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One Liner: Alt country made by a poet and Jeff Tweedy's son Wikipedia Genre: alternative country Home: Chicago Poster Position: Late Addition Day: Sunday Weekend Two Only.
American Express Stage at 1:00.
Thoughts: The Wikipedia for this band sort of buries the lede. "Case Oats is an American alternative country band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band consists of vocalist Casey Walker, guitarist Max Subar, bassist Jason Ashworth, fiddle player Scott Daniel, and drummer Spencer Tweedy." It's that final last name right there that might tweak your mind. Because yes, that is Jeff Tweedy's son, and so this kid has played with Wilco, Mavis Staples, Norah Jones, Beck, Waxahatchee, Tweedy, and more.
The immediate comp in my mind is that Juno soundtrack person - Moldy Peaches? No, Kimya Dawson. These vocal sound like that. Casey Walker is apparently a poet who met up with Tweedy and they started figuring out some songs. Hopefully they use this appearance to get some fans, because while this sounds pretty good to me, their stream count is very low.
One album, Last Missouri Exit, released this year and including their first single, "Seventeen." 33k streams.
As I keep listening to these, I am also reminded of the shaggy indie rock of Big Thief. And some of the instrumental pieces sort of sound like classic Neil Young, like "Hallelujah" could be the backing track for something from Everybody Knows This is Knowhere. BY the way, I already liked this very much, and then the Spotify algorithm finished playing all of their songs and the next song was The Beths, who I love. Now I feel even more tied in to this. "Bitter Root Lake" is the other top track with 39k streams. I keep thinking of the Band of Horses song about the Great Salt Lake when they get to the chorus.
I think this is just pure, solid, enjoyable music. Another that is not really breaking new ground, as is obvious from all the things I want to compare it to, but I spent a good day and a half rotating through the limited selection of songs here, and it works.
One Liner: WEST TEXAS DIRTGAZE Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but Brooklyn Vegan said "slowcore, post-rock, alt-country, ’90s alt-rock and emo" which is quite a lot. Home: Houston Poster Position: Bottom Quarter - Line 26 Day: Saturday Weekend Two Only.
T-Mobile Stage at 12:45.
Thoughts: Shallowater, Texas is a tiny town with less than 3,000 people up near Lubbock, Texas. However, this is a Houston band who called their music West Texas dirtgaze. I really like that description, because I'm hearing some shoegazey sort of elements, but also some grimy, dirty rock and roll as well. Like, if Neil Young asked Hotline TNT to back him up on some new tunes his nephew had written.
According to one website, the band is actually from Lubbock, but is just based in Houston now. I can't tell if they met at Tech or not, but I now know that they are Skipper (vocals), Tristan (bass) and Ryan (drums). And listening is very simple because they only have a 2024 album and then one single that is an acoustic version of one song from the album. So, you won't get bogged down by too many tunes here!
The top track, unsurprisingly, is the one that was later made into an acoustic version. "Angels" fires up 263k streams.
Opening lines just draw me right in - "when I woke up from dreaming / all I saw was clay / windshield is useless / on a day like today." Did he wake up in the passenger seat during a foul west Texas storm? And the guitar solo in the midst of it, where the song opens up and blooms into something louder and larger and livelier, is delicious. And the final line throwback to classic country from Kitty Wells. The title song sounds kind of like butt, but otherwise this is a good disc.
Oh, they literally released a new song since I started listening to these guys yesterday. Maybe I was the first person in the history of the world to listen to it. You can't guarantee I wasn't. "Highway" comes on very quiet and chill, and, as with many of these songs, ramps up to a fire. "Birdshot" is the second-most streamed though, with a raucous guitar line to fire up any listener. 171k streams.
Fascinating way to start an entire album - "here is some music that is so quiet you may be unsure if you hit play! Oh, no, wait, now let's melt faces!" Too bad they are weekend two only, because I'd sign up to see it happen in person.
One Liner: Alt-country and good lyrics are still alive and well
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is alt country and Americana and Southern Rock
Home: Concan, Texas
Poster Position: 21 Weekend Two Only. Sunday at 5:25.
BMI Stage.
Thoughts: Love the band name. You'll want to make sure to pronounce it like the pokey parts of a fork, not like "teens." This is a semi-useless aside, but I was very proud of one particular mule deer I shot one time, because it had a drop tine on it, and everyone at the deer camp was confused because supposedly a muley should never have a drop tine. May have been some sort of hybrid white tail/mule deer. I know you are on the edge of your seat with anticipation after that amazing anecdote. Maybe someday I will write a novel.
The band is from Concan, Texas. So, I guess we should tell more stories now, right? Concan is near Leakey, and both of them get to enjoy some of the Frio River. I've been floating on the Frio in Concan many a time, used to dove hunt near there and stay in Concan after the hunts, and that hybrid deer's head got mounted for me by an old friend who lives in Leakey and does some taxidermy on the side. Good times.
Well, this music is likewise some good times - their Spotify bio calls it alt-country/post-country, but it sounds like the Old 97's with the Avett Brothers to me. Maybe a little psych rock nibbles into the edges as well, as I keep listening through the catalog. Maybe its more like that 49 Winchester band that was at Two Step Inn? Their current touring schedule is pretty rad though, if you ask me - playing the Lake Charkes Golden Nugget with Dwight Yoakum, then the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA (RIP REM), and then the Bluebird Theater in Denver. Legit.
Four guys, led by the vocals and lyrics of Conner Arthur. One article out there calls him the "King of Concan," so I think they should have a song named that so that I can compare it to "King of Oklahoma" and "King of Alabama." 3 EPs and one album - 2019's The Droptines, 2021's Here's 3, 2022's 4 More, and finally 2024's The Droptines. "Bill of Sale," originally a 2023 single, has the most streams at 1.6 million.
That voice is a little bit of the deep sound of Cash at the start. Funny that this is the top streamer, I would definitely not say it is their best tune. Has a cool throwback sound, but their other tunes definitely are more interesting to me. Although I do love when it switches up the tempo in the middle. "Army Green" is pretty damn sad. Singing to a girl who is living it up back home while he is watching his buddy's blood melt into the sand as he eats MREs and smokes weed. "Kammi's Pants" sounds kind of like Kings of Leon. "Raining Where You Are" is a rockin' slice of spiteful poetry. "New Girl," a 2022 single that never made it onto an EP or album, is the second biggest streamer with just over a million streams.
There's some of that Old 97's guitar jangle and driving drums. Like the other top single, I'd actually prefer some of these other songs than that one. But I kinda want to play that horrific goat track of a golf course. While he can definitely veer off into questionable lyrics, like in "Things I Ain't Got" I'd still say that overall, this is a pretty great little band.
