Eli –
I am surprised by how much I like Mockingbird Time. Now you may be asking yourself “surprised? really? what’s wrong with this sap—it’s the Jayhawks—the original line-up with Louris and Olson back together again.” And you would be right, such a momentous reunion of one of alt. country’s defining bands and one of my personal favorites to boot would ordinarily involve me drooling for months on end awaiting the release date. The problem here being that Louris and Olson have been playing for a couple years now and recorded a duo album in 2009, the Chris Robinson produced Ready for the Flood. And I was psyched for Ready for the Flood, perhaps way too psyched, as the album was a good, but not great, set of fairly relaxed songs. My favorite part of the album may have been the cover art. So, when I heard the Jayhawks were reuniting and recording a new album, my ears perked up a little, but I wasn’t foaming at the mouth and preaching to random people in the street about its impending release.

Well maybe I should have been. Mockingbird Time features all the same hallmarks as the band’s heralded records of the 1990’s (Hollywood Town Hall, Tomorrow the Green Grass). Olson and Louris haven’t missed a beat with their achingly beautiful harmonies or their top-notch songwriting. The influences are all fairly predictable given the band’s back catalog (Neil Young, the Stones, the Kinks, The Band, etc.), but the influence I was most struck by this time around is The Beatles. Certainly the post-Olson Jayhawks veered towards a more elaborately produced pop-rock sound, but what we get here is the gruffer side of the Beatles. “Highwater Blues” and “Hey Mr. Man” strike me as the kind of songs that Lennon would have smoked 4 cigarettes and then belted out. The piano coda of “Mockingbird Time” sounds like a McCartney number, or a Harrison one, or for that matter a late-era, Lennon solo composition.

Not that any of that matters too much, because this album sounds like the Jayhawks. In other words, it sounds awesome. Check out “She Walks In So Many Ways”, “Closer to Your Side”, or “Stand Out in the Rain”, it’ll take you back to the glorious 90’s and the heyday of the alt. country revolution.

Jeff –
“Even though they haven’t made an album together as the Jayhawks in over 15 years, Mark Olson and Gary Louris have never been that far apart. They seemed to be moving back toward this reunion for a long time. First impression is, where’s Gary? He’s there for harmony and guitar, but where are his songs? It seems like Mark Olson, the absentee songwriter, has come back and replaced Gary Louris as a frontman. I’ve always been a bit more of a Gary Louris fan and the interplay between the two was never more perfect than on Tomorrow the Green Grass. The record feels a bit more like Hollywood Town Hall but not as confident.

A lot of the more poppy elements are subtle in favor of Mark Olson’s rather solid but unexciting batch of songs. Louris and Olson’s harmonies certainly shine through the mix but they don’t have the beautiful poppy hooks of “Nothing Left to Borrow” or “Blue.” Those songs were instant classics. Even compared to Rainy Day Music, Mockingbird Time seems much less assured and more tentative. It’s as though the band is getting to know itself again. Perhaps their next foray will be a bit more exciting.”

Chip –
It was suggested, when this Jayhawks tag team review was assembled, that there would be many Beatles references for Mockingbird Time. However, a contrarian’s perspective reveals a more diverse set of influences. On the Jayhawks new release, The Byrds influence is ever present with the harmonizing of Louris and Olson. However, there is also a strong Neil Young influence that comes through on songs like “High Water Blues”.

Mockingbird Time is more than a showcase of influences. The Jayhawks have expanded their sound with rich guitar textures. In prior releases, the guitar work was more understated. This time around, a melodic and at times almost psychedelic feel moves to the forefront, and enhances the characteristic vocal harmonies. Certain songs even revisit old territory. Consider “Pouring Rain at Dawn”, which conjures up memories of Hollywood Town Hall. With the release of Mockingbird Time, Louris and Olson have given their fans a welcome reunion. Fortunately, there is an obvious rejuvenation, which suggests this reunion is also a new beginning.

