Jim Lauderdale: Americana’s Country Journeyman Returns to L.A.

By Terry Paul Roland

With a career as diverse as the emerging genre we call ‘Americana,’ Jim Lauderdale continues on the same track toward collaboration, generosity and an imagination fused with the influence of Country and Bluegrass traditions.  His December, 2012 release with musical cohort, Buddy Miller, is a collection of songs, some covers and some originals, that focuses on the tight harmony vocal approach eschewing style over the feel and soul of the song. It’s a typical move for Lauderdale who has made a career as a kind of journeyman in the traditional country and bluegrass genres, which includes Grammy winning gigs with Ralph Stanley (Lost in the Lonesome Pines) and a three album collection with Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter.   His last album with Hunter, the solo effort, Carolina Moonrise, was among the best albums of 2012 transcending all genres.

Breaking down barriers has emerged as the key defining factor of Americana music and Lauderdale, especially over the last decade, has led the movement.   He is now on the road doing both solo shows and duo shows with Buddy Miller.  After a ‘JimFest’ weekend in Joshua Tree at Pappy & Harriet’s, Lauderdale is in Los Angeles to help announce the Americana Music Associations nominations for the year’s best at the Grammy museum along with Buddy Miller, T-Bone Burnett,  Elizabeth Cook and Lisa Marie Presley on Tuesday morning, May 14th.  That evening he will join Buddy Miller and band for a duo show at L.A.’s historic Troubadour, which has seen everyone from Willie Nelson to Tom Waits on its stage over the last 50 years.

“I’ve only played there a few times. It was like a hallowed place to play.  The walls contain so much history,”  Lauderdale said of the Troubadour.

Of course, Jim Lauderdale’s no stranger to L.A. country. He spoke fondly of sharing the bill with singer-songwriter Carla Olson at North Hollywood’s Palomino when she was collaborating with Byrds Legend, Gene Clark in the late 80′s. During our conversation he asked for a special mention of one of L.A.’s most avid country fans and artists, Ronnie Mack. “I’d really like to give a special shout-out to Ronnie. Buddy and I played his Barn Dance when it was at the Palomino a few times.  He really helped sustain the country music scene out there. He was a real fixture. We all owe him a lot!”  Lauderdale said emphatically.

According to Lauderdale there was an inspiration behind the making this first album with Miller, a friend since they first met in New York City in the 80′s.

“We had this concept we’d been talking about for 17 years. We wanted to do an album together, but we weren’t thinking of a concept duet record at first,” he said.

However, while much of their solo recordings stay solidly in roots-country, they found themselves reaching for something more as they worked together in the studio.

“We started finding this blend that fell somewhere between the Louvin Brothers and Sam & Dave,” Lauderdale laughed.  “Buddy started out wanting to do a tribute album to his favorite harmony singers, Johnnie & Jack, but we ended up doing an album paying tribute to all of these various duo artists,” he added.

Even so, the album is, not a collection of covers, but a romp through the sonic land of timeless duos like The Everly Brothers, all the while, with a wink and a grin, coming up with a fresh duo sound of their own. It’s sometimes rough and funky (“Lost My Job of Loving You”) and sometimes bright and rocking(“The Wobble”). But, the album, produced by Miller, never loses its site on the fun of working together with a friend. This keeps the proceedings in the solid land of good-natured fun.

With two of the finest solo artists in Americana today who are both known as songwriters, performers, instrumentalists and producers, the expectation was high for this album. But, rather than going for a musical monument to themselves, in characteristic and unpretentious fashion, the two have instead created a tribute to the vocal duo as a form throughout American music history.  The result comes off as spontaneous as The Traveling Wilburys with a decidedly funky country-blues bent.

The added gift of this album is the inclusion of songs written by Buddy & Julie Miller, “That’s Not Why I Love You,” and Miller and Lauderdale collaborations, “I Lost My Job of Loving You,” and a Grammy worthy turn on Julie Miller’s song, “It Hurts Me.”

The covers are so well balanced and conceived, it feels as though they could have been written for this project.  On “I Want To Do Everything For You,” they mine the soul vibe that is embedded in much of southern country and rock. The song was first popularized by Joe Tex in the 60′s, a near-forgotten Texas soul singer who rivaled James Brown at one time. The performance works with a back and forth between the two artists that reflects their rapport and friendship.

It’s that long-time bond between the artists that make this collaboration work so well. There is a feel as though there is a rare party going on and we’re all invited to the festivities.  Buddy & Jim is quite simply one of the rare gems of this or any year in American music; an album of collaborative creativity, high energy and a deeply felt passion for the singers of songs.

