Kevin has interviewed a lot of cool people since he started with us a couple of years ago. He's also reviewed a few live events and albums and angered a few people along the way, ha. Here's a sampling of his work and a playlist of the "Best of" his interviews and reviews that he put together. Give it a listen!
Interviews:
Zephania OHora
Willy Braun of Reckless Kelly
Kelly Hogan of The Flat Five
Robbie Fulks
Chelle Rose
Brent Cobb
Kasey Anderson
Jason Eady
Album Review: Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
Showing posts with label Reckless Kelly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reckless Kelly. Show all posts
Jun 23, 2017
Reckless Fulkin' Rose: Kevin's Interview Playlist
Feb 25, 2017
Saturday Night Music: Reckless Kelly Covers Dire Straits
Labels:
Dire Straits,
Reckless Kelly,
Saturday Night Music
Sep 22, 2016
Willy Braun of Reckless Kelly: The Farce the Music Interview
Doing What They Do at the Sunset Motel
By Kevin Broughton
It might strain credulity that a couple guys shy of their
fortieth birthdays would be considered elder statesmen of a music scene.
Unless, of course, their last name is Braun. Reckless Kelly’s Cody and Willy
Braun have a musical
pedigree that’s genuinely hard to fathom. Grandpa Musty was a roadhouse
piano player & singer in rural Idaho who in his childhood learned to play
accordion from a neighbor named Lawrence Welk. Father Muzzie toured the
Mountain West with his brothers before forming Muzzie
Braun & The Boys, a western swing band featuring his four sons.
Practically before they were out of short pants, brothers
Cody, Willy, Micky
and Gary had played the Opry and Johnny Carson, and opened for the likes of
Haggard and Cash. So, yeah, it makes sense that Reckless Kelly – two decades
into a professional music career – are viewed as an institution in the (pick
one) Red Dirt/Texas Country/Roots Music scene.
Sunset Motel, the
band’s 11th album and their first on the Thirty Tigers label,
premieres Friday, and it’s what anyone familiar with them has come to expect:
tight instrumentation and arrangements; damn near perfect lead vocals from
Willy that fit just as snugly in a plaintive ballad or driving rocker; and the
kind of comfort level found in a pair of 10-year-old Justin ropers. It is –
like seemingly all their records – vintage Reckless Kelly. It’s what they do.
We caught up with Willy (young for a musical greybeard at
38) while he chilled in Austin in advance of an upcoming East Coast tour.
Topics included longing for the days of big-hatted musical clichés, a new
record label and the state of the country music industry, and the virtues of
turning off the water whilst brushing one’s teeth.
Your brother Cody
mentioned through your publicist that you wrote “30 or 40” songs for this
album, y’all recorded 20 of them, and 13 made the final cut. Sounds like at
least another album’s worth of tunes are at the ready; is there any chance of
y’all going Physical Graffiti, so
those outliers are on a future album?
Yeah, there’s quite a few that we ended up recording that
weren’t too bad you know, that turned out good, and we just had too many to put
on one album. That’s kinda the first time we’ve ever really done that. We’ve
had a couple leftover songs in the past, we’ve never had that many. There’s
probably gonna be a collection of kinda outtakes, demos and stuff like that
somewhere down the road. We’re not sure. We were kinda thinking about doing it
for our 20th anniversary, but that’s this year, so we missed that
boat. (Laughs) We might do it in a few years or something
like that. There’s some stuff that’ll probably get seen.
Over what time period did you write these songs?
Well, let’s see. I started writing I guess maybe not long
after Long Night Moon came out which
was September 2013, so between then and about a year ago, I was writing kind of
up until we went into the studio this spring but I wasn’t doing a lot after
maybe last summer. Kind of got the bulk of it out of the way.
Reckless Kelly is one
of those bands with an unmistakable sound. I mean, within a couple of measures of the intro, then a
couple more with your voice, it’s “Well, that’s a Reckless Kelly song.” Y’all
have your own distinct style. How, if at all, would you say Sunset Motel is different?”
Man, I think it’s probably just a little more the modern
version of the band. We’ve been doing it for about 20 years and we never really
wanted to stray too far from what the people liked about us in the first place.
