Cracker's playing a free show here Saturday as part of Raleigh's Downtown Live concert series. Sunday, the Church are playing the State in Falls Church, VA. I'm kinda on the fence about that one but would love to see the Church.

Marah at the Pour House in Raleigh tonight.

There is.

I Was Totally Destroying U2 at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh. It was local band I Was Totally Destroying It in U2 mode. The Jackets at the Pour House (also in Raleigh). The Jackets includes members of local band Chatham County Line.

My Vinyl Saturday purchase:

I missed it as well. I was catching Steve Earle the evening it aired.

Eddie Van Halen Sues Nike Over Guitar’s Signature Color Scheme Photo: Cohen/WireImage Eddie Van Halen’s red, white and black splatter-striped “Frankenstrat” guitar is one of the Van Halen leader’s true signatures. In fact, it’s so closely associated with the guitarist, Van Halen had the color scheme copyrighted in 2001. Now he’s suing Nike because he says the sportswear giant put a similar design on one of their Dunk Lows sneakers, Spinner reports. Click here to read the rest of the article.

Bonnie got lots of airplay on AOR back in the 70s but she really didn't get a whole lot of mainstream recognition until that Grammy win.

She was severely overlooked for years until her Nick of Time album swept the Grammys. The further you go back, the bluesier her music is. The more recent stuff has earned her the "female Jackson Browne" tag (which is not a bad tag to have, by the way). She's definitely one of my favorites. She has also done a whole hell of a lot to be sure the original blues artists she cut her teeth on receive their just due. There's lots to be admired about Bonnie, not the least of which is her ability to play the hell out of a slide guitar. I just love it when she sits in with Little Feat.

They have.

Not sure I buy into the "blues rock" thing. Though it's more true of their earlier albums, there's definitely some blues influences at work in Rush's music.

I'm not sure if Pink Floyd would be described as "progressive rock" but haven't they already been inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame? As for prog rock itself, I've never been a huge fan but I do love me some Rush. I also like Yes and Jethro Tull and need to expand my collection to include more of their work.

Considering the ground they cover musically (Surf, Rockabilly, Country, Rock, etc.) I think they'd be right up your alley. You can sample some of their tunes via their MySpace site.

Looks like he's headed your way this fall: Steve Earle Tour Dates

For some reason I'm unable to edit my post above to add this, the artwork for Murmur and Reckoning:

I still don't own any of her records but I first heard of Irma Thomas thanks to this line from Jimmy Buffett's song Saxophones: I cut my teeth on gumbo rock Benny Spellman and Doctor John Sweet Irma Thomas and "Frogman" Henry Use to boogie woogie all night long Speaking of Hittin' On Nothing, I'm not sure if you're familiar with it but Southern Culture On the Skids do a pretty cool version of it on their album Liquored Up and Lacquered Down.

Very good though the ArtsCenter could have stood to have turned on the A/C. The opener, Joe Pug, was also very good. His vocal mannerisms at times reminded me of Dylan but not in a bad way. He had a style of performing that was very much all his own.

Steve Earle with Joe Pug last Wednesday at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro. The Kinksmen, a Kinks cover band at Slim's in Raleigh this past Saturday.

Here's the setlist from Steve Earle's show in Carrboro last week. The Townes songs are marked with asterisks. Swede, please let me know if I missed any. Steve Earle Carrboro Arts Centre 10 June 2009 Start: 9:28 1. Where I Lead Me* 2. Colorado Girl* 3. Rex's Blues* 4. Ft. Worth Blues 5. Pancho & Lefty* 6. Brand New Companion* 7. Tom Ames' Prayer 8. My Old Friend The Blues 9. Someday 10. Taneytown 11. Goodbye 12. Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold* 13. Marie* 14. City of Immigrants 15. Dixieland 16. Rich Man's War 17. The Mountain 18. Sparkle & Shine 19. Lungs* 20. To Live Is To Fly* Encore 21. Hometown Blues 22. Tennessee Blues 23. Copperhead Road

I love Janis too but I have to be in the mood to listen to her. To me, it was all about raw emotion with her and how she went about expressing it on stage. When it comes to vocal range there are others I'd put ahead of her but as far as stage presence, I don't think there's any.

The only Townes records I have are also Live At Old Quarter, Together at the Bluebird Cafe: Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark and For the Sake of the Song (vinyl). I have no problem recommending any of those to you but they only scratch the surface. If you ever get around to watching Be Here To Love Me (which you can watch online for free here with commercials) you'll find that Guy Clark makes several appearances throughout the movie. That only stands to reason as he and Townes were very dear friends but Guy's music is also well worth seeking out. He was so close to Townes he's included one of his songs on every single album he's ever released. On that subject, the Heartworn Highways documentary (with Townes, Guy, Steve Earle, David Allan Coe, Steve Young, Charlie Daniels and others) is also very highly recommended. When it was finally released on DVD a few years back a soundtrack was also put out. Click on the photo below for a link to the Heartworn Highways trailer.

Townes' voice can be an acquired taste but if you're able to get beyond that you're in for a real treat as I do believe he's one of the best songwriters who ever lived. I also highly recommend seeing this documentary (click on the image for more info): I haven't heard this yet but many people I know have strongly suggested it: ...and, of course there's this (which I still haven't purchased yet). However, Steve did put on one hell of a show in Carrboro last week and told many very moving (and often humorous) anecdotes about his times with Townes.

The No Depression website is having a contest to win copies of the Reckoning remaster (along with the deluxe edition of Murmur) as well as an uncut sheet of the LP artwork signed by the band. You can read more about it here.

Everything my friends have said about this movie is true. It's definitely worth seeing. However I must say it was more on their recommendations that I went to see it. Thank goodness because the near endless hyping of it on VH1 Classic nearly kept me away. Yes, the hype is worth it to encourage people to see the movie but I believe the ad campaign started in late '08 and hasn't let up since. I think that's because Viacom or whoever owns the VH1, MTV, CMT franchise these days also has some sort of financial interest in the movie. Fan or not, it'll make you wanna buy one of their CDs just to help them out.