Americana music is certainly getting more attention but rarely do you hear much about the labels responsible for the music. Many releases are the result of indie and private labels since the majors have generally avoided, abandoned, or ignored the artists making this kind of music. Some major labels have imprints that feature Americana music such as Mercury's Lost Highway but overwhelmingly the artists making their name today are on small labels.

So I'd like to introduce three of my favorite small labels that don't get enough exposure. I'm sure you'll find something you like at each stop!

First is OhBoy Records. OhBoy was started by handsome Johhny Prine and Al Bunetta. OhBoy is the home of John Prine, Todd Snider, and Kris Kristofferson. The recent releases of Kristofferson and Snider's live albums were among the better offerings in the genre this year. Further, OhBoy keeps classics alive by offering Steve Goodman tunes, music from the Mountain Stage, Porter Waggoner, Billy Joe Shaver, Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, and Del McCoury. Each time the OhBoy catalog arrives I know I'm reaching for my wallet. They can be found at OhBoy.com

Compadre Records is another fine place to find great music. Compadre is responsible for Billy Joe Shaver's Freedom's Child which is a favorite of mine. They also feature Suzy Boggess and accordian legend Flaco Jimenez. Brad Turcotte started this scrappy indie label a few years ago and has built a genuine home to great music. He also struck a deal with Townes Van Zandt's widow which will result in three unreleased projects so stay tuned. You can find Brad and the fine folks at CompadreRecords.com

I was introduced to Dualtone Music Group after hearing Chris Knight a few years ago in Tampa. Dualtone's lineup is filled with other gems like Jim Lauderdale and Radney Foster. Also, they are preparing to release June Carter Cash's last album Wildwood Flower on September 9th. Don't forget Knight's new album The Jealous Kind on September 23rd either. You can find them at Dualtone.com

Well those are three of my favorite Americana label underdogs. Hope you enjoy the music as much as I do.

A few months ago I picked up Johnny Cash's American IV because everyone was raving about his remake of Trent Reznor's "Hurt." When I put the disc in my computer's CD player a video was presented which is far from unusual these days. What is unusual is that the video was as much a work of art as the song and performance.

The video features Cash in his home performing a song so fitting you might feel he had written it himself. His time-twisted hands alternately play a piano and a guitar while his late wife June watches on with a look of both love and a great fear for him. Intertwined are clips of a younger, more vibrant Cash but seemingly less talented or thoughtful than the man now singing. While the song chronicles a recognition that life all ends the same, Cash somehow does it without impressing a thought of hopelessness but rather acceptance. The items and reminders of his hallowed career surround him as tributes to a man considered the pentultimate musician, yet remind us of his mortality at the same time. While his face and greying eyes are certainly those of the giant in our minds, his song and situation are far the idol we imagine. The graphic reality of Cash's beautiful yet alarming understanding of life are the most touching moments in music video history.

That said, Johnny Cash is up for 6 MTV Video Music Awards despite the fact that his new album is rarely on the radio and MTV rarely plays videos. He is also up for 3 Americana Music Awards this year for the album. Cash is very much on top of the music world today, in what may be one of the last times we are fortunate enough to witness.

When you mention Shel Silverstein most people remember the popular children's books he authored. Some may recall his work in Playboy but that's rare. Virtually none will recall Shel Silverstein as a song writer despite the fact he wrote and registered nearly 800 songs in his lifetime.

Shel actually was a most prolific songwriter who had hits recorded by Bobby Bare, Johnny Cash, and Dr. Hook. He also was an Oscar nominee for his music for the film Postcards From The Edge. He recorded many CDs including musical versions of some of his popular children's poems. All in all, his musical genius is the hidden gem among his monumental accomplishments.

Shel was born in Chicago in 1930 and grew up in Lincoln Square. As a boy he worked at Comisky Park selling hotdogs and at night would listen to the Grand Ole Opry with his mother on the radio. Later, he attended the University of Chicago for a year before getting booted out. He moved on to Roosevelt University before being drafted in 1953. While in the army he drew popular cartoons. After departing the service he began his tenure with Playboy drawing cartoons. This wasn't enough for Shel however and he became quite attracted to the emerging folk music scene in Chicago.

