Kelcy Reflects on 2014, Chris Knight, Babies, etc.

Things I'm Glad I Experienced or Discovered in 2014:
by Kelcy Salisbury

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2014 was a momentous year for me in a lot of ways, personally & professionally. These are the best things that I experienced, discovered, or rediscovered in the past year, in no particular order.

Jason Boland & The Stragglers with Chris Knight live at Joe's on Weed Street.  
Joe's has a lot of history in "TX/Red Dirt" music, especially for a venue in Chicago. This past summer I checked 2 firsts off my list: I saw a show at Joe's & I saw Chris Knight. It was everything I'd hoped for & then some. I met Chris Knight - he killed a bunch of people in song - but I'm still here for now.

Ray Wylie Hubbard live was everything I'd hoped for & then some. Ray put on a great show in a really cool room, was gracious enough to put me on his guest list though we'd never met, and was just about the coolest cat to talk to that you'd ever hope to meet. Ray Wylie Hubbard is exactly who you think he is, only better.

I finally started listening to American Aquarium & now I'm sad that Burn, Flicker, Die didn't make it into my best of 2013 list. These guys are going to lead the charge to take back country music right alongside Turnpike Troubadours. They're the truth.

I discovered Fistful Of Beard a few months too late to ever see a live show, which is quite a shame, but they left behind one really good album.

I finally got around to listening to John Fullbright's solo stuff around the time my daughter was born. She's 10 months old & Song For A Child might be her favorite song.

I rediscovered, through my daughter, how much FUN music is supposed to be. She already loves music & she already knows how to find John Fullbright, The Trisha's, Jason Boland & Brandy Clark on my phone whenever she's feeling like an impromptu dance party. Her favorite dancing song is probably Mike Ness (of Social Distortion) covering I Fought The Law, and if you've never seen this child jam out to that song, I feel bad for you. 

Kelcy Salisbury's Top 10 Albums of 2014

There was so much great music released this year that I really couldn't keep up with all of it.
You'll note this list excludes Sturgill Simpson's masterpiece, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music. Much like Jason Isbell's Southeastern last year, that album has gotten so much coverage that there's really nothing to add. It's a potentially genre redefining masterwork.

That said, these are the albums (out of what I heard this year) that topped my personal list.

 

10) Lydia Loveless - Somewhere Else
Call it alt country, call it country rock, call it whatever you like, just call it good! Loveless has a wonderfully smoky vocal quality, the music is well done, but the songwriting really sets this apart. "Verlaine Shot Rimbaud" may be a bit too obscure a literary reference for the pop-country crowd, but Loveless doesn't seem to care. She throws it all out there with a tale-it-or-leave-it attitude & that's the biggest appeal of this album that in any other year would likely be in my top-5 or better.

 

9) Shooter Jennings & Waylon Jennings - Fenixon
I will admit to being a huge Waylon Jennings fan, so just the opportunity to hear his voice on some (kind of) new tracks predisposed me to want to listen to this album. In Waylon's autobiography he mentioned that his son was a fan of 90s industrial bands such as Ministry, and that he too had developed an appreciation for that sound. Now we finally get to hear the project that a then-16 Shooter made with his father back in the 90s. It's not a country album by any stretch, it's an industrial album of mostly Waylon tunes & it works. Standout tracks include the Shooter-penned I Found The Body & White Room, but the whole thing is a really cool passion project that worked on a level I never expected.
  

8) Jackson Taylor & The Sinners - Live At Billy Bob's Texas
I reviewed this one earlier in the year, so I won't spend a ton of space on it other than to say that it's one of the top 3 Billy Bob's albums ever made, in my opinion. It captures the band at the height of their Rance Cox period & it's raw, real, energetic & in-your-face. Jackson's Social Distortion meets Billy Joe Shaver sound is at it's zenith here & the DVD is also killer.

 

7) John Fullbright - Songs
I got into Johns solo work a little late, though I'd seen him as a member of Turnpike Troubadours in the earliest days of that band. This isn't really a country album & it's not a folk album either. It's just an album of songs & some pretty fine ones. The One Who Lives Too Far is absolutely amazing songwriting, and the whole album is just effortlessly cool.

 

6) Stoney LaRue - Aviator
There are divorce albums & then there is this one. The most brutally honest lyrics of Stoney's career accompanied by lush, if subtle harmonies make this a beautiful yet still bold artistic statement.