George Jones and Jim Lauderdale

When asked about recent milestones in country music; the death of George Jones and Willie Nelson’s 80th birthday, Lauderdale sighed about George Jones.

“Well, there are some artists who changed everything in country music. He was one of them. He will be missed. His voice hit so many people so deeply.”

There was a sweet irony to the week Jones died falling within days of Willie Nelson’s 80th birthday.

“I worked with Willie a few years back on his Country Music album. We had a really good time. He had such a struggle as an artist early on, even after his songs became famous, but everyone knew it was just a matter of time. His talent runs so deep. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in his position, but he keeps going. He’s so good with his fans. He’s so generous and a really kind person,” Lauderdale said.

As the nominees for 2013′s Americana Music Association’s awards are unveiled in Los Angeles, it won’t be surprising to see Buddy and Jim among the nominees. Even though both have their share of AMA awards, it would be hard to pass over this infectious collection.  Regardless Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale’s efforts collectively and independently will continue to shape the present and the future of Americana music as they lead the way through passionate and diverse music that acknowledges the heart of the history of America’s best music.

Jim Lauderdale will be performing in LA with Buddy Miller at the Troubadour on Tuesday May 14. Click here for tickets.

For more information on Jim Lauderdale visit:  www.jimlauderdale.com

Just Breathe
By Terry Roland

Last June, with what felt like a last breath of grief, my brother, sister-in-law and I drove down the Abilene Highway that runs between Dallas and Abilene, Texas. With the hot summer wind on our backs, we rolled toward a small town, Winters, where my mother’s casket waited for burial between my 46 year-old brother and 34 year-old dad. It was a lonely trip.  At one point, these words came through the car stereo:

 ”Yes I understand every life must end, uh huh……Stay with me, let’s just breathe…”   

There are moments in life when just breathing seems like enough. 

It was Willie Nelson and his 24 year-old son, Lukas singing the words of Pearl Jam’s song. It seemed they were singing to our moment there on that heart-worn highway. The vulnerability in their voices were palatable, real and touching. The performance of a song like this as it reached out to us is the reason why artists record and we listen. The impact is lasting. Songs and artists like this weave into our lives in unsuspecting ways. 

When I talked to Lukas Nelson months later about the song and video he said it was really an act of love between father and son. “I really loved it by Pearl Jam and wanted to sing it with my dad.”  When I said how clear their love comes across in the video that was made to accompany the release of the song, he sighed and said, “You know, Dad was talking with me and my brother the other day.  He looked at us and said, ‘I don’t believe we’ve ever had a cross word to say to each other in all these years.’ The three of us looked at each other and realized it was true. We’ve always gotten along. There really never has been a cross word between us.”  

The video is a low-key drive through the soul of a father-son relationship that captures both the love and the sense of mortality each must face. But, there’s a faith to it that ends with a sense of hope even as they part at the end with Willie driving down the highway and Lukas sitting alone in a room where they once shared music. 

One thing comes clear in both the video and the song, these two, although there is more than 50 years of age between them, share a strong and uncommon bond that. It’s clear with one listen to the early work of Willie Nelson. On demo recordings of songs like “Funny How Time Slips Away,” and “Crazy,” there is a genuine soul that transcends country stereotypes and cuts to something universal in anyone who has tried to love and lost. Then, turning to the now early work of his son, Lukas, on songs like, “The Sound of Your Memory,” and “All The Pretty Horses,” the same soulful thread is being followed. 

During our short phone conversation, I made one comment to Lukas regarding the song and the video….”It seems like the two of you are just parts of the same soul.” He breathed another sigh and said with utter humility, “Well, I agree with that.  Yes.  That’s true. I couldn’t say it any better.”   

As these two vital artists move on parallel paths, with their vocal sounds sometimes hauntingly similar, it’s their spiritual bond that is expressed in song that is becoming more striking.  Although Lukas plays with a passionate fury that approaches the mastery of his guitar heroes, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn, when he writes and sings his songs, it’s the continuation of the unique soul of Willie Nelson that comes through like a cool breeze.  

The video and song of Pearl Jam’s great song, “Just Breathe,” is an apt homage and tribute to a father and son relationship that is unique in its spiritual bond and its artistic kinship. Although we all have to come to closure in this life, it’s good to know that Willie and Lukas Nelson still have some miles between them before that inevitable time comes.   

