Leftover Cheese

I came across Robert “Wolfman” Belfour earlier this week and I love his story. He grew up in North Mississippi’s hill country, so blues is in his soul, but he never had a music career until he started playing on the streets in Memphis.

His father died when Belfour was 13, and his music was relegated to what little free time he had, as his energy went to helping his mother provide for the family. In 1959, he married Noreen Norman and moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he would work in construction for the next 35 years.

In the 1980s Belfour began playing on Beale Street and in 1994 he had eight songs featured on the compilation album, The Spirit Lives On, Deep South Country Blues and Spirituals in the 1990s. This led him to Fat Possum Records and his first album What’s Wrong With You, which was released in 2000 when Belfour was 60.

His 2003 release Pushin’ My Luck is now in my listening rotation (it’s available on iTunes). Here’s track two from that record, “Breaking My Heart,” courtesy of the label.

See Belfour perform “Done Got Old” on YouTube.

I took note of Adam Carroll’s music recently, after Hayes Carll mentioned the San Carlos singer-songwriter.

Carroll has a new record coming out this month. It can be downloaded in advance of it’s release at Lone Star Music. Lone Star also offers an interview with Carroll where even more leads to new musicians are given–this time to Fred Eaglesmith, Scott Nolan, Mark Jungers and Roger Marin.

Q. Your new record, Old Town Rock & Roll, is your first one without Lloyd Maines producing. Were you looking for a new sound?

A. I’ve been doing some touring with some Canadian friends that I met through Hayes Carll by way of the Fred Eaglesmith crowd two of which are Roger Marin and Scott Nolan.

Scott is one of those guys I’ve been lucky enough to get to know over the past year or so- He writes great songs one of which is called “Bad Liver and a Broken Heart” which is on the new Hayes record.

We were playing at Roger Marin’s festival up in Canada and we started talking about doing a record together. The idea was really exciting to me because Scott is very dynamic and engaging as a person and performer and I just had a feeling that we could do a great record. When I got back home i was so looking forward to the chance to work with Scott that I finished a bunch of half written songs that I had lying around plus a few new ones and we went to Mark Jungers’ house and started recording. I had written a lot of songs over at Mark’s and I knew that it would be the perfect place to record, (it’s) really laid back, comfortable and creative.

We all treated my record as an experiment that we could walk away from if it didn’t work but I think we all knew right away that it was going to be good.

Nolan wrote “Bad Livers and Broken Hearts,” which appears on Hayes Carll’s new album.

The circle is unbroken…

[MP3 Offering] “Oklahoma Gypsy Shuffler” off Old Town Rock and Roll by Adam Carroll.

Scott Avett is a talented individual. He’s known for his work with The Avett Brothers, but he’s also an accomplished painter.

According to his web site, Scott is also active in illustration, printmaking, and sculpture (in addition to his songwriting, recording and performing duties).

Captain Obvious had a chance to speak with Scott last week, before the band’s Friday night Merlefest appearance.

Obvious: You guys have really picked up a lot of steam as of late, playing Late Night with Conan O’Brien last year and having “If It’s The Beaches” played on the NBC series “Friday Night Lights.” Are you surprised by the success?

Scott: None of our accomplishments have made us champions but we are extremely thankful and honored by the recognition. Since day one we have promised to carry ourselves proudly no matter the rate of “success” that comes our way. Success, for us, is to maintain that integrity and that attitude and nothing can touch us… but, surprised to find yourself on the Grand Ole Opry or Conan O’Brien, no doubt about it.

Good attitude.

I recently came across the work of Jeremy Lyons & The Deltabilly Boys. Given that Lyons in playing dba, one of my favorite bars in New Orleans this afternoon at 4:00 p.m., it seems like a good time to mention him.

According to his MySpace, he moved to Cambridge, MA in 2005. I’m thinking it must be nice for Lyons to be back in the Crescent City this week during Jazz Fest. It’s surely a good thing for his fans.

[MP3 Offering] “I Just Don’t Care” by Jeremy Lyons & The Deltabilly Boys

We’re just back from our first Merlefest and there’s much to share.

Let’s begin with the bands we were able to see perform.

Saturday
Levon Helm Band
Ollabelle
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder with Bruce Hornsby
Hot Buttered Rum
Bearfoot
Alison Brown Quartet with Joe Craven
Donna the Buffalo with Jim Lauderdale and Tim O’Brien

Friday
The Avett Brothers
Peter Rowan + Tony Rice
Sam Bush Band
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Donna the Buffalo
The Infamous Stringdusters with Tim O’Brien
Ralph Stanley & Clinch Mountain Boys

What a lineup. Donna the Buffalo with Jim Lauderdale and Tim O’Brien on the Hillside Stage on Saturday was the best set of the bunch. But seeing Ollabelle for the first time was a treat. Ollabelle, featuring Amy Helm, played the Cabin Stage just prior to her father Levon Helm’s set. The music coming from this “tweener” stage was special, and not just because Ollabelle played “Ripple” and “Brokedown Palace.” This is a band to learn much more about.