One Liner: Fantastic torchbearer of the type of Country I love
Wikipedia Genre: Alternative country, progressive country Home: Lexington, KY Poster Position: HEADLINER! Day: Sunday at 8:25 on the Honda Stage Both Weekends.
Thoughts: Last here in 2015. Which is wild - feels more recent. He was also the guy I was supposed to see, right when the pandemic lockdown cancelled everything. Tyler Childers to open for him. Would have been an amazing show! Dammit!
Classic country. If you have read my blog before now, you know that, in between lineup announcements for ACL and doing God's work for you all, I listen to new music and collect reviews in posts of four or five new albums. However, when I heard Simpson's Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, I had to do a post all by itself for the pleasures I found in that disc. It is an excellent homage to classic country while still sounding new. I won't repeat myself or repost the song links, but if you are curious, "Turtles All the Way Down" is the most listened to track on Spotify at 66.6 million, and his cover of "The Promise" only clocks in 4th place with 23 million. "The Promise" is awesome. After hearing that early album, I went and saw Simpson play the Stubb's amphitheater with my friend Noah, and had a hell of a good time. I saw a boatload of people I knew at the show, and you could just tell that he was catching fire and on the way up. Before 2014's Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, Simpson had another album, 2013's High Top Mountain. It is still good, but it just doesn't have the same electric fire that Metamodern uses to slice through old school typecasting. It is still a rootsy, classic country album with a clear line tracing straight back to Waylon Jennings, but the sound sticks closer to tradition and does less to move the outlaw country sound forward. His cover of Willie's "I'd Have to Be Crazy" is an aching gem. Two songs from that album crack the top ten most listened to for Simpson on Spotify, but the most listened to is "You Can Have the Crown," with 61.2 million.
Live version, but you get the gist. High energy rockin' country. And funny lyrics - trying to write a song that will pay the bills, but can't so he needs to go rob a bank. King turd! Boss Hawg! And he can't figure out "what the hell rhymes with Bronco." Uh, Honcho? Bravo? Matthew Mcconaughey's Bongos? Uchiko? He should join up with Unknown Mortal Orchestra for another song about being buried underneath Uchiko in his Bronco! I saw his 2015 show at ACL and it was fantastic. That was my favorite year of ACL bar none.
Part of the cool about Simpson is how original he is. Born in Kentucky to a Kentucky State Trooper, and Sturgill was the first male on his mom's side of the family to not work the mines. he apparently barely graduated from high school and immediately enlisted in the Navy. he spent three years in the Navy, with some time in Japan, before ending up back in Kentucky to pursue his music. You can hear some of that background on "Sea Stories." Originally, he started a country rock band called Sunday Valley, and he moved to Nashville, but he even says that "was a total bust." He moved to Salt Lake and moved up in the ranks of a railroad freight shipping yard that he ended up managing, but his wife and friends kept on him about his music and how he shouldn't give up. So, after a while, he and his wife went back to Nashville to give it a go. Anyway, back to the albums.
2016's A Sailor's Guide to Earth further cemented his outside status, using different sounds mingled in with classic country things. I mean, I love this album. I know I'm very much not alone in that sentiment, as any middle aged guy who hates Nashville bro-country but likes the old outlaws is required by DNA and law to think Sturgill is the best thing of all time, but I just thoroughly enjoy the guy's tunes. Metamodern was classic, but this one combines an amazing sound with some truly lovely and heartfelt lyrics aimed at his newborn son.
First, he opens with this piano ballad for his first born son ("Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)") that evolves into a kick ass blast of Stax-horns-funk-fueled soul. That is part of why I dig on this guy - he's not just sticking with a formulaic method of pandering to the country crowd - he's crossing boundaries and making kick ass music, regardless of the sound. And as a dad, this kind of stuff hits right on up there into home. Second, he covers Nirvana. I mean, bold ass move, but he pulls it off and I dig it. I've been singing his version of "In Bloom" for days. He dropped old school 80's on us in the last album with "The Promise," now he went grunge. The hit off the album is my favorite track on here, which is a little more traditionally country (with a dose of southern rock), but it is a good one. "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" has 34.7 million listens on Spotify, and is just a well-done track.
Make sure you live a little, man. Be a scary old guy running down gravestones in your hot rod, and you'll be more satisfied when you are dead. Good stuff. "Oh Sarah," to his wife, is freaking gorgeous. I think my only beef with the album is that it's too damn short. 9 songs and 38 minutes? Come on man, keep it coming. Cover "Mayonnaise," "Sober," and "Peaches" to make some 90's alt history. The other extremely fun track on here is the album closer, "Call to Arms," which sounds like it could be a Blues Brothers rave-up, that includes a succinct review of the current state of entertainment media ("bullshit on the TV, bullshit on the radio"). I am getting goose bumps right now, in 2024 listening to this track crank it up again. hell yeah. He won the Grammy for Best Country Album with this disc. In the midst of all of this music, he also made time to be in several movies and shows as an actor. Probably the biggest of those was Killers of the Flower Moon, but I remember him in Queen & Slim too.
Next was 2019's Sound and Fury. Another good album, taking less of a country tack than ever and angling further and further into straight rock and roll. This one is definitely a keeper, although I will readily admit that I loke the earlier two better.
"Sing Along" is the hit from the album at 21 million streams. That video is totally weird. I've said this before, but for some reason the weird bass drop near the end of the song bugs the crap out of me. Otherwise, it's a fine song, but that one moment is out of place and weird and I don't like it. But yes, this disc is good. He apparently made an entire companion film for this, and was openly antagonistic with his label about the whole process of him making a hard-to-market album and companion movie.
But then, he swerved into the pandemic with two personal favorite bangers. First was 2020's Cuttin' Grass. I absolutely LOVE this album. These are bluegrass versions of his previously released songs, and the players that he has surrounded himself for the backing instrumentation are freaking stone-cold killers. I looked up who they are, and none of them ring a bell to me as artists in their own right, except for Mandolin player/singer Sierra Hull, who I reviewed an album from a while back (and is bad ass). But each tune bristles with bluegrass perfection - bouncy banjos, lively fiddle, weaving and nimble guitar lines, as well as great harmonies from the collected singers. And its super fun to hear familiar songs re-imagined like this. "Long White Line," or "Turtles All the Way Down," or the lovely "Breaker's Roar," it's crazy fun. And while I know a bunch of his music, I have to readily admit that a handful of these tunes ring no bells to me, which is a very fun deal - I get new-to-me tunes in a perfect bluegrass wrapping. The top track for streams on here is "I Don't Mind," with 35.4 million streams.
