Your last record Midnight at the Movies, had a little bit different sound to it, a little more soulful or R&B influenced than the Good Life. Was that something you were going for or did it just turn out that way?

It definitely was something we were going for. Being from Tennessee, unless you’re just blind, you are influenced by all that, gospel, country, bluegrass, and blues, it’s all there. Unless you are not paying attention, you are just sucking that up your whole life.

So, you had the Good Life in 2008 and then Midnight in the Movies early this year. That’s a pretty quick pace, you have another coming out next year?

Um, yeah. There will probably be another one out in 2010, but it will probably be toward the end of 2010.

Are you in the process of recording that?

No (chuckles). We won’t even….we record really fast. Both my records have been recorded in less than a week. I did “The Good Life” in 4 days and “Midnight at the Movies” in 7. So we don’t take long to record. I don’t like to. It gives time for second thoughts.

I’ve always thought about it as kind of like shooting pool. They say that when you lean down to the table, your first aim is probably best. Don’t reset and try to do things, otherwise you’re going to miss the shot.

What are your thoughts on the Big Surprise Tour and touring with that group of musicians?

It was really great. It was a great time all around. People get scared sometimes, especially us musicians, when you talk about putting a group of musicians together. Because sometimes it can be kind of bad. It can be kind of ugly when you have like 5 different entities all in it for themselves. But one thing with us that was great, was that all of us out on that tour we’ve all have known each other for years. So, it was kind of like family coming together, no one had any pretensions. Everyone played on eveybody’s show and it was a lot of fun.

So you’ve known Old Crow and everybody for a long time now?

A girlfriend I had when I guess I was turning 18 years old (I was living in Chicago and I came back to Nashville to visit), she wanted to take me to see this band she had found while I was gone. She took me down to the Station Inn and there was me, a country singer that I think is gone now– Rusty Morrell, and some girl he was cutting around with, and the staff of the station. There was like 5 people there including the staff. I met them all (Old Crow) that night. I’ve been friends with them for a long time and I’ve known Gil and Dave since I was 14. The Felice Brothers were the most recent ones I’ve met, but I’ve known them for a couple years.

I wasn’t actually able to make that show. I was gonna try to make it up to Boston for it, but the logistics didn’t work out. From my understanding though, you each did individual sets and then kind of a group set at the end?

We all played kind of played mini sets, but I’d have like Gil, Gil Landry, Morgan Jahnig, and Catch played with us on most things. I’d come out on the Old Crow stuff, and Cory would come out on the Old Crow Stuff. The Crows would come out on Gil and Dave’s. And anyone who wanted to could come out on the Felice Brothers. It was just a lot of fun. It was a really long show, and everyone had to be on point all night. But, it was just fun. It is what I’d imagine it was like in the fifties, when they were taking Fats Domino, Chubby Checkers, and Buddy Holly around and they’d play like 3 songs.

Hopefully, y’all will do it again sometime and I’ll catch you coming through.

I’m sure the bill will be involved in another one at some point.

Cool. I’m a fan of all those guys on the bill. But, I often muse that every artist should record a record with Gillan Welch and David Rawlings, cause I just think that everything they do is great. But, do you have plans to record with any of those guys?

Well. They approach recording in a different style than I do. They are very slow and painstaking. They pay very close attention to every detail, every tuning, everything is perfect. I’m a little rawer. I’m more of a “first take is probably the best one” kind of person. I don’t take a lot of time in my recording process. So, I think we would actually would not mix well. Me and Gil and Dave probably would not mix well in the studio (chuckles). As far as live performance, it works fine. You know, it works great. I would definitely be way too impatient to work like that, but I’m amazed at how they work, because they produce such amazing stuff. I just know it wouldn’t be for me— that style of recording.

You’ve toured with a bunch of different bands, including some of my favorites like Jason Isbell and Lucero. I guess this question is more specifically about Lucero. They’re kind of like a more punk-rock, or if not punk rock, a loud, noisy rock and roll band. Was it disconcerting at all to do your more straight forward country style thing and then have them come on or was the crowd into it?

