Tag Archives: Country music

My review of Dolly Parton’s concert posted to Elmore

13 Dec

Dolly Parton – Elmore MagazineOn December 6th, Dolly Parton shared a special wish and a night of many colors with fans for more than three hours inside Austin’s sold out Frank Erwin Center, one of the last legs on her nationwide Pure & Simple tour. “Wouldn’t it be great if we could bottle up all the love and excitement in this room tonight and give everybody in the world a little bit of it?” Parton asked. The singer, songwriter, multi-instrumental musician, actress and business leader stepped out onto the stage dressed in white, sparkling in rhinestones and sequins beneath spotlights. Between songs, Parton delivered intimate stories about her childhood growing up one of 12 siblings in the Great Smokey Mountains of Appalachia, Tennessee. She made self-depreciating jokes and demonstrated an uncanny comedic ability to speak as fast as a Chipmunk at 78-RPM speed.

Alternating between playing guitar, banjo, dulcimer, piano, soprano saxophone and flute, Parton sang most of her top 10 hit songs from the more than 3,000 she has written, and either she or others have performed, over the past 50 years. Following a 20 minute intermission, Parton sang tunes off 1987’s Trio and 1999’s Trio II, albums released in a box set last September, featuring her collaborative recordings with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. Best of all, Parton invited audience participation during a medley of songs from the 1960s and ’70s: “American Pie,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Dust in the Wind.” Her band and backup vocalists included pianist Richard Dennison, bassist Tom Rutledge and multi-instrumentalist Kent Wells– performers whose working friendships with Parton span 30 years. In the music business, that kind of longevity speaks volumes about the authenticity of the woman behind her 70-years-young voice.

Also please see my concert review posted to Elmore magazine’s website at:

http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/12/reviews/shows/dolly-parton

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My review of Dale Watson’s new CD posts to Elmore

6 Dec

Dale Watson – Elmore MagazineHonky-tonk singer, songwriter, guitarist and Lone Star beer aficionado Dale Watson provides a stout and tasty remix of 12 country music classics with his newest CD, Under the Influence. Watson covers his favorite artists’ songs that span more than 50 years – from Bob Wills’ 1939, “That’s What I Like About the South,” to Merle Haggard’s last top 40 hit of 1989, “If You Want to be My Woman.” Watson intoxicates listeners with Mel Tillis’ (Wine) Pretty Red Wine and Ronnie Milsap’s 1974 hit, “Pure Love.” The silver-haired crooner with an Elvis pompadour charms with dizzy abandon on Conway Twitty’s 1960 hit, “Lonely Blue Boy.” With earnest, he performs Lefty Frizzell’s 1958, “You’re Humbuggin’ Me,” and Little Richard’s “Lucille,” last recorded by Waylon Jennings in 1977.

The Lone Stars – Don Pawlak on pedal steel, Mike Bernal on drums and percussion and Chris Crepps on upright bass and background vocals – join him on the album, along with Earl Poole Ball on piano and T. Jarod Bonta on piano. Watson rose to international fame with his 2013 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman and breakout hit single, “I Lie When I Drink.” The founder of Ameripolitan music tours 300 days per year, and often plays Austin’s Broken Spoke or the Big T Roadhouse near San Antonio.

Also please see my review posted on Elmore magazine’s website at:

http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/12/reviews/albums/dale-watson-3

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Dolly Parton feature about her tour posts to Elmore

14 Nov

dp_puresimple_0Dolly Parton, with 25 certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum Recording Industry Association of America awards, has sold more than 100 million albums, but prefers her life “Pure & Simple”… which happens to be the title of her latest album and a 60-city tour — her first in 25 years — that ends December 10th in Thackerville, OK.

Parton plans to sing many of her number one hits from Billboard’s Hot Country chart – including “Applejack,” “9 to 5,” “Here You Come Again,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Islands in the Stream,” “Jolene” and “Coat of Many Colors.”

