Music City Roots

This week on MCR, songs in brown and black, from bluegrass to southern soul. The night starts with IBMA songwriter of the year and charming vocalist Donna Ulisse. And we close with new songs that sound like standards from an ever- evolving Amy Black. She's got a new album made in, and titled, Memphis. In between, the feel good and tuneful songs of Nashville's Guthrie Brown. And we dip into the show's archives for a set by the inimitable Texas songwriting legend James McMurtry. Peter Cooper hosts this week. Interviews too.

This week on MCR, three from Nashville and a one man British invasion. The celebrated band Blank Range demonstrates exquisite song craft and harmony vocals in a shaggy indie rock style. Hugh Masterson, a recent transplant from Wisconsin, delivers straight up country rock and well told stories. And from a literal isle in the British Isles, emerging blues star Davy Knowles.  Also on the bill, a return visit from hard country phenomenon Emi Sunshine. She played Roots when she was ten years old adn she was darn good. Now she's 13 and the growth has been exponential. 

This week on Music City Roots, string bands and songwriters who show off the range and depth of Americana music. Mike Barnett proves why he's the most acclaimed young fiddler in bluegrass with a band of Nashville All-Stars. And we close with two veteran traditionalist who only recently discovered that maybe they should've been making music a long time ago. Mike Compton and Joe Newberry. Also on the bill, the stunning voice and songs of Los Angeles-based Suzanne Santo, taking a break from her duo HoneyHoney to place her work on brighter display as a solo artist. And we hear from tough yet velvet country rocker Jason Eady.

This week on MCR, two wildly different takes on bluegrass from two sides of the world. The show opens with The Blue Side of Lonesome, a quintet from Japan that's become a shining example of that country's love affair with sound birthed by Bill Monroe. They're really good. And we close with a long running group from Muscle Shoals that's made its name and living giving the bluegrass treatment to favorite rock and roll songs and albums. Iron Horse. Also on the bill, Charley Crockett brings us a magnificent hybrid of classic honky tonk and swamp pop from Texas. While guest host Peter Cooper's latest musical excursion is a trio with Eric Brace and Thomm Jutz, featuring great songs and sweet harmony.

This week on MCR, guys who get cuts. Songwriting cuts. You may not have heard of Travis Meadows but his songs have been all over the radio by the likes of Dierks Bentley and Eric Church. His own renderings are taught, emotional, edgy and intense. And the show closes out with a Nashville legend who's ridden the line between country and R&B over a long career, Gary Nicholson. Also on the bill exciting new roots rock from East Nashville with Jon Latham and an archival set of dreamy new folk by the divine Erin Rae and her band The Meanwhiles.

This week on MCR, two takes on Texas, one of them from Australia. Do you know the all female vocal quartet from Sydney called All our Exes Live In Texas? You will after this episode from Liberty Hall. They're a lot of fun. And we take in the very soul of Texas roadhouse blues, country and R&B with the great Lee Roy Parnell. He's got his first new album in 11 years and we'll hear songs from that. Also on the bill a surprising take on acoustic newgrass by red-headed Irish folk singer Danny Burns and a master-level Nashville based band. And David Luning who launched a folk career after being inspired by John Prine. We get it. 

This week on MCR, our 2017 AmericanaFest showcase from a one-time only pop up venue in the heart of downtown Nashville. It's a five ring circus under our own big top with a sampling of what's going on in the Americana field today, closing out with the fiery, funny and fatalistic songs of Ray Wylie Hubbard. The bill kicks off with newcomer and Rounder Recording artist Pony Bradshaw from Georgia. Angaleena Presley brings unbridled, insightful songs from her acclaimed Wrangled album. The Cactus Blossoms reinvent the classic brother duo form for a new age. And we hear John Paul White, refreshed from some time off in his Muscle Shoals home wiht stunning songs that brought a rowdy crowd to a standstill. It's big tent music under an actual big tent.

