The (Latest) Next Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is about as iconic an artist you can get. I think even if some people don't care for his music they have to respect him. I've written before about how I was in that group until I started playing guitar and writing songs of my own. It was at that point that the music of artists like Springsteen and Neil Young really began to speak to me.

You always hear about the new Springsteen. I've written about a couple of those bands, like The Gaslight Anthem and Titus Andronicus. The fellow who best reflects Springsteen through a modern prism is a song-writer by the name of Ryan Bingham.

I first heard of him as the fellow behind the songs in the great Jeff Bridges movie Crazy Heart. In it Bridges plays an old outlaw country singer who gets a chance to redeem himself. The music is classic alt-country in the Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings vibe. The movie is great and the music is one of the catalysts. He deservedly won an Academy Award for "The Weary Kind."

After the movie came out I bought Ryan's current-at-the-time record Junky Star. I thought it was pretty good but it didn't really stay with me. His 2012 record, Tomorrowland, has. And it's that record where the Springsteen vibe comes to me. Especially Bruce's The Ghost Of Tom Joad record.

Here's a tune off Tomorrowland called "Flower Bomb." It's not the best song off the record but it's a good song and it serves a point.

The rest of the record has a rockier and grittier sonic-texture, but the vibe from this clip flows throughout. The thing about Springsteen is that he makes you really feel the music and lyrics. I listened to Tom Joad again today and was struck by the power of it; songs like "Highway 29" and "Youngstown" and "The Line" have a power to them. It's a real master flexing his muscle. It's a record that makes you stop and listen. And for me I really appreciate the depth and strength of the song-writing.

Listening to Ryan Bingham, you can feel that kind of power. The song titles alone show that Ryan is up to something a bit more: "Rising of the Ghetto," "No Help From God," "The Road I'm On." Where Bruce is telling other people's stories Ryan is still telling stories that feel, to me at least, more from inside himself. To me this is the development of an artist. He's not a master but he's a damn good apprentice and he's well on his way. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a Tom Joad or a Nebraska inside Ryan Bingham waiting to bust out, waiting for the right songs to come along and for the spark to strike them. He's definitely a talent to keep tabs on. I recommend checking him out. Tomorrowland is pretty much guaranteed a spot on my year end favorite list.

Bright Lights

One of the more interesting guitar players out there is Gary Clark Jr. His new record, Blak and Blu just came out and is one of the better records I have heard this year.  He is nominally considered a blues guitarist but he shouldn't be pigeon-holed into that genre. He has plenty of rock and plenty of straight blues and a good dose of R&B.

I first heard of him in Rolling Stone and with the song "Bright Lights."

That's from Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival in 2010. It's a pretty killer cut. Just great guitar playing and a great voice. This song shows up on his Bright Lights ep from last year and again on the new record. It's a worthy song for double inclusions.

He played the 930 Club last Friday and I thought about going, but I also thought about seeing Earth, but in the end I didn't go to either because I am a loser and an old man. Well, not really, I was just tired from band practice the night before and didn't want to stay up too late. OK, I am a loser and an old man. Sue me.

Anyway, I like the new record. Like I said it's a good mix of rock and R&B with a classic blues vibe. It could easily have been a standard blues record, which would be kind of boring. I am not the biggest blues fan in the world. I appreciate it for the great talents that are in the genre, but I can only take it in doses. I have to be in the right mood for it. This record cuts through that though.

It probably won't make my favorite 10 of the year of the year but it's very enjoyable and will have staying power through next year. It's better than the latest Joe Bonamassa record and he's I guy I really like too. I download (legally of course) maybe 8 to 10 new records a month depending on what's new. I guess from reading the blog you're getting the impression I dig music, so it's only natural I reckon. If Gary comes back through town I will likely go see him. He also has excellent taste in guitars.

Rats/Toys in the Cellar/Attic

A passing thought while listening to Boneyard on Sirius. Isn't "Rats In The Cellar" pretty much a re-write of "Toys In The Attic?" By the way, we're talking about old Aerosmith songs.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Then again, maybe that's the point. Let's check Wikipedia. Ah, yep! It is! Oh well. What do I know.

Couple more thoughts. Aerosmith right now as a band are pretty much inconsequential, even though they have a new album coming out tomorrow. Does anybody really care? Is a new Dianne Warren penned ballad necessary? That said, their first few records frakking rock seriously. Even Permanent Vacation and (especially) Pump kick ass.