Willie Nelson in Claremont 

by Terry Paul Roland

Photos by Diane Stroebel

It’s hard to say when an American artist whose creative bloodlines has run through decades, crosses that river of legacy from being an important artist to being a living legend and then, even further to become a national treasure akin to a living and breathing Mt. Rushmore-like figure. Few artists in country music can lay claim to this as convincingly as Texas troubadour, Willie Nelson. On the eve of his 80th year and his 6th decade as a performing and recording artist, Nelson has seen more road strewn with honky-tonks, county fairs, sold-out auditoriums, concert halls and arenas, than any ten traveling musicians will see in their lifetime. With the ease of a saddle-worn cowboy who is not the least bit road-weary, he carries the iconic legend status without pretension or effort.

As he took the stage at the sold-out show at Claremont’s Bridges Auditorium on March 4th, he could have just as easily been ambling out into the darkness of a smoke-filled honky-tonk somewhere in his Texas homeland. His stand-and-deliver method of performance hasn’t changed since his earliest days playing small saloons in Central Texas. Not much is said as he rolls through song after song, familiar and unfamiliar. At times, the old and over-played songs can seem a bit routine, but as unpredictable as he can be, Nelson is capable of settling into his most loved songs like “Night Life,” the haunting, “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground,” and especially, “Georgia on my Mind,” and conjuring the same old magic that he’s been creating for over 50 years. His presentation was straight forward, without frills other than his deceptively beat-up looking Martin guitar, which filled his songs more noticeably than usual since he was the only lead guitar on stage. It was revealing to hear only Nelson and his guitar weaving through his familiar scales effortlessly and organically fusing the traditions of country, blues, folk and early jazz into his songs. His guitar has become nearly one with his own voice. It’s impossible to imagine one without the other. It embodies the ‘horse called music,’ he sings of on his 2012, Heroes album.

In its hey-day the Willie Nelson Family Band has consisted of two electric lead guitars and two drummers that gave the music a larger than life feel. It was the kind of sound capable of breaking down the conservative doors in Nashville during the early 70′s. As the years have passed, Nelson has lost several members to death or retirement. At Thursday night’s show he was down to his ever -faithful harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, sister Bobbie Nelson on piano and Paul English and his brother Billy trading off on a trap-kit drum set. Paul English suffered a stroke a few years ago, but he was back up to his duties throughout most of the show. Kevin Smith capably provided electric and stand-up bass replacing the late Bee Spears.

The resulting sound is a lean, acoustic based feel that allows for more intimacy than the band’s previous incarnations. There’s no longer any need to break down doors or barriers. For Willie and the band, the song remains the central reason for being. It’s a gift for the musicians who remain on stage considering that between Raphael, Sister Bobbie and Paul English, Nelson is working with three people who have been with him from the near beginning of his long career. The trust between them is palatable as he works his way through a two-hour set without a break. Quite a feat for a 79 year-old veteran entertainer.

As the set rolled on it became clear from this stripped down band and the nearness of Nelson’s voice and guitar to the songs, just how innovative Nelson has been, not only in country music, but in popular music and especially in today’s Americana music. From his perennial opener “Whiskey River,” to his early hits covered by Patsy Cline and Ray Price, “Crazy,” “Funny How Time Slips Away” and “Nightlife,” he shows he was never a pure country western singer. His songs easily meld into the land of jazz vocals and blues. It’s easy enough for him to sing songs like, “Goodhearted Woman,” and “On the Road Again,” for the hit value forgetting how in their time these songs were anthems that helped return country music to its authentic core. During the early 70′s that soul was lost in the strings and gloss of Nashville’s tendency to delude rather than discover what’s real in country music. Songs like “Blue-Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain,” and “Georgia,” stylistically invited country music to strip down production to the bare essentials revealing the strength of simplicity. This has always been a virtue in country. At the time Willie first started recording albums like Shotgun Willie, Phases and Stages and Red Headed Stranger, it was a defiant act of musical minimalism riddled with risk. Record executives frowned. Today it is the standard for young and old Americana artists.

When albums 1976′s Red Headed Stranger, and 1978′s Stardust, were released, this approach changed studio production and returned country music to it’s purest sound even while Nelson always felt free to explore other influences-including vocal jazz standards, bluegrass and rock. His impact would be felt well into the New Traditionalist movement of the 80′s. He is a solid presence for today’s roots music lovers.

In concert, Nelson still shines that same light. Today, his music has found a welcome home in Americana music, while the country music establishment has remained patronizing, if respectful from a distance.

