Americana Rock News: Black Crowes, Bad Reviews, Sam Moore and More

BLACK CROWES BOUNCE KEYBOARDIST
The Black Crowes have parted ways with longtime keyboardist Eddie Hawrysch due to unspecified "personal issues." Hawrysch has been an intergral component of the Crowes' sound for 15 years. He will be replaced on the band's fall tour by Rob Clores, whose prior credits include Jesse Malin and Blues Travelers' John Popper. In addition, the Crowes have pushed back the planned Aug. 29 release of the double-disc rarities set "The Lost Crowes" to Sept. 26 due to "a recently discovered manufacturing error," according to a spokesperson. Following a summer outing with Robert Randolph & the Family Band and Drive-By Truckers, the Crowes will return to the road Sept. 7 in Richmond, Va.

Maybe that is why the Indy Star reviewer David Lindquist was all pissed about the Black Crowes show in Indy on August 5th
"The Black Crowes turned in a joyless, uninspired effort Friday night at the Lawn at White River State Park.
On the bright side, the weather was pleasant, and a pair of supporting acts made the concert worth the price of admission. The Crowes ran into trouble early, when vocalist Chris Robinson strained to reach high notes. As the performance progressed." Read full story

PAT GREEN
You like Pat Green? Who is Pat Green? I call him the Texas Bryan Adams.
He's opening for Dave Matthews this late summer, and AP says he has to feel as though he'd gained a few more converts. Not a bad opening slot, really, before heading back to Texas to headline arenas and rodeos. Read Associated Press story

MELLENCAMP MP3's
We found a site to download classic Mellencamp MP3 bootlegs. Shhhh. Sharing music is bad. Just like buying and taping albums onto casssettes was bad. And just as DVD's would kill the movie industry, sharing this info will kill the record industry as we know it. Well, good. Die. We don't need another Shakira record anyway.

SPRINGSTEEN ON NEW SAM (of Sam & Dave fame) MOORE CD
Bruce has added his vocals to a duets sort of album by the old soul master Sam Moore . He helps out on the second track, “Better to Have and Not Need”. The album is coming out on August 29, but you can listen to the whole thing as streaming audio here. And let me say, some of it is not half bad. It may not hold a candle against his classic songs like “Soul Man”, and “Hold On, I’m Comin’”, but it’s better than a lot of stuff out there. Bruce does a good job too. The roar in his voice is back. He should use it some more on his next album.

Meanwhile, Bruce is denying rumors of a marital split. Whatta I think? Trust the art, not the artist.

BLADEN'S FULL SEPTEMBER
Twelve shows dot the September calendar, including three band gigs in a row, and four shows this weekend, over three days, including a Saturday Madison doubleheader.

And check out the burgeoning postings of YouTube rock videos on rustybladen.com. Bootleg stuff, Fogerty, Bowie, alt-country. Mucho mas. It' s cool and classic and hip and rewound-ish.

Rock on, my brothers and sisters.
Rob

Rusty Bladen Update: Mt. Adams Report; Website Tweaks

Exchanged email with Rusty Bladen this week. Mt. Adams Music Festival, which he headlined with the band, rocked, according to Rusty.

"Mt. Adams was awesome," he wrote. "Huge stage and PA. Over 800 people. Sound was awesome too."

Tony Burton, longtime guitarist with Rusty's previous band, the Shakin Jakes, subbed for Designated Driver guitarist Mark Hamilton. All was well. "It was as if Tony Burton never left. He sounded great," Rusty wrote.
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Friday night blowout? The Magic 8-Ball says...most likely. Always a rocking, enthusiastic, singing crowd at O'Shea's Irish Pub in Lousiville this Friday (Aug. 18) - solo - 10p -map

note: OB's in Seymour gig on Aug. 24 is not happening - they closed da business. Rusty always drew well there, including the last time in...

