On Returning

It’s increasingly common for bands with press agents to fill the pages of both magazines and websites, even more so for the bands to be on the books of those agencies with the leverage/roster to (shall we say) ‘persuade’ journalists to cover them. So, here’s an occasional feature on Four New(ish!) Bands I Think You Should (But Might Not Otherwise) Hear - and from whom no fee or other inducement was received (I just like ‘em – a lot!) Go on, give them a listen. It’ll make a nice change...

1) Have Gun Will Travel (http://www.myspace.com/hgwtmusic): newly signed to our favourite label, Suburban Home, HGWT (for short) are from Florida. Like Chatham County Line and Frontier Ruckus, they're not averse to mapping traditional instruments onto tunes that range wider than simply roots, taking in rock and pop influences.


2) Puzzleroot (http://www.puzzleroot.com): if I say ‘quirlky’ don’t run off, ok - this is smart, witty and off-kilter roots music. Primarily a trio of guitar, banjo and upright bass, Puzzleroot sound like Pixies on a relaxing summer retreat and evoke memories of cult acts like Colorblind James Experience. You can also listen to a lot of Puzzleroot over at CBC: http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/bands/Puzzleroot


3) The Bloody Hollies (http://www.bloodyhollies.com): admittedly at the fringes of what you’d expect to hear on the Gilded Palace, these guys are everything your garage-rock fan wants. Tracing a lineage from the MC5 to The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, these guys do not mess about.


4) Good Luck Mountain (http://www.goodluckmountain.com): – barely a ‘new’ band, as they may be more familiar to some of you as Tandy. This is very much a fresh start for Mike Ferrio and his revolving cast of players though; inspired by (and indeed memorialising) lost colleague and friend, Drew Glackin, their self-titled ‘debut’ album is a stunning piece of work. Cannot wait for Mike Ferrio and Ana Egge's visit in October: tickets for the Brighton show here - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/127011
(No flashy videos needed!)


Gilded Palace Radio Show: playlist until September 16th:
Puzzleroot - They - www.puzzleroot.com
The Country Devils - Omaha - Porkchop Records
The Sweetback Sisters - Love Me Honey Do - Signature Sounds/CRS
Eilen Jewell - Queen Of The Minor Key - Signature Sounds/CRS
Carrie Rodruigez & Ben Kyle - Unwed Fathers - Ninth Street Opus
Society - Wheels A Turning - Brickhouse
Chatham County Line - Chip OF A Star - Yep Roc
Anna Coogan - Come The Wind, Come The Rain - www.annacoogan.com
Paul Curreri - Miles Run the Daffodil Down - City Salvage
Blueflint - The High Country - Johnny Rocks Records
Richmond Fontaine - The Chainsaw Sea - Décor
Peter Bruntnell - By The Time My Head Gets To Phoenix - Slow River
Blame Sally - Throw Me A Bone - Ninth Street Opus
Sarah MacDougall - Sometimes You Win. Sometimes You Lose - Rabbit Heart
Have Gun Will Travel - Salad Days - Suburban Home
Frog Holler - Control Freak (I Know I Know) - Zobird
The Takers - Diamond Ring - Suburban Home
The Reid Brothers - Done And Dusted - Fat Hippy
The Bloody Hollies - John Wayne Brown - Alive!
Old Sledge - Aint No Ash Gonna Burn -www.oldsledgemusic.com
Richard Buckner - Witness - Décor
Peter Case - Steel Strings No 1 - Alive!

The Last Of The Neon Cowboys - in the Gilded Palace studio!

