"JUKE-JOINT PROFESSOR EMERITUS" (ROLLING STONE) KEVIN GORDON BRIDGES SWAMPY ELECTRIC AND POETIC ACOUSTIC SOUNDS ON NEW ALBUM 'LONG GONE TIME' (OUT SEPT 4)

LUCINDA WILLIAMS: “HE’S WRITING SONGS THAT ARE LIKE SHORT STORIES”

Hailed by The New York Times as "part Muddy Waters and part Carl Perkins," erudite, swampy southern songwriter Kevin Gordon will release his new album 'Long Gone Time' on September 4. His first release since 2012's critically acclaimed 'Gloryland,' 'Long Gone Time' is half-acoustic and half-electric, bridging Gordon's introspective, detailed Southern poetry (he has an MFA from the prestigious University of Iowa Writer's Workshop) with his biting, boozy, honky-tonk shuffle and swagger. Produced by multi-instrumentalist and Dove Award-winner Joe McMahan (Mike Farris, Freedy Johnston, Allison Moorer), it's an intoxicating blend of the intellectual and visceral delivered with sticky-sweet guitars and barroom piano.

The album opens with "All In The Mystery," a loping come-on loaded with sexual innuendo like Elvis Costello on a road trip south of the Mason-Dixon. Rich with visual detail, "GTO" tells the story of his father's stolen car, while "Letter to Shreveport" is a haunting stream of consciousness punctuated with ominous slide guitar, and "Walking on the Levee" evokes the magic and the loneliness of an early-morning trek along the edge of a memory-filled town still "sleeping off what they drank at the bar." On "Goodnight Brownie Ford," Gordon poignantly pays tribute to the rodeo-riding country singer, and the bittersweet "Shotgun by the Door" paints vivid portrait of lingering racial tension. Later in the album, Gordon and his crack band morph into rollicking roadhouse rockers with "Church on Time" before closing out the record with the subdued, vivid character studies of "Cajun with a K."

Praised by NPR, The NY Times, USA Today, and more, 'Gloryland,' marked the end of a six-year hiatus for Gordon, whose work has been covered by everyone from Keith Richards and Levon Helm to Ronnie Hawkins and Todd Snider. In his illustrious two-and-a-half decade career, Gordon has shared stages with Snider, John Prine, Leon Russell, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and the Blind Boys of Alabama among others, played the storied New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and earned the respect and admiration of his peers and a slew of musical icons. Lucinda Williams raved that "he’s writing songs that are like short stories," while Buddy Miller said "it reminds me why I love music," and renowned author and biographer Peter Guralnick described the music as, "John Lee Hooker tied to the hard, imagistic poetry of William Carlos Williams."

Stay tuned for more information and tour dates to be announced.

'Long Gone Time' Track List (Note That LP Track List Different):

1. All In The Mystery
2. GTO
3. Letter to Shreveport
4. Walking on the Levee
5. Shotgun Behind the Door
6. Crowville
7. Goodnight Brownie Ford
8. Immigrant
9. Church on Time
10. Cajun with a K
11. Following a Sign (CD- and LP-only bonus track)

SPIRIT FAMILY REUNION TAKES CHURCH REVIVAL ENERGY AND IDEAS TO UNIVERSAL LEVEL WITH ORIGINAL AMERICAN MUSIC

BAND SELLS ITS OWN SONGBOOKS, INTENDING TO SPARK COMMUNITY

NEW YORKERS: SFR CONFIRMS ALBUM RELEASE SHOW JUNE 15 AT MERCURY LOUNGE

BAEBLE MUSIC: "WE COULDN’T BE MORE EXCITED"

Spirit Family Reunion – the ready-to-break Brooklyn band that's already been booked at Newport Folk Festival and opened for Levon Helm – sells something curious alongside its CDs: band songbooks with lyrics and chords. Guitarist/vocalist Nick Panken says, "We write simple songs that anyone could pick up on. There's a simplicity and universality."

Reminiscent of Woody Guthrie, The Anthology of American Folk Music, and The Band, the songs are intended to be sung by a wide audience, both at Spirit Family Reunion concerts and beyond. Bassist/vocalist Ken Woodward explains, "In performance, we try to break through the invisible shell that keeps people separated, which is why people say we're a joyful band." Panken adds, "Our audience doesn't just stand there. It's participatory."

The songwriting grew from the band's year-long residency at Lovin' Cup Café. Panken recalls, "We started playing these old church songs. We thought that we'd take the feeling and make it more universal."

