That Nashville Sound Monday Newsbytes: Willie Nelson, Krystal Keith, Rory Feek, Maggie Rose & More

Lots of new projects were unveiled over the weekend- many of which are new on the radar. So consider yourself first in on the know. It's like a little club. Except we don't have meetings and there are no dues.

- A special collection of Willie Nelson's earliest demos is going to be made available through Real Gone Music with a double album called Things To Remember: The Pamper Demos. The project is scheduled for release on CD and digital platforms on July 13th. Here's the scoop on the project:

For the series of sessions that laid the foundation for Willie Nelson’s career and thus changed the course of modern country music, these recordings have been treated pretty cavalierly over the years. But first, a little history…Willie Nelson was a struggling songwriter, hungry for work and maybe even just plain hungry, when he moved to Nashville in late 1960 with his wife and kids and met Hank Cochran, who was a writer for Pamper Music. Pamper, which was owned by country star Ray Price, fiddle player Hal Smith, and a baker (!) from Pico Rivera, California named Claude Caviness, was the hottest publishing company in town, thanks to writers like Cochran and Harlan Howard and songs like “Heartaches by the Number” and “I Fall to Pieces.”

At first, Willie wasn’t going to sign with Pamper because Hal Smith wouldn’t give Willie the draw he needed, but Cochran told Smith to front Willie fifty bucks a week from his own draw. So Willie, determined to reward Cochran’s trust, got to work. “I was writing to prove I could write,” he said. “To get the money and feel like I was earning it.” He would end most work days with a new song, and then he and Cochran would call a session with A-team musicians who didn’t have major label studio work that day. The result: a body of work that just may well represent the most fertile creative period ever to issue from a country songwriter. The songs Willie recorded for Pamper during the early ‘60s remain among his most famous, and include tunes he still performs to this day: “Crazy,” “Funny (How Time Slips Away),’ “Night Life,” “Pretty Paper,” “Half a Man,” “Hello Walls,” “Healing Hands of Time,” and more.

And these, the Pamper demos, are the first recordings of those legendary songs. In other words, this is what artists and label guys back in the day heard when Hal Smith or Hank Cochran handed over a little acetate, and said, “Hey, listen here to what our guy Willie Nelson just come up with.” It simply doesn’t get much more historic than that! But, for some reason, these demos have hitherto turned up in bits and pieces, mostly on budget packages with little documentation or care. Now, finally, these incredibly important recordings are getting the respect they deserve. Things to Remember—The Pamper Demos brings together these 28 performances for the first time (several of which have hitherto eluded compilation), all remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision to sound much better than they ever have, and annotated by Grammy-winning writer Colin Escott, with photos courtesy of Bear Family label founder Richard Weize.

 - Sonia Leigh, former songwriter and tour-mate of Zac Brown and Eric Church, has a new live album coming out on June 15 called Live in London - Studio 3 Sessions.

- Maggie Rose has been releasing digital 45's damn-near every single month and they've been terrific. Her voice is one of the best in Nashville and each dual-track release has had her soulful style front and center. Her next one is being released on June 15 and features "Long Way To Go" and "Do Right By My Love." 

- Krystal Keith, daughter of Toby Keith, has a new EP coming out on July 13 called Boulder. The five track Show Dog label release features a duet with Lance Carpenter. Track list:

1. Boulder

2. I Got You

3. Anyone Else

4. Then It Started Raining

5. Resting Beach Face

 

- Big-voiced newcomer Dillon Carmichael has set August 17th as the release date for his debut album, Hell on an Angel. He's quietly released some fantastic independent work and according to Rolling Stone Country, "mixes some hard-nosed Outlaw country with the melodic edge of Southern rock.  The album's 10 tracks were recorded in Nashville's historic RCA Studio A by Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton). Seven of the songs were written or co-written by the young Kentucky native – a nephew of John Michael Montgomery and Montgomery Gentry's Eddie Montgomery – including the gritty title track and the previously released "It's Simple." Fellow singer-songwriters such as Jon Pardi and Leroy Powell also show up in the credits of Hell on an Angel, along with Carmichael's mother Becky Montgomery on "Hard on a Hangover.""

 

- Rory Feek released a final version of his film trailer for Josephine, a movie filmed with he and his cousin Aaron Carnahan based loosely on a true story that inspired a Joey+Rory song by the same name.

 

- Classic country songs are alive and well. William Michael Morgan proves such as with one of our favorite tracks of the year and an incredible track titled "The Last Monday in May."  Check out this video of him performing it with some veterans via Operation Song on the historic Grand Ole Opry stage on May 25, 2018.

 

Sonia Leigh To Release Mad Hatter In January

Artist: Sonia Leigh
Album: Mad Hatter
Label: Willing To Fly Music
Release date: January 12, 2017

Sonia Leigh announced that she will follow-up her critically acclaimed 1978 December album (Southern Ground Records) with a new independent project called Mad Hatter.

Says Leigh, "I have teamed up with several amazing people and producers... Mitch Dane, Frank Romano, Scena, Jazz Feezy, Mikal Blue, and Micah Wilshire to co-produce and co-engineer. This record is honest, raw, and unapologetic. It shows the many faces of my gift and curse as a writer."

On the new project and her music via an interview over at Music Musings & Such,

"My music is a bit like Bruce Springsteen, Joan Jett; Fleetwood Mac, Johnny Cash - but with a Pop twist. I guess you could say I’m a wildcard in this music industry. I’d say I’m the Mad Hatter. 