 

5) Tyler McCumber Band - Saracene Sessions, Tape 2
Unfortunately this album is not yet readily available. Physical copies can be purchased through Tyler's Facebook page, but it's not on iTunes yet. That's an incredible shame because this is music that needs to be heard. Old Crow & Monsters truly stand out.
  

4) Micky & The Motorcars - Hearts From Above
The younger Braun brothers have made a statement that perhaps surpasses even Reckless Kelly. It's primarily an album of love songs, but retains the driving, whiskey-soaked feel of previous MMC albums. There's not a weak track; be sure to listen to the whole thing. 

3) Tyler McCumber Band - Saracene Sessions, Tape 1 

I've previously reviewed the album & while I don't really have anything new to say, it's held up remarkably well through repeated listens. This one can be purchased on iTunes, luckily.

 

2) Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
(*Editor's note - This is a 2013 release but I'll let it slide since he said "best I've heard this year")
This album gives me more hope for the future of mainstream country music than anything I've heard in a while, including Kacey Musgraves. It's been covered ad infinitum in other places, so I won't go track by track, suffice to say it's hands-down the best mainstream country album I've heard all year. If you have to sample tracks check out Hungover & Take A Little Pill.

 

1) Matt Woods - With Love From Brushy Mountain
I'm a sucker for songwriting. I'll admit it. If you've got something to say, something that HAS to be said, something with some urgency to it, I'm going to listen more closely.

That said, nothing I heard all year packed the same gut-pinch intensity of Matt Woods tour-de-force, With Love From Brushy Mountain. Woods singing voice might not be for everyone, and I don't see how anybody can maintain the level of intensity that this album contains for the long term. But even if Woods never records another song, Dead Mans Blues, Lying On The Floor & the title track could be the future benchmark for intensity in songwriting. Do yourself a favor & give this one a couple of very hard listens.

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By Kelcy Salisbury

Don't Put a Girl In It

CMA Awards 2014 Drinking Game

FTM Praise: The Kiss of Commercial Death

With Jon Pardi's "What I Can't Put Down" struggling to find footing on the charts, I came to this realization. You can pretty much guarantee that if Farce the Music really likes a mainstream country single, the song will not have a whiff of the top 10 on the country charts. Don't believe me? Here are some commercial country singles we enjoyed, and their peaks on the US Country Chart.

Chris Young "Neon" - 23 (2012)

Sunny Sweeney "Staying's Worse Than Leaving" - 38 (2011)

Chris Stapleton "What Are You Listening To" - 46 (2013)

Charlie Worsham "Want Me Too" - 46 (2014)

Lee Ann Womack "Solitary Thinkin'" - 39 (2009)

Alan Jackson  "So You Don't Have to Love Me Anymore" - 25 (2012)

Kacey Musgraves "Blowin' Smoke" - 31 (2013)

Gary Allan "It Ain't the Whiskey" - 40 (2013)

Julie Roberts "Wake Up Older" - 46 (2005)

Brandy Clark "Stripes" - (did not chart) (2013)

Dierks Bentley "Draw Me a Map" - 33 (2010)

Little Big Town "Your Side of the Bed" - 29 (2013)

David Nail "Sound of a Million Dreams" - 38 (2012)

Ronnie Dunn "Cost of Livin'" - 19 (2011)

Jamey Johnson (All singles 2009-2012) - 34, 52, 39, 51, DNC


Emily West "Blue Sky" - 38 (2010)

George Strait "Drinkin' Man" - 37 (2012)


Kellie Pickler "Someone Somewhere Tonight" - (did not chart) (2013)

Country TwitterWINS: June '14

Great Quotes from Country Singers IV: Bryan, Clark, Kristofferson

New Video: Brandy Clark - Get High

YouTube Gems: Brandy Clark - Take a Little Pill

Prescription for What Ails Ya

Is this you?

If these symptoms describe your struggles, it's time you tried...

Warning:

Side effects may include: enlightenment, satisfaction, curiosity, heightened emotions, desire for an adult beverage that doesn't have "lite"  or "bomb" in the name, respect for females, joy, tapping feet, flushed cheeks, appreciation, and a sudden realization that things will never be the same again.

If you're ready for help, here's your prescription.

And here are a few free samples to get you started.

We Can Dream, Can't We?

Actually....