From the debut album 'No Separation,' the Spirit Family Reunion songbook includes "I Want To Be Relieved," "I'll Find a Way," "No Separation," and "To All My Friends and Relations."

Blogs are starting to pick up on what bookers at Newport Folk Festival and Celebrate Brooklyn already know. Brooklyn Vegan posted "I Want To Be Relieved" and hailed the band's "rowdiness."

My Old Kentucky Blog posted "I Am Following the Sound," calling 'No Separation' "the fervor of a tent revival with the wallop of a bare-knuckle brawler… hoothollerstampandshout."

Baeble Music said, "We couldn't be more excited."

Spirit Family Reunion has confirmed an album release show at NYC's Mercury Lounge June 15.

More info, video, mp3, photos.

Tour dates.

NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL-BOOKED AND "BEST OF WHAT'S NEXT" (PASTE MAGAZINE) BROOKLYN BAND SPIRIT FAMILY REUNION SETS JUNE 15 RELEASE FOR DEBUT ALBUM 'NO SEPARATION'

NEW YORKERS AND WASHINGTONIANS: SFR PLAYING IN YOUR TOWN IN MAY

Spirit Family Reunion – the six-piece Brooklyn band which is set to play at Newport Folk Festival and is "best of what's next" according to Paste Magazine – will release its debut full-length album 'No Separation' June 15.

All six members of Spirit Family Reunion sing and the harmonies, which are unplanned, are simply stunning, led by the soulful voices of guitarist Nick Panken, fiddler Mat Davidson, and banjo player Maggie Carson. The band's repertoire, chemistry, harmonies, and instrumentation came to fruition with a weekly residency at the Lovin' Cup Café in Williamsburg, playing without a PA. The band has since expanded its fanbase by opening for the late Levon Helm, The Alabama Shakes, and David Wax Museum; playing Gowanus and Bushwick parties; busking in Union Square; and touring extensively, at one point in a former Navy van, all without a booking agent.

Spirit Family Reunion makes high-energy original, contemporary American music with the spirit of an old-time church revival but with a universal, secular spirit. Singer Panken says, "I write simple songs that anyone could pick up on. I want to take the church feeling and make it more universal." Audience members dance, holler, stomp, shout, and chant along until the line between performer and fan is blurred and a community is created by the act of the concert.

In addition to their own songs, Spirit Family Reunion recorded a stunning version of "Green Green Rocky Road," featuring undeniably soulful vocals from Mat Davidson. The song comes from the repertoire of Dave Van Ronk (about whom the Coen Brothers are presently making a film); and "Give Me Wings," which they learned from an undated acetate that drummer Peter Pezzimenti found at a Salvation Army by the mysteriously named King Cunningham.

Other high points on the album include the banjo-led "I Want To Be Relieved," the song of gratitude "To All My Friends And Relations," and the hallelujah-inducing "I Am Following the Sound."

'No Separation' was recorded in Brooklyn and Richmond, VA with the help of bike shop mechanic and recording engineer Andrew Gerhan.

Spirit Family Reunion will perform in New York at Mercury Lounge May 12 and near Washington, D.C. at Jammin' Java May 21. Other tour dates are posted here.

Spirit Family Reunion is Carson (banjo and vocals), Davidson (fiddle and vocals), Panken (guitar and vocals), Pezzimenti (drums and vocals), Stephen Weinheimer (washboard, drums, and vocals), and Ken Woodward (upright bass and vocals).

Newport-Booked Spirit Family Reunion Prepping Debut, Opened For Levon Last Month

Spirit Family Reunion, the Brooklyn outfit which plays original American music rooted in old time, gospel, and traditional folk, is in the studio this week mixing their debut full-length album for summer release. The band is set to break out in 2012, with a Newport Folk Festival booking and having opened for Levon Helm and David Wax Museum. Spirit Family Reunion plays timeless, homegrown American music that has fans stomping, clapping, shaking and hollering.

Paste Magazine recently compared them to The Band, naming them a "best of what's next." Click here to read the Paste feature and hear "When My Name Is Spoken." Jeff Giles writes, "All dusty acoustic guitars, wailing fiddles and weeping accordions, with a woozy-yet-skintight rhythm section—and topped off with burr-edged vocals that sound like they’ve been soaked in a Mason jar for generations—it’s the type of music that blurs the line between past and present so thoroughly, and so deftly, that time feels irrelevant."

To hear previous tracks from Spirit Family Reunion, please click here.

