Tag Archives: Willie Nelson

My review of the book, Pickers & Poets, posts to Elmore magazine

31 Jan

Pickers & Poets: The Ruthlessly Poetic Singer-Songwriters of TexTroubadours and Texas music lovers will adore this collection of essays assembled and edited by Craig Clifford and Craig D. Hillis, Pickers & Poets: The Ruthlessly Poetic Singer-Songwriters of Texas. Several different writers pay homage to some of the veteran songwriters of the ’60s and ’70s who began their careers within the Lone Star State. Hillis, an author and guitarist who has toured and recorded with a few of the book’s highlighted artists, provides insights about Steven Fromholz, Michael Martin Murphey, Jerry Jeff Walker and Willie Nelson. Clifford, also an author and working musician/singer/songwriter who holds a standing day gig as a professor of philosophy at Tarleton State University, adds his authoritative perspectives about Nelson, Kinky Friedman, Walt Wilkins, Hayes Carll, Ryan Bingham, and Miranda Lambert.

My personal favorite penned by Clifford, “Beyond the Rivers,” portends that modern songwriters seem “caught up in the pseudo-country tropes of pickups and painted on jeans.” He also claims today’s mainstream country gives spotlight mostly to the young and the beautiful. Jeff Prince discusses the role of “iconic cultural happenings” or music festivals that introduce fans to lyric-driven songs too unique or obscure for radio play. Kathryn Jones, in “Roots of Steel: The Poetic Grace of Women Texas Singer-Songwriters,” calls Patty Griffin, Lucinda Williams, Terri Hendrix, Nanci Griffith, Tish Hinojosa and Eliza Gilkyson “trail-blazers.” She claims they refuse to be pigeonholed in “the good ‘ol boys club” of influential music circles in a male-dominated industry.

Andy Wilkinson explains in a feverish stream of consciousness narrative why the Texas Panhandle, namely the Llano Estacado of Lubbock, per capita has produced so many songwriters thanks to its great expanse of land, the wind, and a culture composed of mostly friendly people. While some songwriters have had to leave the state to find their audiences, others simply have jumped into Austin’s musical stew pot. This book promises a tantalizing feast to satisfy avid readers of nonfiction musical history.

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

http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2017/01/reviews/books/pickers-poets-the-ruthlessly-poetic-singer-songwriters-of-texas

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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

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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

 

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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

 

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Elmore posts my story about the Feb. 4 private Willie Nelson concert

12 Feb

Elmore Magazine | Willie Nelson and Asleep At The WheelAbout 200 very lucky country music fans were treated to a private concert by Willie Nelson, Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel February 4th at the famed Broken Spoke; Thursday nights in February will never feel so hot again in Austin, Texas. The founder of Girling Home Health Care Inc. sponsored the city’s biggest private event of the year at its oldest and most beloved honky tonk. Unable to attend her own birthday party due to the onset of sudden illness, Bettie Girling, the widow of the late Robert Girling, watched the party via Skype from her bed at home across town. Nevertheless, Nelson and Benson sang “Happy Birthday” to Bettie together with all of her invited guests who also enjoyed a barbecue feast and spirited drinks. For about an hour and a half and just inches away from his audience, Nelson sang a hit parade of songs that marked more than 50 years of his professional music career, beginning with the 1961 number one hit, “Hello Walls,” followed by “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” (1975) and “On The Road Again” (1980).

The 82-year-old Red Headed Stranger closed the night with an intimate crowd sing-along on “The Party’s Over,” a song Nelson wrote and Claude Gray first recorded in 1959. All evening Benson accompanied Willie on guitar and backup vocals together with keyboard player Emily Gimble, the daughter of the late Texas Playboy Johnny Gimble. Other Asleep at the Wheel members included fiddler Katie Shore, steel player Eddie Rivers, mandolin and fiddle player Dennis Ludicker and David Sanger on drums. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and his wife, Cecilia, also made a brief appearance together at the celebration, flanked by several Travis County deputies. Dozens of other local celebrities, including writer/actor/filmmaker Turk Pipkin sat on the dance floor to take photos up close and personal. Closing time came early – 10 o’clock– at the red, rustic and barn-like Broken Spoke, a 51-year-old icon that has withstood the test of time and new development along a one-mile stretch of South Lamar. Its 76-years young founders, James and Annetta White, both waved goodbye from the porch as dust settled in the Broken Spoke’s dirt parking lot and Nelson’s tour bus left for a Feb. 9 appearance in Charlotte, N.C. a.

Please also see my article as it appears on Elmore magazine’s website by following this link:

http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2016/02/reviews/shows/willie-nelson-and-asleep-at-the-wheel

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My review and photos of Willie Nelson posted to Elmore magazine

27 Mar

 

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Willie Nelson and his family shared the best of his golden oldies inside Travis County arena to a sold out crowd opening night of the 2015 Austin Rodeo March 14.

For a solid hour Willie proved 80-years young and sang several medleys created from hits off his 68 studio, ten live, 37 compilation, and 27 collaboration albums including “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys.”

As always, his sister Bobbie Nelson played piano, joined by two of Willie’s kids, Lukas Nelson and Amy Nelson; two grandchildren, Zach Thomas and Rebecca Thomas, and Waylon Payne, the son of the late Sammi Smith. On stage together they sang a medley of hymns like “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” and “I’ll Fly Away.”

Band members included harmonica player Mickey Raphael together, drummer Billy English and upright bassist Kevin Smith.

Lukas Nelson provided the night’s biggest surprise with a rhythm and blues solo on “It’s Floodin’ Down in Texas.” Like father, like son, Lukas added his own improvised and distinctive guitar leads and vocals to the song that once served as part of the repertoire of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Playing Trigger, his ever-faithful acoustic guitar, Willie performed “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die,” the hit off his 2012 Heroes album.

As the evening ended, the legacy of songs, like gifts delivered by three generations of the Nelson family, resonated long after the dust cleared.

Please see my review and photos posted to Elmore magazine’s website by following this link:

http://www.elmoremagazine.com/2015/03/reviews/shows/willie-nelson

Elmore Magazine | Willie Nelson

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