I also enjoyed seeing Alison Brown Quartet with Joe Craven (from David Grisman Quintet). This quintet-for-the-day pushed bluegrass into an experimental place and I like when that happens. It’s interesting to note that Brown runs Compass Records in Nashville, which ain’t no big thang for a Harvard- and UCLA Business School-educated banjo picker.

Ricky Skaggs with Bruce Hornsby was also excellent. In fact, I’m buying the album they recorded together now.

Levon Helm opened up his headling Saturday night set with “Ophelia,” and right there, the price of admission was pretty much covered. He had a lot of energy and attacked his kit, putting some rock and roll on the plates of the traditionalists still gathered (many scooted out after Ricky Skaggs).

Merlefest is a great time in a beautiful foothills setting, but I’d be negligent in my duties if I failed to mention there is no beer, wine or booze available inside the festival grounds (and I never smelled even the faintest whiff of pot). It’s a sit down affair popular with lots of middle aged church going folk. You might say there’s the Ralph Stanley and Doc Watson faction of traditional music lovers and then there’s a new school element, on stage and in the audience. (I know some people were shaking their heads at The Avett Brothers, but hey, they play acoustic instruments.) At any rate, everyone seems to get along fine but it’s not an equal mix of hula hooping acoustic freaks and traditionalists. The old school has numbers at Merlefest.

UC Santa Cruz, long a home to eccentric individuals, is now officially the most Dead-friendly university in the land.

According to The Wall Street Journal (no irony there), surviving members of Grateful Dead have decided to give the group’s archives to the university library in Santa Cruz, Calif., which some Silicon Valley executives hope to help turn into a mecca for scholars and the band’s fans.

The trove, to be transferred to the University of California at Santa Cruz, includes photos, artwork, press clippings, posters, letters, backstage passes and other documents assembled by the band over 30 years, as well as memorabilia sent to the group by fans. It doesn’t include the Dead’s huge vault of live recordings, which still spawn new releases and generate revenue.

Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley investor and musician, and Bill Watkins, chief executive of Seagate Technology and a longtime Deadhead, are expected to join a committee to oversee the project, which is likely to require considerable fund-raising.

“Time will surely mold you into something you don’t like…”

Such a great writer.

[via Jerry’s MySpace]

Paste Magazine asked Ben Gibbard, lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie to visit Big Sur and meditate on life, his life specifically.

Gibbard’s essay is a good read. I could point to several different passages, but I like this one about fighting the accelerated pace of things.

I can unequivocally say that I’m so glad we were one of the last bands to break before the Internet got crazy. We actually had some time to develop. I hate hearing people say, “I went and saw this band—everybody’s saying they’re really great—but I went and saw them last night and they weren’t any good live.” You know why they weren’t good? Because they’ve never done more than five shows in a row, and now they’re two weeks into a tour—their first national tour. They don’t know how to get to the shows, they don’t know how to sleep right, they don’t know where to find food. They don’t understand how to make a set list somebody cares about. You can’t blame these bands for not being great yet. We were terrible when we first started playing. Our shows were so fucking boring.

For the opposite of boring look at this cinematic eight and half minute video featuring a song about a stalker from the band’s new album, Narrow Stairs (in stores May 13th).

There’s another important piece of Gibbard’s writing worth examining.

Before I made a living playing music, I used to work shitty job after shitty job and think “Man, as soon as I’m able to make a living in music, it’s really going to come together then, it’s really going be amazing.”

The point here is find a way to be happy where you are. Enjoy your path, because it’s never ending. Even when you make it as an artist, you’re still just a guy walking a path, living a life with ups and downs and all the rest.

I caught my first Spoon show last night in Fort Lauderdale. I’m so glad I did.

Several of the band’s song are still echoing in my head, including “Turn My Camera On,” “Cherry Bomb,” “Don’t You Evah,” “Eddie’s Ragga” and “Rhythm and Soul.”

Here’s a live performance of “Rhythm and Soul” from last fall in Nashville:

I wish I had video from last night to share. This band is beyond tight. Lead singer and guitarist, Britt Daniel, is a force of nature. The son of a neurologist, Daniel grew up in Temple, Texas, before heading to Austin for university. He now lives in Portland, Oregon–another musical stronghold. I mention his background because this is a smart guy heading up a smart band.

Spoon is also skinny jeans band. In fact, long tall Mr. Daniel sports a pair. But there aren’t any shoegazers at this show. Spoon “gets your hands from your back pockets.”

[MP3 Offering] “Rhythm and Soul” from The Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 8/20/06

Texas Music Magazine has a terrific interview with Hayes Carll.

Q. You made a name as an independent artist. How does it feel to be signed now?

A. I just see it as I’m me. Lost Highway’s been great and I’m really excited about the potential they give me, but at the end of the day it’s not about labels or publicists. You’ve gotta have the songs. If you don’t have the songs it’ll dry up at some point. Obviously, I work hard at my career and try to stay afloat, but I’ve always focused on that. At the end of the day, I’m a songwriter. Delivering on that allows all the other stuff … it just starts and ends with the songs.

