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Top records from 2008 (1/3)

January 3rd, 2009, 7:36 pm by adamfenwickstar

Inspired by WNCW’s Top 100 list, I like to sit down every year and think about what my favorite records (yes, I said RECORDS) from the last 12 months were. Sometimes it’s hard to choose, other times it’s really easy. This year I have several that I just downright loved and just couldn’t put down. Here they are, in no particular order.

The Steeldrivers - The Steeldrivers

I discovered this band while researching for my trip to Flat Rock, N.C. for the Flat Rock Music Festival several months back. I wanted to map out my musical journey that way I knew which bands I wanted to see and when they were playing. Low and behold I found this band, a who’s who of Nashville country and bluegrass musicians who came together to create a band, aptly named The Steeldrivers. The leader singer, Chris Stapleton, sounds like he belongs in a Gospel group more then he does a bluegrass band, but his voice, alongside the harmonies of fiddle player Tammy Rogers, sounds about as perfect as anything I’ve heard in years from the bluegrass genre. It was easy to choose this one as one of my favorites from ‘08.

Chris Knight - Heart of Stone

Doing my typical surfing around my favorite internet websites, I came across a review of some yet to be released record by some guy named Chris Knight. Those few songs actually resulted in my buying his previous record, The Trailer Tapes. But what of that unreleased record you ask? That record, it turns out, was titled Heart of Stone and the name certainly does the record justice (even if it wasn’t the musicians choice for the name of the record, as he said during an interview on WNCW a few months ago). There are several standout tracks on this record, touching topics such as lost love, old beat up cars (which my co-worker Hugh Koontz knows plenty about) and a song about wanting to just go home (which rightly ends this outstanding record).

Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark

I must admit, the Drive-By Truckers, lead by Alabama natives Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, are possibly my favorite band on the planet. So when I heard they were releasing a new record in January 2008 I was, of course, super excited to hear it. I pre-ordered the record and had it shipped two day mail to my home because I was about to travel to Pennsylvania to take part in my sleep study. I got it just in time to rip it to my iPod, boy was I glad I payed for two day shipping! Anyway, sporting an action-packed 19 songs, this record had several standout tracks, including my personal favorite “The Righteous Path” about people who despite all their bad luck, divorces, arrests and general hard times, are simply trying to “stay focused on the righteous path.”

Old Crow Medicine Show - Tennessee Pusher

I know I know, I just wrote about this record, get off my back! The truth is that for months I looked forward to this record, but when it came out I just kept putting off buying it. My parents actually bought it first, so I kindly borrowed it and ripped it onto my computer so I could listen to it at my leisure. Low and behold this record was just as good as I thought it would be, though in a totally different manner then I actually expected. Rather then the heavy footed folk/bluegrass mix I’m use to from Old Crow Medicine Show, they slowed it down a bit and added, what I think, is a bit of a blues feel to this record. The record is pretty much written about the evils of meth, with songs like “Alabama High-Test,” the title track “Tennessee Pusher,” “Lift Him Up” and, of course, the song “Methamphetamine.”

Scott Miller - Appalachian Refugee (The Demo Sessions)

I didn’t post an album cover with this record simply because, well, there really isn’t one. This record was a very limited release (only 1,000 were made I believe) and was only sold via Scott Miller’s website and live shows. The intent of the record was to help Miller and his band The Commonwealth fund their upcoming record which they hoped to release in early 2009 (they succeeded in that goal, their next record is slated for a March ‘09 release, though I already have an advanced signed copy, gotta love Christmas presents). The record itself sports 13 songs, ranging from covers like “Hubbardville Store,” an instrumental titled “Feel So Fair To Midland” and my favorite from the record “Knoxville Viceroy.” While this was only supposed to be used to help put out the “full record,” I’d go so far as to say this was one of the better record’s of 2008, even if it was really incomplete (if you believe in such a thing).

Posted in: Music • americana • bluegrass • Chris Knight • country • DBT • Drive-By Truckers • OCMS • Old Crow Medicine Show • Scott Miller • Steeldrivers | Post a Comment »

A quick music review (12/28)

December 27th, 2008, 11:51 pm by adamfenwickstar

For those that don’t know me, I’m a bit of a music connoisseur. I don’t listen to much, if anything, mainstream and often find myself listening to music on Gardner-Webb’s 88.3 and Isothermal Community College’s 88.7. Sometimes I end up finding something I down right love, today I think I’ve found one of those.

In reality I am a little late to the ball game here, but I’ve been listening to Old Crow Medicine Show’s 2008 release “Tennessee Pusher” good and hard the last few days (this after having it on my computer for a few months). It’s easily slower then the rest of the OCMS records I have, but this may be my favorite record of the bunch.

