Two Step Inn 2025: Recap

Only now, in hindsight, do I remember why last year we said that we should skip this festival.  Haha!  Whatever, it was fun!  Now that the hard parts are over and I've been able to pee, all that's left are the good memories.

While the logistics of it all were still very difficult and less-pleasant, and the weather threw us a curveball, at the end of the day, we had a freaking blast.  I got to see Alan Jackson.  And yes, it was not the young, vibrant, energetic version of Alan Jackson that others got to see in the 90's, and yes, some annoying people forced the venue to stop the shop for a chunk of time to clear out of a restricted area, and yes, the show ended early.  But nonetheless, I got to see and hear "Chatahoochee" and "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow" and "Don't Rock the Jukebox" and others while singing along with good friends and my extremely patient wife.  Good stuff.

Haha, seeing that pile of t-shirts on stage just reminded me of Jackson tossing t-shirts to the crowd from the stage.  I don't think they went more than ten feet, but he was chucking them out there for the front row folks.

For Saturday, the first big issue was just getting in the dang gates.  The lines to get in were well over an hour, and the people in charge of the lines weren't helping - lots of lines that were barely moving while other lines motored along, until someone in charge yelled at everyone that it should just be one line.  But worse than that was the bathroom lines once inside.  When the urinal lines are streaming across an entire field, then something is wrong.  Some of the ladies in our group spent over an hour in that line too, and I may have used a cup for some relief at one point.  Allegedly...  Oh, and as is usual for these types of things, the cell service was borked for sure.  I was hoping that a smaller festival wouldn't have that issue, but it sucked.

BUT, the music was great.  We missed Hudson Westbrook or Noeline Hofmann while waiting at the gate (although youngest daughter was there for the gates to open so she could be front row at Hudson, she and her friends loved it).  So, first show was William Beckmann, who sounds phenomenal.  Like, if Harry Connick Jr. had gone into a country phase.  Several folks in the group really wanted Diamond Rio, so we left Beckmann early to go see that.  Probably my least favorite show of the day, in part because I don't know those songs.  And this weird old lady took an interest in us and kept singing the lyrics towards me while smoking a cigarette she bummed off a teenager.  But, not knowing lyrics didn't hold me back from really enjoying Tracy Byrd - that guy is still slinging the hits and grabbing the crowd.  I liked that show for sure.

Flatland Cavalry was excellent.  Their live show takes their tunes to another level - really seemed like a bigger band and bigger event than I was expecting.  You know who else was really fun?  Miranda Lambert was awesome.  I wasn't expecting much there, just figured I should go see someone because she is very popular, but she sounds great, engages really well with the audience, and just made the show a lot of fun.  We skipped the Diplo/Gavin Adcock hour to make sure we had a good spot for Alan, and it did not disappoint.  I do wish that he hadn't encouraged folks to enter the restricted area and then had to pause the show to get them back out, but maybe he was just tired and wanted a break!

Sunday was interesting because before coming into it, I had not realized exactly how *same* so many of the artists are.  Also, it was cold as balls.  I've never gone to a music festival in a beanie before.  It was necessary for this one, and all the girls trying to stay fashionable were freezing their butts off!  But, the logistics folks at C3 made the lines to get in and the bathroom lines a TON better, so that was a great win.

Tanner Usrey was great.  My review of him called him low-key, but he was anything but low-key on that stage.  He was a grimy rock and roll hurricane up there and it was a blast.  Next was the Panhandlers, who are also really good.  Although, it dawned on our entire group after a short while that the Clete guy from Flatland Cavalry is head-and-shoulders better than the other three singers up there.  And once you realize that, you realize that you don't want to hear those dudes warble their way through a tune.  Just stick with the really good one!  But they have some really great songs, and they definitely made me want a Chilton.  We left that early for Treaty Oak Revival, and here is where pretty much all of my friends disagreed with me.  I think those dudes are actively bad.  Like, the most generic Nickelback-ass cock rock with a smidge of country veneer.  Not my thing, and they got people to start throwing shit in the crowd, which was also not my favorite.

Sammy Kershaw was good stuff - I knew way more of his songs than I remembered - and his voice is still all there.  Shane Smith and the Saints was another hard rock assault.  I wasn't in love with it and so we left earlier to get back over for Ryan Bingham.  Hey, guess what Bingham sounds like?  Hard rock assault time all over again!  I'm sort of joking, but it absolutely felt like the trashy energy was amped up for everyone who may have normally kept it more country or acoustic.  I also think the last time I saw Bingham changed my expectations, as the last time it was just him and his guitar (and now it was a rock show).  But then, I wanted all of the trashy rock and roll energy to flow during Lynyrd Skynyrd, and they totally came through for me.  My one beef there was that we left before "Free Bird," but yelling along to "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Simple Man" and "Call Me The Breeze" and all the other classics was a blast.