I love that answer.

Hayes is solid.

I also like that he calls Adam Carroll, Walt Wilkins and Sam Baker, “true poets.” I’d never heard of these fine gents, but with Hayes recommendation, it took but seconds to click over to iTunes and buy Adam Carroll’s “Far Away Blues.” Wilkins and Baker, you’re next!

Hayes adds at the end of the interview, “In my perfect world, Todd Snider would be a platinum artist, Ray Wylie Hubbard would be winning Grammys and Adam Carroll would be selling out Gruene Hall. But that’s just my taste.”

And my taste, and many others’.

[MP3 Offering] “Drunken Poet’s Dream” by Hayes Carll (live at Waterloo Records, 4/8/08). Ray Wylie Hubbard co-wrote this song.

Texas is uncommonly musical.

I’m listening to Hayes Carll’s new release, Trouble In Mind, out today on Lost Highway. It’s bound to be big in honky tonks from Odessa to Beaumont, for Carll drips Texas from every pour in his body. In a good way.

Another Texan I’m listening to these days is Jimmy LaFave. Pop Matters reviewed his 2007 release, Cimarron Manifesto, a record I have in my collection. Here’s a passage from the article:

LaFave’s sound is much more Red Dirt than Red State, although geographically speaking, it would be easy to assume that, if the media were to be unquestionably believed, it reflects a “Hey! Everything’s alright!” musical mentality. On Cimarron Manifesto, LaFave recognizes that everything is not alright. Picking up the protest song mantle, he delivers the oh-so-Guthrie, “This Land”, combining a folk-based, traveling road song with a subdued sadness and depression regarding the state of the country. Tackling the subjects of poverty and war, the song invokes images of a Steinbeckian dust bowl in a contemporary setting: “I see people / Just stranded by the road / They’re hopeless and forgotten / While the milk and honey flows.”

LaFave moved to Oklahoma during his high school years, and that state also plays into his writing and music. In fact, he put out an album named Texoma in 2001.

Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune calls some of the songs on The Raconteurs’ new release, Consolers of the Lonely “White Stripes B-sides.”

I respect Kot, but find this line of reasoning odd, because what I’m thinking is The Raconteurs are better in almost every way than Jack White’s original outfit. Not that I dislike the White Stripes. Maybe, I just need more than a two-piece can provide.

Kot also comments on the rush that brought Consolers of the Lonely to market.

Dispensing with the usual months-long marketing campaign that accompanies a big release on a major record label, the Raconteurs last week announced that they would rush their second album, “Consolers of the Lonely” (XL/Warner), into stores Tuesday in all formats: digital, CD and even vinyl.

“We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the exact same time so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding [its] availability, reception or perception,” the band said.

It’s the latest indication that bands (and a few record companies) are wising up to the idea that the long lag time between finishing an album and actually releasing it to set up a proper awareness-building campaign is bad business. Now, it’s not unusual for fans on blogs and message boards to share unauthorized files of an album and dissect its contents weeks before its official release date. It’s a world in which a new album is often already old news by the time it shows up for sale on iTunes, Best Buy or the local mom-and-pop store.

After giving the record a couple listens, track four, “Old Enough” stands out. It opens with acoustic instruments and a from-the-hills-of-Tennessee feel. The lyrical setup is also intriguing. “You look pretty in your fancy dress, but I detect unhappiness. You never speak so I have to guess you’re not free.”

What’s The Wall Street Journal doing in Akron? Checking the air in Firestone’s tires? Negative. The venerable business newspaper is checking in with Pat and Dan of The Black Keys. The band has a new album coming out on April 1, and the Journal’s multimedia feature is part of the advance hype. Attack & Release was produced by Brian Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, and will be released on Nonesuch, a Warner Bros. imprint. In other words, it’s a big deal for this two-piece blues band, known for its stripped down low-fi recordings and kickin’ live show.

I’m glad I got to see Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll in Austin this week.

Carll went to high school in The Woodlands with my cousins, so I’ve been hearing about him and now I know why. Critics have likened him to Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. That’s a tough billing to live up to, and having seen him perform but once, I’m not ready to make those lofty comparisons. However, I am ready to say he’s got a good sense of humor and a gift for lyrical storytelling. I also like how he mixes ballads with barroom rockers.

Trouble In Mind, Carll’s major label debut on Lost Highway comes out Tuesday, April 8th.

[MP3 Offering] “I Got A Gig” by Hayes Carll (from the new album, courtesy of songs:illinois)

I discovered Idaho’s Travis Ward and Hillfolk Noir in a quirky indie film called Ibid at SXSW last night. Writer, director and star of the film, Russell Friedenberg, refers to Ibid as a “folk-rock road movie,” so one might expect the score to support that vision and it does.

[MP3 offering] “Old Gray Horse” by Travis Ward and Hillfolk Noir