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Jahfin

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Everything posted by Jahfin

  1. So new that this is not even on a record (yet). By the way, if you're not familiar with James McMurtry, his Dad is renown author Larry McMurtry who most folks probably know from the book (as well as miniseries) Lonesome Dove.
  2. Don't recall if you posted a report on this show but I'd love to hear what you thought of it. As much of a fan of the Old 97's as I am, I've had to pass on some of their more recent visits to the area. When they return to the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro next month with Salim Norurallah in tow I may find myself in a similar predicament as there's a whole slew of concerts happening around that same time that will be vying for my attention including Sharon Van Etten, Steve Forbert, Kathleen Edwards, Southern Culture On the Skids and A.C. Newman (New Pornographers). I'd love to see them again, especially since they'll be celebrating the 15th anniversary of Too Far To Care by playing it in it's entirety (of which I'm sure you're more than aware). As for Those Darlins, I saw them headlining a show at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill a few years ago that I thoroughly enjoyed. As for the last show I attended it was a house concert out in Wake Forest yesterday afternoon that served as a fundraiser for the upcoming documentary on the North Carolina music scene circa 1978-1990 called Bring It On Home which is named after the Arrogance song of the same name. For those not familiar with Arrogance, they count among their members one Don Dixon who is more well known in most music circles as the producer of albums by R.E.M., the Connells, Guadalcanal Diary, the Smithereens, Hootie and the Blowfish and tons of others. Dixon has also had his songs covered by the likes of Joe Cocker ("The River") and is also a well known session and touring musician. These days, in addition to touring with his wife Marti Jones he also serves as the bass player in Mary Chapin Carpenter's touring band. Performing at yesterday's house concert was Robert Kirkland, another member of Arrogance who also at one time fronted a band called Kick the Future, his wife Debi (from a local band called Molly Bond), Jeff Hart (from the Ruins, the Hanks, Brown Mountain Lights and many others), Holden Richards (One Plus Two, the Swamis) and George Huntley (the Connells). While I enjoyed everyone's songs immensely, it was George Huntley who really got my attention. Even though I'm a longtime fan of the Connells it wasn't until yesterday that his contributions to that band really dawned on me. Not just as a guitarist but also as a vocalist and songwriter. After 17 years with the Connells he retired from the music business and now runs his own real estate business in the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill). Following the show he thanked the organizers (filmmakers Herb Campell and Mike Allen) for luring him out of retirement and even expressed some interest in playing some more shows. That was literally music to my ears and I truly hope it comes to fruition as he is one of the areas most gifted musicians. The Connells still record (they're presently working on a new record) and tour but without George Huntley (as well as drummer Peele Wimberley), it's just not the same. I doubt we'll ever seen Huntley return to the fold or to touring and recording full time but hopefully some area shows will be in order. At present, the filmmakers behind Bring It On Home have 10 days left to meet their goal and are still close to $10,000 away from reaching it. I know there's not a lot of fellow fans of the North Carolina music scene on this board but if you are out there, I'm sure they would greatly appreciate any contributions you are able to make. To learn more about Bring It On Home and how you can help, please take a few moments to check their Kickstarter page which you can find here.
  3. This cover has become the stuff of legend in R.E.M. circles over the years. Only thing is, the lack of a copy with decent sound quality has kept it from making the rounds. Plus, I believe they only performed it once. Finally, a good sounding copy of it has surfaced. While on the surface it may seem like a strange song for R.E.M. to cover, it really fits them quite perfectly. http://youtu.be/HHwNnEoswX0
  4. Slobberbone covering Neil Young from a tribute record that was released in the Netherlands back in the 90's called This Note's For You Too!
  5. All Star performance of "The Weight" from the AMA's at the Ryman in Nashville, TN earlier this week. More on the performance from Relix.
  6. I'm not sure if I'd refer to this as "good" as I've never really been a fan of Dashboard Confessional but it's definitely a very different take on R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" from Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carrabba. His all covers album, Covered In the Flood from 2011 (which is available as a download only) also includes his take on songs by Guy Clark, John Prine, Justin Townes Earle, The Replacements and Archers of Loaf.
