Big Rock Candy Mountain

Pogo Claus

2009-12-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

Fuzzy NoDavid, folks!

Our Xmas ornaments today are gonna lean toward the loud and fuzzy today. Get ready to rattle your speakers, Kringle-style!

Punk/Hardcore gods Fear kick off the proceedings today with a 45 second blast of classic Christmas nihilism. Cow-punk sludgesters Lazy Cowgirls follow that up with a gasoline-fuzzed ode to a funky Santa. And the sleaze-snarling garage punkers Fireworks are pissed about their placement on Santa's list.

In keeping with today's caroling cover-stars, our bonus re-posts (from previous years' Holiday goodness) are gonna be even more loud, fast, and out of control reindeers. We've got Deke Dickerson's Untamed Youth bringing the road race to Christmas, the venerable Dead Moon crunching and sneering through the shopping Season, and trash kings The Fleshtones taking the big beat to Santa.

Does it get any better than this? Normally, no. But stay tuned. We're just getting started.

Fear: Fuck Christmas (mp3)

Lazy Cowgirls: Sock It To Me Santa (mp3)

Fireworks: Last On Santa's List (mp3)

Bonus Stocking Stuffer Re-Posts

The Untamed Youth: Santa's Gonna Shut 'Em Down (mp3)

Dead Moon: Christmas Rush (mp3)

Fleshtones: Super Rock Santa (mp3)

Please support your local, independent Fuzzbox manufacturer this Xmas-time.

Motel Santa

2009-12-04T08:30:00.006-06:00

The Xmas songs y'all are here for are at the end of this post.

But, since it's Friday, it must be Deep Blues Friday. So why not take the time, while you're here, to check out our interview with, and some tunes by, one of America's great songwriters before heading on down for the Holiday tinsel. It'll be well worth your time.

We've written about Jim Mize before, and it's no secret he's one our favorite artists. He's a master lyricist, honed by the South, with a voice...well, here's what we said before, which we think still sums it up pretty well:

Mize is a..juke and VFW honed singer and musician in the vein of other Mountain favorites like Seasick Steve, Tom House, Cast King, and James Hand. He's been in the trenches too long to be pretty. He's taking you to a darker place, a wellspring of down and out beyond the cliches of the genre. His voice has a cracked weariness that matches his neon-lit, southern observations. Dark albums that rock, taking you to closing time with a shot glass and loneliness.

'Course we're barely scratching the surface.

We got a chance to meet Mr. Mize at the Deep Blues Festival, and he agreed to answer a few questions for us. Have a read and take a listen. It's really good shit.

A BRCM Interview with Jim Mize
(In which we learn about Ghosts)

Big Rock Candy Mountain: Tell us a little about yourself, where you're from and what you do. What type of music do you play, if you feel it even fits into a category?

Jim Mize: Well let's see; I'm from Conway Arkansas. I grew up in different areas of the state. I love this state and the south. I do limited touring; mostly neighboring states and cities. My home place for playing is the White Water Tavern Little Rock; it's been around for yours; you can smoke in there. I play mostly my catalog in which I've heard described from country blues; southern rock to Springsteen style. I hate to be categorized but I guess that's just part of the communication process.

BRCM: How did you come to pick up a guitar and start playing music?

JM: We lived near Memphis in the early 60's; got the Memphis TV broadcast; man, they had several music shows. And the radio; just AM; loved the mood that would come out of the thing. Picked up a Sears guitar in the 4th grade; hit my brother over the head with it; and haven't looked back since.

BRCM: Your music has a distinctly Southern feel, both in echoes of Blues and Country. Do you feel the South is a distinct influence on your work, or a merely a by-product of place and circumstances?

JM: Oh, the south is very influential on my music; hell that's all I know. I feel I could say a prayer with it. We believe in ghosts down here.

BRCM: Do you have definite influences, musically? If so, who best informs your ethos?

JM: My influences or taste, change a lot but I try and stay true to myself; I'm digging AA Bondy, John Paul Keith, Tom Waits, Chris Issac and gospel music on our community radio.

BRCM: Your lyrics have a literary quality to them. Do you cull from the written word when composing your lyrics? Who are your literary heroes?

JM: Lyrics; I should cull more than I do; Sometimes when I listen to a Lucinda Williams, Tom Waits or Townes Van Zandt; I'll turn the radio off and digest the mood of that particular song. It's like, thank you for sharing that with me.

BRCM: In keeping with your lyrics, many of your songs deal with folks gone sour in the world, loss, bad behavior done by folks who aren't necessarily bad, but have been pushed into Carver-esque circumstances. Do you pull from real life experience, or are they scenarios completely made up? Or a little bit of both?

JM: I believe there is a constant battle between good and evil, especially in our selves. Those battles influence our decisions; it makes us drunks; cheaters; hopeless idiots on one side and strong, humble and purposeful on the other. I pull from real life and observations. Like you feel so sorry for someone you don't even know. It's like you see them hurting.

BRCM: You're a Veteran who's played VFW halls over the years. How, if at all, does your approach differ between a VFW venue and jukejoint/honky tonk or, even, The Deep Blues Festival?

JM: Try and play to the audience; The VFW halls you try to stay clear of approaches by ugly women; juke joints you don't care. I'll usually play half and half; covers that I like and originals when they get drunk and don't care.

BRCM: Speaking of The Deep Blues Festival, how did you come to play there, and how was the experience?

JM: The Deep Blues Fest was a blast. I even picked up a couple of new dance steps from Dale Beavers. Fat Possum/ Big Legal Mess wanted some of their people to play and I have never been to Minn. Good times. I went to a hip hop club Sunday night and danced; one girl thought I was making fun of her when I danced. Hoped they liked my music and will invite me back. Loved the audience.

BRCM: You seem, lyrically, to have a connection to hotels and motels. Do you spend a great deal of time traveling, and do you find that this informs your writing? What is it about a motel...?

JM: I didn't realize there were so many hotel/ motels references; I use to work at a motel years ago; I remember many of those characters especially in the hotel bar.

BRCM: The musical landscape is continually changing, but some things seem to remain constants. Genres like Blues and Country seem to linger, but the approach varies. With a whole movement building around incorporating the Blues and Country into a more aggressive, almost punk sound. Do you find that this helps revitalize the forms, or do we lose something in the translation?

JM: For me it makes the music more exciting; I enjoy listening to someones interpretation.

BRCM: What is your favorite drink?

JM: Makers Mark / water; Big Legals official drink.

BRCM: If you went to the crossroads, who would you expect to meet there?

JM: The fucking devil; who else?

BRCM: What's next? We heard your plans for a 7" were scrapped. Do you have plans for more recording or touring in the future?

JM: Right now I'm going through band changes. I'm in writers mode. Oxford American Magazine interviewed me and is releasing a compilation of Arkansans from past and present on a CD which is exciting.

Now if that doesn't convince you, check out the following songs, pulled from his records No Tell Motel and Release It To The Sky.

Jim Mize: High (mp3)

Jim Mize: After The Storm (mp3)

Jim Mize: Let's Go Running (mp3)

Jim Mize: Release It To The Sky (mp3)

Now for the Christmas fun.

Mixed bag today. A little Rockabilly from Johnny Rabb, of the Neanderthals, who just wants to get lucky. The legendary Hasil Adkins takes on a classic, and gives it the Haze treatment. And the Street Walkin' Cheetahs (who we'll hear from again) sum up perfectly most folk's attitude towards the Season.

Santa Makes The Boom Boom Pow!

Johnny Rabb: Gotta Get Lucky For Christmas (mp3)

Hasil Adkins: Blue Christmas (mp3)

The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs: I Wanna Die For Christmas (mp3)

Please support your one-man-band Carolers this Festive Season.

Yippee Ki Yay Santa

2009-12-03T08:30:00.000-06:00

Holy Night! You thought things couldn't get better round these Egg-Nogged blasted nether regions of the Holiday internets. Well, it just ramped up, and the gifts just keep on a givin'! Today's re-post alone will be set your Holiday lights a-spinnin'! Oh, yes.

But let's kick things off with what most of y'all are here for, the Honky Tonk decoration that makes your aluminum tree just right.

Little Jimmy Dickens starts the holly jollies with one our fave rave Xmas tunes 'bout a little shaver on Christmas morn', "Barefooted Little Cowboy". Follow that up with a bluegrass/rockabilly raver from Benny Martin, a two-stepper from Charlie Stewart, and a weeper from Lulu Belle and Scotty, and you've got fiddlin' little party set for the decorating the Christmas tree.

Oh, but then it gets better. Our re-posts today come courtesy of a Semi-crazy Santa. Yup, we're re-gifting some classic Christmas truckin' tune. Red Simpson. Dave Dudley. Dale Watson. Is there anything more to be said? Santa's a mean mother trucker, and he's got 18 wheels to prove it.

Santa's Fiddlin' With Himself!

Little Jimmy Dickens: Barefooted Little Cowboy (mp3)

Benny Martin: Santa Claus Is From The South (mp3)

Charlie Stewart: Santa Claus Won't Come This Year (mp3)

Lulu Belle and Scotty: The Empty Xmas Stocking (mp3)

Bonus Stocking Stuffer Re-Posts

Red Simpson: Truckin' Trees For Christmas (mp3)

Red Simpson: Santa's Comin' In A Big Ol' Truck (mp3)

Dave Dudley: Six Tons Of Toys (mp3)

Dale Watson: Santa And My Semi (mp3)

Please support your local Truck Drivers this Holiday Season.

Blue Lights

2009-12-02T08:30:00.000-06:00

Ho Ho Ho, ya ho's!

If we were feeling soulful yesterday, today we've got the damn Christmas Blues, oh yes. 'Course the Blues lend themselves to bad Holidays, all trouble and woe, and my baby left on Christmas Day, etc.

Doesn't get much better, when Lightnin' Hopkins, Guitar Slim, and Cecil Grant lend their own problems to the mix. Christmas just aint Christmas without problems and complications, don't ya just know it.

For our bonus re-posts, we're gonna stay Blue with some Holiday house-rockers from past Xmas posts. And, yes, two of 'em have some pretty obvious double entendre's. Jimmy Butler's "Trim Your Tree" has long been a favorite with readers. But Roosevelt Sykes, and Cecil Grant provide their own low-down, dirty-dog Yuletide joy.

Santa's Got A Big...Guitar!

