Nick Dittmeier's "Extra Better" CD Release Show

Here's the skinny on the CD release show for Nick Dittmeier's "Extra Better" solo EP. It's a great lineup with Johnny Berry and Fifth on the Floor opening the show.  Just $5 gets you in, so be at the Monkey Wrench next Friday night.

You'll likely already know Nick from his time as singer/songwriter/guitarist for Slithering Beast, who put out three great alt-country albums over the past few years.  If you don't, now is a good time to get acquainted because Nick is picking up right where he left off with Slithering  Beast.  Check out the track below off the new album.

Nick on Facebook.
Nick on Reverbnation.

Upcoming Local Shows of Note

There are a bunch of shows this weekend so you’ll have to make some choices. Here are some of the better one's you could make.

Friday, January 28th
Loretta Lynn with Joey + Rory @ Louisville Palace

Saturday, January 29th
Bodeco & Hambone @ Headliner’s

Saturday, January 29th
Slithering Beast & Shadwick Wilde @ Mag Bar
The Mag Bar
1398 South Second St.
 Louisville, KY 40208
$5 and show starts at 9 







Sunday, January 30th
Langhorne Slim & Bobby Bare, Jr. @ Zanzabar

Lucero: Acoustic Live at WESN

I forget where I found this originally a few years ago, but it was probably on the Lucero message board at one point.  A couple of the tracks popped up on shuffle this week and I wanted to share it for those that don't have it.  This is a 2002 recording of a radio show they did for WESN in Bloomington, IL.  It is primarily Ben singing and playing songs with the rest of the band harassing him in between songs.  It is a really good recording and there are some great acoustic versions of the older Lucero songs here.  Highly suggested if you are even a casual Lucero fan.
Get it here!

Let's Not Forget: Southern Bitch

Today's post is a little collage in homage to the now defunct rock'n'roll band Southern Bitch that used to play a lot in Athens, GA a few years ago.  They put out two albums, Snake in the Grass and Strong Medicine, and those can be found on Amazon or you can download them from Itunes or Myspace.  I'm not sure if you can still get physical copies from the band directly.  Thankfully, Sloan Simpson over at Southern Shelter has recorded and archived a few of Southern Bitch's live shows and made them available for downloading or streaming.  I've posted one track here, but he has tons more so go check them out.

Southern Bitch - Snake in the Grass (Live @ 40 Watt, 11/5/04)

I also found a few Youtube videos.  The first are a live performances and the third is a little interview piece with singer/guitarist Adam Musick from a few years ago.

New Slithering Beast Videos

Check out a couple videos I saw posted over on the Slithering Beast Facebook page.  They come from this past weekend's New Year's Eve show at the Third Street Dive.  Looks like a couple new songs from the upcoming Delicious EP.  There are also a few other Slithering Beast videos to check out on their Youtube channel.  They have an acoustic show this Saturday night at Common Grounds in Lexington, so if you are looking for something to do, check them out.

"Trouble Coming Down the Road"


"You and Me"

Free Show: Bodeco at Ear X-tacy - Saturday December 18th

Just a quick note to let you know that local favorite's Bodeco will be playing a free in store show at Ear X-tacy this Saturday, December 18th.  Show starts at 8 pm.

YouTube: State Champion at Ear X-tacy

I stumbled across these videos of State Champion today so I'll share with you.  It appears to be from the Stale Champagne record release show at Ear X-tacy earlier this year, before the store moved to it's new location, which was the first time I caught them live as well.  Watch all four parts and it's like you were there man!  Did I mention that Stale Champagne is one of my favorite albums of this year?  Thanks to whoever shot these and put them up.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Drive-By Truckers on 91.9 WFPK's Live Lunch

A few weeks late, but still worth mentioning.  The Drive-By Truckers played 91.9 WFPK's Live Lunch series before their show in Louisville last month.  You can also download a free track if you are a fan of DBT on Facebook.

A Couple Local Festivals

A quick note to make sure you aware of a couple local festivals coming up.


Highlands Fest
September 25, 2010
1:00PM – 11:00PM
 Louisville Highlands
900 Block Baxter Avenue
(FREE!!)


Check the lineup and schedule here.  Take note of Hambone at 1:30 on the south stage.

Cropped Out Fest
Friday, October 1 through Sunday, October 3
American Turners Club
3125 Upper River Road, Louisville
$18 day tickets, $30 weekend

Check out a bunch of lineup, schedule, and ticket info posted over at The Decibel Tolls.
State Champion plays on Sunday if you can only make it one day.

The Only Sons - Steel Hearts

Not exactly a new album, but since I didn't have a blog when it was new I figure it's fair to mention it now. Steel Hearts is the latest release (Spring 2009) by Murfreesboro, TN outfit The Only Sons. I've posted my favorite track off the album below, but you can download the whole album for free from the band's website. If you are the type of listener who needs to label a band as country or rock or this or that you may have a hard time with this album. It has country songs, and it has rock songs. Not country-rock, not alt-country, but pure Rock-n-Roll Songs that stand in the hallway smoking cigarettes and whistling at Country Song's girl as she walks by. That's not to say that the country songs aren't good, but the electric guitar in the rock numbers just do it better for me. The best thing about a free album is usually the price, but that isn't the case with Steel Hearts. It's a very solid album with a handful of very good songs that are growers, and three or four that are becoming favorites. The album was released on Sophomore Lounge, home of Slithering Beast and State Champion. The Only Sons are playing February 13th with Slithering Beast at Third Street Dive in Louisville.

