John Murry - "The Ballad of the Pajama Kid"

Postable, embeddable mp3:

CORB LUND PLANS FEBRUARY U.S. TOUR, SCORES HIGH ON COUNTRY MUSIC CRITICS' POLL

BEST OF 2012 ACCOLADES ACCOMPANY OPENING SLOT FOR DIERKS BENTLEY & MIRANDA LAMBERT

Corb Lund – the descendent of four generations of Albertan ranchers and former punk/metal player – is planning a U.S. run of dates in February with his longtime band The Hurtin' Albertans. In the Nashville Scene's 13th Annual Country Music Critics' Poll, Corb Lund is the #10 male vocalist and 'Cabin Fever' is the #20 best album of 2012.

Others have agreed. 'Cabin Fever' (New West) was named to year-end best lists by 29-95 (Houston Chronicle) and No Depression and caught the number one spot on The Oregonian's list. American Songwriter named "September" one of its top 50 songs of 2012.

Meanwhile, Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley confirmed that Corb Lund will open a date April 12 in Springfield, MO.

Goth girls to survivalists, bovines to bibles, antique pistols to vintage motorcycles: Lund’s songcraft creates vivid images and character sketches with hard-worn western language. Raves have run in the NY Times, NPR All Things Considered, Paste, and elsewhere.

CORB LUND U.S. TOUR DATES

Feb. 6, 2013    Atlanta, GA             Smith’s Olde Bar                -
Feb. 7, 2013    Chattanooga, TN         Rhythm and Brews                -
Feb. 8, 2013    Knoxville, TN   Barley’s                -
Feb. 9, 2013    Nashville, TN           Exit/In                 -
Feb. 12, 2013   Charlotte, NC           The Evening Muse                -
Feb. 13, 2013   Greenville, SC  The Handlebar           -
Feb. 14, 2013   Raleigh, NC             Berkeley Cafe           -
Feb. 15, 2013   Roanoke, VA             Kirk Avenue Music Hall          -
Feb. 16, 2013   Asheville, NC           Emerald Lounge          -
Feb. 20, 2013   Wilmington, DE  World Café Live at The Queen            -
Feb. 21, 2013   New York, NY    Joe’s Pub               -
Feb. 22, 2013   Washington, DC  Hill Country BBQ                -
Feb. 24, 2013   Charleston, WV  Mountain Stage, Culture Center Theater

"DELIGHTFUL" (PITCHFORK) NEW CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN 'LA COSTA PERDIDA' OUT THIS WEEK ON 429 RECORDS AS BAND TAPES NPR WORLD CAFÉ AND NPR MOUNTAIN STAGE THIS WEEK

429 Records released indie rock pioneers Camper Van Beethoven's new album 'La Costa Perdida' this week, which has earned raves from press and bloggers. In addition, the band is taping NPR's World Café today and NPR's Mountain Stage on Sunday and has added new tour dates (at bottom). Here's what we're reading:

"Delightful… It does illustrate how unique this band still is, 30 years after it formed. And it truly is a kick to hear CVB ply its craft with road-tested assurance and subtly virtuosic musicianship."

– Steve Hyden, Pitchfork Media, January 17, 2013

"For 30 years and counting, Camper Van Beethoven have existed in a parallel-universe borderland, coming across like a punk band perpetually on a Balkan bluegrass bender. But they finally bring it all back home to their native California on 10th album, La Costa Perdida, recalling '60s-vintage West Coast pop filtered through their timeless, idiosyncratic prism."

– David Menconi, SPIN, January 14, 2013

"I'm so happy the band is back."

– Whitney Matheson, USA Today.com, January 18, 2013

"The new album’s lead single, 'Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out' [is] a swirling, Eastern-flavored psychedelic jam."

– Michael Nelson, Stereogum, January 10, 2013

"A uniquely skewed, bong-tastic surrealism… There's Americana, Mexican music, ska, fiddles both mournful and manic."

– Thomas Connor, Chicago Sun-Times, January 19, 2013

"Camper Van Beethoven still remain [sic] easy to love."

– Matt Melis, Consequence of Sound, January 21, 2013

"If the frigid air of winter is getting to you, rather than crank up the heat, throw on La Costa Perdida. It will wipe away all your seasonal depression."

– Steve Bonanno, Boston's Weekly Dig, January 7, 2013

"Engaging."

– Chuck Campbell, Scripps Howard Newswire/Knoxville News-Sentinel, January 15, 2013

"[The] writing glimmers in thick San Francisco Bay fog… Enter these redwoods at your own risk, and prepare to be bewitched."

