Saturday Night Music/New Video / Dallas Moore / "Everything But You"

Farce the Music's Top Songs of 2018 (#11-30)

These songs were selected by me, Trailer, and are in no particular order. 1-10 tomorrow.

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Buffalo Gospel – When Lonesome Comes Calling

Leon III – Alberta

Kari Arnett – One More Chance

Whitey Morgan and the 78's – What Am I Supposed to Do

Joshua Hedley – Weird Thought Thinker

Kacey Musgraves – Happy & Sad

Lucero – Among the Ghosts

Brandi Carlile – Sugartooth

Mike and the Moonpies – Beaches of Biloxi

Brent Cobb – King of Alabama

Old Crow Medicine Show – Look Away

Whiskey Wolves of the West – Alexandria

Dallas Moore – Somewhere Between Bridges

Pusha T – If You Know You Know (explicit)

Kelly Willis – Back Being Blue

Josh Grider – Pictures Do

Brandon Jenkins – Be the Revival

Amanda Shires – White Feather

Hawks and Doves – Chasing the Sky

Vince Staples – FUN! (explicit)

Farce the Music's Top 10 Albums of 2018

Like numbers 11-25, these were voted on by all Farce the Music contributors.

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10. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk

This is the album where Dallas Moore took a huge step forward. He's always been good, but on Mr. Honky Tonk, the songwriting, vocals, and especially the production all came together. Normally I'd not even consider voting for an album with only 8 tunes, but when the material is this strong, there's nothing wrong with delivering a short, powerful punch. Moore knows for damn sure who he is and on Mr. Honky Tonk, that comes through loud and clear. Check out "You Know the Rest" and "Somewhere Between Bridges." ~Trailer

9. Whitey Morgan & The 78s - Hard Times & White Lines

When it comes to straight-up, hard-edged country, there's not a single person doing it better than Whitey Morgan.  He and his band have again written a damn incredible country album.  You can always bet the bank on Morgan to only release the best of the best.  You will not get filler or cheap songs.  You're going to get songs about living out on the road, the things that does to relationships, and ways to pass the time when out on the road.  It ain't a pretty life, but when Morgan sings about it, it sure makes you wanna try it out for a while. ~Matthew Martin

8. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star

One for the misfits, but who among us isn’t one? At times depressing, funny and hopeful, and with a dash of redemptive potential. And it’s oh, so very pleasing to the ear. Comparisons to Ryan Adams are inevitable. So far, though, Mr. Kelly doesn’t seem to be a full-of-himself douche. ~Kevin Broughton

7. American Aquarium - Things Change

When BJ lost his band a couple of years ago due to whatever reasons, I thought the American Aquarium name would be retired.  Instead, BJ found a new backing band and came back stronger than ever.  These are some BJ's strongest songs he's written since Burn. Flicker. Die. And, the band!  I'll be damned if this band doesn't seem even tighter.  When BJ has been at his lowest point, band-wise, he's given us masterpieces and this album is no exception.  ~MM

6. Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox

The soul of Mr. Jukebox is decidedly unhip by mainstream Nashville standards, but the songs are glorious throwbacks to guys like Ernest Tubb, George Jones or Buck Owens. The reason Mr. Jukebox succeeds is his backbone of traditionalism, not only in character, but also because of Ole’ Hed’s dedication to the heart of real country music. Hedley’s fiddle furiously battles his smooth vocal runs with a multi-disciplined attack that's just damned good music. Joshua Hedley can strum a guitar, sing with a clean, clear harmonious range, and write lyrics that are not only witty, but also painstakingly crafted so that the words on some of the record’s tracks land like guy punches. ~Robert Dean

5. Cody Jinks - Lifers

Cody is just taunting the Satanists running Nashville now, showing these soulless, undead beings what a country record could be on their radio stations. ~KB

I remember when I first heard Cody Jinks a few years ago, I wasn't immediately a fan.  I don't remember what made me think that- maybe just wasn't in the right headspace or something.  But, that has completely changed.  Jinks released the album that will likely (and seems to already have) boost him to the ranks of Simpson or, potentially even Stapleton.  Jinks's voice is velvety smooth and his band is right on the mark.  The songs are a perfect mix of hard-life livers, hard-night havers, and hard-love lovers.  It's incredibly relatable to those listening and it's the kind of tunes we've come to expect out of Jinks over the last few years.  Yet another very good album in Jinks's short, but incredibly respectable output. ~MM

4. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

An album chock full of beautifully arranged, damn-near perfectly delivered, radio-ready singles that for some reason didn't find their way to Country Radio. It's a shame that format has bent over backwards to completely ignore and ostracize women because Musgraves made the best Country record of the year by a wide margin. I guess the Country Radio folks need to make sure there's always enough room on the charts for any dude named Luke who might decide to release a single at some point. ~Kasey Anderson

3. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You

Brandi’s finest album since The Story (which will always be in my Top 10 of all-time). “The Joke” is simply gorgeous and a song of the year contender. This Dave Cobb produced platter got some serious Grammy nom love and for good reason. ~Scott Colvin

2. Jamie Lin Wilson - Jumping Over Rocks

I’ll be honest, this album is so beautifully understated in its delivery that I almost had it around number 12. Then I sat down & listened again. What Jamie Lin Wilson has done is monumental. She covers perhaps the greatest song Guy Clark ever wrote, and it fits the album. If you’re looking for who’s going to fill those shoes, the answer is still “nobody”, but this album is a tour de force. Jamie Lin Wilson is a generational talent who deserves every bit of acclaim she receives, and then some.  ~Kelcy Salisbury

I love this freaking album. So classy and classic sounding. "The Being Gone" and "Death and Life" are amazing songs. ~Trailer

1. Lucero - Among the Ghosts

To follow Lucero's career has been an amazing transition from country/punk 4 piece to a straight-up Memphis rock and roll band complete with a horns section. For their 9th (or 10th if you count The Attic Tapes) studio album, the guys took it back to their roots and left the horns out for the most part.  What they gave us was their best album since 1372 Overton Park.  It's a musically concise album cutting away any fat and letting the songs and band speak for themselves.  Ben Nichols has written some of his most interesting songs to date about Civil War battles, touring, and shoot-outs.  In a catalog full of incredible albums, this one is certainly at the top. ~MM

Good to see Farce the Music's unofficial house band finally make our top spot! ~Trailer

Saturday Night Music / Dallas Moore / "Home is Where the Highway Is"

Top Albums of 2018: 3/4 Report

Usual disclaimers: This is Trailer's top 20. The year-end list will be compiled from all FTM contributors' votes. 3 more months to go - this'll change a lot by December.

1. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk

2. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere

3. Fantastic Negrito - Please Don't Be Dead

4. Ruston Kelly - Dying Star

5. Neko Case - Hell On

6. Blackberry Smoke - Find a Light

7. Caitlyn Smith - Starfire

8. John Prine - Tree of Forgiveness

9. Lucero - Among the Ghosts

10. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon

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11. Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox

12. Rolo Tomassi - Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It

13. Lori McKenna - The Tree

14. Cody Jinks - Lifers

15. Glorietta - s/t

16. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

17. Ryan Culwell - The Last American

18. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You

19. Buffalo Gospel - At the Last Bell

20. Shooter Jennings - Shooter

The Gravity of Kane Brown

Crap Can Be Authentic Too

Top Albums of 2018: First Half Report

Trailer's top 25 so far. 

Usual disclaimers: The year-end list will be compiled from all FTM contributors' votes. Also, the second half looks really strong, so expect a lot of shake up to this list.

1. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk

2. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere

3. Blackberry Smoke - Find a Light

4. Caitlyn Smith - Starfire

5. John Prine - Tree of Forgiveness

6. Brent Cobb - Providence Canyon

7. Neko Case - Hell On

8. Fantastic Negrito - Please Don't Be Dead

9. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

10. Joshua Hedley - Mr. Jukebox

11. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You

12. Buffalo Gospel - At the Last Bell

13. Caleb Caudle - Crushed Coins

14. Pusha T - Daytona

15. Old Crow Medicine Show - Volunteer

16. Sarah Shook & The Disarmers - Years

17. Leon III - s/t

18. First Aid Kid - Ruins

19. Courtney Patton - What It's Like to Fly Alone

20. Buffalo Tom - Quiet and Peace

21. American Aquarium - Things Change

22. Charley Crockett - Lonesome as a Shadow

23. Brothers Osborne - Port Saint Joe

24. Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain

25. Ghost - Prequelle

And here are Robert Dean's five favorites:

Since we’re ½ through 2018 (weird) – here are the records I’m jamming the hardest and think are this year’s best so far: 

Joshua Hedley – Mr. Jukebox

My #1 with a bullet. It would take a miracle to unseat this record. 

