Sights and Sounds: Chuck Berry, Fastball

Here is a roundup of several highly-anticipated news items in the world of music, and I can't think of a better way to start Wednesday than watching the feel-good video for "Big Boys"...and it is more than exciting to see that Fastball is set to return with a new album too!

NPR Music is premiering the first-ever Chuck Berry video for the great, infectious rocker "Big Boys." Watch the video here: http://n.pr/2qRfD2w

Chuck Berry's songs codified the sound, rhythm and language of rock and roll, influenced the The Beatles and Rolling Stones, and earned him induction into the inaugural class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. But they were never the subject of a music video - until now. Today, NPR Music has premiered the first-ever official video for a Chuck Berry song, "Big Boys," the lead single from the forthcoming album CHUCK, due out June 9 on Dualtone Records, an Entertainment One Company. CHUCK is the final studio album and first new music in nearly four decades from the founding rock and roll legend, who passed away in March at the age of 90. Directed by Matt Bizer and Curtis Wayne Millard (Old Crow Medicine Show, Shovels & Rope), the video revisits the culture of hot cars and sock hops that Berry helped create, with choreography that blends swing and hip-hop. Watch here: http://n.pr/2qRfD2w

Comprised of ten new recordings, eight of which were written by Berry, CHUCK is his first new album since 1979's Rock It. It was recorded and produced by Berry in various studios around St. Louis and features his longtime hometown backing group - including his children Charles Berry Jr. (guitar) and Ingrid Berry (vocals, harmonica), plus Jimmy Marsala (Berry's bassist for forty years), Robert Lohr (piano), and Keith Robinson (drums) - which supported him for nearly two decades on over two hundred residency shows at the famed Blueberry Hill club. In addition to Gary Clark Jr., the album includes guest performances from Tom Morello, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Chuck's grandson Charles Berry III. Acclaimed author and historian Douglas Brinkley contributes liner notes.

Following the release of first singles "Big Boys" and "Wonderful Woman," early praise began pouring in for 'CHUCK.' The New Yorker says that 'CHUCK' shows that "after all those years of duck-walking, crisscrossing the United States on tour, and giving his disciples and imitators hell, the man still had it." Rolling Stone said the album finds Berry "raging against the dying of the light, but in a vulnerable and tender way his earlier music had not prepared us for," while The Guardian raved that 'CHUCK' "proves the late rock'n'roller was brimming with energy until the very end." Uncut remarked that "Berry has as much to say about life and death as Cash and Bowie and Cohen did on their final albums."

'CHUCK' Track List:
Wonderful Woman
Big Boys
You Go To My Head
3/4 Time (Enchiladas)
Darlin'
Lady B. Goode
She Still Loves You
Jamaica Moon
Dutchman
Eyes Of Man

FASTBALL SWINGS INTO ACTION 

 WITH NEW ALBUM 

 

"STEP INTO LIGHT" 

Out This Friday, May 19th via  33 1/3 Records 

 

Full Album Premieres on BILLBOARD

FASTBALL Joins EVERCLEAR and VERTICAL HORIZON 

on North American Tour  

 

“Not only is the studio chemistry between band members Tony Scalzo (vocals, bass, guitar), Joey Shuffield (drums), and Miles Zuniga (vocals, guitar) unwavering, 

but their sheer love for making music seems to be at an all-time high.”—Consequence of Sound 

 

 

This Friday, May 19, 2017, Alt Rockers Fastball will release their 6th album, Step Into Light. In advance of the street date the band will share the entire album exclusively via billboard.com.  

 

Recently, Fastball visited Sirius XM Studios for an interview and performance on the Howard Stern Wrap Up Show where they discussed the unexpected reincarnation of their late ‘90s hit “Out of My Head” on Machine Gun Kelly & Camila Cabello’s #1 smash Hit “Bad Things.” The band also performed one of Howard’s favorite Beatles songs “The Two Of Us.”  Highlights can be found here:

 

For fans that order early, the single,“I Will Never Let You Down” will be offered as an instant grat track with preorder. The album will be available through the bands own 33 1/3 label and is the first FASTBALL album to get a vinyl LP release. 

 

With nearly 20 years of musical explorations and milestones under its belt, FASTBALL remains one of the most consistent and continuously celebrated rock bands on the road today.  The  group recorded the new album Step Into Light in their hometown of Austin, Texas, with the three bandmates co-producing with longtime friend Chris "Frenchie" Smith. 