This week on MCR, it's Mando Mania as we assemble a multi-generational gathering of some of the finest mandolin pickers on Earth. Nashville native Casey Campbell, who grew up at and around the GOO and the elite of bluegrass curates an evening of mando solos, duos and full band performances. With Tim O'Brien, Sam Bush, Mike Compton and the man who brought us Rocky Top, Bobby Osborne. Also an extraordinary ensemble set on a rare visit to Nashville by the one and only mandolin stylist Andy Statman. It's a small instrument that punches above its weight. Join us for a season closing special edition of MCR.

Before Nashville, I’d never lived in a place where part of the regular conversation and social/cultural goings on was to figure out the essence of that place and to take active steps to get closer to its heart and soul. There was never a big emphasis on what does it mean to be from Chicago or Washington DC or Durham, NC, three of my other home bases. There is such a conversation about New Orleans and Austin. Music cities are like this. But I wonder if there’s any place more probative of its place-ness than Nashville. What I know is that it’s a healthy conversation to have and one that we are good at cultivating. When we partner with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as we did this Wednesday, our city’s essence comes into tighter focus. We’re elevated in our attention and admiration. We heard a distillation of what it means to be a Nashville Cat. Can you sing? Write? Play? Cooperate? We know this when we hear it. We’re cat people and we’re into cat power.

This week on MCR, smooth grooves, flying fingers and some country comedy gold at Liberty Hall. We open with the incomparable roots soul of Seth Walker, who brings touches of all his music city bases to bear - Austin, Nashville and New Orleans. The laughs come from The Cleverlys, who bring string band and top 40 pop together in unholy alliance. And we close the show with the mind boggling skill and showmanship of Australian/Nashvillian acoustic guitar star Tommy Emmanuel. Also on the show, emerging Nashville songwriter and Music City Roots family member Ele Ivory, playing down to earth piano pop. It was a sold out night at the Factory, but there's always room for you right here on MCR.  

Family ties are part of the fabric of American roots music. How often have we read (and for Pete’s sake how often have I written) that Artist X “came from a musical family”? The connection among siblings and the passing of ideas across generations might be the central reason this music sustains, and that in turn sustains us. Wednesday night offered up heart lifting performances by a first son of bluegrass and a first brother of Americana soul, plus a delightful country newcomer and a set by our own soul brother Jim Lauderdale.

There was a festival atmosphere in Liberty Hall on Wednesday night and not just because the crowd was large and loud (though that helped). There was also that ineffable flow and unspoken dialogue among the four bands, softly conveying the spirit of roots music in all its complimentary forms. The timeless but mysteriously innovative folk/gospel flavor of Birds of Chicago gave way to the pure mountain-tinged songwriting of Jill Andrews. The bluegrass second half paired young and hungry Billy Strings with one of his heroes, the sixtysomething but unaware of it Jerry Douglas. His band came with a jazz/grass/rock fusion mode that tickled my every musical nerve ending. Keep on the grass? Good luck with that.

Like a meal in four courses that compliment but don’t overlap, Wednesday’s Roots delivered exquisite versions of four stages of country music evolution. From the sturdy and often elegant string band sound of Tim O’Brien we hyped things up a bit to a (drumless) electric honky tonk vibe with Greg Garing. Chelle Rose, East Tennessee’s answer to Townes Van Zandt, delivered literate, narrative-heavy songs with drums and measures of grungy power. And while less twangy or bluesy than the rest of the flight, Allen Thompson showed us the chemistry that results from a band of friends singing well-crafted songs that march along in classic Americana fashion. It was the first show of a blazing July, but it was a wry heat.

This season closing show brought together all the vibes and individual craft that makes Music City Roots go, with a new folk discovery, a heartfelt bluegrass tribute and two true icons of American roots music. We start with the moody beauty of Bay Area folk group Quiles & Cloud. An all-star gathering of Nashville pickers pay tribute to Mac Wiseman, including Sierra Hull, Shawn Camp, Justin Moses, Thomm Jutz and Peter Cooper. Next, Danny Barnes performs solo on the banjo, showing what a unique genius he is. And the show wraps with the fire and thunder of Texas master Delbert McClinton. 

