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	<title>Our Kind of Music</title>
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	<description>could be your kind of music too...</description>
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		<title>Todd Snider Interview &#8211; An Early Morning Talk of Jerry Jeff Walker and More&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/05/03/todd-snider-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/05/03/todd-snider-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 May 2012 06:23:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The OKOM Show]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Don Was]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eric McConnell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jerry Jeff Walker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jimmy Buffett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Excitement Plan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Time As We Know It]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Todd Snider]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Will Kimbrough]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ourkindofmusic.com/?p=1168</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I caught up with East Nashville based singer/songwriter Todd Snider on the phone as he woke up to a well-deserved day of rest somewhere in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was in the middle of a pretty heavy tour schedule (and finding out it wasn&#8217;t as easy as it used to be). I think it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/todd-snider-2012-02-crop.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1172" title="Todd Snider 2012" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/todd-snider-2012-02-crop-245x300.png" alt="" width="245" height="300" /></a>I caught up with East Nashville based singer/songwriter <a href="http://www.toddsnider.net/home.cfm" target="_blank"><strong>Todd Snider</strong></a> on the phone as he woke up to a well-deserved day of rest somewhere in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was in the middle of a pretty heavy tour schedule (and finding out it wasn&#8217;t as easy as it used to be). I think it was a little early for both of us &#8211; there was even a little bit of confusion with the time zone difference. It&#8217;s hard to keep track of those things on the road.</p>
<p>As the morning&#8217;s coffee slowly burnt off the previous night&#8217;s fog, the conversation picked up. We talked a lot about his two recently released albums, <strong><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006W1NQCK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B006W1NQCK" target="_blank">Agnostic Hymns &amp; Stoner Fables</a></em></strong> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IX39AK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007IX39AK" target="_blank"><strong><em>Time As We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker</em></strong></a>, and a shitload more. It had been a couple of years since we last talked, and we covered a lot of ground &#8211; not too bad for so early in the morning. As is usually the case when talking with Todd, it&#8217;s a challenge to keep myself on track and try to watch the time. <em>(I don&#8217;t want to wear out my welcome).</em> What starts out as an interview effortlessly turns into a conversation full of intriguing and amusing tangents. It could be because I appreciate his music so much and can relate to it so well, or maybe it&#8217;s because &#8211; in spite of his laid-back persona &#8211; Todd is actually a complex man with a lot on his mind, who just wants to be understood.</p>
<p>So, pour a cup of coffee or pop a beer and enjoy the interview! (Caution: Contains some course language&#8230; shit, like I had to tell you that). Thanks go out to Heather and Elvis for making this happen. Next time we do a video interview!</p>
<h4>Todd Snider Interview &#8211; Length: 44 minutes</h4>
<p>Be sure to catch Todd Snider this Friday and Saturday night (May 4th and 5th, 2012) at <a href="http://gruenehall.com/" target="_blank">Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, TX</a>. Also check out the rest of his <a href="http://www.toddsnider.net/tour.cfm" target="_blank">tour dates</a>.</p>
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		<title>Todd Snider&#8217;s Songline Leads Him Back Where It All Began</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/23/todd-snider-time-as-we-know-it-songs-of-jerry-jeff-walker/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/23/todd-snider-time-as-we-know-it-songs-of-jerry-jeff-walker/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:53:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Album Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amy LaVere]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brooks & Dunn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elizabeth Cook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jerry Jeff Walker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jimmy Buffett]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kix Brooks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Time As We Know It]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Todd Snider]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ourkindofmusic.com/?p=1139</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The title of Todd Snider&#8217;s latest release, Time As We Know It &#8211; The Songs Of Jerry Jeff Walker, comes from &#8220;David and Me,&#8221; a 1999 Jerry Jeff Walker song about two gypsy song-men sharing some wine, reminiscing back on the long road they&#8217;ve been down, and just letting the time go by. With a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IX39AK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007IX39AK" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft  wp-image-1145" title="Todd Snider - The Tippy Gypsy" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/todd-snider-2012-01-crop.png" alt="" width="226" height="382" /></a>The title of Todd Snider&#8217;s latest release, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IX39AK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007IX39AK" target="_blank"><em>Time As We Know It &#8211; The Songs Of Jerry Jeff Walker</em></a>, comes from &#8220;David and Me,&#8221; a 1999 Jerry Jeff Walker song about two gypsy song-men sharing some wine, reminiscing back on the long road they&#8217;ve been down, and just letting the time go by. With a grin they wonder why &#8211; <em>They say we all changed / But I feel the same and I know that you are. / They always said we played &#8216;em much too long. / But tell me, what&#8217;s a song / Don&#8217;t it carry on and make the time go by? / Time as we know it.</em></p>
<p>Most Todd Snider fans have heard the story about how in 1985 his old buddy, Trogg, took him to the famous Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas where he saw Jerry Jeff Walker for the first time. It was an awakening experience for the nineteen year old Snider &#8211; that night he envisioned what he was destined to do. As Snider sometimes tells it at his shows, &#8220;We went down to see Jerry Jeff, and he came out, kinda like I am tonight, with just a guitar, and sang some songs, and I thought&#8230; <em>Shit, I could do that.</em>&#8221; Damn if he didn&#8217;t too. Snider started writing songs the very next day and never let up&#8230; except to occasionally stalk Jerry Jeff.</p>
