New Music Video From The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band featuring Matraca Berg – "Nashville Skyline"

Write You A Song Podcast - An Interview With Singer-Songwriter Matraca Berg

This morning we share another new podcast from host Tom Mailey from Bonneville radio station New Country 105.1 KNCI in Sacramento. Tom is a country radio veteran with over 30 years of experience in Seattle and Sacramento and a key partner in our Golf & Guitars Children's Charity Music Festival, a little event in our twelfth year that has raised well north of a million bucks for kids and individuals with disabilities. It highlights the songwriters in our industry and is entitled Write You a Song.

It's his hope that this podcast will shine a little overdue spotlight on the talented men and women who, mostly behind the scenes, write the songs that become part of our lives. You know their words and music, but maybe not their names: Write You a Song will feature some of country music’s biggest songwriters--like Jeffrey Steele, Brett Warren, Ashley McBryde, Tim Nichols and more.

This month’s guest, Matraca Berg, grew up in a musical family. Her mother Icee Berg (yep, real name!) was a songwriter and session singer who at first wasn't crazy that her daughter wanted a career in country music but later became her best teacher. Her stepfather, Dave Kirby, was a songwriter whose credits include the Gene Watson classic I’ve Got Memories to Burn and Charlie Pride’s Is Anybody Goin to San Antone. The family lived in Nashville and often hosted parties featuring writers and singers. So, it stands to reason that being around that kind of environment would kind of rub off on a person. But in Matraca’s case, it was more than just a smudge; she was gifted the talent- and the drive- to have over 50 of her songs recorded, including several that helped female artists to dominate country music in the 1990s like they have never before... or since. She is a CMA and ACM-winning 2008 Nashville Songwriting Hall of Fame inductee who’s quick to give credit to her co-writers, she’s married to Jeff Hanna of the legendary Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and she’s a pretty great solo artist too.

New Music Video From Erin Enderlin - "Fishin' In The Dark"

Hear It Here: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jason Isbell, Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash & The War and Treaty Collaborate On "The Times They Are A-Changin'"

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jason Isbell, Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash and The War and Treaty collaborate on the old 1964 Bob Dylan classic, "The Times They Are A-Changin'." 

All proceeds from the song will support Feeding America. Their mission is to feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger. Just $1 can help provide at least 10 meals to kids, families and individuals facing hunger.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band lead singer Hanna begins and ends the song on lead vocals, but each guest adds their own vocal approach to their respective verse. Isbell’s brings a country-folk drawl while Cash takes an elegant ballad approach, all before Michael and Tanya Blount Trotter of the War and Treaty bring home the song’s fourth verse.

“I’ve been a fan of Bob Dylan’s since I was a teenager, living in California,” said Hanna. “I was fortunate enough to see him sing ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ in concert the year the song was released.”

“It moved me deeply then and that hasn’t changed,” Hanna said of the song upon its release. “The lyrics are as relevant today as they were when Dylan wrote it. Maybe even more so.”

Legendary Texas Songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker Passes Away At Age Of 78

K.F. Raizor, author of the website Raizor's Edge and the book We Can't Sing and We Ain't Funny: The World of Homer and Jethro is our guest writer today on That Nashville Sound. She's ever so gracious to provide wonderful tributes to honor those to whom the music we treasure just wouldn't be the same without. Thank you, K.F.

Yet again we pause to mourn for the loss of a great singer/songwriter.

Jerry Jeff Walker died Friday (10/23) after a recurrence of throat cancer.

For all of the automatic association with Texas country music that one has with the name Jerry Jeff Walker, in truth he wasn’t born in Texas...nor with that name!  He was born Ronald Clyde Crosby on March 16, 1942, in Oneonta, New York.  

The past was wild, including going AWOL from the National Guard.  Walker ended up in jail in New Orleans, where he encountered an old man who frequented jails for public intoxication.  From that experience, Jerry Jeff Walker established himself with one of the great classics in music: “Mr. Bojangles.” 

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band did a country version of the song, then Sammy Davis Jr. recorded a pop rendition that made the song an American music standard, and basically set Walker for life financially. 

Free to be himself, he established himself in what he called “gonzo country,” in hindsight a forerunner of the mid-70s “outlaw” movement.  He made music on his own terms, scoring minor hits (“I Feel Like Hank Williams Tonight” and “Jaded Lover” made small dents in the country singles charts) and recording one of the classic albums of the 70s: ¡Viva Terlingua!

