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Highline Ballroom -- New York
Feb. 21, 2010
Sam Moore doesn't dance around the stage anymore like he did during his Sam and Dave days, but he remains a passionate singer with a voice that's hard to find in today's soul and R&B.
Moore gets up close and personal with Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson
Ryan Shaw made the most of his opening slot.
-- Photos by Chris M. Junior
Recent career choices have worked out well for April Smith
When April Smith needed money to record a new album, she turned to the fans. Not in a folkie pass-the-hat way or by employing public broadcasting-style pleading from the concert stage. The singer hooked up with Kickstarter.com, a fan-funding site that helps artists and creators reach their predetermined financial goals for specific projects.
Thanks to more than 200 backers, Smith not only reached her dollar goal in a two-month period, she surpassed it.
Doing things independently and without a record label – that's been Smith's MO the last few years, during which she toured nationally as the opening act for singer/songwriter JD Souther and played the Lollapalooza festival.
She also scored those high-profile gigs without having a new album to promote. Thanks to her Kickstarter.com experience, the Toms River, N.J.-raised, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Smith now has the 11-track Songs for a Sinking Ship in the can and ready for release on Feb. 23.
Smith -- who's currently touring with her band, the Great Picture Show -- recently talked about her throwback sound, her experiences with Kickstarter.com and Souther as well as the Brooklyn and Jersey Shore music scenes.
Medleyville.us: A lot of the tracks on Songs for a Sinking Ship sound like they belong in a stage musical. Where does your showtune/cabaret influence come from, and did you have a serious interest in a theater career growing up?
April Smith: "I was into theater in high school and actually started out started out as a musical theater major in college, so I think it definitely creeps into my writing. I liken my songs to little movies sometimes. I've always loved the overly dramatic feel of old Hollywood films, and that's a big influence in my music. I guess having a big, fun live show helps me scratch that musical theater itch and I get the best of both worlds."
Talk about your experience with Kickstarter.com -- how you heard about it, any doubts you may have had at first and if it's something you'd consider using again.
Smith: "Kickstarter was absolutely incredible! In my opinion, it's the best way for an independent artist to fund a project. It definitely brought me closer to my fans and really helped me see how dedicated they are to supporting my music.
"I found out about it when my bassist sent me a link to Allison Weiss' EP project. She inspired me to start my own project with Kickstarter. My managers and I figured out what a reasonable goal would be and then we sent it out to the fans. I hoped that we would make the goal of $10,000, but I was really blown away when we raised a total of over $13,000!
"I would absolutely use Kickstarter again, and I recommend it to artists all of the time. The people who developed and run the site just know what they are doing and really nurture the projects they host. I'm really grateful that I got to work with them."
How much did you interact with JD Souther when you toured together, and did you learn anything valuable from him either through conversation or observation?
Smith: "JD and I were very close on tour. We hung out a lot, and he really took good care of me. JD is an incredible storyteller and a magnificent performer. He sang the same songs every night, but they sounded completely new each time. I took a lot of cues from him, and it's definitely helped me grow as a writer and performer.
"I think he taught me how to really connect with the audience. I've been spoiled with the best tour mates, honestly. First JD, [then] Langhorne Slim -- and it's cool because I see similar qualities in JD and Sean, a.k.a. Langhorne. Sean has got this unstoppable charisma, and there hasn't been a night where he hasn't had the audience eating out of his hand. His band is ridiculously tight and they all complement each other so well. I hope we get along with Fanfarlo as well as we have with these guys."
Compare and contrast the music community in Brooklyn to the one at the Jersey Shore. Is one more united than the other? And would you say one is more diverse than the other in terms of style, genres and sounds?
Smith: "I think the Brooklyn and Asbury Park music communities are actually very similar. I think Brooklyn's scene is just bigger. Asbury musicians are really supportive of each other, and so are artists from Brooklyn. I think that when you have an area as big as Brooklyn, there are just smaller communities of one or several genres within that vast musical community. I think it's a little harder to get noticed in NYC and Brooklyn, just because it's a big sea here. I'll always favor the Asbury scene though -- it's where I came from."
-- Introduction and interview by Chris M. Junior
April Smith and the Great Picture Show on tour (schedule subject to change:
* Feb. 22: Great American Music Hall – San Francisco (with Fanfarlo)
* Feb. 23: Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, Ore. (with Fanfarlo)
* Feb. 24: Crocodile Café – Seattle (with Fanfarlo)
* Feb. 25: Knitting Factory Concert House – Spokane, Wash. (with Fanfarlo)
* Feb. 26: The Record Exchange (in-store) – Boise, Idaho
* Feb. 27: Urban Lounge – Salt Lake City (with Fanfarlo)
* Feb. 28: Larimer Lounge – Denver (with Fanfarlo)
* March 10: Mercury Lounge – New York
* March 13: Rock & Roll Hotel – Washington, D.C.
* March 15: The Earl – Atlanta
GPG's '90s TOP 19
I'm still in a most list-ful mood, but this roundup certainly wasn't a very easy one to compile, I'll have everyone know. The pickins were extremely, uh, thin, to say the very least.
Nevertheless, here are my Top 19 from the 1990s:
1. Mark Johnson -- 12 in a Room (1992)
Powerful pop most firmly rooted within the Brill Building anteroom.
2. Cowsills -- Global (1998)
America's once-and-forever First Family of Song leaves no Partridge unspurned.
3. Brian Wilson -- Sweet Insanity (1991)
Just to make sure the '90s weren’t all Pet Sounds reissues.
4. Dave Rave Group -- Valentino's Pirates (1992)
Wherein the former Soviet Union signs its first Western act, then promptly dissolves.
5. Johnny Cash -- American Recordings (1994)
Rick Rubin produces a Cash we thought only Sam Phillips could.
6. Tiny Tim -- Rock (1993)
This includes possibly definitive readings of "Eve of Destruction" and "Rebel Yell" (I kid you not).
7. Puffy -- Jet CD (1998)
Oh-so-effortlessly crosses ABBA, Black Sabbath and Who's Next … and all by way of Jellyfish.
8. Monkees -- Justus (1996)
Those Prefabs go out on a very high note (which, I'll have you know, they played all by themselves).
9. Shane Faubert -- San Blass (1993)
The former head of The Cheepskates most definitely goes for baroque.
10. NRBQ -- You Gotta Be Loose (1998)
Proof very positive: The greatest live rock 'n' roll band in the world.
11. Evaporators -- I Gotta Rash (1998)
Before Ali G and most definitely Tenacious D.
12. Neil Young -- Arc (1991)
Truly too cool -- not to mention loud -- for (many) words.
13. Go-Nuts -- The World’s Greatest Super Hero Snak Rock and Gorilla Entertainment Revue (1997)
For once, the title says it all.
14. High Llamas -- Gideon Gaye (1994)
More than filling that cavernous sonic gap between SMiLE and the XTC reunion.
15. Blue Shadows -- Lucky to Me (1995)
Hank Williams visits The Cavern by way of Big Pink.
16. Mojo Nixon -- Gadzooks!!! (1997)
Includes "Bring Me the Head of David Geffen" … and then some.
17. James Richard Oliver -- The Mud, The Blood and The Beer (1998)
Alt-country with a capital "Oh!"
18. Chesterfield Kings -- Surfin’ Rampage (1997)
Upstate New York's finest give their Rolling Stones cloning a rest whilst hanging all 10.
19. Jandek -- Twelfth Apostle (1993)
So many Jandek albums, so little space.
Musician/writer Gary Pig Gold is the co-founder of the To M'Lou Music label.
In the months leading up to his death in September 2003, ailing country icon Johnny Cash recorded the final album of his acclaimed Rick Rubin-produced American Recordings series. Medleyville's George Henn and Mike Madden have the lowdown on The Man in Black's last effort, American VI: Ain’t No Grave, which is due Feb. 23 -- three days before what would have been Cash’s 78th birthday.
George Henn: Johnny Cash's second posthumous collection of new recordings -- much like its predecessor, 2006's American V: A Hundred Highways -- is heavy on themes of faith and mortality, and again there is an all-too-palpable sense of resignation on the singer's part that death is near. In actuality, it was, as Cash cut these songs (and those on the previous album) mere months before his passing.
In listening to American VI: Ain't No Grave, however, it is even harder this time to shake the idea that it is in many ways a glimpse into Cash's final days and that his legendary baritone would soon be silenced. He somehow sounds more weathered and weary, even short of breath at some points. Perhaps it's just that these are just inferior vocal takes as compared to the tracks that made up A Hundred Highways, but Cash's voice has never sounded so frail, and at many moments here I'd imagine his audience will suffer right along with him.