The stand out track, at least in my opinion, is the next to last song on the record, “Lift Him Up.” I’ve always been partial to songs such as this one, songs that are sorta depressing but make you feel good inside at the same time (I don’t really know how else to put it). It’s songs like this that help me through rough days in my life when I’m angry, frustrated and otherwise out of the ordinary. I think it’s a great song that compliments a record that seems, at least in a way, centered around Meth and it’s evils. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m just a little right, but either way, this is a good record. No doubt about that.

“Lift Him Up” by Old Crow Medicine Show
When a man has got the blues and feels discouraged
And has nothing else but trouble all his life
But he’s just an honest man like any other
Living in a world that’s tearing at his mind
If he’s sick and tired of life and takes to drinking
Do not pass him by, don’t greet him with a frown
Do not fail to lend your hand and try to help him
Always lift him up and never knock him down

If he stay’s out late at night because he’s troubled
Or because his home is not what it should be
Have a smile for him wherever you might meet him
It will help him find the right way, don’t you see
If he gambles when he’s in the town or city
Tell him what he ‘ought to do to win the round
Do not fail to lend your hand and show him pitty
Always lift him up and never knock him down

If he has no friends and everything’s against him
If he’s failed in everything that he has tried
Try to lift this load and help him bare his burden
Let him know that you are walking by his side
If he feel’s that all is lost and he has fallen
Help to place this poor man’s feet on solid ground
And when this world has turned it’s back against him
Always lift him up and never knock him down

Posted in: Music • bluegrass • OCMS • Old Crow Medicine Show | Post a Comment »

Flat Rock Music Festival

September 29th, 2008, 11:40 am by adamfenwickstar

It’s not often that I take time off, much less time to go do something I’ve been looking forward to for some time. For the last two years my parents have been pestering me to attend a music festival with them. Finally, I decided that since I have this paid vacation just collecting dust, I’d best go ahead and use it. With that, I decided I’d join my parents at this years Flat Rock Music Festival in Flat Rock, N.C. Needless to say I was so happy I attended.

The weekend started Friday with everyone waking up early and preparing my parents RV for the trip. When I say RV I mean an old old RV. I don’t remember right off what year the RV is, but it’s from the early 1970s, I know that much.

My transporation/bed for the weekend. Stylish huh?

We had to stop at three gas stations just to get enough gas to make it to Flat Rock. But once we got fuel and made a few other stops we hit the road to Flat Rock. Of course, once we got there, we were met with the stark realization that Friday was probably going to be a wash. Of course, for those that don’t remember, much of the region was met with much needed rain on Friday. Of course, it had to rain on the first day of my mini vacation. Go figure. Oh, I best not forget that in order to get to the festival you had to go ALL THE WAY UP A MOUNTAIN. We parked in a field at the bottom of the mountain and in order to get up to the festival you had to either walk a very bad looking trail (well, it wasn’t that bad once it was dryish) or take a shuttle van up to the top (which was one heck of a wild ride in the wet weather on dirt roads).

This is the view from across the pond at the top of the mountain. All the way over there is the main festival stage.

A zoomed in few of the festival grounds.

While Friday was a total wash, Saturday was NOT! I got to see all the bands I was looking forward to from the get go, including The SteelDrivers, Skinny Legs and All, Sonny Landreth and WSNB. I admit my musical taste is a bit out there, so I don’t honestly expect many that read this to know who these groups are. Here are a few photos from those sets:

The SteelDrivers

Skinny Legs and All

Sonny Landreth

WSNB

Posted in: Everyday life • Music | Post a Comment »

Tater pictures from Alive After 5

July 25th, 2008, 2:48 pm by adamfenwickstar

I walked up to Alive After 5 for a few minutes yesterday afternoon to say hello to some friends and snap some photos of local Shelby favorite Tater as they made their second appearance this summer at Alive After 5. Here are a few of those photos.

A fan, whom I actually know but will decline to name, gives a big ‘ole thumbs up to Tater

Roger Padgett bends some strings on his guitar

Roger Padgett, left, and Luke Edwards

Phil Simmons using his regular pose

Luke Edwards singing one of Tater’s fan favorite songs

Luke Edwards, left, and Phil Simmons

Luke Edwards, guitar and lead vocals

From left, Roger Padgett, Luke Edwards, Kelly Hull and Phil Simmons

Kelly Hull, drums

Brittany Randolph, Star photo intern, how did this get in here?

Posted in: Everyday life • Music | 1 Comment »

So much to do about Taylor Hicks

July 5th, 2008, 5:46 pm by adamfenwickstar

So apparently my blog about The Benefit Concert Vol. 8 was pretty popular. It, to date, has drawn 19 comments, many of which discussing how good (or for some, how bad) a musician Taylor Hicks really is.

