Music
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Neat, I love the Futurebirds @zhivago !
After listening to the (great) interview of Mike from Ship John on Iron Cast #6, I found a performance of theirs and enjoyed it:
I haven't bought any Ship John, but I've admired them from afar and love the artists they name their products for.
BTW, the documentary series they referenced on the podcast by Mike Judge, Tales from the Tour Bus, is awesome. I recommend looking it up on YouTube to see a few snippets–you might get hooked. I bought each season because they're so good that they don't really get old and are great for entertaining guests.
It's great to see a thriving Americana scene despite all the wretchedness Nashville has been pumping out in lieu of actual country music. Seeing the likes of Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, Ryan Bingham, Chris Stapleton, Hayes Carll, etc etc get their due is great. And beyond the country/folk guys there's a resurgence in other related genres like bluegrass/newgrass as well. A lot of these artists are doing new things and pushing their genre in new directions, or even seeking to make music that traverses all sorts of genres seamlessly. Traditionalists be damned as long as it's good music.
We've had good Americana going on the whole time but it seems you had to dig for a lot of great artists who didn't otherwise get the exposure they deserved during their careers (Townes van Zant, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, and too many more) while utter trash (won't name names) was getting all the airplay. It's a shame that music that I believe is stultifying and devoid of redeeming qualities has been successfully pushed on us for so long, making it hard for worthwhile artists to break through. Kudos to those who have, I can't imagine how hard it was.
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Awesome to hear @mclaincausey! They play CO a lot and I am sure they will be returning there very soon now that touring is starting up again. Carter is my brother in law, they are all great friends. Hit any of em up post show, they are always having drinks with the fans and let em know we are friends. Fun bunch of dudes, you'll get on great with em!!
@Kirk glad you enjoy them my friend!
Cheers y'all
Z -
Noted! Thanks Z!
Speaking of 80s music, I've really been enjoying the "Vaporwave" genre. It is good work music, because it can fade into the background and make it feel like you're in an 80s movie. Think "Stranger Things" soundtrack.
Some examples:
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@mclaincausey on the subject of country that’s not an abomination, I just learned about this dude yesterday. Ever heard of him?
https://open.spotify.com/album/17Ez3EXApQUrtqojPQvX6x?si=Gn4jLkXKRvKpfIS3WU9b6w&dl_branch=1
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I've only recently gotten to really like Justin Townes Earle as well — man he was good. So sad.
Some country/Americana realm stuff that I regularly go to:
Tyler Childers
Tyler Ramsey (loaded with Tylers!)
Hiss Golden Messenger
Dylan Leblanc
Cut Worms
Paul CauthenAnd yes, most of what's out there is shit. I feel like country is the most nearly ruined by mainstream variety of music, pretty much.
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I also recently discovered JTE for myself. The news of his death pointed me in his direction and I couldn’t believe what I had been missing. Apparently he frequented the Imogene + Willie shop in Nashville and was good friends with them. They posted about him dropping by to hang out and talk about clothes on IG when he died.
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Ah yeah! I've seen him in their pics over the years along with a couple other musicians (Butch Walker is the main one I can remember at the moment).
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Unrelated musically but nonetheless great, a really awesome post punk / new wave-y album from last year that I was just reminded of:
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Yes @Matt he is excellent! We're lucky to have what I believe to be a golden age of such artists. I believe we had that in the seventies with outlaw country too. Too many great contemporary country artists to name– @popvulture just named a bunch of great ones. Did we get Colter Wall yet?
Or how about Dave Cobb's cousin Brent? Caught his band in a shoebox-sized venue, helluva show.
These artists still usually don't probably get a Florida Georgia Line (ick) level of recognition, but there are the occasional chart-toppers… I really was astounded when Jason Isbell did so. As long as they can be successful on their own terms and satisfied with their careers, I don't much care about that or industry awards though.
And I agree with the sentiments about the talent and tragedy of Justin Townes Earle, Steve Earle's son, named for the great Townes van Zant (had our daughter come out male, she would have carried the middle name Townes too).
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Seen all of them but Neko and Ramsey and can’t disagree. Another one I love is Larry McMurtry’s son James McMurtry. A great sardonic wit, brilliant social commentary, and amazing compositions. Edited to add him and his guitar (he's terrific with his band and easy to catch in Austin and does tour as well):
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@popvulture are you familiar with scott hirsch? If not, give a listen. He’s a founding member of hiss golden messenger and has a new album coming out later this year. jj cale vibe.
i’ve been spinning the new hiss record a lot. lateness of dancers is my favorite album but they’re all very good.
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Loving this Vaporwave genre @mclaincausey!!
This thread is right up my alley these last few pages!!
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@Kirk Lateness of Dancers is my fave too! Also like Haw a lot (and all of them, really).
I’ve checked out Scott Hirsch’s stuff just a little and dug it, should def give it a deeper listen. He was playing bass with em one of the last couple times I saw Hiss. Love that band.
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Freshies
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and another one
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I thought I would dip my toe in the water here. First something new from OTPMD (and they don't even mention spending too much on IH ;)):
And so you don't end up feeling too guilty something (coincidentally also from Switzerland) that always make me happy. Who hasn't wondered what would happen if a hyena walked into a guitar shop?
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Since y'all mentioned Athens I will take the opportunity to give a shout out to my BIL's band The Futurebirds. Hope ya dig em!!
That's so funny. One of my friends is in with them and I think has shot some videos. I recorded one of their shows a few years ago and posted it on my silly little blog I contribute to: https://www.nyctaper.com/2015/12/futurebirds-november-12-2015-bowery-ballroom/