In 1961 Shel released his first album, Hairy Jazz which lead to a series of other albums throughout the 60s. In 1968, Shel hit it big when he recorded "A Boy Named Sue" which prompted Johnny Cash to release it himself. It went to the top of the charts and earned a Grammy for Best Country Song in 1969. The trend continued with many country artists recording Shel's music over the next 15 years.

Shel's music is an endearing part of his legacy that few have explored. I would recommend picking up his work with Fred Koller, Dr. Hook, and Bobby Bare. If you can find Shel's own albums they are gems. Recent re-releases have made it easier to find his work but they're usually only available via mail order or online.

Banned Width - Celebrating Shel's Adult Works
Shel Silverstein Collected Information

As I listened to Will Kimbrough's Godsend I noticed a little song that kept sticking in my head after I'd left my truck. It was a great old-timey kind of song about the Battle of the Capes in 1781 and featured Todd Snider and Adrienne Young. During an interview with Will he mentioned he produced much of Adrienne's album on which "Cape Henry" was an outtake. How could I pass up such an inviting opportunity to hear new music?

This afternoon, Adrienne's CD Plow To The End Of The Row arrived and at first glance I could have sworn it was a major label release. The packaging is phenomenal. The design and photography is stunning but there were goodies inside--a package of seeds with instructions from Adrienne to plant them with regards to the Farmer's Almanac--my grandfather's favorite publication. Also, the liner notes were printed on this little booklet of parchment. The packaging alone was a work of art.

I had heard a few clips on Adrienne's well-produced website so I kind of knew what to expect or at least I thought I knew what to expect. Once I put the disc in my CD player I was a bit surprised--it manages to mix the traditional sound of Adrienne's banjo with some of the finest production I've heard. To trump the hand every track with one exception was recorded and produced with analog equipment! The roughness of the more traditional music is smoothed by a warm comforting feel only available through traditional microphones.

Adrienne's personality seems exuded through the entire production: packaging, songwriting, performances, and even her website. Although I've never met her, the whole experience feels like a warm cup of tea on the front porch with an old friend. It's truly an amazing feat for an artist I've never heard before.

The songs themselves are a mix of traditional numbers, originals, and even a Johnny Cash number. "Home Remedy" written with Kimbrough is a fantastic cut that is leans toward pop-sensibility yet prominently features a great harmonica solo. The title track, also written with Kimbrough, is the centerpiece of this album and duly deserves the headline. It's a farming song that takes an laid-back look at the hard work farmers face daily and frames it in a love-song. The duet features Kimbrough's soulful downtrodden voice and Young's more optimistic sooth for a combination that makes the story so very sweet. "Sadie's Song" won Young acclaim at Merlefest and shows off Young's intelligence. Johnny Cash's "Stripes" is a great rework that still features the well-known "chick-a-chick-a" sound made famous by Cash but now wraps Kimbrough and Young around a stripped-down hill band.

It's a great first-effort from the seventh-generation Floridian who was inspired by her grandfather's banjo picking. It shows in her adept playing, warm voice from another era, and skillful songwriting. The album also benefits from the talent around Young such as Kimbrough, Snider, and Old Crow Medicine Show among others. Much like Robinella and the CCString Band's debut CD, this looks to be the start of something very good.

As previously mentioned, I'm interested in learning the banjo for a number of reasons. Among those is the fact that my wife finds banjo players very attractive. That aside, the dual nature of the banjo's sound is inviting; it is both harsh and brassy as well as sweet and tender. It makes the perfect companion for a rainy day on the porch or a sunny day in the woods. Style is relatively unimportant to me--I've yet to hear a banjo I disliked. These are among the reasons the instruments calls to me.

