Ky-Yi Bossie – come along with Bob Weir
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Bob Weir over the last 10-15 years, it’s that he is most definitely not going to shave that giant mustache and beard. Bob, such a handsome dude underneath that hair! Ah well, the beards are here to stay all around me, I may as well just get used to it.
Crazy to think that more than 21 years have gone by since the passing of Jerry Garcia, bringing with it the end of what was the Grateful Dead. Bob has never let up though. He’s carried on with Ratdog over years with a rotating cast of characters in the band (sorry to see that the great bass player Rob Wasserman passed away earlier this year); and he has re-congregated in different incarnations with his former Dead band mates, most recently as Dead & Company, with John Mayer joining in on guitar and vocal duties (A+ decision on everyone’s part). I’ll finally be checking them out next May when they visit Phoenix on the second show of their tour (May 28).
Adding to his always active life in music, Bob also released Blue Mountain earlier this year, only the third album of his career billed only as Bob Weir (along with 1972’s Ace and 1977’s Heaven Help the Fool). It’s a collection of “cowboy” songs, as he’s referred to them, with help from quality musicians like Josh Ritter and a couple members of the National (who curated that huge and excellent Dead tribute project earlier this year, Day of the Dead).
The album struck a chord with me. I love the downtempo side of the music, and the great melodies and laid back acoustic stylings in Blue Mountain really grabbed me.
A notch above the rest for me are “Gallop on the Run,” “Whatever Happened to Rose,” and especially “Ky-Yi Bossie,” painting a vivid picture of addiction and relationship problems that have to be at least semi-autobiographical. It’s imaginative and honest, framed in a very catchy cowboy tune with a very cowboy title. Check it out…
- Check out Blue Mountain on Amazon.
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Beautiful Strangers
A quick blast of quality tuneage from Kevin Morby. “Beautiful Strangers” was written to honor the victims of the Orlando shooting. Morby is a 28-year old singer songwriter born in Lubbock, Texas and now living in L.A.
This tune was released along with a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “No Place To Fall” to benefit Everytown For Gun Safety, an organization fighting the good fight for common sense gun legislation.
Some songs just catch my ear – this is one. Great little guitar groove and a beautiful tune with some heavy subject matter. Tragically beautiful..
Pay $2.00 for the 2 tunes here on Kevin’s Bandcamp page.
Recap: John Mellencamp at Comerica Theater in Phoenix
I can’t quite figure out why it took me this long to see John Mellencamp live for the first time. Like so many other Americans around my age (that’s 45 in a few days), I came to know John Cougar (at the time) from the earliest days of MTV. I vividly recall a road trip to my old hometown in Minnesota over the holidays of 1982, and seeing the “Jack & Diane” video on constant rotation at my friend’s house, along with the other very limited number of music videos at the time. I fell in love with the song, and came to realize over the next few years – as John released hit after hit: “Pink Houses”, “Small Town”, “Crumbling’ Down”, “Authority Song” – that John’s music would remain with me for life.
So for some reason, it took me 33 years (!) from the time I knew I loved his music to buy a ticket and go see him in concert. It was worth the wait.
With his sharply dressed, crack band in tow, John sauntered on stage last night at Comerica Theater in downtown Phoenix and launched right into two blues-based numbers from his latest album, Plain Spoken: “Lawless Times” and “Troubled Man”. It was really something to see, with John and the band all dressed in black suits and a black dress for his long time violinist – and the floor lights lighting each of them individually… when John would finish the verse and chorus, he’d take a few steps back while at the same time the rest of the band would take a few steps forward to the front of the stage. It was simple but powerful choreography that shifted the focus to the players – a really cool idea that elicited fist pumps and goosebumps.
But naturally, the crowd really came alive during John’s classic songs from the 80’s: “Minutes to Memories”, “Small Town”, “Check It Out”, “Rain On The Scarecrow”, and of course his biggest hit, “Jack & Diane”, which John performed solo on stage with his acoustic guitar. It was a playful, fun singalong version, with John teasing the crowd for skipping the “Suckin’ on a chili dog” second verse and going right to the chorus. It was one of those intimate moments between performer and audience that you rarely experience – a shared experience with an old tune so tied into everyone’s younger years; most everyone in the crowd thinking back to what they were doing 33 years ago as the song spent 4 straight weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts.
After a nice couple of songs from John’s play, The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (which opening act Carlene Carter came out to sing), and a short violin/ accordion interlude of John’s tunes, the energy level went through the roof with old favorites ‘Rain on the Scarecrow”, “Paper In Fire”, and especially the final four tunes of the evening: “”Crumbling’ Down”, “Authority Song”, “Pink Houses” and “Cherry Bomb.”