Although never a “chart-topper,” Walker had a large and loyal following.  He appeared in numerous places over the years: as host of TNN’s Texas Country, his annual birthday bash at Gruene Hall in Texas, and most famously, with the theme song to Austin City Limits (“London Homesick Blues,” written and sung by Gary P. Nunn, which appeared originally on the ¡Viva Terlingua! album).

Walker was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 2017.  Although in remission for a couple of years, Walker announced earlier this summer that there was a recurrence. 

Farewell to the legendary Jerry Jeff Walker, who was 78.

Texas Legend Jerry Jeff Walker Comes Back With New Indepedent Album

Artist: Jerry Jeff Walker
Album: It's About Time
Label: Tried & True Music
Release date: April 2018

Though not a native Texan, Jerry Jeff Walker is one of the artists who helped shape the Texas country music sound and put the city of Austin on the country music map in the 1970s. Walker's best-known song was 1968's "Mr. Bojangles" (a Top 10 pop hit in the hands of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), but he was immortalized five years later with the highly influential live album Viva Terlingua! Recorded in Luckenbach before Waylon and Willie and the boys made the town famous, Terlingua became a cornerstone of Red Dirt country music.

Details about the album come from an interview with the Austin Statesman:

"It’s About Time includes several original tunes he’s been playing in concert for a while. Perhaps the best is called “I Always Thought I Was Going to Live in California,” which retells how he landed in Austin in the 1960s while heading west after leaving his upstate New York hometown. He met Susan here, and the rest soon enough became history. But “It’s About Time” also gathers tunes by others that he’s known and loved for decades. “South Coast,” with its moving “the lion still rules the barranca” chorus, was written in the 1950s by Lillian Bos Ross, Rich Dehr and Sam Eskin before being immortalized first by the Kingston Trio and then Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. And he taps into Paul Siebel, best known for writing the folk classic “Louise,” with a slightly updated take on “The Ballad of Honest Sam.” That’s the one song on “It’s About Time” where Walker does get semi-political. “It really fits the Trump era,” he says, reeling off a couple of lines from the song about a character who “made his money shadily.”

The album is currently available through Walker's website HERE.  

Dan Fogelberg Tribute Album Includes Garth Brooks, The Eagles, Zac Brown, Vince Gill & More

Album: A Tribute To Dan Fogelberg
Label: BMG
Release date: 11/1/18

Produced by Fogelberg’s wife, Jean, Norbert Putnam, his lifelong friend/manager, Irving Azoff, and Chuck Morris, the homage to Fogelberg will be released through BMG.

The album contains recreations of some of Dan's biggest hits, such as the Top 10 hits, including "Longer," "Hard to Say," "Leader of the Band," performed by Zac Brown and "Same Old Lang Syne," performed by Train. Songs from his multi-platinum albums are also featured, such as the eponymously titled hits "Phoenix," performed by Garth Brooks, and "Nether Lands," performed by Donna Summer. Additionally, a moving rendition of "Part of the Plan," from 1974's Souvenirs, performed by the Eagles, is included on the collection. A complete track listing can be found below.

"A good thing never dies and that 'good thing' is Dan's music. As for me, my life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man. That man is Dan Fogelberg, and he will live forever in those of us who have let his gift bring so much light to our paths." - Garth Brooks

"I first heard some of Dan's music from Irving Azoff, while visiting him in the early 70's. he played me some demos of songs by a young kid from Peoria, Illinois; a part of the country were both from. I was immediately transported to a musical place that I would look forward to returning to time and again over the years with each new release of a Dan Fogelberg album. So proud to be part of this project." - Michael McDonald.

"I always loved Dan's music and getting the opportunity to sing on the High Country Snows record, over 30 years ago, is still a great memory for me." - Vince Gill

A Tribute to Dan Fogelberg track listing:

 

1.Phoenix performed by Garth Brooks

2.Nether Lands performed by Donna Summer

3.Better Change performed by Michael McDonald

4.Longer performed by Amy Grant/Vince Gill

5.Same Old Lang Syne performed by Train

6.Don’t Lose Heart performed by Dobie Gray

7.Old Tennessee performed by Fool’s Gold/Denny Henson and Tom Kelly

8.As the Raven Flies performed by Casey James

9.Sutters Mill performed by Randy Owen

10.Run for the Roses performed by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Richie Furay

11.Hard to Say performed by Boz Scaggs

12.Part of the Plan performed by Eagles

13.There’s a Place in the World for a Gambler performed by Jimmy Buffett

14.Leader of the Band performed by Zac Brown

That Nashville Sound Friday Newsbytes

There's lots of news around the country music world today from the likes of Garth Brooks, Dwight Yoakam, Darryl Worley, Bradley Walker and an upcoming release from Bruce Springsteen that's worth noting.

