Way Down Yonder On the Chattahoochee

One of the most common transgressions made by music fans is judging a genre by the people it supposedly attracts.

I encounter it daily:  Country fans are drunken homophobes.  Only elitists listen to jazz.  Hip-hop heads are illiterate. 

I’m also guilty of making rash generalizations.  Thankfully, I caught myself before I responded to a friend's direct provocation regarding Sturgill Simpson (a musician I appreciate).  I was going to suggest that most members of the audience at Simpson's concert in Kansas City last week were status-conscious bandwagoners who wouldn’t be caught dead at an Alan Jackson show.

That wouldn't have been nice.

Jackson's music may not be worthy of consideration by Pitchfork obsessives, but it will always have a place in my life.  In the parlance of 2015, plenty of the songs on his new album Angels and Alcohol are “basic.”  I'm not bothered that the album demonstrates no musical or ideological progression.

“Mexico, Tequila and Me” may be just as tired as its title suggests, but I genuinely appreciate the cliches of “Jim and Jack and Hank.”  I also think that the spiritual cheese of “God Paints” is delicious.  And the title track- easily the album’s best song- hits close to home.

Now, for the rest of the story: I wore a pink shirt to an Alan Jackson concert in 2007.  Harassed for hours by drunken homophobes, I thought I’d be killed in Bonner Springs, Kansas.


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I reviewed Tech N9ne’s Special Effects for KCUR.

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I reviewed a concert by Keith Sweat and Blackstreet featuring Teddy Riley and Dave Hollister.

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I reviewed a concert by the Dave Matthews Band.

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A segment about Jeff Black is among the recent Local Listen items I've contributed to KCUR.

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Shades of Jade’s new single ”That One” is RIYL: Brian McKnight, Kansas City neo-soul, Bilal.

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Bummer’s punishing Spank EP is shockingly great.  The Olathe band’s new EP is RIYL: Paw, blind rage, Tad.

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The Kansas City Star recalls the infamous Ozark Music Festival of 1974.

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Joan Sebastian has died.  I reviewed his concert at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater last year.

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Max Richter’s Sleep is “an eight-hour lullaby.”

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Man Plans God Laughs is the title track of Public Enemy’s new album.

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Heads of State’s Search For Peace is a standard-issue post-Coltrane jazz date.  RIYL: Gary Bartz, old school jazz, Larry Willis.

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”God bless Rod Stewart.”

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Album Review: Leon Russell- Life Journey

A handful of late-career documents by great artists including Charlie Rich's Pictures and Paintings, Solomon Burke's Don't Give Up On Me, Chet Baker's Let's Get Lost and Johnny Cash's American Recordings are among my favorite albums.  Leon Russell seems to have had those recordings on his mind during the sessions for his new Life Journey.  There's no thrill of the new in hearing Russell groan through "Georgia," "That Lucky Old Sun" and "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good," but the tracks seem definitive.  Life Journey is the Russell album that is likely to stay in my rotation for the remainder of my life.

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Welcome to the roots edition of There Stands the Glass.  It's against my instincts to segregate genres, but I feel as if I've been neglecting folk, blues and country at this site.  It's time to make amends.

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The Kansas City Star published a nice remembrance of the late accordionist Don Lipovac.

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Rodney Crowell is in top form on Tarpaper Sky.  RIYL: Townes Van Zandt, giants among us, Johnny Cash.

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The highlight of Carlene Carter's decent Carter Girl is a duet with Willie Nelson on "Troublesome Waters."  The album is RIYL: Patty Loveless, the way things used to be, Rodney Crowell.

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It's shocking to hear Eli Paperboy Reed mimicking the pop sound of Bruno Mars on Nights Like This.  I can't decide if it's the most disappointing album of the year or a daring change of direction.  RIYL: Justin Timberlake, bad advice, Jersey Boys.