On his guitar, as he solos, his playing is as fresh today as it was when he first broke out on the scene. His fingers glide up and down the fret board like a skilled craftsman weaving notes and scales together through jazz, country and even an occasional tinge of rock soundings. His guitar’s voice is its own though. It remains clear and resonate with his own unique definition that no one has been able to duplicate.

As the show came to an end, the proof of Nelson’s durability as an entertainer showed as fans crowded the stage for autographs. While the band played on he patiently moved the length of the stage signing hats, vinyl albums, CDs and photographs while intermittently shaking hands. It was as clear a moment of old-school connection that could never be replaced by light shows and stage antics that so often crowd today’s country acts.

For Willie Nelson to entertain that night two months ago in Claremont, all it took was his presence, the clear voice of his guitar & vocal and his steady presence, to assure us all that real American music will continue to live on beyond the trends and fads of today’s bland and often dull country music. What makes Willie Nelson a living legend and a national treasure is his life time of devotion to his music and his fans. That spirit was evident at the show in Claremont, California last March.

As we are ever-reminded of the mortality of our living legends with the passing of George Jones, it’s a pleasure this week to celebrate the life and music of Willie Nelson as his legacy continues on. Happy 80th to one of America’s true national treasures.

Turnstyled Junkpiled pays tribute to Willie Nelson in honor of his 80th Birthday.

The SouthernTier – Good Hearted Woman /  Mike and The Moonpies – Shotgun Willie /  The Far West – What a Way To Live / Rod Melancon – I’ve Just Destroyed The World I’m Living In / Jason Heath – 7 Spanish Angels / Matt Ellis & V - Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys / Arty Hill - Sad Songs and Waltzes / New American Farmers – Me and Paul / Along Came Jones – Darkness On The Face of The Earth / Skyline Drive – A Song For You / Kevin Russell – Hands on The Wheel / Rod Melancon & Lee Briante – What Do You Think of Her Now

Mark and Courtney from The SouthernTier – Good Hearted Woman

Mike and The Moonpies – Shotgun Willie

The Far West – What a Way to Live

Rod Melancon – I Just Destroyed The World I’m Living In

Jason Heath & The Greedy Souls – 7 Spanish Angels

Matt Ellis & V – Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys

Arty Hill - Sad Songs and Waltzes

New American Farmers – Me and Paul

Along Came Jones – Darkness on The Face of The Earth

Derek Thomas (Skyline Drive) – A Song For You

Kevin Russell – Hands on The Wheel

Rod Melancon and Lee Briante (The Far West) – What Do You Think of Her Now

Bruce Molsky stands today as the premier old-time fiddler in the world, the defining virtuoso of Appalachia’s timeless folk music traditions. That must feel odd for a former engineer from the Bronx, who didn’t begin a music career until he was forty. But folded into those strange facts is the secret to his unique genius.

In addition to a prolific solo career, performing on fiddle, guitar, and banjo, Molsky frequently joins genre-busting supergroups, like the Grammy-nominated Fiddlers Four, and Mozaik, with Hungarian Nikola Parov, and Celtic giant Donal Lunny. He was on Nickel Creek’s farewell tour, and performs in a trio with Scottish fiddler Aly Bain and Sweden’s great Ale Moller.

When did you start playing music?
I first started playing when I was 11, but  I was already glued to pop music radio years before that. I could sing along with everything on the radio from probably six or seven years old. Can’t remember not being obsessed with music. When I was in the 5th grade, the great jazz educator, Dr. Billy Taylor came to my public school in the Bronx and played and spoke to the students as part of his amazing Jazzmobile program. It moved me so deeply that I went home and asked my parents for music lessons. It was one of the most important days in my life and I can still remember it clearly. Having an instrument in my hand made me even more hungry for music.

What led you toward traditional music?
In my nine months of guitar lessons, half of them were spent on all the folk favorites of that time. Freight Train, Little Boxes, Spike Driver Blues. All out of some books my guitar teacher had me working from. We’d play through a verse and a chorus and rush on to the next thing. Those sessions hardly qualified as lessons, but they made me aware of people like Libba Cotton, Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt, Bill Monroe, and of course Pete Seeger. I delivered newspapers (my route consisted of one big 22-story apartment building up the street) and started buying LPs, many of them from Folkways. I still have all of them. When I was 17 I started on banjo thanks to the folk scene in Ithaca, New York where I was going to school. Two LPs changed my life: “Uncle Wade” (Wade Ward and Glen Smith of Carroll County, Virginia) and County Records’ “Clawhammer Banjo, Volume 1.” After a summer of self-inflicted penance working on a dairy farm in 1974, I went with a group of friends to the fiddlers convention in Galax, Virginia and discovered the old time music scene in all its glory. I was hooked.

