Monthly Archives: July 2020

Album Feature – S.G. Goodman – Old Time Feeling

By Joshua Wallace

Old Time Feeling is the debut album of western Kentucky native S.G. Goodman. This debut is a record that presents itself as Americana on the surface, but there are dashes of country, alt rock, blues and some psychedelic flares throughout that keep you listening and you will not want to skip a track. It’s an impressive debut and I highly recommend checking it out if you have not already. Here are a few highlights of the record.

The album opens up with “Space and Time”. It sounds like something you would find on a 1960’s country radio station. It’s a slow almost psychedelic love ballad. I love the subtle tempo change in the lone verse of the song, it’s a nice touch to the overall sound. Up next is the bluesy rocker “Old Time Feeling”. S.G. Goodman’s vocals feel at home over the rock beat here and I wish there was more like this on the album. It’s one of the better tracks and serves as a break from the slower ballads throughout.

“The Way I Talk” features a chugging guitar and drum beat that sounds a bit like indie folk amped up and put through an alt country filter. The track is innocent enough till it slides into a feedback heavy rock solo at the end that just works with the overall groove of this album. “Burn Down The City” starts out as an electric folky track and morphs into an alt rock groove. It starts out subtle, but the guitar slowly gets more distorted till it turns into a chugging alt rock riff that eventually gets the whole band involved. I dig the transitions in this track. Finally, “Kitchen Floor” is a track leaning more to country music and has thick pedal steel throughout. There is a slow waltz-like pace to the drums and when that is mixed with the high lonesome vocals and the pedal steel on this track it creates an amazing soundscape.

S.G. Goodman has created a record that carries an interesting mix of sounds throughout and you can hear her southern influences clearly. Folk, country, alt rock and blues are all mixed in here with artistic flares of psychedelic and retro sounds throughout. It’s a promising debut that should sound amazing live. S.G. Goodman is currently scheduled to open for John Moreland on his 2021 tour and I’m planning on making it to one of those shows when shows are happening again. In the meantime, you can check out S.G. Goodman’s website here and Old Time Feeling was released everywhere as of July 17th, 2020.

Favorite Tracks : Space and Time, Old Time Feeling, Tender Kind, The Way I Talk, Burn Down The City, Kitchen Floor

S. G. Goodman – Old Time Feeling (2020)

Space and Time
Old Time Feeling
Supertramp
Tender Kind
Red Bird Morning
The Way I Talk
Burn Down The City
It Ain’t Me Babe
Kitchen Floor
Big Girl Now

Album Feature – Kyle Keller – All It Does Is Rain

By Joshua Wallace

Kyle Keller has released his debut full length LP with All It Does Is Rain. This is straightforward acoustic folk music. This album is raw and real with no bells and whistles. Just a man and his guitar and a few other instruments spread throughout. This album is full of lost love, sad songs and some good songwriting. That’s what it pretty much comes down to with a record like this. Does the artist’s singing voice grab your attention and is the songwriting good? Both are true in this case. Kyle Keller has a gritty and sometimes deep singing voice that gets the emotions across in every song.

The album kicks off with “Memories & Scars”. It’s a good introduction to the album in that you know what to expect from here on out. It’s a good heartbreak song in an album full of heartbreak songs. “The Devil’s Hammock” changes things up a bit in a ballad where the narrator wishes the black water would carry his worry out to sea. This song has always been one of my favorites to hear live and I’m glad he has recorded it here. There is a sense of urgency as the narrator almost begs the sea to take his worry away but leave his flesh and bones. It’s a great track for anyone who has seen darker times. “I’ve Known Love” is another favorite about losing that special kind of love. At the same time, it’s also about knowing all kinds of love, both good and bad. This is one of two tracks that features Laurence Kingston on piano and that simple addition adds to the production of this track. Finally, the album closes with “The Spark”. This song was inspired by events that happened in Charlottesville, VA a few years ago, but it still rings true with events that are currently in the news. I always lean more to protest songs that while they are inspired by certain events can stand the test of time and be applied to similar things in the future.