  7. Really enjoyed this. Looking forward to seeing the other films in the trilogy.
  8. From a tribute to Levon Helm that was held at the Mercy Lounge in Nashville, TN last night following the Americana Music Awards at the Ryman; Hayes Carll, Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers), Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires and Steve Gorman (Black Crowes) performing "The Weight":
  9. Saw this guy (Mike June) open for Jon Dee Graham at a house concert in Raleigh a few weeks ago. When he performed this song it definitely turned some heads. If you listen, you'll hear why. It's pretty tricky lyrical territory to navigate in this day and age of political correctness and oversensitivity but Mike June handles it well. Speaking of Jon Dee, he contributes lap steel to this song and also gets a real nice shoutout in the video itself.
  10. From Wanda Jackson's new album, Unfinished Business, which comes out on October 9th.
  11. Just finished reading this book by Raleigh News & Observer music writer David Menconi on Ryan Adams. It's a very brisk read at less than 200 pages, which is supposed to be part of the purpose of the book. It's the second in a series of American Music books from the former publishers of No Depression magazine (the first one was on Dwight Yoakam). In the early stages of Ryan Adams' career, Menconi had unprecedented access to Adams which allows for some pretty compelling reading, especially if you are interested in that era of his career, prior to the solo records when he was still with Whiskeytown. That said, much of it was familiar territory to me since I was following David's writings and Ryan's antics pretty closely in those days but there's still a few revelatory things that made it well worth reading. Unfortunately, Ryan asked several principle folks not to cooperate with Menconi's writing of the book. However, that doesn't get in the way of his telling of the story as there are plenty of people out there that were close to Ryan that were able to add their own personal insights. One thing I might add is that the focus of the book is on Ryan's years in Whiskeytown. His solo career is covered up until the present day but somewhere following the release of Gold, Menconi no longer had the access he once had to Ryan.
  12. Some thought provoking stuff from Dylan here. Makes me wonder what Jimmy Page's response would be to Dylan's comments. Bob Dylan Strikes Back at Critics Addresses plagiarism charges for the first time in new Rolling Stone interview
  13. Cool to see Alejandro Escovedo opening some dates for them on this tour. If anyone's more deserving of being exposed to a larger audience, it's Alejandro. Some of you may be familiar with him from his work with the Nuns, Rank n' File, the True Believers or his band Buick MacKane. Others may know him as the brother of Pete Escovedo of Santana. Others may be familiar with him because of his niece, Sheila E. Back in 1998 he was named Artist of the Decade by No Depression magazine. Unfortunately, he still remains largely unknown by the masses despite being championed by the likes of Bruce Springsteen. If you're not familiar with Alejandro, I strongly suggest checking out his song "Castanets", probably his best known tune to date:
  14. I was working in Jacksonville, NC at the time, home of the Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune. I first heard the news via a locally oriented music listserv that I belong to. Shortly thereafter radios were turned on and TV's were brought in so we could all witness the unfathomable. To show how much has changed in the past eleven years, the news was not immediately reported on the web via legitimate news sources as it would be in 2012. As my memory serves, that actually took a while back in those days. Otherwise, fellow citizens were reporting on the horrific events of the day in a variety of different ways online. I was also getting firsthand accounts from people at work as well as others that had loved ones in the vicinities of the attacks. Since Camp Lejeune would be considered a target we were all deeply concerned but what do you do in a situation like that? At first, my boss said she wanted everyone to stay at work but that you could go home if you really felt the need to. Trying to immerse yourself in daily routines was next to impossible with all that was going on. Shortly after lunch we were told we all had permission to leave if we wanted but most of us stayed. What were we going to do at home that was any different than how were handling the situation at work? I thought it best to stay on but I did leave a little early and took an alternate route home because of traffic coming on and off of the base. Of course, music played a role in this day as well since Bob Dylan's Love and Theft came out on September 11, 2001. Ironically enough, Ryan Adams' Gold (which depicted an upside down American flag on the back cover) was also due to come out on September 11th but was pushed back until the 25th. I stopped by the record store that day to pick up the Dylan but wasn't really in the mood for music. Like everyone else, I stayed glued to the television and radio for the next few days. That Friday I went out to hear one of my favorite local bands at the neighborhood dive which was probably the best thing to do. It sure beat sitting at home worrying about whether it was safe to go out or not. The next day, I broke the shrink wrap on Love & Theft and plopped it into the CD player. If there's ever been a more soothing musical salve, I've never heard it. Strangely prophetic at times, Love & Theft was the album that broke the musical silence for me. There was a lot of confusion and very mixed feelings that day and they're all forever captured in that record.