That one turns down the banjo's presence and leans more on the mandolin, guitar, and his lovely voice. Lyrically, it's also a beautiful track, just a pure love song sung in with conviction and longing. And I dug into its history a little bit, because it doesn't ring any bells from the albums that I own. Ends up it came from his pre-solo band Sunday Valley.
Two months later, he fired out Volume 2. For me, Sturgill could release one of these a week for the rest of my life and I'd die a happy man. The first track, "Call to Arms," combines a breakneck breakdown that sounds like a train just an inch away from launching off the tracks with killer lyrics excoriating the war machine chewing up our boys. What a great fucking song. And this rearrangement of it is just a hillbilly freakout. "Sea Stories" is another similarly great one that involves poking some fun at the armed services. And as with Vol. 1, it is high fun to hear some of the great songs from his old albums reimagined into bluegrass. "Welcome to Earth" starts as a pretty true-to-the-original lullaby, and then turns into a pickin' session. "Brace for Impact" and "Keep It Between the Lines" remain excellent songs, just with a different flavor now. The top track is the third one - "Oh Sarah" - with 18.4 million streams.
Sweetly sad love song from the Sailor's Guide album, with that great line of "so forgive me if sometimes I seem a little crazy, but god damn, sometimes crazy is how I feel." I know some people didn't want to hear volume one, so I get if you won't buy in a second time, but I love the reimagining of his great tunes for a different style.
Keeping with the oddball career choices, next was 2021's The Ballad of Dood & Juanita. This one is weird and wooly, with clever stories and one particular moment that makes me laugh each time I hear it. This album takes the bluegrass mastery he showed on Cuttin' Grass (check the breakdown in the middle of "Shamrock," good gravy!) and applies it to a new set of songs (instead of his old catalog) with a story woven through them of old timey Kentucky settlers. Dood is a son of a mountain miner and a crack shot with his rifle. Juanita is a good-hearted woman who calms down his worst impulses. Their story goes south when Juanita is kidnapped and he has to go on a mission to rescue her, but the hero wins in the end. Instead of the top track of streams, I want to give you "Juanita," because it contains the line that makes me laugh. 8.7 million streams.
"JUANITA!!! Where'd your momma get that name!?" Love it. Need to belt it out at a concert sometime soon. "Sam" is the top song (61 million streams), which is too bad, really, because it's about Dood's dog dying too soon. I don't know why the best songwriters in the country genre need to keep making songs about their dogs dying (see "Maggie's Song" from Chris Stapleton) but hearing him sing about how amazing his dog was makes me sad about the day when my dog might die. But still, the song is good and it works in the fabric of this album. Great disc.
He apparently ruptured his vocal cords in 2021 and announced a retirement from touring. That seems to have resolved itself now.
Now, in 2024, you'd hate to not be kept on your toes by the guy, so he released an album under the name Johnny Blue Skies called Passage Du Desir. Which translates to Passage of Desire. The pseudonym apparently has to do with a promise that he won't release more than five albums of original material under his own name. Which is sort of whack. Anyway, this new disc is a little under inspiring for me, personally. It sort of sounds like Sailor's Guide, but without those exciting horns and high energy riffs - takes a more quiet and soft tack towards the same oddball horizon though. It isn't bad, like the funky little groove on "Scooter Blues" is tasty for me, but it mostly just cruises by under my radar with each listen. The closer "One For the Road" has some Allman-esque licks that I like and gets a little rowdy near the end. Not many streams for the disc either - not sure if that is because of the pseudonym or just a lack of excitement. Top streamer is called "Mint Tea," with 2.5 million streams.
Like I said, just kind of bops along and then is gone without leaving a trace. I like the imagery of another band aid on this bullet hole, but I don't even think that is an original thought. For sure Taylor Swift already used it, and I'd expect others. Huh. Morgan Wallen has a song named "Band-aid on a Bullethole." So, there you go, the least original country guy out there already used that thought... The album is fine, it's just not something that snags my attention and gets me all psyched up to see those new songs played live. Instead, I'll be hoping for a greatest hits set.
One Liner: Shape shifting gal seeking out the winning formula in a pop-influenced alt country
Wikipedia Genre: Alt County, Pop, Rock, Disco (quite a list there) Home: Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Poster Position: 18 Both Weekends. Saturday at 1:05.
Tito's Tent.
Thoughts: I was curious to search for this one. That name could have been a very wide range of outcomes for what I was about to hear. In the end, it is a kind of semi-country indie pop sound. Real name is Kristin Kathleen Boutilier, and she is a Canadian singer, model, and DJ. She moved to L.A. at 20 years old to pursue music, where she was discovered by Ryan Tedder who was part of OneRepublic. The next chapters of her life are weird because of the shapeshifting she did.
She originally went by My Name is Kay, and back then she was very much a pop thing (and not a very good pop thing, you can still hear it on Spotify and it is trying sooooo hard). Although she did get both Kurtis Blow and Pusha T to show up on different tracks, which is interesting. The Pusha track is super dumb - she does her crappy pop thing for 3/4 of it and then he just tosses off a generic verse. 101k for the top streamer from this persona.
According to Wikipedia, she was fighting to get out of her label contract at this time and had to wait tables to get by and pay legal fees. At the end, Interscope let her get out of the contract, but she was barred from using the name "Kay" anymore. Which is so weird. Is Interscope going to release a new artist with that jenky ass name?
Next, she was a DJ in Paris under the name Goldilox. Her second album was released under that moniker and doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. The top track has 3.6 million streams and is called "Sex Paranoia." Not good.
But with this new iteration of herself, she is aiming more for slightly poppy alt country stylings and a concentration on her voice instead of slick production. Gone is the bad pop and bubblegum image, as well as the electronic beats and sexy image, now we are down to a pretty curly haired gal in a dress. 13 total songs on Spotify, and the top one is from the 2022 EP, the title song of Cowboy Gangster Politician. 5.9 million streams.
Has a Fleetwood Mac feel to the vocals to me. Pretty little ditty. "Pretending" makes me think of Miley Cyrus singing like Margo Price. "The Actress" makes me think of Neko Case, but a little breathier. In addition to the music, she has been featured in several modeling campaigns and also modeled nude for the French edition of Playboy.
She claims this version of herself was inspired from digging through her parents records, which I like. I would love for my kids to discover the great music lurking around in my old stuff. After that initial EP, she released another in 2023, called Emerald Year. Not any big track from there, but the top streamer is "Penthouse in the Sky" with 564k streams.