What is your proudest accomplishment as an artist?
Just having the chance to make people happy with music makes me happier than anything. I was lucky enough to learn from old timers whose time is over now, and it’s an honor to have a chance to pass their music and those experiences on to my students. Being asked to join Berklee College of Music as a Visiting Professor has been amazing, and I’m proud of that. I’m continuing collaborations with some really fantastic musicians from several countries, and those are really exciting.

Tell us about your last album.
If It Ain’t Here When I Get Back is a very personal and very real document. Every tune and song has strong reference to a place or a time or a person I’ve met along the way; it’s somewhat of a loose autobiography like that. Tunes and songs mostly from American traditions, but also from Australia, The Bahamas and other places. The music is all unaccompanied, and we engineered it to sound natural and close to the listener. The artwork and graphics are very much at one with the music. I’m thrilled with how it all turned out.

What are you looking forward to in the future?
A new trio CD and UK touring with Aly Bain and Ale Möller later this year. More musical exploits with Jumpsteady Boys (Joe Newberry, Mike Compton, Rafe Stefanini), and with Mikael Marin (of Väsen) and Ånon Egeland. And on the more immediate horizon, solo touring in Michigan and California, a show in Washington, DC with Jacqueline Schwab and old friends at the DC Revels followed by a month of solo touring in Scotland and England, with a short trip to the great Fiddle Fair Festival in West Cork, Ireland in the middle. And continuing with Berklee’s new American Roots Music Program, a great new addition an already vibrant scene. Maybe a time management course or two. There’s too much I want to do, and I’m going to try to do it all!

What should younger generations should take from Americana music and why is it important that the tradition of music continues?

Escondido
The Ghost of Escondido
By Gerry Gomez
Staff Writer

Escondido is a Nashville formed duo of Jessica Maros and Tyler James. Their vibey Spaghetti Western sound has a Southwestern desert sway to it, somewhat reminiscent of the Friends of Dean Martinez, Calexico and parts of Son Volt infused with Ennio Morricone. They create a really alluring vibe for such a young group. The Ghost of Escondido is their debut album on Kill Canyon.

“Jess was quietly strumming this song ‘Rodeo Queen’ on the couch while everyone else was making drinks in the kitchen,” says James of their fortuitous meetings during recording of a mutual friend, “I pushed record and added a little groove before folks got back in the room.” Maros and James had been solo artists that time and place magically put together as if the universe was giving them a sign to work together. The result of their fateful demo was instantaneous combustion as the two decided later that night to make a record together.

Acting as more the arranger and producer individual of the pair, James seems to be the perfect compliment while Maros’ lyrics are the muse. They spent a few months crafting the songs and bonding over a shared love of spaghetti westerns and 70’s music. Key to Maros’ lyrics are the poetry of prolific friend Leanne Ford, whom she borrowed lines of poetry from to form some songs on Ghost.

“I took some phrases and titles and turned them into songs and made them relatable to my life,” says Maros in an interview. Though a rootsy album, Maros’ lyrics mine personal territory of love and relationship, fate and circumstance.  “I’m Bad Without You”, “Evil Girls,” “Rodeo Queen,” “Don’t Love Me Too Much” are country gothic alternative songs laced with melancholy and depth.

Listening to Escondido will conjure up a slightly more upbeat Mazzy Star, who Maros says in an inspiration. The song, “Cold October” carries a Fleetwood Mac-type laid back melody with James’ signature chiming guitars and overall production giving it their unique blend of vocal hovering over the instruments. It is the pair at their best on the album.

While Maros takes the lead on all tracks on Ghost, “Bad Without You” features the two singing together in choruses to a rousing effect. As does, “Special Enough” that features a searing guitar lead, poetic and deep in response to the heaviness of the lyrics.

The Ghost of Escondido is a superb offering by the band. Recorded in quick sessions at The Casino Studio in Nashville, James feels the essence and immediacy of the band was captured.

“We wanted to capture that initial instinct,” says James. “The talent in this town allows you to set up in one room and let ‘em do their thing.” Musicians Evan Hutchings (drums) and Adam Keafer (bass) provide the rhythm section to Scotty Murray’s washed out western-style electric guitar. Some horns and keyboards used sparingly also add to the soundtrack quality of the album.