Kyle Keller has released one great raw and gritty folk album. I highly recommend giving this one a spin if you’re a fan of sad songs of all colors. There’s a bit of variety throughout this record to keep it interesting throughout and you will almost surely find something that draws you back for further listens. I also have to give a shout out to Abe Partridge for the killer cover art on this one. You should check out his art if you enjoy the album cover. Kyle Keller is based out of Gainesville, FL and will be playing shows in that area when they re-start. Until then, you can find him on Facebook or Twitter and his album is for sale on Bandcamp. All It Does Is Rain is available everywhere you can stream music as of June 27th, 2020.

Favorite Tracks : Memories & Scars, The Devil’s Hammock, Singing Down In Georgia, I’ve Known Love, Susannah, The Spark

Kyle Keller – All It Does Is Rain (2020)

Memories & Scars
I Hope You’re Gone
I Don’t Love You Anymore
Mama Please
The Devil’s Hammock
Singing Down In Georgia
I’ve Known Love
Susannah
Diamond Eyes
Afraid Of Change
The Spark

Album Feature – Joshua Ray Walker – Glad You Made It

By Joshua Wallace

Joshua Ray Walker is back with his second solo album following his stellar 2019 release Wish You Were Here which landed at number four on my 2019 Albums Of The Year List. Where Wish You Were Here was mostly full of slower songs and sad country tunes, this album picks up the pace and is much more of a rocking country record. It still features Joshua’s amazing vocals and songwriting but this time there is more variety in the soundscape and that makes for a better record this go round.

The album kicks off with “Voices” which is one of the slower tracks on here. The high lonesome cries on the chorus of this track are a great showcase for the amazing vocals you can find throughout this album. Another favorite is “Bronco Billy’s”. It’s a honky tonk tune that starts off slow and builds to a fast pace with some killer pedal steel work from Adam Kurtz who is on pedal steel throughout this album and is a true standout in the band featured on this record. “Boat Show Girl” shows off some of Joshua Ray Walker’s songwriting ability on a track about a girl who wishes someone would look at her the way people look at the boat she is trying to sell.

Another great track is the bluesy rocker titled “User”. There are some great blues riffs with some killer slide guitar work and even a horn section. You wouldn’t think a horn section would work on a track about blues rock track about substance abuse, but it does. “Loving County” is another slow track that features some great yodeling and an almost cosmic soundscape with some trippy guitar throughout. It’s a fitting sound for a song about going to one of the most lonesome off the grid places you can think of. Finally, the album ends with the rock number “D.B. Cooper”. The lyrics are a short two verse song about D.B. Cooper after his escape. The slower backdrop gives way to some thick riffs that are bound to be a rocking jam live.

This album really slaps. It features a huge variety in sound that goes from high lonesome ballads to honky tonk bangers to thick riffs and jam worthy rock n roll. If you felt Wish You Were Here was a bit one note with a lot of ballads, this album won’t do you wrong. I highly recommend giving this one a spin as Joshua Ray Walker has released another album of the year contender here. Glad You Made It is out everywhere as of July 10th, 2020. While Joshua Ray Walker can’t tour anywhere right now, you can get yourself a copy of this record on his bandcamp page.

Favorite Tracks : Voices, Bronco Billy’s, Boat Show Girl, User, Loving County, D.B. Cooper

Joshua Ray Walker – Glad You Made It (2020)

Voices
True Love
Cupboard
Bronco Billy’s
Boat Show Girl
User
Play You A Song
One Trick Pony
Loving County
D.B. Cooper

The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Volume 1 Available Everywhere June 26th

April 15, 2020 – Nashville, TN – John Hartford’s nimble, whit-fueled songs have long been a focal point of the bluegrass and newgrass canon and Hartford’s musicianship, on both the banjo and fiddle, has now been doted over for generations, but until recently, little has been known about his late-in-life, academic approach to fiddle music. After Hartford passed in 2001, his family discovered over two-thousand original, hand-written fiddle tune charts in file cabinets under his desk, and in time, the idea for a way to honor Hartford’s passion has grown legs. Nashville-based fiddler Matt Combs spent months pouring over Hartford’s journals and notes to compile resources for what would become two expansive projects; a book called John Hartford’s Mammoth Collections of Fiddle Tunes and this album, The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Volume 1, which will be available online on June 26th. A vinyl LP of Volume 1 can also be pre-ordered here.

