Robbie Fulks joins members of the Waco Brothers for new Davy Crockett musical

Frontiersman Davy Crockett's political career is the focus of Congressman Davy with catchy tunes voiced by Robbie Fulks and his Chicago pals. 

Davy Crockett for President? It almost happened!

Congressman Davy recounts that fascinating slice of U.S. political history in a new musical with 22 new songs by Deano from the Waco Brothers (aka Dean Schlabowske) and award-winning playwright/journalist Richard Byrne (Nero/Pseudo, Burn Your Bookes, Hotel Mayflower).

Some of the most distinctive voices in Americana to help tell this tallest of tales, including Robbie Fulks, The Mekons' Jon Langford & Sally Timms, The Meat Purveyors' Jo Watson, Four Lost Souls' Bethany Thomas,The Flat Five's Nora O’Connor & Kelly Hogan along with Chicago's Gerald Dowd and Kent Rose. As Davy might say: “Just go ahead and give it a listen!” Check out a few songs from the CD following a synopsis below. 

Congressman Davy – Synopsis

Act One

It is 1833. Legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett is running to return to the U.S. House of Representatives. (Tennessee voters kicked him out in 1831.)

Anne Royall is the first American woman to publish her own newspaper. (“The Ballad of Anne Royall”) She travels to Tennessee to watch Davy Crockett lay out his populist platform. (“Poor Man’s Friend”) Crockett wins.

In Washington City, boarding house proprietor Mrs. Ball and her employee, Sarah, await Crockett. Yet they face competition from Mrs. Brown – who runs a fancy hotel across the street. The two women joust over their vision of Washington’s future. (“Washington City”)

The 1833 election created a nation deeply divided between the Democrats supporting President Andrew Jackson and the Whigs opposing him. The two parties address their differences in a song. (“A Faction.”) as they try to claim Crockett as their own. But Crockett lays out his own independent vision. (“A Permanent State of Affairs”)

Mrs. Ball and Mrs. Brown’s skirmish ends when Crockett chooses the cozy familiarity of the boarding house (“The Comforts of Home”). Mrs. Brown plots with the Lead Whig to bring Crockett to her hotel.

Anne Royall notices the forlorn figure of Edgar Allan Poe – who has been evicted from Mrs. Ball’s establishment to make room for legislators. They bemoan the anti-intellectualism of the time. (“The Bitter End”)

The moneyed Whigs want Crockett as their presidential candidate. (“The Proper Party”) But how can they convince The Poor Man’s Friend? Mrs. Brown appeals to Crockett’s vanity and desire to advance in life. (“The Finer Things”) He moves to her hotel and joins the Whigs as he evokes his famous motto: “Be sure you're right, then go ahead!” (“Just Go Ahead”)

Act Two

Sarah sings a short mournful song (“Sarah’s Song of Hopeless Longing”) before Anne Royall and the Whig Party sweep Crockett up into a frenetic political tour. (“Davy Crockett’s Tour to the North and Down East”) The frontiersman also discovers the power of industry. (“Busy Hands”)

Mrs. Ball and Mrs. Brown’s feud continues. Anne Royall chides them both for seeking to influence politics from behind the scenes. (“A Song About Power”)

The Democrats scheme to defeat Crockett. Lead Democrat advocates chicanery (“Hickory Dockery”). Adam Huntsman – a lawyer who lost his leg in war – volunteers to run against Crockett. (“Down A Peg”)

Edgar Allan Poe’s return to town unleashes more tumult. He seeks high minded journalism (“Poison Pens”), but Crockett uses Poe’s negative review of his book as target practice and then blazes deeper into populism to win votes. (“The Betsy Song”).

The Whigs commission a portrait of Crockett with a stuffed Bear. When Crockett falls asleep, the Bear becomes his nightmare. (“A Bear’s Life).

On the day the votes arrive back in Washington City, Mrs. Ball tries to pluck Crockett’s conscience and recall a happier moment. (“I Don’t Need You”)

When the tally is announced, Crockett loses. (“The Song of the Great Licking”) He takes leave of Washington for a new life in Texas with a brazen farewell song (Hell or Texas”). 

You can get a CD version of the Congressman Davy soundtrack via Bandcamp right here. Listen to a few of the songs voiced by Robbie Fulks below. On Monday, June 29th, a radio play version of the entire show, weaving the songs into the text of the musical will be available right here: https://congressmandavy.podbean.com/.