Yes. We made a lot of fans. We have a whole new section of our fan base because of that. People with tattoos on every possible part of their body and piercings everywhere. I mean all those kids that are into that stuff, they’ll show up with a bunch of tattoos and be like ‘fuck you’. But they’ll all show up wearing Johnny Cash t-shirts. It’s a mix. Somehow…. I mean I will never know how this happened, how punk and rockabilly and country ended up getting smashed together, but it did end up happening. So, it’s working a little bit. They are some of the more fun fans we have. There is nothing I can’t stand more than a faulty crowd. You know, quiet people that think they’re being police, but are really being boring.

Yeah, you won’t get that at a Lucero show.

No you will not (raised voice). And we didn’t. There was a little scare when we first started with them. I think the second show we did was in Detroit. We played a theater in downtown Detroit and I’ll tell you what, you haven’t seen a Lucero show until you’ve seen a Lucero show in Detroit.

Hard knock people?

Ungodly. It’s like a scene out of Braveheart, insane Detroit inner city rockers. They live up to their reputation.

They dug you too though?

Yeah. We were in front a thousand Detroit punk fans. We tried our best, the goal was to bring the house down. And I mean when you can get a bunch of boys with black hair, blond bangs, and girl’s jeans dancing around to country music then I think you’ve pulled it off.

Sounds like a blast. Other things you’ve done this year….I don’t know if you’ve played a lot of the big music festivals in the past, but I know you played Bonnaroo this year, you opened up fro the Pogues, the Big Surprise Tour, do you have a particular highlight for this year? Something that just blew you away?

It’s kind of been one of those years. Whenever I say something, I know I’m gonna remember something else when I get off the phone. So, I think the big thing- when I was a kid and you know you get the magazine and look at the reviews- I got a four star review from Rolling Stone Magazine. Which is something that I….I mean its Rolling Stone Magazine, it is what it is, but it was one of those things that I looked at when I was a kid. So its cool to see my record there not treated as a shit sandwich or anything.

That’s rare, usually their just middling on almost everything.

When I found out we were getting the review- they called a couple weeks before- I was carrying on getting cut [unintelligible].

So, I don’t have the whole story on this, but I understand that Cory has left your band I guess. Are you planning on doing something else or are you planning on going out by yourself for awhile?

Well you know Cory and I were together for 10 years and problems starting arrive when people work that long together. But, Cory is….my show will still maintain its spirit, my part of it won’t change. But when Cory Yonts was on, he was the best sideman that I will ever have. That’s it. No one will ever sing with me like Cory. No one will ever interact with me like Cory on stage. And so, but its like we were just getting to a point. There were some decisions made that affected out positions with each other and they way we felt about each other. And, they were arbitrated on both sides. And I think, that I just think it is time for a change. I will never try to replace Cory, it can’t be done. And my stage show will have to change too. I’m gonna come out with a little bit more of a band now. There is no one person that’s ever gonna take his place.

It’s gonna have to be at least two. There is no one person that is gonna do that.

So, I know you’re a big Townes Van Zandt fan and you’re named for him. Did you meet him as a kid or was it a latter thing like- my dad talked about him all the time and wow he’s awesome. How did that influence come about?

I met him when I was a kid, but I mean when I was kid I was like most kids my age. It was like 1990-1991 The Chronic came out and I didn’t give a f**k about Townes Van Zandt. You know I was like every kid in America and was watching what was on MTV.

I mean I met him when I was a kid and thought he was a very strange man. It wasn’t until I was about 12 that I started really delving into Townes. It was after I started getting into people like Leadbelly and worked my way up to Townes. He never really had a real personal impact on me.

Are there any songwriters out there right now, that are around your age, who you would recommend to people or who have had an influence on you?

Yeah. There is one that is several years younger than me Joe Pug, who is from Chicago.

I actually just interview him like a month ago.