Lightnin' Hopkins: Santa (mp3)

Guitar Slim and Jelly Belly: Christmas Time Blues (mp3)

Cecil Grant: Hello Santa Claus (mp3)

Bonus Stocking Stuffer Re-Posts

Jimmy Butler: Trim Your Tree (mp3)

Roosevelt Sykes: Let Me Hang Your Stockings In Your Christmas Tree (mp3)

Eddie C. Campbell: Santa's Messing With The Kid (mp3)

Please support your local, independent jukejoint this Holiday Season.

Soul Santa

2009-12-01T08:30:00.000-06:00

Got-damn, we're rolling along with our Holiday fest! And no sign of slowing down, cuz we've got a whole sack full o'treats in store for y'all, right up until Shane MacGowan's birthday (Christmas, for you non-heathens).

Just a quick note: Songs are "up" for a limited time only (about 10 days each), so grab 'em quick before the Grinch of Bandwith takes 'em away. You can request a re-post, but we can't make any guarantees.

Today we're feeling a little soulful, and we figger even Santa's got a little funk in him.

How about some legends, then? Solomon Burke, Nathaniel Mayer and Brook Benton kick out the groove to give a deep down sleigh ride full of soul, baby, soul.

And for our bonus re-posts, we wanna re-gift you with the Black Godfather himself, Mr. Andre Williams. Y'all already know that Andre's a bad, bad man. On "Poor Mr. Santa" he gets downright filthy. Not safe for work or the kiddies, dontcha know! "Christmas Wish" is just downright funky, with Andre frontin' a Holiday female chorus.

Santa's Shakin'!

Solomon Burke: Presents For Christmas (mp3)

Nathaniel Mayer: Mr. Santa Claus (mp3)

Brook Benton: Soul Santa (mp3)

Bonus Stocking Stuffer Re-Posts

Andre Williams: Poor Mr. Santa (Andre Williams Is Naughty) (mp3)

Andrew Williams: Christmas Wish (mp3)

Please support your local, independent Xmas house party!

Giddy-Up Santa

2009-11-30T08:30:00.000-06:00

And...we're back with more hall decking and boughs of holly. Better than a fruitcake, but maybe not as good as cheeseball. Hey, we try.

Headin' for the Western part of Country and Western today, courtesy of Leon McAuliffe and Eddie Hazelwood.

For our bonus re-posts we're gonna go all Beatnik Elf on your Holly Jollies with a veritable hep-ster's paradise of finger-poppin' Yuletide swing, daddy-o. Patsy Raye, Babs Gonzales, Donny Burns, and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes all step to the mic with some be-bop Xmas love. Santa's in the cafe, rockin' the black beret!

Swinging at the North Pole!

Leon McAuliffe and His Western Swing Band: A Cowboy's Christmas Song (mp3)

Eddie Hazelwood: Blue Shadows On a White Christmas Tree (mp3)

Bonus Stocking Stuffers!

Patsy Raye: Beatnik's Wish (mp3)

Babs Gonzalez: Be-Bop Santa Claus (mp3)

Danny Burns: Cool Yule (mp3)

Edd Kookie Byrnes" Yulesville (mp3)

Please support your local, independent Egg Nog manufacturers.

Gimme Santa Gimme

2009-11-29T08:30:00.002-06:00

Three days in!!! We've made it thus far...So here's another round of Holiday joy for y'all! Remember, these are daily, and you never know what you're gonna get-Country, Trash, Blues, Garage, Soul, R'n'B, and who the hell can guess what else. Our goal is to make the Holiday season less painful, and provide an alternative to whatever crap you're hearing at the Gap or Starbuck's or whatnot. There are many imitators, but no one beats The Mountain, and that's a guldurned fact (cheeky bastards, aint we?)!

Today's lineup features a sexy little muted go-go number from French chanteuse (and secret Mountain girlfried) Claudine Longet. Following that we've got everyone's favorite Japanese girl-band, Shonen Knife, taking us to a celestial Yuletide. Finally a naughty little ditty about greed and what we will and will not give up for Santa from the Alter Egos.

Going Country again for today's Re-posts (well, hell, that is what we're originally known for...). And how can we go wrong with Pee Wee King, Brenda Lee, and the almighty Loretta Lynn? We can't. So have a ho...down with ol' Saint Nick!

Miss the Mistletoe and You!

Claudine Longet: I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You (mp3)

Shonen Knife: Space Christmas (mp3)

The Alter Egos: (Gimme Gimme) I've Been Good (mp3)

Bonus Stocking Stuffers

Loretta Lynn: To Heck With Ole Santa Claus (mp3)

Pee Wee King: Rootin' Tootin' Santa Claus (mp3)

Brenda Lee: I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus (mp3)

Please support your local, independent Ho (ho ho).

Down On Santa

2009-11-28T08:30:00.001-06:00

Welcome back to day two of our Holiday blow-out. Remember, we're going daily with this thing (barring too much egg nog), so keep stopping back, y'all.

We've got a couple of Mountain favorites spreading the Yuletide joy today. Last year's Best Album of the Year feller, Hayes Carll twangs his way through a family gathering at Yuletime. And Jim Mize (who we'll hear more from later) takes a slow-burner to to the ends of the earth (Mississippi) for a tale of Christmas spent alone and dreaming.

Our bonus tracks, coming once again from our first "season", ramp up the trash with a couple of classics from the original snot-nosed garage punks The Wailers and The Sonics. Y'all already know these tunes, but they're so goddamn good that it's worth a re-visit.

Naughty or Nice??!!??

Hayes Carll: Grateful For Xmas (mp3)

Jim Mize: Christmas In Mississippi (mp3)

Bonus Stocking Stuffers

The Sonics: Don't Believe In Christmas (mp3)

The Wailers: Christmas Spirit (mp3)

Please support your local, independent gift-wrapping booth.

Cool Cool Christmas

2009-11-27T08:30:00.000-06:00

Yup. It's that time again. Time for our World Renowned Daily (daily!) Holiday Extravaganza! Every day from now 'til the end of the year we're gonna hit you with a barrage of Yuletide tastiness. No traditional or wanky Xmas tunes from this here little corner of the Season. We're serving up heaping platters of the finest in Trash/Soul/Country/Blues Xmas joy (or sadness, as the case often may be)! You're guaranteed at least two (though often 2-5) daily (Daily!) nog-knockin' Christmas tunes never previously posted to this site for the duration of the year! Hold on to your fake white beards, kids!

Not sure what this is all about? Take a journey through our the last 5 years or so of our previous November/December posts to see what y'all have been missing.

But wait! There's more! In addition to the "new" tunes, we're gonna add a daily (daily!) bonus re-posting of some our fave raves from years past! Requests are accepted, of course.

But wait! There's even more! We're gonna continue with some regular posting throughout the next month or so! That means you'll still get a healthy dose of Deep Blues Fridays, hot new and old vinyl discoveries, and the finest musical reporting you've come to expect from The Mountain! Those posts will be two-fers, with the "regular" posts and the Xmas tunes a the end. More bang for your buck! Oh indeed, it's the Season for giving, and we're gonna give 'til it hurts!

We're gonna kick off the year with a few swingin' shouters, Santa rockin' the old-school Rhythm and Blues. All the hep cats and kittens will be wailing this Christmas to the hot sounds of Bobby and Boobie, The Debonaires, and Toni Stante!

For the bonus tracks, we're gonna reach all the way back to our very first Xmas post for a little Hillbilly Holiday love from Hank Snow and Tex Ritter. Oh, yes.

Bop, Santa Bop!

Bobby and Boobie: Cool, Cool Christmas (mp3)

Debonaires: Crazy Santa Claus (mp3)

Toni Stante: Donde Esta Santa Claus (mp3)

Bonus Stocking Stuffers

Hank Snow: Reindeer Boogie (mp3)

Tex Ritter: Christmas Carols By The Old Corral (mp3)

Please support your local, independent stringed lites manufacturers.

Reasons To Quit

2009-11-24T08:30:00.001-06:00

This is our last post before Thanksgiving (or, Thursday, for our fans abroad). Regular visitors will know what comes next, but for the newer folks, here's what happens: We begin our World-Renowned Daily (Daily!) Holiday posts! Goody gumdrops! This year we're doing it with a whole slew of twists, so stay tuned! If you're not sure what this is all about, check out our previous years' November/December posts, or come back on Friday for the full skinny! We're here for you, especially for you.

Now. For this post, we had to figger out exactly what we're thankful for. We're thankful for a new Bassholes record, but a retrospective of that band doesn't seem very "festive". So we'll wait on that. We're also thankful that the legendary Chris Knox is slowly recovering, and that his "famous" friends have gathered to record a tribute record to him (to help defray medical costs). But that deserves a separate post as well. We're thankful that all the Deep Blues Fest folks have been so generous in giving their time towards answering silly interview questions from us, but this aint a Friday, so those are going to come later. And we're thankful that James Hand has a new record out.

But today we're really thankful for Phosphorescent, his entire catalogue, and most particularly his newest record, "To Willie".

Prior to "To Willie", Matthew Houck has taken his musical persona, Phosphorescent, to a land of crest-capped, moon-washed oceans, waves washing the beach on an Autumnal night of stars and heaven dipping it's toe. Each record a surging, ethereal thing, full of hymn-praised ebbs and flows, Houck's warm, drawled and imperfect voice a whisper and a swelling chorus. Each album feels as if a piece, a muttered and flowing gospel to the smallness of life and circumstance.

With his latest record, "To Willie", Phosphorescent pared things down a bit, and gave us a collection of clay-baked Country tunes. Oh, and they're all Willie Nelson songs. And, apparently, Willie approves.

Many have covered Nelson's songs over the years (he did start out as a songwriter, after all), but few have transformed those songs quite the way Phosphorescent does. The tunes allow Houck to fully explore the Country'n'Western star long bubbling as underpinnings to his previous records, but still retain his unique persona. The fiddles and banjos and pedal steel guitars and the tightly structured three and half minute verse/chorus/verse nature of Nelson's writing push Phosphorescent to into a new territory, where he thrives.

Of course, there's always song selection, and the choices Houck makes seem tailor-fit. "Reasons To Quit", "Pick Up The Tempo", "I Gotta Get Drunk", and "The Party's Over" could have been written specifically for Phosphorescent, ruminations and late-nite regret.

