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.

The Bluegrass Cardinals - Jubilee Road

Here is a great song from a great bluegrass band that has a slew of great songs.  The Bluegrass Cardinals are one of the earliest bluegrass groups I was exposed to, and this song, "Jubilee Road", reminds me of being a toddler and my dad cranking this album on the stereo and playing along.  It has a great Cajun fiddle rhythm that instantly recognizable.  A few years ago I picked up this CMH Records collection and it is, as the name claims, the definitive collection.  Buy it here.



The Bluegrass Cardinals - Jubilee Road

Free Music: Shooter Jennings - Missed the Boat: A Collection of Demos & Rarities

Here's a nice little collection of tunes from Shooter Jennings and the price is perfect too.  He put this up for download on his website a couple weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to listening.  Gotta salute Shooter for offering this up for free, because there is some stuff on here he really could have commercialized on, especially the "Good Old Boys" (Dukes of Hazard theme) cover.  You have to sign up for the mailing list or what not, but then you'll get the link for the download.  Sign up here.

Magnolia Mountain - Redbird Green

I didn't get around to writing anything about this Cincinnati outfit, Magnolia Mountain, when their album came out last year, so I'll just spend a few minutes to share some thoughts.  Redbird Green is a double LP, and it has a lot of different styles of Americana music on it, from old time fiddle and clawhammer jigs to minor chord alt-country ballads.  Myself, I prefer the more progressive numbers, but everything is done well enough that I can appreciate it, especially given the fact that it is,other than one track, original material and not a rehashing of traditional standards.  Check out the title track below, as well as a nice video for another good track, "Hellbound Train."

Magnolia Mountain - Redbird Green  (from Redbird Green) (Buy)

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"

Patrick Sweany - That Old Southern Drag

Patrick Sweany is a name that I was unfamiliar with when his latest album, That Old Southern Drag, showed up in the mail, but after giving it a listen I'm clearing off a spot in my good CD rack in the  listening room.  If I had to label it I'd call it bluesy soul music, or soulful blues music, somewhat akin to The Black Keys.  And that's not a huge surprise considering he's toured with and collaborated with Dan Auerbach for years.  The vocals are worn and rugged and blend excellently with the dirty blues rock guitar riffs Patrick lays down.  Put this on and let it play through and it is guaranteed to grow on you.  The album won't be out until February, but you can get it for $10 if you preorder from Nine Mile Records.  No tour dates listed for Louisville yet, but the year is young, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

Patrick Sweany - Heavy Problems (Peavey Rage)  (from That Old Southern Drag) (Buy)

Patrick Sweany - Frozen Lake  (from That Old Southern Drag) (Buy)

Happy New Year and What to Look for in 2011

Happy New Year folks.  2011 is looking good for our type of music.  Just check out some of these upcoming releases I'm looking forward to.


The Only Sons - American Stranger
Murfreesboro's rock and rollers are gonna hit a homerun with this one.  Their last album was really good (check out their site to get it for free), this one might be better.

Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots
The songs I've heard from this one already put it way ahead of last year's The Big To-Do.  Let's hope that it is.

Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories)
I don't think Hayes could make a bad album if he tried. 

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Untitled as of yet
I'm really looking forward to hearing how Jason follows up the masterpiece that was 2009's self-titled release.  I've heard some live versions of a couple tunes and they sound promising.


Slithering Beast - Delicious EP
Should be out in the first part of the year, and will probably have a little more rock and roll flavor than the last two albums.  That's a good thing based on the recent live shows I've seen.

Kelsey Waldon - Untitled as of yet
I really like Kelsey's 2010 country release.  This one is supposed to lean a little more towards the rock side of things and even have a Neil Young cover on it.





Also, I added a "The Free Stuff" link in the upper right hand corner of the main page.  Check there for free albums or EP's.  I don't post everything I find that is free, just the good stuff.  So if it is listed, it is worth downloading.  Let me know if links are down or you have something you think I should add to the list.

I'm probably forgetting a few as well.  Most of these I've listed should be out in the first couple months too. 