Audio Download: The Jayhawks, “She Walks In So Many Ways”

Chip says –

With the departure of Franz Nicolay, there was the possibility that The Hold Steady would lose some of the texture his keyboards added to their music. With the opening mid-tempo “Sweet Part of the city,” it is apparent they would find another way. They use a rootsy slide guitar to drag you into the song. Anyone who has seen The Hold Steady live knows that Tad Kubler is an accomplished guitarist, and the band has clearly brought his guitar work to the forefront. It may have changed their sound a bit, but there is certainly nothing missing. They still crank out the literate Rock songs they always have. In fact, certain songs like “Smidge” invoke a 70’s arena rock sound. Additionally, they still have Craig Finn’s poetic stories, so there is nothing changed there. In short, they are still The Hold Steady and that is all that counts.

Mayer says –

The Hold Steady just may be the true boys of summer. As I type, I’m sitting on my back porch basking in the sun while “Hurricane J” is blaring. Gotta say, it doesn’t get much better. The band doesn’t write songs as much as they write anthems. Tracks like “Hurricane J,” “Soft in the Center” and “The Weekenders,” with their chugging power chords and and sing-along harmonies were made for days like these. On May 4th I hereby declare that summer has begun.

Kelly says –

For all the folks that like to compare the sounds of The Hold Steady to other acts, there are plenty of obvious comparisons to be had, even though Heaven is Whenever boasts an altered sonic. That being said, there aren’t too many contemporary comparisons for the way that Craig Finn tells a story inside of the Hold Steady’s power-chord rocking tunes.

While nothing new to their catalog, for me, what sets so many of their songs on their anthemic course arent the melodramatic stories themselves, but the way in which Finn tells them to us. Finn basically serves as a detached, sometimes nerdy, and literate narrator, huddling near the side of the stage where the drama unfolds. In “Barely Breathing”, Finn sets the table with “you should’ve seen them just after midnight”. Simple, but extremely telling. The fact is, such a third person style would easily grow tiresome, if there werent so many juicy, if uncomorftable, tales of young, dysfuncitonal love and experimentation roll out before our very ears.

Eli says –

Opening with a riff straight off of Let It Bleed, Heaven Is Whenever seemed like the record Craig Finn had been promising us, different, more complex, and less anthemic. For better or worse (and I imagine most of us will same the former), this isn’t quite true. While HIW veers less towards the Springsteen, heartland rock that Boys and Girls In America and Stay Positive incorporated and more towards Let It Be-era Replacements, this is the same Hold Steady you fell in love with back when Almost Killed Me blew your socks off.

They may have more background vocals and couple extra instruments in the mix (flute solo anyone), but it’s the same band. And thank god for that. And I can see what Craig Finn was getting at with the less anthemic thing. This record doesn’t feel quite as BIG as Stay Positive or Boys and Girls In America, but damnit if I’m not already in love with half the songs on the album “Soft in the Center”, “The Weekenders”, “Hurricane J”, “We Can Get Together”, and “Our Whole Lives” (love the horns and the lyrics on this one). With 10 songs clocking in at 40 minutes, the record works remarkably well as a single sitting listen and I almost never skip a song, which I couldn’t say about Stay Positive. So in summation, The Hold Steady have put together a record that might not surpass past achievements, but hey it is a damn good rock and roll record.

Tom says –

If asked “What’s the best Hold Steady album?” most would probably say ‘Separation Sunday’. I can’t blame them. The songwriting is superb and Craig Finn’s vocal chants are brilliant. It’s a concept album and a fine one at that. For me, ‘Stay Positive’ reigns. The difference I believe is that ‘Stay Positive’ is where the band caught up with the prowess of Finn. Whereas, ‘Separation Sunday’ is the Craig Finn show, ‘Stay Positive’ the beast wakes and the Hold Steady come to life.

With just a few listens of ‘Heaven is Whenever’ you’ll hear a consistent approach thematically. Many songs are still about conflict, bohemia, and religion. As soon as “Soft in the Center” the album’s second track kicks in you know it’s party time and the elements that made ‘Stay Positive’ great are still in play. Coming soon to an arena near you, the Hold Steady are comin’ and they’re taking prisoners. Beware of the cowbell, a secret weapon on ‘Smidge’. ‘Heaven is Whenever’ moves straight to the top of my list for Album of the Year and it’s going to take a serious competitor to contend. [★★★★★/4.7]

- Twangville Posse, May 2010

As you can tell, this is a record worth talking about. We’ve enjoyed it so far, and hope you do to, dear neighbor. So, in closing, let’s raise a glass to St. Joe Strummer and welcome in the summer.