It's hard to call a "covers" record a masterpiece, but this is no "covers" record. Phosphorescent makes these songs his own, forging the "olden times" with the new, the past with the future. It's a stunning transformation, both of Houck's own style and template, and Nelson's eternal grace and observation. What "To Willie" really does is miraculous. It makes you forget, for a time, the originals and becomes a new-created thing, posterity be damned.

The first song below is taken from the vinyl version of "To Willie". The rest are tracks culled from his previous records, "Pride", "Aw Come Aw Wry", and "A Hundred Times Or More". They're all worth you're time.

Phosphorescent: Reasons To Quit (mp3)

Phosphorescent: Cocaine Lights (mp3)

Phosphorescent: South (Of America) (mp3)

Phosphorescent: Last Of The Hand-Me-Downs (mp3)

Phosphorescent: Sunday Morning Coming Down (mp3)

Please support your local, independent Honky Tonk stars.

Six By Six West

2009-11-18T08:30:00.000-06:00

Hey, anyone wanna sponsor us at South By Southwest? Just askin'.

Been a little while since our world famous Six Pack series (6 killer tracks culled from our extensive collection of vinyl), so here we go again. And, there's something about a B-Side...

But first, of course, we wanna bring your attention to another matter, and we'll make it worth your while.

The Deep Blues Festival is holding it's annual Deep Blues Film Festival this January, and it's turning into a Film and Music Fest. Why should you care, outside of the great films and bands that will playing? Well, this might be your only chance this coming year to hear some of the best damn music and check out some great films.

Can't make the Fest this January? Money's tight all over, we fully understand. So here's your chance to help keep the Deep Blues alive and safe from corporate take-over! For a measly $20 you can become a member of the Deep Blues Festival society! Chris, the founder, promises plenty of exclusive perks including exclusive mp3's, which alone would pay for your membership tenfold. But don't take our word for it, check out their site and all the previously highlighted links above, particularly this one. And, here's the paypal link to make your contribution.

But, wait, there's more. We're gonna try to do our part to make this worthwhile for y'all. Remember that image we put up on our last post? Keep that in mind when deciding on whether to purchase a Deep Blues Festival membership. And save your receipts, cuz we're gonna have an important announcement before Thanksgiving, and everything's gonna tie together with special bonuses from us truly if you have a Deep Blues Festival membership. Yup.

(And, as ever, a reminder that we have no financial stake in the Fest. We're just a true believer tryin' to do our part).

Now, then, the tunes guaranteed to rock your two-step pogoin' heart!

The following Six Pack 'o' tastiness has a special feature. They're all B-Sides, whether from 7"'s or full-length LP's. There's somethin' about a B-Side. They never make it onto greatest hits collection. Occasionally you'll see them pop up on an odds'n'sods collection if they've been attached to a single. But the glory of grabbing old LP's is that the songs relegated to the "other" side are often cast into the realm of obscurity. 'Course, in this age of "completism", that may change. And, really, none of these records probably qualify, but it was fun to ramble for a moment.

So what do we have for y'all today?

Kicking things off is Kris Kristofferson and an ode to the road, booze, and leaving ("If you aint bombed in Birmingham, then you aint one of us, we don't really give a damn.") taken from his record "Jesus Was A Capricorn". Next, an organ-drenched blues ramble from the next great band you're gonna be tellin' the kids about, Rise Up Howlin' Werewolf. From their Xmas Lights Plugged In 7". The Condo Fucks are actually another band, and one you probably know very well. Special no-prize to whoever guesses, without the help of the google.

Halfway through, we're treated to a bit of jittery sleaze courtesy of The Useless Eaters and their 7" "Agoraphobic". Naturally we'd follow that up with a Johnny Paycheck drinking song, courtesy of his record "Take This Job and Shove It". Yeah, that record. And finally, South Filthy take us down the road a fur piece, into the sun and the kudzu. Not sure how many copies of their 2009 release, Undertakin' Daddy are left, but, you know, it Jeffrey Evans, Jack Oblivian, Walter Daniels, and a host of other rawk gods on it. So, there you are.

The following songs are not in any kind "best to worst" order, so you should check 'em all out. Goes without saying, I guess.

Kris Kristofferson: Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight (mp3)

Rise Up Howlin' Werewolf: You Can See The Hearse Outside (mp3)

Condo Fucks: So Easy Baby (mp3)

Useless Eaters: Information Freak (mp3)

Johnny Paycheck: Georgia In A Jug (mp3)

South Filthy: Goin' Down South (mp3)

Please enjoy the Rock and the Roll at your favorite local, independent music hall.

Lookin' For A Thrill

2009-11-13T08:30:00.000-06:00

Hey, folks! Musical extravaganza today, featuring a band we've been dancing around over the last 10 months, and some bonus tunes to rev y'all up for the weekend.

But first, check out this image:

More on that next week.

Next, some cool news for the weekend, for those who are in the Chicago vicinity. The Saturday (November 14th) our lord and master, dirty-R'n'B god Andre Williams. will be premiering his brand new...book, "Sweets" at Phyllis' Musical Inn! According to Norton Records (who are releasing the book), "Andre will read, rally, and respond to questions from the peanut gallery, followed by an all-Andre DJ blast with John “Mr Wiggles” Phillips." Oh my. We'll be there, along with some special guests. And it gets better. Once that's over, we'll be motoring over to Duke's Hideaway for a late night sleaze-blues set by Mississippi Gabe Carter and Uncle Walt Carter (no relation). Damn, it's gonna be a swell night, and it's possible inebriation will occur. Anyone in Chicago should make this a priority engagement!

Phew.

With that out of the way, we'd like to draw you're attention to one of the best damn bands in the land, John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives.

As we've said earlier this is a post that's been simmering for awhile now. We have not been able to stop listening to their record, Spills and Thrills (the original pressing) since the beginning of the year, and it may very well be our best record of the year. Yeah, it's that good.

John Paul Keith hails from mean streets of Memphis, Tennessee, and was, once upon a time, and for a brief period, the guitarist for the V-Roys. You can find his biographical info here.

What matters is how his current incarnation, John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives sound.

Imagine, if you will, the world's greatest Country bar band channeling the ghost of Buddy Holly, throwing it into the garbage can, shaking and stirring with equal measure trash, Bakersfield, and hiccuped Crickets southern soul. Filter it through a strainer of sugarcane fields and street grime, add a dash Hollies-mania to the level, and top with a healthy dose of bourbon.

John Paul Keith, his very self, is a lyricist and guitarist of timeless brilliance, shiny twangster and gutter-snipe troubadour of love, hope, lust and loss. Each song is a blistering, 3-minute how-do-ya-do of rock bliss and dos-i-do hayride, chased by the mystery train straight off the tracks. Your midnight mover and early morning shot glass served sweet and sour, dirty dish-rag included.

Oh, and "Lookin' For A Thrill" is the best song of the year. Yep.

We'll have much more to say about this record at year's end, obviously, but beat the rush and check it out now. You deserve it.

The John Paul Keith tracks are ripped from vinyl, and come from the Spills and Thrills LP and the "Knoxville Town" 7". The bonus tunes are from CD. Sorry about that.

John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives: Lookin' For A Thrill (mp3)

John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives: Memphis Girls (mp3)

John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives: Smoke In A Bottle (mp3)

Bonus tracks

Andre Williams: Bacon Fat (mp3)

Mississippi Gabe Carter: Big Fat Woman (mp3)

Please support you local, independent Telecaster-slinger.

Yellow Bubbles

2009-11-06T08:30:00.001-06:00

Hooh, doggy, we got us a good 'un today. Yep, it's Deep Blues Friday. And we have an World-Premier Exclusive a the bottom! Hold on to your wigs.

But first, in keeping with our inspiration, The Deep Blues Festival, we'd like to draw your attention to the upcoming Deep Blues Film Festival. It's going to run from January 23rd-January 30th, and it's got a killer list of films already in the can: - "Can't Take It With You", "The Hand Of Fatima", "The Folksinger", "It Came From Detroit", and "Wayne County Rambling". More info on the films and the Fest can be found at the Myspace Page. If you're planning to be in the Minneapolis area, or have the time, it's well worth checking out.

Now then.

We can't even pretend to be objective when it comes to Pure Country Gold. They're one of our favorite bands, a two-man (drums, guitar, vocals) force of raw nature, all desperation and booze-fueled rock'n'fuckin'roll.

We finally got to see 'em play live at last summer's Deep Blues Fest, and they exceeded every expectation, a sweaty barrel-house blast of amped-up sound and wail.

We wrote about 'em way back when. Here's part of what we said:

"Pure Country Gold is pure trash. Tasty, nasty and loud. And sleazy. Sleazy like the barroom floor at last call, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here, and who're you gonna pick up to take home for a quick rut just to say your weekend wasn't a total waste, burning sensation be damned...Yeah, it's that good. ...It's complete (glorious, sonic) junk masquerading with a name designed to confuse. But, they've got that sensibility, if you know what we mean...Imagine some urban cowboy wandering into a local jukejoint only to be faced with this glorious racket, shit-amped guitars through busted speakers, some guy hollerin' wounded goat over the bluescowpunk mess. Feller would probably crap his Lee's...Hyper-amped, garage-fuelled, amphetamine muckity muck."

'Course, that barely covers the band and their sound. But, we figger, why listen to us blather on, when you can hear direct from the band?

Singer and guitar fucker Patrick Foss (aka Petey, aka Pure Cunt) was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

A Big Rock Candy Mountain Interview With Pure Country Gold
(In which we learn the value of bubbles)

Big Rock Candy Mountain: Who is Pure Country Gold and how did you come to be?

Patrick Foss: Patrick & Jake or Petey & Beefjake or Pure Cunt & Tree Gold. We'll answer to any of those names. One night we were both drinking in a bar called Club 21 and decided to start playing together.

BRCM: Where did the name Pure Country Gold come from, and how pure are you?

PF: The name came out of my desire to pick something happy and hippie sounding. I like to think we play feel-good music and thought the band-name should put warm and happy images into people's heads. Sunflowers & sunshine are the images that popped in my head and I felt that that aesthetic was the antithesis to the Jack Daniel's t-shirt and devil-doll rawk stuff which I find kinda dumb. We never considered that having the word 'country' in our name would confuse people, but sometimes we don't think things through too good. Pure? Uh...probably not so much.

BRCM: Are you a Blues band with Punk roots, a Punk band with Blues roots, none of the above, all of the above, or something else entirely?

