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TIM BARRY – 40 MILER (WITH FULL ALBUM STREAM):

May 042012

As usual Tim kept the wraps tight on this one and aside from the live shows we really didn’t know what we would be getting and as far that goes we didn’t give a damn because we knew it’d be a damn good album. So when I finally got my greedy little mitts on this one I couldn’t wait to give it a spin. first thing that struck me about this album was little less “FUCK YOU” and a little more self deprecating humor. In other words it reminds me more of hanging out with Tim in person than of listening to his other albums. I once described watching Tim perform as “watching a man about to get in a fight with himself” and you could hear that in some of his other albums but it’s not really here on this one. Now don’t go off thinking I am saying that this album doesn’t have emotion running through it, it’s just that the emotions here are less anger and more walking around with friends with a 40 in a paper bag talking about life.

I really think that what makes this album what it is its familiarity. Not in the sense that I’ve heard these songs before but in the sense that they make me feel like I am part of the family. In fact there’s a lot on here I haven’t heard from Mr. Barry before. “Adele and Hell” is more like a country song than I honestly thought I’d ever hear from him. “Amen” is as Gospel as music gets. If I ever thought that I had Tim Barry figured out I know now that I was wrong. While 28th and Stonewall was a bigger sound than I expected 40 Miler is hard to even put a finger. Tim continues to do his thing and well it is what it is and as far as I am concerned he can do no wrong. So yeah this is Essential Listening and yeah I wish I could do it justice with my words because I really haven’t. I don’t even think I could if I re-wrote every word here. Instead of embarrassing myself even further I’ll just let you all experience this one for yourselves. You can stream the entire album below thanks to Tim giving us permission to give you a stream for a couple weeks!

JORDAN MINOR – THE COTTONWOOD TREE

Apr 262012

I am sucker for songs about Billy The Kid and if toss in a song about bootlegging and drugs you’ll have me hooked. That’s exactly what Jordan Minor has done with The Cottonwood Tree. That’s what sucked me in but it ain’t what kept me. You see Mr. Minor is a storyteller and I love me a storyteller. Top it off with him being a Red Dirt artist and it’s pretty much a guarantee that I’d find something on this album that I’d really like and I did.

Now this album isn’t perfect and at times it’s obvious that this is a first album but for all its faults it’s still pretty damn good. You see, the thing is that the good tracks are really good and the others are only a little off. This is a country album through and through and I love it for that alone but Jordan’s storytelling sets him apart. He has a way with words when he isn’t trying too hard. Some of the subject choices are kind of trite and some of the lyrics seemed forced but for all the faults I could find with The Cottonwood Tree I think this kid has a helluva lot of talent and will be worth supporting and watching. Not everyone’s first album is perfect and I think that it’s obvious Jordan put a lot of work in to this one. Overall this is a pretty fun album and you could do a whole lot worse these days.

Jordan Minor – The Ballad Of William Bonney
Jordan Minor – The Cottonwood Tree
Jordan Minor – Still Shinin’

Jordan Minor’s official site, Jordan Minor on Facebook, Buy The Cottonwood Tree

NEW TIM BARRY SONG – 40 MILER

Mar 142012

I think it’s safe to say that the 9B family loves Tim Barry. It’s also safe to say it’s been a while and we are all itching for some new stuff from him. As of right now that wait is over. Rolling Stone (I almost feel dirty typing that) has a stream and a download for the title track off of 40 Miler which is due out on April 10. So without any further ado, or personal anecdotes, LISTEN TO TIM BARRY’S NEW SONG:

Tim Barry – 40 MileR

LUCERO – WOMEN & WORK

Mar 132012

It was a stormy morning and unusually dark for that time of the day. I was sitting in the passenger seat of Jake’s car and making jokes about his seatbelt pads. The clouds were thick and visibility was for shit. Now none of this would deter Jake from driving like a madman so outside of the jokes I mostly set my jaw and prayed that the airbags would save me when we plummeted off of an overpass. I thin I should mention that Jake was an excitable kid who loved his music despite have questionable taste therein so when he turned around, almost completely, to grab a CD that he just had to play for me I thought that I was going to die right then and there and the only saving grace would be that he might be able to get the CD in to the player before we hit the retaining wall and the music wouldn’t suck. Some god somewhere must’ve been smiling on us because not only didn’t we die the CD Jake was willing to risk our lives to put in to the CD player was That Much Further West by some dudes from Memphis that called themselves Lucero. I didn’t even notice how many more times we almost died on the way to work that day. From the opening notes of that album I was hooked for life.