I have my reservations about playing a banjo however. Primarily, I'm not a good fingerpicker nor do I have a background in bluegrass. My musical history is a mashed up mix of outlaw country, hippie folk, Texas swing, and a little punk thrown in for good measure. None of those have forced me to be a good picker but rather an inventive storyteller. That's no excuse nor a requirement for being a singer-songwriter-troubador-type guy. Now it might be a bit of a problem as I'm not that quick with my fingertips and banjo can certainly be demanding of those digits.

Another detraction from my pursuit of banjo is the fact that unlike guitars, I know very little about the instrument or those that make it. I cannot look at a banjo and identify things that make it a strong or poor choice. I cannot from the appearance and feel gain an understanding of what styles would best suit the sound. Banjos are in effect like attempting to read a book in a lost language to me.

That being said, can anyone really explain the difference between Scruggs and clawhammer styles? How about open-back, resonator, tone ring, and other banjo differences? Can someone tell me what to look for in a beginner's banjo? Is anyone even reading this damn thing?

I'm anxiously waiting for a new batch of CDs as well as a harmonica holder so I may accompany myself. Among the coming goodies is Adrienne Young's ballyhooed first disc Plow To The End Of The Row. Having heard the clips, an outtake from the album on Will Kimbrough's latest CD, and gotten the recommendation from many people, I'm quite excited to get the disc. In fact, after hearing little bits I ordered the harmonica rig and have been eyeing a banjo.

In the meantime, I'm going to have a little Sangria, enjoy the sunshine, and listen to a little West Texas music...

Will Kimbrough is one of the most prolific Americana musicians of our era. Long a favorite guitarist among musical elite such as Rodney Crowell, Billy Joe Shaver, Todd Snider, and Alison Moorer to name a few, Kimbrough has been the backbone of many tours and albums. While guitar-slinging paid the bills, his talents were best exposed in his songwriting and legendary live performances as the leader of Will and the Bushmen, the Bis-quits, and his recent solo efforts. For the last 15 years, Kimbrough's work has been a changing, growing influence on artists in the genre he's helped shape.

Fortunately for those who want to relive the ride or missed it to begin with, he's released a new compilation disc of outtakes, home recordings, and live performances highlighting the last half of his career to date. Godsend is a ten-track romp through songs that illustrate Kimbrough's many talents, his evolving sound, and his journey from one place in time to another. It features tender songs like "Too Beautiful" in which exclaims his daughter is too beautiful to grow up to date losers and "You Don't Know Me So Well" written with Rob Trucks. Also, you'll find Kimbrough friends Todd Snider and Adrienne Young on "Cape Henry", Tommy Womack on "I Don't Have a Gun", and Joy Lynn White on an cool cover of Neil Young's "Motorcycle Mama."

Will recently took the time to answer a few questions about the new album, his guitar work, his label, and his family while taking a quick break from a busy touring schedule.

(Sharkbitten) Godsend is a collection of tracks from about 7 years of your career. How did it feel to go back and revisit those songs?

(Will Kimbrough) I have been performing many of these songs almost nightly for years, so it felt really good. Some of these songs are live show staples. I wanted people to finally be able to take these songs home.

(SB) Your first two true solo discs were well-received and starkly different from one another as well as your earlier work with bands. You've been a bit daring in the many different approaches. This collection seems to be a bit of bridge between those periods. Listening to the album were you conscious of the transitions you've made?

(WK) Most of the material on Godsend precedes the recordings of This and Home Away. More than anything, I would say it is a bridge between my years with Todd Snider and my solo albums. And the most recent stuff on Godsend is sort of a postcard home from the road and the studio (like "Cape Henry", an outtake from Adrienne Young's Plow to the End of the Row CD, most of which I produced).

(SB) The tracks on this album come from all over the place. How difficult was it to gather and select this collection?

(WK) Oh, it was easy. I had everything on CDs, DATS or cassettes. Joe Moss and I made a master list of 25 songs and whittled it down to the final CD.