The Sturgill show was excellent.  He opened with the Allman Brothers, which is perfect for his current blend of country and rock and jam band freakouts.  He also played a snippet of "Bulls on Parade," which got all of us old bros pretty pumped up.  And the way that he closes the shows now with the wild party of "Call to Arms" and a bunch of jamming - super tasty.  He did that same final song at the ACL Fest show last year and it was delirious with those horns going to town.

Good times.  The wife left after Bingham on Sunday, but I wasn't going to miss Skynyrd and Sturgill!  After a little more muddy walking up to the parking lot of some gym on I-35, one more expensive ass ride back to town.  I know, right now, I'm thinking I won't do that one again.  And then, when they announce that Garth Brooks and Faith Hill are headlining and I'll be lining up for freaking tickets again...

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit: ACL Live at the Moody Theater: April 4, 2025

So freaking good.  The thought of trying to quantify it right now seems difficult.  I hadn't originally planned on going to any of the three shows he had scheduled for this little run, but then a friend pinged me with a freebee to stand at the Mezzanine level.  Pretty sweet!

If you haven't yet heard the new album - Foxes in the Snow - he leaned pretty heavily on some of those new tunes.  And you start to realize that he was kind of a dirt-bag to his ex-wife, as many of those lyrics are deeply confessional and he doesn't shy away from recounting bad moments that were his fault.  Just plaintively asking the room if he intends to be alone for all of his days, or telling us that his own behavior was a shock to himself.  "Good While It Lasted" is a powerful slice of that, with the title phrase taking on multiple meanings: (1) that their relationship was good while they were having fun and in love; (2) then afterwards, when he found a moment that he didn't think of her, that moment was good while it lasted; and (3) looking back on good memories and realizing it was good while it lasted.  

Another amazing thing he did was to change up "Bury Me," the first single from the new album, into a rad zydeco boogie with accordion and everything.  The original is a totally low-key acoustic plucker, so to hear it transformed into a danceable party was really cool.

He also fired through a handful of the songs that he recorded with the 400 Unit (which was nice, since they made the trip and all), but as usual he keeps skipping my favorites.  A line in "Gravelweed," which is also great, speaks to this somewhat, where he sings “And now that I live to see my melodies betray me/ I’m sorry the love songs all mean different things today.”  So, you can see that his recent divorce might change the way that he wants to perform, and those performances wouldn't include "Cover Me Up" or "If We Were Vampires" if he wrote those are love songs about his now ex-wife.  Also, no "Elephant."  Which is such a dagger of a song, but so well-done.  But, "King of Oklahoma" and "Cast Iron Skillet" and "Flying Over Water" were all still super good stuff.

I didn't know the Drive By Truckers song that he used to close the show until a few weeks ago.  Had a dive down into a rabbit hole about Richard Manuel, one of the main guys from The Band.  The bit of the chorus where Isbell sings "sounds like gold" is amazing, and then the song really lent itself well to the idea of jamming out and extending the groove into the night.  I loved it.  (shout out Counting Crows as well for their song that mentions him being dead.  Those guys were great.)

10/10, would go see him again immediately if given the option!

Quick Hits, Vol. 367 (Horsegirl, Roc Marciano, Japanese Breakfast, My Morning Jacket)

Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On.  Not sure where this one came from, but do you remember those weird little songs interspersed through the Juno Soundtrack?  My brain says they were by the Moldy Peaches, but I looked it up and it looks like those were by Kimya Dawson.  That is what some of these songs remind me of.  Kind of like if Sonic Youth, the Velvet Underground, and Kimya Dawson decided to make gentle indie rock together.  I don't intend that to sound like a slight either, it is a pretty nice set of quiet, little rock and roll slivers.  "2468" is the top streamer, with 608k.

Got a Wes Anderson vibe to that video, that colorful, active, and particular minimalism.  Definitely prefer some of the other songs on here that have more to them lyrically.  This one is like a droning experiment.  But, like, "Well I Know You're Shy" is a bright little nugget of poppy indie that makes me happy inside.  "I Can't Stand to See You" has some pleasing jangle to it as well.  This thing is super lo-fi and unassuming, but it makes me happy.