– Tris McCall, Newark Star-Ledger, January 4, 2013

"Sure to satisfy… It’s an album unmoored in quiet, often fascinating ways."

– Matthew Fiander, PopMatters, January 21, 2013

"Northern California Girls" (radio edit) lyric video.

Postable, embeddable "Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out" mp3.

CVB Tour dates:

Wed Jan 23 - Sky City – Augusta, GA

Thu Jan 24 - 40-Watt Club - Athens GA

Fri Jan 25 - The Grey Eagle – Asheville, NC

Sat Jan 26 - The Earl – Atlanta, GA

Sun Jan 27 - Mountain Stage - Charleston WV

Thu Feb 14 - Burnsville PAC - Minneapolis MN (w/ Cracker)

Sat Feb 16 - Rickshaw Stop - San Francisco CA

Sun Feb 17 - Hopmonk - Novato, Novato, CA

Mon Feb 18 - Odd Fellows Hall - Davis CA

Thurs Feb 21 – Hollywood, CA – House of Blues (w/ Leftover Salmon)

Fri Feb 22 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle WA

Sat Feb 23 - Mississippi Studios - Portland OR

FOLLOWING WNYC SOUNDCHECK APPEARANCE, YEAR-END BEST ACCOLADES, CORB LUND & THE HURTIN' ALBERTANS MAKE JOE'S PUB DEBUT FEB 21

Corb Lund – the Albertan cowboy songwriter who used to play punk and metal – will make his debut at Joe's Pub February 21 along with his longtime band The Hurtin' Albertans. Lund appeared on WNYC's Soundcheck on December 10.

'Cabin Fever' (New West) was named to year-end best lists by 29-95 (Houston Chronicle) and No Depression and caught the number one spot on The Oregonian's list. American Songwriter named "September" one of its top 50 songs of 2012. He just finished of a December tour with Hayes Carll, who appears on the 'Cabin Fever' song "Bible on the Dash" and spoke with the Austin American-Statesman about his inspirations and the role of humor in song.

'Cabin Fever' cemented Lund as one of the best songwriters in North America and one of its most commanding performers, hitting number four on the Americana radio chart and number one on the Canadian Top 200.

WHO: Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans

WHAT: Full band concert & first Joe's Pub appearance

WHEN: 9:30pm, Thursday, February 21

WHERE: Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC, 212-539-8778

TICKETS: $15 at JoesPub.com or Joe's Pub box office

FOR JOHN MURRY, DUELING BASSES, A BOWED GUITAR, BELLS, VIBES, ORGAN, AND GUILT CONJURE "CALIFORNIA"

"California," the intense, guilt-ridden John Murry song for which buzzy British blog The Line of Best Fit premiered the music video, started taking its final shape only when two scratch bass parts meant as an either/or proposition fit together as one.

Here's the embeddable music video.

The song appears on 'The Graceless Age,' out April 2 on Evangeline Recording Co. in the US. The album was among the best of 2012 in the UK from UNCUT Magazine, the BBC, and elsewhere.

The master built on basslines from an old Jerry Jones longhorn semi-hollowbody bass (of which Murry cryptically says "has a hell of a story of it's own, involving bank robberies and exploding dye packs and prison time"). Murry says, "I think that, of all the songs on The Graceless Age, it exemplifies what Tim [Mooney, co-producer] and I did together best. We'd built an entire song off of an out-of-tune bass, which accidentally helps give it that kinda drone-y, hypnotic quality. When we went to play everything else we did, like bells, vibes, and organ, Tim and I would have to pitch shift everything. It became a method, almost, limiting us to certain instruments and forcing us to experiment with messing with various organic instruments' sounds to create the sounds we'd normally get from specific instruments."

Murry says, "We stole the handclaps from another session we'd been working on for another band and then built the drum loop. Then we overdubbed the percussion. I played a bunch of weird guitar using an actual bow, an ebow, and a brass slide and wah to imitate the sustain of an ebow, and we reversed it on tape and made it warble by varying the speed, then recorded it again as it was being varied. We got the vocals done. It happened so quickly." Later, Sean Coleman overdubbed a piano part, which had to pitch-shifted from a piano that was slightly flat.

The writing came to Murry all at once. He recalls, "I was becoming addicted to narcotics – I'd begun abusing Percocet and Percodan and Vicodin and the like – and wrote it in a 30 minute wave of time; the kind of time I think Tom Waits is describing when he talks about songs 'coming through the window if you leave it open.'"