 

The resulting collection extends FASTBALL’s widely-loved body of work, which encompasses such acclaimed albums as their 1996 debut Make Your Mama Proud, their 1998 platinum breakthrough All the Pain Money Can Buy (which spawned the Grammy-nominated Top Five hit "The Way"), 2000's The Harsh Light of Day, 2004's Keep Your Wig On and 2009's Little White Lies.  

 

The trio is now on an extensive North American tour with fellow 90’s hitmakers; Vertical Horizon and Everclear.  All three groups on the tour will be donating $1 per ticket sold at each show to Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, an organization that provides financial assistance to career musicians, venue workers, production staff, crew members, and their families suffering from injury, illness or disability.

 

View “I Will Never Let You Down" here. 

View “We’re on Our Way” here.

Stream entire Album on Billboard.com

 

“We’re On Our Way” is the propulsive opening track on Step Into Light, kicked off by a buzzy riff and some trading harmonies from Miles Zuniga and Tony Scalzo, matched to Joey Shuffield‘s steady drumbeat. It’s a loud, attention-grabbing introduction to the band’s first album in eight years.” — Rock Cellar Magazine

 

 

As seen on “ Good Day Austin,” “Today in Nashville” and more…

 

So Much For The Afterglow 20th Anniversary Tour

 

5/16 – Calgary, AB @ Marquee Beer Market & Stage

5/17 – Saskatoon, SK @ O’Brians Event Centre

5/18 – Regina, SK @ Casino Regina

5/19 – Deadwood, SD @ Deadwood Mountain Grand Event Center

5/20 – Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall

5/21– Grand Junction, CO @ Two Rivers Convention Center 

5/23 – The Colony, TX @ Lava Cantina

5/25 – Des Moines, IA @ Brenton Skating Plaza

5/26 – Welch, MN @ Treasure Island Resort & Casino

5/27 - Lincoln, NE @ Vega - ** (Fastball only)

5/28 – Kansas City, MO @ CrossroadsKC

5/30 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre and Ballroom

6/1 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE

6/2 – Arlington Heights, IL @ HOME Bar

6/3 – South Bend, IN @ Four Winds Field

6/4 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live (Fastball only)

6/6 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza

6/7 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues

6/8 – Portland, ME @ Aura

6/9 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom         

6/10 – Fairfax, VA @ Celebrate Fairfax! Festival

6/11 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall

6/13 – Thunder Bay, ON @ Rockhouse 

6/15 – Winnipeg, MB @ Club Regent Event Centre

6/16 – Duluth, MN @ Grandma’s Marathon, Canal Park

6/18 – Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion                                           

6/22 – West Siloam Springs, OK @ Cherokee Casino West Siloam Springs 

6/23 – New Braunfels, TX @ River Road Ice House

6/24 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues

6/25 – Midland, TX @ Wagner Noel PAC                                         

6/27 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee

6/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco Theatre                                

6/29 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues 

7/20 – Atlanta, GA @ City Winery**

7/22 – Lexington, KY @ Willie’s Locally Known**

7/28 – Marietta, OH @ The Adelphia Music Hall At The Gallery**

7/30 – Pawling, NY @ Daryl’s House

 

**FASTBALL ONLY

 

For ticket info check: http://www.fastballtheband.com/shows/ 

 

More Dates To Be Announced. 

 

Follow Fastball at http://www.fastballtheband.com

Hear Chuck Berry's new single "Wonderful Woman" now

Great news for fans of Chuck Berry (who passed away at the age of 90 on March 18). Check out "Wonderful Woman," the second track off the late rock 'n' roll legend's forthcoming and final studio album titled Chuck, set for release via Dualtone Records (an Entertainment One Company) in June 2017. The song was just released today!

The fantastic song features Berry (whose vocals sound terrific), as well as his son Charles Jr., his grandson Charles Berry III, and Austin, Texas singer-guitar hero Gary Clark Jr.