Her concerts often draw lots of “Dollies,” cross-dressers, “who look more like me than I do,” she said during her November 3rd virtual press conference, which Elmore Magazine took part in.

The singer/songwriter/screenwriter/movie producer and business leader performs December 6th in Austin, a place she fondly remembers from 1991, when she wrote and starred in Wild Texas Wind, a made-for-TV movie with scenes filmed at famed venue, the Broken Spoke. Gary Busey co-starred, with cameos by James White, Ray Benson and Willie Nelson. Her friendship with Nelson spans more than 50 years, and Parton described him as “one of the sweetest, most generous people I know.” She received the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award 
on November 2nd at the 50th Country Music Awards.

Now, at 70 years old, Parton still has dreams of creating a new line of makeup, clothing lines, more movies and lots more music. “I am just now gettin’ started good,” she says.

Parton has written 3,000 songs, including “Only Dreaming,” her personal favorite a cappella track off her 43rd studio CD, Pure & Simple. The fourth of 12 children created Dollywood, a $300 million theme park located in the Knoxville-Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, as a place for her family and friends. She also founded the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, with 100 million free books donated to children across America and Canada.

Parton grew up singing gospel music and admiring the great Kitty Wells and Rose Maddox; at just 10 years old, she first performed at the Grand Ole Opry. Parton’s career truly began on The Porter Wagoner Show in 1967. “It makes me feel proud that I’ve done something to inspire and to influence other people,” she said. Today, Parton refers to herself as “the goodwill ambassador of country music.”

Please also see my article posted on Elmore magazine’s website at: http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/11/music-news/hello-dolly

Also See Dolly Parton’s tour schedule:

http://dollyparton.com/tour-schedule-upcoming-events

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My review of Kevin Fowler’s new CD posts to Elmore magazine

7 Nov

Kevin Fowler – Elmore MagazineKevin Fowler sings a catchy new Lone Star State anthem with “Texas Forever” on his eighth studio album, Coming to a Honky Tonk Near You. No offense to the ghosts of William J. Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright, the 1929 authors of the state’s official song “Texas, Our Texas,” but Fowler’s lyrics may resonate more for today’s Texans:

“It’s a single star wavin’ so proud and tall/it’s the smell of gunpowder on the Alamo walls, a red Corpus sunset, hill country bluebonnets, brisket at Cooper’s, Joe T’s enchiladas./It’s Floatin’ the Frio, cold beer in hand/it’s a couple two steppin’ to a twin fiddle band./It’s a Saturday rodeo, Friday Night Lights, the prettiest girls you’ve ever seen in your life./It flows through the mud of The Brazos and red rivers run through our blood;/let the world know we’ll fight to the death for the land and the people we love…”

Fowler’s unique hook phrases and outstanding musicianship by Scotty Sanders on steel and J.T. Corenflos on electric guitar deliver another potential number one hit, “He Ain’t No Cowboy.” However, a comical take on hip hop music– “Sellout Song”– co-written by Fowler and Zane Williams, promises to be a fan favorite.

Please also see my review posted on Elmore magazine’s website at:http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/11/reviews/albums/kevin-fowler

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My review of Dallas Wayne’s new CD posts to Elmore

13 Sep

elmore-magazine-dallas-wayne-1

Singer, songwriter, Sirius Satellite Radio on-air personality and actor Dallas Wayne, together with nine famous friends, perform 14 country classics on his newest album, Songs the Jukebox Taught Me on Heart of Texas Records. Wayne sings famous songs about heartbreak, regret and loneliness with old school music hit makers: Amber Digby, Bobby Flores, Randy Lindley, Darrell and Mona McCall, Paula Nelson, Willie Nelson, Jeannie Seely and Kevin Smith. Those familiar with Faron Young’s 1970 hit, “Your Time’s Comin’,” will enjoy Wayne’s and Willie Nelson’s duet. Wayne also revisits Henson Cargill’s successful 1967 single, “Skip A Rope,” without diluting its controversial message. With unmistakable twang, Wayne best performs Ernest Tubb’s 1968 hit “A Dime at a Time.” Kudos also to musicians: T Jarrod Bonta on piano, Tommy Detamore on steel guitar, dobro, organ and percussion, Bobby Flores on fiddle and viola, Tom Lewis on drums, Hank Singer on fiddle, Kevin Smith on upright and electric bass and Redd Volkaert on guitars. Those who need schoolin’ in the classics of country music will find some lessons not offered in Nashville here; as for fans of the genre, the song list rings like our alma mater.