  15. J Geils Band is being sued by J Geils J Geils is suing the other members of the band that uses his name. In a lawsuit filed in Boston Superior Court earlier this month, Geils claims that his four colleagues "planned and conspired" to prevent him from performing with them on an upcoming J Geils Band tour. The eleven-date US tour had been scheduled to begin on August 25 in Syracuse, New York. John "J" Geils - the band's singer, lead guitarist and one of its founding members - is now seeking damages and full rights to the J Geils Band name. His lawyer Charles Grimes told Reuters: "Together they're the J Geils Band, but separately they're Mr Wolf, Mr Salwitz , Mr Klein, and Mr Justman. They do not have the right to take his name and use it, and try to deny him the right to use his own name." However, an attorney representing the other members of the The J Geils Band pledged to contest the allegations made by Geils and Francesca Records, a label he co-owns. "We will address the claims in the lawsuit including our own claims against John Geils and Francesca Records at the appropriate time," he said. Formed in 1967, The J Geils Band recorded 13 studio albums and scored a US Number One hit with 1981's 'Centerfold' before disbanding in 1985. They reunited for live dates in 1999 and then again in 2009 and 2010, both times with Geils in the line-up.
  16. Navarre Beach Pier in Pensacola, FL Pensacola News Journal
  17. You would have to take that up with "eagle87" as he's the one that started the thread. There's several other Aerosmith threads here but this is the oldest one. I also added to a Stevie Ray Vaughan thread yesterday in which someone misspelled his last name (same thing for one of the other SRV threads). If it bothers you that much perhaps you could contact Sam to have him correct the spelling. I pretty much agree with everything you have to say here. I've also heard at least a couple of songs from this record and while they're not bad, I'm not going to confuse them with anything from the first four Aerosmith albums. Some artists have been able to maintain a level of consistency throughout their careers and are still able to tap into the muse that connects to all of their work in one or another but Aerosmith doesn't seem to be one of them. They've said more than once that their next record was going to be a return to the sound of their early albums but, for whatever reason, they've never been able to achieve that goal. While some artists are able to do it, I just don't think Aerosmith is capable of going home again. I don't really fault Tyler for his work on American Idol as, from what I've read, he juggled that with the making of their new record. Hell, even Joe Perry, his biggest critic, came around and Aerosmith performed on the show. I never would have seen that coming in a million years. As for "power ballads", those words weren't even in existence back in the 70's, yet they could be applied to everything from "Stairway To Heaven" to "Dream On". They don't always have to be seen as dirty words. That didn't really start to happen until the Hair Metal era of the 80's. Back to the topic at hand, I've love to see Aerosmith pull a rabbit out of their hat at least one more time. It's been quite a few years now but the last time I saw them in concert (Woodstock '94) they still knew how to bring it. If only they were able to translate that energy from the stage to the studio without any interference from the outside such as bringing in hit making songwriters. Apparently that just isn't possible for them for some reason. I'm guessing it has everything to do with dollar signs.
  18. Malcolm Holcombe with Jared Tyler at the Casbah in Durham, NC on Saturday night.
  19. I'm certainly not opposed to bands bringing in outside writers, for instance, the Grateful Dead did it for years with Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow but it was never in the interest of engineering hit singles. In the case of Aerosmith, it is (or at least was). There for a while I thought there might be a small glimmer of hope that their new album (Music From Another Dimension, due in November) might actually be a return to the sound of early Aerosmith circa Toys In the Attic and Rocks. Maybe it will prove to be on a sonic level due to the presence of Jack Douglas but the news of them bringing in an outside writer doesn't bode well for the high hopes many have pinned on this album. I haven't purchased one of their records since Night in the Ruts in the late 70's so I'm not exactly one of those folks but all of this "return to form" stuff is starting to fall on deaf ears. That's not to say I won't give the album an honest shake as I most certainly will but having to rely on people who's job it is to formulate hits doesn't sit very well with me. As for the power ballads angle, they've done some good stuff in that department over the years with tunes like "You See Me Crying" and "Home Tonight" but in their latter years they turned in some real shit that cheapened the good songs such as "Cryin'", "Amazing" and the utter fucking dreck of "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing". Maybe they'll prove me wrong but so far they've failed pretty miserably on that front. Aerosmith Balance 'Real Rockers' With Power Ballads On New LP, Says Songwriter Marti Frederiksen Brandon Oustler
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