what she heard.

Eventually, something clicked. Words came first, and with words, melody followed. Throughout the winter, Alela made trips across town to Ryan’s house to woodshed the songs over cups of tea.  Before they knew it, they had a record – a collaboration of voice and guitar with intangible moods and resonances. And so rose the Cold Moon.

Alela Diane & Ryan Francesconi are currently on tour in Europe (see dates below) and will open for Joanna Newsom at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto on December 14. For more Alela Diane info, go to her site http://www.aleladiane.com/



ON TOUR opening for Joanna Newsom:

12/14 Toronto - Queen Elizabeth Theatre
12/15 Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theatre
12/16 Chicago - Chicago Theatre
12/17 St. Paul, MN - Fitzgerald Theatre
12/18 Madison, WI - Orpheum Theatre

Catherine MacLellan @ Hugh's Room, Monday

Here's Catherine's new homemade video for "Hello Nancy" partly shot in her future recording space.

Happy Birthday Big Mama Thornton!

Watch Big Mama tear it up back in 1971 with Muddy Waters and George "Harmonica" Smith in Eugene, Oregon.

Watch Los Straitjackets and Nick Lowe hammer out their holiday faves

The Arcs @ Massey Hall, Thursday

Watch Dan Auerbach and his Arcs crew perform Stay In My Corner and Outta My Mind (below).   

Midweek mixdown: Les Mains Noires

Check out Les Mains Noires' heady 45-minute mix of vintage vinyl gems from Guadeloupe and Martinique.

DIRTY CARIBBEAN JAZZ Vol. 4 - selected by Les Mains Noires

TRACK LIST
01 - MAHY et les Amis des Ondes// Tu N'as Qu'Un Mois (Aux Ondes RC.32)
02 - ANZALA et son groupe // Cé Peché (Erase VAR 119)
03 - FRITZ PIERRE & son orch. Haitien // Çé Moin Caso (Debs DD-19)
04 - Joseph Lacides // J'ai Écrit Ton Nom (Sondor SD 4)
05 - DOLOR acc. par Les Vikings // Dazes, Cebies : Poussuite (Unnamed private label PC 1)
06 - Henri Guedon // La Pli (Hit Parade GR-91)
07 - Les Amis des Ondes // Ti Fi La (Aux Ondes RC.1)
08 - Joseph Lacides acc. par Les Amis des Ondes // Rythmes des Iles (Aux Ondes RC.3)
09 - Geno Exilie // Lan Misè (Debs DD-55)
10 - MAHY et les Amis des Ondes // Antilles Méchant Bateau (Aux Ondes RC.32)
11 - Paul Blamard // Lovency (Debs DD-169)
12 - DOLOR acc. par les Diables du Rythme // Vini Sauvé Moin (Debs DD-56)
13 - Joseph Lacides // Quand Je Mourrai (Sondor SD 2)

Check out Les Mains Noires music site right here

Mojo Workout w/ The Surfrajettes @ The Old Laurel, Saturday

See the Surfrajettes play their second ever gig with DJs Chis Trowbridge & Chris McCann spinning vinyl treats. 

Charles Bradley vs. Ozzy Osbourne

Check out Charles Bradley's soulful rendition of Black Sabbath's Changes followed by the original. 

Catch Toronto's Catl on their European jaunt

You're always guaranteed a sweaty good time with Hogtown's hard bashin' blues-rockers Catl on stage. 

Dec 9 - Vienna AUSTRIA - The Loft

Dec 10 - Rosenheim GERMANY - Asta Rosenheim

Dec 11 - Prague CZECH REPUBLIC - Café na půl cesty

Dec 12 - Feldbach AUSTRIA - Glam Feldbach

Dec 13 - Budapest HUNGARY - Fészek Művészklub

Dec 14 - Belgrade SERBIA - Kuglas

Dec 15 - Novi Sad SERBIA - Kriva Marta

First new album in four decades from "one-man Beatles" Emitt Rhodes due in February

Emitt Rhodes' new album Rainbow Ends is out February 26 on Omnivore Recordings. Watch clip below.

Emitt Rhodes began his career in his teens, as drummer for the SoCal band The Palace Guard. He eventually took the reigns as leader of The Merry Go Round, who scored pop hits with “Live” and “You’re a Very Lovely Woman” in the late 1960s. At the release of his critically acclaimed eponymous debut in 1971, he gained a reputation as a “one-man Beatles,” since he wrote, recorded and produced the album in his home studio. But then, the way many music stories unfurl, after battling bad contracts and industry demands, Rhodes saw his last release, Farewell To Paradise, in 1973. Emitt Rhodes never recorded another full-length LP. Until now.

On February 26, Omnivore Recordings will release Rainbow Ends, Emitt Rhodes’ first new studio album in 43 years, on CD, Digital and gatefold, colored vinyl. A PledgeMusic campaign has been set up for pre-orders, offering exclusive collectibles, the album itself, and even a day in Rhodes’ studio. Details are available at www.pledgemusic.com/emittrhodes

After connecting with producer Chris Price in 2013, Rhodes revived his home studio with help from Price and an all-star band, all of whom had been enamored of Rhodes’ work: Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and Jason Falkner (both solo artists, members of Jellyfish, and currently in Beck’s studio and touring band), indie producer and musician Fernando Perdomo, Rooney’s Taylor Locke and New Pornographers’ drummer Joe Seiders. They would cut the new record live in that space.

More special guests appeared to make this momentous release even more special: Aimee Mann, Susanna Hoffs (Bangles), composer and producer Jon Brion, Wilco’s Nels Cline and Pat Sansone, Bleu, and Probyn Gregory & Nelson Bragg from Brain Wilson’s band, among others. What was achieved is more than what folks thought would ever happen. They made Emitt’s first full-length in more than four decades.

