[Joshua James, live at The Tractor Tavern, Seattle, Washington, 28 February 2013.]

So here it is, in the company of tomes about AC/DC, Neil Young, Velvet Underground, Pete Townshend, Yo La Tengo, Freddie Mercury and other luminaries. Very cool to know that it’s on a shelf somewhere more than 9,641 miles away from home. Thanks, Danielle — maybe someone down there will check it out!

Thank you for requesting a personalized playlist! Based on your musical preferences, here is a selection of titles you might enjoy. All of the albums listed are available for checkout from the library’s collection.

**

Neko Case.
Furance Room Lullaby.
Bloodshot.
2000.

Find Furance Room Lullaby at your library

“It would be easy to call Neko Case alt-country’s answer to k.d. lang; after all, they both began their career in Canada (although Case was raised in America), both came into country music through artier pursuits, and both blend trad-style twang with a modernist lyrical perspective.” -allmusic.com

Keywords: Pop Roc, Country

**

The Avett Brothers.
The Carpenter.
Universal .
2012.

Find The Carpenter at your library

“The Carpenter, the sixth studio album (and second with producer Rick Rubin) from North Carolina’s Avett Brothers, is as amiable, quaint, mischievous, sad, and disarmingly sincere as its predecessor, landing somewhere between the easy, late summer nostalgia of Ron Sexsmith, the wise and wounded defiance of The Band, and the harmony-laden, pop-laced melancholy of The Jayhawks.” -allmusic.com

Keywords: Folk, Alternative Country

**

Franz Ferdinand .
Tonight .
Epic .
2009.

Find Tonight at your library

“I found a new way, baby,” Alex Kapranos snarls on “Ulysses,” Tonight’s lead single and opening track, and he’s almost right. Franz Ferdinand took awhile to record this album after releasing You Could Have It So Much Better as quickly as possible after their breakthrough debut, spending a couple of years coming up with the concept of a “dirty pop” album and trying out dance and pop producers like Erol Alkan and Girls Aloud sound-shapers Xenomania before settling on Dan Carey, who has worked with everyone from CSS to Kylie Minogue.” -allmusic.com

Keywords: Pop Rock, Alternative

**

Julian Casablancas.
Phrazes for the Young.
RCA .
2009.

Find Phrazes for the Young at your library

“Perhaps it’s fitting that Julian Casablancas’ solo album arrived last out of all of the projects the Strokes pursued during their post-First Impressions of Earth hiatus. Albert Hammond, Jr. and Nikolai Fraiture stayed close to the band’s mold with their extracurricular projects, and while Fabrizio Moretti’s work with Little Joy might technically sound more different than his main band’s music, it doesn’t feel as bold as Phrazes for the Young. As the Strokes’ singer and main songwriter, it’s not surprising that Casablancas pushed himself to break away from the kind of music he makes with the band, but it’s how he makes the music different that makes the album interesting. Only eight songs long, Phrazes for the Young begins with tracks that feel like typically catchy Strokes songs put in front of a funhouse mirror; they’re stretched, twisted, and elongated into experiments that even First Impressions of Earth’s most ambitious moments couldn’t contain.”  -allmusic.com

Keywords: Pop Rock, Indie Rock

**

Jakob Dylan .
Women and Country .
Columbia .
2010 .

Find Women and Country at your library

“Continuing in the subdued, stripped-down direction he began with his 2008 solo debut Seeing Things, Jakob Dylan nevertheless achieves a cinematic resonance on his second record, 2010′s Women + Country. Surely, part of this is down to Dylan swapping Rick Rubin, who has made starkness almost a fetish, for the analog impressionism of T-Bone Burnett, who previously worked with the singer/songwriter on the Wallflowers 1996 breakthrough album Bringing Down the Horse. Women + Country has little to do with the sturdy, sinewy, straight-ahead rock of Bringing Down the Horse: it’s dreamy and airy, slipping in and out of focus, rootsy without being earthy.” -allmusic.com

Keywords: Singer/Songwriter, Alt-Country

**

Ryan Adams .
Gold .
Lost Highway .
2001.

Find Gold at your library

“One would think that being Ryan Adams would be a pretty good deal at the time of this album’s release; he had a major-label deal, critics were in love with him, he got to date Winona Ryder and Alanis Morissette, Elton John went around telling everyone he was a genius, and his record company gave him carte blanche to do whatever he wanted. But to listen to Gold, Adams’ first solo album for his big-league sponsors at Lost Highway, one senses that there are about a dozen other musicians Adams would love to be, and nearly all of them were at their peak in the early to mid-’70s. ” -allmusic.com

Keywords: Rock, Alternative Country

**

Deerhunter .
Cryptograms.
Kranky .
2007.