(SB) You can connect nearly any two Americana artists via Will Kimbrough because so many artists have turned to you for assistance with their own albums. With the tables turned several of your friends show up on this album. Is the respect you’ve earned from fellow musicians satisfying?

(WK) Respect feels great. Having artists and musicians you respect give you support is very important.

(SB) Your last album, Home Away, was quite personal and unguarded. It seemed to return the focus from your guitar work to your songwriting and singing talents. Do you think Godsend will take advantage of that refocus and lead fans to revist Will and the Bushmen or the Bis-quits?

(WK) Well, Godsend is pretty raw, where Home Away was very crafted. There is more plain old improvised lead guitar (slide guitar, in particular) on Godsend. If folks want to revisit the Bushmen or the Bis-quits, they are welcome to do that.

(SB) Speaking of Home Away, one of my favorite cuts on that album as well as this album is "You Don't Know Me So Well." How exactly did that song come around and what lead you to arrange it so differently on Home Away?

(WK) An old friend, Rob Trucks, stopped through Nashville on his way to New York. He was moving up there after his marriage fell apart. We wrote "You Don't Know Me So Well" in a matter of minutes, just as we had written the Bushmen song, "Like Laughing", in a matter of minutes years before.

The Godsend version of that song is the original recorded version. The Home Away version is the 3 o'clock in the morning version. Literally. Lij (Home Away's co-producer and engineer) and I had worked all day in the studio. We were just about to call it a night (2:30 AM), when he asked if there was anything quiet and spooky I would like to record. So we set up one microphone in the middle of Lij's piano room and I went from instrument to instrument until "You Don't Know Me So Well" was a done deal, in its intimate form as heard on the Home Away CD.

(SB) In the liner notes you mention that since it was all archival material you "couldn't go back and fix things" and "didn't agonize over the mixes." How exposed do these recordings make you feel?

(WK) No more exposed than Home Away does, since it is so unabashedly personal, and no more exposed than my average solo show does, since I'm up there alone with an acoustic guitar.

Those are all pretty unprotected, unsafe places.

(SB) You cover both Neil Young and Bill Monroe this time around. That speaks to the diversity of your talents. If you could pick one of the two men to cover a Will Kimbrough tune at the height of their career, which song and artist would it be? An unholy duet between the two perhaps?

(WK) Oh man, definitely a duet between Neil Young and Bill Monroe! With Richard Thompson on lead guitar. The song? "I Don't Have a Gun" or any of their choice.

(SB) You are now your own record executive and have the freedom and responsibilities that come with that. Do you ever get up and think that being the boss sucks?

(WK) Never. I have had enough dealings with music business people telling me that they know what's best for me to know that I know what's best for me.

(SB) You have two young daughters that must really dig that Dad is a musician. Do your children have a favorite lullaby by Dad?

(WK) Yeah, they like "Goodnight Moon." But my kids would rather read a book before bed than hear dad sing another song!

(SB) You are currently touring quite a bit on your own and with Rodney Crowell. How hard has it been to be label owner, musician, and most importantly father and husband?

(WK) It is hard to be away from my family. But it is easy to do work that you love. I am very busy. It is a matter of constantly trying to strike the balance between home and work (see my CD Home Away for examples...).

(SB) To change gears for a second, you appeared on Billy Joe Shaver's last album, Freedom's Child, with some remarkable guitar work. You knew his late son and guitarist Eddy. Was that a hard situation to be in?

(WK) It was only hard when we recorded "Day By Day", since it was such a personal song about such deep loss for Billy Joe, and we recorded the song together, just the two of us, face to face. I felt like I was eavesdropping on his most private pain, while at the same time I knew he needed me to play the song perfectly and help him get through it.

(SB) Both you and Eddy were Nervous Wrecks at times with Todd Snider. Snider fans are most often Kimbrough fans and they seem to be praying for an amped-up Wrecks reunion. Any hopes of that happening? At least a twin bill with you and Todd anywhere soon?

