JI400 Week in Review 7/20/07

Being jolted from a deep sleep is always fun:

Recent Earthquakes for San_Francisco

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Check out Jason's New Website!
Created by the lovely and talented...
Ms. Jenn Bryant!!!

7 reviews on Amazon and 5 stars across the board:

Amazon.com: Sirens Of The Ditch: Music: Jason Isbell

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Pretty damn snazzy numbers on Billboard:

Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - Jason Isbell:

2007 Sirens Of The Ditch Top Heatseekers 10

2007 Sirens Of The Ditch Top Independent Albums 33

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Talent attracts talent:

blog.myspace.com/jasonisbellmusic: "

Great New News!

It looks like Derry DeBorja will be joining us for the month of July. He plays keys with Son Volt, but they're off next month, so he'll be with us. We're really excited.

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Southern Shelter taped two recent shows:

Southern Shelter: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit @ 40 Watt 7/9/07

Southern Shelter: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit @ The EARL 7/10/07

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Calvin posted a few concert pictures on his MySpace.

Isbell Show Pictures

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Politics and music are like peanut butter and chocolate:

From a thread on Nine Bullets.

Nine Bullets:

"So I gave this one a good listen and I think that it is one of the smartest songs I have ever heard. It took me a couple of times but I think it is about Bush. It makes me think of the pres., after a long day of having to fuck the American people, reflecting on how he is a puppet and that the Iraq thing might not have been such a good idea. i.e. “sometimes I don’t know what I got into”

Some of my favorite lines:
“No that ain't a rainbow son, just streetlamps on petroleum
Lets pull in here and get us some, supplies are running out now” – Makes me think of Chaney driving around Bush in a big ass white Cadillac and pulling over in the Middle East to gas up.

“they tried this all before but daddy wouldn’t let them” – Refers to Bush Sr.’s first Iraq war.

“It doesn't matter who we blame, as long as you all hear a name
All them bastards look the same, everybody's guilty
Everybody look away, look away, look away
It doesn't matter what I say, it's what I do that's shifty” – basically saying that we had to pin the tail on some donkey – why not Iraq.

“Devil is my running mate, this here is his favorite state
There ain't no other candidate, it wouldn't matter anyway” – I think this is a reference to how Bush stole the election"

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A shit ton of articles and reviews on Jason in about every media outlet thinkable.

Not sure if Tracy or New West is doing P.R. but whoever is doing it is doing a great job.

I've noted a few below and you can dig up more on the Jason Isbell Nine Bullet's discussion board.

Great interview in JamBase:

JamBase | Jason Isbell: Tied To The Mast:

"Sirens of the Ditch [out July 9 on New West Records], a stoned soul picnic that serves up all the best parts of the Southern musical spectrum, blending a fabulously tough rock attack with a whole lot of sway. Put another way, this music has hips and a wicked grin."
.....

"'The issue now is a lot of people who make rock 'n' roll music don't have the confidence in making soulful music that they used to have,' says Isbell. 'I think confidence is missing in general in rock 'n' roll right now. You look at Humble Pie or The Faces or even the Beatles, and the music they made white people wouldn't dare try to do right now. They believed they could pull it off. Sometimes you can't but there's a certain accident in there when you go for it and miss that can sometimes be very beautiful. I think it was Duane Allman who said it's never the note you play that's right or wrong, it's the one right after it.'"
......

"'CDs don't really work that way anymore. It was the one time when the stoned guy on the couch is gonna have to get up and go over to the record player, so you better give him something worth getting up for [laughs]. Consistency is not something that's as valued as it used to be. People are looking for singles more than entire records made of quality. Even some of my favorite artists are guilty of that. There's a lot of filler on records today,' laments Isbell."

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Memphis Commercial Appeal: Live Music:

"'I think one of the big reasons Muscle Shoals has so many good musicians is they're just used to music from an early age, and its not something you think of as a career first,' says Isbell. 'I went to my grandmother's funeral over the weekend, and there were dozens and dozens of people in that room that I had hardly ever seen without some sort of musical instrument in their hand. And that's where all the conversations went.'"

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Style Weekly:

Even for an ex-trucker, the urge to stay on the road is strong.

It’s what singer/songwriter/guitarist Jason Isbell is planning to do, having left his role as a principal member of Athens-based Southern rock group Drive-By Truckers (which still features his ex-wife, Shonna Tucker).

“We both pretty much decided we should part ways — that’s all there was to it,” Isbell says by phone from his home in Muscle Shoals, Ala. “Those guys have kids and families, and they don’t want to be on the road all the time. I can’t say I blame ’em for it. But I wanted to hit the road.”