<p>In his 1987 book <em>The Songlines</em>, British novelist and travel writer, Bruce Chatwin describes songlines as: <em>&#8230;the labyrinth of invisible pathways which meander all over Australia and are known as &#8220;Dreaming-tracks&#8221; or &#8220;Songlines&#8221;</em>. Snider&#8217;s songline may have begun that night in Gruene Hall.<em><br />
</em></p>
<p>A few short years later Todd got signed by Jimmy Buffett&#8217;s Margaritaville Records. You probably already know this, but just in case you didn&#8217;t &#8211; In 1971 (about a month after Todd Snider&#8217;s fifth birthday) Jerry Jeff Walker led Jimmy Buffett to the promise-land known as Key West, Florida. If he hadn&#8217;t done that, there wouldn&#8217;t have been a &#8220;Margaritaville&#8221; let alone a Margaritaville Records. Talk about synchronicity! Seriously though, isn&#8217;t it intriguing how their paths have intertwined?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IX39AK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007IX39AK" target="_blank"><img class="wp-image-988 alignright" title="Todd Snider - Time As We Know It" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Todd_Snider-Time_As_We_Know_It-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="216" /></a>On April 24, Snider will share his love of the original Gonzo Gypsy with the release of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IX39AK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007IX39AK" target="_blank"><em>Time as We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker</em></a>. Produced by Don Was (yeah, that Don Was of Bob Dylan, and Rolling Stones fame), the 14-song set was recorded last year in Nashville with the Colorado-based Americana band Great American Taxi and features guest appearances from Kix Brooks of Brooks &amp; Dunn, Elizabeth Cook and Amy LaVere. They recorded 30 additional tracks, so don&#8217;t be surprised if another collection is released someday.</p>
<p>The songs on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IX39AK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007IX39AK" target="_blank"><em>Time as We Know It</em></a> &#8211; which span most of Walker&#8217;s career &#8211; were done in that Snider stoner-gypsy fashion that has become a proudly-worn hat that his fans love so well. <em><strong>So well! So well! So well!</strong> (</em>Sorry, I had to throw that in).</p>
<p>Anytime Todd Snider does a cover song, it&#8217;s rebuilt and painted a whole new color, and with this collection the undying impression that Walker made on Snider adds a lustrous final clear coat, giving them a gleam to rival Snider&#8217;s own infectious smile. It seems that these songs have personal meaning for Snider &#8211; evident by the subtle lyric tweaks here and there. One of the most touching is when he shows gratitude of his wife, Melita, in &#8220;Layin&#8217; My Life on the Line.&#8221;  Even with that Snider touch, &#8220;Mr. Bojangles&#8221; still brought tears to my eyes&#8230; maybe more so.</p>
<p>Todd Snider&#8217;s songline has now brought him to a place of reflection and appreciation. On<em> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IX39AK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007IX39AK" target="_blank">Time As We Know It</a></em> he&#8217;s not just paying tribute to a man that inspired a 19 year old kid all those years ago; He&#8217;s honoring a man who has, over the years, become a dear close friend. A friend who holds mutual respect and admiration for him. A friend that he can share some wine with, reminisce about the old days, and just let the time go by. It doesn&#8217;t get much better than that. Maybe someday Todd will write a song called &#8220;Jerry Jeff and Me.&#8221;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Josh Harty Interview</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/21/josh-harty-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/21/josh-harty-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 2012 03:57:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The OKOM Show]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Josh Harty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nowhere]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shitty Barn]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ourkindofmusic.com/?p=1119</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Josh Harty&#8217;s latest release Nowhere is an intense collection of engaging, and sometimes painful songs that will capture your attention right down to the last track. In this interview he tells us the stories behind some of these songs as well as some interesting tales from the road. Harty&#8217;s subtlety multi-layered approach to his lyrics and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.joshharty.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1123" title="Josh Harty" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/joshharty-bw2-300x286.png" alt="" width="300" height="286" /></a>Josh Harty&#8217;s latest release <strong><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HVUESU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B005HVUESU" target="_blank">Nowhere</a></em></strong> is an intense collection of engaging, and sometimes painful songs that will capture your attention right down to the last track. In this interview he tells us the stories behind some of these songs as well as some interesting tales from the road.</p>
<p>Harty&#8217;s subtlety multi-layered approach to his lyrics and music is polished to a warm glow on this seven-track EP. Each song revealing another seam of a once buried dream, regret, or desire. The only thing I find fault with the album is that it&#8217;s too short; it leaves you wanting more, but yet still satisfied.</p>
<p>And if it wasn&#8217;t for this interview, I never would have learned of the <a href="http://shittybarnsessions.com/" target="_blank"><em>Shitty Barn</em></a> in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Thanks, Josh.</p>
<h4>Interview with Josh Harty</h4>
<p><br /><img src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Josh_Harty_Nowhere.png" width="640" height="360" alt="media" /><br />
</p>
<p>Since the audio quality from the Wisconsin end of the conversion was a bit sub-par (<em>I apologize for that, but I did all I could do to enhance it</em>) below is the super clean studio version of &#8220;On My Mind&#8221; for you to listen to and enjoy!</p>
<p>Better yet &#8211; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HVUESU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B005HVUESU" target="_blank"><strong>purchase and download</strong></a> Josh Harty&#8217;s album <em>Nowhere</em>. You won&#8217;t be disappointed!</p>