Contrary to the song's refrain ("I swear it ain't you; It's California I can't stand)," Murry confesses, "It's a bit of self-deception. California, as a State, isn't to blame for what happened. I am."

MIRANDA LAMBERT IS A "TOTAL FAN" OF CORB LUND, INVITES HIM TO OPEN A SHOW

Miranda Lambert has Tweeted about Corb Lund, saying that she's a "total fan." Now, she has asked him to open a date for her and for Dierks Bentley, which will be April 12 in Springfield, MO at the JQH Arena in Springfield, MO. Here's her Tweet with a photo of Corb and Miranda together.

'Cabin Fever' (New West) was named to year-end best lists by 29-95 (Houston Chronicle) and No Depression and caught the number one spot on The Oregonian's list. American Songwriter named "September" one of its top 50 songs of 2012. He just finished of a December tour with Hayes Carll, who appears on the 'Cabin Fever' song "Bible on the Dash" and spoke with the Austin American-Statesman about his inspirations and the role of humor in song.

Lund appeared on WNYC's Soundcheck on December 10.

New tour dates

'Cabin Fever' cemented Lund as one of the best songwriters in Canada and one of its most commanding performers, hitting number four on the Americana radio chart and number one on the Canadian Top 200.

STEREOGUM DEBUTS MP3 FROM NEW CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN ALBUM 'LA COSTA PERDIDA' AS SPIN HAS FULL STREAM

DAVID LOWERY PROVIDES SPOTIFY WITH COMMENTARY AS "NORTHERN CALIFORNIA GIRLS" SINGLE RELEASES

HOW BAD ACID, A BIRD TRAPPED IN A HOUSE IN NORTHERN CA, AND VIPER-BITES IN SWEDEN INSPIRED "TOO HIGH FOR THE LOVE-IN"

Indie rock originators Camper Van Beethoven's new album 'La Costa Perdida' is out next week and Stereogum has debuted the first downloadable mp3, which Michael Nelson calls "a swirling, Eastern-flavored psychedelic jam."

SPIN has posted a full-album stream and Q&A with David Lowery. David Menconi writes, "They finally bring it all back home to their native California on 10th album, recalling '60s-vintage West Coast pop filtered through their timeless, idiosyncratic prism."

Meanwhile, Spotify has the "Northern California Girls (radio edit)" single and "Too High For The Love-In" alongside David Lowery's commentary on both tracks. He explains how a bad acid trip, a bird trapped in a house in northern California, a venom bite in Sweden, and an insatiable desire for a sandwich came together in writing the latter.

Members of REM, Pavement, Built To Spill, The Decemberists, and Divine Fits toasted the band on its 30^th anniversary.

Embeddable "Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out" mp3.

"Northern California Girls (radio edit)" lyric video.

CVB tour dates

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN PLANS 30TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT FEB. 21 AT LA'S HOUSE OF BLUES

FIRST STUDIO ALBUM IN NINE YEARS, 'LA COSTA PERDIDA' OUT JAN 22 ON 429 RECORDS

THREE NPR TAPINGS FOR CVB IN JANUARY AS STEREOGUM PREMIERS MP3

Camper Van Beethoven -- one of the bands that founded the indie rock genre – will celebrate its 30^th anniversary and new album 'La Costa Perdida' (January 22 / 429 Records) its first in nine years, with a concert February 21 at the House of Blues. The anniversary and new release has captured the attention of Brooklyn Vegan, among others.

Stereogum premiered the mp3 for "Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out" on January 10.

On the tour, the band will also tape sessions with NPR's World Café and NPR's Mountain Stage and an interview with NPR Here & Now within the next month.

WHO: Camper Van Beethoven, in a double bill with Leftover Salmon

WHAT: 30^th anniversary concert and celebration of 'La Costa Perdida'

WHEN: 8pm, February 21, 2013

WHERE: 8430 Sunset Boulevard, W. Hollywood, (323) 848-5100

TICKETS: $22.50 in advance or $25 day of show via House of Blues box office

The band's peers are also toasting Camper Van Beethoven's 30^th anniversary. Built To Spill's Doug Martsch said, "Each member of Camper is a thoughtful songwriter, and a master of his instrument, with a totally unique vision, and together they have a balanced, egoless, and dynamic chemistry that's created many of my favorite songs."

Bob Nastanovich of Pavement said, "Camper Van Beethoven, very much an essential '80s band traveling on their own arc, punctuated the beginning of my college career. They served it up with panache. 'Sometimes,' 'I Don't See You,' 'Ambiguity Song,' 'Circles,' 'Dustpan,' 'The History of Utah,' 'Still Wishing to Course'--all songs that ended up on assorted song cassette tapes in vain attempts to increase overall coolness. They made California cool to a Virginian. It was some good, reliable shit. As they wandered east, they backed it up with great live action. They were good musicians. That was weird. They were sarcastic. That was appealing."

