4 BUDDY AUGUST 2012

MOST OF THE TIME, LISTEN-Ming to and writing about musicis very satisfying. Sometimes, therewards of reviewing CDs are in theunintended – I suppose – humor.

Recently, I got a CD with theartist’s name on the front three times.The accompanying news release in-formed me that my reputation wouldbe considerably enhanced if I spentsome time writing about this guybecause he was going to be a star.

That’s almost’– but not quite –enough to make me toss it into thereject pile unheard, something I’vedone only once or twice since 1996.In a good month, a can review one ofevery three CDs I get; in a busiermonth, it’s one of every four.

I didn’t, though. I put it into thecomputer and listened to the spo-ken-word intro that seemed to focuson some woman’s nice ass. I sampledthe first couple of songs, which endedup in the same region. Then I tossedit into the reject pile.

Sometimes, the news releases Iget with CDs are no more than thename of the artist, the name of theCD, and then a bunch of floweryhype that doesn’t really, after I’veread it, tell me anything. Thank good-ness, most of the releases are betterthan that. Sometimes there’s no in-formation at all with the CD; usually,but not always, in those cases I canfind something on the Internet.

Yes, the music comes first. Butinformation and, if possible, insightcan be helpful to put a CD intocontext. With rare exceptions – suchas that one I mentioned at the begin-ning of this column – I listen to themusic before I read those releases,but information and, if possible, in-

sight can help provide perspective.(Interesting, to me, aside: I get

CDs from all over the country. Al-most without fail, if the musician hasTexas ties that’s listed in the first orsecond paragraph; more often thannot, if the musician is from else-where, the home state isn’t men-tioned at all or at least much furtherdown in the release.)

Segue into another issue that’sperhaps slightly related to thiscolumn’s lead. In the case of thatmusician claiming my reputationwould be considerably enhanced if Ispent some time writing about himguy, it’s amazing to me how manyreally good artists deal with self doubtor tend to downplay their true great-ness.

Eliza Gilkyson once said fromthe stage at Uncle Calvin’s Coffee-house that she considers herself afailure. Maybe she was just having abad day; maybe she was exaggerat-ing for some sort of effect. But she isone of the few writers good enoughto, for a long time, intimidate me;she’d laugh at me saying that.

I once tried to comfort a musi-cian who was crying backstage be-fore it was time for her to perform.

I once saw a musician stop inmid performance, hesitate, and say,“I don’t know if I can go on.” She wasstill and quiet. People encouragedher. She went on. Several years later,when I talked to her again, she saidshe didn’t remember the episode.

I once had a musician call meand begin talking, not making muchsense for just a little while. Then shestopped and said, “Tom, I think I’mlosing it.” We talked for a long time,and we talked for a long time again

the next day, and she seemed to beokay after that with the help, I’msure, of many friends.

In the article about The Trishaselsewhere in this issue, I quote Sa-vannah Welch about her father, theexcellent Kevin Welch: “As a kid, Iwas intimidated by all the talentaround me, all the great musicians,writers, singers, and players. It waslike the bar was set so high I couldn’teven fathom starting anywhere un-less I could find a closet and practiceuntil I got really good. I don’t knowif I’ll ever get there.”

”And, “As a kid, it was confusingto watch some dads get their breaks,and other ones not. Fans of my dadare really big fans, and they love hiswriting so it took me until I wasabout 17 or so to show my dadanything I’d written, in a seriousway.”

There was another quote – onthat almost but not quite contradictsitself–– I didn’t use in that article: “Iwatched my dad be too humble withhis career, if that’s possible. I’ve actu-ally seen that you can take humbletoo far. But the words that can fly outof his mouth are so great . . . It’sdifficult to be around artists who arenot humble, because I respect mydad so much.”

If I ever have to choose betweensomebody who thinks he or she is sogreat that my career will be “consid-erably enhanced” if I write about himor her and somebody who’s humble,it’s an easy choice. I’ve already madeit. That first guy’s CD went into thereject pile. I’ve got every one of KevinWelch’s CDs I can get my hands on,as I do those of the other musicians Ireferred to above. ■

AMERICANATEXAS By Tom

Geddie

RECORDREVIEWS

Waylon JenningsGoin’ Down Rockin’: The

Last RecordingsSaguaro Road RecordsWAYLON JENNINGS RECORDEDthe songs on Goin’ Down Rockin’ dur-ing the last few years of his life,working with his longtime bass playerRobby Turner in Turner’s studio.Jennings sang and played guitar;Turner added bass, and 10 yearslater went back in and overdubbedthe recordings with additional musi-cians (without ever losing the wel-come semi-sparseness of the originalrecordings).

