Episode #374 – Sunday, January 9, 2011

Posted on by January 19, 2011
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As we prepare to unveil our official favourite songs of 2010, we’ve noticed that there are a whole bunch of great ones that somehow didn’t make the cut. Some years, there’s just too much great stuff, and 2010 seems like one of those years. Much of today’s show is devoted to great releases from 2010 that deserve an honorary mention.

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Romi Mayes – Achin’ in yer Bones – Achin’ in yer Bones – CDN – WPG
Jackpine – Dab – Cabbage – CDN – WPG
Jackpine – Baggage – Cabbage – CDN – WPG
Hatcher-Briggs – Boy Chief Hill – Getting There from Here – CDN – WPG
John Prine – This Guitar Is for Sale – Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein

2:30 – 3:00 pm

Old Crow Medicine Show – Angel of Montgomery – Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine
John Prine w/Iris DeMent – In Spite of Ourselves – In Person & On Stage
John Hiatt – The Open Road – The Open Road
Robert Plant – Angel Dance – Band of Joy
Patty Griffin – Move Up – Downtown Church
Elvis Costello – The Spell that You Cast – National Ransom

3:00 – 3:30 pm

Bobby Bare Jr – Sad Smile – A Storm A Tree My Mother’s Head
Ray Lamontagne and the Pariah Dogs – Beg Steal or Borrow – God Willin’ & The Creek Don’t Rise
Pieta Brown – Calling All Angels – One and All
Red Horse – Wild Horse – Red Horse
Storyhill – Cover your Tracks – Shade of the Trees
Brock Zeman – -Gone- – Ya Ain’t Crazy Henny Penny – CDN
Robert Larisey – Black Heart – Nights Take Forever – CDN

3:30 – 4:00 pm

Dan Walsh – Wherehowse – Virtuoso – CDN
Jenny Whiteley – Ripple Effect – Forgive or Forget – CDN
Kim Beggs – Just Someone I Used to Know – Blue Bones – CDN
Shari Ulrich – Why Can’t We Just Get Along – Find Our Way – CDN
James McMurtry – Ruby and Carlos – Just Us Kids
James McMurtry – Safe Side – Candyland

Jim Bryson interview

Posted on by January 19, 2011
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I’m hoping to get my act together and get our old pal Jim Bryson on the phone soon to promote his fine new record and upcoming show (March 5 at WECC, see the Upcoming Events page for more info). In the meantime, here’s a neat interview posted by former Winnipegger Chuck Molgat on his blog, Thick Specs

See the full interview here: http://www.thickspecs.com/my_weblog/2010/10/interview-with-jim-bryson.html

Jim’s always interesting, but especially so in this interview. You surely know by now that Jim’s album The North Side Benches is one of my all time faves, a true desert island disc. Well, it sounds like Jim wasn’t even trying to be brilliant, and certainly wasn’t having a good time making the record! Shocking:

“TS: Over 10 years, you’ve released 5 solo works but a few have been gapped by more than 3 or 4 years (North Side Benches in 2003 to Where The Bungalows Roam in 2007) – was that planned or due to other busyness?

JB: There is a perfect example of how playing other people’s music affects your own stuff. Kathleen toured all of 2005 and all of 2006 and I was playing with her through all of that so I recorded Bungalows on breaks from tour. So songs like The Wishes Pile Up, All The Fallen Leaves, Pissing On Everything, Death By Vibration…I had bed tracks done for all of those. So half of it was made one year and I made the rest of it over another. That stuff I recorded went to a studio. And I mean, North Side Benches was a little intense and somewhat negative record company experience so I was taking a bit of a calculated step back at that point. I wasn’t enjoying many elements of it. And ya know, you only live once in a year and so I wanted to make sure I felt better about all of it and that I lived as well as I could in that space of a year. I was lookin to get dropped and I did get dropped by the label. I guess it was part of learning to trust my own instincts more. And it’s weird – sometimes they’ll say ‘you got some buzz going!’ and you’ll call the same press people you called 10 years ago. It’s all strange. But for me, I just made a decision that its my life and I’m happy to work with other people but I want to do it my own way. I strangely felt burnt out after North Side Benches. But then when I went on tour with Kathleen, it re-energized my own desire to do my own music. A lot more positives in my life came around since then.”

Countryfest 2011

Posted on by January 18, 2011
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Dauphin Countryfest is an annual gathering of drunken uneducated idiots who can’t wait to get their next Toby Keith fix. It’s really a side of humanity that you don’t need to see to understand – it’s better left at a distance. Somehow, however, they do manage to book a few really cool acts each year.