Hartford’s music and ideas certainly don’t need a qualifier attached, but if one were to look for evidence to support their greatness, the laundry list of grade-A musicians who took part in the recording of The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Volume 1 would be a righteous place to start. From track one, the guest artists flow in and out of a revolving door of virtuosity. Combs is joined by Ronnie McCoury, Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge, and Dennis Crouch for “Tennessee Politics,” Sierra Hull accompanies herself on both mandolin and octave mandolin for “Old Beveled Mirror,” and Brittany Haas leads Paul Kowert, Dominic Leslie, and Jordan Tice through “Long White Road.” Meanwhile, four tracks feature Hartford’s former bandmates—Mike Compton on mandolin, Mark Howard on banjo, and Chris Sharp on guitar—reuniting their bandleader’s music with the pickers who brought it to life for years. The head-turning list of contributors continues with Tim O’Brien, Alison Brown, Megan Lynch Chowning, Tristan Scroggins, Forrest and Kate Lee O’Connor, Kristen Andreassen, Mike Bub, Rachel Combs, and Jan Fabricius before the album concludes with Shad Cobb joining Combs and O’Brien for the triple-fiddle, album-closing composition “Evening Farewell.” When all is said and done, listeners will have heard a total of seventeen unreleased Hartford compositions, running the gamut from driving to lilting to waltzing to stomping, while never losing their creator’s lighthearted touch.

“We are quickly approaching 20 years since his passing, and I hear not only John’s tunes out in the ‘fiddleverse’ but so many of the old-time tunes he unearthed and brought to the world,” says Combs. “I truly hope that this record continues that trend. There are so many great tunes here that represent the breadth of John’s influences and his deep creative spark; all of the artists on this recording helped bring them to life through their unique lens.” Katie Harford Hogue, Hartford’s daughter and executive producer of the album, says, “What I love the most about this record is that each artist’s DNA comes through, and Dad is the unifying spirit that brings it all together. He pulled inspiration from every moment, every sound, every sight he encountered, and his journals were a place to explore all of his ideas.” The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Volume 1 was recorded in part at the legendary Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa in Nashville, home of the late Jack Clement, where Hartford recorded his 1984 album Gum Tree Canoe. Those album sessions essentially coincide with the start of Hartford’s musical journals, which date back to 1983.

“Ever since I pulled the first fiddle journal out of a storage box back in 2008, the whole concept has fascinated me. The idea of this much creative output from one source is mind-boggling, and yet I understand where it comes from,” says Hogue. “With the creative brain, once the faucet is turned on the ideas just keep coming. Everything builds upon everything else, and there are endless variations. That’s the great thing about art, music, and creative thinking—every idea spurs on ten more. It’s a beautiful burden.”

Combs adds, “We knew we had to bring these tunes to life and record them so that others can learn and play them. When John was still living, he felt a great sense of accomplishment when his tunes were accepted into the fiddle tune vernacular, and his greatest hope as a composer was that they would get mixed in with all the old tunes that he loved so much. This record is our attempt to do just that.”