She's written songs for other artists including the Zac Brown Band and Big & Rich an this coming January, we'll hear more from this fascinating artist.

1. Waste the Day
2. Sky Submarine
3. Mad Hatter
4. Walking in the Moonlight
5. Diamond in the Desert
6. Acid Rain
7. Shelter
8. N.Y.C.
9. Jack Is Back
10. Dead Mans Sunrise
11. Mind on the Prize

Uncle Kracker and Tim McGraw Announce New Album Projects

Uncle Kracker and Tim McGraw both announced new upcoming album projects- both doing so on brand new labels.

Uncle Kracker will be up first with the release of Midnight Special on November 19. This is the Sugar Hill Records debut for the Detroit Bad-Boy.  The new album is produced by Keith Stegall (Alan Jackson, George Jones, Zac Brown Band, George Strait.) It features the first radio single “Nobody’s Sad On A Saturday Night”.

Midnight Special Track Listing
1. You Got That Thang
2. I'd Be There
3. Four Letter Word
4. Blue Skies
5. When I Close My Eyes
6. In Between Disasters
7. Happy
8. Nobody's Sad On A Saturday Night
9. Nuthin' Changes
10. Who We Are
11. It Is What It Is (with Sonia Leigh)

Meanwhile, Tim McGraw has announced a February 5 release date for his first album since leaving Curb Records. Two Lanes of Freedom will be McGraw's first release since a judge granted him the right to record for Big Machine Records. The Louisiana native had long been tied to a Curb record deal for almost two decades.

The singer kicked off his partnership with Big Machine Records this last May, and an appeals court recently affirmed his right to record and release new material with the label. "Truck Yeah" was the first release for the label. McGraw will perform his new-to-radiosingle "One of Those Nights" during the Country Music Association Awards, airing tomorrow night (November 1) on ABC.

Country Music News Round-Up- Sonia Leigh, Ashton Shepherd & Cactus Brothers

• I did an interview with singer/songwriter Sonia Leigh over at Engine 145. If you’re not familiar with her yet, she’s a brand new country artist on Zac Brown’s Southern Ground music label whose voice is the second coming of Janis Joplin. Check it out HERE.
• Paul Kirby of the alt-country music band The Cactus Brothers passed away at the age of 48. The Cactus Brothers toured nationally and internationally, released two well-received albums and appeared in the George Strait movie vehicle Pure Country.
• “Country” Johnny Mathis, a recording artist and songwriter whose compositions were recorded by notables including George Jones, George Hamilton IV, Ray Price and Charley Pride, died Tuesday on the eve of his 81st birthday of complications from pneumonia.
• To be bluegrass or not to be bluegrass, that is the question. Infamous Stringduster Chris Pandolfi delivered yesterday’s keynote address at IBMA World of Bluegrass. To him, bluegrass fans must agree to disagree on the question of what constitutes bluegrass. David Morris of Bluegrass Today shared details on the event.
• Ashton Shepherd has a brand new music video for “Where Country Grows.” 

People Magazine and Noise Trade Offer Lots Of Free Country Music Downloads

People Magazine has a brand new country music edition on newsstands featuring Lady Antebellum. To celebrate the new edition, they’re giving away a free playlist download featuring some big hitters including some of country music's biggest names. Click HERE to download the following:

o Ronnie Dunn- “Cost of Livin'”
o Vince Gill- “Threaten Me With Heaven”
o Billy Currington- “Until You”
o Jake Owen- “Keepin' It Country”
o Terri Clark- “Breakin' Up Thing”
o Matraca Berg- “You and Tequila”
o JT Hodges- “Hunt You Down”
o Bradley Gaskin- “Mr. Bartender”
o Sonia Leigh- “My Name is Money”

There are also a couple of new free downloads available through NoiseTrade.com. Soulful Louisiana crooner Marc Broussard has a brand new digital album available called The Atlantic Recordings and new country upstarts Eden’s Edge have a couple of new songs available as well. Click HERE to download those recordings.

New Music Video From Sonia Leigh- "My Name Is Money"

Album Review- Sonia Leigh- 1978 December - CD Album Review

Armed with Janis Joplin's voice and blessed with a more blues-oriented Sunny Sweeney songwriting sensibility, Leigh's new album is a strong, if slightly uneven, listen. Leigh's edgy voice has the perfect amount of engaging twang that makes it engaging and jukebox-dive perfect. The album is an eclectic mix of blues, funk, swing, country, reggae and plain staight-ahead rock. "Bar" is classic country gold while the Zac Brown duet "Roaming" has an island influence.

But it's that same uneven combination of genres that makes the listener drawn to some songs while pushing away others. Certainly there's something for everyone, but in the process, there are times where it makes it difficult to care for the entire breadth of styles. The wide swath of productions is an adventurous initiative that doesn't always work with this listener.

However, the title track, "1978 December," is one of our favorite tracks of 2011. Acoustically disarmed, the introspective and powerful lyrics use Leigh's birth date as a self-reminder to come out screaming in all she does. It's a metaphor for her life, her music and the music business in general. The bridge in which her mom puts it all in perspective when she relays the real importance at hand, "Girl you just got to eat more." Gritty vocal delivery and bold, disarmingly honest songwriting make this a solid album worth a listen.

☺☺☺ out of five