Vintage Review: Jason & the Scorchers' A Blazing Grace (1995)

A Blazing Grace marks the return to record of Nashville’s own Jason and the Scorchers after a six year hiatus. From the first opening chords of “Cry By Night Operator,” a classic cry-in-your-beer tale of love lost set with a modern spin, the listener will recognize this as vintage Scorchers. Showcasing a trademark sound that is created of equal parts country roots and metal-edged, guitar-driven rock, A Blazing Grace nonetheless shows the band’s growth during their lengthy time off, as well. Cuts like “The Shadow of Night” and “Hell’s Gates” are reflections of the hard-earned collective wisdom and maturity that is the new Scorchers, whereas “One More Day of Weekend,” “Why Baby Why” or “200 Proof Lovin’” are hard rocking numbers with one foot firmly placed in the honky tonk. A Blazing Grace is a welcome homecoming for the Scorchers, one of the most critically-acclaimed bands in the history of rock and roll. (Mammoth Records, released 1995)

Review originally published in the T-Bone insert of The Tennessean newspaper

Vintage Review: Bill Lloyd's All In One Place (2001)

Bill Lloyd is remembered by many as half of the popular country duo Foster & Lloyd, who recorded three hit albums during the late ‘80s. Lloyd has always been a rocker in his heart, however, and he’s enjoyed a successful career as a songwriter and session guitarist, playing with artists like Al Kooper, Kim Richey, Steve Earle, and Marshall Crenshaw. His fourth album, All In One Place, gathers a decade’s worth of Lloyd’s songs from various tribute albums and compilations.

A glorious collection of pop-influenced roots rock, Lloyd joyfully interprets songs by folks like the Hollies, Badfinger, Bobby Fuller, Todd Rundgren, and Harry Nilsson. He also throws in a few of his own spirited compositions, as well as songs co-written with artists like Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites), Jerry Dale McFadden (The Mavericks), and Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate). Think of a mix of the Beatles and the Kinks, with a slight Nashville twang, and you’ve nailed the pop-rock aesthetic that makes All In One Place an enormously charming collection of tunes. (Def Heffer Records, released 2001)

Review originally published by View From The Hill community newspaper, Signal Hill CA

Vintage Review: Steve Earle's Just An American Boy (2003)

Just a year after the release of his controversial album Jerusalem, alt-country giant Steve Earle has followed it up with the live set Just An American Boy. An audio companion to an upcoming concert DVD, this 2-CD set offers as complete a look at Earle’s talents as has been released. Your live-music-loving columnist has heard a half-dozen live Steve Earle albums through the years, most of ‘em bootlegs, and none stand up to the performances and song selection found on Just An American Boy.

Featuring a number of songs from Jerusalem, including “Ashes To Ashes” and “Amerika v. 6.0 (The Best We Can Do),” the album also includes musical snapshots from across Earle’s storied career, from “Guitar Town” and “Copperhead Road” to the classic “Christmas In Washington.” Earle rounds out the affair with a joyful rendition of Nick Lowe’s “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding.” Earle’s effortless blend of traditional country, roots rock, bluegrass, and blues has been a major influence on the entire alt-country movement.

His championing of progressive politics and causes has shown Earle to be an intelligent and informed spokesperson for a leftist view of politics shunned by the major media. Ten years after many pundits declared his career dead, Just An American Boy proves that Earle keeps getting better as a songwriter and performer, with lots of life left in a career that has already achieved greatness. (E Squared/Artemis Records, released 2003)

Review originally published by View From The Hill community newspaper, Signal Hill CA

Vintage Review: Webb Wilder’s Acres of Suede (1996)

Webb Wilder has been kicking around the Southeast for about a decade now, wowing a loyal audience with an inspired musical blend of roots-rock, R & B, country, and raving psychobilly. He's done the major label thing, made a couple of passes through Europe, released a handful of critically-acclaimed records while touring the states constantly and still can't get a decent shot at the “big time.” His latest effort, the wonderful Acres of Suede, may not get Wilder noticed by a fickle, trend-oriented music-buying public, but it's a damn fine record nonetheless.
 