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		<title>Levon Helm &#8211; The Last Waltz</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/17/levon-helm-last-waltz/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/17/levon-helm-last-waltz/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:53:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[midnight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[midnight rambles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ophelia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pbs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[quick hits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sound tracks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the band]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ourkindofmusic.com/?p=1089</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Upon reading the message from Levon Helm&#8217;s daughter, Amy, and his wife, Sandy about Levon being in the final stages of his battle with cancer &#8211; I closed my eyes and drifted back to 1973&#8230; I sat in my high school English Literature class talking about&#8230; what else?&#8230; music. My friend Doug looked at me [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1109" title="Levon Helm" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/levon-helm3-300x210.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="210" />Upon reading the message from Levon Helm&#8217;s daughter, Amy, and his wife, Sandy about Levon being in the final stages of his battle with cancer &#8211; I closed my eyes and drifted back to 1973&#8230; I sat in my high school English Literature class talking about&#8230; what else?&#8230; music. My friend Doug looked at me like he didn&#8217;t recognize me and said, &#8221;What do mean you&#8217;ve never heard of The Band?&#8221; I felt ashamed for some reason &#8211; like I&#8217;d let him down or something.</p>
<p>Lunch break came after our class, and we headed out to his van for&#8230; lunch. Doug popped<em> Moondog Matinee</em> into the 8-track player &#8211; <em>You remember those don&#8217;t you?</em> &#8211; and the tinkling of piano keys of the opener &#8220;Ain&#8217;t Got No Home&#8221; cut through the sweet smoke wrapped around my head. I&#8217;d heard the song before, but not like The Band did it. I drifted away to New Orleans, or at least what I imagined New Orleans might have sounded like; I&#8217;d never been there.</p>
<p>About three songs into the tape Doug excitedly explained, &#8220;They&#8217;re all cover songs, man!&#8230; well, except for the next one. You know what cover songs are, right? It&#8217;s when they do someone else&#8217;s songs. You should hear <em>their</em> stuff though, man, it&#8217;s so cool. Its like nothing you&#8217;ve &#8211; &#8221;</p>
<p>I had to stop him. &#8220;I know what a cover tune is, man,&#8221; I said. &#8220;Just relax and let&#8217;s listen to it.&#8221; Damn, Doug talked a lot when we had lunch. I slid deeper into the beanbag chair as &#8220;Third Man Theme,&#8221; took me and dropped me right in the middle of a carnival. We listened to the whole tape &#8211; it <em>was</em> like nothing I&#8217;d ever heard &#8211; and then we drifted off to our Art Appreciation class. Later that day, Doug and I went to the record store to look for more by The Band. He told me all about the albums I was buying before I got the chance to listen to them.</p>
<p>Now I&#8217;m 39 years older and shocked to hear that Levon Helm is closing in on death&#8217;s door. I shouldn&#8217;t be shocked, after all, he is 39 years older too, but it didn&#8217;t seem possible. I guess that&#8217;s one of the harsh realities of life &#8211; our heroes don&#8217;t stay the way we remember them so many years ago. The music locks us in those memories while everything and everyone else around us changes.</p>
<p>It did make me feel better though when I watched this interview with Levon from about a month ago. Sure his voice was raspy, and the cancer treatments had taken a toll on <a href="http://youtu.be/TXBnFCdmUXA" target="_blank">&#8220;The Man Behind The Drums,&#8221;</a> but he still had a sparkle in his eyes and an undying smile on his face as he spoke about his favorite subject&#8230; music&#8230; and his friends known as <a href="http://levonhelm.com/midnight_ramble.htm" target="_blank"><em>The Midnight Ramblers</em></a>. He still plays the drums the way I remember, and if you close your eyes&#8230; The best things don&#8217;t have to disappear.</p>
<h4>Levon Helm Interview from the Sound Tracks: Quick Hits series by PBS Arts</h4>
<p><br /><img src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/levon_helm_01.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="media" /><br />
</p>
<h4>Levon Helm and the Midnight Ramblers &#8211; Ophelia &#8211; from the Sound Tracks: Quick Hits series by PBS Arts</h4>
<p><br /><img src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/levon_helm_ophelia.png" width="640" height="360" alt="media" /><br />
</p>
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		<title>David Olney Interview</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/12/david-olney-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/12/david-olney-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:03:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The OKOM Show]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Olney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Easter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Film Noir]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[singer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Singer/Songwriter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[songwriter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Stone]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ourkindofmusic.com/?p=1079</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There are plenty of songs out there on the subject of the life and crucifixion of Christ, but none as told by the diverse cast of characters residing in David Olney&#8217;s captivating release The Stone. Olney takes the all too familiar Easter story, and deftly observes the events through the eyes of &#8211; a con [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.davidolney.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1083" title="David Olney" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/David-Olney-300x199.gif" alt="" width="300" height="199" /></a>There are plenty of songs out there on the subject of the life and crucifixion of Christ, but none as told by the diverse cast of characters residing in <a href="http://www.davidolney.com/" target="_blank">David Olney&#8217;s</a> captivating release <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007J43HKA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007J43HKA" target="_blank"><em>The Stone</em></a>. Olney takes the all too familiar Easter story, and deftly observes the events through the eyes of &#8211; a con man learning of a fellow &#8220;miracle-worker&#8221; who&#8217;s cutting into his livelihood; a lowly but proud donkey blessed with the honor of carrying a King into town; a convicted murderer baffled as to why he was spared from crucifixion because of stranger; and a career soldier who must shamefully admit the body is missing from the tomb he was assigned to guard.</p>
<p>I got the chance to talk with David about The Stone and its engagingly fresh perspective of an ancient story. Mr. Olney is equally as fascinating as his songwriting. As a bonus &#8211; he performed a couple of songs during the interview. Thanks, David! Enjoy!</p>
<h4>David Olney Interview</h4>
<p><br /><img src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/david_olney.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="media" /><br />