Drew Blood - The Only Sons (Buy Here)

We Grew Our Hair Down to Our Eyes...

Really looking forward to this show. State Champion has their new album Stale Champagne that was released this week. Slithering Beast is retiring some older songs. Should be a good show at the Zeppelin Cafe.

Upcoming Area Shows

Some shows in the area that are coming up soon. Hopefully I can make it to a few. Let me know if you are going to catch any.

Jan 26th State Champion in store @ Ear X-tacy (Louisville)
Jan 29th Slithering Beast @ The Zeppelin Cafe (Louisville)
Jan 30th Band of Heathens @ Buster's Billiards and Backroom (Lexington)
Jan 30th Yardsale CD release show @ The Vernon Club (Louisville)
Feb 12th Lucero @ Southgate House (Newport)
Feb 13th Lucero and Glossary @ Buster's (Lexington)
Feb 13th Slithering Beast and The Only Sons @ Third Street Dive (Louisville)
Feb 19th Scott Miller @ Jim Porter's (Louisville)
Feb 20th State Champion @ Bluegrass Brewing Company (Louisville)
Feb 27th Yardsale @ Skull Alley (Louisville)

Drive-By Truckers:The Big To-Do (Live)

The Drive-By Truckers' The Big To-Do is less than two months from release. They have been playing the new tracks at the live shows lately, but sadly they don't have any dates in the Louisville area before the release. Thankfully, Sloan Simpson over at Southern Shelter recorded DBT's recent three night stand at the 40 Watt in Athens, Georgia. You can download all three nights concerts, along with a lot of other good music, for free at his site. I pulled out the tracks from the new album and zipped them up so I can listen until the studio album gets here. I'll share them here, but it is no way meant as a replacement for the official release. Also one track from the album wasn't played on any night, so you'll have to wait to hear that. Oh yeah, Stereogum does have an album version of one of the songs you can download. The new album isn't listed in the DBT store yet, but go ahead and check out all their other releases and merch.


New DBT Tracks (13 Tracks, 131 MB)

Live Music Archive Gems: DBT at Cooley's House

This is the first in what will be a regular feature called Live Music Archive Gems. If you don't know, the Live Music Archive is continually growing collection of live music recordings available for free. Most can be streamed or downloaded as either mp3 or lossless audio. There is a ton of great music to be had. In these recurring posts I will sort through the junk and post the gems.
For the first post I have selected my favorite download from the archive. It is an intimate acoustic recording of the Drive-By Truckers from 12-29-2003 jamming/practicing at Mike Cooley's house. Listen to the download from start to finish and you will hear chatter of friends, bottles being passed around, and jokes being told.
I've posted one song from each of the songwriters (at the time). You can go here to download the whole recording or individual tracks as mp3 or lossless files. There is also a text file with notes such as set list, recording lineage, and taper. Thanks a lot to Chris Pennington.

Company I Keep

Love Like This

Decoration Day

Mic Harrison & the High Score

Mic Harrison & the High Score make good music. It's not white collar music; it's not even blue collar music. It's more like sweat-stain-collar music. The songs are about hard work, whiskey, and women. The music is Harrison's brand of country: Budweiser drenched and sawdust coated. You may know Harrison from his days in the V-Roys, where he sang and wrote along with Scott Miller. That band went on to be signed to Steve Earle's record label. Harrison then played in the Faults and Superdrag before joining up full time with the High Score (Robbie Trosper, Brad Henderson and Vance Hillard).

Both Scott Miller and the V-Roys have a good bit more pop in their music than Mic Harrison and the High Score. The band is working on a new album that will be released in the first half of next year. Check out their store for a bunch of MH & the HS albums, as well as some Harrison solo stuff, some High Score albums, and even some V-roys too.

The guys have a Halloween show coming up if you are going to be in Knoxville next weekend. Check out their website or myspace for details.

Wiser The Whiskey (from 2007's "Push Me On Home")

Sawdust (from 2008's "On the Right Side of the Grass")

Mike Cooley (of Drive-By Truckers)

One of my reasons for starting this blog is to introduce music that may not get noticed enough. Today I am featuring Mike Cooley, singer/songwriter/guitarist for the Drive-By Truckers. The tunes come from a solo live show a few years back that you can find over at Southern Shelter. While you're there check out some of the great music that taper and archiver Sloan Simpson has up.
The solo set is one of my favorite live shows I have. Mike plays most all of his DBT favorites, but also plays some unrealeased tunes that are just great.
"Pulaski, TN" needs to be recorded and released as soon as possible. Who knows, maybe it will show up on the next DBT record.

Pulaski, TN - Mike Cooley

"Women Without Whiskey" is one of DBT's best songs and it holds pretty dang well as a solo acoustic piece.

Women Without Whiskey - Mike Cooley