Baeble Music said, "Enter Spirit Family Reunion, a group with so much country soul they make the mountains of the Carolinas look like Northern New Jersey."

Spirit Family Reunion Tour Dates:

Apr 14 Brown Folk Festival Providence, RI

Apr 15 Brunch Session Boston, MA

Apr 15 Brighton Music Hall Allston, MA

Apr 16 Bowery Electric New York, NY

Apr 20 The Kenmore Inn Fredericksburg, VA

Apr 21 Rhythm n Blooms Festival Knoxville, TN

Apr 26 House Concert Providence, RI

Apr 27 The Oak and the Ax Biddeford, ME

Apr 28 Belfast Free Range Music Festival Belfast, ME

May 11 TomTom Festival Charlottesville, VA

May 12 Mercury Lounge New York, NY

May 21 Jammin' Java Vienna, VA

Jul 26 FloydFest Floyd, VA

Jul 27 FloydFest Floyd, VA

Jul 28 Newport Folk Festival Newport, RI

Sep 21 Fresh Grass Festival at Mass MoCA North Adams, MA

ZZ TOP AFTERPARTY GOES WRONG IN KEVIN GORDON'S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SONG "BUS TO SHREVEPORT" FROM FIRST ALBUM IN SEVEN YEARS 'GLORYLAND' (FEB 14 / CROWVIL

GORDON TO PERFORM FIRST NYC SHOW IN 6 YEARS AT ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL JAN 19

A ZZ Top show in Shreveport, Louisiana led to an altercation in a McDonald's parking lot afterwards and a young Kevin Gordon was there to witness it. Gordon – now a master songwriter who has been covered by Levon Helm and Keith Richards – has documented the event in the sardonic "Bus To Shreveport" from his first album in seven year 'Gloryland' (February 14 / Crowville Media).

Musically influenced by 'Highway 61 Revisited'-era Bob Dylan's, the song starts off with nervous excitement as a 12-year old Gordon headed with his young uncle Randy and his uncle's friend Hank to see the Houston band at "the worst sounding arena in the whole United States" and offered wine and marijuana for the first time (he takes the former but rejects the latter). "And the little band from Texas played it loud and like they should."

"I remember for some reason that they did the Howlin' Wolf song Little Red Rooster that night," he says, citing one of his own musical influences, continuing, "Billy Gibbons is one of my favorite guitar players, and yeah, I'm a fan."

At "a McDonald’s packed with late night refugees," a gang of boys pick a fight with Hank until Randy pulls a gun while Gordon crouched. Gordon recalls, "I remember it as one of those 'time-stopped' moments -- like what happens when you're in a car wreck -- everything slows down." He captures the moment vividly:

"Randy tried to talk to them

With reason and common sense

It was about like a de-clawed cat

Trying to climb a razor-wire fence

Blood sprayed over the white hood

Hank was passing out

Randy pushed me back in the car, said

Don’t look up, don’t get out

He reached down under the seat,

Pulled a black pistol out of the dark

Said 'don’t you tell nobody,

Don’t you ever say a word'

Randy laid that .38

Across the roof of the car

Said 'everybody better get back,

and let my man go'

I was crouched down on the floorboard,

Low as I could pray

Seen a empty beer can under the seat

And a book on the KKK"

"Can't wait 'til my dad and uncle hear this one," Gordon laughs.

Gordon will perform his first NYC show in six years at Rockwood Music Hall on January 19.

'THE GATHERING' A FICTIONAL STORY OF FAMILY COMING TOGETHER AND REAL STORY OF MUSICAL KIN

OR HOW A CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROP, A SONGWRITER COVERED BY LEVON HELM, AND A JOHN HARTFORD BAND MEMBER FOUND THEMSELVES IN THE NC WOODS RECORDING A WINTER & CHRISTMAS MUSIC ALBUM

'The Gathering' is both a song cycle of the prodigal daughter's return on a North Carolina winter night in the mountains and a story of six remarkable folk musicians coming together for a one-time only collaboration and finding uncommon personal and musical kinship.

The aggregation came together because Dossett (who wrote "Anna Lee" from Levon Helm's GRAMMY-winning album 'Dirt Farmer' and the new 'Ramble At The Ryman' album); Mike Compton (of Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes, The Nashville Bluegrass Band, The John Hartford Band); Rhiannon Giddens (a member of the GRAMMY-winning and Newport headlining Carolina Chocolate Drops), famed old time musician Joe Newberry, and engineer and bassist Joe DeJarnette had all taught at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV. Laurelyn has long been a mentor for Giddens as they are neighbors in Greensboro, NC. Bassist Jason Sypher (Irma Thomas, Clarence Gatemouth Brown) was a late but necessary addition to the crew.