Who you might say? That’s what I thought when I first saw this name pop up over at the “B” Side, Red Kelly’s excellent blog. These days the net is swarming with Internet publications, blogging is so easily accessible that anybody with a half functioning computer can work it out. People like me who just like to write, but people like Red as well, who actually can write! For the past few years Red has been calling himself the Soul Detective, digging up all kinds of half forgotten Soul platters while digging deep into the fabric of what made them tick. But it wasn’t until Red started his Lattimore Brown chronicle last June that he really earned his self-given moniker. It is impressive enough that Red knows who Lattimore is. Though a stellar Soul shouter, sir Lattimore never had much of a career in the spot lights. It is even more impressive though that Red found Lattimore when he was thought dead since the eighties. Each of Red’s entries is dressed up with a mind blowing music download that makes you wonder how it is possible that he was even forgotten or passed by.

The whole story started with a nurse, treating a delirious patient, after the patient had been stabbed with a rusty screwdriver. The patient claimed he was a singer. Going beyond her duty, she googled Lattimore and word eventually got to Red. It turned out that Lattimore had been living in Biloxi all these years. Though New Orleans got all the publicity, it was Biloxi that got the direct hits from Katrina. The town was devastated by the storm, Lattimore lost damn near all he had in it. Red decided to look him up and caught up with sir Lattimore after losing track of him a couple of times. In a series of lengthy posts Red chronicled his times with Lattimore. The story that enfolded is without a doubt one of the most impressive I’ve ever read in the blog sphere. Through Lattimore’s story Red traveled an alternate route through the history of Soul music. Lattimore may not have made much of a name himself, it appears he was lurking behind the scene at quite a few key moments. From Isaac Hayes, to Wilson Pickett, they all pass by. Slowly his story gives you a deeper understanding of how music works and the significance it has in the lives of people who create it and the lives of people who are captured by it. In almost a Hollywood like script we bare witness to Lattimore getting back on his feet while the musical landscape of America passes by.

That is, until Gustav hit. For the second time Lattimore lost all his earthly belongings. When Red finally caught up with him this 77 year old soul surviver was unsure where he would sleep that night, with only the clothes on his back to comfort him. Red opened up a fund to help Lattimore get back on his feet. I like to take this opportunity to ask you to support Lattimore anyway you can. If you want to know why, just take a few and read all about the Legend of Sir Lattimore Brown

THE LEGEND OF SIR LATTIMORE BROWN

Hey guys, I am getting ready to head to the ACL Festival in a couple of weeks. I have quickly put together a rudimentary schedule for the bands I want to see. I may have left some stuff out, so let me know what you think!!

KELLY’S TENTATIVE ACL FEST SCHEDULE

Howard Schultz also said, “we are not in the coffee business serving people, instead we are in the people business serving coffee.” The coffee shop cares about the experience of buying a beverage as much as it cares about the beverage itself. If coffee was all that Starbucks customers were looking for then they could just as easily sell simple cups of coffee in a warehouse style shop. But for Starbucks, the reception is as crucial as the invention.

When I’m recording, producing and marketing an album (or song), I hope to deliver an entire emotion that reflects the music. It would be easy for me to hire a pro studio and have pro musicians come in and record the whole album for me. I would then only have to walk in and do my part to record the vocals on top of this perfect landscape. (An option that has once, been a mild temptation for me). But the way in which a song (or album) is recorded is just as important as the music itself; I pride myself in the integrity of my music. I write the song from scratch in an honest and independent way. I write them in my home, in a moment of solace and distance from the outside world. I want the instruments and the people that play them to reflect the honest nature of the writer. I want someone to hear my album and think, “this sounds like it was made in a living room, perhaps on a Saturday afternoon.” I don’t have the luxury of playing a live gig in everyone’s living room, and so the listening experience that the album provides is my only chance to fully communicate the intended emotion.