Apologies that this post got lost in the hub-bub of a fun, frantic summer with the family. For posterity (and such a significant visitor *should* be recorded) here's the skinny on a visit by a bona-fide Gilded Palace hero: Jason Ringeberg. Despite being a 'GPOS gig' regular for nigh on 8 years, this was the first time we'd managed to get Jason into the radio show. More recent visits have seen Jason's schedule packed out by not only a 'Ringenberg' show, but also one by his alter-ego children's performer, Farmer Jason. This time, with us out of the promoting game (and not on the road), the field was clear for a sit-down session with the man who is (thanks to his legacy with The Scorchers) responsible for my own love of the music we hold dear. I was an impressionable teenager when I first heard this... (and it looks like they're still cutting it 30 years later!):

Jason And The Scorchers: I Can't Help Myself (live in 2010):


The Scorchers are still a bench-mark band for me: anyone who tries to marry punk and country music has to pay their respects to the mould-breaking antics of these guys back in the 80's. Seek out their 'Reckless Country Soul' EP (the CD reissue, I think: the 7-inch original of 1982 goes for silly money), their 'Fervor' or 'Lost And Found' albums: they're still treading the boards, although in the past ten years or so Jason's been more active as a solo artist.

Jason Ringenberg: Last Train To Memphis (live in Germany, 2009):


Jason's three solo albums (Pocketful Of Soul, All Over Creation, Empire Builders) showcase a great country songwriter, allowing him to take his foot off the Scorchers' 'gas pedal' and bring wider emotional clout to the fore. As far as I know, all three are still in print (via Shoeshine Records (UK) and Yep Roc (US).

Remember, once this show has passed into the archive, you can still listen as subscribers (fiver a month? Nargain, eh...): http://www.totallyradio.com/show_pages/shows.php?show=66

Gilded Palace Radio Show: playlist until 1st September 2011:
Have Gun Will Travel - Sons And Daughters Of The Gilded Age (Suburban Home)
Josh Smaill - Somebody’s Queen (Suburban Home)
Jeffrey Foucault - Horse Latitudes (Signature Sounds/CRS)
Catherine Maclellan - Lines On The Road (True North)
Matt Urmy - The Old Photograph (The Red Light Library)
Betty Soo and Doug Cox - Dublin Blues (self-released)
Josh Taerk - Figure This Out (Josh Taerk)
Annabelle Chvostek - Devils Paintbrush Road (self-released)
William Elliott Whitmore - Bury Your Burden (Anti)
Richmond Fontaine - The Eagles Lodge (Décor)
Water Tower Bucket Boys - Meet Me Where The Crow Don't Fly (self-released)
Tori Sparks - There Is An Ocean (Glass Mountain)
Daddy - Early To Bed Early To Rise (Cedar Creek)
Farmer Jason - Whale Oh Whale! (live in studio) (to be released)
Todd Snider - Standing On The Corner (Aimless)
Jason Ringenberg - Last Train To Memphis (live in studio) (Shoeshine)
Jason And The Scorchers - Self-Sabotage (Mammoth)
Willard Grant Conspiracy - Marble (Slow River)
Richard Buckner - Ponder (Décor)
Richard Buckner - Witness (Décor)
Cory Branan - Troublesome Girl (Madjack)
Danny And The Champions Of The World - Henry The Van (Loose)

If you go down in the deep dark woods today...

Worth the wait (I hope) another belated edition of the Gilded Palace Radio show will be available this weekend and until August 13th. With brand new tracks from the wondrous Deep Dark Woods, Catherine Maclellan and the rejuvenated and reformed Jayhawks (!!) - not to mention William Elliott Whitmore and Richmond Fontaine – this more than makes up for a prolonged absence!