Roc Marciano - The Skeleton Key.  Also not sure where this came from, this isn't a go-to rapper for me. The Internet tells me he is a legend, but I don't know about all of that.  I've been digging what the Alchemist has been doing for Larry June, but I feel like maybe he used his best stuff before he got to this album.  Or at least he used his most luxe, chill, smooth shit there, and kept mostly sparsely crafted and menacing tracks for this one.  They feel intense.  Instead of finding a lush loop of bass or sax, he finds a tense violin sound and loops that into a worrisome nailbiter.  Interesting why he chooses certain beats for certain guys.  Maybe Marciano requested stress.  I guess "Make Sure" is a little more luscious, even as he is rapping about blowing people's brains out.  "Chopstick" may be my favorite.  Top track is "Street Magic" with 561k streams.

It's almost not even a beat, it is so disjointed and spare.  And the rap is very conversational, it just happens to rhyme.  I want that fat ass coat though...  Maybe a powerful thing for deep rapheads, but I can let it go.

Japanese Breakfast - For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women).  As per the usual, this is really pretty.  Not quite as upbeat as the prior albums (which, duh, with that title) but nonetheless I find it warmly dark.  And its not all dark!  "Mega Circuit" has a whimsical Fiona Apple-esque lilt to it that is catchy for sure.  The weirdest thing to happen in all of music this year, for my money, is the warbling addition of Jeff Bridges to "Men in Bars" for, uh, reasons.  At first, I thought maybe Elvis Costello had gone through a stroke and agreed to come back with this song, but then I saw who it was, and I guess that makes sense.  His marblemouthed delivery of lines in The Old Man definitely checks out here.  At 10 songs and 32 minutes, this disc definitely breezes by quickly.  "Orlando in Love" make me think of a Lord Huron song from a few years ago.  That's the top streamer with 3.7 million.

I don't know why but I was really hoping Orlando Bloom was going to wander out in his elf costume.  These are good songs, this is a good little set.

My Morning Jacket - is.  I KNOW, I KNOW.  I am a huge ass homer for these dudes, and if you know that you already hate them, then you can just bugger off and go read Pitchfork or something.  Because I am going to gush.  I freaking love it.  For me, this is the perfect combination of regular ass rock and roll, jammy instrumental detours, and harmonic beauty.  For some rude ass people, including, unfortunately, my wife, this is a bad combination that makes them want to leave transcendent live shows early to avoid the amazing beauty of such a thing.  But for me, this is what I want to boogie/groove with and then bliss out to in equal measure without having to change the disc.  I was trying to consider what about them reaches so deeply into my brain, and I think it is the combination they create of some of my favorite early musical loves, like the Black Crowes bluesy rock, the Dead's freewheeling spirit, and the way that the Allman Brothers do all of those things.

I think I get to go see their show in a few weeks and I'm psyched that I really like the new album. Sometimes when you go to the show the band wants to just play new stuff, and that wasn't what you really came to hear.  I like that some of these songs call back to classic MMJ - like how the drum/synth strikes at the start of "Half a Lifetime" sound like a retake of "Off the Record" from Z - but then make it all new all over again.  Definitely helps that Jim James has such a rad voice.  "Time Waited" was the first single, and so it has the most streams by a good-sized margin.  And it's a great tune!  But I feel like I connect more to the grimy rock goodness of "Squid Ink" so I am going to give you that one.  608k streams.

Yeah, baby.  Lock in to that groove and never leave.  Not that it is necessarily better than the more chill light touch of "Time Waited," this is just more where my ear is right now.  That heavy ass riff in there is yummy fo sho.  "Everyday Magic" is a sweet groove that I dig as well, and the copycat sound of "I Can Hear Your Love" makes me smile even if it reminds me way too much of the "Love is Strange" song that was on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack a million years ago.  I am in all the way.  Dig it all.  Sign me up.

Quick Hits, Vol. 365 (Plains, Blu/Evidence, Mac Miller, High Vis)

Plains - I Walked With You A Ways.  I think Katie Crutchfield's voice is just too distinctive for this to sound like anything other than a Waxahatchee album.  This is her with someone named Jess Williamson, who I am not familiar with, but they sound fantastic together.  An indie country Americana slice of pie slathered in top tier harmonies.  Sometimes it makes me think of the Highwomen, although really it just sounds like Waxahatchee.  Which is a good thing!  "Problem With It" is the top track with 6.5 million streams.