My favorite old Aerosmith tune? They didn't write it (that would be Rufus Thomas), but it's definitely "Walking The Dog" just because of that fat groove and that wicked scratch Joe Perry does at the end of the chorus.

And about "Ozzy's Boneyard" on Sirius. I liked it better when it was just Boneyard. Now that they have Ozzy sponsoring it or whatever it is he's doing, they play way too much Accept and not nearly enough Rush. Boo to that!!

There's Your Mule

Last night's rock and roll excursion took me and Jodi and my bandmate Tom to The Fillmore in Silver Spring to see Gov't Mule. Tom is a big fan of their leader Warren Haynes. He's a great guitar player and a soulful singer. He's also a busy guy. Gov't Mule is his band, but he's done solo stuff and spent some time in the Allman Brothers Band and played a bunch with the Grateful Dead guys after Jerry Garcia passed on.

The Allman Brothers is a good way to describe Gov't Mule. It's jammy based southern rock. Here's a clip of them at a Sirius studio show doing my favorite track of theirs: "Broke Down On The Brazos."

This track is a guitar players delight. Great riffs and licks. Solos like crazy. I wonder if Warren's guitar tech has to rewire that pickup selector after each show. Warren is a great guitar player. He can be lay down the sleaze but is also a really tasteful player. As demonstrated by this track from his 2011 solo record Man In Motion. This is called "River's Gonna Rise."

Usually I like shorter, hooky kind of songs. But sometimes I like to hear a good jam. I wasn't planning on seeing Gov't Mule until Tom asked if I wanted to go. Since I am pretty much always up for a show, I said hell yeah. I am glad I went because it was a great time. They played over 3 hours, including a great cover of "Working Class Hero" that I am going to want to steal for my band. We choose wisely by getting stage right and had a great view of Warren for the whole show.

Tom read up and found out this is a Gibson reverse Firebird

Warren and Jorgen Carlsson

One of his signature Les Pauls

So a really good time out. I was starving so I recommended we cap off the late evening with a visit to the Tastee Diner in Bethesda. MMMMMM! Nothing like pancakes and eggs and hash browns at 2am!!

Me rocking my new GM tee at band practice today

Greetings From The Rock n Roll Hotel

When I posted about the Old 97s show I mentioned I had seen two shows in 72 hours. The other show was the great New Jersey band Titus Andronicus. If you want to learn more about them you can read far better profiles of the band here and here. If you have stuck with me this far, THANKS!

TA from the back of the room

The leader of Titus Andronicus is Patrick Stickles. He has been the constant in the band for all three records (I think that's true..since I don't buy physical CDs anymore I no longer find myself able to recite band lineups from record to record, nor able to recall song titles anymore). The comparisons to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are legitimate in that both bands operate on a level bordering on out-of-control. The elder statement of New Jersey have honed their craft where their intensity is always controlled but the audience still gets the feeling of joy. These new kids are still figuring that out but I think they are getting there. The first time I saw them was a couple years ago at The Black Cat. They were touring behind The Monitor which surprisingly was my favorite record of 2010. When I saw them I thought the show was too out-there, too much of teetering on the edge. It is a wild feeling, sure, but it felt like the manic-ness was getting in the way of the music. Not so the second time. Though my vantage point was at the back of the room the energy level was high but the control was there. Sure there were freakout points that saw everything and everybody careening around the room, but it came in waves, not in a sheer wall of madness. If you are looking for a rock show and want to see a young band bringing their all, then Titus Andronicus are for you!

The new record is called Local Business. Like the show, it's a much more restrained record than The Monitor. The previous record used the Civil War as a backdrop for the songs to be constructed around. The latest record foregoes the concept and simply brings the rock. As reviews say, it's the most accessible of their three records (The Airing Of Grievances being their first) so it's an excellent starting point.

Here's the video, the shoot of which is described in one of those links up top), for "In A Big City."

If you listen close you can get that Springsteen vibe. The anthemic vibe that makes you think something different is going on here, something important. Usually that's greeted with cynicism or appropriate derision, but when songs like this are done with such earnestness it's hard not to admire it and to pump your fist along with it. It's hard not to have it catch your attention. The music almost says "Stop what you're doing and listen to me because I've got something going on here." Happily the majority of the record does that ("Food Fight" being the exception).

Couple other random thoughts. I have seen the band twice now and still don't have a tee shirt. Both times I was unhappy with the design. Unfortunate that because tee shirts are trophies for shows. I feel almost empty when I don't get one, and ecstatic when I score three (like at this show). Also, this was my first trip to the Rock n Roll Hotel on H Street in DC. I have been meaning for a long time to check this place out but something, be it something else or simple laziness, gets in the way. Not this time! It's a great little club. Reminds me inside of the old 930 Club but without the pole in the middle. Now that I've popped my proverbial cherry there I hope to report back on many shows there.