All I seem to be able to do with this one is compare her to other things - this one has a Lana Del Rey meets Daft Punk vibe. Meh. None of this is either great or terrible, it just kind of bops along in the middle. I've listened all day and nothing has really grabbed my attention. Probably wouldn't bother with it.
One Liner: Excellent alt-country band from Muscle Shoals (but fronted by a soul singer)
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but alt country, americana, alt rock, indie
Home: Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Poster Position: 19 Weekend Two Only. Saturday at 12:40.
Honda Stage.
Thoughts: Well, that is sort of annoying. I did a full review of the Pollies - see below - without noticing that the plus sign between Billy Allen and The Pollies, on the lineup poster, is bolded. Every artist is separated by a plus sign! That is not great when you are then using a plus sign to denote that two artists are joined together! Whatever. So, Billy met the lead singer of the Pollies years ago at a bar, they struck up a friendship and partnership, and so they're doing this thing together now. Only 5 songs available to stream on Spotify, and one of them is the very clear winner of the streaming battle. "People, Turn Around" with 640k streams.
Strong voice and sounds good, but if I am being honest I really liked what I heard from the Pollies on their own! See that below.
Like a young and raw Ryan Adams fronting a young and raw Drive By Truckers. Has some Wilco strains here and there too, a little Turnpike Troubadours. After running through their stuff a few times, this feels like the kind of band I would keep around. Nothing terribly flashy going on, but just consistently solid rock and roll and lyrics.
Not a lot of albums, even though they have been around a lot longer than many of the other bands on this poster. 2012's Where the Lies Begin, 2015's Not Here, 2018's Transmissions, and 2020's From the Guest Bedroom. That last one, as you can probably guess, is a pandemic album. Ends up being really fun, because it includes a number of cover songs that are left-field picks. Like you're bopping along listening to a nice little Americana tune, and then Nirvana's "On a Plain" or Billy Idol's "Eyes Without a Face" or Prince's "Cream" pops up and piques the interest. I like it. Neil Young's "Unknown Legend" is on here too, and is their most popular tune on Spotify right now - they nail it.
The first disc is definitely more a country/alt-country sound. The second album has their most popular tune by a long ways - "Jackson" - has 200k streams.
Good one, but not as good as some other tunes in here. It must have gotten picked up on a playlist or something. A little jammy at the end. "Lost" is also on that album, and has 52k streams for second place. The third album's top track is "Hold on My Heart," with 32k.
This album has an all around good sound - a little cleaner and better produced maybe. Apparently, according to one article, someone in the band was also in Alabama Shakes - Ben Tanner, who used to be on keyboards. Now they have a different dude. Also on this album, the ending groove in "Summertime Suicide" made me look up from what I was doing and kind of bop along to it. This is really enjoyable stuff. Hard to believe a band this good is so entirely ignored... I'd go see it live for sure.
One Liner: Quasi-country singer with a great voice and no fear about tough subjects
Wikipedia Genre: Americana, alternative country, alternative rock, folk, pop
Home: Nashville
Poster Position: 18 Both Weekends. Friday at 1:40.
Miller Lite Stage.
Thoughts: I forget why I already know of her, but she has some truly freaking great songs. I put one on a mix I made for my son not that long ago, and as we listened to it driving from Auburn, Alabama to Knoxville, Tennessee, I was enamored with it all over again. Oh, haha. Yeah, I know of her because she was here in 2021. Dummy. How else would I know about a low key artist like this?
I reviewed her 2020 album in the midst of the pandemic lockdown.
"Katie Pruitt - Expectations. Read about her in some sort of Who's Next! article about up and coming artists, and after giving her top single a shot I liked it well enough to try out the whole album. Pretty good - you'd call it county, but not in the same way that most of country music sounds. More like the Taylor Swift-ian, ballad love-song type of Country, or the alternative-country stuff of Kacey Musgraves, or the soft-blues of John Mayer at times (see "Expectations"). Hell, I hear Miley Cyrus in "My Mind's a Ship That's Going Down." She can crank it with her voice, like on the album closer "It's Always Been You," and she has some confessional tunes like "Loving Her," a pretty tune about being nervous to use a girl's name in a song for fear that people would figure out that she was gay. I thought "Grace Has a Gun" was going to be the top track here - its got a great set of lyrics and a haunting wooooaahhhh of a chorus that sticks in my head. But instead, it was "Out of the Blue" that tops the stream count with 1.4 million. [now up to 12 million in 2024]
Another one with John Mayer-esque guitar licks and sound. And otherwise, just a nice little love song. This album has been a welcome surprise. I find myself singing along to little snippets of it when I'm wandering around the house or walking the dog. Has catchy little bits and a great voice, I like it."
Cool! In 2017, she was awarded something called the Buddy Holly Prize from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. That certainly sounds badass. "The Holly Prize is an award made possible by Songmasters and administered and juried by the SHOF as a tribute to the legacy of SHOF inductee Buddy Holly. Since 2010, the Holly Prize annually recognizes and supports a new “all-in-one songwriter “— an exceptionally talented and inspired young musician/singer /songwriter whose work exhibits the qualities of Holly’s music: true, great and original." Past winners don't ring many bells, but I've heard of Ben Howard and Sylvan Esso!
Since that first album, she released a new one on April 5, 2024 called Mantras. It opens up with a more rock type sound with the guitar forward "All My Friends," but then sounds a lot like that prior album of well-written Americana and folk rock tunes. Her voice is so nice. The top track is "White Lies, White Jesus, and You," with 345k streams.
Powerful song and video, with strong autobiographical touches about her struggles with herself and organized religion's role in her life, after growing up gay in the Catholic church. She was raised in the Atlanta area, and then moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University. Her music often deals with tough issues - questioning religion, sexual orientation, or mental health - and she cites Brandi Carlile as an inspiration to her honesty.
One Liner: Fantastic alt-country psych rock by two of the Howler Bros.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but alt-country, jam, psych rock
Home: Austin
Poster Position: Not on the Poster, late addition Weekend Two Only. Sunday at Noon
Thoughts: Leon the Third is pretty solid! if I needed to wrap a comp up into a pithy phrase, this sounds like the Drive-By Truckers joined forces with the Grateful Dead. I was already digging the whole vibe here, and then they threw in a cover of the imminently rad Jane's Addiction song "Summertime Rolls" and I am positively turgid. I could just listen to these dudes all day long.
Leon III of Abkhazia was the king of something called Abkhazia from 957 AD to 967 AD. Reading the short Wikipedia entry about it feels like I might as well be reading some chapter of the new Game of Thrones book: "He succeeded in 926 as viceroy of Kartli to his older brother Constantine, the latter was blinded and castrated by George II after Constantine's unsuccessful rebellion." Apparently, this is part of Georgia now.