In all honesty, I’m not much of a Taylor Hicks fan. I never watched American Idol (and probably never will unless forced) but I knew the name simply because of how much the media was covering the show. And oh yeah, those Ford commercials he did. Needless to say when he came on stage at the Christmas Jam I wasn’t sure if I needed to be afraid and run for the hills or stay and see what he could do. As you know by now I stayed and it turns out he’s a pretty good harp player.

Does that mean I’d go see Taylor Hicks in concert? No, probably not. What it does mean is I won’t discount someone’s musical ability without hearing or seeing it for myself first.

Besides, in the long run, what can hanging around and hearing one song do to you? You might just realize that some guy who was on some reality TV show can actually blow on the harp like no buddies business.

Posted in: Music | 23 Comments »

DVD Review: The Benefit Concert Vol. 8

July 1st, 2008, 6:29 pm by adamfenwickstar

I’m a big music fan. When I say big, I mean BIG. I have over 250 CD’s worth of music, hours upon hours worth of stuff to keep me listening for days on end. So when I get something new, naturally I sit down and listen to it for a day or two or three until I’m either very happy with a record or totally disgusted. Both have been known to happen.

But yesterday I got something in the mail i’ve been looking forward to for awhile. What is that might you ask? That would be Warren Haynes Presents The Benefit Concert Volume 8. Why is this particular item so special? Well, first of all, its actually a DVD. Secondly, I was actually AT this show.

For those that don’t know, Asheville native Warren Haynes holds the Warren Haynes Christmas Jam every year in Asheville to benefit Habitat For Humanity. My father, my brothers and I made a point for several years to attend the Christmas Jam, it was our father/son outing every year. My first Christmas Jam was in 2001, a show headlined by Warren Haynes’ band Gov’t Mule, Phil Lesh & Friends, Blues Traveler and Drivin’ & Cryin’. I also attended the 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006 editions.

This DVD is of the 2006 edition, featuring the Taj Mahal Trio, The John Popper Project, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, The New Orleans Social Club, Dave Matthews and Gov’t Mule. Needless to say watching this DVD brings back a lot of good memories.

The first thing that I really remembered wasn’t actually from the Christmas Jam, it was from the Pre-Jam the night before in The Orange Peel. It’s sort of a dress rehearsal for the Christmas Jam that is held every year in the Orange Peel for a select group of guests. In 2006 I managed to get on the guest list for that show and, along with my father, attended. Marty Stuart was on stage with his band when he did something different. He picked up his mandolin and just started ripping it up, playing whatever his fingers could play. I remembered it instantly when I saw it on the DVD and went straight to it.

My memory of the 3 or 4 minute jam was pretty much dead on, it was a great little jam session. Then the DVD transitioned seamlessly into the next night with Marty Stuart and his band (The Fabulous Superlatives) going into a song called “Streamline.” The rest of Marty’s set was great as well, with the band finishing with covers of “Wait Til The Morning” and The Band’s “The Shape I’m In.”

But my favorite set of the night belonged to the New Orleans Social Club. They really surprised me when they came on stage and just handed out a great jamming session of songs that got even the sleepiest member of the audience up and swinging. They even brought out Taylor Hicks, yes, American Idol’s Taylor Hicks. I had no idea, but Hicks is apparently a KILLER harmonica player. He joined the band on a cover of John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son” and wailed on the harmonica. Great set.

The rest of the show wasn’t bad, Dave Matthews joined Gov’t Mule on a cover of Neil Young’s “Cortez The Killer” and most of the musicians joined Gov’t Mule on stage for the finale, “I Shall Be Released” (another song from The Band).

All in all it was a great show live and it transitioned well onto DVD. If you are a fan of any of these bands i’d pick this DVD up ASAP. It’s well worth the purchase.

Favorite Songs:

1. I Shall Be Released by Gov’t Mule with Marty Stuart, Kevn Kinney, Taylor Hicks, Mike Barnes, Brendan Bayliss, Mickey Raphael & Robert Kearns

2. The Shape I’m In by Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives with Warren Haynes & Danny Louis

3. Fortunate Son by The New Orleans Social Club with Warren Haynes, Taylor Hicks & Branford Marsalis

Posted in: Music | 17 Comments »

Kindness from Tater

June 20th, 2008, 2:03 pm by adamfenwickstar

As most who read The Star know by now, I wrote a story about local hillbilly bluegrass band Tater for Thursday’s Star. The story was the idea of City Editor Graham Cawthon, he wanted to have something on the band in the paper as sort of a lead in to the band playing Thursday’s Alive After 5.

So, knowing that i’m very much a Tater Head, Graham asked if i’d like to do the story. Of course, I gladly accepted. A few days later I had a two hour interview with the entire band at Guitar RX, which, if you don’t know, is right across the street from Mi Pueblito’s. Stories were told, laughs were had and a few pictures were taken. And oh yeah, I got a ton of information for my story.