Here is more information featured in the media release I received today:

Comprised of ten new recordings, eight of which were written by Berry, 'CHUCK' is his first new album since 1979's 'Rock It.' It was recorded and produced by Berry in various studios around St. Louis and features his longtime hometown backing group - including his children Charles Berry Jr. (guitar) and Ingrid Berry (vocals, harmonica), plus Jimmy Marsala (Berry's bassist for forty years), Robert Lohr (piano), and Keith Robinson (drums) - which supported him for nearly two decades on over two hundred residency shows at the famed Blueberry Hill club. In addition to Gary Clark Jr., the album includes guest performances from Tom Morello, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Chuck's grandson Charles Berry III. Acclaimed author and historian Douglas Brinkley contributes liner notes.

Following the release of first single "Big Boys" on March 22nd, early praise began pouring in for 'CHUCK.' Rolling Stone said the album finds Berry "raging against the dying of the light, but in a vulnerable and tender way his earlier music had not prepared us for," while The Guardian raved that 'CHUCK' "proves the late rock'n'roller was brimming with energy until the very end." Uncut remarked that "Berry has as much to say about life and death as Cash and Bowie and Cohen did on their final albums."

'CHUCK' Track List:
Wonderful Woman
Big Boys
You Go To My Head
3/4 Time (Enchiladas)
Darlin'
Lady B. Goode
She Still Loves You
Jamaica Moon
Dutchman
Eyes Of Man

More information about 'CHUCK' here:
chuckberry.com/store

Chuck Berry On The Web:
http://shorefire.com/client/chuck-berry
http://chuckberry.com
https://www.facebook.com/ChuckBerry

New music: R. Stevie Moore & Jason Falkner, The Shins, Cindy Lee Berryhill, Guy Clark

Potent songwriting is at the heart of four noteworthy new collections released in early March.

Artists: R. Stevie Moore and Jason Falkner
Title: Make It Be (Lost Colony Music & Bar/None Records)
You might like if you enjoy: XTC, Beck, Jellyfish
Tell me more: It is hard to think of a recent collaboration as interesting, eclectic and ambitious as the new Make It Be from indie hero R. Stevie Moore and singer-songwriter/guitarist Jason Falkner. The perfect mix of brilliant original songwriting, experimental spoken word pieces and several beautiful instrumental guitar interludes captivate across the fast-paced 18-track collection that is as accessible as it is groundbreaking. Those who love traditional power pop-styled songs featuring shimmering harmonies will find themselves immersed in the sonics of "Another Day Slips Away," "I Love Us, We Love Me" and "Sincero Amore," as well as the lush "Horror Show." Driving garage rock is given its glory on the art damage rocker "Stamps" while the psychedelic folk song "Play Myself Some Music" and experimental piano-meets-electronica foray "Passed Away Today" are late album highlights. There is also a just-for-fun take on Huey Smith & the Clowns' rollicking 1958 single "Don't You Just Know It." Across the disc, the wide-ranging talents of Moore and Falkner as vocalists and musicians dazzle bright. Information: bar-none.com.

Artist: The Shins
Title: Heartworms (Columbia)
You might like if you enjoy: The Shins, Broken Bells
Tell me more: The Shins are back with their fifth studio album (and first since 2012's outstanding Port of Morrow). The newly-released Heartworms finds singer-songwriter James Mercer and company building on an established sound that is a hybrid of indie rock, dream pop and '80s-styled synth pop. Romantic dreams are celebrated via the electronica Erasure-flavored "Cherry Hearts," while the Shins somehow fuse authentic Americana into their sonic brew via the magical "Mildenhall." The magnificent "Rubber Ballaz" and propulsive "Half A Million" are bolstered by dance floor-worthy rhythms without sacrificing lyrical and melodic elegance. "So Now What" finds Mercer's high-reaching tenor perfectly positioned against a symphonic expanse where he sings of painful new beginnings as a long-term relationship ends. Information: theshins.com.

Artist: Cindy Lee Berryhill
Title: The Adventurist (Omnivore Recordings)
You might like if you enjoy: Kerry Getz, Emmylou Harris, Cindy Lee Berryhill
Tell me more: Cindy Lee Berryhill's welcome return The Adventurist is an amazing listen to be sure. The songs here resonate powerfully, part of a song cycle for Berryhill's late husband Paul Williams whose traumatic brain injury ultimately led to a number of medical challenges including dementia; he died in March 2013. Berryhill began writing the first of the songs that appear on The Adventurist in 2011, and her ability to share the most intimate of emotions is at the heart of The Adventurist. The joys and challenges of deep love and loss are articulated with beauty, a touch of humor and uncommon depth at every turn by Berryhill, whose songs are lavishly enhanced by a talented group of players who add cello, vibraphone, violin, glockenspiel and many more voices across the 14-track journey. The soundscape used by Berryhill to paint her musical portrait runs from indie rock ("American Cinematography") and baroque pop ("Somebody's Angel," "Thanks Again") to dream pop ("Gravity Falls") and indie low-fi rock ("Deep Sea Fishing"). Information: omnivorerecordings.com.

