Song Premiere: Caroline Reese - Airshow

Today we've got a song premiere from Pennsylvania songstress Caroline Reese. Caroline grew up outside Reading, Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia where the rust belt meets Amish country. Her mom ran a horse farm and her dad sold antiques, both facts which certainly inform the old-soul tendencies in her songs. She and her band, the Drifting Fifth, deal with vulnerability and trying to move on in life and love on the new album.

She and the Drifting Fifth have toured nationally and opened for Grammy nominees and winners including Chris Stapleton and Brandi Carlile. Reese has also opened up for americana stalwarts John Hiatt, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Corb Lund, and the Secret Sisters.

We're premiering "Airshow" from Reese's forthcoming album Tenderfoot, out January 6th. It's a bouncing, twangy pop-rock tune with the longings and explorations of adolescence pumping through its veins.

Reese says of the song: "The lyrics in 'Airshow' were inspired by a World War II re-enactment in my hometown every year and a Rainer Maria Rilke quote that I heard the songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard say to the audience - 'Our fears are like dragons guarding our most precious treasures.'

The narrator is probably in her late teens, and the story is about being that age in a county fair or carnival setting and looking for trouble. The music, like the narrator's night, has highs and lows. But I wanted the end of the song to feel like taking off in a rocket ship underneath that final line, 'Fears are dragons, fears are M-16's.'

Enjoy!

New Video: Corb Lund - Washed-Up Rock Star Factory Blues"

A Sad New Christmas Video: Corb Lund - Just Me and These Ponies

Bryx Ft. Corb Lund - Gravedigger (Remix) ...perfect for Halloween

Sometimes it's okay to remix country songs, or introduce EDM elements into country. Here's one of those times.

Corb Lund - Big Butch Bass Bull Fiddle (Live at Sun)

From the amazing Counterfeit Blues.

Monday Morning Memes: Cole Swindell, Corb Lund, etc.

Submitted by J Christopher Smith

Submitted by Big Damn Heroes Band

New Video: Corb Lund & Hayes Carll - Bible on the Dash

Get More: 

A Corb Lund Video + Meme

From Big Damn Heroes

Larry Lee the Primitive Baptist Reviews: Corb Lund - Bible on the Dash

Corb Lund (featuring Hayes Carll) - Bible on the Dash
(listen at this link)

This song is about using the Holy Word as a smoke screen to throw cops off the trail of any illicit behavior by sinful musicians touring the south. I am so turned off by this vulgar premise, I can hardly listen to the song.

I assume Mr. Lund and Mr. Carll were partaking of the devil's vine and suckling at the devil's teat before proceeding on their hell-ride from town to town, proselytizing to the trucker cap and pearl-snap shirt wearing masses. Being the enlightened liberal sort, they assumed it was okay for them to disregard some local trivialities such as red lights and speed limits. Being from the' open-minded' great white north and the self-important state of Texas, these two are already high on themselves, so it must have made for quite the ego trip.

When the yocal sheriff or deputy dared to approach their sin-chariot, one of these two jackwads made sure to slap a stolen Gideon Bible on the dash like some handicap placard in a Walmart parking lot. For shame. The Word is not a shield for iniquities. It is a sword against the same.

I feel bad for these enforcement officers, unwise to the worldliness of these jaded Americana purveyors. I feel worse for the souls of Carll and Lund. Each time they performed this ruse, ol' Satan himself turned up the temperature of their future holding cells a few degrees, laughing through his fearsome teeth all the while.

If I hear of either of these vile artists putting on a show in my state (probably in the wretched sin-den of Oxford), I will alert local authorities to their scam. Perhaps you should overlook the cheap, unruffled pages of the Holy tome and use the good sense the Lord gave you. If it smells like the mary jane, and drives like an idiot on COPS and bears the reddened eyes of a pot junky, perhaps this is not the touring van of a Christian artist. No sir, these fellows are spreading evil and should be brought to justice.

"Bible on the Dash" is not so much a song as it is encouragement for other wayward singers to use the same dastardly fraud to get away with their crimes against decency and God. Corb and Hayes, fall upon your knees and beg Him to set your path toward righteousness.

F

Saturday Night Music: Corb Lund

FTM Top 75 Albums of 2012: 21-50

We're getting close now. Almost any of these could have easily made the top 20 in a lesser year. 