Danny And The Champions Of The World: (You Don’t Know) My Heart Is In The Right Place:


Gilded Palace Radio Show Playlist: 29th July 2011:
Danny And The Champions Of The World - (You Don’t Know) My Heart Is In The Right Place - So/Loose (ALBUM OUT NOW - AT LAST!)
The Jayhawks - She Walks In So Many Ways - Rounder
Jennie Lowe Stearns - Thieves - www.jenniestearns.com
Zoe Muth And The Lost High Rollers - Lets Just Be Friends For Tonight - Signature Sounds/ Continental Record Service
Josh Small - Everyone’s Daughter - Suburban Home
Paul Wassif - The Balllad Of Rose Connelly - Black Brown and White
Robert Brown - Road Dog (Acoustic) - Topers Rant
William Elliott Whitmore - Get There From Here - Anti
Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion - Bright Examples - Ninth Street Opus
Richmond Fontaine - Let Me Dream Of The High Country - Décor
Richmond Fontaine - The Mechanic Falls In Love With The Girl - Décor
Dave Alvin - Run Conejo Run - Yep Roc
Michael Stegner - Friday Night - CMA Records
Water Tower Bucket Boys - Easy Way Out - www.watertowerbucketboys.com
The Woodshedders - Badger Blood - Shepherds Ford
Deep Dark Woods - West Side Street - Sugarhill/Sixshooter
Josh Harty - Sweet Solution - Magnolia Recording Company
Catherine Maclellan - Stealin’ - True North Records
Josh Taerk - Start Again - www.joshtaerk.com
Jane Gillman - Barefoot - High Road Records
Centro-matic - Solid States - www.centromatic.com
Jeffrey Foucault - Starlight And Static - Signature Sounds/ Continental Record Service
Miss Tess - I Don’t Wanna See You Any More - Miss Tess Music
Eilen Jewell - That’s Where I’m Going - Signature Sounds
Good Luck Mountain - Heaven In The Haze - 00:02:59 Records

Folk is not a dirty word

A definite folk bent to the Gilded Palace this week, centered around the release of Southern Tenant Folk Union’s wondrous new album. Add Elle Osborne, The Carrivick Sisters; sneak in a brand new Richard Buckner track (woop!) and a decidedly un-folk tribute to ‘The Big Man’, Clarence Clemons. RIP.

Give yerself goosebumps #1: Elle Osborne (at Union Music, Lewes):


Give yerself goosebumps #1: Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band (featuring Clarence Clemons): Jungleland (Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ, 1978)... he's still playing that solo:


Gilded Palace Radio Show Playlist: June 24th 2011:
1) Bruce Springsteen And The E-Street Band - Badlands - Sony/Columbia
2) Woodshedders - Sand Grain - Shepherds Ford
3) Zoe Muth And The Lost High Rollers - If I Can’t Trust You With A Quarter (How Can I Trust You With My Hearrt) - Signature Sounds/ Continental Record Service
4) Dave Alvin - Johnny Ace Is Dead - Yep Roc
5) Cory Branan - Yeah So What - www.corybranan.com
6) Jennie Lowe Stearns - Blurry Edges - www.jenniestearns.com
7) Rod Picott - Rust Belt Fields - Welding Rod
8) Steve Earle - Ben McCulloch - Stony Plain
9) Tom T Hall - How To Talk To A Little Baby Goat - Red Beet
10) Farmer Jason - Moose On The Loose - Rhino
11) Fearing and White - You Can’t Count On Anyboydy - www.fearingandwhite.com
12) Oh Susanna - By Rope - Continental Record Service
13) Carrivick Sisters - Today Will Be A Good Day -
14) Peter Bruntnell - Bruise On The Sky - Man Hat On Records
15) Shirley Lee - Tomaki Drive - Missing Page
16) Southern Tenant Folk Union - Pencaitland - Johnny Rocks
17) Southern Tenant Folk Union - The Righrs And Interests of The Labouring Man - Johnny Rocks
18) Baskery - Tendencies - Blue Rose
19) Good Luck Mountain - On Returning - 00:02:59 Records
20) Richard Buckner - Traitor - Merge
21) Eilen Jewell - Long Road - Signature Sounds/ Continental Record Service
22) Sweetback Sisters - Thank You - Signature Sounds/ Continental Record Service
23) Ghost Shirt - Two Cow Garage - www.ghostsshirt.com
24) Two Cow Garage - Ain’t No Shame - Household Name/Suburban Home
25) Stewboss - Half Past Four - www.stewboss.com
26) Elle Osborne - Dalesman’s Litany - Folk Police