(WK) I am ready willing and able to do a Wrecks gig with Todd. I have no idea
if that will happen. There are some twin bills with Todd Snider in the works. I'll let you know.

(SB) Finally, what are the plans for the remainder of the year and early next?

(WK) I will be touring solo, touring as Rodney Crowell's guitarist (and opening act some of the time), working on studio projects, including my next album on all new songs. The usual---tour, record, tour, record.

Waxy Silver Records
Will on Tour
Will and Rodney Crowell Tour Dates
Buy Godsend

Todd Snider and the Nervous Wrecks were once known as the most hell-raising fun you could have. After Todd went solo fans found themselves rushing to any show that Tommy Womack or Will Kimbrough would be in hopes of catching a glimpse of the former band. Well, wait no longer. October 9th in Reno, NV the Wrecks are planning on tearing down the Nugget.

Tour Info Here

The upcoming Labor Day holiday provides me with a little time off--something unusual even for a holiday. As I sought out my favorite entertainers to see if by some chance one would be playing in an interesting venue I found out there are a horde of great shows.

First, Robert Earl Keen will be playing in New Braunfels, TX at Saengerhall Saturday, August 30th and Sunday, August 31st. Todd Snider will be in Arnolds Park, IA with Willie Nelson at Arnold's Park Theme Park on August 30th. Jimmy Buffett's Tiki Time Tour sets down for it's annual visit to Boston on August 28th and 30th. The always fast John Hiatt will be at Humphrey's in San Diego the 29th and 30th. Jerry Jeff Walker will be at the Marquee Theater in Tempe, AZ on the 29th.

If you know of more shows pass them on!

I can't make the AMA conference this year but it appears that there are good things happening. There are some fantastic panels, a brood of fine musicians and industry honchos, and the can't-miss evening showcases featuring Rodney Crowell, Jack Ingram, Robinella and the CCString Band, Ricky Skaggs, Joe Ely, Caitlyn Gary, and Adrienne Young among others. The conference is September 18-20 at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Nashville. If you can go, don't forget to send me pictures!

2003 AMA Conference Website

Stay tuned for an interview with Will Kimbrough regarding his recent success, his new album, and life in general. For those of you who haven't heard or seen Will Kimbrough, chances are you've both heard and seen him perform with various artists. Will is the eclectic guitarist of choice for artists such as Billy Joe Shaver, Rodney Crowell, Todd Snider, and Tommy Womack to name a few. It doesn't stop there however--his songwriting and singing talents far exceed his stellar guitar work which is hard to do. Further, Will is a co-owner of Waxy Silver Records, a hard-working album with an up-and-coming voice in Americana and alt-country music. He's the real deal--a truer sound among the overwhelming static that is radio today.

Rather than go on about Will now, stay tuned for the interview and review of Godsend, his latest album which you may purchase at the Waxy Silver Store or Miles of Music. Until then, have fun!

Yes boys and girls, I am indeed a member in good standing of the Americana Music Association. I was afraid there were no groups out there willing to put my name on their roster, but the AMA sent along my ballot for the 2nd Annual AMA Awards so I assume I'm OK.

I've been anxiously waiting for the ballots to arrive since I sent my nominations. I was happy to see that my musical tastes were adequately represented with the nominees. Most prominent on the list are Johnny Cash and the Jayhawks. So, with eager joy I sent along my votes--no I won't tell you.

This certainly has me thinking about next year. So far, Kris Kristofferson and John Mellencamp stand out for album of the year. Mellencamp's "To Washington" may be an unpopular nomination from me for song of the year. Todd Snider will certainly get a nod for artist of the year with his incessant touring, live album, and hopefully new studio effort. Robinella and the CC String Band have a strong album this year. Also, don't forget Will Kimbrough as instrumentalist for the ballot. In fact, Will is a threat in just about every category as he's one of the most versatile musicians alive. Anyway, my list keeps growing for next year's votes!