Artist: Guy Clark
Title: The Best of the Dualtone Years (Dualtone Records)
You might like if you enjoy: Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard
Tell me more: Acclaimed singer-songwriter Guy Clark, who died on May 17, 2016, is celebrated on the essential The Best of the Dualtone Years. The two-disc set is comprised of stellar material from his final three studio albums, his 2011 live set Songs and Stories, along with three previously-unreleased songs offered up as intimate demo recordings. The complete 19-track collection is gold, filled with Clark's insightful and descriptive lyrics sang with a lived-in-the-world baritone. Against a rich musical backdrop as rich and vast as his native Texas, the range of Americana-styled nuggets includes the sumptuous "Rain In Durango," magical musical tale "The Guitar," the ultimate tale of escape ("L.A. Freeway"), and the romance-themed acoustic ballad "My Favorite Picture of You." Information: dualtone.com.

Robert Kinsler

Chuck Berry turns 90 today, announces new album 'Chuck' is coming in 2017

It's only Tuesday, but it is unlikely anything is bigger news than the announcement today that Chuck Berry (who turns 90 today) is going to release his first album in 38 years!

Chuck Berry turns 90, announces new 2017 album 'Chuck'

Chuck Berry, the artist who codified the sound, rhythm and language of rock and roll, celebrated his 90th birthday today with the surprise announcement that he will release a new album - titled simply CHUCK - in 2017 on Dualtone Records (an Entertainment One Company). Comprised primarily of new, original songs written, recorded and produced by the founding rock and roll legend, CHUCK is Berry's first new album in thirty-eight years. It was recorded in various studios around St. Louis and features Berry's longtime hometown backing group - including his children Charles Berry Jr. (guitar) and Ingrid Berry (harmonica), plus Jimmy Marsala (Berry's bassist of forty years), Robert Lohr (piano), and Keith Robinson (drums) - which has supported him for over two decades on over two hundred residency shows at the famed Blueberry Hill club. More details about 'CHUCK' and other Berry-related events will be revealed in the coming weeks.

"This record is dedicated to my beloved Toddy," said Berry, referring to his wife of 68 years, Themetta Berry. "My darlin' I'm growing old! I've worked on this record for a long time. Now I can hang up my shoes!"

"What an honor to be part of this new music," says Charles Berry Jr. "The St. Louis band, or as dad called us 'The Blueberry Hill Band,' fell right into the groove and followed his lead. These songs cover the spectrum from hard driving rockers to soulful thought provoking time capsules of a life's work."

Dualtone president Paul Roper adds: "It is a great honor to be a part of this record and the broader legacy of Chuck Berry. This body of work stands with the best of his career and will further cement Chuck as one of the greatest icons of rock and roll."

It would be impossible to overstate Chuck Berry's influence on popular culture around the globe (and beyond it). According to Rolling Stone magazine he "laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance," and many of his compositions - "Maybellene," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Rock and Roll Music" and others - have become the genre's canonical texts. Another, "Johnny B. Goode," is the only rock and roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record, launched into space in 1977, and intended to represent life and culture on Earth to extraterrestrial beings.

Berry received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1984, and was in the inaugural class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees in 1986. He was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor in 2000, placed #5 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time in 2010, and was given the first-ever PEN Award for literary excellence in lyric writing in 2012. More recently, he was the subject of a widely discussed essay by author Chuck Klosterman predicting that hundreds of years hence, Berry would be singularly synonymous with rock and roll itself, and last month his classic 1973 red Cadillac Eldorado went on display as part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American Culture and History.

Visit Chuck Berry's official Web site here for more information!

Sights and Sounds: The Lumineers, Tim O'Brien and Darrell Scott, David Bromberg

Happy Monday everybody! Here is a roundup of notable Americana-minded releases to land in my inbox since I last checked in. 

