I don't know why Allison Moorer isn't more popular. She's a beautiful woman with a fantastic voice who makes fantastic music. Maybe it's because she's more interested in making music that appeals to her rather "finding an audience." Maybe it's because she's Steve Earle's wife and Lord knows he's burned some bridges.

Anyway, I'm listening to her latest as I write this. It's called "Mockingbird."


[Clicking on the album cover picture above will take you to Amazon.]

Except for the title song (which she wrote), it's a collection of covers of songs written by female songwriters. Things from a incredibly sexy version of "Ring of Fire" to Nina Simone's "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl" to Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." As if that weren't enough, Buddy Miller produced the record. And Steve Earle plays on it.

In short, it's awesome. And I just read she's in the studio for a new album early next year. Hooray!

So, the Americana Festival is over and I'm back at work. *sigh*

However, it was an absolutely fantastic weekend. I've already raved about many of the artists I saw, and here I will be it some more.

The Belleville Outfit - saw them at the Station Inn late Friday night. They're young, they're talented, they're pretty, and they may be the most technically proficient band I've ever seen. I'm jealous and overwhelmed. rosepurr and I have one of their records and it doesn't do them justice. You must see this band live. They are absolutely incredible, full of energy. I've never seen a crowd jump to a standing ovation so quickly. Awesome.

Buddy Miller - So Buddy Miller dominated the awards show Thursday night and rosepurr and I were lucky enough to catch his performance after we watched trueloveblonde make her smashing roller derby debut. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Patty Griffin joined him onstage for four songs and they played off each other beautifully.

The Bottle Rockets - I have been a huge fan of this band for years, but I've never gotten a chance to see them (and they've toured relentlessly - they were usually in town when I had some other obligation). They played to a packed house in The Basement, and they played loud! My ears rang all day yesterday. They introduced themselves as "the best band on the planet" and they fully intended to prove it. Their vigorous set was filled with great songs from their new album (which I still need to get - boo, Americana gets expensive) and classics, including one of my personal faves:



So it was totally worth it. I'm so glad I took the time off. It was a blast.

The Americana Festival is fantastic, but also dangerous. I have a HUGE list of CD's I need to pick up. (Yes, I still buy CD's. I don't do the illegal download thing, and I have a problem paying for things that are purely digital. I'm too materialist, I suppose.)

Wednesday night, I saw so many great performers. The Mercy Lounge and the Cannery Ballroom are actually two separate venues housed in the same building, so I stayed there, switching back and forth. I saw at least part of the shows of the following:

Radney Foster - To many, Radney Foster is better known as a songwriter than a performer. For example, his best known song is probably "Raining on Sunday," though Keith Urban's version is more familiar than Radney's (I prefer Radney's, though I like Keith's). His acoustic show wasn't technically part of the festival, just an in-store guest appearance at Grimey's, one of the finest record stores in the South (which I must try to avoid because it's very easy to spend a lot of money there!). He was awesome, and he was kind enough to autograph CD's afterward, including the copy of the new one I bought there. It's a cliche to say such things when you meet someone of some renown, but he's very nice and down-to-earth and approachable.

The Band of Heathens - over the course of 45 minutes (actually it took considerably less time than that), I've become huge fans of these guys. They have three amazing vocalists, and they play a gospel-influenced Southern rock with lots of dirty guitar. They have two free mp3s on their website linked above. They played the awards show last night, too, and rosepurr criticized me because, in describing them, I failed to mention that they were also "cute." So now I've said it all.

John Fogerty - Fogerty received a well-deserved lifetime achievement in songwriting at the awards show last night, but he was a "special surprise guest performer" Wednesday. (Who it was got leaked earlier in the day, so the place was pretty packed.) Most of the performers I mention here only played for about 45 minutes or so, but Fogerty did a full set, at least an hour forty-five. Tremendous energy, songs from the Credence days through to his latest (another I need to get - *sigh*), and one of the best shows I've ever seen (every time I say that I feel like I have to drop someone else amazing off the list, but he truly was among the top).

Those Darlins - Patsy Cline meets punk. What more can I say? A local favorite, a trio of good-looking girls who like they just as soon beat a guy up than date him. Awesome, fun, and rambunctious.

Asleep at the Wheel - A band that's been together forever, doing classic Western swing. They received a lifetime achievement for performance at the awards, and then had to leave because they had a gig in San Antonio the next night. I only caught the last three or four songs of their set, but it had terrific energy, fabulous musicianship and performance. Next time they're around I need to catch the full show. Plus their latest album sees them teaming with Willie Nelson, which makes me ask, "Why does everyone want my money???"

Reckless Kelly - rosepurr introduced me to this band, but with a name like this, how could I not love them? I missed their first couple of songs but arrived in time to hear "Seven Nights in Ireland" followed by a cover of Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning." If I didn't love them before, I do now. Great stuff. We have their last two albums; a new one is due in 2010. At the awards show, they did their awesome song, "Ragged as the Road," the full line being "ragged as the road I am." Hooray for songs about traveling down busted roads with a broken heart!


As I've mentioned throughout so far, last night was the awards show. It was awesome, full of amazing performances and presenters. There's a great synopsis here (via the Tennessean - local celebrity gossip is about all that paper is good for - well, that and bird cage lining). It was a fantastic night.

My boss, who is an excellent banjo player and a roots music aficionado (I'm not just saying that 'cause he's my boss; he's very unlikely to read this), is a huge fan of Buddy Miller. Miller is a musician's musician and everyone at the awards show, from Fogerty to Emmylou Harris to Sam Bush, sang his praises, but Miller himself is a humble, self-effacing but ridiculously talented musician. The article covers the awards, but I think the best way to close this out is with the song that won "Song of the Year" from the album that won "Album of the Year" from the "Artist of the Year" and "Instrumentalist of the Year." Last night, he sang it with Patti Griffin.

It's a beautiful song. Enjoy.

So I have the rest of the week off. This has been planned for almost a year.

Last year, rosepurr and I went to the Americana Music Association Awards show at the Ryman. It was a fantastic night of great performances and sitting in the midst of famous people. At separate points in the evening, John Hiatt and Joan Baez walked past me, just inches away. Tomorrow night, we will again be in attendance.

The awards show is part of a four-day festival, full of producers, performers, songwriters, and other music industry types, attending workshops and such during the day and then hitting the bars for music at night. After the awards last year, rosepurr and I both had to go home to work the next day. She has an unavoidable training the next day so she will be doing that again.

But, since it's a relatively quiet time in my job, I just took the time off to sleep during the day and do some barhopping/music-listening at night. The last show of each night doesn't even start til midnight, and they're some of the bands I'm most interested in seeing - in particular, the Bottle Rockets and Reckless Kelly. This link provides a complete list of the evening shows. You buy a wristband for $45 and it gets you in all of them. Sadly, beer is not included in that $45, but it is available, of course.

Obviously, I wish rosepurr were able to take more time off to go with me. For instance, tonight she's still out of town for work, so I'm on my own. It'll still be fun.