Yeah. I think he’s like a monster. I think that whatever he’s found, it’s just beautiful. He’s got all the cards. He’s exciting, because he’s got….he’s done something that I’ve never been able to do, which is right off the back came out with his own structures. He absolutely disregards structure, like traditional structure of songs. Most people that do that, it’s terrible. Most people that write their own structure tend to be jam bands. That’s what jam bands do, disregard structure. Whenever it is that he’s doing, it mystifies me and it’s just fuckin great.

And Ian Felice is the other one that I think is….those are my two favorite. [on Ian Felice] I think his songs are just brilliant.

On your songwriting though, how do you normally approach it? Do you do it all the time, like in the backseat of the van or is it something you sit down and focus on?

I’m a cocktail napkin writer. I’ve never been able to sit down and write. It comes in bits and pieces and you just write it down and hope you don’t lose it.

So, you are about to go on tour with Dan Auerback and Jessica Lea Mayfield. You wanna say anything about that, or just come out and see the show?

Yea, its gonna be the last run of the year. Where going to come out and have an end of the year kind of time. I think their gonna be great shows. I haven’t had a chance to see Dan’s solo project, but it has all the right players in it and I’ve heard nothing but amazing things from all the people I trust about it. Jessica Lea Mayfield is great. She is really strong, strong performer. So, let’s go out there and have some fun.

Check Justin out on Tour here.

http://twangville.com/2237/justin-townes-earle-talks-to-twangville/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Twangville+%28Twangville%29

Highly recommend, play it “when that Sunday morning sober has you down”. Suburban Home has 39 or less copies of the initial pressing still available, check it out here.

http://twangville.com/2287/micah-schnabel-when-the-stage-lights-go-dim/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Twangville+%28Twangville%29

The record itself is both different and exactly what you would expect. The trademark Gillian Welch-Dave Rawlings guitar interlock and merging vocals are there, but Rawlings has also invited some other friends into the mix including compatriots from Old Crow Medicine Show along with Benmont Tench (the Heartbreakers), Karl Himmel (Neil Young), and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes). These collaborations shine through on Rawlings on his co-write with Ryan Adams “To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to be High)” and the Jesse Fuller cover “Monkey and the Engineer”. The opposite tack is taken with the Old Crow Medicine Show classic and Rawlings co-write “I Hear Them All,” which is stripped down from the OCMS’s already somber version. Rawlings sings as if a young Bob Dylan or Woody Guthrie– with stark conviction. The closing track “Bells of Harlem”, on the other hand, features a gorgeous string section arranged by the legendary Jimmie Haskell. The song evokes the unrestrained beauty of soul classics like Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World” and Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”.

Though the collaborations are strong, my favorite tracks are the new Welch-Rawlings compositions. Opening track “Ruby” is a great song that showcases the duo’s ability to write new songs that sound like 1930’s field recordings. “How’s About You” finds them in an almost topical mood as they address the current economic times. “Sweet Tooth” and “It’s Too Easy” have been recent live staples at both Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings Machine shows. The former is an ebullient duet that is a joy to watch them perform and has translated well onto record. The latter is sped up a little here, but sounds like a great lost track from the Time (the Revelator) recordings. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear this song on the next (soon?) Gillian Welch record as well.

In summation, this is one of my favorite records of the year. My only complaint is that I could use a couple more new songs. The record clocks in at about 40 minutes with 10 songs (9 tracks), including two previously released co-writes and three covers. Everything that’s here is great and the record is a great single sitting listen, but I’m greedy.

check this one out on Twangville

Not Afraid of Nothing is not what I wanted/expected from young wunderkind Anthony da Costa. After the double whammy of last year’s Typical American Tragedy and the instant classic Bad Nights and Better Days (a duo record with Red Molly’s Abbie Gardner), I wanted a folk rock classic. I wanted a record that would draw from and yet compete with Bring It All Back Home or After the Gold Rush. I wanted him to go into the studio and record some of his new songs, folk anthems like “The Rest of My Life” and humorous asides like “Poor, Poor Pluto” (both of which were staples of da Costa’s live sets if youtube can act as a witness). I wanted a record that I could hold up and say “here it is, the new young hope” (the new Dylan, blah, blah, i.e. see Springsteen, Mellencamp, Oberst, etc.). Turns out, I was misguided and Anthony da Costa is going to hoe his own road.