Webb Wilder’s Acres of Suede

A stylistically diverse collection of tunes delivered with heaping portions of sincerity and passion, Acres of Suede offers a musical soundtrack provided by a loose-knit collection of talented Nashville-area musicians which includes six-string wizard George “The Tone Chaperone” Bradfute and moonlighting Los Straitjackets' drummer Les James Lester. With long-time Wilder co-conspirator R.S. Field sharing production duties and collaborating on 11 of the album's 12 songs, the table is set for a typically wonderful WW musical experience.

Acres of Suede delivers on every expectation, a dozen rollicking tunes that run the stylistic gamut. “Fall In Place” is as poetic a tale of the diminished beauty of the South as has ever been written, delivered by Wilder in a gentle baritone while accompanied by K.K. Faulkner's soft, melodic backing vocals. “Flat Out Get It” is a rockabilly-styled rave-up while “Why Do You Call?” offers a tale of unrequited love from a different perspective.  

“Scattered, Smothered and Covered” offers a tale of seduction gone awry, mostly spoken lyrics backed by a steady repetitive riff, the choruses punched up with a sort of mid-‘60s Mersey Beat sound. “Lost In the Shuffle” evokes memories of Stevie Ray, being a fine representation of Texas barroom blues. Acres of Suede closes with the psychotronic “Rocket To Nowhere,” a classic swamp-rocker filled with trembling guitars and pounding drums that propel Wilder's deep, mesmerizing vocals to new heights.    

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

While not exclusively a “Southern Artist,” Wilder nonetheless brings all of the fervor of a tent revival to his albums, drawing upon the cultural depth and musical heritage of the old South in creating his trademark sound. Wilder's entire persona, the self-created and near-legendary “Last of the Full-Grown Men” is, indeed, an alter-ego unique to the South. The last of the boarding house residents, a rootless wanderer who knows every blue plate diner, greasy spoon, and thrift store in town, Wilder's character is the sort that never gets married, never has children, is always polite, and seems to travel through life on a plane apart from we mere mortals. Although every aspect of this character may not be an accurate representation of Wilder himself, with every passing season it becomes more so.

It's a powerful image, one perfectly suited to the music that Wilder performs and obviously cherishes. In the end, Wilder's biggest asset – the persona that allows him the luxury of life as a performer – may also be his greatest liability, mainstream audiences unyielding in their lack of acceptance of Wilder's charm and ability. He must either reconcile himself to eternal cult status and critical acclaim, and thus continue his considerable career on that basis, or throw in the towel altogether. For those of us who can see beyond the mask to the artist underneath, we certainly look forward to more from this underrated talent. (Watermelon Records, released 1996)

Review originally published by R Squared zine

Vintage Ads: Nashville Intelligence Report Halloween Party ad w/Shadow 15

Nashville Intelligence Report ad for the zine's halloween party featuring Shadow 15 & friends...it was a "spooktacular" good time!

Vintage Review: Todd Snider’s Step Right Up (1996)

Todd Snider hit a minor lick on the charts a year or so ago with his debut album, mostly on the strength of a single humorous cut that parodied the parody that the Seattle scene has become. Snider’s band, in the song, was so “hip” and “alternative” that they didn’t even play. It was a marvelous piece of work, hitting closer to the mark than many in the alt-rock world might like.

For Step Right Up, his sophomore effort, he’s put together a solid collection of songs, performed by a fine band that includes Nashville talent Will Kimbrough. I have to wonder aloud, however, if there’s anything here that is going to get heard above the din and hype of current releases by folks like Dave Matthews and that Hootie guy. Not that Step Right Up is a bad, or even mediocre disc. It’s a crackerjack collection, showcasing Snider’s incredible wit and impressive ability to turn a phrase. The music is a healthy mix of country and rock that may be just too much of each and not enough of either to receive significant radio airplay and promotion.