Find Cryptograms at your library

“Deerhunter’s first album, the self-titled release from Atlanta-based Stickfigure, was a cacophonous, messy, punk-driven record that banged and pulsated along in the shock and anger after bass player Justin Bosworth’s sudden death in 2004. By the time the band set about recording their second album, however, they had added another guitarist, one who focused more on twisting and mechanizing sound, and had calmed down considerably. Because of this, much of Cryptograms meanders about in the experimental realm, where swells and layers matter more than melody or structure. It does make for contrast, this ebb-and-flow against the greater discord of the sung pieces, but these instrumentals don’t do enough to actually mean anything.” -allmusic.com

Keywords: Alternative, Indie Rock

And now, friends, here is a piece of news I’m quite excited about. Behold the incredibly cool cover of our next UT Press American Music Series book — “Merle Haggard: The Running Kind,” penned by my former No Depression magazine senior-editor colleague David Cantwell. This is another very fine cover design by the incomparable Lindsay Starr, who has earned some choice worldwide  recognition for her first two covers in the AMS series (Don McLeese’s Dwight Yoakam book as well as my Ryan Adams book “Losering”).

Look for “The Running Kind” to emerge in September of this year. More books are in the works and I hope to have some news about them soon.

Channeling Ryan Adams, this band grabbed me with their song, “Ramona.” It’s been tricky tracking down their vinyl of “Country Sleep,” and I still haven’t successfully added any to my library… yet. I’m on the hunt. But this band is all over your favorite purveyors of high-quality digital downloads. “Country Sleep” has that “new Nashville” thing going on that Jack White is inspiring from his world headquarters. One very creative young man: Winston Yellen. More please.

Jeff and Keef Debonzo (Debonzo Brothers)
Danny Johnson and George Hage (Jack The Radio)
John Massengil and Danny Johnson (Old Quarter)
John Booker and Rachel Hirsh (I Was Totally Destroying It)
Wylie Hunter (Wylie Hunter & the Cazadores)
Charles Marshall (Balsa Gliders)
David Teeter (Martha Ann Motel)
Adam Lane and Jeff Mullins
Ryan Mullaney and Ashley Gray
Bobby Bryson
Ryan Kennemur
The Equivocators

Another act or two will probably be added to the lineup, and yours truly will serve as host and emcee. Meantime, save the date and please do come on out if you can. There will be songs, and a story or two, I’m sure.

I first heard this song covered by someone during the concert night of this event week – basically an open mic night, only of course everyone is brilliant. This cover was brilliant, in any case, and I’m sad not all of it was filmed and the video is gone from Facebook now, so that I will never hear that cover again. At least I’ve got the original to resort to.

To the east of Australia, meanwhile, an online vendor called Mighty Ape NZ’s listing of New Zealand’s “Best Selling Film, Television & Music Books” has “Losering” right next to a couple of memoirs — Monica Mayhem’s “Absolute Mayhem: Confessions of a Porn Star,” and Keith Richards’ “Life.” I hope Ryan is as honored by the placement as I am. And even if he’s not, well, I’m sure Keef would just say that it’s all just showbiz. It is, eh?

De sterren volgen me

En het blauw van de hemel help me te verbergen

Wat ik denk

Net als het licht langzaam dooft

En de avond mijn dromen omhelst

Hoe de lucht plots minder hard op me neer drukte

Als je me aankeek

Toen danste ik

Als een herboren veulen in de weide

En verzond duizenden clichés

Om je glimlach te beschrijven

De muziek omringde ons

Als een natuurlijke omgeving van herinneringen

We hadden geen reden nodig

Geen hoe, waarom of wat

We waren er gewoon

Een moment zonder weglaten of schrappen

A Rocket To The Moon

The just released a new album called Wild & Free and it is phenomenal. It has a little more of a country vibe to it but no worries if you don’t like country, I think you’ll still enjoy it. Don’t let the new sound lead you astray. It makes me feel like I am sitting around the campfire with my friends on a warm summer night sing along to someone playing the guitar. The name of the album is very fitting. It definitely feels free with just a little wild. No news of any tours yet, but I would keep a look out and for now check out the album. I suggest the title track Wild  & Free and Ever Enough. 

Marina & The Diamonds

I kept seeing pictures of this girl all of Tumblr so I finally decided to look into and see who it was. I was a little hesitant when I first heard Marina & The Diamonds, but now I can’t get enough. It is definitely an album you have to listen to a couple of times to truly appreciate. Her voice is so unique and interesting it really individualizes her music and there is nothing like it. Check out her album Electra Heart, I suggest How to Be a Heartbreaker and Teen Idle.