We weren’t ready for it end, and my buddy and I were somewhat shocked when John walked offstage after “Cherry Bomb” and the house lights immediately came on. The crowd was so amped up and ready for more, and let’s face it, how many headlining rock legend shows have you seen without an encore? It was an abrupt ending and somewhat of a buzz kill, as everyone wanted, needed, and expected more. That’s my one “huh?” critique of an otherwise excellent evening.
When all was said and done, John Mellencamp delivered the goods. His voice still in fine form, with all those same moves you’ve seen in videos and performances over the years. It was a treat, and a major music bucket list item checked off my list.
Set List
July 29th, 2015
Comerica Theater, Phoenix, AZ
Lawless Times
Troubled Man
Minutes to Memories
Small Town
Stones In My Passway
Human Wheels
The Isolation of Mister
Check it Out
Longest Days
Jack & Diane (acoustic, solo)
The Full Catastrophe
Away From This World (Carlene Carter on vocals)
Tear This Cabin Down (CC and JM on vocals)
~ Accordion / Violin Interlude ~
Rain on the Scarecrow
Paper in Fire
If I Die Sudden
Crumblin’ Down
Authority Song
Pink Houses
Cherry Bomb
Katie Queen of Tennessee
The song is sweet, catchy, and mesmerizing. It got me right from the moment I saw this video on Palladia. I’d never heard of the Apache Relay. They’re from Nashville, and they took their name from a scene in the 1995 movie Heavyweights (co-written and co-produced by Judd Apatow – he’s everywhere).
The video is a good match for the song – random, unexpected, and pretty damn delightful…
The Apache Relay (Amazon)
Future Islands on Jools – Meet Samuel T. Herring
Another hat tip to Later…with Jools Holland for introducing me to yet another great act – this time, Baltimore’s Future Islands. “Seasons (Waiting On You)” is a great track, lush with synth melody. But it’s the antics of front man Samuel T. Herring that make Future Islands very much a visual experience. It’s his lunges, his crouching side steps, his guttural death metal growls… his emotive expressions with each word of the lyric, making the song seem that much more heartfelt… it’s his command of the stage, and his comfort and ease with being, well, weird.
Much respect to Sam, leading the charge. I could watch him all day.
In Appreciation of Mellencamp’s “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)”
After hearing 1996’s “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)” two or three times at random times over the last week or so – on my iTunes/Spotify shuffle, on SiriusXM – I realized that, to me, it’s the last great Mellencamp tune. Yeah, I know he’s had some quality stuff since – darker, bluesier, rootsier… some of it produced by T-Bone Burnett. But I’ve always favored the melodic, folk/pop-oriented sounds of Mr. Mellencamp – from “Ain’t Even Done With The Night” to “Tumblin’ Down” to “Jackie Brown” and a host of others (can’t forget the quirky Casio sounds of “Jackie O“, which he co-wrote with John Prine).
“Key West” is found on the album ‘Mr Happy Go Lucky‘, John’s first album after his heart attack scare in August of 1994 (at the age of 42). He pulled out all the stops and brought in DJ/dance producer Junior Vasquez to produce the album. There’s still the folk/pop, but with the loops and funkier feel – especially on “Key West.” That’s soul-man extraordinaire Raphael Saadiq plucking the bass on the track too.
As for the video? Yep, that’s Matthew McConaughey (three years post-‘Dazed and Confused’). Outstanding tune. Wistful, pleading, horny, and funky. An ode to that pretty girl who’s just out of reach. The song hit #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 – John’s last Top 40 song (to date).
Christopher Owens – Nothing More Than Everything To Me
I’ll admit to being slightly underwhelmed by Christopher Owens’ debut solo album, Lysandre, released a year and a half ago after his disbanding of the amazing band Girls. Yeah, it had its standout moments (“New York City” being my favorite), but it lacked that immediate spark that made me want to go back and listen again and again.
The tunes I’ve heard from the newly announced album, A New Testament, have me intrigued and eager for the release. And today’s released single, “Nothing More Than Everything To Me” (with its accompanying video below) definitely brought the spark back. It’s a fun, infectious two minutes of pop – bringing a smile to my face the same way “Honey Bunny” and “Laura” did from his Girls days. Sounds like a return to form to me…
Oodles of details about the new album here on Christopher’s site. Yeah!
Required Viewing: Fred Eaglesmith
I experienced my first Fred Eaglesmith show Wednesday night as Fred’s ‘Traveling Steam Show” rolled through Arizona.
How to even begin? The great music, the between-song monologues that are a show unto itself, the kickass backing band (including the talented and quite lovely Tif Ginn). My face hurt from laughing so hard, and I am still riding a high from that great night of music.
Fred and the band are inside their vintage tour buses rolling into Texas now as I write this, with a good number of dates left on this tour (up through the midwest and into Canada).
I can’t put the experience into words and do it justice. A good start is this full show from the 2007 at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.
Folks, if Fred Eaglesmith and his Traveling Steam Show stops through your town, drop what you’re doing and GO.