Archives from October 2010

The quartet fuse all things rock and country, and their fringe dwellers, on their second release, "Hallelujahland". American Graveyard has been growing in presence and popularity in their Austin for seven years. They have gained in stature to be headliners at Antone's and the Continental Club.

The world has a balance issue. Seems to be more talkers than listeners. What is impressive about Marshall Chapman is that she is a champion listener. If the quality is so present in someone with so much to say, so much going on and a damn interesting manner of telling the tales of her past few years, there is hope for all future conversations with others not as up on the virtues of the in door versus the out.

To catch you up, Marshall Chapman has upcoming releases for an album, "Big Lonesome" and book, "They Came to Nashville". Somewhere between writing and recording she found time to take a role as Gwyneth Paltrow's road manager in the upcoming Screen Gems feature film, 'Country Strong'. Wait, wait, there's more! In February, 2010, 'Good Ol' Girls', opened Off Broadway with a dozen or so songs written by Marshall Chapman and Matraca Berg.

Which spot on the map gets the nod when the term 'mountain music' pops up? You can probably trace Garden of Eden style first steps to somewhere in the Appalachians. Over time, the term and the sound land on the who is playing and not the where. Hearing Sara Petite could easily make you think she grew up down a dusty road near Butcher Holler. She called the Northwest home and Loretta came callin' in stereo speakers, not through the back gate. Sara and her twin sister fell in love with Loretta Lynn via the movie 'Coal Miner's Daughter'. Mom would get albums from the library and the young girls would perform for friends and family. She picked up not only voice inflections but a love of country music.

Nashville took a hard hit in 2010, suffering too much water in too short a time. On May 27th, 2010, Americana Soul man Mike Farris recorded a charity E.P. at the Downtown Presbyterian Church in Nashville to do what he could to help those in need. The six song effort, "The Night the Cumberland Came Alive", will be released on October 26th through Entertainment One.

The tracks were recorded in one day just weeks after the devastating flood, which occurred on May 1, 2010. The recording is the first of Mike's Rose Memorial Fund projects, an ongoing charitable outreach in the memory of his longtime manager, Rose McGathy.

Early on the morning of Sunday, October 10, 2010, the legendary King of Rock & Soul, Solomon Burke,  passed away due to natural causes. Solomon had just arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands for a sold out show at Paradiso with Dutch band, De Dijk.  He was on his way to spread his message of love as he loved to do. For a limited time, as tribute to King Solomon, we're offering a glimpse into his life and career with a rare interview he granted The Alternate Root in August of 2009 with our own 'Big Kev' Ploghoft.

Expect the unexpected with Raul Malo. Sure, he has one of the most unique and powerful voices in the world of roots/Americana music and that immediately draws you in but his vast musical knowledge, his ability to craft both musically and lyrically incredibly catchy songs and the fact that he is a bad-ass guitar player are what make each Raul Malo album and adventure unto itself. 'Sinners and Saints' is no different. It is another musical journey that spans the breadth of influences that make him one of the more interesting songwriters of today. 'Sinners and Saints' wants for nothing and may be the best recording in a very significant catalog of Raul Malo recordings.

'Sinners and Saints' arrives via surfboard on the opening and title track. Almost like a Herb Alpert and Dick Dale collaboration if there ever would have been one. The two minute instrumental intro features a solo trumpet juxtaposed against Raul's twangy Jazzmaster tones stretching the song between standing alone in a bull ring in Spain and shooting the curl off the California coast in 1966. The song picks up steam throughout with blazing horns, Cuban rhythms and blistering guitar leads and  Raul Malo's voice has rarely, if ever, sounded better.

In his nearly five decades of producing and performing Duke Robillard has touched nearly every style of blues and jazz, performed all over the world with some of the greatest players besides himself on the biggest stages the genre has known. As a founding member of the legendary Roomful of Blues he also paved the way for some of the New England region's greatest players who have followed him through that group's monumental line-ups. He is one of the pre-eminent guitarists in the world today, bar none.

With the release of 'Passport to the Blues' he has also just completed the most prolific period in his illustrious career beginning with the release of 'Sunny and Her Joy Boys' (2009), 'Stomp the Blues Tonight' (2009), and 'Tales from the Tiki Lounge' (also in 2009). This latest effort is sort of a homecoming for Duke as it marks his return to the deep blues that have defined his long journey to the top of the blues world.