- Darryl Worley has signed with Daywind Records and will be releasing his first gospel album.

- On 9/23, Bruce Springsteen will release a new autobiography along with a companion album called Chapter and Verse.

- Garth Brooks has two album releases planned on his own Pearl Records before the end of the year.

- Bakersfield native Dwight Yoakam will be releasing his first bluegrass album on 9/23 called Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars.

- The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band will be releasing a combo CD/DVD on 9/30 entitled Circlin' Back - Celebrating 50 Years- believe this is the recording from the PBS special that features Vince Gill, Alison Krauss and more.

- Songwriter Bradley Walker, friend and television guest to Joey+Rory, will release his first album on Gaither Records called Call Me Old-Fashioned.  If you missed the tragic/inspiring story behind the making of this album, read it here.

- Speaking of Joey+Rory, Rory has a book planned about his late bride, Joey. It is scheduled for a Valentine's Day release next year.

- Lera Lynn released a killer sparse live video of her playing "The Only Thing Worth Fighting For."

- The alternative song "Cut the Heartstrings" from the band Unsecret features the vocals of Mindy Smith- it's great to hear her voice on a new project no matter what the genre.
 

New Classic Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Live Recording Available In August

Artist: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Album: Nashville 1974: The Tennessee Broadcast
Label: All Access
Release date: August 12, 2016

Immediately leaping into the burgeoning Californian folk rock scene, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band toured extensively around the local area, becoming well known for their uniform of pinstripe suits and cowboy boots. After early member Jackson Browne left to concentrate on his solo career, the band was joined by the McEuan brothers: John on banjo, fiddle and mandolin, and older sibling William serving as manager. It would be William that helped the group get a contract with Liberty Records, ultimately resulting in their eponymous debut album and first single, Buy For Me The Rain, in 1967, the latter becoming a Top 40 hit.

 By 1974, after a number of albums that had failed to set the charts alight, the band began to enjoy their greatest successes. Having scored a surprising 36 week stay in the charts in 1970 with their cover of Mr Bojangles, which peaked at No. 9, the group began work on their most ambitious offering to date: the triple album Will The Circle Be Unbroken. Released in 1972 and featuring guest appearances from Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs and Merle Travis, the record peaked at No. 4 in the US Country charts and was nominated for two Grammy awards. Now reduced to a four piece, the band continued to tour worldwide through the 1970s, spurred on by their newfound fame. Stars & Stripes Forever - a live album recorded for a select, invited audience and released in 1974 - reached No. 28 in the Billboard 200 and spawned a number of successful singles.

This set, recorded live earlier that year in Nashville and broadcast to the local area by WKDA-FM, captures the group during this period, a time that would be considered one of the defining highlights of a long and celebrated career.  It's a previously unheard and unavailable recording (unless you were listening to WKDA the day it was recorded.)

Songwriter George Green Passes Away

Songwriter George Michael Green passed away yesterday after a long battle with lung cancer. Green went to school with John Mellencamp in Seymour, Indiana and as a result, was a frequent collaborator with him. They wrote over a dozen songs together that appeared on his albums over the years including Billboard Top 10 Billboard hits "Crumblin' Down" and "Hurts So Good".

Green also wrote hits for Van Zant, Lacy Dalton, Kenny Chesney ("Hook in the Heart" and "Girl in the Coffee Shop"), Gary Morris, Jude Cole, Hall and Oates, Ricky Skaggs, The Oak Ridge Boys, Dwight Yoakam and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. ASCAP has a list of many of the song titles HERE. 

Jude Cole, singer/songwriter/producer said this on his Facebook page this morning, "My friend for 23 years, George Green- husband, father and renowned songwriter who wrote the words to songs like HURT SO GOOD, RAIN ON THE SCARECROW, MINUTES TO MEMORIES, HUMAN WHEELS, SPEED OF LIFE, HOLLOWED GROUND and many more, died of lung cancer last night. To my friends in the industry, please help me get the word out. Donations for his favorite children's charity to follow. RIP George, You were a gifted and humble gentleman."

TNS Video History- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band- “Mr. Bojangles”