Did I miss anything? Well, wait and tell me tomorrow when I reveal FTM's top 20 albums of 2012. 

For now. 21-50:

21. Corb Lund - Cabin Fever

Full of wit and askew approaches, Corb's Cabin Fever has nearly completed my transformation from respectful admirer to fan to obsessed fan. He's an acquired taste, 

but it's well worth the effort coming around to his unique vibe and sound. 

Standout tracks: Bible on the Dash, One Left in the Chamber, Cows Around

22. EL-P - Cancer for Cure

23. The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten

24. American Aquarium - Burn. Flicker. Die.

25. Kellie Pickler - 100 Proof

Who'd have ever thought you'd see Kellie on a Farce the Music "best of" list and not just 

in ridiculous memes and jokes about her "blonde-ness" and amplifications to her figure? Well here she is. 

She said she'd put out a classic country album and she followed through. 100 Proof is not just an experiment either - it's full-blown, cry in your beer, lock your cheatin' spouse out, burn down the honky tonk country music. And for her effort? No hits and dropped from her label. Nashville sucks. 

Standout tracks: Long As I Never See You Again, Mother's Day.

26. Blackberry Smoke - The Whippoorwill

27. John Fullbright - From the Ground Up

A late discovery that probably would have ended up much higher on this list if I'd had more time with it. 

RIYL: Ryan Adams, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark.

Standout tracks: Jericho(!), Forgotten Flowers

28. Wade Bowen - The Given

29. Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Grifter's Hymnal

30. Soundgarden - King Animal

31. Japandroids - Celebration Rock

32. Dirty River Boys - The Science of Flight

33. The Deadfields - Dance in the Sun

34. Rodney Hayden - Atascosa Sand

35. Father John Misty - Fear Fun

Another album that might have climbed higher if I'd heard it earlier. Imagine Fleet Foxes with (100x) 

the vitality and actual hooks. Makes sense because J. Tillman was a member of Fleet Foxes. 

Fear Fun retains a lot of the indie vibe with its off-kilter lyrics but delivers for those of us who prefer a rootsier sound with a true alt-country delivery and even some Gram Parsons-esque desert rock.

Standout tracks: Nancy From Now On, Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings

36. Fistful of Beard - Until We Know Better

I can't say enough about this band. If you'd like Lucero by way of The Ramones, this is the album for you.

Passion, sorrow, humor and swagger. It's all here. And just look at that cover.

Standout tracks: White Bluff, Daddy's Breath

37. Rival Sons - Head Down

38. The Dirty Guv'nahs - Somewhere Beneath These Southern Skies

39. Jeff the Brotherhood - Hypnotic Nights

40. Alan Jackson - Thirty Miles West

41. Horsehead - Sympathetic Vibrations

42. The Hawkeyes - Goodbye Americana

43. Jack White - Blunderbuss

44. Kathleen Edwards - Voyageur

45. Gary Clark Jr. - Blak and Blu

46. Shovels and Rope - O' Be Joyful

47. Ronnie Fauss - I Am the Man You Know I'm Not

48. Ryan Bingham - Tomorrowland

49. fun. - Some Nights

50. Frank Ocean - channel orange

Album Review: Corb Lund - Cabin Fever

By Kelcy Salisbury

Corb Lund, as I’ve said before, is the Canadian singer who should be a superstar rather than Justin Beiber or (showing my age) Bryan Adams. And that’s probably the first time his name has appeared in a sentence with Justin Beiber.

On August 14th Corb released his most ambitious project to date, the 26 track (if you buy the deluxe edition) Cabin Fever. Now I’m a fan of Corb’s work, I’ve bought all his albums since he started playing with the Hurtin’ Albertans, back around a decade ago, so I don’t consider myself completely impartial but I do believe Corb’s albums have progressively improved with each release, a rare thing indeed.

Cabin Fever kicks off with the politically charged Getting’ Down On The Mountain, a song that feels to me like a bit of a companion piece to The Truth Comes Out from his previous album, Losin’ Lately Gambler. From there it swerves almost into Matt King territory with the macabre humor of Dig Gravedigger Dig. This 1-2-3 punch is completed by Bible On The Dash, a classic Corb Lund road tale kicked up into a higher gear as a duet with Hayes Carll.