Storming Monday

I somehow managed to fit 27 tracks into the latest two-hour show, and with one of them clocking in near six minutes, I must have kept the chat to a minimum. I wish it were always possible to let the music do the talking – it would do a much better job than we mere mortals. See, I’m trying to avoid falling back on the grandstanding that has to accompany so many new releases, while at the same time alerting you to the fact that today (Monday 13h June) sees two significant releases by artists who consistently float the good ship Gilded Palace. It’s unlikely that either will trouble the charts, of course, and that’s a damn shame to say the least. Every home should have both…

Redlands Palomimo Company have made the album of their careers – thus far, I hope. Only their third, Don’t Fade (Clubhouse Records), is awash with so many great songs it should shame most other bands into issuing a product recall for their own releases. Self-produced too, clever buggers. My only gripe is that it took them this long. When you buy a copy in your local shop, check that they can get more copies later as you’ll no doubt be sending your mates along presently. Failing that, get one from the band at a show: album launch at London’s Lexington on July 28th, with a Brighton show the following night (Hydrant (Preston Circus), Friday 29th): tickets here… http://www.wegottickets.com/event/120428

Peter’s Black Mountain UFO (Man Hat On Records) is yet another showcasing his high-calibre of songwriting and apparently effortless (although I’m sure he and writing partner, Bill Richtie, work bloody hard at it) ability to pepper an album with hooks and still have substance. Ascribing genres would somehow cheapen this record: psychedelia? americana? pop? No one alone is sufficient... it is supreme. I was amongst those lucky enough to pick up a copy at Peter (and band)’s shows a couple of months back – I honestly haven’t stopped playing it since. Richmond Fontaine, Kurt Wagner and Kathleen Edwards cannot be wrong! He’s back on the road this summer and I cannot wait to see him again in Brighton (umm Hove, actually) (Palmeira, September 10th - tickets here… http://www.brighthelmstonepromotions.blogspot.com/

And if there was any doubt that 2011 is going to be a landmark year for UK music, well, next week I’ll be bending your ears about the new albums from Southern Tenant Folk Union and Elle Osborne… and we haven’t even mentioned Danny And The Champions Of The World yet!

Enjoy the show!

Gilded Palace Radio Show Playlist – until June 23rd:
Danny & The Champions Of The World - You Don’t Know (My Heart Is In The Right Place) (SO Records)
Rod Picott - Welding Burns (Welding Rod)
Old Man Luedecke - Yodelady (www.oldmanluedecke.ca)
Pokey La Farge & The South City Three - So Long Honeybee Goodbye (Continental Song City)
Micshya & The Broken Devils - Gimme A Pigfoot (Lucky Devil)
Hurray For The Riff Raff - Take Me (Loose)
Josh Small - Grace Inez (Hometown Caravan/ Suburban Home)
Peter Bruntnell - Penelope Keith Blue (Man Hat On)
Redlands Palomino Company - 1879 (Clubhouse Records)
Will Scott - Just To Ferry Me Over (www.willscottmusic.com)
Good Luck Mountain - On Faith (00:02:59 Records)
Elle Osborne - The Captain’s Apprentice (Folk Police)
Southern Tenant Folk Union - I Dream of Buildings (Johnny Rocks)
Greg Brown - Someday Man (Yep Roc)
Peter Case - Ballad Of The Minimum Wage (Alive! Natural)
The Breakers - The Jerry Lee Symptoms (Wicked Cool Records)
Cory Branan - A Girl Named Go (Jackalope)
The Orbitsuns - Drunk In The Pew (www.orbitsuns.com)
Mark and Mike - The Song Of The One-legged Chicken (Red Beet)
Jimmie Dale Gilmore and The Wronglers - Time Changes Everything (Neanderthal)
Amy Lashley - Lil’ Red Girl (Wanamaker Recording Co.)
Josh T Pearson - Woman When I Raise Hell (Mute)
Hiss Golden Messenger - The Snake Is Kind (Compared To Man) (Blackmaps)
Rory Ellis - Perfectly Damaged (www.roryellis.com)
Richmond Fontaine - The Mechanic’s Life (Décor)
Devon Sproule - I Love You Go Easy (Tin Angel)
Stewboss - Love Under Main Street Lights (www.stewboss.com)