But you can’t go making the same record over and over, so you have to slightly
reinvent yourself every time; try to write about different things. Like I said,
you don’t want to go too far off the rails because you know that’s what got
people involved in the first place. I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to put your
finger on that Reckless Kelly sound, it’s just 5 guys who’ve been playing
together for a long time, it’s just something that’s evolved over time. It
changes a little bit every year, probably, but nothing really too fast.
I want to get into a
couple specific songs and then jump around some. First, “Radio.” There are some brief snippets of songs at
the very beginning before things crank up, and they’re just too quick for me to
pinpoint. Are one or more of them
y’all, sounds like there may be a girl too? This is uber-trivial, but I’m
curious.
Actually, none of them are us. It’s the people that came
into the studio, we had a few guest musicians on the record. A couple of people
came in and we recorded some stuff that didn’t end up making the album. We
thought it’d be cool, we wanted to do like a radio thing… we thought it’d be
cool if we used our friends who were kinda on the record so …it’s a Mickey
& the Motorcars song “Tonight We Ride.”
Mickey and a couple other guys from the Motorcars came in
and played some acoustic guitars on a couple of the tracks. Then there’s a
Rosie Flores tune on there. She didn’t end up actually being on this record, but
we cut a version of “Wild Horses” with her and Keith Gattis ‘cause they bopped
by one day and we were just messing around. So the Keith Gattis song on there
too, his version of “El Cerrito Place,” I think it’s the first one you hear. And
Chris and Eleanor Masterson also, Eleanor played a bunch of strings and fiddle
stuff and Chris did a guitar part on “Sad Songs About You” so there’s a little
piece of a Mastersons song on there too.
I should probably
know this, and a better reporter would have researched this better, but where
did y’all record this and who produced it?
We produced it ourselves. My brother Cody, and Dave, our
guitar player, and I have pretty much produced the last 3 or 4 records we’ve
done. We recorded it here in Austin at Arlyn Studios. That’s the studio we made
our first record at 20 years ago…they were kind of… they weren’t closed down
but they were doing more like editing and video production for a long time and
they just reopened the studio as a recording studio. It was kind of cool to go
back there and kind of revisit the past a little bit.
I interpret the song
as somewhere between tongue-in-cheek/good humor and a big ole middle finger to
Nashville. Where would you put it on the continuum? Or am I just missing it
completely?
No, you’re right, it’s tongue-in-cheek and …it’s not really
so much of a middle finger to Nashville. It’s kind of more, it’s making fun of people
in Nashville but not just Nashville, kind of kids today, for lack of a better expression. Any genre you want to
talk about, there’s gonna be kids who don’t really do their homework, didn’t really
put the time in that it takes to become a really good musician. A lot of people
these days think you can learn 3 or 4 chords, and write 10 songs, and make a
record and then you’re a rock ‘n roll star.
Well, they’ve got a bit of a point. Sad freakin’ thing…
(Laughs) Yeah. But
the guys that we looked up to looked up to guys before them, and they did their
research and learned about…you know… we’ve played in jam sessions with people
sometimes and they don’t know any Merle Haggard songs, and we’re like man how
did you even get to this point where you’re playing guitar in front of people and
you can’t play anything but like the six songs that you wrote. Just kind of
blows my mind.
I heard somebody one
time, I wish I could remember who it was, on the Buddy and Jim Show on Outlaw Country (Sirius XM). It was an old
songwriting hand and he said “You know, it used to be you’d go to Nashville and
they’d audition you with a tape recorder and now it’s like they’re doing it
with a video recorder.” I thought that summed it up pretty well.
Yeah, it’s kind of amazing, there’s just so much competition
and so many people out there these days, YouTube and things like that, where it
seems like the bar has been lowered really far. It’s weird for guys who grew up
playing music and really respecting the people who came before us …and worked
really hard to learn how to play and write and sing, and I’ve been doing it for
a long time and then to see people who don’t really have the respect for history
– the craft…
Seems there are
certain facts of life for acts like Reckless Kelly. Does it still just rub
y’all the wrong way that bands with actual integrity and quality songwriting
aren’t gonna see the airwaves, but for Sirius XM?
Yeah, that’s a bummer you know. It’s been going on for a
long time. Our first album Millican,
I wrote a song called “Hat Acts” about the Nashville ‘hat acts.’ That was 20
years ago and it was kinda focused on what I used to call cliché country when people were writing a song all based on a pun
on a cliché, which seemed like the thing. Twenty years later I wrote another
song about it and that’s “Radio.” Looking back, it’s kind of funny, the guys
that I wrote “Hat Acts” about seem like awesome artists at this point. I’m
always like “Man I’d take those guys over the crap that they’re putting out
now.”