Burning the Nite Club (930) Down

I saw two shows in 72 hours this week. I'll talk about the second first and the first one some other time.

One of the most entertaining live acts out there is the Old 97s. If you're not familiar (shame on you!) it's sort of country-punk from my grew-up-in-town of Dallas. This tour was celebrating the 15th anniversary of their great Too Far To Care album. Since it's the thing to do now they did the album in it's entirety start to finish. I've commented on this before, but (there's always a but) this album is so great it's fine with me.

Here's a video of them doing the album's (killer) opener "Time Bomb." It's about 5 years old but you'll get the idea.

Yeeeeee-haw!

I think Rhett Miller is one of the best front men around. He's good looking, a great lyricist, and a very engaging performer. I try (horribly) to model my stage presence on good old Rhett. I think if you're watching a band, you should be entertained. It is entertainment, right? I read that in a manual somewhere. And the Old 97s definitely enterain. High energy, lots of fun, great songs.

They did TFTC to start the show. For the second half they did (from memory) "Mama Tried," "Victoria Lee," "Murder (Or A Heart Attack),""Jagged,""Valentine," "Rollerskate Skinny," "Dance With Me," "Champaign, Illinois," "Every Night Is Friday Night (Without You)"and "Brown Haired Daughter." I might have missed something but that sounds right.

Rhett himself opened the show with a 20 minute acoustic set. Very cool. The support band was called The Travoltas. Not much to say of them except the singer has produced the 97s last few records, the keyboard player seems like a cool dude to hang around with, and they got nice suits. My neighbor said it best: "It went from cool to kitchsy to long." Another plus, there was not much dead time between sets, Very fast turnaround and I am old now so I like that.

Here be some photographic evidence of the good-time-had-by-all.

This man is Stewart Ransom Miller and he's a serial lady-killer

The Travoltas. Nice suits.

Just a little band from Texas

GRULHH: Marquee Moon

Editors note: I am going to start a new feature called GRULHH, which stands for Great Record U Likely Haven't Heard. I expect you to go off to the local record shop or iTunes or wherever you steal music from or Spotify and immediately procure or at least listen to the records in this series. Why? Because they are great and you likely haven't heard them. You're welcome.

I play guitar but admittedly not very well. I reckon if I practiced a lot more than I do, or maybe if I started playing when I was young and not when I was 28ish (or something like that) then maybe I'd be able to be a competent lead guitar player instead of the passable rhythm guitarist. Happily for my band's sake I can sing (how well is open to interpretation) and write songs (which I actually think I do fairly well but again I'll leave you to be the judge of that).

The point here is that I am always impressed by good guitar playing be it on record, live, or by Tom standing across the basement from me. When most folks think of great guitarists and great guitar albums, the usual suspects show up: Hendrix, Van Halen, Clapton. One record I would put in that list (and that a lot of rock writers do anyway) is Television's Marquee Moon.

It's interesting that a band that came out of the 1970s NYC club scene were such virtuoso guitar players; and that they let their virtuosity come out on record. The licks and leads and run that Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd pull off on this record is really stunning. If you are guitar player, and I am thinking mainly of younger players like my nephews, this is a record you should really give a chance to.

Here's "See No Evil" which is the first track on the record.

What's really great about it is the interplay between the two. The rhythm lines and the lead lines weave in and out and around each other. The whole record is like this, vocally and vibe in tune with bands like Talking Heads, but the guitars are creating a whole different element. This record, to my ears, at least, sounds like nothing else on the planet. It's tough for a guitar band to set itself really apart, to do something unique and special. Television have the guitars acting as another voice here, where you don't just listen to it as the guideposts or the propulsion of the song, not a wall of noise and sound but parts that demand your attention, leaving you wonder where it's going next, how it will be different the next pass through.

Television didn't last terribly long. They made another record which is good but just isn't on the same plane. The most notable thing done after this was when Richard Lloyd helped Matthew Sweet out on Girlfriend and Altered Beast, two other very unique sounding guitar records. Television did reunions and a record not too terribly long ago, but again, it doesn't have the magic they captured on Marquee Moon.

If you got nothing better to do, here's the awesome title track. Be warned it is ten minutes long, so you can always surf someplace else in another window while this is going.