July 26, 2010

Drive-By Truckers@9:30 Club

Posted by Sean Moores at 8:27 PM

Drive-By Truckers
9:30 Club, Washington, D.C.
July 23, 2010

When Drive-By Truckers scheduled a show in Washington on a night off from their current gig as the opening act for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, I couldn’t help but think of it as a make-up date.

The last time the band rolled into the nation’s capital, in February 2009, singer/guitarist Patterson Hood was knocked flat, and out of commission, by a wicked case of walking pneumonia. The band played on, for two nights at the 9:30 Club, featuring almost exclusively the songs of Hood’s fellow singer/guitarist/partner in crime, Mike Cooley. The fans didn’t seem to mind, as both shows were well-attended. Nonetheless, it seemed like DBT would probably try to do something as a thank you to those who kept the faith.

Like playing for the good people of D.C., rather than taking a night off.

His absence wasn’t directly mentioned until well into Friday night’s sold-out return to the 9:30 Club, but Hood set the tone for the night the moment DBT took the stage. Grabbing his guitar and spreading his arms wide, like he was ready to bear-hug the first row, Hood shouted into the mike, “Goddammit, I feel good!”

It showed.

July 13, 2010

No fiddle, no twang: All he ever wanted was a four piece band!

Posted by Hal Bogerd at 12:34 AM
If Alejandro Escovedo's music career had ended after his initial Nuns/Rank and File/True Believers run his name would appear as a brief footnote in Rock history books and he would have ended up the hippest record store clerk you could imagine. Lucky for all of us that wasn't the way...

June 28, 2010

Mat D's "Plank Road Drag"

Posted by Jim Pipkin at 2:39 AM
One thing I like about writing reviews - hell, the ONLY thing I like about writing them - is getting the chance to hear great music before everyone else. Or before a major record label comes in and shits all over it. Otherwise writing just takes time out of my...

May 30, 2010

Ridin' The Hound with the Wynntown Marshals

Posted by Hal Bogerd at 10:14 PM
Hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, the Wynntown Marshals mix country-twang and roots-rock on their debut full-length disc Westerner (Charger). They aren't afraid to acknowledge their debt to Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks and Keith Benzie's voice bears more than a passing resemblance to Mr. Tweedy. As much as I like Wynntown...

May 29, 2010

John Meeks - Old Blood

Posted by Larry Karnowski at 9:40 AM

John Meeks' Old Blood is a powerful debut album, reminiscent of Calexico, Neko Case, and a bit of Whiskeytown. His dusty, melancholy, South-western desert ballad, "Been Down By Love" has fiddles, steel guitar, and trumpets adding flourishes over a steady country beat and hauntingly beautiful vocal harmonies.

From the "Making of Old Blood" on his website, I gather his band is a bit of a "San Diego country super-group." It doesn't come out and say it, but it feels like there was a bit of a repressed Alt Country scene in San Diego, and John's arrival has galvanized several like-minded and extremely talented artists to gather and create a new San Diego country sound. This is a great album, and it's an interesting video. (Something of a rarity on the Internet if you ask me.)

Highly recommended! One of the most innovative and listenable Alt Country albums I've heard in a long while. I want to hear more from John and his San Diego country artist friends!

Listen to "Been Down By Love"
Buy on Amazon MP3