Showing posts with label Ronnie Fauss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ronnie Fauss. Show all posts

Dec 30, 2014

FTM's Favorite Albums of 2014: Very Honorable Mentions


Being mentioned here while still outside the top 50 may seem like a slight to these albums, but in a year I listened to 200+ new albums and sampled countless others, these were all worthy of hours of play each. Also, it was a consistently strong year for music (if not as full of stone cold classics as some) so there was a lot of good stuff to choose from. This is just one guy's opinion (next year FTM will likely begin having a composite list from our 3 contributors plus me), so sometimes it's not about actual quality of an album, but how it affected me on an emotional, critical and intellectual level. These are all very strong releases.

Very Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):
 

Sunny Sweeney - Provoked

Parker Millsap - s/t

Counting Crows - Somewhere Under Wonderland

Shovels & Rope - Swimmin' Time

Eric Church - The Outsiders

Rodney Crowell - Tarpaper Sky

Dierks Bentley - Riser


The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams

Justin Townes Earle - Single Mothers

Willie Nelson - Band of Brothers


Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - Give the People What They Want

TV on the Radio - Seeds

Nickel Creek - A Dotted Line

 Miranda Lambert - Platinum


Sundy Best - Bring Up the Sun

Rosanne Cash - The River & The Thread

 YG - My Krazy Life

Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End

 Eli Young Band - 10,000 Towns

Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy

Jenny Lewis - Voyager

Dec 4, 2013

New Video: Ronnie Fauss - Good Enough

From his 2012 album, I Am the Man You Know I'm Not, here's Ronnie Fauss with the new video for "Good Enough." Also, he's got a new Christmas tune (that doesn't suck) out called "Everybody Deserves a Merry Christmas."

Aug 19, 2013

Monday Afternoon Videos

I put out a call on Twitter for artists or fans to send me a video to post this afternoon. Here are the worthy selections. Enjoy!





Apr 3, 2013

Live Review: Ronnie Fauss, D.C.


Ronnie Fauss - 3/24/13 - Hill Country BBQ, Washington D.C.

By Matthew Martin

If you read my review for Ronnie Fauss's album I Am The Man You Know I'm Not, you probably gathered that I wasn't a huge fan of the album.  If you didn't read it, you can check it out here.  I have since changed my mind on the album, but if you want context, you should finish reading this review.

Around February or so I noticed Ronnie would be coming up to D.C. to play at Hill Country BBQ.  I figured the songs were growing on me and if nothing else, it's great to get to hear live interpretations.  To be honest, I was concerned that Ronnie would be a bit sour after the review, but that couldn't have been further from the truth.  He was very friendly and was open to the criticism I may have had with the album.


This was somewhat of a showcase, so there were no openers, just Ronnie playing a solo set with only his guitar and harmonica.  In this setting, his lyrics were able to take center stage and, for the most part, they really shined.

He played every song from his full length, as well as most of the songs from his 2 EPs.  I hadn't heard either of the EPs, but purchased both immediately.  One song that I really liked from his 2010 EP Mulligan was "Just Another Tuesday."  I really loved the bare bones version that he played compared to the souped up version on the EP.  He stated that he plans to record another version for an upcoming album.  It will be great to hear what he has in mind for the re-recording.

Halfway through the set, a group of children got up and began dancing to a lot of his songs which included "Pistols in the Air."  It was pretty neat to see these kids really liking a lot of the music. And, furthermore, Ronnie was more than happy to see them dancing along to songs he mentioned were written with his kid in mind.

By the end of the evening, Ronnie had played a slew of songs including my favorites: "The Night Before the War," "I Don't See You," "Just Another Tuesday," and "I Can't Remember (What You Can't Forget)."  Alongside these tunes, he played some covers of John Prine, Slobberbone, and Merle Haggard.

As I mentioned earlier, I have really grown to like the album I Am The Man You Know I'm Not.  Likewise, hearing the songs in person solidified that these are great songs sung by a genuine and nice guy.  As a lot of Texas musicians are prone to do, it seems like Ronnie does not play outside of Texas too often.  I am hoping that will change.  But, until then, if you see that he's coming around you, you should go see him.  Also, go support him and buy some music here.