Mike Madden: After the first listen, the impression is clear that producer Rick Rubin intended to use these as the final set of songs. Not only are the vocals weathered but the actual tracks are very sparse. The American Recordings series is largely acoustic-based, and this final volume brings the series full circle by harkening back to 1994's Vol. I, which was a collection of songs that were not hits for other artists, and the recordings featured bare-bones instrumentation. However, when there is some percussion featured, it's done to complement the musical theme, as in the rattling and dragging chains on the album's first track, "Ain't No Grave (Gonna Hold This Body Down)."
Henn: True, the sparseness of the arrangements puts Cash's voice out front, for better or worse. His vocals are so feeble on that opening track that it doesn't quite end up as the song of defiance it was intended to be. Later, on his version of old buddy Kris Kristofferson's staple "For the Good Times," Cash's weakened voice is actually an asset in a sense, as it helps transform the song; it sure sounds like Cash is reflecting on his life, rather than a relationship ending. Again, maybe I'm reading too much into the circumstances of Cash's life and health when it comes to the songs he selected for his final recording sessions, but that's my basic point: How can one not let that thinking enter the picture when listening to this album?
Madden: And that is exactly what's wrong with this final chapter. Did it need to be done? I say no because now it's bordering on exploitation. There will a lot of attention paid to the album and for all the wrong reasons. The uneducated listener who may have discovered Cash's classics after seeing the movie Walk the Line may give this a listen, thinking that this is some lost classics album, and get the absolute wrong impression of Cash's music. The Johnny Cash historians, although they know the full story, will no doubt agree that this should have been left off the discography, not for lack of history but just because it's better left unreleased.
Henn: I have to agree, as I don't see what this disc accomplishes that the previous one didn't, although I'd be remiss not to mention the one real intriguing twist at the album's end: Cash, knowing he lacks the pipes to do such a melodic number justice, tackles the famous Hawaiian standard "Aloha Oe" anyway. On the final track of what is being billed as -- finally -- his last album, Cash, playing the outlaw to the end, is saying "Aloha," or goodbye, with all his limitations laid bare in that vocal.
That highlight aside, American VI is decent enough but unnecessary; American V was a fitting enough send-off and had already expressed the idea that Cash was at peace with his life and times and, drawing upon his deep Christian faith, looking forward to a place in heaven. If there indeed "ain't no grave" to hold Cash's body down, here's hoping that, as we approach the seventh anniversary of his death, someone or something will at least hold his catalog output down.
Madden: Absolutely true. The album isn't a bad effort, and I even feel there is historical significance in doing a posthumous album. However, you're not converting anyone with this one. That said, if you are a Cash fan, this is worthy of a listen or two, if for nothing but the historical aspects (and to hear "Aloha Oe"). Johnny Cash has left an extremely prolific body of work behind, and now that we've dug out the crates, let him remain the icon that he is, not the running gag that can result from too much afterlife activity.
As the follow-up to 2008's Mockingbird, a collection of mostly cover songs, singer/songwriter Allison Moorer is set to release Crows, her first album for the Rykodisc label, on Feb. 9.
Moorer recently talked about how her craft has changed since recording Mockingbird, her working relationship with longtime collaborator R.S. Field (who produced the 13-track Crows) and the influence her husband, Steve Earle, has had on her guitar playing.
Medleyville.us: What big lessons about songwriting, performing and recording did you learn by making Mockingbird?
Allison Moorer: "I can't put into words exactly what I learned from making Mockingbird, but I made that record because I wanted to send myself back to school, in a way. When you're learning how to play and sing and write songs, you generally learn to do that by learning other people's songs and playing them. I definitely learned something because I've never been freer or more confident in my art than I am now."
Recording your new album, Crows, took only four days. Was getting it done that fast the original plan, or did the sessions go so smoothly that you were able to finish sooner than anticipated?
Moorer: "I was very careful about how I cast all the roles, from the producer to the players to the engineer and second engineer, to the studio I recorded it in. I wanted to make myself as comfortable as I could be and, at the same time, make sure I had the people that I knew would 'get it' around me. I'm happy to say that it worked out the way I thought it would. We were able to get my vision down very quickly. Plus, no one has the budget to stay in the studio for very long these days."
Is there something behind the naming of your most recent albums after birds, or is it just a coincidence?
Moorer: "Coincidence. Although I love birds, am fascinated by them and think they are very smart and mysterious."
