LouieB

The reason he wasn't billed at the Boston Bloodshot show was he was under contract with this tour so he had to snaak into Boston without publicity. LouieB

Well it flies in the face of everything modern or even post-modern (whatever that means...), since most contemporary performers are supposed to be slightly surly and not there to "entertain" and many acts who do think it is their job to entertain either go for the irony and fall flat or simply fall flat due to lack of skill or the audience's interest in what they are doing. Certainly Justin is 180 from his old man who grew famous being both surly and not really giving a shit about his audience. I am not sure where Justin learned how to do this (probably from watching old bluegrass type bands

Okay so I went to Boston to hang with some of my friends and see how Bloodshot goes over in another town. I had never been to the Middle East before and it is an okay club, much larger than I had expected, with a few sound issues and a significant lighting issue. At no point was the club really full, but that was prefectly okay with me since I am less good with big crowds now than I used to be. IN fact there were precious few folks there by the end of the night, but a significant crowd for Graham Parker. There was free food (chicken kebab and fallafel sandwhiches) during the early part of the

The new album is really good. Give it a listen. Justin has figured out that if you look at the audience directly and in the eye, you will get alot of attention, not to mention the kind of corny, but effective "Ladies and Gentlemen" shtick he does and the whole I'm just a hillbilly thing. If his songs were not as good and his playing and the musicianship of his sideman weren't also top notch this would fall totally flat, but somehow it works, in a very old school sort of way. LouieB

Always a good suggestion. Start with the material on Atlantic and move to Impulse. LouieB

Welcome to the wonderful world of vinyl records.... I have not yet played mine, but at $26 bucks it better be perfect...(half kidding...) since we all waited so so long. LouieB

But not older than me; I was already a teenager. There is no question that the Beatles albums are better than alot of stuff today, but then again they were better than alot of stuff back then. That's why the Beatles remain so popular and they can remix and resell this stuff over and over. LouieB

It is amazing and a testimony to how great older songs are that Justin Earle also has a John Henry song (check that one out too...) Or just go with the orginial, available in countless versions. Another great song, Coal Tattoo . Coal Tattoo (Billy Ed Wheeler) Travelin' down that coaltown road, Listen to those rubber tires whine; Goodbye to Buckeye and White Sycamore, I'm leavin' you behind. I've been a coal man all my life Layin' down track in the hole, Got a back like an ironwood bent by the wind Blood veins blue as the coal. Somebody said "That's a strange tattoo

Midnight is a great record. Don't forget to check out the EP put out with his first album. In another world Justin would already be a big star, but there is alot of competition in the music biz. It is very cool that his father lets him sing along on the Townes album. LouieB

(insert screaming girls here...)Actually Beatlemania was invented by the media, not the Beatles. As an old friend of mine said this weekend, how many times can you listen to the Beatles after having grown up with the original LPs and singles and heard them played over and over on the radio and everywhere else. I suppose this is exciting on some level. LouieB

JTE is a very classy performer. I saw him on Sunday at the Bloodshot show in Boston and he has the poise and understanding that he is first and formost an entertainer and that he needs to connect to the audience. He writes very good songs as well and is derivitive in the best possible way. Nice guy too. I talked to him for quite awhile. LouieB

Dear Santa is right.... Hey, how is the music biz supposed to survive if they don't keep getting our money?? If people like us don't buy this stuff, who will?? LouieB

This sounds like a good one. LouieB

Not Ryan Adams, though he certainly owes them. It was Justin Earle, who was very good. More on this later. I am still in Boston and rather than spend time on here I am going out on the streets before heading back to Chicago. This was a very fun night. The lineup in Philly is going to be amazing, as is the one in Chicago. For some reason the Deadstring Brothers seem to be at every one of these. They were very good last night, so its okay. LouieB

Yesterday I took the Orange line out to Midway Airport. This is actually a facinating ride. It runs through the southwest side of Chicago, which was an industrial and residental area. It runs along Archer Avenue and crosses over the south branch of the Chicago River a couple times. The contrast between the old industrial areas and the slowly gentrifying neighborhoods put me in a slightly melencholy mood for some reason. It also reminds me that for those who want to really see Chicago it is important at some point to get out of downtown and the near north or north lakeshore areas and expl

I can't tell you exactly when VC started, but I am sure someone on here can. I know that it was in existence about the time YHF came out since that's when I first joined, long before AGIB was released. While one can never make a value judgement until a work of art has been out awhile, you can make some assumptions about it. I said this earlier in this thread, but Wilco is not obligated to make a masterpeice each time out. YHF will always be a career defining album for Wilco, because of the way it was made and the circumstances under which it was released. Is W(TA) a greater album than

Anyone coming to the Middle East? Just curious. Beer on me... LouieB

The funeral today was genuinely moving, particularly the eulogies by his sons and Barack. LouieB

Actually VC was around at that time. LouieB

For us all....... LouieB

this is cool. sixty bucks? Someone has to capitalize on it!! LouieB

I did pull my head of of my ass.. I was asking WHAT charity that's all. I guess I have to go google it...just as I suggested to the guy on teh labor songs. edit-hunger projects....okay I will buy two... LouieB

Take two..... Here is the fruit of my Googling...http://folkmusic.about.com/od/toptens/tp/BestLaborSongs.htm which is the 10 greatest labor songs. http://www.labor-studies.org/laborsongs.php Long lists of songs on labor. http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/labor.htmlSongs by artists.. http://www.emusic.com/album/Various-Artists-Smithsonian-Folkways-Classic-Labor-Songs-from-Smithsonian-Folkways-MP3-Download/10921135.htmlSongs for download from Smithsonian/Folkways. If you want Labor songs they are out there... LouieB

That wasn't vague at all. Check out the albums these guys did. Check out some Pete Seeger. Check out the Little Red Songbook, etc. I mentioned the Waco Brothers Plenty Tough and Union Made, one of the few labor songs written in the last 20 years. Utah Phillips sang labor songs of Joe Hill and others. How about Joan Baez's version of Joe Hill on the Woodstock soundtrack. Si Kahn's Aragon Mill, the Almanac Singers, Which Side are you On?, geez look around. Labor songs belong to an earlier generation really, since only about 10% of American workers are members. Many of the songs here are

I did not know that...so okay no scrooging the benefit.....(who is it for???) LouieB