Not Afraid of Nothing is not a perfect record and thank god for that. The record is a slab of life, real, idealized, and otherwise. Da Costa explores new lyrical territory both in style and content. Scarcely a year has passed since Typical American Tragedy, yet da Costa seems less sure of himself in both life and in love, a sign of maturity if I’ve ever heard one. Not Afraid of Nothing seems more personal, an insight into da Costa’s soul, rather than the insight to his talent that past records have been.

Not that the talent isn’t present here. From a lesser artist, this kind of deviation may have seemed indulgent and fail to come across. The instrumentation isn’t as different as my initial reaction would leave you to believe though. There’s plenty of acoustic guitar and folk songs, but da Costa also uses violin, piano, and lap steel in manners previously unheard on his records. This isn’t change for change’s sake though. The atmospheric production, possibly encouraged by co-producer John Eliot, acts as a counter point for some of da Costa’s more adventurous lyrical and vocal explorations.

Listening to the introspective “If You Want It”, the grand statement of “I Am Way Too Much”, and the unabashed emotion of “Crazy”, one can’t help but wonder just how good is this kid? While I was hoping for a better version of Ryan Adams, da Costa was reaching beyond that. This isn’t an emo record, but it reaches for the kind of emotional gravity of Ben Nichols or Conor Oberst. It isn’t a classic folk record, but it has the lyrical quality of a John Prine or Paul Westerberg. This isn’t the next Dylan, but I’d keep my eyes open anyway.

RIYL: Cory Branan, Elliott Smith, epiphanies
http://twangville.com/2162/anthony-da-costa-not-afraid-of-nothing/

The Avett Brothers “January Wedding”
Devendra Banhart “16th and Valencia”
Dinosaur Jr. “Over It”

John Prine “Angel From Montgomery (w/Bonnie Raitt)”
John Prine “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness”
Tom Waits “Ol’ 55”

The Rolling Stones “Losing My Touch”
Dave Rawlings Machine “Bells of Harlem”
Sam Baker “Mennonite”
Amy Speace “The Killer In Me”

Marvin Gaye “Mercy, Mercy Me”
The Four Tops “Ask the Lonely”
Martha & the Vandellas “Nowhere to Run”
Jimmy Ruffin “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted”
Stevie Wonder “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Your’s”

Josh Roberts & the Hinges “B1 and B”
The Word “Without God”
Kathleen Edwards “One More Song the Radio Won’t Like”

Wilco “The Late Greats”
American Gun “Girl in Texas”
Hayes Carll “Waiting On the Stars to Fall”
Joe Pug “The Door Was Always Open”

Slaid Cleaves “Wishbones”
Glossary “Hold Me Down”
The Band “To Kingdom Come”
Todd Snider “Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican….”

The Swell Season “Feeling the Pull”

—-rotation—–
The Avett Brothers “January Wedding”
Built to Spill “Aisle 13″
Nirvana “About a Girl”
—-rotation—-

Alela Diane “Pirate’s Gospel”
Mark Olson & Gary Louris “The Rose Society”
Tift Merritt “Stray Paper”
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit “The Blue”

Lucero “If Only You Were Lonely”
Leeroy Stagger “Beautiful House”
John Moreland & the Blackgold Band “Endless Oklahoma Sky”
Chris Knight “The River’s Own”
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals “Big White Gate”
Kris Kristofferson “The Silver Tongued Devil and I”
Justin Townes Earle “Someday I’ll Be Forgiven For This”

Todd Mathis “A Lot of Rock and Roll”
Loch Ness Johnny “Farewell to the Sea”
Levon Helm “The Mountain”
Neil Young & Crazy Horse “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”
Jeff Tweedy “Airline to Heaven”
Slobberbone “Little Drunk Fists”
Billy Bragg & Wilco “California Stars”