Cuts like “Elmo and Harry,” “Enough,” or the deceptively funny “T.V. Guide” remind me of nothing so much as a more countrified Elliott Murphy. Snider’s lyrics shoot from the hip, but are delivered from the heart and appeal to the intellect. A real talent, Snider has backed himself with an electric and energetic live band in the Nervous Wrecks. Hopefully Step Right Up will find a home somewhere in between the playlists of Triple-A and Americana formats, for it would appeal to fans of both. (Margaritaville Records/MCA, released 1996)

Review originally published by R Squared zine

Vintage Ads: White Animals' Ecstasy album ad from Nashville Intelligence Report

At their peak, the White Animals were one of the three most popular bands in Nashville along with Afrikan Dreamland and Jason & the Nashville Scorchers. Their sound was entirely unique and without peer on the college radio circuit. This Nashville Intelligence Report ad was for their third Dread Beat Records album Ecstasy, released in 1984.

Vintage Review: Tommy Womack's Stubborn (2000)

After listening steadily to Tommy Womack’s debut album, Positively Ya-Ya, constantly for over a year I’ve finally figured it out, put my finger on Womack’s place in this great rock ‘n’ roll whatsis. The recent arrival of Stubborn, Womack’s brilliant sophomore effort, reinforces my conclusion: Tommy Womack is the new Harry Nielsen! Now, now, stay with me here – much like that maligned and often-overlooked pop genius, Womack is capable of performing in a number of musical genres, from rock and blues to country and everywhere in between.

Both artists write great songs with slightly skewed lyrical perspectives, and both have a keen eye for skilled sidemen. Whereas Nielsen would enter the studio with various Beatles in tow, Womack records with the cream of Nashville’s underrated rock music scene, talents like Will Kimbrough, George Bradfute, Mike Grimes, Ross Rice, and Brad Jones. Womack may have a more southern-fried perspective than Nielsen, but the parallels are obvious.  

Tommy Womack’s Stubborn

Womack’s Stubborn opens with the chaotic “Rubbermaid,” a short stream-of-consciousness rant similar to Captain Beefheart or John Trubee, backed by syncopated drums and flailing harmonica. It jumps from there right into “Up Memphis Blues,” an energetic rocker with a blues edge that includes some tasty slide guitar courtesy of Al Perkins. “Christian Rocker” is a hilarious interlude with fantastic imagery dropped in between songs while “I Don’t Have A Gun” is an angry blues tune featuring appropriately tortured vocals from Womack and some southern rock styled six-string work from Womack and George Bradfute.

“For The Battered,” a song from Womack’s old band and Southeast legends Govt. Cheese, is recycled here as an electric blues with some wicked, dark-hued slide guitar from Will Kimbrough supporting the story. It’s the most powerful musical statement that I’ve heard on domestic violence and I still get chills every time the asshole girlfriend beater’s karma catches up with him. Stubborn’s lone cover is of the Kink’s “Berkeley Mews,” a somewhat obscure Ray Davies gem offered here in a fairly straight-forward rendition that says as much about Womack’s sophisticated musical tastes as it does about his ability to pull the song off on record.

Junkies, Whores, and Ne’er-do-wells…

Most critics, when writing of Womack, praise his songwriting abilities, pointing out the numerous characters that live in his songs. They’re really missing Womack’s strongest skill, however – any hack can people their songs with junkies, whores, and ne’er-do-wells of various stripes (listen to any heavy metal lately?). Womack’s strength is in his composition of memorable lines, clever and intelligent lyrical bombs often thrown into the middle of songs to infect the listener’s consciousness days after hearing a song. Witness some of the poetic explosives hidden in the songs on Stubborn: “I’d crawl back in the womb right now if Jesus would show up and point the way.” “Gonna find me a woman who won’t fall apart on the witness stand.” “I want to be a Christian rocker but the devil’s got all the good drummers.” “She was a Presbyterian in a porno picture, tossing her values aside.” “You can all go straight to hell, you’d better cut and run, get on your knees and thank the lord that I don’t have a gun.”