LISTEN TO THE LUMINEERS COVER CLASSIC TALKING HEADS

Hey there - here's something to help get you through the Monday morning blues: The Lumineers are streaming their cover of the Talking Heads' classic "Naïve Melody" from the upcoming deluxe edition of their self-titled debut album, to be released tomorrow via Dualtone Records. Listen to "Naïve Melody" at the link below:

The Lumineers - "Naïve Melody" (Talking Heads Cover) 

The deluxe edition will feature four more bonus tracks in addition to this song, including studio recordings of songs that the band plays live often but hadn't yet recorded at the time of their release. 

http://thelumineers.com/ 

TIM O’BRIEN AND DARRELL SCOTT REUNITE FOR MEMORIES & MOMENTS
Long-awaited studio follow-up to roots-music titans’ celebrated 2000 release Real Time hits Sept. 17
on their own Full Skies label through Thirty Tigers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The prayers of roots-music fans will at long last be answered on Sept. 17 with the release of Memories & Moments, the second studio album from highly regarded writer/singer/multi-instrumentalists Tim O’Brien and Darrell Scott, released on their newly formed Full Skies imprint, a compound of O’Brien’s Howdy Skies and Scott’s Full Light labels through Thirty Tigers. Comprising five songs apiece from O’Brien and Scott plus one memorable collaboration in their timely “Turn Your Dirty Lights On,” along with a pair of chestnuts from Hank Williams and George Jones and a spirited rendition of the John Prine classic “Paradise,” with its author guesting on guitar and vocals, Memories & Moments is a face-to-face record by design.

“Our strength is playing in the moment,” says Scott, “so if you record that way, with us across from each other, leaking into each other’s mics, there’s an immediacy to it that translates to the listener. That’s our hope, anyway.”
“We wanted to keep that intimate feeling,” O’Brien adds. “It’s rare that you can play with somebody who can respond and magnify like Darrell does. So except for the one track, this record is just the two of us reacting to one another, and it’s a pretty good game of Ping-Pong. We end up doing stuff that neither of us would do on our own, and that’s pretty cool.”

Back in 2000, the two kindred spirits had joined forces to record the deep and scintillating Real Time, which was widely acclaimed on release and has since become recognized as a towering achievement in Americana annals. Following that album O’Brien and Scott became an in-demand touring act, hitting the road together whenever their schedules allowed. (Performances from shows in 2005 and 2006 were gathered on Live: We’re Usually a Lot Better Than This, released last year on Scott’s Full Light as a way of whetting fans’ appetites for the upcoming studio album.) Over the ensuing years, each has been asked incessantly when their paths would next cross. Indeed, the prospect of a Real Time Redux has come to take on an almost mythic significance in roots-music circles — the down-home equivalent of a Led Zeppelin reunion.

Meanwhile, the two multitaskers have conducted their parallel careers as solo artists and sidemen, cutting similarly wide swaths across the roots-music landscape. They’ve continued to release solo albums while leading their own bands and lending their talents to world-class musical aggregations — notably including O’Brien’s stint in Mark Knopfler’s touring unit and Scott’s foray with Robert Plant’s Band of Joy — as well as having their songs covered by the likes of the Dixie Chicks, Dierks Bentley, Nickel Creek, Kathy Mattea, Faith Hill, Guy Clark, Sam Bush, Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, Garth Brooks, Patty Loveless, Trace Adkins and Tim McGraw. Along the way, Scott received a pair of Grammy nominations, and his composition “Hank Williams’ Ghost” was honored as the 2007 Americana Song of the Year, while O’Brien’s Fiddler’s Green won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2005.

Clearly, they didn’t need to reunite, and finding the time to join forces again was itself a challenge considering their jam-packed schedules, but through the years each remained acutely aware of the chemical reaction that inevitably took place on those scattered occasions when their paths happened to cross and they made music together.