Now it’s like you
ought to do one called “Backwards Ball Cap Acts.” You can use that, by the way.
I might, might have to update that one. You know, you really
can’t get too annoyed with it. The bummer is that there’s a lot of guys in
Nashville, everybody kinda picks on Nashville, but there’s so many great
musicians and songwriters and artists in Nashville that you’ll never hear of,
just because the mainstream thing is getting crammed down everybody’s throats.
Kinda bugs me when people say “Fuck Nashville” or “Nashville sucks” because
you’re only seeing like five percent of what that town has to offer. There’s
some similarities between that and the Texas scene. The more and more people
that start to play music down here …the cream’s gonna rise, but sometimes the
people that are making more money are going to get more attention than guys
that have more talent.
Y’all recently found
a new home with 30 Tigers, a label that just keeps stockpiling more and more
quality talent. How important was
the label’s stability and commitment to y’all retaining your independence when
y’all made the decision to sign with them?
We started our own label a couple years ago and got a couple
records out on it now. We took everything in house for a long time because it
seemed like the way the industry was moving, and the fact that we could do a
lot of stuff on our own, and keep a little more of the dough is why we did
that. But this record, we early on recognized that we’re kind of proud of it
and thought there were some good songs. We’re getting to the point where it’s,
you never know when people are actually going to stop making records these day.
‘Cause people aren’t buying music anymore and we’re kind of thinking this may
be one of our last opportunities to make an actual record that people will buy
a physical copy of.
We might be able to get a couple more out of it, but who
knows? So we were thinking that this might be a good opportunity to give one
more try with a major distribution deal. Those guys have a great track record
with bands like us that are sort of outside the norm. The guys that they’ve got
on their roster had some real good success with people like that that fit into
the same ‘straddling the fence’ category that we’re in. We figured it’d be a
good fit so we’re gonna give it a shot and see how they do. Won’t know until it
happens, but so far so good. They’ve been on top of everything and they’re easy
to work with. I think it’s gonna help us out.
And you’ve mentioned
that the band is now in a place where y’all aren’t “killing yourselves to pay
the bills.” Can you point to a time in your career that you realized that was
the case? When did you know y’all could relax a little bit?
It kind of happened over a long period of time. Back in the
old days, we’d play every night, six
or seven nights a week. The older you get and the more miles you get traveling
around… really we were trying to just tour smarter, so we’re not going out and
beating our heads against the wall playing gigs that really weren’t paying off,
whether financially or exposure-wise. It took us a while to figure out how to
do it, but we basically just wanted to cut those gigs out, or as many of them
as we could and focus on the ones that mattered, the ones that got us in front
of people or some exposure or paid well. It’s kind of a tricky thing to do, and
it’s a lot easier said than done. We’re still working in that direction to try to
play less and make more and kind of maximize the exposure and make every gig
count. It’s a long process that we’ve been working on for years so it wasn’t
anything that we wanted to do overnight.
I have a couple of
fan boy questions to get out of the way. First, can there ever be a better
murder ballad than “Crazy Eddie’s Last Hurrah?” I mean, it’s perfectly
sectioned off: Cheatin’ and leavin’; drinkin’ and drunk-dialin’; and killin’.
I don’t know, that’s such a funny song to me. I probably
wrote that thing in less than an hour. Never in a million years would’ve guess
that that one was gonna be the big hit, the one that people talked about. It
still kind of blows my mind that people like that song as much as they do. It’s
kind of a throwaway song to me. I still like playing it, never really disliked
it, but I feel like I’ve got a lot better stuff.
There’s no doubt, but
when Sugar Hill put out the Best of Americana Series, I don’t think it’s
insignificant that the one live cut they put on there was that one. I just
think it’s fantastic.
Thanks man. Ragweed recorded that and that made it more
popular than we ever would’ve. They had a lot going on at that time. When they
put that on their live record , that gave us a little boost.
I noticed that too
and …you guys to me are like kindred spirits and you and Cody even sound alike
I think, singing. I think there are worse comparisons to be made. Also, has
there been an instrument invented that your brother can’t play? The Gourds had Max Johnston, Son Volt’s always had a
multi instrumentalist. It’s like y’all have two. How big an asset to the band is he?