Walk The Moon

Someone recently introduced me to this band and I am so glad they did. I soon found myself listening to every song they had ever released for hours on hours. I am obsessed and I think you should be too. They released an album last year and a new EP this year. Also they have awesome album cover art. They are going to be at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival this summer (which I was supposed to go to but I just found out that I won’t be out of classes yet wahh). I suggest Anna Sun and Tightrope.

OneRepublic

OneRepublic recently released a new album. It is full of the same old OneRepublic we know and love but there is a little something extra. They have spiced things up a little bit and I couldn’t be more impressed. It has definitely been on repeat all weekend. I suggest Light It Up and Burning Bridges.

Also I have been listening to a lot of my old favorites lately:

Vienna by Billy Joel has the ability to calm me down in an instant. It is my go to song when I am feeling down.

Answering Bell by Ryan Adams is a classic. It is that song that you always here in the movies because it sets the perfect scene. I highly suggest checking out everything Ryan Adams has ever released because he is phenomenal.

Creep by Radiohead was featured on Glee recently and it just took me back, what a classic.

Here is a playlist of all the songs I mentioned.

And look forward to next week because the JONAS BROTHERS are supposed to be releasing a new song this week and 13 year old me is freaking out!

200 More Miles (live) :: Ryan Adams, Natalie Merchant, Vic Chestnutt and Cowboy Junkies

“Atlanta’s a distant memory,
Montgomery a recent birth,
and Tulsa burns on the desert floor,
like a signal fire.

I got Willie on the radio,
a dozen things on my mind,
and number one is fleshing out,
these dreams of mine.”

I was born with the soul of a gypsy, passed on by my Grandfather before me, and who knows who else that wandered soulfully, and restlessly, before him. My dreams are filled with movement, fluid and changeable, with winding roads and endless bodies of water and spacious skies surrounding me.

If it were just me I would get lost more often, run, disappear, meander through the streets of new cities, leaving my shadow marks in the form of stamped “wish you were here” postcards, collected matchbooks, and the clang of a tip left behind for the counter top cup of coffee.

But, I stay, I persist, and part of me likes the comfort of familiarity, even if I have yet to find anywhere that truly feels like home. My heart, it clings too, trying to hang on for dear life to something, someone, some shred of hope and trust and belief in the existence of love.

But love is like a map, folded and unfolded again and again, you can rely on it, you can ignore it, you can believe in its every twist and turn – or you can let it fly right out the window. Sooner or later, though, you might find your way back to it, and wonder if you can begin again.

“They say that I am crazy,
my life wasting on this road,
that time will find my dreams,
scared or dead and cold.

But I heard there is a light,
drawing me to reach an end,
and when I reach there,
I’ll turn back
and you and I can begin again.”

200 More Miles :: Cowboy Junkies

La Cienega Just Smiled (live) :: Ryan Adams

“And I hold you close in the back of my mind,
feels so good,
but damn it makes me hurt,
and I’m too scared to know to how I feel about you now;
La Cienega just smiles…’see ya around’.”

Yes, I laughed. Of course, that was just Ryan’s cheeky way of being funny. Harris has always been this sort of motherly goddess figure who inspires a sense of hushed awe over everyone she meets, and that’s as true of Ryan as anyone else. At that time, Ryan was still aglow from having recorded his Heartbreaker song “O My Sweet Carolina” with her (see Chapter 12 of “Losering”), a performance that stands among the best of her many vocal cameos over the years.

More than a decade later, Emmylou still seems like the unbelievably cool older sister everyone wants to grow up to be. I’ve had the opportunity to speak to her several times for stories over the years, and you can find two of those interviews here.

Also, lucky me, I got to review her Saturday night show in Durham with Rodney Crowell.

This is a fantastic song by Ryan Adams. If you don’t know him, I suggest you check him out, as he is a fantastic artist!

Pen pressed to paper as she writes the other side of what happened, the words not sung, but remembered. Faded photographic images with criss-crossed marks at the sides. Once upon a time they danced on rooftops, and once upon a time they still believed.

There is old poetry locked in strong boxes, hope chests some would call them; moth ball heavy and nearly forgotten. In the late afternoons she turns each page over in her well-worn hands, too far in the past to bring tears now, though she misses them, her tears. Now she even misses the pain of loving him.

My Love For You is Real :: Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

Check it out. Well done, Jeff, and thank you!

Check that out here.

Posted by R.C. on 03.21.2013.

There are many things that I would like to say to you
but I don’t know how

1. Electric Man – Mansun
2. Celeste – The Rocks
3. Fuck You – Keith TOTP
4. Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony? – Ween
5. A Kiss Before I Go – Ryan Adams
6. Look At Your Game, Girl – Charles Manson
7. Video Girl – Jonas Brothers
8. Vegetables – Beach Boys
9. 5:15 – The Who
10. Year 3000 – Busted