</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/mn/search/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;field-keywords=david%20olney&amp;url=search-alias%3Dpopular&amp;sprefix=david%20olney%2Cpopular%2C303" target="_blank">Click here to preview, purchase &#8220;hard copy&#8221; or download David Olney&#8217;s music on Amazon.</a></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Tyler Fortier Interview</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/10/tyler-fortier-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/04/10/tyler-fortier-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:11:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Interviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The OKOM Show]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugene]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guitarist]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[indie-rock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Singer/Songwriter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tyler Fortier]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ourkindofmusic.com/?p=1046</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I first saw Tyler Fortier perform back in June, 2010 when he was the opening act for a singer I was writing a review about. I almost didn&#8217;t get to the show in time to catch his opening set, but I&#8217;m glad I did. His music and lyrics grabbed me and made me pay attention. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a title="Visit Tyler Fortier's website" href="http://tylerfortier.com/" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1056" title="Tyler Fortier" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Tyler_Fortier_01-247x300.jpg" alt="" width="247" height="300" /></a>I first saw <a href="http://tylerfortier.com/" target="_blank">Tyler Fortier</a> perform back in June, 2010 when he was the opening act for a singer I was writing a review about. I almost didn&#8217;t get to the show in time to catch his opening set, but I&#8217;m glad I did. His music and lyrics grabbed me and made me pay attention. A quiet-spoken, humble man when he talked; Tyler passionately bared all &#8211; pain, joy, and disillusionment &#8211; when he sang. I was more intrigued with him and his musical journey than I was with the headliner that night.</p>
<p>I got back in touch with Tyler the other day and interviewed him via webcam. We discussed all that he had accomplished in 2011 &#8211; releasing three albums, hitting the road on a eight state tour &#8211; and the lessons he&#8217;d learned from that most ambitious year. We also talked about his plans for 2012. Tyler and his music are never short on surprises. I highly recommend you check him out. You won&#8217;t be disappointed. Click on the cool Plexi Amp looking video player (below) and enjoy the interview in 720p HD!</p>
<h4><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Tyler Fortier Interview</span></h4>
<p><br /><img src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/tyler-fortier_color01_crop.png" width="640" height="360" alt="media" /><br />
</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;redirect=true&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;rd=1&amp;creative=390957&amp;field-keywords=tyler%20fortier&amp;url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music" target="_blank">Click here to preview, purchase and download Tyler Fortier&#8217;s music.</a></strong></p>
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		<title>Tyler Fortier &#8211; &#8220;Dreams Are Like Fire&#8221; Video</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/03/30/tyler-fortier-dreams-are-like-fire-video/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/03/30/tyler-fortier-dreams-are-like-fire-video/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 31 Mar 2012 03:06:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Artist Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dreams Are Like Fire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eugene]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oregon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tyler Fortier]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ourkindofmusic.com/?p=1000</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[To say that Tyler Fortier is ambitious would be putting it mildly. The twenty-something Eugene, Oregon based singer-songwriter released three albums in 2011. The first of the three (Fortier&#8217;s fifth solo album) …And They Rode Like Wildfire Snaking Through The Hills ‘Neath The Scarlet Sun &#8211; a lo-fi collection of 19th century narrative songs about the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://tylerfortier.com/" target="_blank"><img class="size-medium wp-image-1023 alignright" title="Tyler Fortier" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tyler-fortier_color01-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" /></a>To say that Tyler Fortier is ambitious would be putting it mildly. The twenty-something Eugene, Oregon based singer-songwriter released <strong>three</strong> <strong>albums</strong> in 2011. The first of the three (Fortier&#8217;s fifth solo album) <em>…And They Rode Like Wildfire Snaking Through The Hills ‘Neath The Scarlet Sun &#8211; </em>a lo-fi collection of 19<sup>th</sup> century narrative songs about the old west &#8211; hit the streets in February, 2011 (and came close to setting a new record for longest album title). He followed that up with the multi-layered, studio-produced <em>Fear of the Unknown</em> in May, 2011. <em>Fear&#8230;</em> explores the landscape of a future Armageddon and the tattered hope of  survival. Then in October, 2011, Fortier pulled <em>Bang On Time</em> out of his ever flowing bag of songs. <em>Bang On Time</em> uniquely stands apart from the two previous 2011 releases, but at the same time is freshly reminiscent of his acclaimed 2010 release <em>This Love Is Fleeting</em>.</p>
<p>You&#8217;d think that would be enough busy-time for anyone, but not Tyler. In March, 2011 he hit the road and shared his engaging brand of Americana across Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho in every coffee shop, bar, or club that gave him the chance.</p>
<p>In 2012, Fortier is releasing digital singles, each with a visual representation.  His first single, &#8220;Dreams Are Like Fire&#8221; was released  digitally on March 1st. Woodke Productions did some fine work on Fortier&#8217;s first ever music video to go along with it.  Most of the footage was taken from their New Year&#8217;s Eve show at the historic WOW Hall in Eugene, Oregon. Check it out below in 720 HD. <em>(Flip the first little silver switch on the player to take it to full screen)</em>.</p>
<p><br /><img src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/JW_thumbnail_TFortier_Dreams01.png" width="640" height="360" alt="media" /><br />
</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;redirect=true&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;rd=1&amp;creative=390957&amp;field-keywords=tyler%20fortier&amp;url=search-alias%3Ddigital-music" target="_blank">Click here to purchase and download MP3 files of most of Tyler Fortier&#8217;s music (including &#8220;Dreams Are Like Fire&#8221;)</a></strong></p>