These two cats were formerly part of a band called the Wrinkle Neck Mules, which is really quite a band name. Andy Stepanian and Mason Brent are the members, and they use a pile of session musicians to make the whole thing come to life. The Mules were apparently a Virginia-based band that hewed to the bluegrass and country sound, but they decided that they were tired of that string sound and wanted go a little further afield. I really like where they ended up. Wait, hold on. I just read this line in a background piece: "Stepanian and Brent also collaborate in the form of Howler Brothers, a popular outdoor clothing line based in Austin, Texas, which they operate and which bears their artistic imprimatur." WTF!!!! Talk about burying the lede here - Stepanian co-founded fucking Howler Bros.? The Howler Brothers co-founder plays in a rad alt-country psych band?!?!?!!? What the hell. What a bad ass life - you play music on the side of a massively successful lifestyle brand. Damn.
Three albums - 2018's Leon III, 2021's Antlers in Velvet, and 2023's Live En Cyclorama. That last one is a live album, and despite being released in February it shows zero plays at all on Spotify, which is odd. I'm honestly fascinated by the lack of streams for this band overall - they are completely slept on, but I am loving it. The most streamed is from that debut album, "Between the Saddle and the Ground" has 59k streams. Apparently, shares it's title with a song by something called the Peter Wells Band.
Man, that breakfast looked good. I love good pancakes. Never eat them because now I'm old and they'll make me feel terrible, but damn if they aren't yummy to eat. Disconcerting video because of how much he stares at the camera. He looks so different after shaving!
The top song from the new album is "This Whisper is Ours," with 31k streams and a push away from those more traditional alt-country sounds and into a psych-rock-with-pedal-steel place. He still stares at the camera too much.
That cheating ass mascot hoe! I just recently followed along with morbid interest as a classmate of mine was tried in a murder-for-hire scheme where he tried to have his girlfriend's husband killed for allegedly messing with a 13 year old step-daughter. That second album is where the goodness is - top to bottom I could just keep playing that one all day without getting tired of it. Like, how could a Deadhead not groove on "Fly Migrator?" It jams.
Sadly, these dudes play at freaking noon on Sunday, and weekend two only, so I will almost certainly not get to see them at the Fest. But now that I know they exist, I'm thinking I hunt down another show at Stubb's indoors or the Yeti store or something to check it out. I am down.
One Liner: An old favorite, back from the dead, for more boozy fun
Wikipedia Genre: Country is what Wikipedia says, but he's more Texas County and Red Dirt.
Home: Bandera, Texas
Poster Position: small Type Saturday.
Thoughts: There was a time when I would have put Charlie up there in my top ten of artists that I wanted to hear on any given day. The Life of the Party album landed right around the time I graduated from college, and that was right about the time that my interest in country music was at its apex.
After college, I moved to Dallas right when KHYI started broadcasting with a great mix of classic country and newer Texas-centric artists who were picking up the torch from Jerry Jeff and Robert Earl. I don't know if they were the first to try that sort of programming move, but they were certainly the first that I heard. I immediately got in to Bruce Robison ("Wrapped" should have been the first dance at my wedding, but I wasn't thinking straight), his brother Charlie Robison, Slaid Cleaves ("Broke Down" is a classic, with "Lydia" one of my favorites), and Chris Knight, and then started going back to some classics from Cash, LeDoux, Steve Earle, and Waylon Jennings. It was an eye-opening time for me to realize the depth of great song-writing available in the country genre if you had a well-curated playlist provided to you.
And the classic, untouchable tune from that 1998 album is still classic and untouchable, an amazing lyrical tale of a slacker who isn't going very far but is pretty well okay with that. "My Hometown," his biggest streamer at 30.1 million streams.
Even that video is classic. Haha - they changed the lyrics! Says they spent all their money on "shots" instead of "pot." That is lame.
Not long after that album came out, I was at a music festival of sorts that was being held in the mansion from the TV show Dallas called Southfork Ranch. KHYI put on a little music festival inside of the Southfork. I have no recollection of who was there, and I'm certain that the Dixie Chicks were not playing, but I am certain that Charlie Robison was one of the headliners. Well, Charlie was married to Emily Robison, the extremely attractive guitar and banjo player from the Dixie Chicks, and one of the guys I was with had the balls to go ask Emily to dance (the show was in a big ballroom with a dance floor included), during her husband's set, and she actually said yes and danced with him. Legend.
Charlie and Bruce are from Bandera, Texas, and are both badass songwriters in their own respective right. Bruce has been covered by the Chicks, George Strait, and Faith Hill & Tim McGraw. I thought that more people have covered Charlie songs, but it looks like those were songs that I thought Charlie wrote, but I just knew his version before someone else (like Kenny Chesney) then covered. Like, also from that 1998 album, "Loving County" is a brutally perfect story of murder and consequences. Just excellent songwriting. "Barlight" is a little cheesy, but a good singalong anyway. "Indianola" and "Sunset Boulevard" are good tunes. The whole album is great, really.
2001's Step Right Up has a few other really good songs on it as well. Personally, I love "The Wedding Song," a duet with Natalie Maines of The Chicks, because it is all about a wedding in suburban Seguin, and I was likewise married just outside of Seguin, Texas on the Guadalupe River. Luckily no one played Bachman Turner Overdrive or served hot dogs at my wedding, but we were in that wheelhouse for sure. "Desperate Times" is great, "John O'Reilly" is good, "Life of the Party" is solid. I had kind of forgotten about some of these songs. I will definitely say that the album opener, "Right Man for the Job," gets under my skin because of the droning quality of the chorus. This has Kelly Willis instead of Natalie, and is live, but a great version of this tune.
So cutting and rude, but still kind of cute. "The freshman fifteen killed all your dates" is brutal. Damn I love Kelly Willis' voice. I wish she was on this poster! His Wikipedia says that he really did play football at Texas State, which was derailed by a knee injury, and then moved to Austin and joined up with a handful of bands over the years before striking out on his own.
One more tune, this is his second-biggest streamer, which I suspect is because of people's holiday playlists. From the album Good Times, from 2004, you get "New Years Day." Just over 29 million streams.
Part of what makes this appealing is just the shambling, drunken, looseness of the whole sound. Really sounds like he's your college buddy who is still just stumbling around trying to find a good time and make bad decisions along the way. The last time I saw him was when I was living in Corpus Christi for a summer with my friend Tate. We got tickets to see him in the little stage off to the side of the Executive Surf Club, which is an awesome venue, and Robison seemed drunk and belligerent throughout the show, which made it even more entertaining. This is the kind of music that you can have a great time singing along to.