Camper Van Beethoven "Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out" embeddable mp3

PAUL RISHELL EARNS FIRST SOLO BLUES MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR 'TALKING GUITAR' (MOJO RODEO)

New England's blues master Paul Rishell has earned his first solo Blues Music Award nominations for Acoustic Album of the Year with 'Talking Guitar' and for Acoustic Artist. He and harmonica-playing musical partner Annie Raines are previous winners as a duo.

Rishell has played with and learned from Son House, Johnny Shines, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, and Buddy Guy & Junior Wells. With Raines, he has opened for Ray Charles, Asleep at the Wheel, Susan Tedeschi, Leon Russell, Dr. John, and John Sebastian. The Boston Globe's James Reed wrote a feature on Rishell last year.

In related news, Raines and Rishell played together publicly for the first time 20 years ago December 5, marking a milestone in the fruitful musical partnership.

Here's a postable mp3 of Rishell's rendition of "Fannin' Street (Mr. Tom Hughes' Tom)."

The Blues Foundation will present the Blues Music Awards at the Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, TN, on May 9, 2013. Online voting is open for members and ticket sales open December 13.

Paul Rishell & Annie Raines tour dates:

January 25, 2013 – Boston, MA – Institute for Contemporary Art (w/ Woody Mann)

January 26, 2013 - Canton, CT - Roaring Brook Nature Center

February 8, 2013 - Brownfield, ME - Stone Mountain Arts Center

February 22, 2013 - Cambridge, MA – Club Passim

February 23, 2013 - N. Eastham, MA - First Encounter Coffeehouse

"GIFTED" (WALL STREET JOURNAL) SUSAN MCKEOWN EARNS PLAUDITS FROM LINDA THOMPSON, WALL STREET JOURNAL, PUBLIC RADIO INT'L, WFUV, & ELSEWHERE

Tad Hendrickson's feature in the Wall Street Journal ran on Irish-American GRAMMY-winning vocalist/songwriter Susan McKeown January 4, praising her "versatility and inquisitiveness" and calling her "gifted." She talks about why she emigrates to the States, her memories of hanging out at Sin-é, and her new, all-original, Americana album 'Belong.'  Meanwhile, Linda Thompson told the Journal, "a powerful voice, beautiful timbre and great range, both musically and emotionally? That's rare. What's not to love?" Here's the full feature.

WFUV aired a performance-chat on December 30. John Platt called 'Belong' "a really fine album." Hear the full audio.

"The Irish are world-renowned as great word smiths and Susan McKeown has formed herself into a link in that chain." – Bob Edwards, Public Radio Int'l, December 1-2, 2012

"Timeless... The exquisitely spare arrangements... match the purity and expressiveness of her voice." – Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer, December 28

"Susan McKeown, a formidable-voiced Irish folkie renowned for her intensity and conviction, supports a haunting recent PledgeMusic-funded effort, Belong." – Time Out NY, November 7, 2012

"Absorbing from beginning to end, 'Belong' is a trans-Atlantic marvel… Sublime… enchanting… rich sonic diversity… smart lyrics." – Chuck Campbell, Scripps Howard News Service/Knoxville News-Sentinel, December 11, 2012

"Awesome… McKeown’s rich, sad soprano highlights this melodic and moving collection, a combination of country melancholy and New York City sass." – Peter Chianca, Gatehouse Media/Patriot Ledger (MA), December 31, 2012

"Tantalizing… a fiercely talented storyteller." – Mike Farragher, Irish Voice, November 25, 2012

"Her most personal project to date." – Lisa L. Rollins, Examiner.com, November 23, 2012

Meanwhile, American Songwriter Magazine premiered the "No Jericho" music video.

Sean Hayes on NPR Snap Judgement

Susan McKeown clips

WFUV (Dec 30, 2012)

American Songwriter (Oct 11, 2012)

JOHN MURRY'S SOUTHERN LITERATURE INSPIRATION COMES FROM ANCESTRY, SPECIFICALLY AS SECOND COUSIN TO WILLIAM FAULKNER

MURRY NAMED FOR FAULKNER'S GRANDFATHER, A CIVIL WAR SURGEON WHOSE MEDICAL KIT MURRY KEEPS

John Murry – who made the indie-noir album 'The Graceless Age,' one of the UK's best-reviewed albums of 2012 and out in the US April 2 on Evangeline Recording Co. – has described himself as more absorbed in the worlds of literature than in the day-to-day concerns of the modern world, and for good reason: he's second cousin to William Faulkner and has spent much time with his second cousin's works.

