15 June 2008
Summertime, Kid Rock style
Do I risk blowing any music cred I might have ever built up on the little blog by admitting that I think this is a pretty cool song?
Oh well, too bad. I think this is a pretty cool song.
It probably doesn't hurt that he plays off two pretty good songs in themselves.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 19:02 | Music | Technorati | Comments (7)
10 October 2007
The perfect Nashville tour
My friends R and Mr. Hutchison have come up with the PERFECT name for a music tour featuring Kenny Chesney and the Dixie Chicks.
Well done!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/10/07 09:30 | Music | Technorati | Comments (3)
14 September 2007
And one more, for good measure
Music inspires Kenny Chesney after difficult times (Nekesa Mumbi Moody, AP)
You could say that Kenny Chesney, with a top tour, hit after hit and another multiplatinum album, enjoyed an amazing last couple of years — but you'd be wrong. Yes, he accomplished all that. But, enjoy it? That's another matter.
2006 was another pinnacle [Nashville loves a leading man of multiple pinnacles!] in the seemingly unstoppable career of the country superstar, but it also may have been his most frustrating time as an artist — and a person.
Chesney was still reeling from his very public breakup of his brief marriage to Academy Award-winner Renee Zellweger (and the tabloid frenzy that followed), and felt particularly uninspired, even when it came to what he loved most — touring.
"I wasn't mentally ready to go on the road, after all the media stuff that happened with the breakup with Renee, I just mentally wasn't ready to go, so all last year, even though I had fun and the whole tour was amazing ... mentally I just wasn't 100 percent there," he admits. [shocking!]He was even reluctant to work on a follow-up to his multiplatinum 2005 album, The Road and the Radio, which featured such hits as Beer in Mexico.
"Last year at the CMA Awards ... he said to me, 'I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get this record done; I don't know what I want to say,'" Joe Galante, head of Sony Nashville, recalls Chesney saying. [Wow--he'd been SUCH an involved songwriter before! I mean, he wrote ONE WHOLE SONG on his 2005 album!]
Galante didn't want to push his superstar to make a record he wasn't ready to make. But he told him to take a crack at it, and see if something might give him inspiration. [like, oh, I don't know, other people's work?]
Just as Galante suspected, the inspiration did come [that's how the Nashville Musical Shite Factory operates -- labels push the pretty little faces to record other people's work, as quickly as possible, and call it "inspiration"] — though not from the usual sources. Chesney, who has written or co-written tunes for all of his previous albums [note that having at least one songwriting credit on an album is actually being touted as a big damn deal here], found the most personal and profound [when I think profound, I think Kenny Chesney!] songs for his new disc, Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates, from the pens of others [that last clause is WAY too accurate!]. The album, on sale Tuesday, doesn't contain one song written by Chesney. Even so, he considers it perhaps the one that reveals his true emotions more than any other [He's free at last from having to pretend he's anything but a pretty face performing the music the Nashville suits put in front of him -- that must be liberating indeed!], especially with songs like "Wife and Kids," where he wistfully yearns [!?] for the perfect family life that now eludes him, and Better as a Memory, in which he lists his own shortcomings as a mate."This record opens me up a little bit more, and I'm letting that happen more and more, and that's tough for a guy like me, who's constantly got a wall up," says the congenial Chesney, relaxing at a Manhattan studio a few hours before a concert at Madison Square Garden.
"There's a piece of me in all of these songs, there's a whole lot of me in the majority of them," [the label probably focus-grouped them to make sure they matched! heh] he continues. "'Better as a Memory,' that's probably one of the most brutally honest songs that I've ever recorded about me [Not written, mind you -- recorded], and it's a letter that I've probably written to a lot of girls before." [Probably? He doesn't know?]
As Galante puts it: "I think he let people into the issues that are facing him." [Okee!]
That profile was just painful. I think I've helped it out considerably!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/14/07 21:28 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
28 July 2007
Catch Jack Saunders and Rick Poss Sunday
My friend and guitarist extraordinaire Rick Poss will be playing with Jack Saunders at tomorrow's Houston Press Music Awards Showcase.
They play at 6 pm at Slainte Sunday.
Saunders is an old accomplished hand as Houston's folk/acoustic/songwriter scene goes, but I'm really looking forward to hearing Rick play (it's been a while). He's as smooth and precise as they come on guitar.
Incidentally, Rick's just finished a solo project of his own. I'm looking forward to giving it a listen.