Several years ago, Charlie announced that he was permanently unable to sing. Apparently, he had surgery, and because of resulting complications, he said that he was permanently unable to sing. But now, four years later, he was apparently able to perform at a private party in June of this year, and has booked three shows in Seguin, near Tyler, and Dallas for the end of November. I think I might actually be in Seguin on November 23. Screw it, I just bought two tickets. Let's gooooooo!
(and yes, I'd obviously go watch him play at this festival as well...)
Home: Nashville (but originally from Greenville, SC)
Poster Position: Small Type Saturday.
Thoughts: Lane came to ACL in 2014, and I actually wrote a review of her back then, among some of my first ever reviews on this blog. I'll let you read that gem before we look at some more recent things:
"You know what, actually pretty damn good. Does for old school country women what Amy Winehouse did for old school soul. Reverb-heavy rockabilly with a slightly modified singing voice. Most popular song on Spotify is "Gone Gone Gone."
Love the way the ACL lineups can hide a solid gem 23 lines down in the poster. Never heard of this girl at all, and yet she is awesome. That song above was from her first album, but she just released a new one in 2014 that was produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. It is an awesome sound - kind of like a Neko Case meets Loretta Lynn thing going on. Check her out on Spotify and enjoy."
Man, I used to be a man of few words in these reviews! Her top track on Spotify these days is actually a Lana Del Rey song that she appears on. Her third most popular track is a Dropkick Murphys tune. She kind of sounds like a singer on one of the songs from a soundtrack. Natural Born Killers? Pulp Fiction? Her top song is actually from that 2014 album that I mentioned above, All Or Nothin', which was produced by Dan Auerbach. This is "Right Time," with 10.9 million streams.
That abusive boyfriend kinda looks like Ben Burgess, who is also on this poster. But yeah, a good little rockabilly kind of tune with her raspy voice leading the way.
She was born in South Carolina, and dropped out of high school before moving to LA and then New York City. She was apparently doing some fashion design, but then a country musician broke up with her, and that experience inspired her to write. She moved to Nashville and started churning out the jams. The comparison discussed on Wikipedia is to Wanda Jackson (and I have to admit she's not on my radar) and she has been referred to as the First Lady of Outlaw Country. Tight!
2017's Highway Queen has two tunes with more than 5 million streams. "Send the Sun" tops out at 6.2 million.
There is the one that sounds like the Pulp Fiction song. What was that song? There it is - Maria McKee singing "If Love Is a Red Dress (Hang Me in Rags)." After that album, nothing until this year when Nikki released 2022's Denim & Diamonds. In my mind, I figured that I had not heard any of these tunes, but to the contrary, the top track is a Black Key-esque burner they've been playing on the radio recently. "First High" with just over a million streams.
Tight groove in there - I dig it. And you can almost see boobs! Woohoo! Although, now that I read about the album, this was not a Dan Auerbach joint, but was instead produced by Josh Homme of the Queens of the Stone Age. Who I also think rules! Nikki has some great taste in collaborators! "Born Tough" has a drum track that sounds like some recent QOTSA. I've heard it a few more times - Sun Radio is playing it in Austin - and it makes me want to wreck shit. Good stuff!
I'd absolutely check her show out. I would actually just listen to this music, without this festival leading me here. I'm going to keep her new album in my queue. Feels like more of a rock show than a traditional country show, which will always appeal to me!
One Liner: Bad ass country chick with legit lyrics and cool sound
Wikipedia Genre: Country, pop, neotraditional country Home: Golden, Texas (although I suspect she lives in Nashville now) Poster Position: 1 Both Weekends. Sunday.
Thoughts: I am an unapologetic lover of the Kacey Musgraves. My wife gets annoyed at me about it. I've seen her play live four times now, and I'm still a little annoyed that I haven't gotten to see more shows than that.
However, I will also readily admit that her most recent album was a disappointment to me, personally. I'm sure some people still love it, but it didn't hit right for me. But before we get to that bummer crap, let's dig in to the good stuff.
Her prior album was 2018's Golden Hour, a nod to her upbringing in Golden, Texas, and probably a reference to the time of day when every instagram influencer tries to get their picture taken outside. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I'm going to use a lot of my prior review of the album, which was my top album of 2018, and my second-favorite album of the entire 2010's decade. Holy shit, man. The opening track of this album sounds so much like Beck's stuff from Morning Phase - down to the soft acoustic, the swelling sound, whatever organ-ish machine makes those noises, the banjo plucking, even the drums and bass that kick in at about 1:40. It's either Beck's "Country Down" or "Say Goodbye," I can't tell which, maybe both. No, it's definitely "Say Goodbye" more than "Country Down." But the line - "grandma cried when I pierced my nose" - is money stuff. 116.3 million streams.
If you have been reading my blog before, you know I have a large, irrational love for Musgraves. This album does nothing to dissuade me from that love, even though it does take her even further afield from her country roots. "Lonely Weekend" sounds like a soft rock John Mayer tune (and Mayer is a guilty pleasure for me, who also toured with Musgraves a few years ago). "High Horse" is a ridiculous disco dance party that needs a roller skating video so badly it hurts me to consider it. And not only is that tune fun (and very weird for a country star), the lyrics are very good kissoffs to a jackass on his high horse. Let's go with that one here - just over 97 million streams.
Amazing 9-to-5 video, but I still wish there had been sequin-draped roller skating. Funny, I came here to talk more about "High Horse" and the other two early singles "Butterflies" (damn pretty, and her nearly top streamer from the album at 137 million) and "Space Cowboy," but "Slow Burn" has occupied my brainwaves all day. It is really good, but such heavy Beck flavors. I so want to know if that was intentional or just coincidental. I'd tweet at her about it but don't want to appear creepy. Anyway, here is "Space Cowboy," at 64.9 million streams.