The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Volume 1 Track Listing:
1. Tennessee Politics
2. Calhoun County
3. Old Beveled Mirror
4. Running Board Waltz
5. Little Country Town
6. Don Brown And The Boys
7. John Rice
8. On Guitars, The End Of New Fingers Get Sore
9. Long White Road
10. The Old Man’s Drunk
11. Heartache What To Do
12. How Can We Love
13. Just Enough Room To Turn Around
14. Every Hour On The Hour
15. The Half-Price Hornpipe
16. Over At The Side Of The Road
17. Evening Farewell

More About John Hartford: One of the most respected musicians in Nashville history, John Hartford is considered a cornerstone of the newgrass movement due to his 1971 masterpiece, Aereo-Plain. He won a career four Grammy Awards, including two for his 1967 recording of “Gentle on My Mind,” a third for his 1976 album Mark Twang, and a fourth for his contributions to the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack in 2000. He was posthumously inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2010, was awarded the Americana Music Association President’s Award in 2005, and the Folk Alliance “Spirit of Folk” award in 2011.

List Of Tennessee And Kentucky Live Shows.

Folks I am trying my best to keep up with all of the venues, festivals and all else for you. These dates are ALL tentative, and I move the dates that reschedule of cancel RIGHT HERE . Your guess is as good as mine as to exactly when we will have live music again, or if the economy will ever fully rebound from this global tragedy.

I know for an absolute FACT any shows before the 15th of April have been cancelled so I’ll start logging dates and events that are slated to transpire AFTER April 15th. Even the Southgate House Revival whom reports not knowing when they will re open, has been left up on here after the 18th JUST IN CASE they can re open.

Until then, everybody hunker down at home and enjoy all of these live streams and watch movies. ME? Well, I just been working on the house chores and catching up on all of my back work on the computer. Catch a few podcasts I don’t always get to listen to, and enjoy my record collection.

BE WELL MY DEAR READERS. God Bless All Of You

Alan Jackson
Bridgestone Arena August 7th 2020

Blackberry Smoke
Ascend Ampitheater August 9th

Steel Woods
Morgan Wade
the Caverns august 15th

American Aquarium
Brooklyn Bowl Nashville August 16th

John Moreland
Brooklyn Bowl Nashville August 28th

The steel Woods
Manchester Music Hall Lexington Ky August 29th

Corb Lund
3rd And Lindsley August 30th

Ronnie Mcdowell
The Red Barn In Ohio September 12th

Charley Pride
Bridgestone Arena September 15th

B.J. Thomas
SkyPAC Bowling Green Ky September 19th 2020

Sammy Kershaw
Collin Raye
Aaron Tippin
The Red Barn In Ohio Spetember 24th

Daryl Worley
The Red Barn In Ohio September 26th

Whiskey Myers
Plaza Theater In Glasgow Ky September 26th

Chris Stapleton
Thompson Arean Knoxville Tn October 1st

Chris Stapleton
Bridgestone Arena October 2nd and 3rd

The Dead South
The Reverend Peytons Big Damn Band
The Caverns October 3rd

Georgette Jones
Nashville Palace October 13th

Whiskey Myers
Ryman Auditorium October 20th

Whiskey Myers
Ryman Auditorium November 21st

Town Mountain
Station Inn December 2nd

Jo Dee Messina
The Red Barn In Ohio December 12th

Ian Noe
Lucero
Ryman Auditorium Feb 11th 2021

Chris Stapleton
Bridgestone Arena October 22nd and 23rd

Wade Bowen
Randy Rogers
Ryman Auditorium Feb 12th

Festivals I Know That Have Cancelled in 2020.

Well as many of you already know, I had to take a month off and tend to some personal medical issues. I has to take a little time away from ALL forms of communication and heal right. I emerged a stronger individual but was flummoxed at the amount of response to this virus.

This has and will terminate LIVE music and bands as we know it, and here is a brief list of festivals I KNOW have been cancelled or rescheduled, and I’ll be adding to this list as I am aware of the cancellations, or any that are postponed.

MANY FESTIVALS are asking for donations to keep them rolling, and to recover from costs of failing to commence upon schedule. SO MANY nationwide festivals have been affected by this nationwide tragedy, and as a result ANY donate links I find for that particular festival I’ll link them ALL on here after YOUR favorite festival is listed.