UPDATE (07-29-2007): Rick sounded as good as ever. And Houston live music attendees were in their usual form, talking over the performance. The more I travel, the more I'm convinced that Houstonians are some of the rudest, most ill-mannered people anywhere.
Also of note: Downtown was overrun with pushy vagrants, but I didn't see a single cop. That says a lot about the current state of affairs in the city, really.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/07 23:23 | Music | Technorati | Comments (5)
06 April 2007
Austin Collins at the Firehouse
A couple of my friends from the (sadly) defunct Dead End Angels are playing with Austin Collins now.
He's opening at the Firehouse tonight, so I'm planning on checking it out.
I haven't ever seen the guy live, and have only heard a few tracks off his CD (well before the revamped rhythm section). I haven't been seeing very many shows of late. I hope the smoke doesn't kill us. Blar.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/06/07 19:58 | Music | Technorati | Comments (4)
31 March 2007
Patrice Pike. Icehouse.
Callie just casually informed me a few minutes ago over drinks at Leon's Lounge that Patrice Pike is playing the Icehouse tomorrow.
As if the Icehouse draws that sort of talent every day.
Or, ever.
Wow.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 03/31/07 23:50 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
17 February 2007
A Son Volt Houston date
I just clicked over on the Son Volt tour dates and discovered that Farrar and Crew have a Houston date.
May 6, Continental Club, right here in the Midtown Ghetto.
That should be pretty sweet.
Of course, Houston will turn out poorly for the show -- and will likely talk through it, which I don't think will go over very well with Mr. Farrar.
I'll probably catch the band in some other venues to get a better experience. But it's kind of cool to know I can walk to a Son Volt show in May.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/17/07 22:40 | Music | Technorati | Comments (4)
09 January 2007
Music-related deaths
John Wagner notes that one of the original members of the Flying Burrito Brothers, "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow, has died. He played steel guitar for the influential group.
In sorta almost related news, my mom informed me about a week ago that her friend and fellow Pawhuska OK resident Ida Mae Quillin had passed away (at the young age of 95). She was the inspiration for the Bob Wills tune "Ida Red." She was apparently a character.
May the deceased rest in peace.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/09/07 20:11 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
21 September 2006
Don Walser, RIP
'Pavarotti of the Plains' Don Walser dead at 72 (Michael Corcoran, Austin American-Statesman)
There's never been a more special relationship between a musician and his fans in Austin than when rotund National Guardsman Don Walser started over in the music business in 1990 at the now-defunct Henry's Bar on Burnet Road. His improbable rise and signing to Sire Records, the label of Madonna and the Ramones, at age 64 was the feelgood story of the Austin music scene. Dubbed "the Pavarotti of the Plains" for his clear, powerful tenor, Walser was embraced by gray-haired two-steppers and tattooed punk rockers alike, which was the basis of a February 1996 segment on "ABC Primetime Live."
Walser passed away about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday after a long illness. He was 72.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/21/06 09:49 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
28 July 2006
No Justice at the Armadillo Palace
There's lots of good live music around town tonight for the Red Dirt/Texas/Americana fan.
I'm looking forward to skipping a few bigger names in favor of catching my Okie Red Dirt favorites, No Justice, over at the Armadillo Palace. If a sorta-country band with more rocking guitars and nice harmony vocals is your sort of thing, then these guys are highly recommended.
Bloggers, readers, or other interested parties are encouraged to drop in, listen to some good tunes, and buy me a beer. :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 07/28/06 14:28 | Music | Technorati | Comments (4)
19 May 2006
Mary Cutrufello At Rudz
Former Houstonian Mary Cutrufello returns to town with a gig at Rudyard's tonight.
On this latest swing through Texas, she's put the old "honky tonk" band back together, and is promising to do lots of old material from the "Who to Love and When to Leave" CD and the "Mary Cutrufello and the Havoline Supremes" cassette (remember those?). Her email says she'll have a reissue CD of that great old material available.
Oh, and she'll be playing with her old bandmates Roland Denny and Terry Kirkendall.
The email says the show starts at 9:30, but that start time may well get pushed back to the end of the Astros game (like the old days).
This is the live show to see tonight. Woo!
UPDATE: Great show. Here's hoping the recording turned out okay. Quite a few annoying effers running around, though. Blar.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/19/06 17:42 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
12 May 2006
The Texas Sapphires
There's a nice baseball matchup on tap at Reckling tonight, but I'm not heading over.
Instead, I'll be at Fitzgerald's downstairs for the Texas Sapphires.
I've been wanting to catch that band for a while now, and the fact that DEA buddies Rick Poss and Troy Wilson are filling in on guitar and bass tonight seals the deal.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/12/06 14:17 | Music | Technorati | Comments (3)
15 April 2006
It's More Good Taste Than A Snub
America's south snubs country music (Phyllis Stark, Reuters, via The Fat Guy)
The Southeast, which includes such country-friendly states as Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and the Carolinas, has become a difficult region for new music, according to label executives. And radio promoters say the Southwest -- Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas -- is the last place they're likely to break a new act or get airplay on a new single.
"The Southwest, if you're not George Strait, is absolutely the hardest place to start any record, whether it's an established act or a new artist," says Gator Michaels, senior VP of promotion at Warner Bros. Nashville, home of Faith Hill.
Maybe it's not so much that the Southwest is "snubbing" commercial "country" music, as it is that large parts of the region simply have turned to the sort of country music that is not so likely to get airplay on Clear Channel (the Americana/Red Dirt/Texas/Alt Country of which some of us are so fond).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 04/15/06 17:40 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)
28 February 2006
New No Justice Tunes
I've been eagerly awaiting the latest No Justice CD, which had an initial release date in February that got pushed back to March.
Apparently, somebody forgot to clue in the E-Music service, because as Gary helpfully points out over at H-Town Grooves, the CD is available for purchase/download there.
That was enough to get me sign up for the service, which has a free trial. I feel a little bad, because it's really doubtful that I'm going to subscribe to the service after the trial period. But, I'm sure I'll purchase some CDs at the next show in Houston, so it's not like I'm ripping the guys off.
That next show, by the way, is at the Armadillo Palace on March 11.
I really like these guys since they've become a five piece and reworked their sound a bit. I hope Houston turns into a more regular stop for them.
UPDATE: I just took a peek at the mp3s themselves -- they're VBR encoded using LAME to a compression standard that I use for my own stuff. Very impressive. I'm sometimes dissatisfied with the quality of downloadable mp3s.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/28/06 19:45 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)
26 February 2006
Good Music Week
Thursday, I caught Greg Trooper for the first time. He regularly plays the Mucky Duck, and I don't know how I've missed him for so long, but I'm glad I solved that problem finally. The guy's voice reminds me a bit of John Hiatt, he plays some evocative tunes, and he was backed by a good band (including our friend Rick Poss from the Dead End Angels on guitar, and Houston's own Jack Saunders). I'll definitely catch Trooper next time he's in town.
Last night, I saw Kimberly M'Carver with Gary C on his recommendation. She sang a whole bunch of pretty songs with that beautiful voice of hers. I'm going to have to catch her at a more listener-friendly venue one of these days, because she's really good. And it was an excellent last-minute substitution for seeing UH Cougar baseball in the cold/dampness (even though the Coogs pulled off a big win).
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/26/06 09:20 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)
19 February 2006
A Little Sunday Listening
So, when I'm not listening to Texas alt-country or 80's music or (gawd forbid) local talk radio, one of the types of music I really enjoy is religious choral music.
Even though I'm not particularly religious.
Today, Bach-Radio.com served me up a composer in the genre whom I hadn't heard before: Don Carlo Gesualdo.
I pulled up some more stuff on Rhapsody, which posted this useful blurb:
When not murdering people, this Italian prince wrote inventive and progressive madrigals.
Ha! Outstanding. He was also married to his first cousin. There's more fun detail on Wikipedia.
Whatever the case, his music is beautiful.
Another composer in this rough genre whom I really like is Giovanni de Palestrina.
I know this is a niche request -- but if any readers listen to this kind of stuff and have other suggestions, please do share!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 02/19/06 17:05 | Music | Technorati | Comments (3)
29 January 2006
DEA - For The Last Time?
We roadtripped over to Gruene on Friday for what may well be the last Dead End Angels show.
It's a weird deal.
As a fan, I have trouble believing accepting that a band with such a unique, polished sound is just gonna shut it down. Especially before they put together a second CD. Now that they finally know how to play and write and harmonize and travel together (and maybe even get on each other's nerves a little), it just seems like a perfect time to put together that second CD and play decent listening venues.
But, that's the pushy fan in me speaking.
The only thing I know for sure is that guitarist Rick Poss is going to be playing with Greg Trooper at the Mucky Duck on February 23, and I'll be there to see it. That should be good. But I really hope to hear him playing DEA songs again at some point (and so does he, he told me Friday).
In any case, thank to our friends for another show worth roadtripping for, and for three+ years of good tunes and good times. Whatever the future holds, I've gotten some great live recordings and some good musician-friends outta the deal. That's pretty good.
Of course, if the future holds a second CD after a hiatus, that would be best. I mean, Scott DID tell the Gruene crowd "we'll see ya again soon" at the end of the show. It's documented.... :)
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/29/06 23:50 | Music | Technorati | Comments (3)
21 January 2006
DEA at Cypress Creek Cafe
Callie and I roadtripped to Wimberley last night for a Dead End Angels show at the Cypress Creek Cafe.
Our friends in the Dead End Angels haven't been playing much together lately, and unfortunately it looks like last night's show and next week's show in Gruene are likely to be the last we see for quite a while, for various reasons. So it seemed like a good idea to trip over, check out a new venue, and catch up with our friends (who really make some great Americana music when they decide to get together).
The Cypress Creek Cafe is a pretty sweet venue. The cafe itself is quite good, which got things off to a nice start (filet mignon, broccoli, and salad for those wondering if I'm holding fast to the South Beach lifestyle). The shows take place in the club in the back of the restaurant. It's cozy, and kind of smoky, but the sound system is good (I can't say how good until I listen to my live recording), and the crowd was appreciative of original Americana music (if not entirely quiet during the performance).
I can't write anything new about the DEA sound. These four guys just sound really good on those rare occasions when they get together. Rick Poss is a guitarist who can steal shows, but realizes that great sounding bands are a team. Scott Melott pens some thoughtful lyrics (illustrative lines from an oldie but goodie: "The truck stop lights are bright tonight. They hide the way she glows") and then figures out how to make 'em sound great. Melott and Craig Bagby harmonize nicely. Troy Wilson is the typical unsung bass player -- he does his job.
They played nearly three hours of mostly original tunes last night (throw in covers of Dylan, Ryan Adams, Doug Sahm, and Neal Kassanov). It wasn't the best show of theirs I've seen, but it was pretty darn good. I'm glad I got a live recording of it, especially because Alejandro Escovedo popped in and helped on vocals with a song of his they recorded on their CD (Escovedo produced that CD).
I wish there was some way I could convince these knuckleheads (just kidding, guys!) that they need to play Houston every weekend just for my entertainment, and I really wish I could convince them to do a second CD (the first one came when they were not totally familiar with each other; they are now, and I bet a second CD would be many times better). But, it looks like they're all going to be focusing on some other projects after next Friday's show at Tavern in the Gruene (amicably so -- there hasn't been any big angry split). So if any readers here want to catch them at least one more time, in their current configuration, that's the place to be next weekend.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/21/06 17:57 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)
17 November 2005
Shawn Mullins
I've been swamped much of the day, or I would have put up a plug for Shawn Mullins at the Mucky Duck already.
I saw earlier this year at the Duck, and he put on an excellent show. I'm looking forward to seeing him again (8pm tonight).
Now it's off to the gym to try to cram in a workout....
UPDATE (11-18-2005): Not a bad show. Or half show, at least. I bailed after one set, which got started late because of the dreadful opening act. Blar.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/17/05 16:58 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
13 November 2005
Perfect
Nashville to overrun Big Apple with CMAs (John Goodspeed, San Antonio Express-News)
It's an awards show for the record books.
Sure, there'll be plenty of glitz on the red carpet and gobs of gab from Joan and Melissa Rivers on the TV Guide Channel.
But instead of Christian Dior and Oscar de la Renta, they'll be talking about Manuel and Nudie.
On stage, there won't be film clips from "Million Dollar Baby," but there will be live performances from duos as unlikely as Elton John and Dolly Parton and Paul Simon and Willie Nelson.
Then there's the location for country music's biggest night — Madison Square Garden in New York City.
[snip]
For the first time in its 39-year history, the Country Music Association Awards will take place outside Nashville during the three-hour broadcast at 7 p.m. Tuesday on CBS. Another first: Doors will be open to the public in the larger venue.
"We want to show that country music connects with a broader culture, and doing so with part of the New York scene and engaging some of these artists who are associated with it was a logical thing for us to do," said Ed Benson, executive director of the Country Music Association.
He did not add, "We hope the bigger stage will provide a corresponding boost in tampon sales."
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/13/05 11:50 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)
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