Abbie Gardner “Seven Years”
Mac Leaphart “Confederate Roses”
Uncle Tupelo “Sauget Wind”
The Replacements “Achin’ to Be”

—-closing rotation—–
The Swell Season “Low Rising”
The Shins “It’s Ok. Try Again.”
Frank Turner “Try This At Home”

American Gun “How Not to Fall In Love”
Glossary “Almsgiver”
The Rolling Stones “Sweet Black Angel”
Blind Faith “Can’t Find My Way Home”

Amy LaVere “That Beat”
Drag the River “I Remember Now”
Ninja Gun “Eight Miles Out”
Jon Snodgrass “Remember My Name”

Townes Van Zandt “Colorado Girl”
Slaid Cleaves “Cry”

Chad Price “Cursed”
The Takers “Curse of a Drunk”
Cory Branan “The Corner”
Joey Cape “Canoe”

Joe Pug “Nation of Heat”

Cary Ann Hearst & Michael Trent “Magdelina”
Wrinkle Neck Mules “Fortune Fades”
Danny Schmidt “These Ain’t Tynan’s Blues”

Micah Schnabel “Girl Named January”
Mike Hale “Lives Like Mine”
Abbie Gardner & Anthony da Costa “Spent”
Ben Nichols & Cory Branan “Wayward and Down (live)”

Today is the last day of the giveaway, so get your entry’s submitted (and/or read the original review) here.

For the obsessives among us, I’ve written up a quick blurb about each song. Mostly it’s all lyrics, cause Ben writes better than I do.

“Smoke”

This song is getting some radio play across the country, and for good reason. Rick Steff’s piano leads the track, which is another of Nichols’ Springsteen inspired numbers. When Nichols belts out “unknown and beautiful,” the record takes off and never lets up.

“What Are You Willing to Lose”

This might be the best track on the record. Though earlier versions of the song were slower, the song rocks here and the lyrics seem to epitomize the Lucero lifestyle and aesthetic (“So what if all my heroes are the losing kind?/ We ended up with nothin’, but we put up a fight/ And most of it was choices we never asked to choose/ The rest of it was luck and now we’ve run out of that too”). This and “Smoke” are the two biggest chorus vocals that Nichols has on this record (and probably ever).

“Sound of the City”

“I’m falling in love to the sounds of the city/ all these drinks lead me always back to you/ no need to be shy you’re looking too pretty/ please tell me what should I do”

“me and my friends we might not look like much/ but we got the time and we know when to push our luck”

“Can’t Feel A Thing”

The genius in the band has always been the emotional connection they create with their fans. Nichols writes lyrics that anyone can identify with and this is one of those songs. Like “All The Same To Me” or “Ain’t So Lonely,” this song has Nichols laying it all out there. You believe him, because you know he doesn’t believe himself when he sings “I ain’t really worried, cause I can’t feel a thing.”

“she asked me if I loved her and I showed her the tattoo/ it weren’t no answer but for then it had to do”

“The Devil And Maggie Chascarrillo”

This is the other song being played by radio. It was the first song previewed by the band on their website, and the horn section is really let loose here. The song itself is a great story based song and shows the influence of Lucero tour mates The Hold Steady and Drive-By Truckers.

“Sixes and Sevens”

Searing guitar lines, soulful horns, and gospel style background singers, I love this song. Any song with lines like “drinking women, chasing whiskey” is a classic in my book. It’s a little different from the traditional Lucero style and seems to be a dividing line on Lucero discussion boards. Either you love it or you hate it.

“Goodbye Again”

This song has been around for almost a decade, and my feeling is that the song has just been waiting for two things: Rick Steff and a horn section. It has been transformed into a classic soul number here; Steff’s piano leads the song off, the rhythm section kicks in, and then the horns.

“Johnny Davis”

This song rocks. I was disappointed about the lack of pedal steel, which was heavily featured in a version of the song from awhile back (I think it was for Canadian TV).