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		<title>Todd Snider Honors Jerry Jeff Walker</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/03/22/todd-snider-honors-jerry-jeff-walker/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/03/22/todd-snider-honors-jerry-jeff-walker/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2012 15:58:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amy LaVere]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Brooks and Dunn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Don Was]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elizabeth Cook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jerry Jeff Walker]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kix Brooks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Time As We Know It]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Todd Snider]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[On April 24, Todd Snider will release Time As We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker, a tribute to his original musical hero. &#8220;I&#8217;ve always hoped I&#8217;d stay around long enough to get to make a record of Jerry Jeff Walker songs,&#8221; Snider says. &#8220;He&#8217;s the guy I saw at 19 and decided [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_988" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007IX39AK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B007IX39AK"><img class="size-medium wp-image-988" title="Pre-order Todd Snider - Time As We Know It" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Todd_Snider-Time_As_We_Know_It-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Click to pre-order &#39;Time As We Know It&#39; on Amazon</p></div>
<p>On April 24, Todd Snider will release <em>Time As We Know It: The Songs of Jerry Jeff Walker</em>, a tribute to his original musical hero. &#8220;I&#8217;ve always hoped I&#8217;d stay around long enough to get to make a record of Jerry Jeff Walker songs,&#8221; Snider says. &#8220;He&#8217;s the guy I saw at 19 and decided to try to be like. His are the first songs I learned.&#8221; See full track list below.<br />
Produced by Don Was (Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones), the 14 celebratory tracks feature friends and admirers like Kix Brooks of Brooks and Dunn, Elizabeth Cook, and Amy LaVere. &#8220;We just went into a studio and played about 30 of Jerry Jeff&#8217;s songs and let the performances dictate what songs would make it,&#8221; Snider says, adding, &#8220;I could&#8217;ve done 30 more.&#8221;<br />
The release follows Snider&#8217;s acclaimed new album <a title="Buy &quot;Agnostic Hymns &amp; Stoner Fables&quot; on Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006W1NQCK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B006W1NQCK" target="_blank"><em>Agnostic Hymns &amp; Stoner Fables</em></a> (Aimless Records). Released this month, the album debuted in the Top 20 of four separate Billboard charts, including the Indie Label Chart, the Folk Chart, the Internet Chart, and the Independent Core Store Report. The New York Times hailed it as &#8220;among his best&#8221; and Rolling Stone called it &#8220;the sharpest musical response yet to the excesses of the one percent.&#8221;<br />
<strong>Track Listing:</strong><br />
1. Vince Triple-O Martin<br />
2. Jaded Lover<br />
3. Moon Child<br />
4. Takin&#8217; It As It Comes<br />
5. Derby Day<br />
6. Sangria Wine<br />
7. Continuous Saga of the Bummer Or Is This My One Way Bus Ticket to Cleveland<br />
8. Little Bird<br />
9. Hill Country Rain<br />
10. Railroad Lady<br />
11. Laying My Life on the Line<br />
12. Pissin&#8217; in the Wind<br />
13. Mr. Bojangles<br />
14. Will There Be Any</p>
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		<title>Agnostic Hymns and Stoner Fables fill the air! Can I get an amen?</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/03/06/agnostic-hymns-and-stoner-fables-review/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/03/06/agnostic-hymns-and-stoner-fables-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:45:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Album Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elvis Hixx]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[folk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keith Richards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mick Jagger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Singer/Songwriter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Devil You Know]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Todd Snider]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Will Kimbrough]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[As expected, Todd Snider&#8216;s latest album &#8211; Agnostic Hymns &#38; Stoner Fables (Aimless Records) &#8211; is full of surprises. I know that&#8217;s a bit of an oxymoron, but for years Todd Snider followers (lovingly referred to as Shitheads) have come to eagerly anticipate previously untouched subjects and style with each new release, and Agnostic Hymns [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a title="Buy &quot;Agnostic Hymns &amp; Stoner Fables&quot; on Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0075CQHSA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0075CQHSA" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-960" title="Buy Agnostic Hymns &amp; Stoner Fables on Amazon" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Todd_Snider-Agnostic_Hymns_Stoner_Fables.jpg" alt="" width="280" height="280" /></a>As expected, <a href="http://www.toddsnider.net/home.cfm" target="_blank">Todd Snider</a>&#8216;s latest album &#8211; <a title="Buy &quot;Agnostic Hymns &amp; Stoner Fables&quot; on Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0075CQHSA/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B0075CQHSA" target="_blank"><em>Agnostic Hymns &amp; Stoner Fables</em></a> (Aimless Records) &#8211; is full of surprises. I know that&#8217;s a bit of an oxymoron, but for years Todd Snider followers (lovingly referred to as Shitheads) have come to eagerly anticipate previously untouched subjects and style with each new release, and <em>Agnostic Hymns &amp; Stoner Fables</em> is no exception. Snider&#8217;s peerless perspective of the world and it&#8217;s cast of characters is his alter, and his songs carry his slightly skewed sermons.</p>
<p>What better place to begin our services than with &#8220;In The Beginning,&#8221; a tale that takes us back to the kickoff of the race we call human, where it&#8217;s suggested that the pedestals the rich so proudly plant their asses on were already taking shape. When the poor considered rising up in solidarity to even the score (possibly by murder), the rich offered up a distraction &#8211; a hint to the mystical secrets of religion, the possibility of reward in their (after)life &#8211; all a gift from a supreme being named God (who oddly only seemed to speak to the rich). And as the rich man told them all about how good people could go to Heaven, but the insolent would spend eternity in the fiery pits of Hell, the people believed him (since no one could prove him wrong) as he smiled and said, &#8220;Who are you going to trust if you can&#8217;t trust me?&#8221; He told them all they needed to do was humbly serve him and they would be rewarded&#8230; but not by the rich man, as he put it, &#8211; &#8220;Of course, I could pay you a little bit of money / but&#8230; more importantly God would see / And if he sees you working humbly / someday he may give you what he&#8217;s given me.&#8221; So began the empty promises from &#8220;The Haves&#8221; to &#8220;The Soon-to-Haves&#8221; that the prosperity of the rich shall blaze the trail for the plenteous of the poor. Not much has changed, has it?</p>