The dozen songs — said to beJennings’ last recordings’– are dueout on September 11 release alongwith a DVD documentary of the re-cording.

Most of the songs were new oneshe’d been working on; all are prettymuch consistently vintage Jennings,often a bit contemplative.

The Country Music Hall of Famemember and founder of the so-calledoutlaw movement died in 2002 andwon two Grammy awards with his11 #1 albums and 16 #1 singles.Overall, 54 of his albums and morethan a hundred of his singles hit thecountry and pop charts.

On this album, “Never Say Die”kinda summarized Jennings’ attitude.As did the title song, “The Ways ofthe World (are not always fair / mostthings are never what we hope tofind),” Among the highlights are his“Belle of the Ball” and “She Was NoGood for Me,” both with a sort ofnostalgic dancehall feel.

—TOM GEDDIE

Lost ImmigrantsAn American Primer:

Vol. 1lo-fi tofu RecordsBILLED AS THE FIRST PART OFan “epic trilogy” to be released thisyear, An American Primer: Vol. 1 is atthe least listenable and can, at times,soar a bit.

The album is part of primarysongwriter James Dunning’s effortto put his mind at ease with theconcept that diverse acts — he men-

tions — Wilco and Ralph Stanley —can fit under the Americana label.

“The more I listened and exploredthe genre, the more I realized thefocus on lyrics, storytelling, andmelody took precedent over styleand sound,” he said.

The five songs here – with asecond cut, a radio edit, of one of thesongs, “Low””– deal with love, loss,hopelessness, moving on, findingnew love, and the seemingly unre-lated – at least in story mode ––“Santa Muerte.” It’s more broodingindie rock than country or folk, butthat diversity is part of what Ameri-cana is.

Dunning (guitars, adequate vo-cals) wrote or co-wrote the songsand put it all together with producerand multi-instrumentalist AaronHass (drums, acoustic guitar, vo-cals), Mitch Lazorko (electric gui-tars, bass), Ryan Pool, (organ, pi-ano), and Lisa Price (vocals).

—TOM GEDDIE

Ashlee RoseSongs in a SuitcaseSelf-releasedI GOT ASHLEE ROSE’S NEW CD,Songs in a Suitcase, less than 24 hoursago and have played the song “YouBelong to Me” a dozen times. How-ever sappy the song is, it’s also beau-tiful, and Rose, who is in her early20s, does a great job sharing theclassic 1950s song written by PeeWee King, Chilton Price, and ReddStewart.

Never mind that she might ormight not have heard the song first inone of the “Shrek” movies, whichoften seem to come up with intrigu-ing songs for the soundtrack.

You likely know the song by itsfirst lines: “See the pyramids alongthe Nile / watch the sun rise from atropic isle / just remember, darling,all the while / you belong to me.”

The only time I’ve seen Rose livewas at Sons of Hermann Hall, whenshe was 12 or so and sang SusanGibson’s “Cloud Nine” with Gibsonin the audience. She kinda got inGibson’s face, literally, as I remem-ber, with her own version, but it wasobviously a loving rather than a chal-lenging gesture. The powerful-voiced

Rose has gone on to sing on at leastone of Gibson’s albums, finish as atop-10 finalist in the InternationalSongwriting Competition, be fea-tured at 14 in Seventeen Magazine,and to garner other honors, includ-ing wining the “Battle of the GuitarGals” for her playing.

She released a five-song, self-titled hard rock CD when she was15, followed by the full-length blues-rock album Iron Roses. Six years later,after touring as the singer and sologuitarist with a Holland America Linetour ship band, Songs in a Suitcase isa fine mix of country with pop, rock,and more. The 11 songs include sevenof her originals and four covers.

Her own songs are solid; sheshines on the covers: “I’ll Be YourBaby Tonight,” “Crazy,” “I Can’t MakeYou Love Me,” and of course “YouBelong to Me.” Among the originals,my favorite is the country-tinged“Crazy over You.”

Rose produced the album, withvocal production by Bradley Kopp,who also played lead guitar and addedbacking vocals. Other musicians wereButch Morgan (lead guitar), MichaelAlvarado (drums, vocals), RobertAdams and Alan Beavers (bass),Trevor Morgan (drums), andJonathan Raveneau (violin).