Murry says, "I am, in truth, named for his grandfather, my great-great-grandfather. My granddaddy, Charles 'Bo' Murry, is buried about ten feet from him in Oxford, MS, and was his pallbearer. My plot is paid for and is adjacent to it."

His namesake's story – and its relation to his novels - is enthralling and entertaining in itself. Murry explained to the blog Echoes& Dust, " John Young Murry and Col. W.C. Falkner appear as the amalgam that is Col. Sartoris in William Faulkner's writings. John Young Murry didn't use his Confederate title after the War. He was opposed to both slavery and secession until Yankee soldiers raided his home, took his family's Christmas meal, and did as they pleased with his land and family. He joined the fight to protect his home. He was a surgeon, though, and at Shiloh performed amputations on both Yankees and Rebels. Likely, in his mind, as Christ would've done. I've got the amputation kit he used under my bed and treasure it, nonetheless. I've been allowed the distance necessary to see The South as I needed to, I suppose."

After a firestorm of UK raves, John Murry's 'The Graceless Age' has been confirmed for a March 5 release on Evangeline Recording Co. It's the last album produced and recorded by Tim Mooney of American Music Club and Sun Kil Moon before his death June 13, produced – as all their records were - in collaboration with Murry. 'The Graceless age' is one of eight albums nominated for The UNCUT Music Award and praise has been effusive on the other side of the pond, where Murry is launching a winter tour that begins January 21. MOJO is planning an upcoming feature and Murry will perform on Ralph MacLean's BBC show as one of his "Best of 2012" artists and Ricky Ross' BBC Scotland show in front of a live audience at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall during the tour. The Sun gave it 5 stars out of 5, saying, "Occasionally, an album comes out of nowhere that completely blows your mind. Like this one… A genuine tour de force." In another 5 star (out of 5) review, R2 called it "a genuine American masterpiece." In a 9 star (out of 10) review, UNCUT's Senior Editor, Allan Jones, described the "deeply textured… ruined grandeur," continuing, "This is what 'The Graceless Age' as a whole does so unforgettably, bearing honest witness to a burning world." and went on to later call it "second only to Bob Dylan's Tempest" among best records of 2012.

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN PLOTS 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

PIONEERING INDIE BAND TO DEBUT FIRST NEW SONGS IN NINE YEARS FROM NEW ALBUM 'LA COSTA PERDIDA' (JAN. 22 / 429 RECORDS)

CVB TO TAPE THREE NPR SHOWS IN JAN: WORLD CAFÉ, HERE & NOW, & MOUNTAIN STAGE

Camper Van Beethoven is planning a thirtieth anniversary tour starting Thursday and running through February. The band will debut its first new songs in nine years in concert. 'La Costa Perdida' (January 22 / 429 Records) is the band's tenth album and first in nine years.

Billboard.com recently spotlightlighted the band, which are among the creators of the genre of indie rock.

CVB will also tape three NPR shows in January: World Café, Here & Now, and Mountain Stage.

In a feature last month, the San Diego Union-Tribune said, "The group’s daring sonic hybrid defined 'alternative' before the term was widely used."

CVB tour lineup: Victor Krummenacher (bass, baritone guitar), Greg Lisher (guitars), David Lowery (guitars and vocals), Jonathan Segel (violin, guitar, mandolin, organ, backing vocals) and Frank Funaro (drums and percussion).

Click here for a lyric video of "Northern California Girls (radio edit)."

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN TOUR DATES

Fri Jan 18 2013 - World Cafe Live – Philadelphia, PA (w/ Cracker)

Sat Jan 19 2013 - Stage 48 – New York, NY (w/ Cracker)

Sun Jan 20 2013 - The Middle East – Cambridge, MA (w/ Cracker)

Wed Jan 23 2013 - Sky City – Augusta, GA

Thu Jan 24 2013 - 40-Watt Club - Athens GA

Fri Jan 25 2013 - The Grey Eagle – Asheville, NC

Sat Jan 26 2013 - The Earl – Atlanta, GA

Sun Jan 27 2013 - Mountain Stage - Charleston WV

Thu Feb 14 2013 - Burnsville PAC - Minneapolis MN (w/ Cracker)

Fri Feb 22 2013 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle WA

Sat Feb 23 2013 - Mississippi Studios - Portland OR