PF: I've never thought of us as a "blues" band, but there's definitely a strong blues and R&B influence. Punk and blues music is how we learned to play our instruments so those influences inform how we perform the songs I write. I think we play rock & roll, but that doesn't mean anything anymore so I'll just let the journalist-types like you decide what we play.

BRCM: Who are your influences, if any? What infernal sounds inform the Pure Country Gold aesthetic?

PF: 50's and 60's rock and pop are heavy influences on my songwriting, as is later power-pop and punk rock. I'm a huge nerdy Beatles fan. Discovering Crypt Records sometime in the mid-90's was pretty big for me. I also love early hardcore and Greg Ginn is probably my favorite guitar player. Jake and I are also the world's only 2-piece Bad Brains tribute band if that says anything about us.

BRCM: Whiskey or beer?

PF: Beer. Mostly Vodka for me, but I don't discriminate too much.

BRCM: Yellow Bubbles. Discuss.

PF: We were in a bar on tour and I ordered a Pabst and the bartender said they didn't have Pabst, so I tried Hamm's, Olympia, Rainier, etc and they didn't have none of those either. Finally I asked for anything yellow with bubbles in it. Some drunk at the bar was amused by that and said he was gonna write a song called 'Yellow Bubbles'. I think I yelled back at him, "Not if I write it first! I'll see you on the pop-charts motherfucker!"
I don't remember what beer I ended up being served, but it had yellow bubbles in it. Anyway, I ended up writing a silly pop song about domestic beer and the apocalypse. I'm proudest of the line "have a magic moment sometimes" which is a backronym for Hamm's that I made up. Anyway, Big Legal Mess still has some of the 7 inchers lying around so people need to buy them puppies up! They’re on yellow-gold vinyl!

BRCM: Has there ever been a situation where one of you had to play a solo gig due to, ahem, unforeseen circumstances? If so, how did that work out, and what important lessons about life did you learn?

PF: Just about everybody who was at the Deep Blues Fest 08 knows this story, but we've never told our side. We were at the Holiday Inn lounge with many other DBF performers and I wanted some tequila. When I asked how much the Patron cost the bartender told me $4. That's really fucking cheap and probably a mistake, so I ordered 15 shots! I drank 2 or 3 of em, gave away several and left Jake with the rest when I headed up to my room to go to bed.
At some point Jake went outside and sat down to make a phone call and fell asleep. The hotel security couldn't roust him so they called the cops. The next morning I get a call from our buddy Jay to inform me that Jake's in the drunk-tank. We were slotted to play at noon and I got the call around 10:30. Jay and I drove into St Paul, tracked down the detox center and found out there was no way Jake was making the gig.
There was nothing else we could do so we headed towards Lake Elmo to the festival and I jotted down a list of songs I thought I could pull off solo. All I was thinking was that I needed to pull something off because we needed to get paid! We arrived at the festival at a quarter to noon and I set up on stage. I played 8 or so songs and it went great - I wrote those songs alone on my acoustic so there was no reason they wouldn't work this time. Thankfully Chris was kind enough to make room for us the next day so we were able to get a set in with the whole band.
Life lesson? For me: don't leave your already-drunk drummer in the bar with 4 or 5 shots of tequila in front of him when you have a gig at noon the next day. For Jake: don't drunk-dial your friends outside of hotels in Ramsey County, MN.

BRCM: Louder, Faster or Out of Control?

PF: Out of control.

BRCM: As a duo, how does your dynamic work? Do you find yourselves limited or freed by the drum 'n' guitar format? And how do you get so damned loud? Is there a volume above 11?

PF: I write song ideas on my acoustic at home and then bring Jake and some amplification in to flesh things out. We're definitely limited, but I think the limitation is a good thing - it's a fun challenge to make things work with just the two of us. Maybe someday we'll run out of ideas and we'll add instruments or members to open things up, but I think we'll be ok for a while with the setup we have now. I've always been a pretty "busy" guitar player and combined with Jake's bombastic drumming I think it works out well. Yes, we're loud too, but because Jake's a loud fucking drummer and I turn up to be heard!

BRCM:You're based out of Portland, Oregon, a city known for a great music scene. How does the band fit into the city? Where are the best clubs to play? Is beer at Club 21 still just a buck on Wednesday night?

PF: Everyone says how Portland has this great scene but I don't really see it. There’s no unified Portland scene at all - it's all fractured and cliquey like everywhere else. There are too many venues and bands here and everyone just goes to see their friends' bands play and ignore everything else. That being said, we have many great friends in many great bands and we play lots of great shows with our friends. I love that, but I don't feel that we're part of any greater Portland music scene and I don't think any of our friends do either. I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining - we really love playing in this town and have played with many bands of many genres at many venues - but all this talk of a Portland scene doesn't really make sense to me.
There are some great venues here - the Kenton Club, the East End and Slabtown treat us well and we love playing those places. Club 21 is not really a club - meaning there are no bands or strippers there - but we spend lots of time there drinking even though beer is no longer a buck on Wednesday nights. As much as we love the place, it's a pretty shitty bar and I love to imagine that people may someday go in there just because of that song we wrote about it, but think it sucks and leave and never come back.

BRCM: Your favorite t-shirt?

PF: Probably my shirt that says "I'd rather be over the hill than under it", but I don't wear the shirt for the statement so much as because it's comfy and blue. I like blue.

BRCM: Obligatory Deep Blues Festival question: How did you come to play at the Fest, and what are your best memories of the Fest

PF: Jay Martin (aka DJ Hwy 7) is a close friend of ours and is friends with Chris Johnson and Rick Saunders and many other folks involved with the Deep Blues community. He recommended us and Chris contacted us to play the 2nd fest in 2008. We had a great time, met some great folks and Chris invited us to play again at the DBF09. Chris has a great thing going with this fest and I hope he can continue to build it to what it deserves to be. We’re certainly proud to have been a part of it!
There were many great bands at the fest last year, but I think Chooglin’ was my fave (ed note: Chooglin' did indeed kick much ass). My best memory of DBF09 though is hanging out with Jay on Thursday afternoon before the fest. He was so drunk by 3pm that he passed out and missed the whole Thursday night show. Maybe that's a silly thing to choose as a highlight, but I'd never seen him so drunk before and he made me laugh a lot.

BRCM: God or Satan?

PF: Satan

BRCM: In a perfect world, Pure Country Gold has the number one single in the world. How do you celebrate?

PF: With drugs and girls I'm guessin.

BRCM: What's next for the band? Rumor has it you've completed a new record and are shopping it. Anything you can tell us about the album? Tour in the works?

PF: New record is done and yes, we're talking to labels now. We're real proud of this record - I think it sounds great, has a good variety of tunes and represents our live sound well. We have plans to tour the US and Europe in 2010. We'd love that record out before we hit the road so we're concentrating on that first, but we'll hit the road regardless. We promise.

Thanks, Patrick.

Now, for that promised World Premiere Exclusive. The following track, "I'm The End" is a song from the aforementioned, upcoming new record from Pure Country Gold, "Tough Tuesday". The band were kind enough to share the record with us, and we can testify, hallelujah, that the album is a prime slab of pounding rawk, full of piss'n'vinegar, primal shout'n'howl. Tell your local record label to release this record now.

The other two tunes are from their 7"'s "Yellow Bubbles" and "Setting Sun".

Rock over America, rock over Portland!

Pure Country Gold: I'm The End (mp3)

Pure Country Gold: Yellow Bubbles (mp3)

Pure Country Gold: Setting Sun (mp3)

Please support your local, independent K-Tel distribution center.

Crash The Party

2009-11-04T08:30:00.001-06:00

Damn Yankees! Ah well, fingers crossed. Two games to go. Go Phillies!

Glad I got that off my chest.

It's always a good year when god's favorite sock-hop destruction-ists The A-Bones grace us with a new record. When it's been over 13 years, it's a cause for twitterpated revelry!

Formed by Billy Miller and Miriam Linna (who also are the guiding forces behind the essential Norton Records), The A-Bones are a swinging, shimmying, stompin' stew of sax-skronkin' sin and sleaze. Taking the tropes of 50's teen dance euphoria, mixing in the danger of black sunglasses, devil-driven rock'n'billy, and opening up the garage doors onto suburban streets, The A-Bones recognize the similarity of the sock hop and the strip club, barely controlled sex urge grunting yeah, baby yeah. It's milkshake-shakin' rumble, tribal poundin', guitar frenzy, finger poppin' rebellion, with the needle on the record, and go,caveman,go.

On some deserted stretch of highway outside of Anytown, USA, a 1956 Chevy Belair lies smoking and crumpled, the front end smashed against a telephone pole. There's glass everywhere, like diamonds in the moonlight. Inside the car are two bloodied corpses, teenage lovers fresh from the prom, caught by tragedy in a death grip of love and lust, the end of the world in a tux and gown. The radio (AM, of course) still plays in rhythm to the spinning wheels, and the band crackling out of the tinny speakers is The A-Bones.

The A-Bones' new record, Not Now!, is out now on Norton (and some guy named Ira Kaplan plays on the record, too. You might have heard of him). It's well worth your time. Honest. You'll be rockin'n'boppin the night away.

The A-Bones: Shallow Grave (mp3)

The A-Bones: Daddy Wants A Cold Beer (mp3)

The A-Bones: Shanty Tramp (mp3)

The A-Bones: Monkey's Uncle (mp3)

The A-Bones: Hully Gully (mp3)

Please support your local, independent corsage shop.

Bow Down

2009-10-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

Ulp. So much for "daily". We'll save the daily posts for the upcoming Xmas extravaganza.

But...we'll finish up with our "all new" stuff over the next couple of posts, and then kick it back to the usual stuff y'all know and love.

Not sure if there's much to say about the new Almighty Defenders sooper-groop that hasn't already been said, but just in case you missed it, The Almighty Defenders is one-off (sadly) project featuring Mountain fave King Khan, BBQ (Mark Sultan), and The Black Lips. If that aint enough to git yr panties in a bundle, then consider the fact that it's a gospel album. Well, not really, kinda, but as close as a group of celebrated hedonists can get. Actually, nevermind, it really is a gospel record.