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village voice > music > Jason Isbell's Sirens of the Ditch by Don Allred:

"The Drive-By Truckers' Jason Isbell has now gone solo, but he hadn't yet quit the band while recording Sirens of the Ditch—cut with most of the current Truckers and their regular guests, the record smoothly lures and detours familiar, '70s-based rock-blues-country sounds and expectations while highlighting Isbell's character-actor flair. 'I'm a brand-new kind of actress/I'm the same old stubborn waitress,' a big-bottomed gal happily agrees with a yearning heckler (who's got a gun, it turns out) on the opening tune—however far she gets, she knows she's got the kind of balancing act (plus the audacity-times-tenacity) that an actress-slash-waitress needs."

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Jason Isbell | The A.V. Club:

"AVC: A couple of songs on the album, 'Dress Blues' and 'The Devil Is My Running Mate,' are pretty political. How comfortable are you with putting messages in your songs?

JI: I don't have any problem with it. If you're somebody who writes songs or writes fiction, a writer that people pay for your opinion in any way, you shouldn't be the least bit uncomfortable giving it to them. People want songwriters to tell them how they think and how they feel. That's what a song is. That's what I want to hear in a song."

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Longtown Sound:

"Longtown Sound 136

Mercury recording artist, Gary Nichols, Jason Isbell- formerly with Drive By Truckers, Chris Tompkins and Bo Bice got together at Nashville's Blue Bird Cafe in February 2007 and in today's Longtown Sound you'll hear cuts from that night of song pullin' and fun.

Lots of amazing sounds were sent to me by various means. Someone is always pokin' and proddin' Uncleshag and he likes it - A LOT! Thanks to you all and you know who you are.
Remember, these live, raw cuts are not at all close to studio quality. Each has been equalized and trimmed of as much external noise as possible and the fades are the editors choice. Hopefully you'll enjoy these new sounds of Nashville's writers and tomorrow's stars - as interpreted by the ears of Uncleshag.

-unc."

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DBT! DBT! DBT!

Patterson has some new solo dates posted. Check 'em.


Nine Bullets.org: VIDEO: 'Bulldozers & Dirt' from The Dirt Underneath tour:

" VIDEO: 'Bulldozers & Dirt' from The Dirt Underneath tour
Posted on Thursday, July 19 @ 11:11:38 PDT by NineBullets

Shot at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, April 28, 2007..."

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Pics from Stephen Talkhouse

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Ubiquitous Best of DBT thread

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Paste Magazine - Drive-By Truckers Talk Two New Albums:

"Music is often considered cyclical, like the solar eclipse or crop rotation, and sometimes bands find themselves singled out as direct inheritors of a much older band’s vision. A number of critics have pegged Drive-By Truckers as inheritors of The Band’s vision – even though the Truckers have yet to appear on an album doing back-up duty, which was how the members of The Band initially found prominence.

However, the Athens-based southern rockers will nullify that potential counterpoint with their presence on soulstress Bettye Lavette’s The Scene of the Crime (set to drop September 25 on Anti-). Truckers vocalist and founder Patterson Hood spoke with Paste about the collaboration, as well as his band’s next album, due early next year.

How’s the record coming?
We spent like five days recording and we’re off to a pretty great start. Wednesday of the first week, we ended up nailing like six songs. [Guitarist Mike] Cooley’s really been writing – he hit kind of prolific streak. He’s usually a two-real-strong-songs-a-year kind of guy. And all the sudden we’re working on this record with like eight new Cooley songs. I’ve always been kind of partial to his songs anyway, so the more the better for me."

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Nine Bullets:

capino
Location: Hattiesburg, MS
Sinkhole video from Voodoo Fest

The Drams

Two new absolutely hilarious tour diaries posted on The Drams website.

"...perfectly pan-seared Donkey Dicks...." Tony should consider stand-up.

the Drams:

"So I realize that the 'Tour Dairy' was pretty sucky,what with no descriptions at all. This is because we are going to change gears into my next 'off the cuff Tony's drunk-what -the -hell -is-he-saying-is- he - licking-toads- and watching-Wolfgang Puck-with nothing to do?' moment. Actually, Wolfgang Puck is on, and he sucks about 13 and1/2 perfectly pan-seared Donkey Dicks, with VEG-E-TA-BULS(say it like that turd and it's funny!)!"

And it gets even funnier from an outsiders perspective. Shaky Blake needs his own blog!

the Drams

Greetings from Texas! I know that it would be more exciting if I wrote this thing from Indy, St. Louis or KC, but I didn't have time. By the way, my name is Shaky Blake and much like I stole that moniker from one of The Drams songs, I have stolen this tour diary from Tony to give you a different perspective of the band on the road.
......
The only other notable part of Indy was getting the chance to kick the crap out of Keith. He kept challenging me to wrestle and Brent, Jess and Tony gave me the go ahead. My attack included a body slam, a face kick, multiple back kicks and a knee drop. He vowed revenge in St Louis, but I couldn't take him seriously.
....
And thanks to Keith for trying to wrestle me again. By night's end I think my two-day record against Keith was 37-0. He prides himself on his sleeper hold, but he can't use it when he is stuffed between the bed and the wall.