“We’re good friends,” says O’Brien, “but we don’t see each as often we used to. Since we took a break from solid touring together a few years ago, Darrell has focused in on his own career more, which has been great to watch — he’s turned out an amazing amount of high-quality stuff. And then, it just seemed like a good time to for us to get back together; long overdue, really.” 
O’Brien and Scott were already accomplished thirty-something players, record makers and writers when their respective publishers first put them together in the standard Nashville fashion. That initial meeting, which took place in a Music Row writing room near the tail end of the last century, quickly morphed from an arranged collaboration to a “Where have you been all my life?” moment for both artists. O’Brien, who hails from West Virginia, was steeped in bluegrass and country, while Scott, from nearby Kentucky, straddled country and rock ’n’ roll. “Tim and I both felt like we met at Hank Williams,” says Scott, noting that Hank’s music had been a passion of his musician father Wayne Scott, and those seminal records had been the younger Scott’s sacred texts growing up, as they were for O’Brien, along with the bluegrass canon. “Both of us can push the country button and be there,” says Tim of their common ground. “We just stretch toward each other till we intersect.”

After playing together as touring members of Steve Earle’s Bluegrass Dukes, they hit the road on a joint tour, sitting in on each other’s sets and closing the shows as co-frontmen. In each of these situations, as well as in their initial songwriting collaborations (which had immediately yielded “When No One’s Around,” covered by Garth Brooks), their chemistry was palpable, and the nascent partners decided to cut an album together, hoping to capture the in-the-moment spontaneity of an Alan Lomax-style field recording. Recorded live in Scott’s living room, the resulting Real Time was greeted by discerning listeners, critics included, as a stone revelation, containing performances so nuanced, deeply rooted and keenly informed that it was hard to tell where tradition left off and invention came in. In truth, nine of the 13 songs on the record were originals, not traditional tunes — “They just sound that way,” says Scott.
For all those who made Real Time and enduring part of their lives, and who hoped that these two rarefied artists would one day conjure up the magic they’d made together — something Scott describes, with the requisite glint in his eye, as “bigger than the sum of our parts, and our parts are pretty good to begin with” — the long-awaited Memories & Moments will not disappoint, and that’s an understatement.

Recorded in a proper studio this time, the new album took only three days to complete. It’s almost entirely just the two of them, with nary an overdub, fix or comp. Scott, the de facto producer, claims his job was to “kick us in the ass to do this, set dates months in advance, and once we were in there, stay out of the way and let it happen. It’s this funny dance of organic and having some kind of plan, but it leans toward the organic. This record is more about songs and singing than the whiz factor, so there’s not as much fiery soloing on this record; it just never came up. But it will absolutely happen when we play live this fall.

On the level of seamlessly infused tradition, the new album picks up where Real Time left off. “When Tim and I get together, we push each other’s Appalachian roots buttons,” Scott points out. “My Kentucky comes out, and so does his West Virginia. It happens naturally, it’s not a strategy. We know Southern gospel, Jimmy Rodgers and the Carter Family, and not just a little — it’s in our DNA. And when me and Tim sing close harmonies, that brother blend, like we do on Hank’s ‘Alone and Forsaken,’ neither of us is behind the other; we both stand up and deliver.”

Their roots and current concerns come together on the album’s two environmental statements, “Keep Your Dirty Lights On,” which they wrote about the hot-button issue of mountaintop removal by coal companies, and Prine’s “Paradise,” both of which come across with such conviction and authenticity that they seem covered in coal soot.

“As writers and artists, we just witness what’s going on, describe it like journalists and put it in a nice little melodic frame,” O’Brien reflects. “And under the guise of entertainment, it makes people think about what’s happening. That’s the funny thing about music — any kind of art, really: people are entertained and it gets them out of their everyday grind. So you have this wonderful opportunity as an artist to bring something to them. I love that I have this gig, because by labeling yourself a musician and calling people into a venue, you’re making an agreement to do something together, and it’s really a privilege to be in that position. And as such, you want to take responsibility for that privilege — you want to do your best. The audience fuels the work, and it definitely helps to clarify things, because if you stumble upon something as a writer or just select a song that you think will translate, it’s a little nugget of gold to offer them.

Among the nuggets found on Memories & Moments are Scott’s lilting “It All Comes Down to Love,” which seems ancient until he sings, “Trouble is a cat on the freeway/Where the rubber meets the road she’ll find another way,” his achingly poignant title song, O’Brien’s raw-silk rhapsody “Brother Wind” and Darrell’s closing hymn “On Life’s Other Side.” These and other newly penned tunes are primed to be further burnished when these soul brothers bust them out on stage.

“We’re walking out on the edge with this, in a routine way, and that’s part of the exercise: to see what will happen,” O’Brien notes. “It’s like cooking — you add some of this, some of that, see what happens and then maybe adjust it a little bit. The shows and the songs both start that way, and hopefully people will take in and digest it and say, ‘That tasted good.’”