The chemistry between musicians was immediately apparent when they gathered in the North Carolina woods to rehearse and record during a five-day period in August. Laurelyn Dossett says, "This record should not really have worked, but there were six on-the-job collaborators in one room. That we had not really played together and didn't really know the material was secondary to the fact of their incredible talent and true hearts."

Check out video on the making of the album.

Stream the song "Lights in the Lowlands."

Many of the musicians were introduced to the material, centering on a six-song cycle by Dossett commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony, the same day as they recorded it live in one room and virtually without overdubs.

New York-based bassist Jason Sypher said, "We have never all sat down knee to knee and played together and it was immediate chemistry from the first note on." He continues, "Respecting the music and each other created an atmosphere of warmth and fun that you can hear and feel on the final record. Recording live can be a little nerve wracking, but the immediacy of the music is worth the extra tension."

Engineer Joe DeJarnette observed, "This record captures the magic moments of true discovery, where everyone is listening closely and responding to each other in real time. The record feels as though you have the finest stringband pickers and singers in your living room sharing music, stories, and life at a holiday gathering. It was a rare and delightful opportunity to work with such talented creative musicians who were willing to just go for it live."

Roots music star Larry Campbell responded to both elements, saying "The combination of heart and intimacy on 'The Gathering' feels like a warm wood-smoke fire on a cold North Carolina winter's night."

LAURELYN DOSSETT: FROM NC SECRET TO NATIONAL STAGE VIA LEVON HELM'S BARN

DOSSETT BRINGS TOGETHER ROOTS ALL-STARS FROM CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROP TO JOHN HARTFORD BAND ALUM FOR 'THE GATHERING,' GORGEOUS ALBUM OF OBSCURE AND ORIGINAL WINTER AND CHRISTMAS MUSIC

If it weren't for Levon Helm, Laurelyn Dossett might still be one of North Carolina's best-kept secrets. Helm included Dossett's "Anna Lee" on his GRAMMY-winning album 'Dirt Farmer,' a surprise to her until its release, and his new concert album 'Ramble At The Ryman.' When she later opened a Midnight Ramble, Helm says, "There's the lady that wrote that beautiful song that sounds 300 years old."

This month, 'Dirt Farmer' producer Larry Campbell heard Dossett's most recent project, 'The Gathering,' a gorgeous union of Piedmont- and Appalachian-style musicians Rhiannon Giddens (of the Carolina Chocolate Drops), Mike Compton (John Hartford Band, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes), Joe Newberry (Big Medicine), Jason Sypher (Susan McKeown), and Dossett in a cycle of original and obscure music capturing a North Carolina winter night. Campbell said, "The combination of heart and intimacy on The Gathering feels like a warm wood-smoke fire on a cold North Carolina winter's night."

Check out video on the making of the album here.

Stream the song "Lights in the Lowlands."

Dossett has also graced the stage of Prairie Home Companion, with her band Polecat Creek.

Yet despite her status as a national artist, she captures the visions, characters, stories, smells, and kinships of her home state. 'The Gathering' grew out of – and revolves around – a six-song cycle commissioned by the North Carolina Symphony.

She is a recipient of the North Carolina Arts Council Music Fellowship. North Carolina's Our State has praised "that crystalline, heart-tug of a voice that still makes people weep," continuing, "Dossett writes about our South and our dance with religion and nature, love and loss… She’s become a songwriter people say they can’t forget." Another local magazine O Henry echoed those comments, saying, "Dossett has a gift: storytelling. [And] her voice is pure honey."

SOUTHERN MUSIC'S POET LAUREATE KEVIN GORDON PLANS FIRST NEW ALBUM IN 7 YEARS 'GLORYLAND' FOR FEB 14 RELEASE ON CROWVILLE MEDIA

Bug Music artist Kevin Gordon – the southern rock and roll songwriter who has been covered by Keith Richards, Levon Helm, Irma Thomas, and others and who has recorded a duet with Lucinda Williams – will release 'Gloryland' (February 14 / Crowville Media), his first new album in 7 years. It's a new high water mark for Gordon, representing his most powerful, fully realized writing to date. Early buzz on the album from Peter Cooper in the hometown Tennessean has focused on the song "Colfax":

"We'll empty your spit-valve for life if you find us anything more stunning than 'Colfax,' [Kevin Gordon's] undeniably superb song that could only have come from one mind, and from one person's experience. It's ostensibly about a kid in the marching band but winds up being about the heart of American darkness and the steel that it takes to move beyond."