Beautiful voice. And achingly sad lyrics about a relationship that is over. "Well sunsets fade, and love does too, Yeah, we had our day in the sun, When a horse wants to run, there ain't no sense in closing the gate, You can have your space, cowboy." Loving this album overall. "Oh, What A World" is a beauty. I'm a little offput by the use of digital vocal trickery, when her voice is so damn great on its own, but I can live with it. Good lyrics, sweet vocals, enjoyable tunes, this one gets my seal of approval. The fun thing about this album since it was released is that my middle daughter also loves it, and so sometimes now she'll fire up a song, usually "Velvet Elvis" or "Rainbow," and the whole family gets to enjoy them together in the car. Love when a child figures out something good like that. Since writing most of those words a few years ago, "Rainbow" has become a favorite from the album as well. Usually makes me want to cry. So pretty and well-written. Texas girl ("girl from Golden"), who first really came out in the public eye when she was on Nashville Star, which is apparently like American Idol but for country types. She didn't win, but that exposure led to a record deal. She has since spent a lot of time upending norms in Nashville, being very vocal for LGBTQ rights. She has won six Grammy awards, including album of the year for Golden Hour (which also won the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music best album awards). Her mother was an artist and encouraged her music, taking her to festivals to sing western swing as a child. When she graduated high school, she moved to Austin to give it a shot. Her hero is Alison Krauss, and her favorite artists is John Prine - that's a pretty solid duo. She also married Ruston Kelly, who was at ACL in 2018 (and is pretty damn good), so I think she was likely influenced by him a little bit now. (although more to come on that relationship later). But before that album, she had released two other very good albums - actually I think her debut is the best of the three - but first let's go back to 2015's Pageant Material. Here is my review of that album back then: I get that you might not be in to country music, and so you might just dismiss this album out of habit. Huge mistake. Like her last album and like the new wave of country stars who wink at the genre and then have some fun with it (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson), this is funny and a hell of a lot of fun. She can take that too far - see "Biscuits" with the chorus of "Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy" - but she hits the nail on the head way more often than she mashes her thumb. And even that song, I like it a lot and will continue to hum it in my head hours after I've finished it. The music is good, but you come for the wry observations about life in small town country-land, family relations, and making fun where there isn't any. My favorite moment is the Willie-assisted cover of Nelson's 1965 beauty "Are You Sure." It isn't actually named on the album, it is a secret song after the final listed track, "Fine." You may not remember this, but I have a clear memory of the TV show Lost, when Hurley is looking around at the misfit toy survivors spread around him on the beach, and slips his headphones on to listen to this song. At the time, despite a pretty heavy past of Willie listening, I had never heard that track before, and so I remember being struck by (1) how perfect a song it was for that moment in the show; and (2) how great a song it was in general. This is a great version, with Willie's unmistakable guitar work under Kacey's knockout voice, and then Willie's old, weathered voice for a bit.
Man, Willie looks like hell. While I still think I liked her first album better ("Merry Go Round" was devastatingly perfect, and "Follow Your Arrow" great stuff), this one is a keeper for sure. When 2013's Same Trailer Different Park came out, I wasn't doing ridiculously obsessive blogging at the time, so I never wrote about that album, but as I mentioned above, it might be the best of the three. The key reason for that is the lyrics. She wrote them herself, and they're devastating and empowering and smart and perfectly descriptive. "Merry Go Round" is amazing. 84.5 million streams.
When she came to ACL last time, I literally teared up like an old man as I sang along to the perfect line - "just like dust we settle in this town." And my wife made fun of me. Which is totally deserved. But the people she is describing in this track are so well fleshed out and described. Love it. And the other hit from this album, "Follow Your Arrow," which has 106 million streams, is also a kick ass empowerment/do yo thing track.
Its a simple construct, but I love when she tells you to roll up a joint, and then says "or don't" or "I would," with a smile in her voice. Her voice is damn pretty, and she just sounds friendly. This song is also great because of how it blows up the normal country paradigm of 'MERICA and "party with my bros" and "ain't got time for no queers" and all of that which is normally firing out of Nashville all day. "In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Musgraves talked about criticism she faced for her rebellious lyrics. "I think throwing the rebel card out there is really cheap," she said. "The things I'm singing about are not controversial to me, I don't push buttons to push buttons. I talk about things that have made an impression on me that a lot of people everywhere are going through."" That is good. Loads of other good songs on that first album, "Blowin' Smoke," "Keep It To Yourself," or "Back on the Map" come to mind. Great disc. She was nominated for a bunch of Country Music Awards and Grammy's that year, and took home the Grammy for Best Country Song ("Follow Your Arrow") and Best Country Album. Something else I haven't mentioned, I don't know who the dudes in the band are (they don't get a mention on Wikipedia) but they rule as well. Great players, don't get in the way, just make straight-forward tunes that showcase the star. Also on this album, I love "Late to the Party" and "Dime Store Cowgirl." This first album kept me company one summer while driving from Colorado back to Texas in August, while the rest of my family slept in the early morning and I popped in headphones to move on down the road. Right in between Helmet and A$AP Rocky, ol' Kacey kept me company. I hadn't really even noticed it before, but "Good Ol' Boys Club" has a nice dig in it that hadn't dawned on me before in many listens, but clicked while the music was about all that I had in my mind that morning. The song is about the music industry and how crappy it is that people who know people can get a leg up on real talent, and one of the lines says "“Another gear in a big machine, don’t sound like fun to me.” Big Machine is a record label in Nashville, home to massive stars like Taylor Swift and Reba and Tim McGraw, etc. So, I guess she didn't want to sign with their sorry ass label anyway. From reading the Internet about this, it sounds like some people thought she dissed TayTay with this line, but Kacey disavowed the diss with a wink.
I alluded to her new album a few times above, and how I did not love it. Star Crossed is her breakup album. On the one hand, I wanted to jump to her defense when the idiot Grammy people excluded this new album from the Country Album of the Year category because they deemed it to be outside of that genre, and instead put it in the Best Pop Vocal Album category. But then I actually listened to the album, and its pretty much a pop breakup album. I mean, it's not like a Britney pop album or something, but more like some confessional and gentle stuff from Stevie Nicks or Lana Del Rey or Olivia Newton John or something. Actually, I just heard a little of the Harry Styles thing when I just listened again, his pop-rock-70's groove thing that he did so well on his last album. It isn't bad by any means, but it's also just nothing like what I expected to hear (or wanted to hear, I suppose, especially when she uses autotune despite a great voice). Those other three albums were vital, even as they pushed the country genre outside of its boundaries through the years, but this one just feels like a bummer to be sad to. "there is a light" features some jazzy ass flute solos and a quick bongo beat, along with an almost rap near the end, which is entertaining for being weird. "justified" is the hit with 40.1 million streams (with "breadwinner" right behind at 31 million - which is even more pop-forward).
I like the driving video. That is clever. It isn't a bad song, and although the chorus is killer with the back-and-forth confusion of a breakup, the song overall is just not that interesting to me. That is what most of this album does for me, leave me with disinterest. It would be like if someone told me that I should watch a documentary about Kanye and Kim splitting up or something. I'm sure there would be bits that would be interesting, but I don't need to go through someone else's heartbreak for an entire album. I don't see any song on here gaining pantheon status among her other great tunes. It feels a lot longer than the 47 minute run-time. Although the Spanish-language song at the end is kinda cool. Would have been better at the end of a country-pop masterpiece. Hopefully she forgets old Ruston and marries Bruno Mars and we get country-pop-smart-lyrics-dance-party perfection again.
Anyway, I'm a big fan. I was pumped to see her again, but the scheduling jerk at ACL has put her up against the Chilis. But such is the life in the Festival. If I can pull off a second weekend ticket for Sunday, I might go over and see her at the end instead. But I'd probably take the opportunity to see the Chilis again instead!
One Liner: "baby-faced, 6XL guitar hero with a Dwight Yoakum voice."
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is country and Americana.
Home: Dallas
Poster Position: 23 Weekend Two Only. Sunday.
Thoughts: I read a piece about Walker a few years ago in Rolling Stone, and he's an intriguing dude. They called him a "baby-faced, 6XL guitar hero with a Dwight Yoakum voice."
He's a great songwriter guy, and his voice is pretty good too. Dallas born and bred. Many times when you lead with "songwriter" then they've got the Dylan/Robert Earl Keen type voice that isn't going to win any awards, but the high and lonesome note this guy hits a few minutes into "Voices" is clean and lovely. This is also that type of country where you get rockin' guitars to go with the good stories - a guy who is gonna start using drugs again, a guy who is going to ride the buckin' bronco at a bar, a gal showing boats to rednecks at a boat show, or a guy who kills himself by drinking a bottle and putting his truck in a lake.
His first album was 2019's Wish You Were Here, and it is 10 songs of great story-telling and a good showcase for his voice. It also just feels so authentic, like he's really seen these things or knows these people who he is singing about. Nothing in here feels like he made it up to sell records, more like he just poured it out of himself to make sure that none of these stories were lost to time. Like, here is a story he told about his grandfather that has great detail: ""In the third grade, (my grandfather) dropped out of school to make money for his family in Tennessee's Cumberland Gap. Then, he lied about his age and joined the Navy at 16, and was stationed in Japan for four years. After that, he returned and moved to New York City and became a Broadway choreographer, competitive ballroom dancer and dance instructor at a location of the Arthur Murray School of Dance. Once the dance craze died, he moved around doing blue-collar labor and settled in Texas, living in the other half of a duplex beside my parents and me. While he was there, he was a maintenance man and home builder, who sold and pawned reclaimed electronics and hardware he'd pick up from dumpster diving." WTF, man. How cool is that? The top track from this album is a quiet little tale of desperation, called "Lot Lizard," with 996k streams and a little slice of that high and lonesome sound.
Damn those lyrics are depressing as hell. Like a good Jason Isbell soul-crusher right there.
I read another thing about him in Texas Monthly a few months back, which piqued my interest enough to stick his 2020 album, Glad You Made It, in the queue. He's huge - like his photo on the cover of this album is fascinating just because of how large of a man he is, while his voice just sounds like it could be any skinny hipster who used to front BR-549. And from what I recall in that profile, he really did live the rough-and-tumble, poor lifestyle that he sings about in these songs. The lyrics in "Boat Show Girl" are wonderful. But "Voices" gets the top streaming at 1.4 million.
I dig that video too - basic concept but it is still fun to see those people looking at you and clicking that million-year-old remote. The drunk lady is going to be in my nightmares though. Pretty great. I like the whole album.
After that, he popped out on more album, 2021's See You Next Time. I like the theme of the album names. I hope the next one is Sorry I Missed You or Quit Fucking Following Me. "Three Strikes" is super fun - now I see the Dwight comparison. "Sexy After Dark," with 576k streams, is the top track right now.
Almost has a Nathaniel Rateliff vibe with those horns and groove. I'm afraid to google the lyrics on my work computer, but it sure seems like a no shit message - isn't that when most people feel sexy?
Damn. Sucks that he is Weekend Two, Sunday only. Won't get the chance to see him, most likely. I should hunt down a different show and see him, I think it would be worth it.
One Liner: Blues rock magic from another dude in Dan Auerbach's stable
Wikipedia Genre: Americana, alternative country, alternative rock, blues, folk, folk rock Home:Birmingham, Alabama Poster Position: 25 Weekend Two Only. Friday.
Thoughts: Okay, hell yeah. Just the initial guitar licks of the first song has me in on this one. That is some guitar goodness right there. Comes on like it is about to be a jam band meander, but then when the vocals come in you can tell that it is more of a bluesy guitar rock stunner. This song jams. "Blue Pill Blues" 1.4 million streams.
Before you watch that video, and see the label that he is signed to, I require you to make one guess as to which label out there is going to have a throwback blues rock guy signed to their roster. If you said Third Man, I can see it, but it is almost always going to be Dan Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound. My man looks like he takes a lot more than just the boner pills, man. I wonder if he actually has eyes, or if he just has to squint his eyelids to handle the fact that he lost his eyes by taking too many boner pills. Homie looks like Chris Pratt staring into the sun in a hat made from a tea cozy. But whatever, he can look like he wants if he is going to churn out freaking killer songs like that. I love it.
Fredrick James Mullis, Jr. is our man here. He was sixteen when he received a guitar for Christmas and started doing music. A friend was the frontman for a band called Fire Mountain who told Early that he could open for them if he would write his own stuff. He moved from Troy, Alabama to Birmingham when he was 21, and Auerbach spotted him. They went into the studio and Auerbach produced his debut (and only) album, Singing for My Supper. Released in 2020. He was supposed to them go out on tour supporting the Black Keys, The Lone Below, The Marcus King Band, and Shovels and Rope, but that fell through because of the dumb pandemic. I dig this description from the New York Times: "tattered and nervous, with a grainy quaver."
No other track breaks the million stream barrier, but he's got one with 463k streams. "It Doesn't Matter Now." But I figure I should check out the newest single instead, to see what he is bringing to the table here two years after the debut album. This is "What a Strange Time to Be Alive." 30k streams. 2022 release.
Aw man, pizza and beer sounds really good right now. Also, he definitely has eyes, but when he sings he really likes to squint them. That is a good, laid-back shamble of a track. Edges into country, but still bluesy as hell. This is that classic Auerbach touch - like he's done with Yola or Robert Finley - keep them using classic instruments and pushing forward with their skill as solid singers and instrumentalists, without relying on fancy mixing or studio trickery. The single before this was "Tumbleweed," and its got some serious guitarwork and good groove. I really like this stuff.
I'm sure he'll get a garbage slot to play, but I'd definitely check this out.