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The Wydelles

I've been meaning to post something on this stellar musical fellar and his band for a few weeks now but things come up.

Based in Athens.... 3 things you can count on in life: Death, taxes and if a band is formed in Athens, GA then John Neff must play in it. I think they actually passed a law in Athens to this affect.

Jenn B. and Patterson turned me on to Bo Bedingfield, the main man of the Wydelles. You most definitely need to check out his MySpace tunes from a, hopefully, soon to be released EP. I've heard it and it is fantastic.

The song Talk Shows is my favorite.

I ran the tunes by one of my lady friends and her response was:

Love. Voice is a Ben Folds/Pete Yorn combo w/alt-country musicianship. Yummy

Yummy indeed.

Here's some recent live stuff:

Southern Shelter: Bo Bedingfield & The Wydelles @ Star Bar 7/14/07

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Lauderdale

Lauderdale proud to be a Shoals-based band | TimesDaily.com:

"FLORENCE -- A need for a name is what led three Shoals musicians to call themselves 'Lauderdale.'

The rock trio could have easily have been called 'Colbert,' according to guitarist and vocalist Niles Lee.

'We were driving across (O'Neal bridge) into Lauderdale County, and I gave them the option of naming the band Lauderdale or Colbert,' the 30-year-old Lee said.

Lauderdale was the choice."

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Lauderdale MySpace.com: Read Bulletin:

"Show this Saturday - CDs in Florence and online

Hey everybody,

We're gonna be playing at Old Town Tavern on Saturday night with James Grant and the Golden Gears. Since there's gonna be 3 bands, it'll probably get started a little earlier than we usually start over there. James will probably go on around 9:30 with the Golden Gears between 10:30 and 11 and Lauderdale will go on around midnight or so. It's gonna be a fun show, so we hope to see you there.

Also, we'll have CDs and shirts for sale at the show. If you can't wait until then to get a CD, they are for sale at Rivertown Coffee and Pegasus Records. If you go by there and they are out of them, let us know and we'll get some over there ASAP.

For those of you that are out of town, you can click on either of the links on our page to get the album. The Digstation link allows you to order mp3s of the entire album, or get the songs individually.. The CDbaby artwork link sends you to their site where you can order a physical copy of the CD.

Thanks!
Lauderdale"

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Sons of Roswell

Boy-howdy, I love this band. Go catch 'em live. They got several Southeast tour dates.

Check 'em.

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Dexateens

Dexateens have a snazzy new website and an albums in the works.

Can't wait.


D E X A T E E N S

Brothers and Sisters,

Welcome back (again) to the website, Mark IV. We've been busy doing actual band-related stuff lately, so the website got a bit cobwebby. No longer, friends. In addition to the dynamic (striking, even) new design, we also have a bunch of new photos up. In the coming days and weeks we'll have all manner of new content up. We've got live stuff, we've recorded about 25 new songs in the last year, and, as always, there's an overabundance of embarassing photos and video to share. In addition, for late breaking Dteens news, there's always myspace and the email list.

By the way, that weird square in the lower left is a widget for the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans this October. We're playing. And yes, I just called it a 'widget.' That's technical jargon. "

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Dexateen MySpace.com: Read Bulletin

"my blog is called A CABINET MAKERS NOTEBOOK and is at

http://hardwoodlumberandcassettetapes.blogspot.com/

please go there to read my blog

remember when televisions were big as hell?? like a piece of furniture unto themselves?? i built a guitar cabinet a while back that was inspired by those old TVs.

please go there and check my blog. tell me what you think in the comment section.

have a good weekend. dont be strangers."

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Glossary

Old article but worthy of a reread:

Indie Study: Glossary’s skronky, literate rock - MSNBC.com:

"Reconciling Saturday night with Sunday a.m."

Liquor and religion are staples of Joey Kneiser’s songs. Not that he can ever seem to point to either one as the answer.

His band, Glossary, has been together in one incarnation or another for 10 years. They play at times languid, at times skronky, literate rock. You could say Allman Brothers meets Dinosaur Jr., but the songs aren’t dumb enough for the former or noisy enough for the latter.

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Other Music News and Sundries

blog.myspace.com/jenniversive

Are you an artist, or art lover? Please read on!

On 5/31 of this year, Athens lost a lovely young artist. Sabina Hartley-Burke was a 9 year old girl and artist who lost her battle with cancer. You can find out more about her at www.simplysabina.com.

