07.31.06
Posted in some albums we done liked others we ain't - July 31st, 2006 at 10:13 am by Mimi
Gas Money – 22 Dollars
Another country band with a horrible website—SHOCKER! [It’s still not as bad as some, but I swear a half dozen web savvy folks could revolutionize the Nashville online scene.—Cricket]
I have been a little lax lately with album reviews since I have been out of town all but about three days of July.
Me: So, what should I listen to?
Cricket: Like I care.
*much consternation that we appear to have lost the album I want to review*
Me: *listens to an album that sucks* Can I just review Chris LeDoux or something?
Cricket: You can review Wayne Hancock or Bob Wills or Chris LeDoux, whatever you want.
Me: Oh! This band has a song called “Nashville Hotel,” let’s drop the needle then.
“I’m smokin’ Jim Beam and I’m drinkin’ Lucky Strike” is the first lyric that hit me as I was doing something else. Cricket’s gonna love this for that lyric alone. [She’s right, I love it, and not just for that lyric.—Cricket] It’s from the song “Gatlin Gun Blues” which has a nice, old-timey by way of Lost Highway feel to it, but the sound production drowns out the vocals a little for my (snobby) tastes.
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07.27.06
Posted in some albums we done liked others we ain't, a little bit rock and roll, the new tragedies - July 27th, 2006 at 12:39 pm by Cricket
I almost gave up on this album. Not because it isn’t good, it is, but the second listening filled my head with memories of a long-gone relationship. A third listening had me poised to Google the ex-boyfriend and see if he’s still alive. Finally, a fourth put me past all that and made me glad that for all the horror of that relationship, I at least have the stories to tell and the experiences and memories of when it was good. (Though those are still tempered by the badness that came after.) So let me just say to the ex-boyfriend who surely isn’t reading this: I’m sorry I couldn’t save you from yourself, but I’m not sorry you’re gone because no one really needs an alcoholic asshole like you. Suffice to say, over all, the album was actually pretty cathartic for me and if that doesn’t mean great music, I don’t know what does.
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07.19.06
Posted in hot live action, a little bit rock and roll - July 19th, 2006 at 2:47 pm by Mimi
I travel a lot. Thus is the life of an international woman of mystery. Last week I was in Gotham City, and I was drug around by my companions. Mainly, this consisted of eating and working (at my other job), but there was one small highlight of the musical variety. This highlight is called Karate Monkey Death Car.
BUT WAIT.
I know you read that and thought “Excuse me, when did they start listening to emo music and promoting bands like Death Cab For Cutie?” Well, for your information, bucko, Cricket likes Death Cab! [Death Cab sucks. Cricket is fired.–Salomé] [You can’t fire me for having bad taste!–Cricket] But more importantly, we are not.
Karate Monkey Death Car consists of the vocal stylings of Jeanine Schaefer with Dan DiGiacomo on guitar. They are… ok, wait.
So, I’m talking to Salomé at the show:
Me: They’re like performance art.
Her: What do you mean “like”?
I wouldn’t call them a joke band, because they don’t dress up in chicken suits. I wouldn’t call them parody because I have no idea what on earth they would be parodying.
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07.13.06
Posted in some albums we done liked others we ain't, drag the river - July 13th, 2006 at 6:42 pm by Cricket
Dear punk bands I have known and loved, please all of you start making country albums. Thank you kindly, Cricket.
Okay, I’m lightheaded over this album, but I feel like it’s some huge failing on my part that I did not discover this band until now. A trustworthy friend told me to check them out amid all the buzz around their new album, so I picked it up and, damn, why haven’t I been listening to this forever?
Drag the River has apparently been making music in this incarnation for nearly a decade. That’s just about as long as I’ve been missing the Descendents, one of my all time favorite bands, and ALL, whose singer, Chad Price, heads up Drag the River. Clearly I’ve been awful on following up on what the members were doing after ALL and the Descendents, otherwise I would have know all about Drag the River, huh?
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Posted in random, jerrod niemann - July 13th, 2006 at 3:13 pm by Mimi
Every other Wednesday night at 12th and Porter is a songwriter’s showcase. I know you’re not going, because if you were, we’d probably know you by now and you’d be insulting us in the comment threads to our posts like our other friends do. Or Cricket would have your phone number. One or the other. [Unless you’re a rodeo cowboy then I’d have already hit on you only to find out that like all rodeo cowboys, you are married. Why is there not a line of single hot rodeo cowboys somewhere just waiting for me to pick and choose between them? Is the universe trying to tell me something? Do I need to learn to cook? Drink less?–Cricket]
This Monday, as you can see in the post before this one, some of the guys are playing another show on the venue side of 12th and Porter. If I pretend I don’t want you to come, will that get you to come? You’re not cool enough, forget it, stay home and watch Matlock. But if you were to say, get real cool in a couple days, Wayd Battle, Jerrod Neimann, Randy Hauser, Jamey Johnson at 8 p.m. 12th and Porter. One of them described the show to be prospectively “rowdy,” and considering how rowdy they are otherwise, I think this means there will be a fire or Homeland Security will show up?