Huh.  Just realized this album was from 2022.  I guess I found it sooner or later.  Pretty dang sure that landscape they are driving through at the start  is the road between Marfa and Alpine out in West Texas.  Beautiful patch of the world.  Also, I freaking love the banjo in that tune - just the perfect level of pluck weaving in around behind their harmonies.  Damn, I would love to be on the rim at Big Bend, drinking a cold beer and listening to Crutchfield sing right now.  Sounds like a perfect evening.  Definitely an enjoyable disc.

Blu & Evidence - Los Angeles.  No recollection of where this one came from, but I kind of dig it.  There are multiple songs on here that call back to Cypress Hill, and I am extremely here for that.  "The Land" uses a piece of that guitar hit from "How I Could Just Kill a Man," and also contains some little snippet of someone talking about making that song.  Not sure if either of these guys somehow had a hand in making that original track, but I like the laid back throwback this one is.  Cool as the other side of the pillow.  "The Cold" is similar, and sounds like the Cypress track "Illusions."  Really enjoy the chill of it.  The top track is the second-to-last one on here, "Wild Wild West."  Only 139k streams.

Lot of L.A. references throughout the disc - LA Traffic, LA Tourists, neighborhoods, crime, all of it.  Good disc of new rap that sounds classic and timeless to me.

Mac Miller - Balloonerism.  I have talked before some about how weird it is to get a posthumous release from artists.  Is this really what he wanted to release?  Did he like these tracks?  Is someone just throwing this out there to make money despite the fact that he didn't finish these or intend for them to be a part of his legacy?  Feels kind of gross.  And this is his second release after death, which makes it even less likely that this one was something he wanted out there.  According to the Internet, this was apparently an album that he put together in 2015, but shelved in favor of his more upbeat major-label debut.  It's a jazzy, low-key, kind of depressing sound in here - "Mrs. Deborah Downer" being a prime example, but several of these stick to that formula.  There are no party raps in here.  But that doesn't mean it is bad or anything, it's just very much a vibe album.  There are no cool samples, there is no booming bass, it's more like he made a Tiny Desk concert out of his B-Sides, with Thundercat and a jazz synth player in tow.  Lyrics like "how long has it been since you smiled?" or "look around and all I see if gray skies, there's help inside that medicine cabinet."  "5 Dollar Pony Rides" is the top track with 22.9 million streams.

Can't you just see this happening in the Tiny Desk space?  It is a nice little vibe, and it sticks through the whole album.  Nothing so special that I really need to hold on to it forever, but a nice relaxing detour into bummerville.

High Vis - Guided Tour.  This one came to me from trying to find other things that sound like Turnstile.  To me, this is not as good, not as catchy or melodic, but it still scratches the itch of loud, angry dudes blasting some post-punk rock into my earholes.  "Mind's a Lie" is interesting each time it pops up, because of the little sample loop they added into it.  Doesn't fit at all with the rest of these tunes at first, and then it super does.  Because while some of this is skuzzy yell-along hardcore, it can also sound like an 80's pop rock band throwing anthemic guitar chords to the sky.  "Feeling Bless" is a great example of that.  I don't know what to compare those guitars to - The Psychedelic Furs?  Early U2?  Teenage Bandwagon?  Dunno.  But I like it.  As usual for me, some of the yelling starts to ache after a while, I wish he did a little less of that.  But overall, the disc makes me bob my head and bop along.  Like, the underlying, chugging tune of "Mob DLA" jams for sure, but the verses tire me out.  Top track is that "Mind's a Lie" one.  1.1 million streams.

Seriously, each time this song starts my mind thinks that we must have started a new album.  That skinhead guy seems real mad and stuff.  There is one guitar strum they do in there a few times that, again, makes me think of some classic 80's song that I can't place.  The version of London shown in that video is depressing as all hell.

Quick Hits, Vol. 364 (Killer Mike, White Denim, Larry June, U2)

Killer Mike - Michael & The Mighty Midnight Revival, Songs for Sinners and Saints.  Quite an album title.  There is a line in a Run the Jewels track that goes "Producer gave me a beat, said it's the beat of the year /  I said "El-P didn't do it, so get the fuck outta here!""  I think about that as I listen to this solo album for half of the RTJ crew.  Because some of these songs very much sound like they are rehashes of songs from his last album Michael - I'm not sure of that, but it feels like some of them have the same beats or lyrics or something.  Just give me more RTJ, big fella.  This feeling gets especially true when the back half of the album veers off into just straight R&B/gospel/spoken word action that I don't need at all.  The first four songs and the last song are fine.  I will absolutely admit that the name of one of the guys on "LORD PREPARE ME" is amazing, even if I don't care for the tune - Belly Gang Kushington is a legit name.  Low streaming album for sure, the top track is the last song, "STILL TALK'N THAT SHIT" with 2.9 million streams.

