Ray Wylie Hubbard

Ray Wylie Hubbard is a fixture on the XM Satellite Radio Channel Outlaw Radio. As with many of the forefathers of any movement Hubbard has not had the commercial success of many of those that have followed.

For those who follow the Texas music of James McMurty and Robert Earl Keen. I surely am one of those, listening to Ray Wylie Hubbard is like listening to his father. Hubbard can sing, his voice is just ragged enough, but his lyrics and songs are great fun.

I am just now searching his catalog but three songs you must hear are Loose which is a Friday night song if there ever was one, Snake Farm which seems like a silly song until you hear it a few times and realize it is not just funny, it is also a great song.

Drunken Poet's Dream is another strong song. One either likes this kind of music or not, I am certainly becoming a bit of a shill for Outlaw Radio and these artists but there is a reason.

Listen to Ray Wylie Hubbard. Today. Or if you don't Hubbard might just advise you to listen to another song of his" Screw You, We're From Texas."

Out Here in the Middle by James McMurtry

I have a well documented affection for the music of James McMurtry. Indeed it could be said that it was James McMurtry that brought me to Americana and Outlaw country. I think he may be as good a songwriter as there is today.

Today picking my daughter up from play practice this song came up on The Outlaw Radio and I told her that I was sorry she could not flip to 20 on 20...not with Brother James on the radio.

This song , touches me. McMurtry writes about the Middle as being flyover country. What he knows or should know however by his popularity in places like the Bangor Maine area is that the Middle is everywhere except of course where it is not.

For me when Brother Jim talks about the ghost of William Jennings Bryan preaches every night he has me sold. Find another song writer this side of Bob Dylan that might be able to put that reference in a song in a meaningful way.

This is a great song, by a great songwriter, a great performer. Did I say great enough. Call me a big fan.

Songs and Stories by Guy Clark

It is hard to like Texas. I do not like the Dallas Cowboys, I think the whole Texas bravado is dumb, the Texas culture of killing and guns is abysmal and with LBJ, John Tower, the Bush's and now Rick Perry their politics are something scary.

The one thing I do like in Texas is Austin, Texas. It is like an oasis a desert. Out of Austin comes some of the best music in the Texas Alt Country tradition such as James McMurtry and Robert Earl Keen both of whom I have reviewed before.

Today on Spotify we listened to a new collection buy 70 year old, 40 year Texas troubadour Guy Clark. This collection entitled Songs and Stories is perhaps his version of Storytellers. The music is quiet, reflective and intelligent. The stories are heartfelt including tributes to his longtime best friend Townes Van Zandt and his father. The music is well defined, the backup singers are involved. In short this show sounds like one I would be honored to go see.

The music business is hollow and shallow. What we can easily forget in listening to the same music over and over and looking at the wasteland of popular music is that there is so much great music out there.

Keen, McMurtry and Clark have been making music for decades and their back catalogue is like a treasure trove to keep you warm when you give up on " popular" music. Put the CD in, listen to Outlaw Country on Sirius and know that somewhere at least one of these three is on the road doing what he does best. Connecting us to our past with this wonderful music.

Highlights on this album include L A Freeway, Maybe I Can Paint Over That, If I Needed You, Stuff That Works, The Randall Knife and Dublin Blues.

Turn off your mind, make a small drink, and listen thoughtfully to this album. It is a keeper.

Best by Robert Earl Keen

I have found a new artist that goes to the Top 10. Of course my Top 10 has many more than ten artists in it. I have heard references to Robert Earl Keen in live recordings by that other Texas troubadour James McMurtry and around Christmas each year we hear a few plays of " Merry Christmas From the Family."

With Spotify I put his name in and about twenty choices come up, one thing becomes quickly apparent is that Mr. Keen likes live albums as he has recorded several. It never ceases to amaze that so many artists are just below the surface, never quite breaking out into wide ranging commercial success but do carve out a niche for themselves. The work is finding these artists. Once found one feels like he has found a nugget of gold in sea of sand. Robert Earl Keen is that gold.

If not exposed to his music the album Best is a natural place to start. No Kinda Dancer perhaps his oldest hit, first recorded in 1984, is soon followed by Paint the Town Beige. The latter tells of a middle aged man who still wants to be wild but allowing for age and changing circumstances changes the result of his efforts from red to beige. An analogy we of middle age can all understand. Whenever Kindness Fails offers that violence will be brought if one does not accept kindness. Corpus Christi Bay is a story song that works fully. The aforementioned Merry Christmas From the Family is a funloving expression of a lowbrow Christmas recorded live with the crowd joining in on several lines. Gringo Honeymoon continues the success as another great song.

The triumverate for Keen fans however is begun with The Road Goes on Forever told in this case with an intro about free love days, a concert, a girl and meeting Willie Nelson. Feeling Good Again continues the mood and the album ends with the always must be performed in concert I'm Coming Home.

