sturgill simpson and the 2017 grammys

here are the current nominees for ‘album of the year’ for the grammys sunday night:

Album of the Year

Adele – “25”
Beyonce – “Lemonade”
Drake – “Views”
Justin Bieber – “Purpose”
Sturgill Simpson – “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth”

what, never heard of sturgill simpson?

that’s ok, neither have a lot of people. he is not expected to win, but maybe he should. it was a solid release, and one that i didn’t write about at the time, but certainly listened to a few times early last year. it is a very good album. if i had one album to select to get the token ‘americana’ slot, it wouldn’t have been my first choice. but now that the powers that be have put him on the list, i think it is worth some time to shed some light on ol’ sturgill and plead his case.

hailing from lexington kentucky, this is his third solo release, and the first on a major label. he is a student of ‘outlaw country’, and he is often compared to waylon jennings, at least in regards to his vocals. he is also up for best country album, and he is much more likely to win that, although i don’t really consider it to be in the country category. sure, there is an underlying current of traditional nashville sounds, but sturgill also stirs in philosophical lyrics, psychedelic flourishes, strings and other effects that leave it overall hard to categorize. his previous recording – ‘metamodern sounds in country music’ – is just as good, in my opinion.

http://www.sturgillsimpson.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-guide-to-grammy-nominee-sturgill-simpson_us_589ce3d8e4b0ab2d2b138d93

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/feb/09/grammy-predictions-country-americana-categories

the devil makes three, ‘ruin and redemption’

the devil makes three is an interesting trio that i have been listening to for a few years. a curious blend of folk, bluegrass, old timey ragtime and the blues, they are a very enjoyable bunch. on their most recent release, they go a slightly different route and do a concept album of sorts. the first ‘side’ is six songs about ruin – tales of drugs and alcohol written by such legends as robert johson, muddy waters, kris kristofferson and townes van zandt. the second ‘side’ is six songs about redemption – gospel tinged nuggets by such luminaries as ralph stanley, tom waits, charlie monroe and hank williams sr.

i have a few of their previous albums and it is all pretty much original material, and so it is a little interesting that this release is all covers, but they are all well selected and well played. recorded at john prine’s studio in nashville, they round out their trio with a great backup band and some notable bluegrass stars such as jerry douglas, emmylou harris, tim o’brien, and darrell scott.

i love their enthusiasm for older genres and their ability to fuse them all for a new audience. this is a good starting point if you have never heard of them.

The Devil Makes Three: Redemption Songs

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/music/2017/01/11/underneath-covers-devil-makes-three/96451634/

nathaniel rateliff, ‘a little something more’

nathaniel rateliff and the night sweats have been touring so incessantly promoting their breakthrough debut album from 2015 that they haven’t had proper time to write and record new material, so in the meantime they released some outtakes and live tracks from the original release. both are worth having. mix a little sam cooke with the asbury jukes and you get a modern version of a good old fashioned r&b party band. they just announced last week they will be the opening band for the kings of leon summer tour. i would rather see them in a smaller club, but hopefully this will help them get some traction for a larger audience.

http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/nathaniel-rateliff-the-night-sweats-sob/2888764

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/nathaniel-rateliff-on-breakthrough-year-next-lp-w429877

robbie robertson, ‘testimony’

a recent post paid tribute to the 40th anniversary of the band’s great film, ‘the last waltz’. coincidentally, the main driver of that film also recently released his autobiography, ‘testimony’.

from his young childhood learning guitar on his mother’s mohawk reservation in toronto, to running off to play lead guitar with ronnie hawkin’s band at 16, to touring with bob dylan on his electric tour in 1966, being part of forming the band and recording the famous basement tapes, although the way up to their final concert chronicled in ‘the last waltz’, this is robbie’s version of a period of musical history that helped shape the music of the late sixties and early seventies.

a criticism i have seen of the book is that robbie toots his own horn here a bit too much, and that is true. but you often don’t get to the top unless you have a bit of an ego. another snipe is his defense of how he got the lion share of the recording royalties, even though it is clear even in robbie’s telling that the band used a collaborative effort when laying down tracks. levon helm was the most vocal about this in later years, but robbie’s side of the story is compelling here, and i have read other sources to back him up to a certain degree. quite frankly, other than garth hudson, all of the other members of the band got caught up in the rock and roll life and stopped caring as much about the music after the first few albums. in my opinion it is not a coincidence that garth and robbie are the only surviving members of the band. out of all of them, levon has always been my favorite, but i think he was not exactly 100% truthful in his side of the story, and he took that bitterness to his grave. robbie visited him in the hospital in his last days before succumbing to throat cancer, and he won’t reveal what they talked about, but i think it says something that he made the effort to be there to help get closure on a subject that had divided such a soulmate friendship.

if you are a fan of this period and this genre, then this is a must read, if only for the inside dope from a guy who lived through all of it. it is a remarkable story, one fraught with tales of unbelievable musical genius but also tales of the excesses of the rock and roll lifestyles that eventually killed a few and limited the careers of others, including the members of the band. i consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about the band and early dylan, but i can tell you that i learned an awful lot by digesting this book. i devoured it in a couple of sittings, and will probably need to tackle it again soon just to make sure i didn’t miss anything.

longtime reader bill vv suggests this podcast as some useful background:

mandolin orange, ‘blindfaller’

for their fifth album, this north carolina duo recorded with a full band, and the results are outstanding. i think it their finest work to date. more fleshed out and mature than their last one, i can safely say i enjoy every track. on my review of their previous release, i compared them, maybe unfairly, to gillian welch and dave rawlings. on ‘blindfaller’ they have developed more of their own sound, successfully fusing traditional bluegrass with contemporary folk lyrics. andrew marlin and emily frantz both have superb and distinct voices, but when blended together it is easy to hear their appalachian roots.they just announced their spring tour. catch them live if you can.

http://www.mandolinorange.com/tour/