Our crew and a nice large crowd assembled for a progression from vintage sounding folk through contemporary songwriting and on to two flavors of the blues. I found this evening of live music revelatory for a few reasons. I'd never seen Walter Wolfman Washington before and he's quite something. The New Orleans icon supplements his solid and timeless blues guitar with layers of jazz sophistication. His band laid down grooves as syncopated nad funky as anything we've heard this year. He's our veteran playing in the night's final set.    Up here opening the show in a moment is Nashville married couple Adrian and Meredith. They played Roots a couple of years ago when Adrian Krygowski was a solo artist. This duo now channels his punky fire through a more old world folk vein, with hard swing and gypsy overtones.    Our second set was quite heart stopping. Rounder Recording artist Sean McConnell launched his music career in Atlanta and then moved to Music City where he found success as a Music Row songwriter. Like Lo

Nashville is en fuego. The city’s filling up for the CMA Music Festival. The airport and highways are busily channeling music freaks out to Manchester for Bonnaroo. And everybody is flipping out about the Nashville Predators who will play for the Stanley Cup on Sunday night at home on Lower Broadway. It’s bigger, wilder, louder and richer than I ever imagined the city would be when I moved here twenty years ago. And it’s amazing. There’s just a glow and a wonder for most people, and if you want to avoid the whooping bridal parties on pedal taverns, there are plenty of places to hang out with good folks and good music that have nothing to do with that noise. Such as Music City Roots. On this week’s show, quite a few people found their way to the Factory for a bracing night of mostly solid country and bluegrass, with a stellar bluegrass-inspired musician from another country.

Wednesday night’s gathering of the Roots clan will be an opportunity to reflect on the life and legacy of Cowboy Jack Clement, the kindly and eccentric genius songwriter and producer who passed away in 2013. One of our guests, the songwriting entrepreneur Matt Urmy, was a great friend and protégé of Jack and arrives with an album Jack produced before his studio burned up in a bad fire. For a while, we explored the idea of a night formally paying tribute to Cowboy Jack but the right mix didn’t come together. That said, looking at this week’s lineup, with its variety and individuality, I feel sure Cowboy would have loved this week’s show. And I’m sure you will too. Featured: Matt Urmy Mipso John Nemeth Will Kimbrough & Brigitte DeMeyer

As far as I know there’s only one figure in the contemporary roots music community who can pick “Blackberry Blossom” like a boss and also do a tumbling run that ends in a cheerleader split (not at the same time, but I wouldn’t put it past him). If David Mayfield came into your mind just now then you get an Americana cookie, because that’s who I was thinking about! It’s been too long since we saw and heard from the bearded weirdo, but he brings his always explosive sense of entertainment to the Factory this week along with a great roots rock band, a mod folky couple and a quintet from Colorado that split the bluegrass atom.

We know a classic when we see one, hear one, feel one. Forgive me for sounding like a Cadillac ad voice over or something, but seriously, sometimes there’s just an ineffable sense that something beautiful and meaningful is unfolding. And while we can’t pull that off every single week, we try to put the pieces in place for a chemical reaction. And this week it happened. There was combustion and satisfaction. We ranged across the country and across roots music terrain with acoustic grand master Tony Furtado from Portland, OR, Texas-raised songwriter Curtis McMurtry, Colorado polyethnic joyride Gipsy Moon and veteran John Jorgenson’s remarkable bluegrass band.

So did y’all catch that news about the Fyre Festival? As good people, we try not to indulge in schadenfreude, but sometimes man, wow, it’s hard. In short, a rap celebrity and a dudebro with a track record of over-selling and under-delivering promised a glamour-packed, celebrity-stoked par-TAY on a remote island and promoted it by paying other celebrities to post on Instagram about it. It was a fiasco, not because the whole premise was culturally bankrupt and morally suspect (which it was), but because they didn’t PLAN. You have to plan, folks. For example, on the same weekend, two other festivals – much bigger ones – came off without a hitch. Merlefest in North Carolina and JazzFest in New Orleans actually served up authentic music, genuine community, good food and good times for fans who don’t need to feel like they’re winning on a reality show and who aren’t measuring their lives in bikini access and Twitter followers. So for this week anyway, it’s Real Culture: 2. Celebri-crap Culture: 0. Well done, roots