LINKS
Texas State Historical Association The Life and Legacy of Davy Crockett

Watch playwright Richard Byrne's Congressman Davy unboxing video here

Happy Birthday Johnny Dowd!

Raising a glass to singer/songwriter Johnny Dowd with a few songs accompanied by Amy LaVere & Will Sexton in Ithaca, NY. 

Get a vinyl copy of Johnny Dowd's latest album "Is Heaven Real? How Would I Know" right here. 

Mekons share "Mudcrawlers" from new Horror album about how we got here

Jon Langford, Sally Timms and their Mekons pals capture the tenor of the times with "Horror" out April 4th. Hear two intriguing new tunes below. 

Here's the scoop...

Legendary postmodern, post punk, post human, past caring collective Mekons return with a brand-new album for 2025. Their first release on Fire Records, ‘Horror’ (out April 4th) provides a horribly prescient reflection of the world in its current miasma and how we got here.

‘Horror’ looks at history and the legacies of British imperialism with mashed up lyrics set against a typically eclectic sound that amalgamates everything from dub, country, noise, rock & roll, electronica, punk, music hall, polka and you can even take your partner for a nice waltz on ‘Sad And Sad And Sad’. The roots of their global sound reflect their nomadic journey through time and space from Leeds to California in the West and Siberia in the East and is woven into the fabric and intricacies of their song creation…

Sounding like The Chills and R.E.M circa the I.R.S Records years, "Mudcrawlers" (listen below) sees just about the whole band joining Jon Langford on vocals speaking of Irish famine and refugees journeying to Wales. ‘War Economy’ shivers in the cold of such Boroughs spiked one-liners: “Clinical coercion will not achieve dominance!” Sounding like its straight off a Jenny Holzer neon sign (she of Abuse Of Power Comes As No Surprise), it’s held together by a disgruntled swaggering riff that underpins an explosion of disquiet.

Meanwhile, Rico takes the lead on the maliciously luscious ‘Fallen Leaves’ an appalled and appalling Hammer Horror take on climate breakdown reminiscent of Rolling Thunder Dylan, that recalls The Pogues at their most introspective, its Celtic twilightism augmented by Susie Honeyman’s keening violin as the dying sun sinks down and the river Styx flows on in the pitch black night.

Almost 50 years in the making, these Mekons continue to astound, their sound, sentiment and method of delivery blended to perfection by bass player and studio wizard, Dave Trumfio. The Mekons are Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Tom Greenhalgh, Dave Trumfio, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell, Steve Goulding, and Lu Edmonds. 

You can pre-order "Horror" by The Mekons via Bandcamp right here. Listen to "Mudcrawlers" and "You're Not Singing Anymore" and see if those merrymaking Mekons are playing a show anywhere near you below. 

Check for an upcoming Mekons show in 2025 near you in the UK, Europe and U.S. – not Canada, sadly – right here.

Small portion of Chicago street renamed in Steve Albini's honour

Visit Steve Albini Way at West Belmont Ave and Rockwell St. in Chicago. Watch the dedication ceremony and musical salute with Fred Armisen & Sally Timms.  

After the ceremony, Jon Langford, Sally Timms and Fred Armisen performed the kind of musical salute Steve would've enjoyed.

Watch Jon Langford perform "Memphis, Egypt" with The Sadies at The Horseshoe

Since it's Jon Langford's birthday, here's our man performing "Memphis, Egypt" with Sally Timms and The Sadies in Toronto. 

Jon Langford's Skull Orchard plays an afternoon show at the Horseshoe Oct 27. Get tickets here.

Watch Sally Timms & Jon Langford perform Wild Honey benefit in LA

The Mekons' Jon Langford & Sally Timms were joined by John Szymanski & Martin Billheimer for an hour-long set.

Mekons' Sally Timms & Jon Langford join Freakwater for Freakons project

What better way to deliver grim tunes about the horrors of coal mining than the sweet voices of Catherine Irwin and Sally Timms.

Mekons + Freakwater = Freakons

The Mekons and Freakwater have been friends for decades, forged in the punk rock/art school crucibles of late ’70s Leeds and mid ’80s Louisville respectively. Both bands mined British folk and American classic country music for three-chord songs whose lyrics fit the nihilism or political rage or outlandish joy of the moment. Many of these songs were about coal mining. Traditional songs about heroic union organizers, deadly mine disasters, wailing orphans, or mining's grim history of economic and ecological devastation fit seamlessly alongside each band's original material. And so it is with FREAKONS. 