Pick A Peter

#1: Peter One…

The new Gilded Palace Radio Show (up now) includes a rather lovely session from the fine PETER BRUNTNELL. Pete visited the studio when he was in town for his Brighthelmstone Promotions gig and as well as playing a couple of live acoustic tracks, filled us in on spear-fishing and alien abduction. Then he went and tore up the stage at the Hobgoblin; but that’s another story.

The show’s online now and, if you want to tell friends, available to ‘stream’ any time over the next two weeks (until May 28th)

Pete's new album, Black Mountain UFO, will be releasedjavascript:void(0) by Man Hat On Records in June.

Here's the man himself, playing the should-have-been-pop-smash-hit, Domestico (from Peter & The Murder Of Crows, Loose, 2009)



#2: Peter Two…

The next radio show will feature another Peter, who also happens to be an exceptional songwriter – PETER CASE! Now, we’ve had some special people in the Gilded Palace studio over the past couple of years, but I’m pretty sure even those artists would bow down to Peter Case’s songwriting legend.

Peter is on tour around the UK and hits Brighton on TUESDAY 17th MARCH at the GREEN DOOR STORE (right across the street from The Prince Albert, under the station) and then onto Exeter and Plymouth.
http://www.petercase.com/tour-dates.html (if you are in/near Brighton, Exeter or Plymouth)

Among the vanguard of the modern singer-songwriter movement with his debut solo album in 1986. I’ve been a fan since that record. Having Peter play a ‘double-header’ with STEVE WYNN for us back in 2004 remains a Gilded Palace highlight for me.

Peter has come through life-or-death heart surgery two years ago, to make one of his most compelling albums in Wig – a real, life-affirming raucous record. Through seminal punks The Nerves, seminal power-poppers The Plimsouls and his solo career, he remains (in my book) one of the truly great songwriters: you’ll often hear RICHARD THOMPSON, CHRIS SMITHER and JOHN DOE sing his songs and a recent tribute album confirmed others feel the same – contributors included JOHN PRINE, MARK MULCAHY, HAYES CARLL, RICHARD BUCKNER, STEVE WYNN ,TOM RUSSELL (I could have stopped at Prine, really: no greater recommendation). Peter's playing acoustic and electric as well as some beltin' gob-iron on this tour. Better than this it rarely gets. Evidence…

Ain’t Gonna Worry No More (Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John, Yep Roc, 2007):

"Ain't Gonna Worry No More" by Peter Case from Tom Weber on Vimeo.

Two Angels (from Thank You St. Jude, Prima Records, 2006 and - earlier - The Man with the Blue Postmodern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar, Geffen, 1989!):


24 Hours (from Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John, Yep Roc, 2007):


First Light (from Beeline, Vanguard, 2002):


House Rent Party (from Wig, Yep Roc, 2010):


And lastly, a little trailer for Peter's latest album, The Case Files - outtakes, covers, "stuff that fell through the cracks" - available on beautiful translucent pink vinyl (and CD).