Please also see my review posted to Elmore magazine’s website at: http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/09/reviews/albums/dallas-wayne

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My review of Kienzle’s book posts to Elmore magazine

27 Jul

Elmore Magazine | The Grand Tour: The Life and Music of George JVeteran music journalist and country historian Rich Kienzle has written the definitive biography about a man possessed by worldly demons, alcohol, cocaine, and marital discord. In his new book he explores the life of the late and legendary Texas native singer/songwriter George Jones. At his worst, Jones skipped concerts, ultimately earning the nickname “No Show Jones.” Kienzle’s dozens of in-depth interviews tell stories about Jones’ fistfights with Mel Tillis, Faron Young and Buck Owens, and reveal Jones’ Jekyll and Hyde personality among friends like Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. From his late 1950’s Quonset Hut studio recordings in Nashville until his death in 2013 Jones vocalized a disdain for rock-pop-derived country music. Still he won the love from many of rock music’s biggest names with his voice and dramatic acting methods. Ironically, Kienzle chronicles the troubadour’s fall from Nashville’s A-Team to the CMAs and its desire to escape a “hillbilly stigma.” Kienzle describes Jones’ dramatic personal life, giving the reader a window into his complicated past. The artist’s “goofy, ornery sense of humor “ comes from growing up in Saratoga. Jones’ domestic life languished with multiple marriages to Dorothy Bonvillion in 1950, Shirley Ann Corley in 1954, to country starlet Tammy Wynette in 1969, before finding redemption with Nancy Sepulveda in 1983. Jones’ signature song, a number one hit on Billboard’s charts on July 5, 1980, “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” also fits posthumously as his tribute. Kienzle’s book is perfect not just for fans of Jones or country music lovers, but music fans alike.

Please also see my review posted on Elmore’s website at: http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/07/reviews/albums/the-grand-tour-the-life-and-music-of-george-jones

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My review of Hank Williams Jr.’s new CD posts to Elmore

13 Jun

Elmore Magazine | Hank Williams Jr.Hank Williams Jr.’s long overdue album, It’s About Time, feels like the long-lost friend who visits you, but after reminiscing for a while, you both quickly realize nothing remains unsaid. However, a few words seem better off left unspoken, such as when Williams spouts the NRA agenda and preaches fundamentalist dogma in the song “God and Guns.” At 66 years old, Williams released his 56th album to remind southern rock fans that one of Nashville’s old guard still remains strong, even if he admits that he does sometimes play dominoes these days.

His original title track evokes “a country state of mind” and the redneck rocker’s voice casts that familiar outlaw spell as it sets social boundaries with the lyrics: “we’ve had enough of this weird pop country sound.” Williams also revitalizes a cover of Neil Young’s “Are You Ready for the Country?” Meanwhile, his honorable band of musicians include: Eric Church, Brantley Gilbert, Justin Moore and Brad Paisley, who last performed on Williams’ Old School Rules in 2012.

Hell-bent anthems behind him, Williams unashamedly may still bask in the light of his 15 gold and platinum albums as well as an award-winning career spanning 30 years.

Please see my review posted on Elmore magazine’s website by following this link:

http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/06/reviews/albums/hank-williams-jr

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Mike & the Moonpies review posts to Elmore magazine

22 Nov

Elmore Magazine | Mike and the MoonpiesIt’s no coincidence that the original tunes on Mike and the Moonpies’ third studio album, Mockingbird, sound so familiar. Frontman Mike Harmeier, who learned to play guitar at six, and has performed in front of live audiences since he turned 10, wrote all ten of the hardcore country songs to resemble those popular in the 1980s and 1990s.