Fast forward a few weeks later to when the story appears in the paper. My dad, being the sneaky person that he is, called Amanda Edwards, the wife of Tater’s lead singer Luke Edwards, and hatched an apparent plan. He wanted to get a copy of the paper autographed for me and have it waiting for me when I got to Alive After 5 yesterday. He knew I wanted to get it done anyway, so he figured he’d “help out” and get it done for me. No complaints here, by the way.

In any case, while I was hanging out around the stage with the other Tater Heads Luke came running towards me with a flimsy piece of paper in his hand. Keep in mind, they were about to be introduced to the audience to start performing. He hands me a laminated, signed cut out of my story from Thursday’s front page, shakes my hand and with a big smile says “Thanks so much Adam.” I hardly had time to get a thank you out of my mouth before he had to run back to the stage to start performing. Of course, all the Tater Heads gathered round and started looking at the cutout with the signatures and everyone was congratulating me.

Needless to say I was rather happy. Tater went on, blew a circuit somewhere in the PA system, went off stage, fixed the PA, then got back on stage and continued playing. At some point I saw a few Star employees, Graham, Cherish, Kristy and Brittany, and went and sat with them in the grass alongside the stage. Then, as we are sitting their goofing off, I hear my name over the PA system.

“First of all we’d like to thank Adam Fenwick for his great article in The Star!”

Yup. That’s what I heard. I’d have to ask Cherish or Graham, but I bet my face was red as a cherry. After Tater went off stage I went over and shook Luke’s hand and thanked him for his kindness. It was the least I could do.

To sum it up the story was fun to write, much like the band Tater is fun to watch and listen too. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Posted in: Everyday life • Music | 1 Comment »

Tater in Charlotte at The Neighborhood Theater

May 11th, 2008, 3:29 pm by adamfenwickstar

Local band Tater made the trip east to Charlotte on Saturday to open for Hayseed Dixie at The Neighborhood Theater. Here are some pictures I took during the show:

Posted in: Everyday life • Music | Post a Comment »

It’s a small world…

April 4th, 2008, 3:41 pm by adamfenwickstar

On Tuesday I used some of my free time to volunteer at WNCW 88.7 FM in Spindale and while doing so I heard a great story about one of my current favorite musicians that I just had to share.

While sitting in the hot seat (the first phone on the volunteer line) I was talking to Roland Dierauf, one of the DJ’s at WNCW, about what i’d been listening to recently. I just happaned to be wearing my Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit shirt and he asked me if Jason’s record from 2007 was my favorite from that year. I said no, that my favorite was Scott Miller & The Commonwealth’s “Reconstruction,” which I just kept returning to at least every other week no matter what new music I had just picked up. At this point Roland smiled and said he had a great story for me.

The story begins like many other great stories … “While I was in college…”

No really, it did start just like that. Anyway, while Roland was in college he lived in a house with a bunch of other college students, mainly a way to save money. In this home lived a friend of Roland’s who, at the time, was pursuing a girl that he went to college with. The problem was that this girl wasn’t interested in him at all, she was dating “Some guy from William & Mary” as Roland put it. This “guy,” as it turns out, was named Scott and he use to come down and play guitar in the living room of the house Roland lived in and the two would talk about music and books and other such things.

Well, after college, Roland moved on and never gave this fella named Scott another thought. A few years pass and Roland ends up as a DJ at WNCW in Spindale. One day he gets an assignment to interview a band, Scott Miller & The Commonwealth, who are playing live that day in WNCW’s live studio, called Studio B. So its almost time for the interview to begin and Roland enters the studio to introduce himself. Scott Miller looks up and goes “I know you.” Roland responds “Umm…no you don’t.” Scott Miller then proceds to remind Roland about the girl he was dating in college that went to Roland’s college. Anyone thinking of the song “It’s A Small World?”

Anyway, to finish off the story, the two got to talking and Roland asked Scott if he ended up following that girl and Scott said yes, “I followed her to graduate school and she dumped me…”

Hey fella, whatever your name is, if your out there that girl you wanted to date is single now. Maybe Scott can give you her number.

Posted in: Everyday life • Music | Post a Comment »

Rock Report: Drive-By Truckers @ The Orange Peel

March 30th, 2008, 3:06 pm by adamfenwickstar

So yesterday I took a day off of work and, along with my twin brother who came in from Wilmington, made the trip up to Asheville to enjoy a night of loud music. The Drive-By Truckers were finishing up the second leg of their “Home Front” tour and I was very much looking forward to the show. I ordered tickets to the event in January and i’m glad I did, the place ended up selling out. Needless to say I really enjoyed myself! My brother and I left before the encore, my back was killing me (I shouldn’t have worn my cowboy boots) and my twin was tired (he had been out the previous day mountain biking, he rode over 30 miles in one day). It’s fine though, we had a rip roaring good time anyway! Here are a few pictures from the show: