Josh Williams - Girl from the Canyon (Keith Whitley cover)

Found this on Youtube tonight: Josh Williams doing an old Keith Whitley song. Half the first line is missing and the video is passable at best, but the song is one of my favorites and there aren't many on Youtube. Go find the Sad Songs & Waltzes album that was released after he passed away. It is full of great songs and still had J.D. Crowe on banjo. Josh does a great job with it.


And if you've never seen/heard Josh's guitar work check out this video of "Cherokee Shuffle." It doesn't get much better than this.

Maxim Ludwig & The Sante Fe Seven

I first heard Maxim Ludwig & The Sante Fe Seven sometime last year when the self-titled debut album landed in my inbox. I listened, I dug, and I marked it to write about. Somehow I lost it in my ocean of mp3's and it didn't resurface until I received an email from Maxim recently with demos for a new album. Again, I listened. And I dig these new demos too. The songs across both albums are greatly varied, from sad-bastard, harmonica-accompanied minor chord ballads to completely careless guitar driven rock and roll. What's even crazier than how good these songs are is that Maxim and the band (not really seven, not really from Sante Fe) are still unsigned. They have some shows coming up at SXSW (schedule) so maybe those will help rectify that situation. Even crazier than that is the fact you can download the new demos and the debut album free from the website. Get it! Check out the tracks below and the killer video of an acoustic "Paradise Cove." Completely different from the album version but both are excellent.

Maxim Ludwig & The Sante Fe Seven - Stacy C'mon  (from the new album)

Maxim Ludwig & The Sante Fe Seven - Dead Ringer  (from self-titled debut) (Buy)

Purple Scars and Leather Shadows

Cory Branan tells some great stories and he's not a bad guitar player to boot.

Feel Bad For You Mixtape - March 2011

It's time again for the world famous mixtape that gets passed around the blogging circles each month. As usual, it is a pretty diverse collection with a lot of great songs. Slithering Beast, acoustic Rolling Stones, and Have Gun, Will Travel to name a few. Stream it in the awesome player below, or download the zip file from Feel Bad For You. You can find a complete track list and corresponding album info there as well.

Download

An In My Basement Room Sampler: Songs about Guitars

 Here is another issue in the series of IMBR Primer/Samplers.  I tried to stick with songs that feature the guitar as an animate object with human characteristics, but I wasn't too strict with that rule.  I also tried to use artists that you won't find in the top 40, so you won't find "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" but I did let the Jamey Johnson/Bill Anderson tune in because it is just so good.  The collection ended up being heavy on the bluegrass/country side of things so I'm not sure what that means.  What would you have included/excluded?



1. John Prine - This Guitar is for Sale  (from Twistable, Turnable Man: A Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein) (Buy)
2. Tony Rice - Me and My Guitar
3. The Gibson Brothers - Vern's Guitar
4. Lucero - My Best Girl
5. Conway Twitty - Play, Guitar Play
6. Wrinkle Neck Mules - Put Your Guitars Where Your Mouth Is(from Let the Lead Fly) (Buy)
7. J.D. Crowe & the New South - Lefty's Old Guitar
8. Jamey Johnson (with Bill Anderson) - The Guitar Song
9. The Seldom Scene - Grandpa Get Your Guitar
10. Shadwick Wilde - This Old Guitar(from Unforgivable Things) (Buy)

Get the zip here!