August 12, 2005
New releases: Aug. 16, 2005
Posted by Stacy Chandler at August 12, 2005 1:02 AMSome folks reading this site may not particularly need another Americana primer, but you have to admit it's fun to check out the track list and nod approvingly/tsk disapprovingly at the selections -- plus, these things are a great tool for getting your friends hooked. And for those of you new or newish to Americana, the nice folks at the Americana Music Association (in partnership with the National Association of Recording Merchandisers, whose scholarship fund will benefit from the proceeds of this disc's sales) have put out another outstanding sampler that's really going to reel you in, I'm betting. For the heartwarmingly low, low retail price of $1.98, the CD offers:
Sarah Borges - Daniel Lee
Clem Snide - Fill Me With Your Light
Julie Lee - Stillhouse Road
Jitterbug Thompson - Fool
Kathleen Edwards -Back To Me
Robert Earl Keen - The Great Hank
Holly Williams - Man In The Making
John Doe (w/Dave Alvin & Veronica Jane) - Mama Don`t
Amy Speace - Step Out Of The Shade
Hacienda Brothers - Walkin' On My Dreams
Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell - Party Time
The Greencards - Time
Robin Ella - Break It Down Baby
Eric Bibb (w/Ruthie Foster) - Troubadour
Adrienne Young - My Love Will Keep
Maria McKee - Turn Away
Jackie Greene - About Cell Block #9
Michelle Shocked - How You Play The Game
Rodney Crowell - The Obscenity Prayer
Mary Gauthier - I Drink
Pretty nifty, eh? There's a fair amount of stuff on this one that I haven't heard, so I'm eager to get my mitts on it. Everyone has something to learn about their favorite music, someone new to "discover" -- that's the beauty of it!
THE LIST:
Various artists -- This is Americana, Vol. 2 (NARM Recordings)
Jimmie Dale Gilmore -- Come On Back (Rounder)
Rodney Crowell -- Outsider (Sony)
Cowboy Junkies -- Early 21st Century Blues (Zoe)
Brad Paisley -- Time Well Wasted (Arista)
Chris LeDoux -- Anthology, Vol. 1(Capitol)
Eddy Arnold -- After All These Years (RCA)
BoDeans -- Homebrewed: Live from the Pabst (Narada)
Hanna-McEuen -- Hanna-McEuen (Dreamworks Nashville)
LATE ADDITIONS:
The Waco Brothers -- Freedom and Weep (Bloodshot Records)
Johnny Cash -- "The Legend" (Columbia/Legacy): 4 CDs, 104 songs, including seven previously unreleased
June Carter Cash -- "Keep on the Sunny Side -- Her Life in Music" (Columbia/Legacy): 2 CDs, 40 songs
This new compilation from the AMA really needed more emerging talent than the four or five newbies they squeezed onto it. Would've liked to see some South Austin Jug Band and Bill Isles, for starters, to illustrate that Americana is not just another word for Rockabilly. It is a "pay for play" product, understandable but unfortunate - not all artists have $1000 laying around in their promotional budget to shell out on a project like this where they also sign away royalties.
But it is a great idea, and I'll be ordering mine soon. Are any of you going to be in Nashville for the Americana Music Conference next month? I'm attending with Bob Zucker from AMAZ Records, if you want an inside scoop
with photos I'll be toting my digital camera along.
thanks for the kind words on the sampler. I am on the board of the AMA, and worked on putting the sampler initiave together. Its hard to balance all the factors of putting one of these together (cost, royalties, politics etc.) but overall, I'm proud of the work we are doing to expose peeps to new music, and to show that this format is REAL and VIBRANT!
Nice blog!
Posted by: marko at August 14, 2005 8:58 PMMarko -- thanks for all the work y'all have done on these CDs! I think the idea of these ultra-cheap sampler CDs is brilliant! Let's make them as accessible as possible! Keep it up dude -- we'll do our part in getting the word out!
And Jim, I don't think any of us will make it out to the Americana Music Conference... more's the pity. We're all working stiffs. But either way, dude, take some pictures and send them our way! We'll definitely post them! (Or link to them, if you post them somewhere else!)
Posted by: larry at August 14, 2005 9:36 PMI'm a working stiff too. But with a new CD of original work to promote (hovering around #300 on the Americana charts, ouch!), part of that work is going to Nashville for the traditional Tennessee ass-whipping that all songwriters must experience at least once in their lives. This will be my second turn in the barrel.
This time AMAZ is picking up the tab, and all I have to do is go there and eat large helpings of humble pie. I'm good with that.
I'll email Larry the pics and text, and try to get some interesting stuff for you while I'm there.
Posted by: Jim Pipkin at August 14, 2005 11:38 PM