The album was recorded in a rumored booze-fueled few days, while the 'Lips were in exile at King Khan's house in Germany (while hiding from Indian authorities due to bad behaviour). Whether the details are true, or the stuff of myth'n'legend, doesn't matter much, since the record is a swirling mess of deep soul handclaps, hootenanny stomp, gristle-encrusted guitar sleaze, praise-god-hallelujah-let's fuck hollerin' goodness. It sounds like there's a party going on in god's pants, and the boys are the band at the end of the world.

Is this the best record of the year? You'll have to wait and see, but it's real contender, praise jesus.

The record is out now. So, there you are. Start yr fanzine now. As a bonus, we're gonna throw in a King Khan tune and a Mark Sultan/BBQ tune, just for kicks. We're saving tunes from The King Khan and BBQ Show for later.

The Almighty Defenders: All My Loving (mp3)

The Almighty Defenders: Bow Down and Die (mp3)

King Khan and His Sensational Shrines: Kukamonga Boogaloo (mp3)

BBQ: Shake Real Low (mp3)

Please support yr local, independent satyr of choice.

World To Come

2009-10-14T08:30:00.000-05:00

'Nuther day, 'nuther new record.

The Mountain Goats is, essentially, John Darnielle. Of late, he's been playing with a full(ish) band, but he first made his bones and name with a lengthy discography of simple recordings, some done on a boombox. A hyper-literate lyricist, Darnielle nevertheless couches his observations on heartbreak, joy, and life lived in moments with melting melody and a (mostly acoustic) guitar style that feeds and veers with each song, an instrument on par with Darnielle's voice.

The Mountain Goats have a new record out, The Life of the World to Come, and, like many of their albums, it's a themed work. And that theme is...The Bible. Yup, Darnielle takes on the Good Book. But, like all his work, it's a theme that takes on a life of it's own, using verses from the Bible as springboards into his head. Not a religious tract, and certainly not a Jesus album, it's a cycle of lost and found, the beating heart and the downcast eye.

It's a starkly beautiful record of confession, loss, and tiny joy.

The first song, "Romans 10:9", is taken from the new Mountain Goats' record, "The Life of the World to Come". It's our favorite tune on the album. It's impossible to give a full overview of Darnielle's work in a few songs, so for the rest, we selected a couple of our current favorites. Every Mountain Goats fan probably has a list that differs widely.

Sit back and dream.

The Mountain Goats: Romans 10:9 (mp3)

The Mountain Goats: Cubs In 5 (mp3)

The Mountain Goats: Elijah (mp3)

The Mountain Goats: Mess Inside (mp3)

Please support your local, independent goat farmer.

Not All Right

2009-10-13T08:30:00.001-05:00

Continuing our week of "new" stuff.

The new record from Cococoma, "Things Are Not All Right" (on Goner!) arrived at my door last week on pink vinyl. Pink vinyl, god love 'em!

From the mean streets of Chicago, Cococoma is Bill and Lisa Roe with a revolving cast of bassists. What they play is a slobberbone style of our old favorite garage-trash punk. No reinventing the wheel here, but they do it better than anyone else. Sorta like the glory days of New Bomb Turks and the Oblivians, when all other bands sounded like pretenders to the throne, Cococoma takes their sound to dizzying heights of surging organ, caveman stomp drums, and shattered, savage guitar. With Bill Roe's vocals howling and sniping over the proceedings, it's like the second coming of The Stooges. Yeah, really.

Bill and Lisa Roe also run a fledgling record label, Trouble In Mind, which has put out some killer singles over the last few months. Y'all should check it out.

It's rock'n'roll, kids, and I like it!

From vinyl, suckas!

Cococoma: It Won't Be Long (mp3)

Cococoma: I Swear (mp3)

Cococoma: Keep That Volume Down (mp3)

Please support your local, independent emergency room attendants.

Big Day Coming

2009-10-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

We're realizing more and more how hard it is to post something that hasn't been covered ad nauseum somewhere else. So many other websites, so many other specialized websites. We're not a "full album" site, and we're not a "breaking news" site. We're just a guy with a computer who sees too many shows and has too many albums. There's no point in trying to compete, and we've been doing this a very long time in "blogger years", whatever that is. Our first focus round these parts was Country, with a little Blues and Garage/Trash/Rawk'n'Roll thrown into the mix. Our bread and butter, then. We've seen a ton of sites spring up over the years that cover these things, to varying degrees of longevity and effectiveness. And yet, here we are, still. We've been excited by a variety of new releases over the years, and this year is no exception. We still feel that there's a wealth of great "old" music that's worth exploring. And the Deep Blues Fest that we keep rambling on and on and on about has rejuvenated our love of the Blues in all it's mutations.

We think there's more to say, and more to post. We'd like to believe we at least offer a hint of context in a world of quick-grab gratification and PR "one-sheet" cut and pasting. So, we soldier on, we'll be here. No crisis of purpose, just an evaluation of what we represent.

I think over the next couple of weeks, we're gonna focus on them what brought us to the dance, returning our focus mainly to the Country and Western and Deep Blues music. We'll still throw in the ramdom trash-fest, Six pack vinyl love, and whatnot, of course. And, naturally, y'all can't miss our annual Xmas extravaganza. But first, and first and first...

All that said, this week we're gonna go daily with a batch of new releases that we think are super-neato. Let's get on with it then.

Yo La Tengo have a new record out, "Popular Songs" on Matador.

In our humble estimation Yo La Tengo are a national treasure. The duo of Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley (with James McNew becoming an essential member back in the 90's) have been very quietly making masterpiece after masterpiece for almost 25 years. A perennial "indie" band that has arguably done more to legitimize the "movement" (whatever that is) than any other band labeled as such, Yo La Tengo craft symphonies of sound and silence, from the delicacy of strummed ruminations to the ragged sheets of guitar-distorted rev and drone. When folks point to a certain Liverpool band as the beginning and end of great music, we've been know to point to Yo La Tengo as an example of the continuing evolution of the pop'n'rock now, a band forging it's own singular hum in the back of the head, un-beholden to, yet fully appreciative of, the wealth of tumbled tune, tone, and tempo that tapestries a history told through tape'n'wax'n'plastic'n'oral tradition.

Singer/Guitarist Ira Kaplan can be the most nimble of guitarists, on par with Dean Wareham. Or he can take Neil Young on a race down the electric shredded highway. Sometimes in the same song. His voice, from a shout to a whisper, works best in conjunction with drummer Georgia Hubley's, the two of them intertwining the smallness of time, the carefully observed and fretfully fraught moments in between life lived. Hubley, when she takes the mic solo, could be mistakenly referred to as a modern-day Mo Tucker, if it weren't for the fact that her gorgeous and plaintive voice soars over the proceedings. Hers is the integral voice, both written and sung, to Yo La Tengo's sound, the ground and the angel. Oh, and she kicks your ass as a drummer. And then there's their adopted son, bassist James McNew (I may have made that up), a solo musician in his own right, who acts as foil and everyman, the link between Ira and Georgia, both musically and in presence. He's the throb in the heartbeat of the band. And he tells the best jokes. Really, I've seen them a dozen times, and he actually does have the best jokes. That's important.

Yo La Tengo's records veer stylistically from song to song, displaying their encyclopedic knowledge of the world of sound, but each individual tune serves the greater purpose of each album, pulling and tugging the strings of expectation, taking you on a journey through morning to morning, all points between, the stuff of life.

The following is not a Yo La Tengo "greatest hits", otherwise we would have started the proceedings with "From A Motel Six" (which you need). It's a selection of some of their more sublime moments, songs captured in the dappled land of twilight and Autumnal reverie. The band can kick some seriously fuzzy distorted ravers, but for our purposes today, we want to highlight the quieter moments, the interplay between Ira and Georgia (and James) at their most intimate. We'll start with a track off their new record, "Popular Songs" and stretch back to "Painful" (in no particular order). We're leaving out representatives from some of their earlier albums, which are equally great, but, well, that's just how it goes.

Yo La Tengo: I'm On My Way (mp3)

Yo La Tengo: Autumn Sweater (mp3)

Yo La Tengo: Big Day Coming (mp3)

Yo La Tengo: Our Way To Fall (mp3)

Yo La Tengo: The Hour Grows Late (mp3)

Yo La Tengo: I Feel Like Going Home (mp3)

Please support your local Mets fans (too obscure?).

Bring Yo Ass

2009-10-09T08:30:00.000-05:00

It's Friday, so that means Deep Blues Friday, and, folks, you aint nohow gonna wanna miss this one. Trust us. Interview and tunes below.

But first, an announcement that actually pertains to our Deep Blues Friday posts. We are currently working on a limited edition Big Rock Candy Mountain t-shirt. Design will be up shortly, in plenty of time for the Holidays, and will be available at a very special discount for folks who have supported (by buying a record or checking out a show) any of the bands we've covered or will cover on our Deep Blues Thursday/Friday posts. More info to come, of course, so save your receipts, kids!

How exciting is that?

Now then, a little something about Left Lane Cruiser. They fuckin' rawk, and that aint no shoutin' at the wind.

A two-man groop, Left Lane Cruiser kicks up a howling fuzz of dirt road holler, a hard-scrabble blues-punk blast created by messrs. Freddy J IV (Guitar, Vocals) and Brenn "Sausage Paw" Beck (Drums, Trash, Hollerin'), straight outta Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Somethin' aint right with these boys, and that's good. Mmmm mmmm good.

Somewhere there's a world where Left Lane Cruiser is blasting out of every '72 Chevy Nova and broke-ass VW van, the road a bleared smudge in the rear view mirror. Drums that burn down bridges full of oil and fire, a guitar fucked into submission with god shining his face across six strings of hillstomptrash skull-fuckery. Above it all a voice all cracker-ass kick and wail..."feed me, baby, and I'm yours".

It's filthy Delta swamp debris,washed ashore and hitchhiking it's way to the heart of last night's ramble.

But enough of what I have to say. Brenn from Left Lane Cruiser was kind enough to respond to an interview request, and here's what he has to say:

A Deep Blues Friday Interview With Left Lane Cruiser (In which we discuss pork'n'beans, and slabs of wax)

1. First things first, and most generically, tell us who you are, why you are, and what you do. Where are you from, and why are you from there?

We are Left Lane Cruiser from Fort Wayne, In. I was born and raised here, and Joe is from Michigan. He moved all over the place, and finally settled here with his wife about 10 years ago. I knew his wife from high school, we kept in touch. She told me her boyfriend played a mean guitar, and that we needed to get together. So we did. First time the two of us met was really our first band practice. We wrote a song that day, and just kept getting together. Eventually we became good enough friends to ride thousands of miles in a van together, and then here we are now.