He’s irreplaceable. He’s a great fiddle player, he’s a great
mandolin player, he can play harmonica and he’s learning piano and B3 right
now. It’s kind of surprising it’s taking as long as it is, because usually
…like, he doesn’t play guitar but sometimes he’ll pick up my guitar when it’s
just sitting there and then play better than I can and he doesn’t even claim to
play guitar and he doesn’t know any chords.
If he wants to pick out a solo, it sounds like he’s been
playing it for 20 years and it kind of pisses me off. Also, I think one of his
biggest assets, one of the things he brings to the table most is he’s such a
great harmony singer. He and I being brothers and singing for such a long time,
he can kind of fall into the pocket with me without even trying at this point. He’ll
put three or four parts on some songs. You know, whatever the song needs, he
really good about finding that right part or parts and not overdoing it, and
knowing when to overdo it. He’s definitely the best harmony singer I know.
Muzzie Braun, JR Cash, and future members of Reckless Kelly & Micky and the Motorcars, "at some county fair in Oregon many moons ago." |
We always knew we were going to be musicians. That’s what
the family business is, and we started playing music in dad’s band before we
even realized it. We did home schooling so it was kind of concentrated, so
that’s why we were able to get out of school a couple years early. Mom (or her
tutors) were only dealing with a couple of kids instead of 35. We were able to
do it a little faster than everybody else was. Our main goal starting out, and
still is, was to making a living at it.
Our dad always made a living doing it, and my grandpa did
and my uncles do, so it’s always just been something that …it’s more important
to us to make good music than it is to make money. Basically, our goal and our
focus is to make records we’re proud of, and put on good shows, and just be
able to make a living at it. And anything that comes on top of that is just
kind of gravy, you know. Then, there’s a bucket list of things of course. You
wanna play Madison Square Garden and Saturday Night Live and go on tour with
Bob Dylan, things like that. You never know if they’re gonna pan out but it’s
never too late to accomplish little things like that along the way.
K: Is there a band
out there whom y’all have opened for or toured with where you said “dadgum,
we’re opening for (fill in the blank)” and it was just awesome?
Yeah, we used to go out and do a lot of shows with Robert
Earl Keen and he kind of took us under his wing when we got to town, and I
remember thinking about that. When we were going up the east coast with him on
this 3 or 4 week run, hanging out with all those guys, and becoming friends and
every once in a while we’d get up and sing an encore with them or something. At
that age too, it’s quite a while ago, just kind of being in awe of their
company and their talent.
There’s been a few times where we got to record a couple
songs with Steve Earle one time. I remember listening back to the tracks, we
backed him up as the band on a couple of tribute tracks for a Warren Zevon
tribute and an Alejandro Escovedo track. Once we got done with that, we
recorded them in one day in Nashville. I never listen to our music very much
just because once it’s done, I’m kind of sick of it, but I sat and listened to
those two songs all night. Like I can’t
believe we backed up Steve Earle,
he’s always been one of our biggest influences.
Sunset Motel has that traditional Reckless Kelly balance between
rockers and ballads, but the bulk of the songs are about relationships. Is this
something you set out to do purposefully, or an organic thing?
You know, this record in particular I just had so many ideas
for songs that I didn’t get to use on Long
Night Moon ‘cause about halfway through Long Night Moon, I realized it was
all songs about traveling and I took that route and made a little bit of a
theme out of it. So I ended having a bunch of left over ideas and half-written
songs that were good, but were just in a different theme. I actually had a
bunch of leftover stuff that I wanted to use, and so I decided while I was
writing that I wasn’t going to push it in any direction whether it be ballads
or rockers or country, love songs, or break up songs, anything like that.
So there’s all sorts of different subject matters. I just
wanted to have all the best songs right off the top. We picked about 20 of
those, worked them up, and just kept whittling it down until the best ones were
the ones that made it on the record.
And let’s talk about
“Volcano,” (and I hope you don’t hang up on me or anything) your nod to the
issue of climate change. It’s
about as subtle as a punch to the throat…
(Laughs)
..and one of the
reasons I asked about the time for writing these songs is that we’re in an
election year, and a stranger and more polarizing one than normal…
…it’s nuts, man…
…so did that have any
bearing on the release of this song?