It would be interesting to hear some of the guitar studio twang dialed down a bit to bring the vocal more central, but that’s certainly an individual style call. What Escondido doesn’t lack is youthful exuberance and that is one thing they ride nicely on this debut.

Nashville-meets-Laurel Canyon duo Escondido return to Los Angeles in April for a handful of performances in April. Monday April 8th at Chris Doridas’ (KCRW) School Night @ Bardot, Tuesday, April 9th on Conan (TBS, 11pm ET/10pm Central)Wednesday, April 17th at The Standard Hollywood – Desert Nights (7:30 pm) and at the 98.7 & Mimi Chica 2013 Desert Flea Market at Coachella (JW Marriott Palm Desert) on Saturday, April 20th, 1-4 pm.

http://www.thebandescondido.com

Nocona’s high-energy  is infectious and they are one of the few Americana acts in LA that can keep an audience wide awake, captivated and on their feet at 1am.  Made up of  members of Paladino (Chris Isom, Adrienne Isom, Annie Rothschild) and Old Californio (Justin Smith), Nocona stand out from the rest with a perfect mix of punk rock attitude, solid technical skills, fine tuned dynamics and seasoned songwriting chops. They marry together the rootsier side of the Stones along with touches of The Velvet Underground, California twang and The White Stripes, giving them a diverse, original sound that secures their place as one of LA’s most exciting artists to watch in 2013.

“Brimstone” is the first video by Nocona and is the first single from their forthcoming debut self-titled album on Henrietta Records. The album will be out this summer(The Grand Ole Echo in Echo Park on June 30 will be their album release show). The video was directed, edited, and photographed by Jonathan Nowak (http://jonathannowak.tv/work/) and the director of photography was Daron Keet. The video was shot in the San Gabriel Mountains above Altadena, CA.

Song Meaning:

Adrienne: The truth of a perfectly healthy 20 year relationship.

Chris: I woke up one morning and started playing “Nothing in This World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl” by the Kinks, and then just came up with the song

Video inspiration:

A: Our neighbor/the director Jonathan Nowak who knows us and our music pretty well was inspired these were the first words attached to the treatment he sent me:

JN: “Here’s something obvious: this is a storytelling song. Why the hell does that matter? Glad you asked. Cause it seems to me that this video should be more like a short film than just a performance. These lyrics are dripping with epic images of love, fighting, sex… I mean shit –love is war. Brimstone is a love story wrought with chaos, disaster, and longing – like any good relationship. This song is a story about two lovers who stoke their passion with fury – it’s a take no prisoners kind of emotional grudge match between them. It’s this harmonious battle between desire and violence that drives the core of this song – at least that’s my interpretation.”

Filming location:

A: Alta Dena, San Gabriel Mountains

C: Jonathan Nowak came up with the whole vision for the video. Originally it was meant to be shot in a mansion but we couldn’t find one so we shot it at our bass player’s house and in the San Gabriel mountains. He was worried about retaining the integrity of his original vision but I think the video turned out better as a result of our limitations.

Filming Experience:

A: We spent the day in the most beautiful locations. this made it easy and made us feel comfortable and made it fun. shooting a video or not we would have spent the day in those locations doing all of those things — Hiking on the river, hanging out on the lookout, building a fire. its all very California…something we wanted to capture. Chris and I bickered as usual while protecting each other from falling off cliffs or in the river. It’s always a strange thing to “act out” make a video, but we were so comfortable in the locations and with the story we had a really good time.

C: Fortunately, the whole shoot was an easy experience. Adrienne, Jonathan and Annie had scouted all the locations before hand and we just went out and played the song a bunch of times at the different locations and walked around the woods. We ended up in Annie’s backyard at the end and just sort of finished off the day with the bonfire scene, it was a blast.

For more information on Nocona, visit: www.noconamusic.com

Upcoming Nocona Shows:

04/13/2013, Los Angeles, CA, Villains Tavern, US
04/20/2013, Goleta, CA, Mercury Lounge, US
05/09/2013, Los Angeles, CA, Harvard & Stone, US
06/30/2013, Los Angeles, CA, The Grand Ole Echo, US(record release party)

TURNSTYLED JUNKPILED’S PROFILES

BEN REDDELL

HOME: Los Angeles

PROFESSION: Muffin man and Musician

HOBBIES: I collect LOUIS L’AMOUR books

LAST ALBUM PURCHASED: CHRIS SMITHER “LEAVE THE LIGHT ON”

LAST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Just finished my first solo record,”THE BIG DANG DEAL”.  Available here.