Right after they release Memories & Moments, O’Brien and Scott will spring into action. They’ve set aside a year, starting in late September, “to collaborate, to play this music and to say ‘Hey, we’re still here’ in a concentrated way,” O’Brien explains. It’ll be fascinating to see what these master chefs cook up.

David Bromberg Returns as Godfather of Americana with Fall Tour, Appearance at Americana Music Conference

David Bromberg is a flat picker on par with Doc Watson and Clarence White, an inimitable, expressive singer, a witty songwriter and a gifted interpreter. His mastery of American vernacular music as a guitarist and vocalist, fluid in country blues and Dixieland, bluegrass and fingerpicking folk, is widely envied as is his "storied career" (Rolling Stone) that began in the late 60s. Now, the multi-instrumentalist's full range of Americana roots are on display on ‘Only Slightly Mad,’ (September 24, Appleseed) -- an album shot through with an unhinged intensity that is unmistakably Bromberg. He's taking these blues, gospel and ersatz British drinking songs (and more) on the road for a tour that include a feature slot at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville on September 19.

With Bromberg on lead vocals, guitar, fiddle and mandolin, his band for the tour will feature the players from ‘Only Slightly Mad,’ an album that arrives as a crowning moment in a career that has included collaborations with Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Jerry Garcia. A high-energy outfit that's equally capable of full-volume stomps and hushed sing-alongs, the band is Mark Cosgrove (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Butch Amiot (bass, vocals), Nate Grower (fiddle, mandolin) and Josh Kanusky (drums).

In addition to Bromberg's appearance at the star-studded Americana Music Festival, where he'll perform as one of the legendary artists of the genre, the tour includes several solo shows as well as a date with multiple Grammy-winner and ‘Only Slightly Mad' producer Larry Campbell.

Recorded at Levon Helm's barn and released on Appleseed Recordings, ‘Only Slightly Mad’ Listen to the album’s first single, “Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” at Rolling Stone: http://rol.st/16DIxPq
 
David Bromberg Tour Dates:
Sept. 13 — Salt Lake City, UT — State Room 
Sept. 14 — Denver, CO — Oriental Theatre
Sept. 19 — Nashville, TN — Americana Music Festival at The Station Inn (part of Americana Music Conference)
Sept. 20 — St. Louis, MO — Old Rock House *
Sept. 21 — Kansas City, MO — Knuckleheads Saloon *
Sept. 27 — Woodstock, NY — Bearsville Theater * (with Larry Campbell)
Oct. 1 — New York City, NY — City Winery
Oct. 4 — Fall River, MA — Narrows Center for the Arts
Oct. 5 — Stowe, VT — Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center
Oct. 10 — Cincinnati, OH — 20th Century Theater
Oct. 11 — Ann Arbor, MI — The Ark
Oct. 12 — Evanston, IL — The Space
Oct. 13 — Evanston, IL — The Space
Oct. 25 — Bethlehem, PA — Musikfest Café at the Artsquest Center at SteelStacks
Oct. 26 — Norfolk, CT — Infinity Hall
Nov. 1 — Roanoke, VA — Kirk Ave Music Hall
Nov. 2 — High Point, NC — High Point Theatre
Nov. 3 — Carrboro, NC — Cat’s Cradle
Nov. 8 — Alexandria, VA — Birchmere
Nov. 9 — Tarrytown, NY — Tarrytown Music Hall
Nov. 15 — South Orange, NJ — South Orange Performing Arts Center
Nov. 16 — Port Washington, NY — Landmark on Main Street
Nov. 17 — Harrisburg, PA — Appalachian Brewing Company * 
Dec. 4 — Portland, OR — The Aladdin Theater
Dec. 5 — Seattle, WA — The Triple Door
Dec. 11 — Charlotte, NC — Visulite Theatre *
Dec. 12 — Decatur, GA — Eddie’s Attic *
Dec. 13 — Athens, GA — The Melting Pot *
Dec. 14 — Bloomingdale, GA — Randy Wood Guitars *
 
* David Bromberg solo
 
http://www.davidbromberg.net/
http://shorefire.com/clients/dbromberg/
http://www.appleseedmusic.com/davidbromberg/index.html