Actually, I’ve been working on that song for quite a while. I’ve
probably had, not even joking, like 15 versions of it, four different melodies,
and four different chord progressions. I kept tinkering with it for a long,
long time because I always liked the idea, and I loved the sound of the word volcano. My place up in Idaho where I do
a lot of writing is right across from the tallest mountain in Idaho, Mt. Borah.
There was an earthquake back in the 80s when we were kids and you can still see
this big fault line that runs across the bottom of the mountain where the
valley floor dropped like 8 feet and the mountain rose a foot or two.
So that’s where I got the idea for it and it kind of became
this song about climate change. Honestly, we’ve done a couple songs that were
political in the past and this …at the very last minute we decided to put it on
the record because I wasn’t sure I wanted to have this conversation over and
over and over. We knew if we did put it on the record, it was gonna happen,
that people would be asking us about it. The funny thing is we don’t really
want to be known as a political band, but you can only write so many songs
about …love songs, or breaking up with a girl, and “Volcano” just ended up
being …it sounds cool and I think the song is cool and it’s also a conversation
that I think people need to have. We kinda bit the bullet and decided to put it
on there and now that it’s out there, I’ve come to peace with the fact that
this is probably going to be just one of many political conversations we have
to have over the next six months or so.
With that in mind,
let’s break this down a little. It’s a catchy as hell song. At the beginning of
the song you say, “Not to question your beliefs, not to be rude,” then in the
second verse you take a lyrical blowtorch to anyone and everyone with an
opposing view. I mean, you seem to openly mock Christians with talk of “God’s
plan;” a “flat earth” mentality; “monkeys into man;” and imputing homophobia to
anyone not on the same side as you. That’s a pretty broad brush, isn’t it?
Yeah, I think so. I kind of opened the song with the punch
line from the old joke, you know, “the water’s cold, and deep too.” It’s saying
about this election, it’s literally a pissing contest. I feel like it’s
probably gonna piss a few people off. I remember when I was a kid, people used
to just throw their beer bottles out the window and that was just totally
acceptable. And now 30 years later, you can’t believe that people used to do
that. Some people would just dump their old cars in the river. I feel like may
in another 20 or 30 years down the road, we’re gonna be talking about this same
issue and people will be saying “Well God, I can’t believe people used to use
plastic water bottles.” A million different environmental issues that we could
go into. I just feel like, a little at a time, over the course of the next few
years, or several years even, people will probably start become more aware of
it as the problem keeps growing. Whether or not it’s a man-made thing or it
isn’t, there’s no harm in, you know, turning the water off while you’re
brushing your teeth.
(Laughing) I’ve done that since I was six, I’m from Alabama, and a
lifelong Republican.
So just in case, you know. Who knows if it’s gonna help or
not, but man. One of these days if we run out of water, you’re probably going
to think back on a lot of water that you wasted. Just for an example, you know
what I mean?
Is politics/policy a
big part of your life, and if so, has it always been? Or did it maybe rub off
on you, living in an enclave like Austin?
It definitely rubs off on you. This day and age with
Facebook especially, and Twitter, and that kind of stuff where that’s where
people get their news. Myself included, most people my age watch John Stewart
and John Oliver. I don’t consider myself a really political guy, mostly because
I don’t really like having political conversations with anybody that doesn’t
agree with me. It’s the same with religion, you’re never gonna change the other
guy’s mind. Never seen anybody have an argument about politics or religion
where the other person walks away with a new opinion. It’s always a fight. It’s
one of those things you’ve just gotta chip away at; you’re never gonna changes
somebody’s opinion with just one Facebook post, but maybe if they hear the song
30 times they might start turning the water off when they brush their teeth.
You mentioned in the
bio that y’all were part of the “second wave of the movement,” and that Trace by Son Volt had a big impact.
That’s a top-5 all time album for me, irrespective of genre. A couple questions
along that line. First, can you name a couple other albums for you that are so
impactful you’ll never stop listening to them?
Trace is definitely one of those. Guitar Town. That’s
always gonna be one of my favorite records. I was like 10 years old when I
heard that album and I don’t think I’ve ever been that impacted by a record
since that day. Still listen to it. Our old bass player Shifty and I sat in
back of our tour bus one day a few years ago and we – he had his bass and I had
my guitar – and just for shits we decided to see if we could play every song on
the record and without even thinking about it, we did. All of Guitar Town.