QUOTE: “If you’re in trouble, or hurt or need – go to the poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help – the only ones.” – Steinbeck

CRAZIEST ROAD MEMORY: One time I was on the road with “Leslie and the Badgers” and we played a gig in Shasta Lake.  Some hippy dude smoked some hash with me before the 2nd set. When I got back on stage, I was so high I forgot how to play the bass. And what made matters worse, each of my hands had 12 fingers on them. From there on out, I never smoke weed before a show.

FAVORITE BEER: Barqs, that root beer has bite!

WHO’S THE ULTIMATE COUNTRY PIMP: Willis Allan Ramsey

PROFILE: It’s about dang time Ben Reddell put down his bass and started writing songs because L.A. needed a happy-go-lucky, tall Texan to prove that it’s possible to be a Country singer even if you constantly have a smile on your face. We’ve never seen Ben look sad, but the 70s inspired Big Dang Deal has the right amount of drown in your sorrows tunes mixed with get up and dance groove to give listeners something for any mood. You can catch Ben walking around Echo Park saying hello to everyone who walks by (is there anyone in those parts he doesn’t know?), playing his 4 string guitar (bass) with Drive He Said and Rod Melancon or singing his own songs at a local bar, rocking out with his band that features three guitars including Ben on his will be signature, Buck Owens lookin’ telecaster with a Texas Flag paint job that he just debuted at his Big Dang Deal album release show at the Silverlake Lounge.

WEBSITE: http://www.facebook.com/BenReddellBand

FAVORITE L.A. MAGAZINE: Turnstyled Junkpiled!

This is Gonzo Country!

Jonny Fritz – A Corndawg No More

by John Larson

Let’s get something straight right from the get-go: This is your daddy’s country. While his lyrics do have a modern slant, Jonny Fritz isn’t some homogenized schlock that sometimes passes these days for modern country. For his upcoming album, Dad Country, the Artist formally known as Jonny Corndawg, has dropped that moniker in favor of his given name, Jonny Fritz. And while his voice has a fragile quality that is by no means flawless, it is fearless and honest.

On Dad Country (Fritz’s third full-length album on ATO Records) he has cemented his seventies era, California Country Rock sound in spades. Fritz’s crack band of musicians helped him barrelhouse through the dozen tracks in a span of two days, producing a song cycle rife with fiddle, slide guitar and rollicking’ piano that is immediate and truthful. His style is approachable yet solid from the album opener entitled “Goodbye” to the frenetic  “Ghost Riders In The Sky” on-speed style, aptly titled, “Instrumental” closer,  and everything in between. The album has an ebb and flow quality that accentuates his plaintive delivery on one song, while sounding joyous on the next.

Think of Jonny Fritz as a kind of cool buddy or neighbor who just happens to write and perform country music. And oh, yeah, his songs are all killer

Standout tracks: “All We Do,” “Social Climbers,” “Birthday,” “Shut Up,” “Trash Day”
Dad Country will be out 4/16 (ATO Records).

Jonny Fritz will be performing at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on Tuesday 3/26

For more information on Jonny Fritz visit:

http://jonnyfritz.com
https://www.facebook.com/dadcountry

Chevy Beretta from Jonny Fritz on Vimeo.

Meet Jonny Corndawg from Miku & Ryan on Vimeo.

Joe Ely & Joe Pug at The Mint Los Angeles, 3/16/2013
Photos and Words by Courtney Sudbrink

Joe Ely official site:  www.ely.com
Joe Pug: www.joepugmusic.com
The Mint LA: www.themintla.com

In Los Angeles, no venue is better fitted for the songs and stories of Texas Country Rock legend, Lubbock native, former Clash touring partner and Flatlander, Joe Ely (along with Joe Ely duo multi-instrumentalist, Jeff Plankenhorn) or the 1960s folk vibe of Chicago native singer/songwriter, Joe Pug, than The Mint – an intimate, dark lit club on Pico in the Miracle Mile district that brought in an attentive, chatter free crowd who clearly had the appropriate amount of respect for each verse the performers sang and shouted out only to request their favorite songs, to which Ely replied mid set, “Oh now, I appreciate it guys but you’re making me work… and I’m not here to work, I’m here to have fun.”

Opening the show, Pug proved that although he is young, he is perfectly suited to play with the likes of Texas troubadour Steve Earle who he toured with in 2008 and now Joe Ely, who, like Pug, only needs a solitary sideman accompanying him to get across the power of his storytelling abilities and musicianship. Pug, taking the audience back with a vintage Newport Folk Festival vibe with his denim shirt, acoustic guitar and harmonica, brought an easy going confident energy and looked like a young Phil Ochs.