Dec 26, 2012

Top Songs of 2012 - (Very!) Honorable Mentions

These are the songs released in 2012 that fell outside my top 10, but I felt were worthy of mention... 
not only mention, but excited proclamation actually. 2012 was a banner year for music - 
mostly outside of the mainstream, though there were some true mainstream gems. 
Here are FTM's honorable mentions for top songs of 2012, in no particular order.


Kacey Musgraves - Merry Go 'Round (Mainstream Country Song of the Year)
Fistful of Beard - White Bluff
Dwight Yoakam - It's Never Alright
The Departed - Prayer for the Lonely
Shooter Jennings - The Long Road Ahead

The Pollies - Ashes of Burned Out Stars

Horsehead - God Damned the Rain to Fall
Brent Cobb - Diggin' Holes

Ronnie Fauss - This Year

Corb Lund - One Left in the Chamber
Uncle Lucius - Pocket Full of Misery
Kendrick Lamar - B*tch, Don't Kill My Vibe
Ryan Bingham - Western Shore
Kathleen Edwards - A Soft Place to Land
fun. - Some Nights
Zac Brown Band - The Wind
Bonnie Raitt - You Can't Fail Me Now

Alabama Shakes - Heartbreaker

Gretchen Peters - The Matador

ZZ Top - I Gotsta Get Paid

EL-P - The Full Retard
Darrell Scott - Dance in the Darkness
Alan Jackson - So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore
The Deadfields - Carolina Backroads
Smashing Pumpkins - Pinwheels
Blackberry Smoke - Crimson Moon

Lucero - Like Lightning

Marty Stuart - Sundown in Nashville
Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Some Depression
Roger Creager - Bad Friend to a Good Man

Soundgarden - Blood on the Valley Floor

Josh Abbott Band - Flatland Farmer
Bruce Springsteen - Land of Hope and Dreams

Japandroids - The House that Heaven Built

Old Crow Medicine Show - Ain't It Enough
Lindi Ortega - Use Me
Frank Ocean - Thinkin' About You

Gary Clark Jr. - You Saved Me

Dec 5, 2012

Album Review: Ronnie Fauss - I Am The Man You Know I'm Not


by Matthew Martin

I am still trying to figure out where I stand on Ronnie Fauss's new album, I Am The Man You Know I'm Not.  I think that it has very strong instrumentation.  The lyrics, on the other hand, are hit and miss.  That's not to say that this album isn't worth a listen.  There are songs on the album that make it a pretty appealing listen.  As with many singer/songwriters, Fauss strikes both gold and gravel in the same song a few times.  Take, for example, "A Pretty Nice Night for Houston."  He writes some really strong and convincing lyrics.  But, then he writes lines that seem a bit generic and lazy. I won't bias you with any examples- I think you should listen for yourself.  

Enough of the things I don't care for, though.  The opening song, "The Night Before The War" is one of the best offerings on the album.  It's everything a great country song should be.  It's a touching take on the atrocities of war that are hard to fathom prior to being deployed.  We forget about those real people out there fighting our battles for us.  Many times it's easy to think of them as far off characters.  Fauss writes a song that is effective at reminding us that these are real people dealing with real consequences.

This album really hits the ground running, with Fauss writing his best songs in the first 3 tracks.  The album slows down a bit after that with some tracks that I believe Fauss really fell short of that early promise on. He clearly has the ability (from listening to this album, solely) to write and record great country songs.  He falls a bit with songs like "Pistols in the Air."  

Fauss has written an album that, to me, is something of a grab bag of songs.  He has written one of the better songs of 2012 with "The Night Before The War," but missed the mark on cuts like "Pistols in the Air."  I think I Am The Man You Know I'm Not is worth your attention if for nothing more than the first half of the album.  I'm glad that Ronnie Fauss is now on my radar.  I look forward to seeing how he will hone his songwriting skills in the future.  The music is there. The voice is there. The lyrics are almost there.


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For another opinion on I Am The Man You Know I'm Not, check out Country California's review here.

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