Moonrunners – May 1 and 2nd – Postponed to August 8th and 9th.

Viva Las Vegas – April 1 – 4th – Cancelled Rescheduled to April 1-4th 2021

Larry Joe Taylor Festival – April 20 – 25th – Postponed to October 19th – 24th.

Riverbend Festival 2020 – May – Postponed to an Unannounced Later Date.

Freshgrass Bentonville – April 24th and 25th – Postponed To 2021

Backwoods At Mulberry Mountain – June 4 – 7th – Postponed To 2021

Suwannee Spring Reunion – March – Postponed To 2021

Shaky Boots Music Festival – July – Postponed To 2021

The Caverns:

The following shows have been rescheduled or cancelled

March 27, 28 & 29, 2020 – Bluegrass Underground PBS TV Tapings

Status: rescheduled
New Dates: November 20, 21 & 22, 2020

April 4, 2020 – Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ with The Silks

Status: rescheduled
New Date: August 30, 2020

April 18, 2020 – Jade Cicada

Status: rescheduled
New Date: August 1, 2020

If you have tickets for a show and cannot make the rescheduled date, we have partnered with Lyte to give our fans a way to sell and purchase official tickets from other real fans.

Visit Exchange

Calf Fry Festival – April 29th – May 2nd – Postponed To An Unannounced Later Date.

This Is Red Dirt And Barbecue Festival – Rescheduled For October 11th.

Bluegrass Island Festival – May – Cancelled Will Be In may 2021.

Outlaws And Legends – March – Cancelled Will Be In March 2021.

Chilifest – May – Cancelled Will Be In May 2021.

Trapper Creek Bluegrass Festival – May – Cancelled Will Be In 2021.

Back 40 Social Festival – May – Rescheduled For October 10th

John Hartford Memorial Festival – May – Rescheduled To September 30th to Oct 3rd.

Nelsonville Music Festival – June – Canceled Will Be In 2021.

Red River Music Festival – April – Postponed To October 3rd.

Rooster Walk – May – Cancelled Will Return In 2021.

Durango Bluegrass Meltdown – April 17th – 19th – Cancelled Will Return In 2021.

Riverbend Festival – April – Cancelled Will Return In 2021.

The Western – June 12th and 13th – Cancelled Will Return In 2021.

The Blue Ox – June 11th – 13th – Rescheduled For August 27th – 29th.

Born & raised Festival – June 5 -6 -7 Cancelled Will Return In 2021.

The Red Ants Pants – July 23rd – 26th – Cancelled Will Return July 22-25th 2021

Pagosa Folk And Bluegrass Festival – June 5 – 7th – Cancelled Will Return In 2021

Bluegrass in The Bottoms – May 28th and 29th – Cancelled Will Return In 2021

Lockn’ Fest – 1 – 4th 2020

Forecastle Festival – July 17th – 19th – Cancelled Will Return In 2021

Oystergrass – July 26th – 28th – Cancelled Will Return In 2021

Palisade Bluegrass Festival – June 15th and 16th – Postponed To 2021

The Northwest String Summit – July 16th – 19th – Postponed To 2021

Red Wing Roots Music Festival – July 10, 11th and 12th – Postponed To 2021

Hoxeyville Music Festival – August 14th – 16th – Cancelled Will Return In 2021

Jackalope Jamboree – June 26th and 27th – Cancelled Will Return In 2021.