Talk about your longtime working relationship with R.S. Field. Given that he produced Crows and also played drums on the album, was special attention given to the rhythm and groove of each song?
Moorer: "R.S. and I have a way of communicating that works. I didn't want any guesswork to do on this one, which is one of the reasons why I hired him -- I knew I wouldn't have to explain myself. Plus, he's just really great at what he does. He did pay special attention to the grooves and rhythms; he spent a while working on the songs before I even got to Nashville."
In a 2006 interview, you described your guitar playing in one word -- terrible. Do you still feel that way? And since then, how has your husband Steve helped you to improve your guitar chops?
Moorer: "I still don't consider myself to be a very good guitar player, but I work hard at it and have improved over the years. You have to be very dedicated to it to even come close to figuring it out. I have definitely picked up a few things from Steve, but mostly he's helped me by telling me that I am, in fact, a good player -- and confidence counts."
-- Introduction and interview by Chris M. Junior
Allison Moorer on tour and TV (schedule subject to change):
* Feb. 8: Joe's Pub – New York
* Feb. 9: Barnes & Noble (Lincoln Triangle location) – New York
* Feb. 10: CBS' Late Show With David Letterman
* Feb. 13: Midnight Ramble – Woodstock, N.Y.
Sensible touring schedules matter to Barefoot Truth
The road can really make or break a band, no matter how long the act has been around or the length of the tour.
Just a few years after forming, Barefoot Truth embarked upon a weekend trip in spring 2007 that wasn't exactly a Spinal Tap adventure, but it did prompt everyone to think long and hard about future touring.
To start with, there was trouble with the band's new minivan, and singer/guitarist co-founders Will Evans and Jay Driscoll were fighting strep throat and a cold, respectively. But perhaps worst of all was that Barefoot Truth's New England-to-Ohio-and-back run involved a tremendous amount of driving over the course of three days, and that was only magnified by the need to be back home in time for college classes on Monday.
"To drive 30 hours for two shows, only to return to final exams, is one way to burn yourself out," Evans says. "To us, that will always be the scariest part of being a touring band -- burning out. We see it all the time with bands at our level. To us, there is no reason to force the issue. When a tour makes logistical sense, it gives you a better sense of purpose. Otherwise, you're just driving back and forth like a chicken with its head cut off.
"We all know that when the band morale is down, the music suffers, and our goal is to put on a good show for people."
Tours have been much broader and more structured since then for the rootsy quintet. Last year, Barefoot Truth played in Virginia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado and Wyoming for the first time.
When they're not on the road, all five members live together under the same roof in Mystic, Conn.
"We are friends first," Evans says, "and even if we weren't in a band, there's a good chance some of us might still live together."
One of the positives of this arrangement, he says, is the ability to bounce ideas off one another all the time.
"The minute you come up with a new song, you can start adding everyone's two cents to it," he adds.
Like every independent artist, Barefoot Truth is looking for ways to reach listeners, and one avenue that’s helped increase the band’s fan base is the Internet radio site Pandora. Barefoot Truth has racked up a reported 4.5 million spins on Pandora, with most of those plays being for the songs "Roll If Ya Fall" and "The Ocean" (from the 2005 album Changes in the Weather), according to Evans.
That stat bodes well for the potential interest in the new Barefoot Truth album, Threads, due Feb. 16.
"I think Pandora is really like the new Napster," Evans says. "It's the most accessible way for indie artists to get free promotion of their music. We've always been an advocate of burning our music; we'd rather have more people hear the music than not at all. The hope is that they'll like what they hear enough to go buy it on iTunes or come see us live."
-- By Chris M. Junior
Barefoot Truth on tour (schedule subject to change:
* Feb. 6: The Dragon's Egg -- Ledyard, Conn.
* Feb. 12: Cafe 939 – Boston
* Feb. 13: Cafe 939 -- Boylston, Mass.
* Feb. 18: One Longfellow Square – Portland, Maine
* Feb. 19: Higher Ground – Burlington, Vt.
* Feb. 20: Pearl Street Ballroom – Northampton, Mass.
* Feb. 21: Fairfield Theatre – Fairfield, Conn.
* Feb. 24: Castaways -- Ithaca, N.Y.
* Feb. 25: FunkNWaffles -- Syracuse, N.Y.
* Feb. 26: Red Square – Albany, N.Y.
* Feb. 27: Highline Ballroom – New York
* Feb. 28: Triumph Brewery – New Hope, Pa.