<p>Snider effortlessly ties this timeless tale into our present day setting &#8211; high unemployment, uncertainty, fear, the rise of the 99%, and the <em>Don&#8217;t get the people all worked up with the notion of class warfare</em> attitude of &#8220;The Haves&#8221; &#8211; where we watch a bunch of rich politicians proudly wave their faith flags as they promise, &#8220;Support me and I will lead you to a land filled with good fortune! After all, who are you going to trust if you can&#8217;t trust me?&#8221;</p>
<p>If that first song didn&#8217;t piss you off, then maybe you&#8217;re not paying attention. That&#8217;s alright though, maybe your blood will hit the boiling point as Snider keeps the heat on it with a story told by a southern teacher who was set to retire only to find out that their pension fund was unwisely invested by a &#8220;New York Banker&#8221; who promised, &#8220;This kind of thing was even safer than gold.&#8221; You know how this is going to end, and that <em>should</em> piss you off.</p>
<p>A couple of years back during an interview with Todd, I said,  &#8220;When you do a cover song, you really make it your own.&#8221; At the time we were talking about his haunting cover of Robert Earl Keen&#8217;s &#8220;Corpus Christi Bay.&#8221; Now he has taken on Jimmy Buffett&#8217;s &#8220;West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown.&#8221; This tale about a girl escaping her former life and family was originally released by Buffett 38 years ago. Snider&#8217;s choices of instrumentation, dynamics, and phrasing have surpassingly rendered it into a composition with the texture and flavor of an Appalachian Folk classic; he made it his own.</p>
<p><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-958" title="Who wears their pants like that?" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/lowpants01-300x272.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="272" />Somehow Snider managed to tap into the vein of Rudy Vallée when he came up with the slow sweet jazz ballad &#8220;Precious Little Miracles,&#8221; a song that seemingly comes from the viewpoint of a well-to-do old-timer as he questions today&#8217;s youth. Why do they feel so entitled to luxuries that they didn&#8217;t earn or were born into? Why can&#8217;t they be satisfied being poor? There are so many other things they could be focused on &#8211; like entertaining the rich! And, in true Snider style, he delivers one of the most apropos questions &#8211; &#8220;Kids&#8230; their pants around their hipbones / <em>Who wears their pants like that?</em> / Come here kid, let me hitch up your britches / And while we&#8217;re at it, let&#8217;s fix that hat&#8221;. Kids&#8230; they&#8217;re a handful.</p>
<p>Remember back in 2006 when &#8220;Carla&#8221; left that guy that sang about her on <em>The Devil You Know</em>? Well, apparently the stupid shit took her back and she&#8217;s still kicking him square in the ol&#8217; ball sack in &#8220;The Very Last Time&#8221; (co-written with Todd&#8217;s longtime friend Will Kimbrough). Come on pal, snap out of it! You obviously know what a bitch she is when you say, &#8220;I had a dream that you came to see me / You asked if I was okay / That&#8217;s how I knew that I was dreaming / You asked if I was okay.&#8221; That&#8217;s golden.</p>
<p>And speaking of sequels (<em>were we?</em>) the foreboding atmosphere of contempt and resentment that envelopes &#8220;In Between Jobs&#8221; (co-written with Todd&#8217;s loyal sidekick Elvis Hixx) along with its echoes of murderous thoughts (as contemplated in the opening track) are in stark contrast to the arrogant optimism of the ex-con narrator and his nothing-to-lose attitude in &#8220;Looking For a Job&#8221; from <em>The Devil You Know</em>. But six years ago Americans were more optimistic; time has changed all that. The abrasive structure and threatening tone of &#8220;In Between Jobs&#8221; rips at your skin, maybe in a desire to replicate the pain, desperation, and lack of self-worth felt by scores of  jobless and hopeless that cover our country.</p>
<p>There are reviews out there spouting Snider&#8217;s upbeat love-song  &#8220;Brenda&#8221; &#8211; <em>about an unlikely couple who &#8220;met on a train going somewhere fast&#8221; and hit it off right away. She was driven, him not so much. But together they built an empire that conquered the world with each new endeavor. Their tumultuous relationship <em>eventually </em>scarred and they went their separate ways, only to return to their destiny&#8230; each other</em> &#8211; as being all about the musical duo of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Seriously? What makes you think that? I hope it&#8217;s not just because of those lines Todd threw in near the end of the song &#8211; &#8220;Mick Jagger was born on a Monday morning / Keith Richards was born on a Saturday night / It was true love.&#8221; Isn&#8217;t it possible he may have tossed those lines in just to fuck with us? I mean, shit, we&#8217;re talking about Todd &#8220;The Grand Imagineer&#8221; Snider here! He loves to play with the lyrics and mess with our heads!</p>
<h6><em>Listen to &#8220;Brenda&#8221;</em></h6>
<p>Okay, after listening to it again&#8230; I&#8217;ll admit, there are some vague similarities between Jagger and Richards and this couple. Mick and Keith were childhood friends back in the early 1950s until their families moved apart. They didn&#8217;t cross paths again until 1960 at a Dartford, Kent train station&#8230; just a coincidence. Mick had some Muddy Waters records on him that day which revealed their shared taste in music, and they formed a band. From there on, they shook up the world. You couldn&#8217;t stop the flow of songs that poured out of them. Okay, but their relationship was good, right? Wrong. They were more brothers-of-different-mothers than friends. Eventually, they got away from each other &#8211; Mick into the jet-setter&#8217;s life; Keith fell deeper into drugs. They found their way back to each other. Have you read Keith&#8217;s book &#8211; <a title="Buy &quot;Life&quot; on Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031603438X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=031603438X" target="_blank"><em>Life</em></a>? Turns out one of Keith&#8217;s nicknames for Jagger was Brenda. I&#8217;ll be damned. See, what did I tell you? Snider likes to mess with our heads.</p>
<p>Sometimes a man can only take so much of deceit and lies. They&#8217;re pushed to the edge of a cliff where all that&#8217;s within their grasp &#8211; to keep them from falling off &#8211; is revenge. This is where we find the narrator of the jaggedly driven song &#8220;Too Soon to Tell.&#8221; A dark cloud hangs over him and he&#8217;s headed to a place he doesn&#8217;t really want to go, but knows he has no choice. His disconnected thoughts, desires, and regrets seem to fly past us like so many pages ripped from the spine of a book and fed to the wind.</p>