Just added:
September 1 @ The Cellar -North Vernon, IN - 10p - - (Rusty goes punk clubbin', at this low-ceiling up-close/most intimately-rocking place you will see Rusty do at this stage of his touring career.)
September 23 @ The Chicken Place - Ireland, IN - 10p - outdoor solo concert -(See the gig at the early leader in the "2006 Best Name for a Club" sweepstakes

website tweaks are complete and online. Video, audio and latest schedule updates are the guts of the site, with new areas for fans to add their own photos and show review.
Wanna see? CLICK HERE to eyeball it.

Americana News for a Hot August Night

Hey all,
Diggin some new tunes and really liking the new Chris Knight album ("Enough Rope") . Pick it up at iTunes or at your favorite little CD store. Album sounds like Steve Earle with better production and less anger and also reminds one of Mellencamp, should he be living on a dirt road and still writing "Scarecrow"-ish anthems. Ray Kennedy (ironically of the same Earle fame.. ex-half of the Twang Trust production team) makes this one sound clean and dirty all at once on the mixing board.

As for the rest? We've got some Americana/rock/country info grabbed from the web. We agree with a lot of it, except for the Petty thing; review is a little too kind to the icon from Florida. The album doesn't rock hard enough for these headphones...but read on, friends. Judge for yourself, because we like it when you do.

HAVE YOU HEARD...?
New CD release
American V: A Hundred Highways
Johnny Cash
When Johnny Cash teamed up with producer Rick Rubin and American Recordings to release the first of his “American” series, he managed to both resurrect his career and earn genuine indie cred at the same time. The four records that followed 1994’s “American Recordings” have all pretty much kept to the same formula of sparse, stripped down arrangements that lay bare both the singer’s voice and the raw emotion of the songs.
He’s produced the best work of his entire catalog in the process. His last release, “American V: A Hundred Highways” is a beautiful final chapter to a truly original American artist’s long and influential life.
(read full review)

Highway Companion
Tom Petty
Tom Petty's never made a bad album. Some flirt with greatness, others simply deliver the goods (his last release, 2002's The Last DJ, was actually one of his weaker efforts), but the man's consistency is pretty astounding. Highway Companion not only keeps his winning streak intact, it even rates above average by these standards. The album is Petty's third release under his own name, minus the Heartbreakers. Highway Companion doesn't reach the towering heights of those two knockouts, but it shares their combination of stylistic range and rock-solid songcraft.
(read full review)

A Blessing and a Curse
Drive-By Truckers
The Truckers' seventh album isn't as detail-rich as 2004's The Dirty South, but it's another engaging variation on old-school Southern rock.
(read full review)

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CLASSIC ELTON?
Elton John has set a Sept. 19 release date for his new studio album, "The Captain and the Kid." The Rocket/Island set is a sequel to the artist's 1975 album "Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy." First single "The Bridge" will be available Aug. 22 from Apple's iTunes Music Store.
(read full story)

BRUCE RELEASE DELAYED
The expanded American Land Edition of Bruce Springsteen's We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, originally scheduled to hit stores on September 5, will now arrive on October 3.
The new version of the widely hailed roots album will include a Springsteen original titled "American Land" that he debuted towards the end of this summer's North American tour. The disc also features covers of Blind Alfred Reed's "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live" and Pete Seeger's "Bring 'Em Home" with modified lyrics by Springsteen, as well as "Buffalo Gals" and "How Can I Keep From Singing." The last two were previously only available on the DVD side of the original DualDisc edition that was released on April 25.

Springsteen diehards may also be interested in picking up A Good Life, the new album from his blues-rockin' buddy, Joe Grushecky. The Boss guests on three songs on the record, which will be out on August 15.
(read full story)

That's as close to rock and roll as we can get in 2006. Turn up the Telecaster.
Call your local radio station (do we all still have one?) and request some new Bottle Rockets - bet they don't know what the hell you are talking about. Make it a learning experience for them. ...Bitches.
Rob