The way in which the message is delivered is just as important to me as the message itself. I once had a listener write to me and explain how my album was something they put on every Sunday afternoon to listen to while they read. Another listener told me how they put my record on whenever they have company over for brunch. A reviewer once described my record as a perfect “front porch” record. These responses to the album thrilled me! The fact that my music could fit into someone’s life and play a crucial role in his or her ideal moment was a fulfillment of intent for me. Such a compliment gave me the same pleasure that the Starbucks’ C.E.O. felt when his customers were affectionately calling his stores their “living room.”

I did a phone interview once while building an Adirondack (or “Muskoka”, to my Canadian readers) chair. The interviewer was aware that I was building this chair on my porch because I had to explain my periodic grunts and expletives. She asked me how I would describe my latest album, and I quickly responded (as if I had been longing to use this analogy) by saying that it was the soundtrack to the Adirondack chair. If you have an Adirondack chair and a porch of any kind, then you need to have this album. If the album had a smell, it would be cedar (or pine). If the album provoked a feeling, it would be relaxation. The creation of the album had to be in line with the emotion and feeling I wanted to deliver. The lyrics are down to earth, the vocals are laid-back and the music is full of natural mistakes (similar to natural inconsistencies found in a wood grain). If Starbucks tries to make their shops emote the feeling that a cup of coffee gives you – then they have succeeded. Coffee makes me feel relaxed and rejuvenated. The aromas from the beans can deliver a natural, organic mood to a busy city-life. A Starbucks store often has the feeling of a cup of coffee.

My cousin Jason is a multi-award winning songwriter and lead singer for a popular Christian pop-rock outfit in Nashville. He’s five years my senior and he has been a music mentor of mine for as long as I can remember. Our views on music and production values, however, don’t always align. We differed on how to approach recording and writing a song. I see music to have more freedom and fewer restrictions than perhaps he might. Jason’s song creation is more intentional and structured; he will write a song that connects with a general audience where I will write a song to connect with that exact moment. I think music should come out the same way it came in. If a relaxing autumn afternoon inspires a song about relaxation, then it needs to be delivered sonically in a way that reproduces that atmosphere.

Jason and I discussed our differences at length earlier this year, over a pipe-smoke at his home in Nashville, Tenn. Somewhere along the way, Jason memorably put his finger on our divergent philosophies: “Scott, you are an artist and I am a chartist.” I discovered creative writing, and in this case, music, will not only have different genres, but will also have different origins. Jason writes for a living. I don’t. I have another job. Jason’s mortgage is dependent on his ability to write, so freedom and natural productivity are not luxuries that he enjoys. Self-expression and capturing a moment is primarily on my mind when I’m writing and recording a song. I can only imagine that self-sustainability would be dominant in Jason’s mind when he writes music. It’s the same product; only different in the way it is manufactured and packaged.

I’ve been sitting in Starbucks #5623 for over and hour and a half. I have probably seen a few hundred people come and go. There must be something about the way in which this coffee is sold. There must be something about “the delivery” that attracts people. I want my listeners to experience an album I’ve made. I want them to share in the experience that occurred when the music was made. I want listeners to appreciate the lyrics and the music but also the experience that is found in a Scott Orr album. I hope that they discover and appreciate music’s “third place.”

Scott Orr is an independent musician living in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He released his second album, Miles from Today, in 2007, which is currently available for free download at www.scottorrmusic.com/freemiles. Scott can be contact at info@scottorrmusic.com.

One disc you may have overlooked in 2007 came from Richmond, VA based Wrinkle Neck Mules titled ‘The Wicks Have Met’. Rustically rooted in Old Dominion’s historic south, the Wrinkle Neck Mules deliver with their own special brand of twanged up rock and roll and wacky sense of humor. There could be no other band that can claim their very own jack ass of a mascot. Among comparisons, you might find their sound somewhere between the Deadstring Brothers and Widespread Panic. Take Chip Frazier’s word for it as he placed the album at #7 just one spot ahead of Jason Isbell in his Best of 2007 poll.