Best of 2010

So here it is the last week of the year and coincidentally also time for my obligatory best-of-the-year list.  I'll keep it short because I don't like pretending that there were fifty albums released this year that you should spend your dough on.  But be assured that if I've listed them here, they are good.  Some of the links to previous posts will still have active mp3s in case you missed them the first time.

1) State Champion - Stale Champagne
Being that it was released way back in January, I had all year to possibly forget about this one.  But now, a year later, I still listen to it a couple times a week.  The band calls their music garage-country, and I can't think of a better description.   Here is what I wrote about it when I first heard it. 

2) Truckstop Darlin' - Truckstop Darlin'
 These guys from Portland, Oregon have put out a genre-defining alt-country album with their self-titled debut.  See what I had to say about it here.

3) Andrew Combs - Tennessee Time EP
By far the best pure country album of the year, regardless of the fact it's an EP.  Andrew has a great young-man-with-an-old-worn-voice thing going, but the ace up his sleeve is his songwriting.  "Tennessee Time" and "Too Stoned to Cry" should set the standard for country radio if things were right with the world.  My post from this past summer.




 

4) Reno Bo - Happenings and Other Things
This album might stick out like a sore thumb in this list.  It's rock and roll with a strong pop tilt.  Don't let my description discourage you though, because I'd describe Tom Petty in the same fashion.  Read my review here.





 

5) Elizabeth Cook - Welder
Confession:  This was my first exposure to Elizabeth and now I'm a fan.  My goal for 2011 is to see if her previous releases are as good as this one is.






 

6) Two Cow Garage - Sweet Saint Me
Would've made my best of list based only on "Jackson, Don't You Worry,"  but the rest of the album is great typical Two Cow and that will make my best of any year.






 

7) American Aquarium - Small Town Hymns
Another band carrying the alt-country torch and holding it high.  They had a really good album last year and have followed it up with another one full of great songwriting and ragged vocals.  You need this one in your collection.





 

8) Jamey Johnson - The Guitar Song
I like good country music and Jamey is doing it better than any other mainstream artist out there.  These songs aren't cookbook Nashville arrangements either.  A lot of different chord progressions and tempos and a couple classic covers keep it interesting across both discs.

9) The Black Keys - Brothers
 I like some of their earlier stuff.  My wife bought this album.  I borrowed  snatched it.  I like it.  A lot.






 

10) The Famous - Come Home to Me
Solid alt-country outing from the San Francisco gang.  Lots of great guitar work on this one.  Here's what I had to say about it.

Free Music: Joe Pug - Nation of Heat EP

From now until Christmas you can download Joe Pug's EP Nation of Heat from WXRT radio.  Also be sure to check out Joe's full length Messenger from last year, available from Lightning Rod Records.  I'm downloading the free EP now, so go do the same.

Download Nation of Heat for free!

Scott Miller - Christmas Gift

I generally fall in the category of No-Thank-You when it comes to Christmas music, with only a handful of exceptions.  So when I heard of Scott Miller's new EP, Christmas Gift, I raised an eyebrow and then forgot about the album completely until a few days ago.  I'm a big fan of Scott's, but I wasn't sure if he could pull off a Christmas album that I would actually enjoy.  However, I've since given it a few complete listens and it is actually a pretty good little experience.  And since I don't have a favorite Christmas album I guess it wins that title by default.  Scott wrote two of the seven tracks on the album.  "Yes, Virginia" relates  memories of Christmas with the family, but with a more sincere and appreciative sentiment than Robert Earl Keen's take.  The other original, "The Kingdom Has Come",  is a bit of a mashup of Miller's lyrics and a T.S. Eliot poem, but it turns out much better than that sounds.  Scott picked some great covers to complete the disc, including Prine's "Christmas in Prison," Neil Young's "Star of Bethlehem," and a bluegrass instrumental of the hymn "Joyful, Joyful."  "Christmas in Prison" is just as good as the original and should have been included on the John Prine tribute album.  Check it out below (right-click, save-as) and pick it up if you like.  Look, it even has the sticker on the front is you want to give one as a gift.

Scott Miller - Kingdom Has Come  (from Christmas Gift) (Buy)

Scott Miller - Yes, Virginia  (from Christmas Gift) (Buy)