“Darken My Door”

“Can’t say I’ve been behaved/ you wouldn’t believe me anyway/ there have been other women of course”

This is another candidate for best song on the record. It’s both classic soul and classic Lucero. The imagery in this song is amazing: “Your bare feet on hardwood barely make a sound/ From the kitchen to the bedroom with all the lights down/ A glass of water, a whiskey, smoke in your hair/ All I taste is that perfume you wear, that perfume you wear”

“Halfway Wrong”

This song always makes me smile. The lyrics are about a relationship that probably isn’t healthy and probably will continue for at least one more night, given “another shot and another song.”

“Hey Darling Do You Gamble”

The title and several of the lyrics are borrowed from the late, great Townes Van Zandt, but the song is clearly Nichols. This was an early favorite on Lucero discussion boards and I find no reason to disagree.

“Hell now I believe you should run with me/ Until this Texas sun falls into the sea/If I shed this skin of iron and this breath of kerosene/ Now darling would you take a chance on me”

“Mom”

Another favorite, the sound here is reminiscent of the Attic Tapes, “The War”, and Ben’s solo record. The latter featured Steff and pedal steel player Todd Beane, just as we see here. The lyrics fit together as beautifully as “The War”, but they hit a little closer to home for most of us.

Mama your boys, we might make some mistakes
But we know where we’re from and we know how we were raised
So don’t you think twice about where we are tonight
No matter how far from home
We’ll be back along
It’s just a matter of time

Chorus

—-opening rotation—–
Amy Milan “Towers”

Dave Bazan “Bless This Mess”

Frank Turner “The Road”
—–

Those Darlins “Snaggletooth Momma”

Alela Diane “Dry Grass and Shadows”

Tim Easton “Stones Throw Away”

Townes Van Zandt “Rex’s Blues”

Guy Clark “Randall Knife”
—–

Marah “The Hustle”

Monsters of Folk “The Right Place”

The Avett Brothers “Head Full Of Doubt, Road Full Of Promise”
—–

Lucero “Johnny Davis”

Wilco “Outtasite (Outta Mind)”

the Whipsaws “The War”
——

—-cool Two Cow mini doc—

Two Cow Garage “Should’ve California”

Two Cow Garage “Camo Jacket”

Patterson Hood “Back of A Bible”

Mac Leaphart “No Way”
—–

Hayes Carll “Take Me Away”

Tift Merritt “Trouble Over Me”

Old Crow Medicine Show “Wagon Wheel”

Glossary “Only Time Will Tell”
—–

Lucinda Williams “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road”

Steve Earle “Taneytown”

Richard Buckner “Blue and Wonder”

—-closing rotation—–
The Shins “Its Ok. Try Again”

Sonic Youth “Sacred Trickster”

Of Montreal “Brush Brush Brush”

Two Cow Garage “Epitaph”

The Whigs “Right Hand On My Heart”
—-

Golden Smog “Corvette”

Pavement “Cut Your Hair”

New Order “Ceremony”

New Pornographers “The Laws Have Changed”
—-

—for Mom—
Lucero “Mom”

Todd Snider “Enjoy Yourself”

American Gun “Find Some Good”

Avett Brothers “I and Love and You”
—–

-rotation
Leonerd Cohen “Hallelujah (live)”

Frank Turner “The Road”

Dinosaur Jr “Over It”
-rotation
—-

My Morning Jacket “One Big Holiday (live)”

Wilco “Shot In the Arm (live)”

Centro-Matic “The Mighty Midshipman”
—-

The Hold Steady “Stay Positive”

Leeroy Stagger “Petrified World”

Old 97′s “Nineteen”
—-

Jesse Malin “Don’t Let Them Bring You Down (Beautiful Day)”

The Gaslight Anthem “the ’59 Sound”

Ryan Adams “Gimme A Sign”

Boxing Day “Famous”
—-

Sidewalk Dave “Death Ain’t as Bad as You Thought (It Might Be)”

Band of Horses “No One’s Gonna Love You”

The Jayhawks “What Led Me To This Town”

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit “Good”