Deep pit mines, strip mines, mountaintop removal, collapsing slag heaps. Deadly work, poisoned water, and fantastic songs. Always fantastic songs. 

This is where the FREAKONS were born, from the very bowels of the earth. 

The Mekons’ Jon Langford & Sally Timms and Freakwater’s Janet Bean & Catherine Irwin are joined here by the stellar string and vocal harmonies of Jean Cook (Ida, Tara Jane O’Neil, Skull Orchard) and Anna Krippenstapel (The Other Years, Joan Shelley, Freakwater), along with special guest, the beloved guitar genius Jim Elkington (Richard Thompson, Eleventh Dream Day, Horse’s Ha, Skull Orchard, Freakwater, The Zincs). 

Belgian painter Jo Clauwaert created the album’s intricate gatefold cover. Images from song lyrics and related history emerge and recede again in this gorgeously illustrated artistic fever dream. 

Pre-order the debut album from Freakons (out March 25th) via Bandcamp right here or directly from the label, Portland's Fluff & Gravy Records right here. 

Check the release trailer and the video for "Blackleg Miner" following the tracklisting below.

Freakons – s/t

1. Dark Lords Of The Mine

2. Chestnut Blight

3. Abernant 84/85

4. Judy Belle Thompson

5. Canaries

6. Blackleg Miner

7. Phoebe Snow

8. The Mannington Mine Disaster

9. Never Thought I'd See The Day

10. Dreadful Memories

11. Coorie Doon

12. Blue Scars Of A Miner

"Phoebe Snow"

Interestingly enough, the Freakons debut includes a song about the fictional Phoebe Snow, not the popular 70s singer/songwriter – born Phoebe Ann Laub – who voiced numerous commercial jingles. The character "Phoebe Snow" was a white dress wearing Victorian traveller who appeared in a series of Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad posters at the turn of the century (see below) as part of a popular advertising campaign to create the impression of cleaner railroad travel with anthracite coal. 

Earnest Elmo Calkins' advertising campaign used "Phoebe Snow" to sell the concept of cleaner railroad travel with anthracite coal. 

Here's Sally Timms & Jon Langford on a Brooklyn rooftop

Sally & Jon are joined by Jean Cook and Martin Billheimer for a frolicsome version of The Mekons "Hard To Be Human Again" 

Jon Langford launches Lucky Seven singles series with "Losers"

"Losers" is the first in a limited-edition Lucky Seven series three singles available via Bandcamp. Check the entertaining video below. 

Here's the scoop...
This series of singles was inspired by those fine musicians who regularly use their medium as a means of encouraging political change, expressing those truths which go untold in mainstream media, offering perspective to the inquisitive and camaraderie to fellow travellers.

We are at a strange moment. Economic and political tensions building in the decades since the Reagan / Thatcher era are exploding throughout much of the world. A worldwide pandemic has exposed further exposed the inequality and injustice which affects many more people than the number who benefit from it. In their small way, these songs hope to speak to all of this and more.

We envision 23 singles in all, but these will initially be sold in volumes of three. A single will be announced every month or so, when all three singles in a volume have been announced, they will be shipped together. We're calling this a "Jon Langford" series of releases, but many other musicians will be involved and included along the way - occasionally even without Jon's presence. "Extras" will be announced along the way as well. Due to the labour and expense involved in this project, quantities are strictly limited to 250 copies (slated for release August 21), though it's likely that some of the tracks will appear again at some distant time.

The a-side of the first single is Jon with one of his many bands, the excellent Skull Orchard, performing a new song, "Losers", for which he and James Langford have made a video you can watch below.

The b-side has GW Sok and OMA performing a recitation of "Aberfan 1966", written by Jon to record his feelings on the morning of the 50th anniversary of the disaster, and "to talk publicly about the that singular event the scarred my childhood." Sok was one of the primary members of the Dutch band The Ex - who collaborated with Jon in numerous ways throughout the years. Its relevance to the death of innocents by the hand of greed and corporate irresponsibility is more apt today than ever. We consider GW Sok and OMA's elegiac rendition the brief prayer before before righteous action.

Check out Jon Langford's Lucky Seven series on Bandcamp after watching the "Losers" clip below.