Gilded Palace Radio Show Playlist (until 28th May 2011):
1. Peter Case - Kokomo Prayer Vigil (Alive!)
2. Rory McLeod - I Just Want To Be Loved (Talkative)
3. Des Horsfall’s Kuschtey Rye - Something’s Wrong (Valve)
4. Danny And The Champions Of The World - Ghosts In The Wire (SO Records)
5. Oh Susanna - Drunk As A Sailor (Continental Record Service)
6. Blueflint - High Bright Morning (Johnny Rocks)
7. Southern Tenant Folk Union - An Irish Airman Foretells His Death (Johnny Rocks)
8. Viper Central - Down In West Virginia (www.yipercentral.ca)
9. Foghorn Trio - Greetings From Virginia (www.foghornstringband.com)
10. Rory Ellis - 65 Pontiac (www.roryellis.com)
11. Austin Lucas - Sleep Well (Last Chance Records/ Hometown Caravan)
12. Redlands Palomino Company - 1879 (Clubhouse Records)
13. Marybeth D’Amico - Beneath The Rubble (Long Man Records)
14. Mountain Goats - Liza Forever Minelli (4AD)
15. Ian McFeron - Windchime (www.ianmcferon.com)
16. Peter Bruntnell - Black Mountain UFO (Manhaton Records)
17. Peter Bruntnell - Black Windown (live in studio) (Manhaton Records)
18. Peter Bruntnell - Cold Water Swimmer (live in studio) (Loose)
19. Peter Bruntnell - St.Christopher (Manhaton Records)
20. Thirty Pounds Of Bone - How We Applaud The Unhappiness Of The Songwriter (Armelodie Records)
21. Julianna Barwick - Bob In Your Gait (Asthmatic Kitty)
22. Diamond Family Archive - Happy Families (Beard Of Snails)
23. Gregory Alan Isakov - Dandelion Wine (Suitcase Town)

Glided Palace Radio: Chew, Chew, Hungry, Macgrew, Charlie, Lucas, Case*

New radio show available now (and until May 14th), and another corker it is too! Highest of high-points include the forthcoming, stonking album from DANNY & THE CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD, REDLANDS PALOMINO COMPANY and MEN DIAMLER. And on the 'live' front you really are spoiled for choice in the UK at the moment, with tours from PETER CASE, AUSTIN LUCAS, HUNGRYTOWN and HANS CHEW - all of these of course feature on the show too.

The madness of Record Store Day threw up an almost overlooked gem in the form of the BLACK TWIG PICKERS/CHARLIE PARR/GLENN JONES split-release (I'm awaiting delivery of Jurado's Live At Landlocked, so look forward to hearing that next time).

Oh, and in all the excitement I almost forgot - 45 minutes of 'live-in-concert' wonderment from MARK OLSON too (just getting you warmed up for The Jayhawks' visit in August :-)

Mmmm, makes me wanna...

Hans Chew - New Cypress Grove Boogie (he'll be 'solo' in Brighton May 7th, go here for details)


Gilded Palace Radio Show playlist (until May 14th 2011:
Danny And The Champions Of The World: Every Beat Of My Heart - www.sorecords.co.uk
Two Cow Garage: Come Back To Shelby - Suburban Home/Household Name
Hungrytown: Any Forgotten Thing - www.rebeccaandken.com
Peter Case: Underneath The Stars - Yep Roc
Austin Lucas: Sleep Well - Last Chance Records/ Hometown Caravan
Oh Susanna: Drunk As A Sailor - Continental Record Service
Ciara Sidine: Mercy Moon - www.ciarasidine.com
Redlands Palomino Co.: Sirens - Clubhouse Records
Hans Chew: New Cypress Grove Boogie - Three Lobed Recordings
Glenn Jones: Even To Win Is To Fail - Thrill Jockey
Black Twig Pickers With Charlie Parr: Eastmont Syrup - Thrill Jockey
Men Diamler: Emily - www.mendiamler.com
Good Luck Mountain: Reborn - 00:02:59
Shirley Lee: The Country Darkness - Missing Page
Ninja Gun: Roman Nose - Sabot Productions
Mark Olson: Live at Basement, Brighton (December 8th 2010) - www.markolson.com




* I almost wish I had found someone to play whose name rhymed with Macgrew so I could have made this work properly!