<div id="attachment_955" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 217px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-955    " title="Digger Dave &amp;amp; Todd back in the day" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Digger_Dave_Todd_Snider-207x300.jpg" alt="Digger Dave and Todd Snider" width="207" height="300" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Todd &amp; Digger Dave back in the day</p></div>
<p>If you&#8217;ve been to a Todd Snider concert lately then you&#8217;ve probably heard some of Todd&#8217;s damn-near-unbelievable stories about his old Alaskan pal, Digger Dave. If you haven&#8217;t been to one of his shows&#8230; what the hell are you waiting for? Anyway, &#8220;Digger Dave&#8217;s Crazy Woman Blues&#8221; tells one of those tales about, well&#8230; the title pretty much says it all. If there&#8217;s trouble, there&#8217;s a woman somewhere close by watching the shit she stirred up hit the fan. And Todd swears that this is the truest story he&#8217;s ever told, and we know that almost all of the stories he tells are true.</p>
<p>That brings us to &#8211; one of my favorites &#8211; the final track &#8220;Big Finish&#8221; <em>(How does he come up with these catchy song titles?)</em>, a churning bluesy number that has reflective lines like &#8220;If I could do all this all over / I wouldn&#8217;t do nothin&#8217; the same&#8221; and &#8220;I try to remember / It helps me forget.&#8221; The soulful instrumentation of &#8220;Big Finish&#8221; has Amanda Shire&#8217;s violin, along with Chad Staehly&#8217;s B3, weaving their way around Todd&#8217;s grinding guitar, and over the solid rhythm of Paul Griffith&#8217;s drums and Eric McConnell&#8217;s bass. My favorite moment in this tune is one of ponder &#8211; &#8220;The older I get, the more I worry that the more I worry, the older I&#8217;ll get&#8230; and yet I still worry. Ain&#8217;t that about a son-of-a-bitch, I tell ya.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Tommy Womack is feelin&#8217; good on Now What!</title>
		<link>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/03/05/tommy-womack-is-feelin-good-on-now-what/</link>
		<comments>http://ourkindofmusic.com/2012/03/05/tommy-womack-is-feelin-good-on-now-what/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2012 06:39:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blake Phillips</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Album Reviews]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Americana]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[interview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Irene Kelley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lisa Oliver-Gray]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Now What]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[review]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[There I Said It]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tommy Womack]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ourkindofmusic.com/?p=829</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The title of Tommy Womack&#8217;s latest CD &#8211; Now What! &#8211; may describe what went through his mind after the unexpected success of his 2007 release There, I Said It! (an album that almost never found its way to the record rack). As Tommy told me, &#8220;I thought I was done, and I almost pulled [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_771" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00787FF44/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=oukiofmu-20&amp;camp=213381&amp;creative=390973&amp;linkCode=as4&amp;creativeASIN=B00787FF44&amp;adid=1MV82PJ7SQPWCJ1WCJEN&amp;&amp;ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fourkindofmusic.com%2F" target="_blank"><img class="size-medium wp-image-771 " title="Click to see on Amazon.com" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Tommy-Womack-Now-What-300x270.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="270" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Tommy Womack - Now What!</p></div>
<p>The title of <a href="http://www.tommywomack.net/" target="_blank">Tommy Womack&#8217;s</a> latest CD &#8211; <em>Now What!</em> &#8211; may describe what went through his mind after the unexpected success of his 2007 release <em>There, I Said It!</em> (an album that almost never found its way to the record rack). As Tommy told me, &#8220;I thought I was done, and I almost pulled that record. I almost pulled the plug on it because I thought, <em>No one wants to hear me confessing all this stuff</em>. Thankfully I found out that by voicing my fears, I echoed the fears of a whole lot of people of my generation&#8230; It was far and away the most successful record I&#8217;ve ever had&#8230; It totally turned my career around.&#8221; The title of that album came from words that Tommy had written years earlier, and later took shape as a track on <em>There, I Said It!</em> called &#8220;I&#8217;m Never Gonna Be a Rock Star&#8221; that tells the tale of Tommy&#8217;s realization and reluctant acceptance that his rock star days were over. From 1985 to 1992 Womack had played lead guitar and sang lead vocals for the post-punk band Government Cheese. He may not be the rock star of yesterday, but Womack&#8217;s career as a must-be-heard singer/songwriter of today is thanks to that nearly shelved self-therapy project.</p>
<p><em>Now What!</em> is an all-embracing collection of songs pulling influences from musical styles diverse as blues, Dixieland jazz, and classic rock, with just a pinch of rap. Womack lyrically sheds his skin with an equally assorted batch of subject matters. Tommy defends his diverse topics and says, &#8220;It&#8217;s really not a skitzo record at all!&#8221; There&#8217;s no need to defend his choices that, once again, a lot of people will relate to:  dealing with life on the road (or the road of life) and some of its pitfalls; the warmth of home and family; the past and how it can show up unannounced and bite you in the ass; the mortality we reluctantly realize as we grow older; and finally &#8211; love, simple and real.</p>
<p>The upbeat<em> </em>opener &#8220;Play That Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick Play&#8221; sets the optimistic tone &#8211; cheerfully declaring  &#8220;Another dollar, another day / I shouldn’t look back but I do anyway / Dad’s in the ground, Mom’s on the way / Play that Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick play&#8221; &#8211; while also giving us glimpses of Tommy&#8217;s undying love of his family, and his ever-haunting self-doubt. It&#8217;s all good in the end though as he borrows some favorite lines from Cheap Trick&#8217;s Surrender to sum it all up &#8211; &#8220;Momma&#8217;s alright, Daddy&#8217;s alright, the boy&#8217;s alright, we&#8217;re all alright.&#8221;</p>
<h6><em>Listen to &#8220;Play That Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick Play&#8221;</em></h6>
<p>Continuing with the &#8220;we&#8217;re all alright&#8221; good vibe, comes &#8220;It Doesn&#8217;t Have To Be That Good&#8221; carrying the message that life needn&#8217;t be filled with gloriously rewarding moments. Sometimes it is what it is &#8211; ups, downs, paying bills, and mowing the lawn (and all <em>that</em> can happen in one day). The tune also reminds us &#8220;No matter what your life is like – it beats the pants off death.&#8221;</p>