The album continues to draw on all Corb’s varied influences ranging from bluegrass, to punk, to rockabilly and classic cowboy music but somehow it all hangs together as a whole as Corb’s road worn voice narrates tales of ranching (Cows Around), running too fast on a motorcycle made in Germany (Mein Duetches Motorrad), death (Priceless Antique Pistol & Pour ‘Em Kinda Strong), wild girlfriends (Gothest Girl I Can), heartbreak (September & One Left In The Chamber).

I could break down each song, but I’m sure others will do a better job than I could, the bottom line is that this is a strong though wide-ranging and sometimes scattered effort. If you’ve never listened to Corb this might not be the best album to start with (although it’s certainly a good one). I’d recommend Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer or Losin’ Lately Gambler for an introduction. If you’re already a fan I don’t have to tell you that you’ll enjoy this one. If you’re a fan of old-school cowboy music there’s something here for you. The same goes for fans of the folk stylings of Ian Tyson. There’s even some yodeling, featured in most of Corb’s albums. Hayes Carll fans will want to own it just for Bible On The Dash. It’s certainly Corb’s most ambitious and far ranging album, there’s even a strong Beach Boys influence on one song. I found it to be a fun and satisfying album. The mix is perfect throughout, the musicianship is great, and the storytelling is great, the true hallmark of Corb Lund’s music.

If I had to give it a grade I’d say 4.5 out of 5 stars. Corb may be an acquired taste, but he’s a taste well worth acquiring.



Buy it here or elsewhere: http://www.amazon.com/Cabin-Fever/dp/B008F9M38A/ref=tmm_other_meta_binding_title_0

Holiday Music: Corb Lund - Dig Gravedigger Dig

From his current album, Cabin Fever, here's Corb Lund's timely new video for "Dig Gravedigger Dig."

5 Albums You Probably Missed But Shouldn't Have

by Kelcy Salisbury

I'm sure everyone has at least one favorite "obscure" album, whether it's a little known effort by a well-known artist or the masterpiece album of their favorite underground band. Here are five relatively unknown albums that should be in your collection, in no particular order.

1) Billy Joe Shaver - Tramp On Your Street

Billy Joe's songwriting is in fine form here with versions of Georgia On a Fast Train & Live Forever included along with When The Fallen Angels Fly, a hauntingly personal heartbreaking story with a seed of hope included, and the autobiographical title track. What really makes this album the crown jewel of Shaver's discography is the blazing guitar work of his son, Eddy Shaver. Eddy Shaver was one of the great guitar players of his generation, who tragically died much too young. If you want to hear him at the height of his powers take a listen to this one.

2) Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans - Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer

Chris LeDoux's strong western sensibilities and sense of humor meet strong musicianship and perfectly suited vocals to the subject matter. Highlights are Ian Tyson's turn on The Rodeo's Over, and the raucous romp of Good Copenhagen.

3) High On Fire - Surrounded By Thieves

Sludge Metal masters churn out 8 of their heaviest tunes in front of a live crowd (given the title maybe they should have recorded in a prison). The energy of the live performance surpasses their studio efforts, in my opinion. Standout tracks are Hung, Drawn and Quartered along with The Yeti but this is as album that needs to be listened to straight through.

4) Black Lab - Passion Leaves A Trace

90s rock fans may recall Black Lab hitting the charts in the late 90s with Wash It Away & Time Ago from their standout album Your Body Above Me. What you may not realize is that they are still around and making good music. They may have been mislabeled in the 90s post-grunge movement, thus they weren't the easiest band to market, making them another casualty of the downturn of the music business. Regardless, Passion Leaves A Trace features strong lyrics over mostly shimmery Bowie influenced arrangements. Essential tracks are Ghost In Your Mind & Pictures of People.

5) Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof

This may be the most well known album on this list, but it's also such a great album that I felt I HAD to include it. There are a few albums that come out each year (if we're lucky at least) that are so good, regardless of genre, that it should be mandatory that anyone who claims to love good music own them. This is such an album. Again, it should be listened to as a whole, but if you're so broke you can only buy a few songs pick up Ragged As The Road, American Blood, How Was California, Mirage, and Godforsaken Town. If Godforsaken Town doesn't tug at your heartstrings you are not human.

Hopefully you haven't heard of at least one of these albums and you'll find something in here to enjoy. Until next time.