This year’s Dauphin lineup includes: The Sheepdogs, Joshua Cockerill, The Warped 45s, The Heartbroken, and legendary Texan Joe Ely. Of course, the shenanigans are probably sold out (the drunken, uneducated, obnoxious contingent in that part of the world is large), so it doesn’t much matter, but we hear that a couple of the good ones may play the StuDome on July 3. (The Sunset Saloon is looking at booking Joe Ely for a Wednesday night show just to get back at ol’ Stu. Don’t hold your breath.)

Check out the details at the Countryfest site: http://countryfest.ca/index.php

Fred Eaglesmith interview

Posted on by January 18, 2011
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You may recall our struggles getting Fred Eaglesmith to appear on the show (capped off by the infamous Fred Eaglesmith Will he or Won’t He Show and the subsequent Fred Eaglesmith clause that we use on the email list (you have joined the email list, right? See the Home page for the link). We’ve had a rocky relationship, and that along with his somewhat questionable musical direction and his cantankerous ways which alienate some great musicians who toil away in his band, lead us to not always see eye-to-eye with ol’ Fred.

That having been said, he is a pretty darn intelligent, interesting dude, as you can see in this great interview online: http://www.mulevariations.com/features/feature-interview-fred-eaglesmith-part-1

Episode #373, January 2, 2011

Posted on by January 7, 2011
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A super-sized, action packed episode, as we close out another year and start up a new one. We play a bunch of the best of 2010. As usual, we can’t let New Year’s Day pass without tributes to Hank & Townes, who both left us on Jan. 1.

2:00 – 2:30 pm

Slaid Cleaves – One Good Year – Broke Down
Matthew Ryan & Hammock – Like New Year’s Day – Like New Year’s Day
D. Rangers – New Years Blues – The Paw-Paw Patch – CDN – WPG
Hank Williams – I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive – The Ultimate Collection
Reid Jamieson – I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry – Vinyl Cafe Demos – April2008 – CDN
Neko Case – Alone and Forsaken – Canadian Amp
Hank Williams – Cold, Cold Heart – The Ultimate Collection

2:30 – 3:00 pm

Townes Van Zandt – Flyin’ Shoes – Flyin’ Shoes
Danny Schmidt w/ Carrie Elkin – Rex’s Blues
Jeffrey Foucault – Nothin’ – Riding the Range – The songs of Townes Van Zandt
Phosphorescent – Why She’s Acting This Way – More Townes Van Zandt by the Great Unknown
Shannon Lyon – If I Needed You – Riding the Range – The songs of Townes Van Zandt
Shannon Lyon – Blue Flowers – This Love This Love – CDN

3:00 – 3:30 pm

Paul Quarrington – Wherever You Go – The Songs – CDN
Brian MacMillan – All I Have – Shine – CDN
Jenn Grant – Annie’s Song – Songs for Siigoun EP – CDN
Jack Marks – Michigan Love – Lost Wages – CDN
Jadea Kelly – Heavy Heart – Eastbound Platform – CDN

3:30 – 4:00 pm

Leeroy Stagger & The Wildflowers – I Believe in Love – Little Victories – CDN
Danny Michel – Who’s Gonna Miss You? – Sunset Sea – CDN
The Head and the Heart – Down in the Valley – The Head and the Heart
Beta Radio – Either Way – Seven Sisters
Turnpike Troubadours – Diamonds and Gasoline – Diamonds and Gasoline

4:30 – 5:00 pm

The Details – The Original Mark – The Original Mark EP – CDN – WPG
Jim Bryson – Rust and Fade – Kelp 16 – CDN
Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans – Decidedly – The Falcon Lake Incident – CDN
Tanya Davis – Tra La La – Clocks and Hearts Keep Going – CDN
Greg Macpherson – First Class – Mr. Invitation – CDN – WPG
The Damnwells – She Goes Around – No One Listens to the Band Anymore
Hannah Georgas – This Is Good – This Is Good – CDN
Sweet Thing – Over You – Sweet Thing – CDN

5:00 – 5:30 pm

Yukon Blonde – Babies Don’t Like Blue Anymore – Yukon Blonde – CDN
The John Henrys – Little One – White Linen – CDN
Band of Horses – Dilly – Infinite Arms
Tired Pony – Dead American Writers – The Place We Ran From
Christina Martin – Daisy – I Can Too – CDN
Lissie – When I’m Alone – Catching a Tiger
Keith & Renee – But I Do – Detour – CDN – WPG
Griffin House – Just Another Guy – The Learner