“One Is The Whiskey” feels like a tribute to the years Harmeier has spent in bars listening to jukebox hits by Randy Travis, George Straight and Clint Black. On the title track, Harmeier pays homage to his late grandfather, with lyrics that deserve one more round of alcohol and a toast to faded old hand-me-downs. One song, “Never Leaving Texas” (though it’s contradicted by the band’s current touring schedule of Oklahoma, Arkansas, California, Arizona and New Mexico), pays homage to the band’s Texas legacy. The Moonpies, including Kyle Ponder on drums/percussion, Preston Rhone on bass, Catlin Rutherford on guitar, Zachary Moulton on steel guitar and John Carbone on piano/organ, have been fronted by Harmeier for 20 years now, and they’ve consistently drawn, and continue to draw, diverse young crowds to some of Austin’s favorite venues like the White Horse, the Continental Club and the Broken Spoke.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Weldon Henson CD review posted to Elmore magazine

11 May

Elmore Magazine | Weldon Henson – Honky Tonk FrontierAs Weldon Henson goes to show, anyone who has spent years performing in Texas dance halls knows a thing or two about country.

Since 2009, the country singer/songwriter has played a weekly gig at the Broken Spoke called “Two-Stepping Tuesdays,” a night he considers to be Austin’s own version of Dancing with the Stars.

He also often performs for crowds at Jenny’s Little Longhorn Saloon, Luckenbach and Coupland dancehalls.

His new album, Honky Tonk Frontier, offers ten of his original songs. Danceable songs like “I Need Wine” and “Just Believe,” effortlessly turn unique phrases for dancers with foot-tapping beats. Henson adds his edge to “Hey Bottle of Whiskey,” previously recorded by Don Singleton.

Henson joined the U.S. Air Force when he was 19 and taught himself to play guitar. Later, he earned his musical stripes as an enlisted soldier performing at private parties and officer’s clubs stationed in Utah, South Korea, and finally Abilene.

A hybrid of Dwight Yoakam and George Strait, Henson produced his fourth full-length album together with Tommy Detamore and Ricky Davis. His wife, Brooklyn Henson, also adds background vocals as slick as a honky tonk dance floor.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Please see my review posted to Elmore magazine by following this link:

http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2015/05/reviews/albums/weldon-henson-honky-tonk-frontier

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My review of Echo Sparks’ Ghost Town Girl posted to Elmore today

12 Mar

Elmore Magazine | Echo Sparks – Ghost Town GirlEcho Sparks’ Ghost Town Girl, captures the heart of any inner flower child within listening distance of its 1960s California sound. Like the lyrics for the single, “Broken Arrow,” this band’s music strikes straight for the soul.

Its members hail from Orange County and their music feels reminiscent of The Byrds and The Grass Roots. Echo Sparks’ January self-released album fits loosely into the Americana genre with influences of country, folk, rockabilly, Mexicali, and pop music.

Featuring double bass, two guitars, and a steady drumbeat, together with a dreamy two-part harmony, the trio delivers the song, “Rolling 60s,” with a San Fernando Valley vibe that simply feels far out groovy.

Members C.C. Kinneck on vocals/guitar, D.A. Valdez on vocals/guitar/banjo/drums/percussion together with Cindy Ballreich on upright bass/mandolin, tell 11 musical tales with refrains that linger long afterwards, like the rich scent of orange groves.

Their song “I Think It’s You,” reaches across any crowded room to fill an empty space musically that has been lacking for the past five decades.

Musical evangelists, Echo Sparks, have a sound that feels immediately tangible, pure and 100 percent authentic.

Please follow this link to see my article posted on Elmore magazine’s site: http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2015/03/reviews/albums/echo-sparks-ghost-town-girl

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

← Older Entries

%d bloggers like this: