It's Covers Week (Part 4): Special Inbred Cracker Assholes (Just Kidding) Edition

From their brand new (eponymous) collaborative album, once again please enjoy national treasure Steve Earle and (I knew her when) Village contemporary Shawn Colvin and an absolutely fabulous take on the John D. Loudermilk and The Nashville Teens' (who were neither, in actual fact) classic "Tobacco Road."

Have I mentioned that I love this album?

Oh -- you can order it over at Amazon HERE.

Have a great weekend everybody.

It's Covers Week (Part III): Special Going to the Dogs Edition

From 1983...well, you'll figure it out.

This album seems to really annoy a lot of people, but I've always found it hilarious. In any event, I couldn't help myself -- I promise something less contentious on the morrow.

We Interrupt It's Covers Week! For an Important Announcement

Today we are an EP.

A year in the making, actually.

Gotta ship these off to our various distributors, so they won't be available for purchase for another week or so (I'll keep you posted). But the project is now done, and I couldn't be prouder.

Part III of the cover stuff resumes tomorrow. Thank you for your indulgence in this regard.

It's Covers Week (Part Deux): Special Tim Kaine's Record Collection Edition

From 2015, please enjoy Pittsburgh's finest, The Clarks, and their fabulous cover of The Replacements classic "I Will Dare."

I bring this up because last week we learned that Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine is on record as saying that the 'Mats Let It Be, from whence that song originates, is his favorite album of all time.

Hey, if I needed an excuse to vote for the Dem ticket this year, that's it.

It's Covers Week (Part I): Special And Speaking of Gorgeous Edition

From their brand new (eponymous) collaborative album please enjoy national treasure Steve Earle and (I knew her when) Village contemporary Shawn Colvin and an absolutely transplendent version of the folk-rock classic "You Were On My Mind."

I gotta tell you -- when I first heard about this record I was dubious. To me, it was akin to Keith Richards doing a duet record with Joan Baez. But boy, was I wrong.

Seriously, this album is out of control great; the Colvin and Earle originals are knockouts, and the other covers -- including an amazing version of "Tobacco Road" -- are revelatory.

If the song above, of course, doesn't make you grin from ear to ear, you probably need to have it looked at.

Oh -- you can order it over at Amazon HERE.

Closed Due to Shvitzing

It's to damned hot to sit in front of my computer.

Regular, non-weather related postings resume on Monday.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Your Thursday Moment of Why Didn't I Get the Memo?

From the Letterman show in 2007, please enjoy singer/songwriter Elvis Perkins and an insinuating tune from his debut album "While You Were Sleeping."



I was unaware of this guy until the other day, and you could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned he was the son of...this guy.

In all seriousness, in retrospect I can see the resemblance (although I think Elvis looks more like Robbie Robertson than Norman Bates).

The vocal quality is kinda like his dad, though. In any case, I like what I've heard of his music so far.

The Kids Are Alright

In this case, the teenage kids of an old friend and bandmate of mine.

From The Guardian UK, yesterday:

The background: One thing is certain: Lemon Twigs are going to divide opinion. This is, perhaps, a strange thing to say about a band who base a lot of their shtick on two of the biggest groups in pop music history – the Beatles and the Beach Boys – around whom there is unparalleled critical consensus. Nevertheless, there will be some who consider their reference-rich songs to genuflect too closely to the old masters. Others will simply recoil at their very presence, fearing them to be a hipster contrivance, too good to be true, cynically assembled by an evil record company eager to plug a gap in the market. Look at that image of the main members – Brian and Michael D’Addario – accompanying this article: they could be out of the Partridge Family as envisioned by Harmony Korine.

The D’Addario brothers are, respectively, 19 and 17 years old, and they’re astonishingly good at what they do. Talented, for sure. It’s obviously in their DNA: their dad, Ronnie D’Addario, was an all-playing and producing wunderkind of the Emitt Rhodes type who released a few albums of post-Beatles pop in the late-70s. The pair handle all instrumental chores on their forthcoming 4AD debut album, enlisting a little help from two friends when they play live (their first UK gig will be on 19 August at London’s Sebright Arms). Brian plays guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, horns and strings – he owns a trumpet, a violin and a cello and is a fan of the overdub. Michael has “merely” mastered “the basic band instruments” (guitar, bass, keys, drums). “Brian was really good at instruments from a young age,” Michael said. “I didn’t learn any instruments apart from drums till I was 13. Brian had already learned to play bass and drums when he was in elementary school.”

You can read the entire piece over at the Guardian website HERE.

And please enjoy two of the songs from the aforementioned debut album.



I should add that, apart from being annoyingly talented, they're also really, really nice kids. I should also add that if their dad's name sounds familiar, one reason may be that he sang the McCartney-esque backup vocals on The Floor Models' "Letter from Liverpool."

And This Just In (From Somewhere in Cleveland)

Apparently, this guy has at least one redeeming quality.

In related news, CD Baby informs me that Amazon, iTunes, Spotify and the rest of the usual suspects will be featuring Letter From Liverpool any minute now. By which they mean it could take as long as a week. In the meantime, if you are moved to purchase the EP in digital form (physical CDs will be available beginning August 1) you can do so HERE.

Your Monday Moment of Words Fail Me

Today we are an EP.

And even more amazingly -- a video.



This has been over a year in the making, and apart from the fact that I'm insanely proud of it, I would just like to thank everybody involved in getting it together. That includes ace engineer Brent McLachlan, my drummer and musical director for the last 50 years Glen "Bob" Allen, special guest Flo Mos J.D. Goldberg and Ronnie D'Addario, and singer, co-writer (with the late great Andy Pasternack -- that's him, sampled, on the Rickenbacker at the end of the song) and long-time bandmate Gerry Devine.

If you're moved to purchase the entire thing, for the moment it can be downloaded at CD Baby HERE; Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and the rest of the usual suspects will have it shortly. Physical CDs will be available by August 1.

Now you'll have to excuse me -- I'm getting verklempt.