5:30 – 6:00 pm

The Beauties – Tired Fired Blues – The Beauties – CDN
Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social – Burning the Bowery – Love It to Life
Wintersleep – Black Camera – New Inheritors – CDN
The Gaslight Anthem – Stay Lucky – American Slang
Alejandro Escovedo – Anchor – Street Songs of Love
Mumford & Sons – The Cave – Sigh No More

2010: Stellar Standout Songs

Posted on by January 5, 2011
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For those with short attention spans in this iTunes single age, here’s a list of great Canadian songs from 2010 that deserve to be heard. Seriously, you can get each one for less than a buck, and you’ll get so much more out of enjoying them.

These aren’t meant to be the 10 “best” songs of the year, because what the hell does that mean, but they are 10 songs that you really should hear and I know you’ll enjoy.

1. Miles and Years by Del Barber, from Love Songs for the Last 20. http://www.myspace.com/delbarber. Nobody released a better record in 2010 than Del Barber, and I’d stand in Richard Flohil’s living room WITH MY HAT ON and tell him so. Sensitive, funny, interesting, melodic, powerful, witty, man, the guy’s songs have just about everything. Listen to this one and you can really feel the scene as it comes alive in living colour. Brilliant writing for a kid who’s only at the beginning of his very exciting career. Watch out for big big things from this guy, I’d bet on it.

2. Goodbye by Lynn Miles (with Jim Bryson), from Fall for Beauty. http://www.lynnmilesmusic.com/. Lynn Miles can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned. Any time she puts out new music is cause for celebration, and her new disc is no different. The standout track is this absolute heartbreaker about a relationship that’s just run its course. Listen to the depth of feeling in the voices of Lynn and guest Jim Bryson. Both are brilliant, but neither has ever reached into my heart quite like this before. Sad, beautiful, absolutely perfect.

3. Daisy by Christina Martin, from I Can Too. http://www.christinamartin.net/. She was brilliant on her last record, so I wondered whether there was room for growth, but this song (and the whole disc) takes things up more than just a notch. Still the same powerful songs and moving melodies, this one is amped up a bit by producer/partner Dale Murray with some driving guitar lines. This one’s about the best pop/rock song of the year, and if anything deserves to be screaming out of radios and car windows, this is it.

4. Eulogy for You and Me by Tanya Davis, from Clocks and Hearts Keep Going. www.tanyadavis.ca. Another victory for the amazing Jim Bryson. He took this amazing, relatively unknown songwriter and, as producer, gave her one hell of an amazing sounding record. This is another of those heartbreaking sad songs that just reaches into your heart and mind and won’t let go. And what a melody, and what playing by Mr. Jim.

5. My Love Comes Stepping Up the Stairs by Old Man Luedecke, from My Hands Are on Fire and other Love Songs. www.oldmanluedecke.ca. Sweet and beautiful and playful, all the things that make Old Man Luedecke, and this song, so charming. He can do so much with just a simple idea and a banjo. Of course, the disc is helped out a lot by producer Steve Dawson (and special guest Tim O’Brien), but at the heart, Chris Luedecke doesn’t need much help to make magic happen. This one is simple and fun, no heartbreak involved.

6. Turn the Radio Up, Brian MacMillan, from Shine. www.brianmacmillanmusic.com. Sometimes, we all just want to have fun (not just the girls), and upbeat songs like this are just what the doctor ordered. MacMillan is one of my favourite discoveries of the year. He’s kind of a mix of a lot of fun music (Jack Johnson, Paul Simon, Bob Marley, whatever) and with some great songs, this one is probably the feel-good album of 2010.

7. Paper and a Promise, by The Blue Shadows, from On the Floor of Heaven (deluxe reissue). www.bumstead.com/theblueshadows. The Blue Shadows (and primary members Jeffrey Hatcher and Billy Cowsill) are one of those amazing gems that not nearly enough people appreciated. They existed for only a couple of records in the 90s, but left behind some amazing songs. I really hope that people are picking up this record, which deserved to do much bigger things when it was released, if only for the amazing disc of cool covers and amazing leftovers, like this one. I can’t believe that a song this good was unreleased for over 15 years. Criminal.

8. Wherever You Go, by Paul Quarrington, from The Songs. www.paulquarrington.org. Paul Quarrington wasn’t even that well known as an author, although he deserved to be, because for my money, he was one of the great authors of our time. Even lesser known are his wonderful songs, primarily written and recorded with his band, Porkbelly Futures. As his time on Earth drew to a close, he sat down to create what would be his only solo album, and it contains some really wonderful songs. He left a lot of good on this Earth, the least you can do is allow this song into your life. (hopefully, it’ll open the door to his other music and writings!) This one’s about as real a love song as I’ve ever heard. I know that many of us guys (and some gals) can understand this one.

9. Michigan Love, by Jack Marks, from Lost Wages. www.myspace.com/jackmarksmusic. Honestly, I don’t know a whole lot about this guy yet, but judging by songs like this (and The Dress Song, off of his previous release), I should, and I will soon. He’s a young Toronto songwriter with a whole lot of heart and a whole lot of promise. I know I need to hear more from this guy, and you do too.

10. First Class, by Greg Macpherson, from Mr. Invitation. http://gregmacpherson.com. I’m sure that he gets tired of the comparison to Bruce Springsteen, but really, it’s true and it’s honest and it speaks to how powerful and interesting Macpherson really is. Old folkies like me can still rock out from time to time, and this year, no song rocked me more than this one from Winnipeg’s own Greg Macpherson. I still think this guy should be a huge star some day. Here’s hoping.

and one freebee extra:

Rust and Fade, by Jim Bryson, from Kelp 16. http://kelprecords.bandcamp.com/ and http://jimbryson.org/. Jim Bryson has been a pretty well-kept secret, but hopefully this is the year that blows the secret for the rest of the world. I’ve loved everything this guy’s ever touched (OK, some of those Punchbuggy records were a bit silly), so it’s no surprise that everything he put out this year was good, but there’s just so much (see the entries on Lynn Miles and Tanya Davis above, or his wonderful collaboration with The Weakerthans this year.) With so much to choose from, this leftover track might just be my favourite Jim moment of the year (in a year filled with great ones.) Download it for yourself, FREE, to hear why.

FAR #137

Posted on by January 3, 2011
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Artist: Album (Label) *JR

1. Matt Andersen: Spirit of Christmas (Busted Flat) *JR
2. Tanya Davis: Clocks and Hearts Keep Going (Wordy Music)
3 Ox: Silent Night & Other Cowboy Songs (Cosmic Dave’s Record Factory)
4 Shannon Lyon: This Love This Love (Inbetweens)
5. Various: Riding the Range – The Songs of Townes Van Zandt (Cherry Red Records / IODA)
6. Jeffrey Foucault: Cold Satellite (self)

Far & Away, 2010

Posted on by January 1, 2011
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ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
1. Del Barber: Love Songs for the Last 20 (self) *JR
2. Matthew Ryan: Dear Lover (The Acoustic Version) (The Dear Future Collective)
3. Christina Martin: I Can Too (self)
4. The Tallest Man on Earth: The Wild Hunt (Dead Oceans)
5. Old Man Luedecke: My Hands Are on Fire and other Love Songs (Black Hen)
6. Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans: The Falcon Lake Incident (Maple Music)

DEBUT ALBUM (up to 3)
1. The Beauties: The Beauties (Six Shooter)
2. Ruth Moody: The Garden (Red House)
3. Paul Quarrington: The Songs (Cordova Bay)

VARIOUS ARTISTS/TRIBUTE ALBUM (up to 3)
1. Crazy Heart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (New West)
2. Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine (Oh Boy!)
3. More Townes Van Zandt by the Great Unknown (Forthesakeofthesong)

REISSUE/HISTORIC ALBUM (up to 3)
1. The Lowest of the Low: Shakespeare My Butt (Pheromone)
2. The Blue Shadows: On the Floor of Heaven (Bumstead)
3. Blaze Foley: The Dawg Years (Fat Possum)

FEMALE ARTIST (up to 3)
1. Christina Martin
2. Ruth Moody
3. Lynn Miles

MALE ARTIST (up to 3)
1. Del Barber
2. Matthew Ryan
3. Old Man Luedecke

INSTRUMENTALIST (up to 3)
1. Jim Bryson
2. Will Kimbrough
3. Buddy Miller

DUO/GROUP (Up to 3)
1. The Beauties
2. The Head and the Heart
3. Dala

SONGWRITER (up to 3)
1. Del Barber
2. Matthew Ryan
3. Lynn Miles

BEST IN THE INDUSTRY (up to 3)
1. Ken Beattie: Killbeat Music
2. Ellen Stanley: Red House
3. Richard Flohil: Richard Flohil and Associates