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Robert Cray's In My Soul is exceptionally solid.  RIYL: Junior Parker, consistency, Lowell Fulson.

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9 Dead Alive, the album by Rodrigo y Gabriela, is extraordinarily quiet.  RIYL: the late Paco de Lucia, NPR, Andres Segovia.

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The sound quality of Chuck E. Weiss' Red Beans & Weiss is atrocious.  And that's just one reason to love it.  RIYL: Hollywood Fats, real deal hipsters, Jimmy Reed.

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Bobby Rush's Decisions is a mixed bag.  Here's a high-quality video for "Another Murder in New Orleans".

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The title of Keb' Mo's Bluesamericana says it all.  RIYL: pandering, James Taylor, pablum.

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The Asylum Street Spankers are just as delightful as ever on The Last Laugh.  RIYL: hootenannies, 8 1/2 Souvenirs, the old Austin.

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Blues man Gary Clark Jr.'s Blak and Blu features contributions from Bilal, Big K.R.I.T., Robert Glasper and Talib Kweli.

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Jeff Black's Folklore is a fine collection of honest songs about subjects that are often extremely difficult.  RIYL: Guy Clark, sincerity, Greg Brown.

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Country star Dierks Bentley splits the difference between bluegrass and pap on Riser.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)

Review: Bentcousin- Everybody's Got One

Everybody's Got One, the new six-song EP by Bentcousin, is a mess.  And I love it.  The bum notes and questionable production values make the British duo's ramshackle project all the more charming.

On the opening track "Bentpaperboy," Amelia Innit gently croons lines like "I never met a Catholic that I didn't like."  The ingratiating acoustic piece recalls the dry wit of Belle and Sebastian.  Amelia's twin brother Pat admires a girl named "Susan" and "my favorite LP" on the chaotic rocker "Slade."  "I Quit You" is a feisty duet in which a modern-day Eliza Doolittle asserts her independence.  "You went out drinking when she had the flu!" Amelia sneers on the delightful "I Think I Like Your Girlfriend More Than You".

The modest Everybody's Got One is precisely the type of hidden gem that replenishes my faith in the giddy power of popular music.  I recommend it to aficionados of Billy Bragg's love songs, the lighthearted side of the Mekons and the enthusiasm of Frank Turner.  Everybody's Got One will be released in February.


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Cowboy Indian Bear's new four-song single is very impressive.

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"I'm Hustin'" is the latest video from Rich the Factor.  (Tip via Tony's Kansas City.)

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B-Sides And Confessions Vol. 2, the new album by former Kansas Citian Jeff Black, was released on January 15.

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Here's a tease from Kanrocksas.

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My friend K.S. turned me on to Wichita's The Travel Guide.  RIYL: Indie kids bashing away in a basement.

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Jimi in Salina.

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Steve Pick's insightful review of Jimbo Mathus' White Buffalo suggests that the album resembles an inferior version of Exile On Main Street.  It reminds me of a Joe Grushecky album.  That's a good thing.

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I first heard the Eddie Fisher Quintet's The Third Cup this week.  RIYL: Wes, Grant and George.  (Via Euclid Records.)

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ASAP Rocky's LoveLiveA$AP is the most immediately sonically rewarding album I've heard in a while.  It's a fun listen but I'm not convinced that I'll still be enamored of it come December.

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I've been riding shotgun on the Emily Armstrong bandwagon for about a year.  Hear what she does with "Gone Away".

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Big Jay McNeely is alive!

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Yes, I'm a hypocrite.  I'm offended by this promotional video for Jazz Fest.  It seems wrong to use a brass band's music to pitch the likes of Billy Joel, Fleetood Mac, DMB and Maroon 5.

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Forget Dirty Projectors- Bahamas is where it's at.  This stunning live performance is RIYL Alan Jackson, Dirty Projectors, Bruce Springsteen.

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Here's the sonic representation of my Facebook news feed.  (Not that I didn't sign up for it…)

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)