Wow.
We’d played a few of them before
of course, but we knew it that well. We’d
heard it that many times. We didn’t even have to look to see what song came up
next. It’s like that important of a record to us. That one, and then Billy Joe
Shaver’s Live at Smith’s Olde Bar was
another one we listened to a ton when we started the band. That combination
between Billy Joe’s lyrics, and his country voice, and Eddie’s just rock ‘n’
roll guitar made it like hearing a rock band play country songs, like it’d never
been done before. That was another huge record for us when we got started.
And if a generation
is roughly 20 years, I guess we’re in and around a new one right about now. Who
are some of the emerging artists, particularly in the Red Dirt/Texas Country
scene, who’ve grabbed your attention?
Let’s see, there’s a guy named Parker McCullom who’s, he’s
got one record out and I’ve only seen him play a few times, and met him a time
or two. He’s really good. I think he’s gonna make some waves. He’s a really
good songwriter, and he’s young, got a lot of talent, good singer, and all the
ladies love him …so I think he’s gonna go places. Let’s see who else is out
there right now… there’s a great band called Sons of Bill. They’ve actually
been around for quite a while at this point, but I still kinda consider them
up-and-coming. They’re great; I think they should be a lot more famous than
they are. Really great songwriters, and I love their production and the whole
ball of wax.
In the past couple years
there’ve been some artists getting mainstream acclaim and awards with virtually
NO airplay, and decent sales to boot. No thanks to Nashville, in other words,
Isbell, Sturgill & Stapleton are defying convention. Are these apparent outliers reason for
hope for the likes of Reckless Kelly?
Yeah, absolutely. It gives you hope to see somebody say with
no real support from the mainstream at all come and makes such big splashes.
You know, one minute, Sturgill Simpson was opening up for us out in L.A. and now
two years later, you’re watching him on Jimmy Kimmel, and Fallon.
Letterman…
Letterman, yeah. Watching his songs climb up the charts and
selling records, and selling out huge shows; doing two nights in a row at the
biggest venue here in Austin. It’s awesome. It’s great to see guys who have
some integrity and musical chops buck the system and make it work. And that
comes back to one of the reasons we decided to give Thirty Tigers a shot, because
they did so well with guys like him and Isbell. It’s good to know it still
could happen, you know.
What did you think by
the way, because you’re a pretty savvy social media guy… about Sturgill dropping
elbows? First about the naming an award after Merle, and then on Garden and
Gun… I thought it showed not only balls, but absolute integrity for him to say,
you know, what the hell?
It’s a ballsy move to say something just that out there and
honest, you know. I really respect what he said and how he said it. I think he’s
right when he says these guys, the same people who wouldn’t play Merle Haggard
on the radio or wouldn’t give him his last moment in the sun before he passed
away, are all of the sudden, you know it’s kinda like seeing all the Cubbies
hats all of the sudden. The Cubs are doing really well and everybody’s wearing
the hat.
You know, Merle Haggard dies and everybody’s playing Merle
all of the sudden; and some of us have been listening to him and playing him
our whole lives. It’s not annoying really because it’s great to see him get
recognized and obviously everybody’s bummed out that he’s gone, but it’s kind
of a little late to the party and then to take an award and put his name on it
and hand it to some of these people that he openly trashed.
And by the way I saw
Jason Isbell, his first tweet, he’s like I
don’t know what Sturgill said but I agree with him 100%. Then an hour later
he’s like oh, I saw what Sturgill said
and I still agree with him 100%.
(Laughs) That’s funny. I think he’s right on, and it’s a
ballsy thing to say, especially when he’s probably in line to win some of those
awards. He’s kind of biting the hand that feeds him but that’s kind of what
being an outlaw’s always been about. It’s what Merle would have done.
Finally, your new album is out Friday. What’s in the works for a tour
to support this record, and what are you doing next?
The first big tour we’ve got coming up after the album drops
is going up the east coast with Mickey and the Motorcars for a couple weeks. And
then right after that, Wade Bowen and I are going across the pond to England
for about 10 shows in November, just the two of us. That should be interesting.
And then, man, when I get back from that, I probably start writing again. We’re
not exactly sure what our next project’s gonna be; it’s either gonna be another
album or maybe a collection of outtakes and old stuff, like we were talking
about earlier. We kinda need to circle the wagons again and figure out what
we’re gonna do next ‘cause we’ve got a lot of ideas but just need to pick one.