Oh weird.  As I started to write about it and the opening lines, it dawned on me that this track was on the Michael album.  WTF.  Why is he just re-releasing the same song?  Here is what I said when I reviewed the Michael album: "It is interesting to consider whether Killer Mike is cool or if he is an ass.  I love Run the Jewels, and so my normal response to that question would aim for the cool side of the equation, but then I hear him rap something like "N****s talk to me about that woke-ass shit (Yeah) / Same n****s walkin' on some broke-ass shit / You see, your words ain't worth no money, I ain't spoke back, bitch / All of you n****s hang together on some Brokeback shit."  I'm not saying that being annoyed with people talking about "woke" issues is off limits, he can complain about people being woke all they want.  But to call people who espouse woke ideals to be both broke and gay is just really weird.  Like, some Junior High level joke crap.  Just catches me off guard as gross when so much of his RTJ stuff mixes killer bars with smart ideas ready to fight the power.  Which is too bad, because that track - "TALK'N THAT SHIT!" is otherwise a cool beat and sound."  Why can't you come up with new songs, Mike?  What are we doing here?

White Denim - 12.  What a weird detour.  You know how the Arctic Monkeys just randomly decided to make bad lounge music instead of rad rock stuff a few years back?  Well, that is what you get here.  The first couple songs almost have a jam-band sound going on, but overall this is like they just pulled the fangs right out of the snake and it decided to cuddle you instead of strike. The listeners have spoken as well, as this has negligible streams.  Top track is the first one, I suspect because people turned it off when that was done.  "Light On" has 123k.

Couldn't you mistake that for something by like, Phish?  When you are expecting the blaring goodness of Stuff or Corsicana Lemonade, but this is what lands?  Hard nope.  I'm sure it is making some people out there happy to have a jazzy wiggle during this tune, but not for me.

Larry June - Doing it for Me.  June was an ACL artist a few years ago who I have stuck to.  He has a sound that I find to be very pleasing, a low-key, laid back, rolling flow that feels pleasantly chill at all times.  His beats match that to, just a constant parade of chilled out samples and smooth horns wandering through the forest of bass.  Dig it.  He is prolific, with pretty much an album a year (or more) since 2015.  This one just kind of wanders along - I don't know that anything on it really grabs you like it is the new hit single, but it all sounds seductively chill.  Top track is called "Imported Couches," which is a great title for a rap song because it gets me immediately curious.  3.3 million streams.

Woah.  That yellow couch is insane.  Also, I would very much like to have it in my house immediately.  Fells like it might hurt your back after a while.  But, you hear that smooth ass stuff?  The beat, the flow, the whole damn thing is just sooooo chilllll.  I want to hang on an imported couch getting blazed.  Damn!

U2 - How to Re-Assemble an Atomic Bomb.  An album of outtakes from the How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb sessions, and honestly if you told me that these songs had made that album I would not doubt your statement.  These very much sound like current U2 to me.  I can't remember if I ever talked about that most recent single they did to celebrate their Sphere residency.  The one that ripped off "Call Me" in a very blatant and major way?  Well, all of the songs on this little disc are significantly better than that one.  I mean, it just sounds like U2.  The opening track "Picture of You (X+W)" has some jittery Edge guitars and Bono lyrics about saving him from himself that soar over harmonies.  Totally sounds like what we all signed up for each time.  "Treason" is a little annoying, involves a yelling bit in the middle and some faux Middle Eastern vibes throughout.  I did not know that they made the "Theme to The Batman," although the guitars in it absolutely sound like the Edge (and a little like Mission Impossible's theme mixed with the Psycho music). But overall, this doesn't feel like a B-sides collection to me, these feel like legit tunes that U2 made.  I'm also a homer for them.  Fascinatingly, I am in the minority.  No one is streaming these songs.  "Country Mile" has the most with a paltry 2.1 million.

I mean, if that had been on the Atomic Bomb album, would anyone have batted an eye?  Sounds like the other tunes on there for sure.  And I would love to go walk for a mile in the country with you, Bono.  let's do this.  Nice harmonies, great guitar sounds.  Good stuff.