FTM's Favorite Songs of 2013

1. Matt Woods - Deadman's Blues
From earlier review:
...almost painful to hear, in the best of ways. It's like we're the accidental witnesses to a late night confessional and I can't help feeling a little guilty finding so much beauty in such a raw disclosure. And those vocals… it's a masculine delivery with a tear deeply embedded; then he rips your heart out when he lets it all go in the final seconds.

2. Jason Isbell - Elephant

3. Arliss Nancy - Vonnegut

4. John Moreland - 3:59

5. Shooter Jennings - The Gunslinger

6. Brandy Clark - What'll Keep Me Out of Heaven

7. Sturgill Simpson - You Can Have the Crown

8. Ashley Monroe - Morning After

9. Austin Lucas - Splinters

10. Todd Farrell Jr. and the Dirty Birds - Pawn Shops

Beyond the Top 10 (no specific order):

The National - I Should Live in Salt

Run the Jewels - Sea Legs

Queens of the Stone Age - If I Had a Tail

Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Some Depression

Drew Kennedy - Poet at 33 from Modern Trade on Vimeo.

Drew Kennedy - The Poet at 33

Kacey Musgraves - Follow Your Arrow

Wade Bowen - Songs About Trucks

Son Volt - Angel of the Blues

Two Cow Garage - Mantle in '56

J. Roddy Walston and the Business - Heavy Bells

Deer Tick - Dream's in the Ditch

Ha Ha Tonka  - Lessons

Chris Stapleton - What Are You Listening To?

Gary Allan - It Ain't the Whiskey

Valerie June - Tennessee Time

Buffalo Gospel - Mule

Bow Thayer and Perfect Trainwreck - Inside Joke

The Mavericks - Come Unto Me

Chris King - Antler Inn Ballroom

JJ Grey and Mofro - 99 Shades of Crazy

Water Liars - Wyoming

Will Hoge - Home is Where the Heart Breaks

Lindi Ortega - This is Not Surreal

Phosphorescent - Song for Zula

Chance the Rapper - Cocoa Butter Kisses

Clutch - DC Sound Attack!

Here's a nifty Spotify playlist of these songs, plus and minus a few!

FTM's Favorite Albums of 2013: 1-20

1. John Moreland - In the Throes
John Moreland writes razor edged lines that grab your attention and tear your heart out. Next time you listen to the same song, you'll notice that the following line was just as good - you just happened to miss it marveling at the previous one. In fact, there's hardly a throwaway line on the whole of In the Throes, and nary a song worth skipping. The mood of the record certainly wasn't right to be my album of the year (it's been a rough one), but the best is the best, regardless of tempo or context. In the Throes is pretty low-key and gray in emotional content, but it's just too good to be denied. Moreland has distilled all his strengths (with the exception of his rocking side, which is also very strong) into this stunning work of great craft and heart which stands deservingly as FTM's #1 album of 2013. Standouts: All of them, but if I must pick, 3:59 and Blacklist.

2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern
Southeastern is a modern classic. This is an inescapable truth arrived at by a tidal wave of critical approval and fan appreciation. Jason Isbell is Americana's Entertainer of the Year and Southeastern is the Album of the Year; I don't care what any official organizations say. Isbell has done more positive for the genre than anyone else, including the folk-renaissance dudes who actually got radio play. "Elephant" is incredible and if it didn't mist your eyes at some point this year, I don't know …maybe your heart is way too tiny, Mr. Grinch. "Traveling Alone" is remarkable and romantic. "Relatively Easy" is insightful on a personal and wide scope. Southeastern is a masterpiece and what's scary is that Isbell is probably just getting started.

3. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain
Sturgill Simpson may not be the savior of country music, but he sure looks and sounds the part. This laid-back Kentuckian has the voice of an outlaw country god to go alongside his witty and insightful writing style. His songs are sorrowful, heartfelt, clever and self-deprecating, sometimes within the same tune. He probably gets a bit tired of the Waylon comparisons, but if there's a modern incarnation of that legend, Simpson has the talent and grit to at least make a valiant go at filling those shoes. High Top Mountain is an essential edition to any fan of real country music's collection. Standouts: You Can Have the Crown, Old King Coal.

4. Arliss Nancy - Wild American Runners
There is female frontal nudity on the cover of Arliss Nancy's stellar Wild American Runners. That it took someone pointing that out for me to even notice it speaks to the substance over style aesthetic of this hard-rocking, hard-living band. Sliding into the punk meets country standard-bearer position of early Lucero, the already musically strong Arliss Nancy has taken their songwriting to a new level with their 3rd release. "Vonnegut" and "Nathaniel" are among the best songs released in any genre this year. The former's "Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt" is one of the most affecting codas I've ever heard.

5. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener
Full disclosure: I consider Drew Kennedy a friend. He's a good dude who I've had the opportunity to hang out with before, during and after a few shows here in Mississippi. That said, I've never let that affect my reviews or feelings about his music.  As much as I've listened to him (Last.fm says I've played his songs 1,654 times), I still always find his songs to take some time to "get." Maybe it's Drew's poetic style or his unique vocals, but every time I hear his music, it's a new experience. To me, that's the mark of a great artist, and Wide Listener is his strongest and most layered work to date. The fact that he brought in a few co-writers this time around doesn't change the artistic vision or stylistic voice of Kennedy's work. Standouts: Hello Goodbye, Jackson Square.

6. Run the Jewels - s/t (still free!)
Killer Mike and EL-P's last albums were among my favorites of 2012. Putting two of my favorite rappers together on a full album sounds like a no-brainer, but chemistry isn't guaranteed, even between two creative artists with similar takes on hip-hop. Thankfully, Run the Jewels may even be better than the sum of its parts… and its respective parts are already cream of the crop.  This is a party album with a ton of boasts and brags, but it never plays to the "bling and booty" crowd. It's a smart take on culture and good times that's full of memorable lines, but also cohesive songwriting. The production is dirty, raucous and bass-driven, but never aggressively off-putting (like that of a certain rapper on top of everybody's else's lists). I've listened to this album more than any other in 2013 and it looks like 2014 will be another year of RTJ as they've already announced a follow-up.

Standouts: Sea Legs, Banana Clipper

7. Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
Brandy Clark may not be the savior of country music but… wait, this sounds familiar. In country's "year of the woman" (critically not commercially, unfortunately), Clark stood at the forefront, at least for me. Kacey Musgraves might be the most recognizable face of the movement, but Clark is the most vital part of it. Her songwriting is superb, from the knowing ache of "What'll Keep Me Out of Heaven" to the smart-assed wit of "Stripes," she knows her way around a hook and through the ins and outs of the human condition. She's not the stone country throw-back that a Sturgill Simpson is; Clark is what country music should sound like in 2013 if it had evolved without so many greedy influences mutating the DNA. 12 Stories is a progressive work of heart and humor that honors its predecessors while gracefully arching towards the horizon.

8. Austin Lucas - Stay Reckless
Austin Lucas was a drain on my emotions this year. His post-divorce album, Stay Reckless, is mostly a shaded journey through loneliness and acceptance. There are great rockers like "Alone in Memphis" but again… alone. Lucas never sounded better, his voice aching with expression most singers could only dream of. "Splinters," an exploration of the uncertain reasons for the end of a relationship, is a deflating but gorgeous way to end the album on the saddest note possible.
Thanks a lot, Austin.

9. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes and Angels
Fifth on the Floor is the quintessential southern rock band working today. Theirs is a powerful, distinct and gritty take on a sub-genre that has become increasingly tiresome in the hands of less skilled bands. Ashes & Angels mostly steers clear of cliche with strong lyrics, modern attitude, and a mission to bring the rock. Lead singer Justin Wells is a mountain of a man with a voice to match and his cohorts are all excellent players. From the raucous "Whiskey" to the soulful "Angels in the Snow" to the excellent My Morning Jacket cover, "One Big Holiday," Ashes & Angels is an excellent entry from the premier band still carrying the southern rock flag.

10. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose
Nine songs wasn't enough unless Ashley Monroe's plan was to leave us wanting more. On that count, Like a Rose is a job well done. Monroe's earthen angel vocals and gracefully edgy writing made this an album to return to over and again. Confessional and universal at once, Like a Rose gave us modern sentiment wrapped in a timeless package. Monroe covers regret, crime, drinking, lost love and a marriage in need of a little spice. What more could you need in a country album? More songs maybe…  Standouts: Morning After, Two Weeks Late

11. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

12. Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park

13. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life

14. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork

15. Ha Ha Tonka - Lessons

16. Son Volt - Honky Tonk

17. Guy Clark - My Favorite Picture of You

18. Possessed by Paul James - There Will Be Nights When I'm Lonely

19. Vince Gill and Paul Franklin - Bakersfield

20. Todd Farrell Jr. and the Dirty Birds - All Our Heroes Live in Vans