2. Two-man bands have been around since cavemen first picked up sticks and rocks, but they seem to be more prevalent these days. Are there more or less challenges to playing in a 2-piece?

Both really. With 2 guys the traveling is easier, the money split is better, and there is a lot less drama. But at the same time, with only 2 people, your level of creativity has to be high. It takes a lot sometimes to fill the space. With people tuning their guitars down, and drummers expanding to other instruments, I think people are realizing how much fun a two-piece can really be.

3. Your music is a glorious mix of Hill Blues, Hillbilly, and Trash/Punk, least ways to these ears. How did you come to this style? Is any one form of music more influential to y'all, or is it the whole spectrum that hums in yr ears and through you?

When we first started playin, we were pretty straight ahead Hill Country Blues (Fat Possum style). But Joe and I have always been rockers. I have a tendency to beat the ever living shit out of the drums, and Joe loves the distortion. So as we started to really find our sound, I think we just got more comfortable with our natural playing, and adapted our styles to the songs we were writing. Joe grew up on a lot of Classic Rock, particularly ACDC and ZZ Top. I have always liked classic rock, but deep down been drawn to something a little heavier…Clutch being a huge influence. We also both discovered Fat Possum around the same time, and knew that that was the sound we had been trying to find for a long time. We have never been afraid to wear our influences on our sleeves. We consider it paying tribute to the people that have made us what we are today.

4. Have you ever "hollered goat"?

We aint no holler back boys.

5. What is the "significance" of pork 'n' beans, and why is it so goddamn good?

Joe is a vegetarian, and his mother in law doesn’t cater well to this. Every time she cooks dinner, Joe is stuck eatin' Pork and Beans. Plus it is a good cheap road food. If ya listen close to the lyrics, you will discover that about 90% of our songs are about food. We love to eat….just look at my belly.

6. We spoke briefly, when I last saw you, about the importance of vinyl records. Do you feel that Left Lane Cruiser sounds better on a big ol' platter of wax, or does it matter as long as folks are listening? What is the optimal way to hear Left Lane Cruiser?

Shit, everything sounds better on vinyl. I would love it if everybody listening to us was spinning it on vinyl, but that just aint the case. As long as their listenin, we don’t care if its cd, vinyl, digital, 8 track , or tape.

7. Cruise control or pedal to the metal?

Cruise control….gotta save gas. We're broke brother.

8. You rocked the Deep Blues Festival this past summer. How did you come to be involved, and do you have any favorite moments from the Festival?

Ah, Chris fuckin Johnson! We owe that man a lot. Chris found us on myspace a long time ago, and we started an online friendship. One weekend, he made the drive from Wisconsin to Indiana (about 10 hours) and caught one of our shows. He recorded it, and sent it to Alive records for us. Well long story short he got Alive to pick us up. Ever since then, if Chris comes callin, we answer. He has brought us up to Minneapolis a number of times, including DBF. Everytime has been amazing for us. DBF is like a big family reunion for us every year.
Most memorable moments would be meeting our now good friends The Black Diamond Heavies for the first time. Seeing those guys play the first time really gave us a lot to strive for. Also, this year I broke my hand about 5 songs into the set. It hurt like hell, so that was pretty memorable.

9. Which deity blesses Left Lane Cruiser (god, satan, Bacchus, Eros, etc.)?

I think the deity that is The Black Diamond Heavies is the one that overlooks our sins.

10. You've got a new record out, "All You Can Eat". Tell us about it. Is it edible?

I wouldn’t recommend eatin it, but I sure as hell would recommend pickin it up. We put a lot into this album, and we really proud of the finished product. We have started to evolve into a slightly new direction, one that puts us out there a little more. We opened up and let a little bit of our anger and frustrations out on this one. Also, we had legendary producer Jim Diamond in our corner for this one, and he really found the sound that we were looking for.

11. What's next for Left Lane Cruiser?

Definitely a lot of touring. We have always enjoyed hittin the road, so you can expect a lot of that this year. Otherwise, I don't know, I guess whatever comes our way.

Thanks Brenn, and if that's not enough, check out these tunes, pulled from their three records, All You Can Eat, Bring Yo Ass To The Table, and Gettin' Down On It. Every goddamned song by the band will send your hips a-swivellin' and yr fists a-pumpin' fuck yeah! Take a drive with this shit bouncing our yr wound-down window and yr the talk of the neighborhood.

The new album, All You Can Eat, is out now on Alive Records.

Left Lane Cruiser: Ol' Fashioned (mp3)

Left Lane Cruiser: Crackalacka (mp3)

Left Lane Cruiser: Pork'n'Beans (mp3)

Left Lane Cruiser: Truck Song (mp3)

Please support yr local independent cb caller and left lane speed demon.

Lonely Night

2009-10-02T08:30:00.000-05:00

Howdy neighbor!

Switchin' things up round here. Instead of Deep Blues Thursdays, we're gonna change it Deep Blues Fridays. Yup, a significant and world-rattling change. Just figgered Friday was a better day to give everyone the whole weekend to get to know the artist. So, there you are.

As ever, we wouldn't be doing this without the influence of Chris from the Deep Blues Festival, Rick from The Real Deep Blues, and the cats from Nine Bullets. All praise to them for keeping the flame alive.

Today's Deep Blues feature is a feller the aforementioned Chris from the Deep Blues Fest turned us on to. Serious Sam Barrett comes from the other side of the pond from our own little corner of the globe, but he's got the soul of Mississippi blues-man. Bringing a punk attitude/DIY aesthetic to a table set by tradition and "hard times come again no more", Barrett melds a folk/Blues/punk/English/Celtic melange of influences into a singular vision, wide-eyed and hardened.

Barrett's guitar work is transcendent and his voice evokes a time of whiskey and lager in equal measure, a timeless jig
n'jag along the confluence of the Mississippi and the Thames. His lyrics are older than the mud we toil and more relevant than tomorrow's news.

Barrett's part of a collective label, YaDig? , which is putting out some seriously great stuff. Y'all should check it out.

But enough of my blathering. Serious Sam Barrett was kind enough to do a short email interview with us. Everything you need to know is below.

A Serious Sam Barrett Interview (in which we take a skateboard from Leeds to Natchez)

1. First off, tell us who you are, where you're from, and what you do.

I’m Sam Barrett, I’m from Yorkshire in the North of England. I write songs and sing traditional songs too.

2. Your songs present an interesting amalgamation of traditional English/Celtic folk mixed with a Mississippi Blues influence. Tell us how you came to this approach, and how do these seemingly disparate styles work together in such a successful way.

I was brought up in a house where traditional music as well as blues and Rock n Roll were being played constantly. All the influences in my songs come from music my parents introduced me to. Traditional Irish, Scottish, American and English music all have a big influence on what I do. Rock n’ Roll is a big part of me and Blues was the first music I truly fell in love with. I don’t know how successful I am at bringing all these things together but I’m trying my best.

3. There is also a strain of punk/DIY aesthetic to your work. This seems to carry from your work with the co-op label you're part of, YaDig? Records. Tell us about this record label/collective and your role within it.

I’ve been into punk music since the age of about 14 when I first started getting into skateboarding and stuff. I’m not preachy about the whole DIY thing but basically if me and the other people who are involved didn’t do the label then I can’t see who else would document the Yorkshire folk scene in a way that I’d be happy with. It’s just about putting music out there and doing it in a way that we all feel represents what the music is truly about. We are trying to keep everything in-house as far as possible. My friend has screen printed all the covers for my record in the basement of our house, we have our own in-house designers, sound engineers and someone who is doing great artwork for us too. It’s basically a bunch of friends coming together to document great music. At the moment we are concentrating our output on the Yorkshire folk/roots blues scene but we don’t want to limit ourselves too much either.

4. We're struck by your guitar method, which, to our ears, has a "travelling'" quality to it. Tell our readers about your guitars, and your approach to musical composition.

I really only play one guitar nowadays and that’s the Stella 12 string I bought in Jackson Tennessee 3 years ago. That guitar changed my life and made me play much better. I find writing songs really hard but all my songs are based on an idea that comes to me quickly, usually one line or riff that comes into my head will form the basis of a whole song. If I spent too long trying to put a song together it usually starts to sound bad.

5. Does your lyrical sensibility come from personal experience? Or is it "observed" and/or pulled from a long tradition of dialectical tropes?

All the lyrics I write are about my life and my experiences but the way I put it all into a song is definitely influenced by all the records I have spend my life being obsessed with. I write about things that I really care about. Otherwise there isn’t really much point. I’ve written a lot of songs about heartbreak, one about the place I grew up in and one about people that come to gigs just to show off their clothes. More recently I’ve gone back to heartbreak.

6. The British Isles have a reputation for an appreciation of the Blues/Country/Folk traditions that extends beyond the United State's tendency to compartmentalize these "styles/genres" into outlying rural phenomenons. Do you think this is true? And if so, why? And if not, why not?

I think there are a lot of people in the UK and Ireland who are totally fascinated with American music. I am definitely one of them. If you are a bit of a dreamer American records are perfect for you. There’s just something exiting and real and full of life about American music that is really mind-blowing if you are brought up over here.

7. How "Serious" are you? What are you serious about?

I have been a skateboarder since about 1995 and that was a nickname I got from other skaters. When I was younger I used to turn up to the skate parks and look really serious. The name just stuck. I am very very serious about my music and about other important things like racism and poverty but I also talk a lot of crap and joke around a lot of the time.

8. Where are your favorite places to play? Tell us about your ideal live performance experience.

There is a great pub in Leeds called the Grove. It has a great folk club that been running for probably 30 years or so. That’s a great place to play. I like playing anywhere where people are there for the music and to enjoy hearing songs and singing along.

9. Drink of choice?

I love bitters from Yorkshire especially the ones from the Yorkshire Dales but I’m very partial to a good Bourbon. I’ve also sunk a lot of cans of Coors in my time.

10. What's next? Tour? More recording? Etc. How can we hear more about Serious Sam Barrett?

The next things for YaDig? is a sampler that will feature the best roots/folk artist from Leeds and West Yorkshire. Also we will be putting out a record by Tom Attah who is a mindblowing UK blues artist. He’s making a massive impact right now and worth looking out for. We have a UK YaDig? Tour in the pipeline and I’m working on coming out to play South By Southwest next year. The best thing is for people to go to www.myspace.com/sambarrett also check out the YaDig? Records blog for events and new releases. www.yadigrecords.blogspot.com Thanks.