It’s a skill that separates Womack from the mundane “Music Row” factory writers in Nashville even as it marginalizes him from the whitebread world of radio and mainstream music. It also shows his Southern heritage as religious tradition and rock ‘n’ roll yearnings clash for the soul of the songwriter with the resulting imagery creating some of rock’s best rhymes. Among southern rockers, only Jason & the Scorchers’ Jason Ringenburg and, perhaps, Alex Chilton match Womack word for word.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

The material and performances on Stubborn sound more confident, Womack’s talents sharply honed by a couple of years of live shows and collaborations with other artists. A gifted storyteller, an amazing songwriter and an energetic performer, Womack is one of Nashville’s best and brightest. Although an indie rocker in style and attitude, Womack’s work deserves the widest audience possible, distribution and promotion that only a major label could provide – if any of the corporate A&R geeks could get their collective heads out of their respective boss’ rear ends long enough to listen. Personally, as long as Womack gets to keep making records like Stubborn, I’ll be happy enough. (Sideburn Records, released 2000)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine

Vintage Review: Todd Snider’s East Nashville Skyline (2004)

Todd Snider is one of Nashville’s best-kept secrets, our very own “cult artist” who may be too eccentric, too honest, and too talented to break through to a fickle mainstream weaned on boy bands, American “idols” and Music Row schlock. Snider is too often categorized as a “novelty” act because he infuses his folkish story-songs with humor and wit, reducing funny-cause-they-could-be-true songs like “Beer Run” or the satirical “Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues” to comedic status without recognizing the skill it took to weave these tales. The same critics cavalierly dismiss Snider’s more serious efforts without listening to the tears and pain behind such well-crafted tunes as “You Think You Know Somebody” or “Crooked Piece of Time.”

Todd Snider’s East Nashville Skyline

Considering Snider’s entire oeuvre (and I have heard it all), it’s time, perhaps, for a bit of rock critic heresy: Snider is this generation’s Dylan. Snider’s rootsy blend of rock, folk, blues, and country echoes that of rock’s greatest scribe. If Todd’s lyrics fall short of the weighty measure of “Spanish Boots of War” or “Blowin’ In the Wind,” well, those songs have been written. The Viet Nam War and the ‘60s are history (although Iraq may sadly provide inspiration for anti-war songs for years to come) and two generations have passed since Dylan spawned hordes of imitators. The “grunge” generation’s spokesman has attitude, wit and humor to go alongside the pathos and insight, Snider drawing inspiration from other such troubled wordsmiths as Billy Joe Shaver and Kris Kristofferson much as they did from Dylan.

It’s been ten years since the release of Snider’s excellent debut, Songs For the Daily Planet, which spawned a minor hit with the album’s hidden track, “Talkin’ Seattle Grunge Rock Blues.” During that time, Snider has suffered from problems with drugs and alcohol, spent a night or two in jail, and played hundreds of live shows. He’s suffered the deaths of friends and the whims of a (major) label’s attempts to turn him into a rocking, Paul Westerberg-styled singer-songwriter. It’s really after signing with John Prine’s Oh Boy Records that Snider has blossomed as an artist and performer. Even with an enthusiastic support system behind his work, personal demons have continued to plague Snider, landing him in rehab and struggling to overcome his addictions. East Nashville Skyline, Snider’s sixth studio album, reflects these trials and tribulations. It represents Snider’s finest musical effort yet and represents an exciting new chapter in the artist’s life.

As such “Age Like Wine” is an appropriate opening song for this new chapter. Snider pays homage to Billy Joe Shaver’s “old timer, five-and-dimer” while admitting to himself that “it’s too late to die young now.” It’s a reflective piece, the 37-year-old Snider now trying to “age like wine,” stating that “I thought I’d be dead by now,” perhaps sadly concluding “but I’m not.” The following tale of mistaken arrest is biographical, “Tillamook County Jail” recounting an unwanted stay at one of Oregon’s finest institutions. “Play A Train Song” is one of Snider’s best compositions, a tribute to a fallen friend, the kind of rowdy, charming East Nashville born-and-bred scoundrel that you’d have to have known at some time in your life to truly understand. The minimalist “Sunshine” is about suicide and redemption while “Incarcerated” is a Memphis-styled rocker that evokes Jerry Lee in a story of somebody done somebody wrong.