Showdown On Sugar Creek – July 27th – Postponed to October

CL (Austin City Limits) Festival – October 2nd – 11th

Podunk Music Festival – August 10th and 11th – Postponed To 2021

Moon River Music Festival – Sept 12th – 15th – Postponed To 2021

Braun Brothers Reunion – August 6th – 8th – Postponed To 2021

Railbird Music Festival – August 22nd and 23rd

Four Corners Folk Festival – September 4 – 6th

Albino Skunk Festival – Summer is June 20th – October 1- 3rd

Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival – September 4 – 6th – Postponed To 2021

Hinterland – July 31st – August 2nd – Postponed To 2021

Pickathon – July 30th – August 2nd – Postponed To 2021

Tailgates And Tallboys – July 30th, 31st and August 1st – Postponed To 2021

Under The Big Sky Festival– July 18th and 19th – Postponed To 2021

Kickin It On The Creek – September 17th – 19th – Postponed To 2021

Moon River – September 12th – Postponed To 2021

Freshgrass – September 25 – 27th – Postponed To 2021

Walnut Valley Bluegrass – September 16- 20th – Postponed To 2021

Post Cierra Hoedown – Sept 17th – 20th – Postponed To 2021

Americanafest – September 15th – 20th – Postponed To 2021

Hometown Rising – Sept 212th -13th – Postponed To 2021

Picking In the Pine – September 18th – 20th – Postponed To 2021

Bluegrass Heritage Festiva – July 15th and 16th – Postponed To 2021

Earl Scruggs Memorial festival – Sept 4rth and 5th – Postponed To 2021

Moondance Festival – August 21st 22nd and 23rd

Red Dirt Float Fest – July 25th and 26th – Postponed To 2021

The Redwood Ramble – July 16th -19th – Postponed To 2021

Festival Of The Red – June 26th – 28th – Postponed To 2021

Roostertail – July 2nd – 4rth – Postponed To 2021

The Grey Fox Bluegrass Festiva – July 15th – 19th – Postponed To 2021

Roseberry Bluegrass Festival – July 16th -18th – Postponed To 2021

Whimmydiddle – August 14th and 15th – Postponed To 2021

Fayetteville Roots Festival – August 26th -30th – Postponed To 2021

Rockygrass – July 24th – 26th

Floyd Fest – July 22nd – 26th

Targhee Bluegrass Festival – July 10th – 12th

Bristol Rhythm And Root -Sept 11th – 13th

Muddy Roots – September 4th – 6th

Ongoing Festivals For 2020 As I Am Notified.

For two weeks now, I have been ardently laboring to piece together local music from a somewhat distant angle of what COULD possibly transpire…make sense? I ask you how long have you been cooped up at home? I myself have been holed up for about a week and a few days, after a month long medical event.

MANY of us have been watching this plethora of LIVE feeds, and tipping all of our valued friends whom cannot work in this time of need here, and I have a massive article that I want to share. Here is how you can help.

In all honesty, there are just so many ways you can help this music we love, no matter WHAT genre YOU enjoy most. All of these festivals below are HEAVILY SUPPORTED by me and my website, and I keep in constant contact with them all.

ANY AND ALL cancellations or rescheduled festival dates shall be duly noted I shall move that date to the other article that I have linked. Here is where you can see what’s cancelled or postponed.

Whispering Beard – August 18th – 20th

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass – October 2nd – 4th

Moonshiner’s Ball – October 8 – 11th

Hillberry Music Festival – October 8 – 11th

The Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival – October 8 – 11th

Honey Creek Bluegrass Festival – October 22nd – 24th

Hangtown Music Festival – October 22nd – 25th

Symco Hot Rod And Rockabilly Festival – August 7th and 8th

Manchester Music Festival – August 29th – 31st

Vine Grove Bluegrass – September 24th – 26th

Nashville Boogie – October 2nd -4rth

Southern Gothic Campout – October 23rd – 24th

Firewater music Festival – October 1st – 3rd

Top 20 Albums Of 2020 So Far

By Joshua Wallace

This has been a strange year to release a new record in, but that hasn’t stopped folks from releasing some great albums. Here is a list of my Top 20 Albums of 2020 So Far. I know I could have included more artists here, but I am working on a Top 50 list that will be published at the end of the year. I have included links to previous coverage of albums when we have it. Check these records out and support these bands while they cannot tour for their new records by buying merch or tipping during a livestream.

1. Kyle Nix – Lightning On The Mountain And Other Short Stories