--------------------
*photos courtesy of Willy Braun's twitter account, Missing Piece, and ???
Sep 9, 2016
WWE Country Reaction Gifs 15: Rascal Flatts, Darrell Scott, FGL, etc.
When Darrell Scott gives songwriting advice, you listen
"I was already mad at having to come in Walmart,
but they're playing Chris Lane too??"
When some dude on the bread aisle is humming "Cruise"
You don't like Reckless Kelly?
Bobby Bones said what??
When people keep talking during the Lori McKenna show
Whassup girl, I got Chase Rice tickets?
Pick you up around 8?
If Rascal Flatts was black and they tried to pick up Gary
Feb 5, 2016
New Video: The Departed and The Brauns - All Nighter
Jan 23, 2016
Saturday Night Music: Reckless Kelly
Labels:
Reckless Kelly,
Saturday Night Music
Jun 27, 2015
Saturday Night Music: Reckless Kelly
Labels:
Reckless Kelly,
Saturday Night Music
May 20, 2014
Album Review: Fire Mountain - All Dies Down
Fire Mountain's All Dies Down is my favorite pure alt-country album I've heard in ages. It harkens back to the 90s glory days of the "genre," bringing to mind the guitar pop of The Gin Blossoms, the addictive low-key melodies of Whiskeytown, and the edgy jangle of R.E.M.'s more country-leaning tunes. All Dies Down isn't stuck in that era by any means, but it certainly draws deeply from the well.
Lead singer Perry Brown has an affable growl of a voice that's versatile enough to drive heartland rockers like "Factory Line" or ache through the lush balladry of "Traces." Fire Mountain's sound is a big one - restrained, but full - with ample rhythm and crisp guitar licks. There's also piano (don't worry - it doesn't push them into easy listening territories) and it's a distinctive part of their approach, woven seamlessly into the songs.
The songs are the thing though. As good as Fire Mountain is, what they offer your ears on All Dies Down is much greater than the sum of parts. Love, loss, heartache, regret, finding your place, making changes - in their bio, they say (paraphrasing) this is the lot in life of being in your mid-twenties, but I don't know anyone who can't relate to the universal emotions relayed here.
Brown is a sneaky writer, both of subtle hooks and sharp observations. Lines like "How I hung heavy on your heart" from "Anchor Iron" will slide by you so smoothly, you won't know how it got stuck in your head 3 hours later. "When I kiss you just know that I'm spitting blood" from "Factory Line" is delivered with such simmering spite, you can taste the words.
"Doing Fine" is a prime example of the understated nature of these gently delivered but powerfully received messages. With a palette heavy on grays and muted hues, the gleams of light or glimpses of shadows stand out that much more. The chorus seems simple, but simple like a Hank Williams song, forlorn and insightful.
"Traces" is my personal favorite on the album. It's a hard-hitting ballad with a sweeping chorus (with enchanting harmony vocals provided by Janet Simpson-Templin, of Delicate Cutters/Gum Creek Killers/Wooden Wand/ Teen Getaway) and it wouldn't be out of place soundtracking a somber breakup scene in some teen soap. That's not to say it's generic and schmaltzy… okay, it's a little schmaltzy, but it's so damn well-written and just unfair on an emotional level. I would have straight up wept into my cheap beer if this had come out during my college days.
There are a few rockers on the album too, but the heart of the band is most strongly shown in the quieter moments. All Dies Down is thinking man's windows-down music. It's catchy sad-bastard music. It hurts so good.
Highly recommended to fans of: Buffalo Gospel, R.E.M., Reckless Kelly, The Gin Blossoms, Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams, good music.
------
Apr 26, 2014
Saturday Night Music: Reckless Kelly
Labels:
Reckless Kelly,
Saturday Night Music
Apr 2, 2014
Mar 20, 2014
Country Day Parody Covers March '14 Part 4: Shania Twain, Reckless Kelly, etc.
Oct 18, 2013
This Week's Billboard Chart (In a Better World)
Aug 28, 2013
Country Day Aug13 Part 1: Reckless Kelly, Band of Heathens, etc.
Aug 10, 2013
Saturday Night Music: Reckless Kelly
Labels:
Reckless Kelly,
Saturday Night Music
Oct 18, 2012
New Reckless Kelly Video!
