Someone Else’s Song is an occasional reoccurring piece here on ninebullets feature cover songs performed by The Drive-By Truckers (Vol. 1 here and Vol. 2 here). The compilations are assembled by Smitty from the Drive-By Truckers mailing list using the numerous live DBT shows freely available on the internet.

I thought this would couple well with the Covers Mix-Tape post from this morning and we could call it an Under Covers Tuesday. Cheesy title or not, the music is ruling.

Here is the track list:

1. Shattered (Rolling Stones)
2. Hey Ya (Outkast) (w/vocals, not Booker T version)
3. Adam Raised a Cain (Springsteen)
4. Rebels (Tom Petty)
5. Blue Yodel No. 4 (Jimmie Rodgers)
6. Drunk (Vic Chesnutt)
7. We Will Rock You (Queen)
8. Troglodyte (Jimmy Castor Bunch)
9. Bad Moon Rising (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
10. Before They Make Me Run (Rolling Stones)
11. Strutter (KISS)
12. State Trooper (Springsteen)
13. When I Ran Off & Left Her (Vic Chesnutt)
14. Free Fallin (Gov’t Mule w/Patterson on vocals)
15. Southern Man (Gov’t Mule w/Patterson on vocals)
16. Like A Hurricane  (Jason Isbell)

You can download the entire compilation here.

So. If I were the type to hold a grudge I’d never mention Suburban Home Records again and I’d give all SH artist who rolled through town wedgies (except Tim Barry, I ain’t fucking with that man) but I’m not that guy. Nope. Instead of holding a grudge I am gonna go to the virgil hates ninebullets Front Porch Musing / Suburban Home Showcase featuring…well, pretty much everyone; Micah Schnabel, The Only Sons, State Champion, Look, Mexico, Austin Lucas, American Aquarium, Glossary and Two Cow Garage. It’s gonna be a great show and I fully expect to get drunk on Virgil’s dime. The show is Saturday at Friends Bar and on the real, it’s gonna be pretty fucking epic. I’ll be the dude in the Florida State Seminoles hat. Come say hi. I’ll get you a drink on Virgil.

On another note…Suburban Home has opened the pre-orders for the official Suburban Home release of Micah Schnabel’s (Two Cow Garage) solo album, When The Stage Lights Go Dim. Folks, this really isn’t the album you wanna sleep on. When I originally reviewed it I said, “This album is perfect for winding down in the middle of the night with a whiskey while you wait for the amplifier ring to subside a little. While it might not be a very easy cd to get right now, it’s easy to put it on the Essential Listening list, and I suggest you put the effort into acquiring it.” Well, now it’s real damn easy to get, so do it cause it’s still Essential Listening.

And finally, I know I slept on the last SH comp for damned near 4 months before mentioning it but not this time. Vol. II of Virgil’s hiphop mixtape culture inspired comps has come out and once again Virgil is asking folks to get it out by whatever means necessary and since I am all about getting the music to y’all I will oblige. Once again, I have 4 copies one more copy of this sumbitch that I’ll give away with a ninebullets.net sticker to the first 4 people who email me their mailing address and for those of you that don’t visit the site enough times a day to get in on the giveaway I have a download link for y’all…but I expect more from you next time.

Tracklisting:

1. Micah Schnabel – Stage Lights
2. Micah Schnabel – American Static
3. Two Cow Garage – Oh Darling (Beatles cover recorded live at The High Dive)
4. Two Cow Garage – Skinny Legged Girl
5. Jon Snodgrass – Remember My Name (featuring Two Cow Garage)
6. Drag The River – J.J.’s Driving
7. Glossary – Lonely Is A Town
8. John Paul Keith & The 145s – Lookin’ For A Thrill
9. I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House – Swear To God
10. Yesterday’s Ring – Scrabble Strip Club
11. Slobberbone – Meltdown
12. Justin Townes Earl – Mama’s Eyes
13. Joe Pug – Messenger
14. Kay Kay and His Weather Underground – Diggin’
15. Starflyer 59 – Not Funny
16. PJ Bond – You, Too
17. A.A. Bondy – False River
18. Kevin Kerby + Battery – The Devil Is Real
19. Ghost Buffalo – Blinding Sky
20. David Bazan – Hard To Be

So there you go. A whole shitload of Suburban Home Records news even though they’ve decided to shun us. I’d like to say it feels good to be the better man but it’s a fucking lie.