In her honor, friends of the family are hosting the Sabina Art Auction Reception on Tuesday, July 24th, for viewing of the art. The Reception will be at Cutters Pub and Grill on E. Clayton from 6 pm to 9 pm. The art will then be auctioned off on eBay during the following week.

Many area artists have donated works for viewing before the online eBay auction begins. Some works included in the event are from Michael Stipe, Jennifer Hartley, Jason Thrasher, and Chris Bilheimer, to name a few.

We are still gathering art! Unfortunately we have to have the pieces in our possession by Friday July 20, so keep that in mind.

The Reception will feature live music by one of our favorite local musicians, Bo Bedingfield, and a few others. Appetizers will be generously donated by The Globe, and the kind folks at Cutters are giving the Sabina Fund all the proceeds from the drink sales for those hours.

We will ask for a nominal donation at the door ($3-$5) to enjoy the festivities.

Please come out, enjoy the art of our community and help us raise some money to help defray the medical expenses incurred by Sabina's care.

(Local artists still have time to donate works to us- we will accept art pieces up until the 20th of July with a brief artist bio. Please send me a message if you wish to participate!)

Love to all, and all for love...
~j

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Finally, Thank jeebus. Now let's see how long it takes them to get GOOD draft beer.

Draft beer may flow by Sept. 1 - Florence, AL:

FLORENCE -- Draft beer drinkers will be able to have their first taste from the tap in the Shoals by Sept. 1 if city council members pass an ordinance Tuesday.

Florence sought permission from the state Legislature to sell draft beer. The legislation passed May 30, but the council must pass an ordinance authorizing businesses to begin selling draft beer."

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'Mystic Swirl' | TimesDaily.com:

"FLORENCE -- If you think you've got Steve Richerson pegged as only the funny guy, think again.

'Mystic Swirl,' the third offering from Richerson's Concrete Dream Pictures, is an emotional departure for the local filmmaker who's known more for making people laugh: The 30-minute movie is about a family grieving after a child's death from cancer."

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Oh, my fragile little British trainwreck....

You've got to give it to the Brits, though.... The come up with some hilarious titles for their articles:

Another Wine Mess
Amy Declinehouse

The Sun Online - Bizarre: How low can you go, Amy?:

"AMY WINEHOUSE has sunk to a new low with her latest horror stage show."

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I grew up a big fan of Squeeze. Still am.

Shit, when a liberal Southern boy here's somebody singing about black coffee in bed and you know he ain't talking about coffee, coffee... umm hmmm... forbidden fruit.

Squeeze, Crowded House on summer tours:

"Squeeze's partial reunion is an exercise in nostalgia and a business calculation. Crowded House is trying to make a mark with new music after its two surviving original members bonded again over the death of their drummer."

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Back in the groove: young music fans ditch downloads and spark vinyl revival | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited:

The format was supposed to have been badly wounded by the introduction of CDs and killed off completely by the ipod-generation that bought music online.

But in a rare case of cheerful news for the record labels, the latest phenomenon in a notoriously fickle industry is one nobody dared predict: a vinyl revival. Latest figures show a big jump in vinyl sales in the first half of this year, confirming the anecdotal evidence from specialist shops throughout the UK."

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Keith Richards smoked their ashes.

Two stage hands die after Rolling Stones Spain gig - Yahoo! News:

"MADRID (Reuters) - Two workers died on Friday after part of the set from a Rolling Stones concert collapsed on top of them as they were dismantling it, emergency services said."

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Led Zeppelin to reunite? | News | NME.COM:

"Led Zeppelin are in talks to reunite for a memorial concert.

The band are apparently in discussions to reform for a one-off gig in London for their late record boss Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun.

It is thought singer Robert Plant guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones will re-group alongside late drummer John Bonham's son Jason for the gig.

A source close to the band said: 'Page, Plant and Jones spoke and agreed to do the memorial concert. They are waiting for a definite date.

'And no one can quite believe it, but during discussions about the concert they all gave the green light to a tour if it all does well and they don't all fall out."

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WTF?

Bon Jovi scores first No. 1 album since 1988 - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Bon Jovi topped the U.S. album charts for the first time since 1988 on Wednesday, while rock duo the White Stripes scored a personal best with a No. 2 debut for their latest release.

Bon Jovi's "Lost Highway" sold 292,000 copies in the week ended June 24, the rock troupe's biggest one-week sum since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991. The Island/Mercury Nashville set is Bon Jovi's third No. 1 album, joining 1988's "New Jersey" and 1987's "Slippery When Wet."

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Deepest Purple: 1,800 Guitarists Set World Record Playing 'Smoke on the Water' - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News:

"Eighteen hundred guitarists playing 'Smoke on the Water' simultaneously: That adds up to a whole lot of rock -- and a new world record.

Let there be rock: 1,800 guitarists play 'Smoke on the Water' in Germany to set a new world record.

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