Rainbow Ends is comprised of eleven new Emitt Rhodes songs for longtime fans who’d held onto their out-of-print ABC albums, for those who found out about Rhodes via “Lullaby” being featured in The Royal Tennenbaums, and for the uninitiated who’d heard their favorite artists and friends rave about his small, but truly vital and influential catalog.

Producer Price says, “I view this as a continuation album, meaning it isn’t meant to be recreating the sound from his first record, but instead what he might have sounded like after his third album, Farewell To Paradise, if he kept making music in the mid-to-late ’70s.”

According to Rhodes, “I had a spurt there, you know. I just wrote a whole bunch of songs. I’m just gonna write what my heart tells me, because that’s the only thing that really matters, isn’t it? Sometimes you don’t know, and then the light goes on and you do know.

“The music is very good on this record. I think that these guys are all wonderful players and there’s all sorts of interesting stuff. I hope people like it, and I want you young guys to be able to get your due.
 “I think whenever it happens, it happens on time.”

In March, Emitt Rhodes will showcase at SXSW 2016 with more dates in the works.

Parquet Courts @ Lee's Palace, Wednesday

Here's Parquet Courts uncasting shadows, picking up records at Amoeba and exchanging gifts with Nardwuar. 

Happy Birthday Floyd Tillman

Remembering the country star with his classic Slipping Around and a 1939 gem with the Blue Ridge Playboys.

Justin Bieber @ Danforth Music Hall, Monday

Justin Bieber shows James Corden he has what it takes for a cameo in Zoolander 2 (see trailer below). 

Happy Birthday Tom Waits!

Here are a couple of vintage Tom Waits performances from 1976 and 1979.

Out Demons, Out! w/DJs Christian Hamilton & Sean Kennedy @ Embassy Bar, Saturday

DJs Christian & Sean will be spinning the wickedly witchy sounds of heavy prog and psych starting at 9 pm.

One For The Weekend: Tami Neilson

"Cry Over You" is off Tami Neilson's 2014 album Dynamite! She plays the Dakota Tavern February 5.  

Happy Birthday Chris Hillman!

Celebrating Chris Hillman's birthday with an entertaining video for a Burritos gem he co-wrote with Gram Parsons. 

Paul Burch takes on Jimmie Rodgers for new concept album Meridian Rising

Nashville's roots-minded Music Row outsider Paul Burch – who always seemed to be born out of time – steps into the shoes of "The Singing Brakeman" Jimmie Rodgers for his new concept album, Meridian Rising slated for release by Plowboy Records on February 26.

Much more ambitious than the conventional tribute album notion of simply reworking a few old faves, Meridian Rising is an imagined autobiography of the genre-defying 20's superstar in which Burch — writing and singing as Rodgers — recalls the locales, love affairs, and harrowing scraps that were all part of the Blue Yodeler’s brief but colorful life from his childhood in Meridian, Mississippi, to his death at New York's Taft Hotel in 1933.

According to Burch, the project was inspired by a studio outtake of the Rodgers classic “Let Me Be Your Sidetrack” recorded with bluesman Clifford Gibson (listen below). 

“They sounded joyous together,” he says. “It’s the only recording of Rodgers with a contemporary blues guitar player and the song became a kind of portal for me to jump into his life.”

Meridian Rising was co-produced with Grammy Award winner Dennis Crouch, the WPA Ballclub’s longtime upright bassist also known for his work in T Bone Burnett’s studio band (Rhiannon Giddens, Raising Sand, Elvis Costello). Players include Grammy winners Fats Kaplin and Tim O’Brien along with Jon Langford of the Waco Brothers, finger-style guitar renegade William Tyler, co-founder of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band Garry Tallent, and Billy Bragg, who makes a guest appearance in “If I Could Only Catch My Breath.”

While making Meridian Rising, Burch was given access to rarely seen archives at the Country Music Hall of Fame and C.F. Martin guitars and had conversations with Rodgers biographers Nolan Porterfield and Barry Mazor. The result is a musical tour-de-force that mirrors Rodger’s uncanny ability to seem timeless and modern simultaneously.
“Meridian Rising is a 21st century echo emanating from inside Jimmie Rodgers’ 1930s ears,” says noted music historian Robert Gordon, “The Singing Brakeman skirted both time and place to become America’s transcendent hobo, a walking, train-hopping singing crossroads of all things American. Here, the sounds of that spectacular crossroads are given a newfangled reimagining by a modern original.”

The initial vinyl run of Meridian Rising will include a limited-edition 10-inch EP of exclusive tracks featuring Billy Bragg, plus two songs recorded direct to the King Records cutting lathe at Third Man Records in addition to a full album download and a poster by Jon Langford. The album track "Meridian" which premiered on NPR last week can be heard below. For more information about Jimmie Rodgers and/or the Meridian Rising project, check out Paul Burch's site right here. 

Happy 60th Birthday Dr. Jim Cuddy!

Check out Jim's engaging speech upon receiving his honorary doctorate from Queen's University back in June.

Car Seat Headrest @ The Silver Dollar, Tuesday

Watch Car Seat Headrest annoy some casual diners with jangly noise at Le Guess Who? in Utrecht.

Watch Samantha Martin's new Addicted video

Samantha Martin and crew are nominated for various Maple Blues Awards for which you can vote right here.

James Brown vs. Yvonne Fair

Three years before James Brown lip-synched I Got You (I Feel Good) in Ski Party, Yvonne Fair cut it as I Found You.  

Happy 65th Birthday Gary Panter!

Here's an informative and entertaining Gary Panter talk with accompanying slide show.