I am usually a damn Grinch at this time of year. To be perfectly honest I have dreaded the holidays for years. The bright spot for me was making a compilation with either songs making fun of, parodying, or outright hating Christmas. I won’t bore you with all the details of why I hated Christmas but I suffice it to say I was a right bastard between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. This year things are different. I am actually in a great mood. But I still went off to make my usual snarky compilation. Then something happened right around track 11. I had all the holiday music I have here at the office queued up on random and going through the usual suspects for my tracks and a Johnny Cash song/spoken word thing popped up in the playlist. I paused and finished out my compilation in a different manner. So from about track 11 on this is less snarky than my last few holiday mixes. It ends with a Johnny Cash/band/spoken word thing but the two tracks that precede it are my favorite, even if they aren’t traditional, Christmas tracks of all time.

So from my family to yours: Merry Christmas!!!

And without further ado…

DOWNLOAD TRACK ARCHIVE

Last December I posted a compilation of cover songs perfomed by the Drive-By Trucker’s. The original compiler was (and is) of unknown origin but the compilation has just been begging for a follow-up.

Enter Smitty from the DBT mailing list. He’s taken the liberty of assembling a new collection of covers songs culled from the numerous live DBT shows freely available on the internet. He is supposed to have a Vol. 3 already near completion as well as a collection of unreleased DBT originals. I dunno about you, but I’m looking forward to those as well.

Here is the track listing:

1. Rockin in the Free World (Patterson on lead) (Neil Young)
2. Holland, 1945 (Neutral Milk Hotel)
3. I Walk The Line (Johnny Cash)
4. Mama Bake a Pie (Tom T. Hall)
5. Louisiana 1927 (Randy Newman)
6. Glad & Sorry (The Faces)
7. Everybody Needs Love (Eddie Hinton)
8. Lonely Women Make Good Lovers (Spooner Oldham)
9. I’m Your Puppet w/Kelly Hogan (Spooner Oldham)
10. Where’s Eddie? (Eddie Hinton)
11. These Arms of Mine (Otis Redding)
12. D-I-V-O-R-C-E (Tammy Wynette)
13. I’m in Love with a Girl (Big Star) (Summer Cousins version)
14. Dressed in White (Malcolm Holcombe)
15. All These Years (Sawyer Brown) (Summer Cousins version)
16. Quaalude banter
17. 867-5309 (Tommy Tutone)

You can download the entire collection here.

Ahh Summer. Yards to be mowed, grills to be lit, beaches to be enjoyed, beers to be drank, sports to be watched and, obviously, all of this needs a soundtrack.

Enter the Lucero Message Board Compilation.

Yup. Like a superhero showing up just in time the new compilation was posted this week and I couldn’t think of a better way to close out this week than with a post about it. As always, you can head over to the Lucero message board for some dialog on why each song was submitted and while you’re there you can contribute to next months.

Lucero Message Board Summer Comp can be downloaded here.

Track Listing:

1. The Fox Hunt – Better Than This (Lucero Cover)
2. Lucero – American Girl (live)
3. Deer Tick – Houston, TX
4. Cory Branan – Karen’s Song
5. Ha Ha Tonka – Close Every Valve to Your Bleeding Heart
6. William Elliott Whitmore – Old Devils
7. Hoots & Hellmouth – What Good Are Plowshares If We Use Them Like Swords
8. The Only Sons – Lay Back Down
9. The Evening Rig – Goddamn, I Could Use A Drink
10. Jon Snodgrass w/ Cory Branan – Alone and Distanced
11. Two Cow Garage – Humble Narrator
12. Chad Rex & The Victorstands – Build a Rocket
13. Flogging Molly – Salty Dog
14. Michael Dean Damron -  Angels Fly Up
15. Austin Lucas – Kith and Kin
16. The Lemonheads – Waitin Around to Die
17. Cheap Trick – Sick Man Of Europe
18. The Dexateens – Can You Whoop It
19. Trampled by Turtles – Empire
20. Matthew Dean Herman -  Blackbird
21. Lyle Lovette – Fat Babies
22. Ray LaMontagne – Let it Be Me
23. Uncle Tupelo – Moonshiner (live)
24. Kingston Trio – We’ll Sing in The Sunshine
25. Against Me! – You Look Like I Need Drink