Here's Reckless Kelly with the new video for "Pennsylvania Avenue."
Labels:
Reckless Kelly,
YouTube Gems
Dec 28, 2011
Most Disappointing Albums of 2011
I've gotten to the point in my life that I just don't listen to bad albums. That's why you probably won't get a "Worst Albums of (whatever year)" list from me anytime soon. If I listen to a few songs and I hate them, I'm not going to waste my time hoping those were anomalies. These are 2011 releases that I had high hopes for but was let down.
Yelawolf - Radioactive
My initial semi-praise of this album seems overstated now. I've hardly played the album since the week after its release. It's not so much Yelawolf that's the problem here… it's the fact that there's so little recognizable as the Yelawolf I'd come to know and enjoy on his previous releases and mixtapes. I wanted southern culture on the skids (not the band, the thematic element). I wanted hard edges; damn the mainstream, make the mainstream come to you. Instead I got an inconsistent mishmash of sappy crossover hooks and "hard" love songs with a couple of nods to the past mixed in. Can an artist sell out on their first real album?
Reckless Kelly - Good Luck and True Love
Dumb lyrics sink this ship, period. Sure, these guys have never been Townes Van Zandt with electric guitars, but still. At least work on the words long enough that they aren't noticeable. I'm trying to come up with a comparison to an NBA ref… you don't even notice the good ones…. but that's not quite right; lyrics are important and most times I believe they should stand on their own… strip the music away and they're still enthralling. If you can't do that, at least run them by a Nashville song committee and let them blandify the lyrics so they fade into the background. These guys sound tired, and this was the year little brother (Micky and the Motorcars) finally beat up big brother.
Drive-by Truckers - Go-Go Boots
This album isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things, I'm just sick of the sad old man music. I'm sick of being lulled to sleep by one of the most badass rock bands in America. You've got those guitars in your hands and that whiskey in your glasses… put 'em to better use! Don't get me wrong, there are some great tunes on here (Used to Be a Cop, Mercy Buckets), but if I want almost entirely slow, depressing story-songs, I'll listen to Gordon Lightfoot. Pick up the pace!
Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers - Unida Cantina
They phoned this one in. Yawner of the first degree. RCPM is one of my go-to bands for comfortable heartland by way of the southwest rock music. Comfort is good, drudgery is not. I'm not sure what they were shooting for with the dopey album-opener "All Over the Radio." It sounds like they were going for a pop radio crossover when there's no bridge available for bands of this ilk to even cross. The lyrics aren't up to the standards set by previous releases (pre-No More Beautiful World) and most of the album sounds uninspired. "Empty Highway" is the only song that stuck with me.
The Jayhawks - Mockingbird Time
Again, not actually bad… but with the reunion of the original vocalists, I was expecting a homerun. The swelling melodies I'd hoped for are restrained. The big hooks I love are nowhere to be heard. Can they not hit the high notes anymore? I doubt it, and when you've got long range assault rifles in the arsenal, why just fire the pellet guns?
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter IV
Wayne still has a way with the one-liner, but this album just feels like a long string of puns. The beats are boring and the songs just don't hold together. A couple of old-school feeling tracks were winners (Blunt Blowin', 6 Foot 7 Foot) but the rest was difficult to listen to more than a couple times. For as much hype as this album had coming in, it has to be considered the biggest failure of the year.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - I'm With You
RHCP has enough cred in the bank that I'm going to check out anything they release, despite recent sparse and dull output. So, how was this one? Sparse and dull. You've got two of the most exciting artists of the past few decades (Flea and Anthony Kiedis) still in the fold and this is the result? As Andrew from rabbitsblack.com put it: "Five years of waiting, and they release an album that sounds like the B-sides of Stadium Arcadium (which was also disappointing)." Amen.
Note - The only truly awful album I listened to from start to finish this year was Justin Moore's Outlaws Like Me, which (as I said yesterday) is basically just a long string of "how damn country I am" tunes with lyrics a teenager could slap together.
Nov 28, 2011
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.
Sep 12, 2011
Red Dirt Day - Parody Album Covers
Labels:
Drew Kennedy,
Kevin Fowler,
Reckless Kelly,
Rodney Hayden,
Stoney LaRue,
Texas
Jul 27, 2010
Band Mashup: RK+KO=
Labels:
Band Mash-up,
Reckless Kelly
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