Sleep – The Sciences 

Vein – Errorzone 

Charley Crockett – Lonesome As A Shadow 

At The Gates – To Drink From The Night Itself 

Honorable mention cuz it’s new to me: 

Queensway – Swift Minds of The Darkside 

Top 25 Songs of 2018 First Half Report

It was hard to narrow this down to 25. There have been some truly great and memorable songs released in 2018, and we're just halfway through. These are in no particular order. 

*not a combined contributors' list - just Trailer's*

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Ashley McBryde - Tired of Being Happy

Lucero - To My Dearest Wife

YOB - Our Raw Heart

Willie Nelson - Something You Get Through

Caitlyn Smith - This Town is Killing Me

Kacey Musgraves - Happy & Sad

Brent Cobb - Mornin's Gonna Come

Kelly Willis - Back Being Blue

Buffalo Gospel - When Lonesome Comes Callin'

Joshua Hedley - Weird Thought Thinker

Lori McKenna - People Get Old

Dallas Moore - Somewhere Between Bridges

Trixie Mattel - Soldier

Blackberry Smoke w/Robert Randolph - I'll Keep Ramblin'

Manchester Orchestra - No Hard Feelings

Pusha T - The Games We Play

Caleb Caudle - NYC in the Rain

Old Crow Medicine Show - Look Away

Erik Dylan - Funerals and Football Games

Brandi Carlile - Sugartooth

Leon III - Alberta 

Tami Neilson - Good Man

Whiskey Wolves of the West - Alexandria

Ruby Boots - Break My Heart Twice

Anderson East - House is a Building

Kane Brown is Certified?

Top 20 Albums of 2018 - First Quarter Report

1. Brandi Carlile - By the Way, I Forgive You

2. Caitlyn Smith - Starfire

3. Ashley McBryde - Girl Going Nowhere

4. Dallas Moore - Mr. Honky Tonk

5. First Aid Kid - Ruins

6. Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain

7. Caleb Caudle - Crushed Coins

8. Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

9. Courtney Patton - What It's Like to Fly Alone

10. Buffalo Tom - Quiet and Peace

11. Ruby Boots - Don't Talk About It

12. Wade Bowen - Solid Ground

13. Mike & The Moonpies - Steak Night at the Prairie Rose

14. Trixie Mattel - One Stone

15. Whiskey Wolves of the West - Country Roots

16. Anderson East - Encore

17. Josh Grider - Good People

18. Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats - Tearing at the Seams

19. Ross Cooper - I Rode the Wild Horses

20. Pedigo's Magic Pilsner - s/t

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*there are a few recent and forthcoming albums I haven't listened to enough to rank yet

**This is just Trailer's top 20 - year end list will include all contributors

Ace Ventura Country Reaction Gifs

Average mainstream country executive giving an interview

This, but for your ears when you hear

a Walker Hayes song

Doesn't matter what car you drive.

If Waylon's playing, you're cool.

If Dallas Moore is playing downtown...

"Genres don't matter anymore, but I can call 

this country music if I want to..."

If "Sangria Wine" comes on at the party

Just scored Cody Jinks tickets

Almost as creepy as Old Dominion

Dallas Moore Performs "Mr. Honky Tonk"

From his (very good!) new album of the same name.

Song Premiere: Craig Gerdes "Redneck Sonsabitches"

Photo by Al Steinz

Here's a brand new song from honky-tonker Craig Gerdes. It's a rowdy, plain-spoken tale about struggling against the country machine on Music Row. A very outlaw point of view that fits in perfectly with other anti-Nashville anthems like Shooter Jennings' "Outlaw You" and Dale Watson's "Nashville Rash."  RIYL: Dale Watson, Dallas Moore, Billy Joe Shaver.

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Gerdes' forthcoming record, Smokin', Drinkin' & Gamblin' (out February 16) features pedal steel and production work from Jim Vest (Johnny Paycheck, Willie Nelson, David Allan Coe), as well as steel from Robby Turner (Waylon Jennings, Chris Stapleton). Gerdes has also recently collaborated with Jeff Tweel (Merle Haggard, Kenny Rogers), and has shared bills with country legend Billy Joe Shaver.