Also, special thanks to Romeo Sid Vicious for putting together a stream of the compilation for those that prefer such a thing you can listen to it here.

It’s been a while since we posted a Lucero Message Board compilation. Really, I’m not too sure what’s going on. The curator of the comp hasn’t been coming around too much, but we have been graced with a “Spring” compilation. It’s shorter than most, but what it lacks from a numbers standpoint it more than makes up for from a quality point.

Also, since it was such a hit in my April podcast, I put the Gillian Welch/Old Crow Medicine Show version of The Band’s song “The Weight”. I hope y’all enjoy this comp, I know I am. As always, you can head over to the Lucero message board for some dialogue on why each song was submitted and while you’re there you can contribute to next month’s. The compilation can be downloaded here.

Here is the tracklisting:

1. Blue October – Angel
2. Olin and The Moon – Drivin West
3. Son Volt – Down To The Wire
4. Joey Cape – We’re Not In Love Anymore
5. Centro-Matic – 74 Cuts, 74 Scars
6. GRIT – Goin’ to Meet Jesus
7. William Elliot Whitmore – Johnny Law
8. Justin Townes Earle – Black Eyed Suzy
9. Frank Turner – Love Ire & Song
10. Neko Case – People Got A Lotta Nerve
11. The Fox Hunt – Screw Me Up (Live)
12. Phosphorescent – Walkin’
13. Jr. Juggernaut – Another Two Weeks
14. Against Me! – Borne On The FM Waves Of The HEart
15. Darkbuster – Try to Make it Right
16. Son Volt – Cocaine and Ashes
17. Josh Small – Peek Out My Window
18. Austin Lucas – Somebody Loves You
19. Gillian Welch & Old Crow Medicine Show -  The Weight (Live at St Lukes in London)
20. The Weepies – World Spins Madly On

Last Friday I announced the line-up of bands for this years Deep Blues Festival. Earlier this week I bought my plane tickets for Minneapolis. I tell you that so you don’t think I am just pimping the festival for some nefarious reason. I buy a ticket just like everyone else. That said, I really do believe in DBF, in what Chis is doing and in the bands playing it so I will take every opportunity to pimp it.

Hence Deep Blues Fridays.

On select Fridays between now and the festival I will feature bands playing it, live sets from festivals past and things of that ilk. I hope y’all like it…and if you’re anywhere near Minneapolis, join us in July, it’s gonna be a blast.

This is a sampler the festival recently put out featuring performances from last years show. Chris told me I was free to post it here so here you go. Individual tracks are below from listening, complete sampler can be downloaded here.

1. Juke Joint Duo – Stay Here In Your Arms
2. The Moaners – I Think I Love You
3. Jawbone – And Wine
4. Left Lane Cruiser – That Ass
5. Robert Cage and Hezekiah Early – Things I Used To Do
6. T-Model Ford – Cut You Loose
7. Black-Eyed Snakes – Good Woman Blues
8. Those Poor Bastards – They Don’t Make Folks Like They Used To
9. A Night In The Box – Death Letter
10. Reverend Deadeye – Clean Train
11. Charlie Parr – 1922
12. Boogaloosa Prayer – She’s Gone
13. Hillstomp – Lay Down Satan
14. Pat MacDonald – Reset Me Lord
15. Dex Romweber Duo – Blues That Defy My Soul
16. Black Diamond Heavies – Bidin’ My Time
17. Bob Log III – Six Stringer Kicker
18. Pure Country Gold – Club 21
19. American Relay – Bonedry
20. Tarbox Ramblers – What Month Was Jesus Born
21. Possessed By Paul James – Hear The Call

Normally I don’t write about compilations. Matter a fact, I don’t even listen to them.  The only other compilation I ever wrote about on here was the Hillgrass Bluebilly tribute to Hank Williams Sr. and Huddie Ledbetter, Hiram and Huddie, and just like it, it took an artist roster full of familiar bands for me to entertain it.