I have not found a bad song in his entire catalogue though there are several what might be called novelty songs such as " That Bucking Song." A gem not on the best album is Drunken Selfish Crime.

I suspect that the fanbase of Robert Earl Keen is an all or nothing thing, not a lot of middle ground. I confess I am not in the middle, this fellow is great. I will listen to it all.

James McMurty Live at The Grand Theatre

A few years ago with the help of Stephen King's local radio station James McMurtry became popular in this area. His Bush era song " We Can't Make it Here Anymore" with it's conversation about outsourcing of jobs, Walmart, the Iraq War and other issues struck a chord.

He has played in the area several times and this year when hearing of his return my wife and I got tickets.

I have several of his albums, Live in Aught Three, featuring his most popular songs from his career from the late eighties until then is an album full of treasures. Since then the album Childish Things and Just Us Kids have brought many more strong songs into his concert catalogue.

Arriving at the show we were pleased to see that we had third row seats off to the right. The opening act, a fellow named Johnny Burk, was interesting and entertaining. He had some interesting songs including one called " My Baby is a Sociopath." He also had the interesting habit of stomping on a phone book next to a microphone to create a beat. It was interesting.

McMurtry took the stage a little before 9. I was taken aback as two minutes later the space between the front rows and the stage was full of people dancing. I was taken aback. Being off to the right this blocked our view somewhat, people in the front rows center were even more blocked. I understand that people want to get up but I have to say that when a show sells tickets as seated that people who go through the process to get tickets should not have their view blocked by those that perhaps have much worse seats and choose to crowd up front.

Now on to the show. It was in a word....tremendous. McMurtry rocks. His band is non descript. His guitar player does not even join the show until about half way through, McMurtry handles the guitar until then, but the band is tight. Mcmurtry is even better live. Levelland, Just Us Kids, Halloween Party gain their true form live. Introducing the afore mentioned " We Can't Make It Here" McMurtry mentioned that they had dropped the song from the set list for quite sometime but that " unfortunately it is still relevant. " Too Long in the Wasteland ended the show with blistering guitar solos and the encore of the favorite Lights of Cheyenne with just McMurtry singing ended the show.

In terms of music alone this might well have been one of the best shows I have ever seen. He played well over two hours and was truly great. Certainly the theatrics and big house performance of Springsteen and the like tower above this but musically this show as good as it gets.

Certainly a far better performer and more charasmatic singer than Ray Lamontagne but then again it is like comparing apples and oranges.

A fantastic show.

James McMurty, Childish Things

James McMurtry has developed an unlikely following in Maine. The son of author Larry McMurtry ( Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture Show, and many more) sings country rock, alternative country and other Texas themed music.

He has played the Bangor waterfront, The Grand in Ellsworth, and other local sites many times. When he returns to Ellsworth in June my wife and I will go. I am very much looking forward to it.

Live in Aught Three was a concert album that showed McMurtry at its best and sold very well. In 2006 a new release was called Childish Things. The album featured the earlier released single " We Can't Make It Here Anymore" a paaen to the Bush years popular in Maine with a line about Portland Maine. The album however has many good songs including the bookends Holiday and Memorial Day. McMurtry tells stories in his songs, some of them quite long but he has a way of snarling in his word that lets you feel just how strong he is in his convictions.

His songs are one sided, he is a rock and roll Woody Guthrie. If you are worrying about losing the Bush tax cuts McMurtry is not for you.

We look forward to seeing him.

Florence and The Machine, Lungs

Driving back home on the highway last night my wife and I were listening to one of my favorite playlists and having listened to Bruce, Skynyrd, The Stones, and such I realized my heart is in the seventies. That is true and remains so - no apologies will be forthcoming.

I do appreciate new music however. On Pandora the other day Slaid Cleaves came up on my playlist and I was very happy as I do enjoy his music, I hope to see both James McMurtry and Ray Lamontagne as they both come to Maine in the coming months.

After having listened to Bruno Mars recently today I listened to the new Florence and the Machine. My son had been listening to and singing Dog Days Are Over around the house so this is one of the first bands that my son has exposed me to.

When first listening this girl Florence's voice is immediately attention getting. Simply put she can belt it out.

Dog Days Are Over, Cosmic Love, My Boy Builds Coffins, and You've Got the Love are standouts. Of a different nature but standing out in a different way is Kiss With A Fist, a song whose title tells what the question might be.

Her music is hard to describe. It is not hit music but it had gained an audience. It is hard to know where she will end up as an artist, niche seems more likely, it is hard to picture her becoming a pop star. Stranger things have happened however.

Wherever Florence ends up however you would be wise to look for her and listen. This girl can wail.