Smokin' Drinkin' & Gamblin' is full of outlaw-country rug cutters and ballads about strong heads and weak hearts. Fueled by nostalgia, Gerdes' songwriting talent turns old habits into dependable crutches, nursing the phantom pain of distant love. The nine-track album is full old-school four-to-the-floor honky tonk that calls to mind country legends like George Strait, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson.

New single “Red Neck Sonsabitches” is a chicken pickin’, honky-tonkin’ country song detailing Gerdes’ experience as a working musician in Nashville before deciding to buck the system and go his own way, back into the rural landscape of central Illinois. Bright, twangy production and a brash, anti-Nashville attitude give this song a timeless outlaw country feel that recalls the genre legends of the 1970s.

More information about Craig below the song player!

CRAIG GERDES - SMOKIN' DRINKIN' & GAMBLIN'

Craig Gerdes is a singer whose voice is steadied by the legion of angels he believes watch over him. He tells stories at a Southern pace, with a soft voice and slow drawl. His new album Smokin', Drinkin', and Gamblin' is full of outlaw country rug cutters, and ballads about strong heads and weak hearts. Fueled by nostalgia, his songwriting talent turns old habits into dependable crutches, and nurses the phantom pain of missing lovers. 

Though he hails from rural Illinois, his sound is four-to-the-floor, old-school honky tonk, reminiscent of greats like Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard. As great songwriters often do, he spent time as a writer in Nashville, where he had some success, and learned that his songs were too country for the cosmopolitan elite. 

"Redneck Sonsabitches" eloquently details the story of his Nashville experience, one that put him in front of great outlaw songwriter Billie Joe Shaver. Shaver laughed with him about the difficult road honest songwriters sometimes face on Music Row, and asked him if he'd ever been to Texas. Another man of faith, Shaver ensured Gerdes they'd meet again, and three years later Gerdes opened a show for him outside La Grange. The song he penned about it is a swaggerin' chicken-pickin' electric two stepper. The band careens through a tempo change where he namechecks Shaver, who told him "Son, I know just how you feel," before he remembers what record companies remarked about his work—"You long haired redneck sonsabitches are not wanted here in Nashville, Tennessee."

Gerdes began playing country music at the age of 10 in the band of his father, who, as a child, would crowd around the radio with his family waiting for the wind to blow in just the right direction so they could pick up the faint signal from the Grand Ole Opry. The songs his father loved—by country icons like George Jones, Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash—provided the foundation for Craig's work. By age 12, he was already a capable songwriter and musician. And by 16, he'd wandered from the narrow path. "In the same summer," he recalls, "I totaled my car, broke my best friend's neck, dropped out of high school, got arrested and got married."

A few years later, after a chance meeting with a Nashville band, Gerdes wound up living on Music Row. For a time, he literally slept on the floor of a studio where greats like George Jones and Jerry Reed had recorded, a place that's now a one bedroom apartment. "I was hoping to soak up some of that mojo," he jokes about harder times. While Gerdes was able to gain traction with a publishing company and even do some co-writing, his traditional songs just didn't fit in. After years of the seven-hour commute back and forth from his family in unincorporated Pattonsburg, Illinois. (pop. 348), every weekend, he decided to go his own way, leaving Nashville behind and returning full-time to rural life. During this point in his life, while Gerdes was on a hiatus from songwriting to concentrate on raising his kids, his 16-year-old cousin was killed in a car wreck. He was compelled to write again by an angel he believes is her. 

Many of Gerdes' songs embody the life of the traveler. While listening to the radio on a trip, he heard the story of a man found cut up in a box and was inspired to write the murder ballad "Dead In A Box In Kentucky." There's a Spanish guitar solo during the bridge that dances into a climactic finish that concludes with a Hitchcockian fratricidal twist. Gerdes' voice is at its strongest on "Almost To Alabama," where he's joined by dobro, imagining the end of the road, and distant lovers. The title track, "Smokin' Drinkin' Gamblin'" is another song only a road-weary rambler could write. It's the apex of country music, where the rhythm section leads in a thudding backbeat, and steel guitar has room to wander all over the beat, while Gerdes moans about "ramblin' my young life away."