Honestly, when I got Rodentia I did not expect to like the compilation. I was just looking at a roster of ninebullets.net familiars; Those Poor Bastards, Sons of Perdition, O’Death and Joe Buck Yourself and just hoping to stumble upon another doom country band I might like. What I got was 34 tracks of doom country that could easily be described as the goth-country/dark-roots bible in the form of a double-disc release.

To say it was an ambitious project would be an understatement. The goal of the compilation isn’t just to introduce you to to goth-country/dark-roots sound. It’s laid out in a way so that you’re introduced and slowly guided into the whole sound through its 10 chapter design. If you’ve ever thought this might be a genre of music you would want to look into then, quite simply, this cd is here to act as your gateway drug. If, like me, you’re already a disciple of the heavy-hitters of the goth-country sound then let this comp expose you to some of the up and comers in the scene like Strawfoot or Uncle Sinner.

We’ll be writing about a lot of the bands featured on this comp in the coming weeks/months and Devil’s Ruin Records has earned a new fan in ninebullets based on this Essential Listening release.

Strawfoot – Damnation Way (from Chapter I – Marrow Gruel Victuals)
Uncle Sinner – When Jesus Comes (from Chapter III – Battle & Reign)
Tom Baxendale – Her Ghost (from Chapter III – Battle & Reign)
Sons of Perdition (w/Lonesome Wyatt & Dad Horse Ottn) – Psalm of Nod (from Chapter VIII – Diablerie)

Devil’s Ruin Records Official Site, Devil’s Ruin Records on myspace, Buy Rodentia: The Best of Dark Roots Music

I am reposting this because when I originally posted about it back in November the album was next to impossible to acquire. As of today it can easily be purchased from Amazon.

I’ll be honest. I’m not really too into tribute albums. I mean, they usually have their high points but when you take them as a whole they tend to feel mailed in or uninspired.

Such is not the case with this particular tribute album, and while I am sure there have been no shortage of tribute albums to Hank Sr. or Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, I am sure there hasn’t ever been one quite like this. For one, check out the take no prisoner’s, my way or fuck you contributing artists. With acts like Scott H. Biram, Possessed By Paul James, Bob Log III, Jawbone, Wayne “The Train” Hancock and Soda taking part you know these aren’t just gonna be mere remakes of classics. For another thing, take the folks putting it out- Hillgrass Bluebilly Entertainment. In what dealings I have had with these guys two things are for sure. They have as much passion about the whole punkass/deep blues scene as anyone, and if they are gonna do something they are gonna do it 100% all out. Taking all of that into account I had a hard time imagining how this particular tribute album couldn’t be awesome.

I was right.

Hiram and Huddie is a double cd tribute album, one disc being a tribute to Hank Sr. while the other is a tribute to Huddie Ledbetter. Both discs feature the same lineup of artists for the most part with each artist seeming to have been given complete freedom to do whatever they wanted with their tracks, and the bands used that freedom to make the tracks their own. Really, there isn’t a track to be skipped across either disc, but as with any compilation some tracks just stand out from the others.

Soda’s cover of Hank’s “Ramblin’ Man” is one such case. Sounding like it would have come from a drunken 1920’s New Orleans speakeasy, this track just begs for you hit repeat until the ink wears off the button. Scott Biram just seems like he was born to sing Sr.’s songs, and the soul of William Elliot Whitmore’s voice adds a richness to his songs that recording techniques in the original version’s time couldn’t capture. As good as all of these tracks are though, it’s Possessed By Paul James’ contributions that totally steal the show and his version of Lead Belly’s “The Bourgeois Blues” wears the “best song” crown.