Drawing comparisons to a southern Bruce Springsteen, 'Gloryland' depicts heroic and anti-heroic characters tackling choices of faith, individual responsibility, and the positive force of art.

Other highlights from the album include "Pecolia's Star," a duet with Sarah Siskind written in tribute to African-American folk artist and quilter Pecolia Warner; the bracing rocker "One I Love," reminiscent of The Hold Steady; the coming-of-age blues "Bus To Shreveport"; and the steady grooving, Dylanesque "Gloryland."

'Gloryland' was produced by multi-instrumentalist and Dove Award winner Joe McMahan (Freedy Johnston, Allison Moorer) and mastered by Gavin Lurssen (T Bone Burnett).

Gordon has earned the respect of press and his peers. Of Gordon's music, Buddy Miller said, "It reminds me of why I love music. I get transported to a beautiful, strange, familiar place. It's where the best music comes from. Deep and soulful."

HBO's "True Blood" licensed his song "Watching the Sun Go Down" and his duet with Lucinda Williams "Down To The Well" has appeared on an Oxford American Music Issue compilation album.

No Depression has called Gordon's music “dirty and beautiful." All Music Guide said, "Kevin Gordon has earned the reputation as a storytelling leader." Entertainment Weekly said, "He evokes the scorching guitar intensity of Springsteen."

Born in Louisiana, Gordon has a master's degree in poetry from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and he now runs a gallery of contemporary self-taught/folk/outsider/vernacular art in Nashville, TN: http://gordongallery.net/

KEVIN GORDON – GLORYLAND

1. Gloryland
2. Don't Stop Me This Time
3. Colfax/Step in Time
4. Pecolia's Star
5. Black Dog
6. Trying to Get to Memphis
7. Bus to Shreveport
8. Nine Bells
9. Side of the Road
10. Tearing It Down
11. One I Love

'THE GATHERING' DEBUTS CHRISTMAS MUSIC WITH DEEP ROOTS IN APPALACHIAN AND PIEDMONT MUSIC

Christmas music with roots this deep is rare. Appalachian- and Piedmont-style music talents Laurelyn Dossett (of Polecat Creek), Rhiannon Giddens (of the Carolina Chocolate Drops), Mike Compton (John Hartford Band, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Elvis Costello & The Sugarcanes), Joe Newberry and Jason Sypher have joined forces to create 'The Gathering,' a Christmas album recorded in a Greensboro, NC house in the woods during a hot August week.

The North Carolina Symphony commissioned Laurelyn Dossett to write a song cycle and those six songs form the core of the album, focusing on a cold, dark, North Carolina winter night and a prodigal daughter's return. Other songs on the album include Compton singing his former boss John Hartford's "On Christmas Eve" and Giddens and Sypher doing "O Holy Night" as a bass and voice duet.

Check out video on the making of the album:

Stream the song "Lights in the Lowlands."

The pedigree of the musicians brought together for 'The Gathering' is first-rate. Dossett's song "Anna Lee" was recorded by Levon Helm for his GRAMMY-winning album 'Dirt Farmer' as well as on the recent live album 'Ramble At The Ryman.' Her "Leaving Eden" was recorded by the Carolina Chocolate Drops. She has performed at Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble and her original roots music band Polecat Creek has appeared on NPR's Prairie Home Companion.

Rhiannon Giddens is a member of the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, whose 2010 album 'Genuine Negro Jig' debuted at number one on the Billboard Bluegrass chart and at number 150 on the Billboard 200. The Carolina Chocolate Drops have also appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, The Grand Ole Opry and in the film "The Great Debators" starring Denzel Washington. Rolling Stone Magazine described the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ style as "dirt-floor-dance electricity."

Mike Compton is a longtime member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band, has recorded with Elvis Costello, Doc Watson, Ralph Stanley, Dolly Parton, Gregg Allman, Willie Nelson, John Hartford, and T-Bone Burnett.

Multi-instrumentalist and North Carolina old time player Joe Newberry won first-place at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival and appeared on a Prairie Home Compaion with Big Medicine.

Double bassist Jason Sypher has performed with Irma Thomas, Clarence Gatemouth Brown, and Susan McKeown, among many others.