<p>Have you ever run into an old flame and wish you hadn&#8217;t because all those old memories &#8211; good and bad &#8211; came flooding forward from their long-time hiding place way back in your mind? In the gentle ballad &#8220;Bye &amp; Bye&#8221; (one of my favorite songs from <em>Now What!</em>) Tommy shares a story of when he bumped into, as he put it, &#8220;A real girl that I had a fling with back in the 80s.&#8221; As he explained further, &#8220;She was a real girl&#8230; well, she <em>still is</em> a real girl. We&#8217;d bumped into each other in the grocery store one day. It happened pretty much as it&#8217;s described in the song, except we didn&#8217;t end up at the checkout line at the same time&#8221;. Lyrics of remembrance came out of that encounter &#8211; &#8220;Your body still makes me a young man / Your brain’s still a bomb you can throw / I had me a nice hard decision to make / All those years ago.&#8221;  But in the end, the admission is made, possibly justifying that hard decision made so many years earlier &#8211; &#8220;I’d have made you a miserable husband / You’d have been a high maintenance wife.&#8221; But ardor seems to still linger in the air at that Harris Teeter. <em>(Being from the west coast, I had to Google &#8220;Harris Teeter.&#8221;)</em></p>
<h6>Listen to &#8220;Bye &amp; Bye&#8221;</h6>
<p>The flip-side to &#8220;Bye &amp; Bye&#8221; &#8211; &#8220;I’m Too Old to Feel That Way Right Now&#8221; &#8211; has Womack briefly trying to fan the old flame but realizing he isn&#8217;t quite up to it as &#8220;The touch of your hand leaves me inspired / But I’m set in my ways and kinda tired.&#8221; Getting old sure is a bitch.</p>
<p>In the slow-paced shuffle &#8220;On And Off the Wagon&#8221;, with a comical arrangement that cleverly pairs pedal steel guitar with a tuba,  Tommy confesses &#8220;I’ve learned to know my limits / I’ve learned to pass them by.&#8221; The lesson here &#8211; Maybe it&#8217;s best to say you&#8217;ve paused instead of quit.</p>
<p>In the few of the tunes on <em>Now What!</em> you might get the sensation that you&#8217;re on the road with Womack as he shares his witty tales. But in the hard-driving Rap-esque &#8220;90 Miles an Hour Down a Dead-End Street&#8221; you feel like there&#8217;s a pissed-off drunken maniac behind the wheel, and you&#8217;re trapped in the passenger seat clutching a bottle of Chianti for dear life as the driver &#8211; looking a lot like a creation of Ed &#8220;Big Daddy&#8221; Roth &#8211; barks at you, &#8220;Don&#8217;t spill any of that shit!&#8221; At this point, you may wonder if jumping from this crazy ride would be better than the possible ending &#8211; but you choose to stay because it&#8217;s so damn fun!</p>
<p>The lyrics in the jazzy bop number &#8220;Guilty Snake Blues&#8221; shuffles near-carelessly over a wide topical stretch of lustful land, but somehow it all ties together like a cool ribbon of random thoughts punctuated by Jim Hoke&#8217;s smokey soulful sax.</p>
<div id="attachment_839" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 209px"><img class="size-medium wp-image-839" title="Tommy Womack &amp; Sheba" src="http://ourkindofmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/TommyWomackPHOTObyGreggRoth_1294110041-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Tommy Womack &amp; Sheba the Wonder Dog (Photo by Gregg Roth)</p></div>
<p>One of Tommy&#8217;s personal favorites on the record is &#8220;Pot Head Blues.&#8221; It&#8217;s a quiet heartfelt acoustic tune that has him recollecting and somewhat regretting  time lost while stoned. But he doesn&#8217;t let it hold him back, stating &#8220;Nobody ever made me do it / No time to turn around, you blew it, get to it / Lay it down, you got nothing to lose.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I Love You to Pieces&#8221; is Tommy&#8217;s playful, flirtatious love letter to his wife, Beth. But feel free to use it on someone of your choice. It&#8217;s got plenty of Stones-like jamming filling it up with nothing but fun.</p>
<p>&#8220;Over the Hill&#8221; had been bouncing around in Tommy&#8217;s head for years, and he&#8217;s finally let it out. It&#8217;s a blend of feeling your age and spreading your love in the spirit of Donavan &#8211; complete with sublime horns.</p>
<p>The peacefully haunting &#8220;Wishes Do Come True&#8221; (sweetened by Lisa Oliver-Gray&#8217;s vocal talents) intrigued me as I tried to get the underlying meaning of it. To me the lines &#8211; &#8220;All through the day you used to want me / You used to need me now you just haunt me / I sold my soul for one night of your touch / How could I know when too much was too much&#8221; &#8211; spoke of Womack&#8217;s up and down relationship with the music industry. When I told Tommy my thoughts on this he laughed and said, &#8220;You know, I&#8217;m not sure what all &#8220;Wishes Do Come True&#8221; is about. That one has ambiguities in it that escape me. I wrote that with Irene Kelley. There are lines in there that we really liked, but there are lines in there that I&#8217;m not sure what they mean to this day. It could be about the music business. If it works that way in your interpretation, then I&#8217;m not going to say that it&#8217;s not about that. Who knows, maybe subconsciously it is about that. Like I said, I&#8217;m not sure what it&#8217;s about. You could take it as meaning infidelity.&#8221;</p>
<h6><em>Listen to &#8220;Wishes Do Come True&#8221;</em></h6>
<p>The album wraps up with &#8220;Let&#8217;s Have Another Cigarette&#8221; which made me ask Tommy if he still smoked (even though it wasn&#8217;t any of my business). &#8220;No, no,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I haven&#8217;t smoked in about two and a half years. I&#8217;ve got a snuff pouch in my mouth right now. I still do those.&#8221; Getting back on the subject at hand, I then asked him how &#8220;Let&#8217;s Have Another Cigarette&#8221; came about. &#8220;I don&#8217;t remember writing it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;One day &#8211; I had it, the day before &#8211; I didn&#8217;t. It&#8217;s based in fact to a degree. I got a speeding ticket in Ohio one day where they were convinced that I was transporting drugs. So they took everything in the car apart, and I didn&#8217;t have anything in there&#8230; thank goodness. So I always see that as being a song about being in Ohio going from one gig to another, and it just seemed to call out to be the album closer. You know, because I&#8217;m leaving somewhere and going somewhere else. Also, in that song &#8211; I&#8217;m sober. There are other songs on that record where the character of me is <em>not</em> sober, but in this one I make it to the end of the record, and I&#8217;ve sobered up, I&#8217;m going on to the next gig, and life continues on. A nice way to close out the record &#8211; on an optimistic note.&#8221; Now What! comes full circle, ending as it began, cruising along in Tommy&#8217;s car, taillights fading into the night, he&#8217;s fully aware of where he&#8217;s at &#8211; &#8220;I got about a half a tank of gas / I&#8217;m a pimple on Dylan&#8217;s ass&#8221; &#8211; and he couldn&#8217;t be happier. Hopefully, we haven&#8217;t seen the last of Tommy Womack.</p>
<p><em>There, I Said It!</em> was a tough act to follow, but Tommy Womack took himself to the next level and did not disappoint with <em>Now What!</em>.</p>
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