“The Bourgeois Blues” was originally recorded by Ledbetter after he went to Washington, D.C. at the request of Alan Lomax to record a number of songs for the Library of Congress. After they had finished, they decided to go out with their wives to celebrate but were thrown out of numerous establishments for being an interracial party. The song rails against racism, classism, and discrimination in general.

It would be a shame for this album to get lost in the cracks only be rediscovered years later as a lost gem. Do yourself, Hillgrass Bluebilly, me and every single artist on this album a favor and buy it. Buy two. It’s that good. It’s easily gonna be the best compilation of the year.

Soda – Ramblin’ Man (Hank Sr.)
Scott H. Biram – Lost Highway (Hank Sr.)

William Elliott Whitmore – The Gallis Pole (Ledbetter)
Possessed By Paul James – Bourgeois Blues (Ledbetter)

What an awesome freaking weekend, I had. It all started at about 6:00 on Friday afternoon. I load the dawgs up in the truck and head out to the dog park when what comes through my car speakers? The news that Jon Gruden and his slimy sidekick, Bruce Allen got fired from the Buccaneers. YAY! Then, yesterday, like icing on the cake we got to watch the Philadelphia Eagles go into yet another NFC Championship Game as a heavy favorite only to get their collective asses kicked. Honestly, very little makes me happier than watching the Eagles lose. That city and it’s fan base deserve every single shitty thing that happens to them. Maybe they’ll fire Reid and hire Gruden. The two deserve each other.

And now, here we are on the eve of Obama’s inauguration. Big change on the horizon. The entire country has an air of hope. Like the Bucs moving from Gruden to Morris, the move from Bush to Obama is a return to integrity. It’s kind of neat.

What does this have to do with the Lucero Message Board’s January compilation? Nothing. Nothing at all. I just wanted an excuse to say “kiss-off Gruden”, “BWAHAHAHAHAHA, Fuck you Philly Fan” and “I hope you die of terminal syphilis, GW Bush”. So now that I have, let’s move forward.

Like the political signs say, Change. This month’s comp represents something of a change. For the first time ever there was a theme of Cover songs. Another change is that our trusty compilation curator got a tag editor and now every .mp3 on the comp is properly named and tagged. As always, you can head over to the Lucero message board for some dialog on why each song was submitted and while you’re there you can contribute to next months.

Personally, I can’t stop listen to Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s cover of Danzig’s “Am I Demon”. It’s fantastic! You can grab the entire compilation here.

Here is the tracklisting:

1. Candlebox – Cover Me*
2. Avail – Pink Houses
3. Lucero – Ring of Fire
4. Hank Williams III – Atlantic City
5. Ted Hawkins – Long As I Can See the Light
6. William Elliot Whitmore – Gallis Pole
7. Dead Kennedys – Viva Las Vagas
8. Jawbox – I’ve Got You Under My Skin
9. The Corn Sisters – This Little Light Of Mine
10. Jon Snogdrass – Remember
11. Uncle Tupelo – Effigy
12. Steve Earle – Nebraska
13. Drag The River – Down The Road
14. Social Distortion – Under My Thumb
15. Lucero – Ain’t No Sunshine
16. Melvins – Detroit Rock City
17. Blood On The Saddle – Folsom Prison Blues
18. Elvis Costello – Good Year For The Roses
19. Nine Pound Hammer – Dead Flowers
20. Mudcrutch – Shade Grove
21. The Lemonheads – $1,000 Wedding
22. Thin Lizzy – Rosalie
23. Deer Tick -  Beautiful Girls
24. Bonnie ‘prince’ Billy – Am I Demon
25. Sugar – Dum Dum Boys
26. Jason & the Scorchers – Lost Highway
27. The Saints – River Deep Mountain High
28. The Circle Jerks – Along Comes Mary/Close To You

* = Not an actual cover song. We’re considering it the title track.