The Female Drummer

You can hear more of Barrett's songs here. We'd like to particularly recommend the song "Lullaby of Leeds"

If you can, send some dough Barrett's way for his excellent new CD, "Close To Home". You won't regret it. Hell, we'll give you your money back if you're disappointed. We don't think you will be. But how's that for an offer?

Constant Hitmaker

2009-09-30T08:30:00.000-05:00

Thank god that's over. Summer, that is. We're more of an Autumn. Winter, even. But Summer's just a smeary, bleary blur of heat, sun, and muggy humidity. Good riddance, we say, and realize we're in the vast minority. So be it.

Before we hit up today's musical guest, we have a request. We need to fix up our links to the left, along with an eventual site re-design, and figger we're missing some mighty fine sites, musical or otherwise. Anyone got some recommendations of websites we should be pimpin'? It could be your own, of course, or someone you're following. Let us know, and we'll get it up.

Now we got a feller who we think is super duper, and perfect for an Autumn afternoon.

Kurt Vile (yes, it's a pun) is a slightly cracked egg, at least on wax (we don't know him personally). He plays in a band called The War On Drugs, which is a fine band, but not our concern for today's post. We're interested in Vile's fascinating solo work.

We don't know much about Vile, really. We've got four records by the man, all released within the last 12 months, and each one a tiny bedsit jewel of strummed melancholy, looped languidness, chug-a-lug ramble, urban psych, and keen lyrical observation. He's called "Philly's Constant Hitmaker", for what it's worth.

Vile takes the pre-supposed nature of the bedroom auteur and transforms it into something revelatory, stripping away the self-involved excess and creating, nay, crafting records full of the richness of the everyman. More tuneful and accessible than Jandek, less bombast than Neil Young and somewhere in between the twilight and the morning.

Sensory reflection, then, a spillage of foilage with darkness at the edge of town, and the drop the needle, the intake of breath and a hiss of tape, a voice in the void of summer speeding and winter hibernation, a warm drink taken bitter and sweet.

The following songs were taken from, in order, his brand spankin' new record "Childish Prodigy", his previous long player "Constant Hitmaker", the limited vinyl "God Is Saying This To You" LP, and the EP "Hunchback". Check 'em all out!

Perfect music for watching the leaves change and the evening comin' on.

Kurt Vile: Freak Train(mp3)

Kurt Vile: Freeway(mp3)

Kurt Vile: My Sympathy(mp3)

Kurt Vile: Good Lookin' Out(mp3)

Please support your local, independent Cider vendor.

Six Pack None The Richer

2009-09-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

Took a short break, but we're back again. Honestly we have no idea how folks find the time to post every day.

We're waiting on permissions for our next couple of posts, so what better way to bide our time, and entertain you, our blessed readers, than with another installment in our world-renowned Six Pack Series! Six fantabulous tracks pulled randomly, or not so much,from our bulging collection of vinyl long and short players! No edits, no noise reduction or fiddlin' of any sort. Just music the way the good lord intended. We might even throw in some pops and crackles as a bonus!

First up is the infamous Michael Hurley with a filthy little ode to...well, you can guess. It's off his classic record, "Armchair Boogie", recently re-issued on vinyl by our fave rave record label, Mississippi Records. After that, we've got a hoedown from the Willis Brothers, replete with Mariachi horns, by gum. And just when think it can't get any better, we've got a slice deep greasy god-lovin'funk from the record Good God! put out by The Numero Group.

At the halfway point, we've got Mr. Gorie/Dirtbomb Mick Collin's one-off The King Sound Quartet weighing in with a menacing little tune off their record "The Get-Down Imperative" on In The Red. We couldn't follow that up any better than with Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet with a Texas-style hillbilly ode to life in the big, big city, pulled from their record "Mendocino", which should be an essential record in any music fan's collection.

We couldn't finish this up any better than with a tune from one-man-crackpot-band extraordinaire, Abner Jay. We pulled the song "I'm So Depressed" from the album "The True Story of Abner Jay" put out by...wait for it...Mississippi Records. Yeah, there's two tracks from records by them. Deal with it, they're the best label around, swear to god.

All songs are arranged in a mix-tapers order, and their placement in no way reflects any attempt to order the songs in terms of importance or quality. Check 'em all out!

Michael Hurley: Open Up (Eternal Lips) (mp3)

Willis Brothers: Bob (mp3)

LaVice and Company: Thoughs (sic) Were The Days (mp3)

King Sound Quartet: I Wouldn't Put It Past You (mp3)

Sir Douglas Quintet: Lawd I'm Just A Country Boy In This Great Big Freaky City (mp3)

Abner Jay: I'm So Depressed (mp3)

Please support your local, independent anything.

Odelay

2009-09-07T08:30:00.000-05:00

First thing y'all should do is check out Barstool Mountain for our post about our namesake. Is it essential reading/listening? Yep. But we're precocious that way.

And then, and then, and then, a new band for all y'all to check out. Interview to follow below.

Dixie Whiskey were kind enough to send us a link to their new record, and we think it's one of the best honky tonk records of the year. All y'all who, like us, lament the slow erosion of great Outlaw Country in favor of safe, mass-produced pap we hear on the radio these days, Dixie Whiskey are your salvation. Perfectly distilled.

Dixie Whiskey are dangerous. Their songs will lay you out flat on the hardwood floor with an aggressive hoe-down choog'n'stomp, then break your heart with a lonesome keen, all back porch lonesome me.

From their press release:

"There’s a growing phenomenon ruining dive bars across the United States. This problem is that the jukeboxes are running dry of great drinking songs, while metrosexual pop music is finding its way into filthy saloons. On their self-titled release, the boys Dixie Whiskey intend on being the brown jug remedy to the bar-room predicament."

Amen.

Band member Jon Decious was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

1. First off, tell our readers who you are, where you come from and where you're going. What do you sound like?

Howdy all, this is Jon Decious from Dixie Whiskey. We're a country-ish rock-ish band from Nashville that's only going as far as folks that hear us let us go.

2. You mention Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers as influences. Given that Gram and the boys were bringing Country to a rock audience, do you feel that you are continuing their mission? With "alt-country" (whatever the hell that ever was) slipping into blandness, and pop Country losing all traces of its roots, do you feel the time is right for artists such yourselves and folks like James Hand and Hayes Carll to take back the Honky Tonk to its rightful relevance?

I've never felt like we were "attempting" to carry forth any mission of Gram's but, when I take a step back and look at our band for what it is maybe that's exactly what we're doing. If folks like Hand, Carll, and ourselves can pump air back into the flat tires of honky tonk music, so much the better. Whether that time is now or not, I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

3. On a related note, tell us about the current Nashville scene. Do you find receptive audiences at your shows? What are the bars one should hit to see y'all play?

The Nashville circuit is a tough one to tackle. With so many bands in one town, I guess it's not hard to see why. We've been pretty fortunate, though. We're a pretty new band and have been able to draw good crowds on a regular basis at bars like; the 5 Spot, the End, FooBar, and a little joint outside of town called the Pond.

4. Did you really sell your soul to the Honky Tonk? And if so, who is the patron saint/demon of Honky Tonks?

I, and fellow Dixie Whiskey-ers Dillon Napier and Bob Ferrari, came damn close a few years ago. The patron was some white girl named Jack that we couldn't out-run for the life of us.

5. Dean Dillon is a hell of a songwriter and singer. How did you get him to guest on your record?

I'm actually a farmhand at Tenorado Ranch, which is Dean's farm. Crazy story, if you can indulge me. The day I started working for Dean, cleaning out the barn, when I stumbled across this demo tape. I begrudgingly put it back because I know how some folks get about worktape demos. Well, 'bout 2 weeks later, curiosity killed my cat, and I took it home and listened to it. Fell in love with this tune called, "Some Days It Takes All Night". A week later I asked if we could cut it as a duet and he said, "Hell yeah! Let's fire it up!". That's the short story of how it went down.

6. On your record, "Dixie Whiskey", you mix back porch, autumnal ruminations (most strikingly on "Odelay", and "Welcome Home, Kentucky") with rowdy, honky tonk bootstompers like "Ride With the Devil" and "This Barstool's My Tombstone". How do you approach such varying styles, or do you feel that there's no variance,and it's all part of the organic whole? In other words, tell us about y'all's approach to songwriting both lyrically and musically.

Our songwriting style involves everyone in the band in one way or another. For instance, Dillon and I will generally write the songs and make a guitar/vocal worktape of them and then give the songs to the other fellas. If everyone loves it, we'll keep it, if they don't, we scrap it. On this record, we'd written a song with a riff that Bob really dug, but didn't like the song. He said, "Ya'll go back and write a song around that riff." So the next day Dillon and I sat down and wrote "Wheels On The Wind", which is a song that made the record. Lyrically, I honestly have no idea how some songs come out. Dillon and I will knock things back and forth til we like how it sounds. Sometimes it makes a whole lotta' sense and other times it doesn't. We try to record the ones that DO make sense! haha

7. What is a "dixie whiskey", and will we go blind if we drink it? Is it similar to a, ahem, "whiskey dixie"?

I read that a 'dixie whiskey' is a mixed drink. I couldn't tell ya what's in it, nor can I confirm whether or not it'll make you go blind. I'm not sure what a 'whiskey dixie' is either. They'll probably both kill you eventually.

8. You're on the road at 3 in the morning, and all you have is the radio. AM or FM on the dial?

At 3 am I'm more likely to turn the AM dials. It's a strange feeling to be up at 3 am driving through the middle of nowhere. When I'm feeling faded from a long day or still got a good buzz goin' on, nothing makes for a better soundtrack than "Coast To Coast" or some static-y music from the 1930's.

9. Speaking of being on the road, and as a transition to the next question, what can one expect from a Dixie Whiskey show? How different are the band live versus on CD/Record?

We're gonna make you feel at home and we're gonna give you your hard-earned money's worth. For instance, at our recent cd release show, we greeted everyone at the door with a free cd and, just before our set, we bought everyone in the crowd a shot of whiskey. We barely broke even after the tab that night, but I feel like everyone there knew how much we appreciated them coming out and watching us sing. That's hard to get across in a song, so I 'spose that's how the live show is different.

10. What's next for Dixie Whiskey? Tour? More recording? What does the future hold?

Like I said at the top, we'll go as far as the folks listening will let us go. If they want us to tour or record more, they'll let us know.

Thanks to Dixie Whiskey for answering a few of our questions. If you're interested in the band, and if you're a fan of what we post here, you should be, you can actually download the full album at this here site, free and legally! How's that for a bargain? If you like what you hear, either here or at the aforementioned site, please consider supporting the band on their upcoming tour or by word of mouth. Just sayin'!

The following are two of our favorite tracks from the new rekkid. Don't take our word for it...check 'em out yrselves!

Whiskey Dixie: This Barstool's My Tombstone (mp3)

Whiskey Dixie: Odelay (mp3)

Please support yr local, independent, beer swillin' honky tonk!

My Own Kick

2009-09-02T08:08:00.000-05:00

Here we go.

'Round these here parts we've got a little beatnik, bop-a-billy hoedown courtesy of Ronnie Self.

Coming from farming and railroadin' stock, Self displays a rebellious quality in his music, both against authority and against the conventions of so-called "common' or "small" life. His music is restless and wild, untamed to the point of punk-precedence, but wrapped in a hybrid Country, rockabilly, R&B, goin' nowhere, man, surge of desperation and rhythmic menace. One is almost forced to see a touch of Hasil Adkins(or, more appropriately, vice versa) in Self's style, hiccuped backwoods drawl forced into a strumming wild man on the loose.

To avoid repetition, we would very highly recommend checking out his bio over at Rockabilly Hall for a well-done overview of Self's life. Cat led an interesting life.

Some speculation exists as to why Self didn't make the big time in his lifetime, but we're,frankly, not surprised as sadly sad we must acknowledge that some visionaries can only be recognized in context and as a full body, And Self was a visionary, if only in that the sounds in his head, forced out through booze-fueled blasts of Honky scrawl, presaged an outlaw approach, years away and shaped in different tones of beer tavern tumble.

Two observations, then.

First, it would be be irresponsible of us not to note a similarity between Self and Roger Miller, a least in terms of vocal delivery, with their rapid-fire, trailer-beat, stung-out brand of hipster stream-of-consciousness. I wouldn't like to speculate if there was any influence one way or the other, but if you like Roger Miller, than Ronnie Self is right up your alley.

Second, Ronnie Self is probably more relevant today than he was in his lifetime. As our ears demand a more distinctive voice over time, Self's brand of hillbilly boogie junk seem revelatory, out of time and place and waiting for a new generation to discover. Maybe we're the ones.

We'd recommend any damn song by Ronnie Self, but we'll try to limit ourselves to four, since we're not one of those "full album" sites. "My Own Kick Going" is a frequent visitor in our ever-changing "top ten fave rave songs of all time". It's about a groover, man. "Go Go the Cannibal" is a trash rock masterpiece, well before it's time, and the Cramps and Hasil Adkins would have been proud to call this their own (maybe they have, I dunno). "About Cured" is the closest kin to Roger Miller, but it's got it's own twisted hillybilly bomp, and damn we love this song. And "Here Comes Authority" is big ol' fuck ya to the man. Amen.

Sing along! "The boat's on the river, the train's on the track, an' I'm without you, I guess you aint comin' back..."

Ronnie Self: My Own Kick Going (mp3)

Ronnie Self: Go Go The Cannibal (mp3)

Ronnie Self: About Cured (mp3)

Ronnie Self: Here Comes Authority (mp3)

While it's super keen that the world-wide internets, and it's system of tubes and wires provide us with a wealth of free music, please consider visiting your local, independent record store for some kick ass records you may or may not have heard.

Keep Ta Boogie

2009-08-27T08:30:00.006-05:00

Well, if it's Thursday, it must be Deep Blues Thursday, where we strip away the glossy sheen and wankery of soccer mom blues and give you a shot of hot swamp-stringed, mud-crusted Blues goodness.

As ever, this wouldn't exist without the loving hand of The Deep Blues Festival. Keep yr ears and eyes peeled for more info on that venture.

Today we've got the legendary Illinois John Fever. Why legendary? Well that's for you to determine when you check out the interview and tunes to follow. Oh, and they played with a feller you all know and love in a moment us non-Mississippians will rarely if ever experience again. Read on for more info on that.

Illinois John Fever play a kickin'n'stompin' brand of Hill Country Blues, all rhythm and loose-string, dead fish thwacked trap kit howl, whiskey soaked and soul saturated. We really dug these cats in the two instances we got to check 'out. They're a band you're gonna hear more about in the coming days, guaranteed.

So.

Is there really a guy named Illinois John Fever? Can a man walk a crossroads without eating with a fork? What does Pussy Galore have to do with all this? Read on, dear reader, read on.

1. First off, tell us about yourselves. Who are you?

Lute Tucker and Bobber Hall started playing together in August of ’06 and brought Dustin Busch in last February. We play pre-electric/post-punk blues but playing all-acoustic is what sonically sets us apart from most acts, blues or otherwise. You could call it apocalypse blues, given its perverse meditations, but as for the mythology...well, we’ll let John get to that in a minute.

2. At the Deep Blues Festival, you were part of an iconic moment, providing guitar backing and rhythmic flourishes to an impromptu performance by T-Model Ford. Tell us about that moment. How did it come to pass?

It's easier bringing the music to the people than it is bringing the people out to the music. We also recognize the roots of this music come from casual settings—from the field, the porch, the afternoon picnic, from the tobacco barn, the living room, the street, etc.—and the importance of experiencing the music that way removes the imaginary line between performers and observers, encouraging the spontaneity of the moment for everybody. So we work hard staying versatile, playing everywhere between the club and the couch, and we came to Deep Blues ready to play as often as we could, wherever we were. That said, the first night was winding down and we'd grabbed our gear to busk in front of the Cabooze, but the manager put us in the beer garden instead. As for T-Model coming to check us out and then asking for a guitar, we were just doing our thing in the right place at the right time, and we're grateful he took us along for the ride. And there's a whole line of people to thank for setting that all up, starting with Chris Johnson. In a larger context, we all experience the inevitability of tradition—that the torches will pass onto those willing to bear them—and that this is really what Chris set into motion by creating the Deep Blues Festival, and in bring all of us together. That man is making history-in-action, you just watch.

3. You're based out of Iowa City. Whence comes the name "Illinois" John Fever. Who is John Fever? Are you feeling ill?

For the record, none of us goes by John Fever. He’s an archetype, a spirit conjured up. His real name is John McKinney, and we make space for him the way some folks set a place for Elijah, which is an appropriate comparison. As for the ILLINOIS, Lute Tucker earned that growing up in Chicago. But we use it in the tradition of setting bluesmen apart—not through personal nicknames but as regionally distinguished remarks in recording catalogs. So in his full suit, ILLINOIS JOHN FEVER reminds us that we aren’t authors of anything, that we are just transmitters of certain ideas, mere observers of the music.

4. Where do you draw inspiration? Who are your influences?

Scenes of carnage and fiery revolt are a good place to start. Severed fingers marked with voters’ ink. We celebrate just about anyone righteously standing up in the face of violence. We embrace the totality of the world despite being infinite souls trapped in limited bodies. We listen to a lot of Fred McDowell, Booker White, and Willie McTell, but we’ll listen to everything. This very moment, it’s the Pussy River Bawlers. We like John Jackson and stuff out of Virginia, and Georgia. “Monologue on Accidents” is a vibrant recording of John Lomax grilling Willie McTell on whether he’s ever recorded any “complaining songs.” At Parchman Farm, Lomax’s son Alan recorded D.W. ’Bama Stuart singing “I’m Going Home.” We’re struck by these. But we also love Funkadelic, Royal Trux, Violent Femmes, Big Black, and any afrofunk. Lute Tucker suggests everybody read anything by Chester Himes. Our favorite movie is REPO MAN, and we think sushi is delicious.

5. You're all relatively young, at least so far as Blues musicians go. Some would argue that you have to have lived a "full" life, whatever that means, to really understand the Blues. Do you feel that this is true, or do you find a universal in the form that can appeal along a broad spectrum of ages and experience?

Understanding the blues is about understanding human emotion. And it’s not so much having experienced one thing or another, but how you respond to the world as it presents itself. With the blues, this becomes personal expression. There’s other details—technical proficiency, adept lyrics, bad-ass street cred. But as with most matters of survival, the ability to respond to the on-going situation is most important. Playing live therefore becomes a living metaphor, and we can appreciate that as well as anybody.

6. How did you come to be involved in the Deep Blues Festival? What are your fondest memories of the Fest?

Friends attended the first year and we were lucky that Chris Johnson asked us to play the next. But we were especially happy returning in 2009—the deal with T-Model was a total cosmic fluke and it set us up for the best weekend of our lives. The highlight was playing outside the hotel Saturday night, jumping into a great big river of sound with seven-plus guitars, one dobro, multiple percussionists, multiple folks blowing harp, an old National getting played, and then Gabe wandering up barefoot and in his jammies, stomping clapping and hollering. Folks came from all over the world to engage in that moment, and that exchange of ideas is an important part of the music we appreciate and play.

7. What kind of audience do you hope to draw? What will it take to bring your brand of Blues to the masses?

Hippies with trust funds. As for the masses, David Geffen would have to put the $15-million on that horse.

8. What is the band's drink of choice?

In order of volumes consumed: water, coffee, PBR, any proper whiskey.

9. How many roads must a man walk down? And which roads should he take? Is there really a crossroads, or is it just a fork in the road?

There are as many crossroads as you are able to recognize. Our only problem on the road is our inability to recognize the multiplicity of the crossroads.

10. What's next for Illinois John Fever? Record? Tour? Pimp yourselves here.

We’ve always been writing new songs, and adding Dustin to our lineup has only increased that potential. And while the plan had been to record our first album, we’ve mostly been working on the new material. So that’s the new plan: write more songs, record more songs. But most important we’d like to keep making connections with like-minded folks supporting the kind of music we enjoy. You are a good example of such folks, and thanks for having us aboard.

The following tunes are from their cd "Our Own Pirated Idaho", which you can beg or plead for from the band at their website.

Illinois John Fever: Keep Ta Boogie If Ye Like (mp3)

Illinois John Fever: West Coast Blues (mp3)

Illinois John Fever: Wonderland Boogie (mp3)

Support your local rawk, man. It's better than a stadium.