—TOM GEDDIE

Miss Brown to YouNightingaleLunacy RecordsFORMER AUSTIN RESIDENTMary C. Reynolds teamed up withLouise Goldberg again and withsomebody whose first name isArmando – perhaps that’s the onlyname he uses professionally; his lastname isn’t mentioned anywhere inthe CD box — to share ten songsranging from some standards to areimagined rock classic to a handfulof more recent songs. Nightingale is,for the most part, a very good listen.

I still am not a fan of “BesameMucho.” Perhaps I’ve just heard ittoo many times, as I have a couple ofthe other standards. Still, they arewell done and some people will likethem more.

That’s irrelevant, though, becausewhat’s best about this 10-song col-lection is, indeed, excellent.

One of those songs is BobChilders’ leisurely, contemplative“Bluer Blues,” featuring Reynolds andGoldberg in duet: “nothing I’velearned can now be proved / it doesnot matter now that I’ve seen bluerblues and greener greens / the high-est highs, the lowest lows.”

Reynolds’ slow, sometimes ach-ing interpretation of Donovan Leitch’s“Catch the Wind,” with backup sup-port from Goldberg, is transcendent.Reynolds has accomplished this withseveral other songs in the past.

The title song, written byGoldberg, is also fine, as are thepublic domain “The Lakes of thePontchartrain” and Betty Elders’plaintive “Gypsy’s Jewel.”

Reynolds’ voice, as usual, soars.—TOM GEDDIE

Penny Jo PullusThrough the GlassMaHatMa RecordsThrough the Glass is long-time Austinsinger Penny Jo Pullus’ fifth CD, andis a mix of roots and pop — don’t callher a country chick singer, becauseshe’s not — featuring a mix of 11 ofher own and others’ songs.

The old-time R&B-based “Whenthe Battle is Over” wonders who willwear the crown once the dust clearson a relationship. It’s a fine duet withJimmy LaFave, who, befitting thesong, sounds a bit funkier than usual.

Pullus also duets with Will Sex-

ton on another hard relationshipsong, “Give Back the Key to MyHeart.”

Other highlights include “BabyPlease,” “Son of a Preacher Man,”and “Dead Flowers.”

In addition to LaFave and Sex-ton, collaborators include co-pro-ducer Ron Flynt and pedigreed musi-cians Ian McLagan, Eric Hisaw,Warren Hood, Shelley King, JohnBush, Matt Giles, Scrappy JudNewcomb, Chip Dolan and CleveHattersley.

—TOM GEDDIE

Radney FosterDel Rio, Texas Revisited:

Unplugged &Lonesome

Devil’s River RecordsRADNEY FOSTER SAYS SO MANYyoung singers and songwriters toldhim that they wore out his influentialDel Rio, TX 1959 album that he de-cided to record it again, this time inan acoustic version of live, raw takes.

“We have all new tempos andnew grooves,” he said. “Imagine theoriginal version of Eric Clapton’s‘Layla’ compared to his 1992 liveunplugged version and you’ll get theidea.”

So he re-recorded with, in thestudio, Martie Maguire (fiddle), JonRandall Stewart (guitar), GlennFukunaga (bass), Michael Ramos(keyboard and accordion), BradyBlack (fiddle), Matt Borer and SteveFishell; Fishell produced the origi-nal album 20 years ago. This time,Foster produced with Justin Tocket,and they brought in an additional 10musicians for bit parts without mak-ing the album feel crowded.

I’ve misplaced my copy of theoriginal CD, so I can’t make fair,direct comparisons. But this newversion is compelling. The songs, theplaying, and Foster’s country vocalsare consistently good. The first ver-sion spawned five country hits in1992 and 1993: “Nobody Wins” (#2),“Just Call Me Lonesome” (#10),

“Easier Said Than Done” (#20),“Hammers and Nails” (#34), and“Closing Time” (#59). Obviously,highlights are many, and you canpick your own from the 11 songs.Mine include “Just Call Me Lone-some,” “Hammer and Nails,” and“Me and John R.”

Foster also wrote Sara Evans’ #1Billboard hit “Real Fine Place to Start”and has written songs covered byartists as diverse as Guy Clark, DixieChicks, Rosie Flores, Mavericks,

New Grass Revival, Nitty Gritty DirtBand, Poco, Keith Urban, and more.

He has said that a song works forhim when it evokes a true emotion.It’s as simple as that, as simple as lifeitself. Which we know isn’t simple atall. The idea, though, the surfacewhere something grabs you by theheart and won’t let go, is as close tosimple as we can express withoutgetting too deep into everything that’sroiling below the surface.

—TOM GEDDIE