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07.12.06
Posted in hot live action - July 12th, 2006 at 5:40 pm by Cricket
Yeah, we’ve got recommendations on what you should see. Not shocking at all, I’m sure. And, yep, most of you don’t live in Tennessee, that’s okay. Come on down, we’ll take you out.
Not busy tonight?
Check out the hit makers writers’ round at 12 & Porter featuring: Wayd Battle, Jon Stone, Jerrod Niemann and Jamey Johnson. 8pm, no cover.
Not close enough to you? How about Old Crow Medicine Show at Rhythm and Brews in Chattanooga. 8pm.
Also coming up:
July 14 - Otherlands (Memphis) , 8pm - Ben Nichols (solo) w/ Brad Bailey
July 17 - 12 & Porter (Nashville), 7:30pm, no cover - TRALER PARK NIGHT featuring Wayd Battle, Jerrod Niemann, Randy Houser and Jamey Johnson.
July 17 - The Station Inn (Nashville), 9pm, $8 - The Time Jumpers (old western swing)
July 19 -The Hi-Tone (Memphis): Cory Branan w/ Paul Taylor & Scandaliz Vandalistz. All ages.
July 21 - Otherlands (Memphis), 8pm - Blair Combest w/ Stephen Simmons
July 30 - Grimey’s Records (Nashville), 3PM, Free - Josh Ritter in-store appearance
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07.11.06
Posted in avett brothers, talk to us - July 11th, 2006 at 11:33 pm by Cricket
If you’ve been hanging around these parts for a while you probably already know how much we at HCT love The Avett Brothers. I’ll pretty much do anything I can to keep them at the front of your minds, get you buying their albums and keep trying to convince you to see them live. Recently I had a chance to ask Scott Avett a few questions about the band and music. Maybe if all my raving hasn’t yet convinced you, you’ll like him enough to give The Avett Brothers a chance?
Hard-core Troubadours: I’ve had a hard time defining your sound and I see every reviewer saying something different. How do you define your music? Is there even a label you can put on it?
Scott Avett: This question is asked all of the time and we don’t have an answer. I am not sure if we are even qualified to name what we do. I do believe you can label it, I just don’t know what that label is. What label would you place the Violent Femmes in?
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07.06.06
Posted in hot live action, lucero - July 6th, 2006 at 5:07 pm by Cricket
[This was written by our friend, Cookie. She came to visit, we showed her a time. And then we made her do our job for us. It’s how we roll.–Cricket]
Lucero at Headliners in Louisville, KY, July 1, 2006
Picture courtesy Dale Goodwin, please do not reproduce without permission.
[Didn’t see the show? We’ll make it like you were really there.–Cricket
]
Just so you know, I was a last minute addition and didn’t even know what show we were going to see until we were halfway to the venue. I’ll say things like “lead singer guy” or “that song about the guitar” and that’s as good as it gets from me, as I’d never heard of any of these people before. Also, what is up with places in Nashville and Louisville not having soap in their bathrooms? What the hell is that about?
So, I came to visit these two nutcases in Nashville, and I was in town all of thirty minutes before I was kidnapped to go to Kentucky. This is how the two of them operate all the time. No, seriously.
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Posted in some albums we done liked others we ain't, back catalogue, lucinda williams - July 6th, 2006 at 1:44 pm by Cricket
So there’s all this new music to tell everyone about. I have stacks of it next to me, just waiting for me to take time out of my busy schedule to listen to it. But what about music you might have missed? There’s so much out there–you just can’t always find what’s good. I try I fill in the gaps for my friends, and y’all are my friends right?
Lucinda Williams is a good ol’ Southern girl, by way of Louisiana and Mississippi. I can believe she isn’t a Madonna-sized star, though sure that’s my own fangirl prejudice talking. But that fact is that I have heard people say they’ve maybe heard a song or two by her and weren’t so impressed. This breaks my heart, so I’m going to offer the best I can: a review of my personal favorite album, World Without Tears. I will do my best to be even-handed, but I’m sure you’ve already come to expect the usual dissolution into giddy, hysterical squeeing when I talk about something I really like.
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