I recently had the fortune of having a Q&A session with Andy Stepanian who heads up this fine band. Andy and the rest of the Mules were kind enough to offer up a signed poster along with a copy of ‘The Wicks Have Met’ to FIFTEEN lucky Twangville readers. See below for details.

Hear album track “Black Skies for the High & Mighty (live)” (MP3) from Mason & Andy Acoustic recorded live at Alley Katz in Richmond, VA (12/06/06)

[Source: RoundHillRecords.com]

Q&A with Andy Stepanian of the Wrinkle Neck Mules

Twangville: You recently performed at the AmericanaRoots/Galleywinter Showcase at SXSW 08 along with other acts like Mando Saenz and The Band of Heathens. Did you get to enjoy any of the other sets? Was there a favorite?
Andy: We didn’t see them all, but our favorite was the Whipsaws from all the way up in Alaska. They are good lads as well. We’ve had a sort of “cyber” relationship with them for a spell anyway. That sounds shady I know, but they sort of bounced ideas off of us and vice versa via email. So, it was nice to put some names with some faces. And, we’re plotting this big Alaska tour for summer 09 with them. Just to day we did.

T: Damn, your last album ‘The Wicks Have Met’ was good. Word on the farm is that you’ve got a new one in the works. When can we expect to hear it and will there be any specific themes in play?
A: I don’t know. There is no real time line right now. It’s going to be slow, but it’s in the works for sure. Early summer ’09 maybe? We’re just demoing things for each other right now and creating skeletons. Some of the bones need milk.

As for themes or approaches, we’re talking about a lot of things. Maybe recording the bulk of it live? In the end though my money is on a process much like the one we used for The Wicks Have Met. Just digging in in our own studio and chipping away at the rock until we have things just the way we want them. That’s the best way for us. We feel we do our best work without the constraints of studio time and without the noise of outside opinion. And we don’t think we sacrifice much – if anything – sonically to do it our own way on our own time. We’ve gotten pretty good at the engineering bit.

T: ‘Wrinkle Neck Mules’ was a great choice for a band name. Was there a runner up?
A: There really wasn’t. It’s not like we sat around with a list of names and had votes and such to get to “Wrinkle Neck Mules”. It just happened sometime during the course of our first little pathetic show. One minute we weren’t, the next we were. Mason and our original drummer, Blake, and I did play in a bluegrass-ish band that was sort of an offshoot of the Mules called “Largemouth Grass”. I always kind of liked that.

T: What do you make of the 2008 race for president? Who’s gonna wear boots at next year’s inauguration?
A: Unlike other musician types, I guess we’ve never felt it was our job or our place to opine upon these types of things. We have our individual allegiances to causes all over the map, but as for some sort of endorsement, you won’t get that from the Wrinkle Neck Mules press office. We went on a tour of the UK a few years back and I think all the people were surprised that we would not take potshots at the government and at G Dub. They kept asking and baiting us and shit talking. We just wanted to drink the pints and eat the doner kebabs.

T: B. B. King named his guitar ‘Lucille’. Willie calls his ‘Trigger’. Any of the Mules have names for their instruments?
A: I think Mason would kick my ass if any of I seriously came out with a name for my instrument like “Yellow Bird”, “Ear Caresser” or something of the sort. I suppose Willie and BB earned the right and we really haven’t yet. Once you become a living legend I guess you can do whatever you want to do. That said, our two vans have both had names. Muleicorn I, a two-tone 1989 Dodge Ram, served faithfully until 2006 and Muleicorn II, your cookie cutter 1999 White Ford, still serves today.

T: Who gets to wear the Mule costume?
A: Costume? What do you mean? That thing is real. And it bites.

Purchase ‘The Wicks Have Met’ from Miles of Music.

www.wrinkleneckmules.com
http://www.myspace.com/wrinkleneckmules

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Ryan’s new album Matthew Ryan Vs the Silver State is scheduled for release in a few weeks but here is a special preview.