The show, one of particular significance, as it came only a few days after a 27 year saga in the life of Joe Ely made news around the music community.

Back in 1986 while Joe Ely was in San Francisco, his custom made Ted Newman-Jones turquoise guitar was stolen. After a few dead ends and various phone calls from people who claimed they had the guitar, Ely gave up on ever being reunited with the instrument. The only viable lead, a phone call offering the guitar in exchange for money had been traced back to the San Francisco police department but never materialized. Ely received a letter from San Francisco mayor Dianne Feinstein saying “Sorry about your troubles, hope you don’t take it out on San Francisco.”

Only a few days ago, Ely was finally reunited with his guitar. He tells the story to the crowd, one that stands out as more of a never ending story that it does a definite resolution.

“Last week [Jeff Plankenhorn and I] were driving down the coast from Seattle and I get a call from Texas and it said somebody had found [my] guitar that was lost,” Ely says.

“I said ‘Alright, how did this happen?’.”

“There was a guy right out of San Francisco that had seen this turquoise guitar — you couldn’t miss it, it looked like a pool table on acid. And he had bought this guitar at a pawn shop for $150 just because it was a weird looking guitar and took it home and played it for the next 20 some odd years and then one day he sees an old Austin City Limits and I’m playing that guitar and so he spent the next few days figuring out how to get in touch with the maker of the guitar who told him the story and finally he got in touch with us and said “I’ve got to get your guitar back to you or I can’t sleep at night.”

“And I think that’s the greatest story,” Ely says. “His name is Matt Wright and he lives in Merced, CA. A few nights ago he brought the guitar to Slim’s in San Francisco and it was exactly the way I left it. And those stories don’t happen all the time.”

Joe Ely's long lost guitar. Photo by Matt Wright.

“Then we went to sleep, got up the next morning and stopped at a Denny’s in Viejo,” he continues, cracking a joke about Denny’s being a bad decision in the first place.

“When we were at Denny’s, someone broke into the car and stole all our computers along with Jeff’s passport and birth certificate and all the songs he was working on. And I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. And then two days later, today we got a call from a trucker who said he had found the three suitcases that were stolen and it had Jeff’s passport in it. But unfortunately no computers were in there.”

“But if this story goes on any longer I’m going to transpond to somewhere else. I just can’t take this up and down stuff.”

Ely follows the story with a crowd request, his version of Robert Earl Keen’s “The Road Goes On Forever.” Ely follows it with a song he says he hadn’t played in a long time “Standin’ at a Big Hotel” (written by fellow Flatlander Butch Hancock and made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker on 1976’s It’s a Good Night For Singing) from Ely’s 1979 album, Down on the Drag, which contains the geographically suited line “I lost my mind in the wilds of Hollywood,” and gets the crowd yelping as he croons “they say a bird in the hand is best, so here I am with a bird dog and a bottle of muscatel.”

Two other covers stood out, Ely performed fellow Texan Billy Joe Shaver’s modern day old-age anthem, “Live Forever” and closed out ht night bringing Joe Pug back for a high energy version of Townes Van Zandt’s “White Freightliner Blues” leading into a collective bow and Joe Ely’s return for one final solo number, the fan favorite, “If You Were A Blue Bird.”

Joe Pug telling stories

Pedals

Joe Ely’s Taylor Guitar

Singing Robert Earl Keen’s “The Road Goes on Forever”

Jeff Plankenhorn – Mandolin

Doing Billy Joe Shaver’s “Live Forever”

Set list/Notes

Joe Ely and Joe Pug performing Townes Van Zandt’s “White Freightliner Blues”

LA Country Underground Show at The Mint LA, Wednesday March 13, 2013.

With – Michael and The Lonesome Playboys, The Far West, The SouthernTier & David Serby

All photos by TJ unless otherwise noted.

The Far West’s Aaron Bakker and Lee Briante

The Far West onstage

The Far West’s Robert Black

On stage

The Far West’s Travis Popichak

Mark Lennon with Michael Ubaldini (Michael & The Lonesome Playboys)

Michael Ubaldini on stage

TJ Editor Courtney Sudbrink of The SouthernTier  chatting with Michael Ubaldini

The SouthernTier’s Courtney Sudbrink getting ready to shred.

The SouthernTier’s Mark Lennon tuning his Martin guitar.

David Serby (Photo by Barbara Young)