Gerdes sings a mean cheatin' song as well. His ribald song "Learned From The Best" and his cover of Johnny Paycheck’s  "Slide Off Of Your Satin Sheets" bookend the album, the latter a fitting choice—on the surface, Paycheck’s lyrics are about an illicit affair, but under the covers it's about class distinction; the sleek countrypolitan image the music industry creates, and the actual people they use to make the music they desire. 

While Gerdes' songs about smokin', drinkin' and gamblin' aren't necessarily gospel fare he is for certain "spreading the gospel of country music." His experiences and his angels guard him from writing songs "with no heart or soul." Rarely has classic barroom country been so crossover capable. Give it a listen and you, too, will believe.

Monday Morning Memes: Luke Bryan, Nelly, Florida-Georgia Line

New Video: Dallas Moore

Jeremy Harris' Top 15 Albums of 2014

15. Foxy Shazam - GONZO
I don't know what happened but this album really grew on me. With every listen I was more 

and more into the crazy pop/rock sounds one of Cincinnati's most original sounding bands. 

The biggest bonus is that the album is free at foxyshazam.com


14. Those Crosstown Rivals - Hell and Back
This is one of the purest rock albums to be released this year. Very high energy from start to finish 

and features some guest vocals by Fifth on the Floor's Justin Wells.

13. Dallas Moore with Mama Madgelee Moore - Old Time Family Jam
While popular radio may have proclaimed their own "summertime albums", this was mine. The perfect music for sitting on the front porch eating peanuts and drinking cheap beer. (At least that's how I spent my summer) Dallas unleashes his talents by showing his vocal range and playing every instrument throughout the Appalachian folk songs on the album while being accompanied by his mother's dulcimer and her angelic voice.

12. Roger Alan Wade - Bad News Knockin'
I could sit and listen to Roger Alan Wade tell stories all day long but hearing him sing them is so much better. 

With this release he once again shows his serious side and offers a superb performance.

11. Joseph Huber - The Hanging Road
Joseph Huber brings one of the most complete and well mixed albums of 2014. With a little more exposure 

this could've been a huge album this year and deserves any and all praise it received
from those lucky enough to get a listen.

10. Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
Speaking of a huge album; Sturgill went all out on this one and received critical acclaim from so many people that I'm just wasting space by trying to pile on at this point. A must own for all underground music fans.

9. Jason Eady - Daylight and Dark
If Jason Eady isn't one of the best songwriters currently around then I don't know who is. An emotional train ride from start to finish.


8. Texas Hippie Coalition - Ride On
Just as THC states in their lyrics, "Rock ain't dead, it's just in rehab" and these red dirt rockers are doing their damnedest to bring it back to the masses by busting out their most solid release to date.

7. Jimbo Mathus - Dark Night of the Soul
This may be one of the harder to describe albums on my list. A little rock, a little country and a bunch of badass. Great all the way through and features two wonderful tracks written by the late Robert Earl Reed.

6. Bob Wayne - Back to the Camper
A giant step forward for Bob as he seems to be coming into his own while still embracing what fans have come to love and expect. Throw in some great duets and there is something for everyone within these tracks.

5. Phillip Fox Band - Heartland
Finally a full length Phillip Fox Band album. Building upon the sound first established in their debut EP 

"Motor City Blood" the boys swing hard and hit one out while maintaining their self proclaimed 

"country fried rock n roll" sound.

4. Red Eye Gravy - Dust Bowl Hangover
Have you ever wondered what it may sound like if Hank 3 didn't go overly weird at times on his last few releases? Me neither, but if I had thought about it I think this is as close of a guess as I could come up with.

3. Whiskey Myers - Early Morning Shakes
A smoothed up southern rock sound is maybe not the best way to describe the sound of Whiskey Myers but I think it gets the point across. The real question is, why hasn't Whiskey Myers blown up like Blackberry Smoke yet?

 

2. Robert Ellis - The Lights From the Chemical Plant
The ups, the downs, great lyrics and a song questioning religion. Sturgill? Nope, but nice guess. Solid from start to finish and I'll be listening to this one for years to come.

1. Matt Woods - With Love From Brushy Mountain
I once saw a list where Matt Woods wasn't even number one on a list of the most talented singers named Matt Woods. I'm sure this will make him feel better not only from that but also from all the sad songs that put his latest release at the top of my list.... or is it the bottom. Guess it depends on which way you count.

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by Jeremy Harris

*unedited, because Trailer is lazy