Every word of that story is the truth and to this day I am die hard Lucero fan even though I have lost touch with Jake through the years. What that day eventually led to is what you see here, these words, me being a writer for 9B. It was on the Lucero message board that I met our benevolent dictator, Autopsy IV, and from there ended up writing for this little corner of the web. So in a way the whole damn reason I am opining for music in our little joint here is result of being a Lucero fan. All of this proves nothing more than I am biased and likely the last person that should be reviewing Women & Work. To this I say: Fuck it!

As far as I am concerned all of Lucero’s catalog is drinkin’ music and this one is no different except that it is. It is different in the same way that every Lucero album is different from its predecessor. These boys have managed to grow and evolve with each album and on this one they go back from whence they came and pay tribute to Memphis soul. The horns take more of the forefront than they did on 1372 Overton Park throughout much of the album. If you didn’t like Overton then you will likely hate Women & Work and if that’s the case then as far as I am concerned you can die in a fire! I wouldn’t piss on you to put it out.

For me most of Lucero’s work has been more suited for drinking by myself while alone and up too late but starting with Overton and continuing on to W&W the music has taken me out on Saturday nights to find the crowds and live it up. Of course that’s oversimplifying things but I think it gets the point across. You see Lucero is a bit of an anomaly in that they have grown their sound, grown their band, maintained their core members and still sound like, well, themselves. It’s not just the band that’s grown, in sound and size, but also the writing. It seems Ben is writing from a different place than before. There’s more confidence in the lyrics. I am not quite sure that captures the entirety of what I mean but it’ll have to do. The songs are still about girls and drinkin’ but they are from another side of that same coin. It’s harder to explain than I thought it’d be so I’ll just give up and trust that you, the listener, can spin this one, nod a little bit, and think to yourself: “now I know what that bastard was talking about!”

Getting down to brass tacks Women & Work is Essential Listening, but you knew that already. What makes this such a great album is its depth. It’s not just Memphis soul, although the influence is clear throughout. It’s not just another Lucero album even though it very much is. It’s not just the soundtrack to an amazing night out, but is just that. It’s not just proof that Lucero has held their own for nine albums and fourteen years. It’s all of that and more. You know, thinking about this, I could have just said, “This is a Lucero album”, and it would have covered all of that. You see I am a fanboy when it comes to these guys and I am unashamed by that. And yes W&W is that damned good. So get off your ass and get yourself a copy.

Lucero – Who Are You Waiting On
Lucero – Sometimes
Lucero – Go Easy

Stream Women & Work, Lucero’s official site, Lucero on Facebook, Lucero on Spotify, Buy Women & Work

LINCOLN DURHAM – THE SHOVEL VS. THE HOWLING BONES

Feb 232012

From the opening kick drum and high hat beat you can tell that The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones is going to be dirty if nothing else. And like a blow job in the bathroom at a dive bar it delivers on being nasty in all the right ways. When Lincoln Durham starts in with the slide guitar and grinding out his vocals it becomes apparent that this kid has some miles on him. He writes lyrics in which you will find very little redemption but with the right whiskey you might find catharsis. Even if you aren’t looking to head down a whiskey soaked path of introspection this album will draw you in to its visceral and gritty stories. There’s something about the way Lincoln Durham tells a story that just makes you want to pay attention.

The lyrics and music are just plain intense and when you mix that with Ray Wylie Hubbard and George Reiff’s production you get an album that is done right in so many ways that others aren’t. The music retains its grit and unpolished feel while still being mixed and produced extremely well. You can feel Ray Wylie’s influence throughout the album which isn’t a bad thing and at the same time the sound is completely Lincoln’s own. Listening to him abuse his guitar you would never know that, in his youth, Lincoln was a champion fiddle player throughout Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas but you can tell that his roots are in the south by the way he writes. This album defies genre and the music is timeless. It’s not hard to imagine the music on this one coming off a of a 45 in the jukebox of a dive bar in ’50s or pouring over the speakers in your local dive tomorrow night. It’s a rare jewel these days that comes across this strong.

The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones is Essential Listen without any doubt. I hope this kid can keep up the intensity that he has shown on this album in his future efforts. It’s not like the stripped down blues is a new thing ’round these parts: Seasick Steve, Scott H. Biram, The Reverend Payton’s Big Damn Band, Poor Boy’s Soul and no doubt some others keep us covered pretty well but Lincoln Durham has earned his place here on 9B among those beloved names. If he keeps this up I, for one, will keep singing his praises and wishing I could sing them with the grit and gravel that Lincoln gives us in his vocals.

Lincoln Durham – Drifting Wood
Lincoln Durham – Mud Puddles
Lincoln Durham – How Does a Crow Fly

Lincoln Durham’s Official Site, Lincoln Durham on Facebook, Lincoln Durham on Spotify, Buy The Shovel vs. Howling Bones

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