Jon Langford talks about Prince Far-I, Slade and Gang Of Four

Jon Langford is planning to release a series of singles. Until then, here's a Q&A followed by a performance with Sally Timms & John Szymanski. 

Watch The Mekons at The Hideout in Chicago

Steve Goulding jumped on the mic to lead the sing-a-long on Gang Of Four's Armalite Rifle at The Mekons show on July 12th.  

TURF: The Mekons @ Fort York, Sunday

The Mekons' new Existentialism book & CD is out now. Here's Fear & Beer (Hymn for Brexit).

TURF Sunday line-up

Doors @ 1PM

EAST STAGE
8:40 – 10:00 Death Cab For Cutie
5:50 – 7:10 Matthew Good
3:10 – 4:20 The New Pornographers
1:15 – 2:00 The Belle Game

WEST STAGE
7:20 – 8:30 Jimmy Eat World
4:30 – 5:40 The Hold Steady
2:10 – 3:00 Marlon Williams

BATTLE OF YORK STAGE
7:10 – 8:40 Rheostatics
4:30 – 5:40 Corb Lund
2:10 – 3:10 Sun K

REBELLION STAGE
8:30 – 10:00 The Mekons
7:15 – 8:00 Adam Baldwin
5:45 – 6:45 Wild Child
4:30 – 5:15 Julia Jacklin

The Waco Brothers @ The Horseshoe, May 13

Jon Langford and his Waco crew will be presenting songs from Going Down In History at the Horseshoe on Friday.

Just another night in Austin for Jon Langford

Here's the shirtless finale of Bad Luck Jonathan's whimsically chaotic set at the Saxon Pub Saturday night. 

Boredoms vs. Mekons

The Boredoms' 1998 version of the Mekons' 1978 classic Where Were You? is titled 7 (Boriginal).

Nardwuar vs. Fred Armisen

Nardwuar ran into SNL's Fred Armisen in Austin during SXSW with typically comical results...

Paul Burch lights up Wacos on Great Chicago Fire

Over eight boisterously blustery albums for Bloodshot, what the Waco Brothers have lacked in the subtleties of singing and songcraft, Jon Langford and his bruising band of British country-pub bashers have always made up for with pure piss 'n' vinegar. Way over on the opposite end of the twangy spectrum, Nashville traditionalist crooner Paul Burch has a well-earned rep for knocking out new tunes that sound remarkably like early 50s honky tonk classics. So put them together in a studio and you could have an epic brawl on your hands or a heavenly hayseed hybrid destined to go viral.

Either way, it had to be worth the risk for both parties since the Wacos have been putting out pretty much the same album for the last few years and Burch's recent associations with Mark Knopfler and PBS documentary filmmakers was a worrying turn considering his prior string of artistic successes fronting the WPA Ballclub. 

After hearing the recorded results on Great Chicago Fire (out April 24), it appears that cooler heads prevailed, at least long enough to come up with something even better than anyone could've expected. As with Wilco's unexpectedly successful throwdown with Billy Bragg on the Woody Guthrie song project Mermaid Avenue or even Amy Winehouse's career-changing encounter with Brooklyn's Dap-Kings for Back To Black, there seems to be something in the Brits-meet-Yanks concept that sufficiently ups the creative ante to make great things possible if everyone involved is willing to participate in the cultural exchange.

There are a couple of songs where Burch sounds like a tipsy club-owner who jumped onstage for a Wacos encore and others which you can envision the seated Wacos plonking their way through Burch's sheet music but Great Chicago Fire's finest moments are the true collaborations like Wrong Side Of Love, Transfusion Blues and Up On The Mountain which neither could've done better on their own. Hopefully it's not a one-off.

Paul Burch will put down the books to join the Waco Brothers in Austin for Bloodshot's annual day party at Yard Dog (1510 South Congress)  on Friday (March 16) at 5:30 pm prior to Bloodshot's official SXSW showcase at Red Eyed Fly (715 Red River) on Saturday (March 17) at 10:30 pm. Additionally, Burch will appear on a bill with Jon Langford, Rosie Flores and Garland Jefferies at The Ginger Man (301 Lavaca) on Thursday (March 15) at 2:30 pm. 

LINKS
label http://bloodshotrecords.net/wacosburchpress/
Paul Burch http://www.paulburch.com/fr_homeplate.cfm
Jon Langford http://jonlangford.de/
Yard Dog Gallery http://www.yarddog.com/

Jon Langford & friends @ SXSW 2012