The Ballad of the Kingsmen

Sometimes Snider’s best performances are with some other artist’s songs, such as Fred Eaglesmith’s haunting “Alcohol And Pills.” With guitarist Will Kimbrough’s relentless fretwork behind Snider’s mournful vocals, this tribute to music’s fallen heroes – from Hank and Elvis to Gram Parsons, Jimi and Janis – hits too close to home for Snider, who has barely escaped a similar fate. Eagelsmith’s chorus, “you’d think they might have been happy/with the glory and the fame/but fame don’t take away the pain/it just pays the bills/and you wind up on alcohol and pills” sums up rock music’s tragedies as well as could be done. A cover of Shaver’s “Good News Blues” is a rowdy, bluesy raver that, as Snider writes in his liner notes, should make Shaver “dozens of dollars” in royalties; the song’s true worth is as a tribute to one of country music’s overlooked songwriting geniuses.  

Snider’s “The Ballad of the Kingsmen” is a gem. It starts out with the story of “Louie, Louie” and evolves into an inspired rant on the religious right, Conservative politicians, Marilyn Manson and the doubtful effects of rock music and pop culture on young adults when war is broadcast on TV nightly. A hippie at heart, Snider’s hilariously satirical “Conservative, Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males” puts the artist directly at odds with the mainstream zeitgeist and our current, unelected leadership. While Snider pokes fun at both sides of the political equation, he admits that he is “so liberal, I have love for conservatives.”    

The most telling moments on East Nashville Skyline come near the end. “Nashville” is a love song, of sorts, to Snider’s adopted hometown, the “Nashville you don’t hear on the radio” as he says in the liner notes. After wandering the country, from Oregon to California to Texas to Tennessee, Snider landed on the other side of the Cumberland River in historic and often troubled East Nashville. Perhaps his wandering days have come to an end, Snider singing that “there ain’t nothing wrong with Nashville, nothing wrong with picking country songs down in Nashville, Tennessee.” Snider’s reading of the pop classic “Enjoy Yourself” closes the album, perhaps an affirmation of Snider’s own struggles, the singer reminding his listeners (and himself) to “enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think.”

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Assisted by his long-time partner-in-crime, Will Kimbrough (another of Nashville’s criminally overlooked talents), Snider has produced the most solid and enduring album of his career. If fame and fortune haven’t necessarily followed his efforts during the past decade, Snider can take solace in the fact that he nevertheless has a loyal and growing audience.

Thanks to supporters like radio broadcasters Bob and Tom, who regularly feature Snider on their syndicated morning program, Snider also has a national forum for his lively music and a future that can only get better. East Nashville Skyline represents an important new chapter in Snider’s career that, with a little luck and the artist’s talents, will continue another decade and beyond… (Oh Boy Records, released 2004)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine

Vintage Review: Will Hoge’s The America EP (2004)

Will Hoge is cursed to be an artist of some talent in an era where talent is in little demand. Two major label releases and constant touring earned Nashville’s rock ‘n’ roll ambassador a small if loyal following, but did little to break him through to a mainstream audience. I don’t know if Hoge’s major label deal is still in place, but I do know that the label did little or nothing from this scribe’s perspective to promote this promising young artist.

It is no exaggeration to say that Hoge’s The America EP is the most radical, most seditious, and most courageous musical statement that will be made this year. Forget about Steve Earle’s “revolution,” forget about punkvoter.com and Rock Against Bush – the five songs offered here by Hoge are a “state of the union” address delivered straight from the American heartland. That Hoge released the disc himself is no great surprise, considering that multi-national media corporations shy away from independent thought and the sort of artistic freedom represented by The America EP.

Will Hoge’s The America EP

In fact, Hoge did himself and his career no favor by taking a stand with these songs. After spending four years crossing the country in a van and talking to people where they played, Hoge and his band concluded that, “most hard-working Americans don’t feel they have a voice.” This epiphany led to the moment, says Hoge in the EP’s liner notes, “that’s when all of us realized that we had to make this record.” In doing so, Hoge has captured everything that those of us who love rock ‘n’ roll believed about the music in the first place – brash rebellion, the questioning of authority and, most importantly, championing the view of the “little guy.”

“Bible Vs. Gun” kicks off The America EP, a letter home from a soldier caught in the middle of a battle, his religious beliefs put to the test by this ultimate example of man’s inhumanity against man. In the midst of the violence, he sings, “I close my eyes and pull the trigger and kill these people I don’t even know.” He would gladly trade his gun for a Bible and the comfort of his faith. He asks his mother for forgiveness, praying he can still “get into heaven,” but the soldier’s fate is left up in the air as the song closes. Sparse instrumentation builds to a crescendo near the end, Hoge’s bluesy vocals soaring above the mix.

“The Other Side” is a Springsteen-esque tale of despair, an example of the extremes that people will go to when times are tight and there’s no work to be found. “The Other Side” of the song holds a clever double meaning, representing both the poor man’s vision of wealth and the people who enjoy “life on the other side” and the believer’s faith in the afterlife. This might be the best song that Springsteen never wrote, the protagonist a hard working man who makes one mistake, a desperate act committed in an attempt to improve his family’s life. The story is told from the perspective of the man’s son, who holds onto his father’s dream as he sinks into his own black pool of despair. Hoge’s plaintive vocals are accompanied by a martial drumbeat and gentle strings, creating a pastoral setting for an otherwise disturbing story-song.

The Times They Are A Changin’

The comedic “Hey Mr. President (Anyone But You)” is a roots-rock rave-up with tongue only partly in cheek. Addressed to a nameless President, Hoge points out the state of the economy, a war that is fought mainly by the poor and jobs that have gone to Mexico and concludes “anyone but you will do just fine.” Name checking John Kerry, Howard Dean, even Ray Charles, the song’s voice is that of dissatisfaction with the current administration. Hoge’s cover of Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’” is aptly chosen and timely, the singer’s powerful acoustic performance sadly recalling another era and another war. Listening to it in the car the day that I bought this EP, I found Hoge’s passion and commitment to the song to be energizing and inspirational, underlining the need to enact “regime change” in America.

The America EP closes with the powerful “America,” an anthemic rocker with raging guitars and angry vocals. The song tells the story of an American soldier stationed in a nameless land, fighting a battle where “I’m not sure what I believe in, but I do things I can’t take back.” As for his mission, the soldier concludes, “Is it for freedom or oil or money/It makes no difference either way/It’s just my job, I keep my head down/And hope I make it home someday.”

The soldier returns home alive with a Purple Heart but can find no job, he’s lost his family, and the nightmare of war overwhelm his attempts to sleep. “I fight these battles still waging in my head.” The guitars scream and Hoge’s anguished vocals cry “America, oh what can I do/America, I gave it all away for you,” highlighting the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform. It is a truly transcendent musical moment, proof that you can support our soldiers while still questioning the President’s (dubious) reasons for going to war. Perhaps unconsciously, Hoge’s words seem horribly prescient. Undoubtedly thousands of American soldiers will return home from Iraq during the next few years to find themselves impoverished, homeless and trying to live with the horrors that they have seen and experienced.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Hoge’s The America EP is a minor masterpiece, perhaps the most important example of rock ‘n’ roll patriotism that has ever been recorded. It’s unlikely that Hoge could have released these songs under the sponsorship of a major label. The America EP is illustrative of the freedom and potential of taking music out of the hands of focus groups and putting it back in the hands of the artists. That few people may hear this material is beside the point and quite irrelevant. The important thing is that these songs were recorded in the first place, put out there in the world for people to discover. I salute Will Hoge for taking a stand, and you should, too. (self-released, 2004)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine