Justin Townes Earle and Wagons at The Clarendon Guest House Katoomba NSW Australia October 7

As we pulled up outside The Clarendon, the sleet was falling and all I could think was thank God I brought my big black jacket! Let’s face it, Katoomba = COLD! There’s no denying that fact!

Justin Townes Earle is no show pony, he's a work horse… having played over 250 shows in the last 12 months is confirmation of that! His guitar playing is phenomenal and I’m not just throwing the word out there willy nilly… I mean PHENOMENAL! It sounds like there are 5 guitars up there at times. He is the consummate professional performer and one hell of an entertainer!

Wagons kicked off the evening’s entertainment with a grin and a snarl! Henry and the lads were in outstanding form! Starting out with the glorious “Never Been To Spain” they moved through their set with good humour and frenetic energy. They played all the favourites; the new album copped a flogging with “Drive All Night Till Dawn, Keep Your Eyes Off My Sister” and the title track off the new opus “Goodtown”. By the end of their set Wagons had assuredly collected a fresh batch of fans and friends.

When Justin Townes Earle strolled onto the stage armed with a swagger, a smile and his guitar, he was welcomed like a long lost friend. He started his set with “They Killed John Henry” leaving the audience gasping in awe. Many of the folk that were in attendance saw JTE last year when he toured Australia and they returned for a very good reason, but those who missed out last year, were gobsmacked by his talent as a performer and songwriter. JTE makes it all look so effortless, nothing seems a stretch for him as he weaves his way through his set. From “Ain’t Glad I’m Leavin” and “I Don’t Know”, to “Someday I'll Be Forgiven For This” and “Mama's Eyes”, Justin had the audience in the palm of his hand for his entire performance. JTE covered all of the bases, serving up a few covers from Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins “My Starter Won't Start”, The Carter Family “I'm Leaving You This Lonesome Song” and Mance Lipscomb “Walkin Blues” as well as a sneak peek of some new songs from his next album "Christchurch Woman", "Learnin To Cry" and "Waitin On Nothin" (who else is champing at the bit for that release?).

The set proper concluded with “Walk Out”, as soon as JTE bid goodnight to the appreciative throng, he was being begged to return to the stage for the mandatory encore, ever the gentleman, he returned the love with a request from the front table “Turn Out The Lights” a song he confided, he hadn’t played in a year, but was flawless in execution and his stunning rendition of The Replacements classic “Can't Hardly Wait”.

This was an amazing gig, all of the elements were there, humour, humility, prodigious talent and above all the SONGS! At shows end, JTE signed CDs, Posters, a Guitar, chatted and posed for pictures for what seemed an eternity, he is the artist that keeps on giving and giving and giving!

In short, Justin Townes Earle is a genuine talent, the real deal and one of the most important artists in Roots Music today!

Neil Young and My Morning Jacket at the Sydney Entertainment Centre 24/01/2009

For months I had been looking forward to this gig, MMJ and Shakey in my home town at the same time “WOW”. I guess I could have paid a motza for a BDO ticket, spent all day in the blistering heat but I wanted more Neil than he’d be afforded to offer at the BDO.

My Morning Jacket were the perfect choice for the support slot, Jim James and Co. were in very fine form, beautiful, angelic melodies and reverb to burn! The only problem presented by the gorgeous MMJ set was that being the support act, they weren’t on for long. At the end of their set, I wanted, nay, craved more!

I have been listening to MMJ for about 18 months now, I was only aware of them until my nephew put me onto them, but I hadn’t actually heard them until then. After finally hearing MMJ, I really liked them, I thought they were a great band that had some very cool sounds, but it wasn’t until I experienced this incredible band in the live forum that I truly got them. Well now I’m hooked, I only wish I’d seen their side show a couple of days earlier. The highlights of their set for me personally, “Thank You Too!”, Smokin From Shootin", and "Gideon", but I really missed "One Big Holiday". Like any relationship, we go through stages, before Saturday, I liked MMJ, now I love them!

MMJ Set

1. Golden
2. I'm Amazed
3. The Way That He Sings
4. Thank You Too!
5. Gideon
6. Smokin From Shootin
7. Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2
8. Dondante

Then it was time for Shakey and his troubadours, I have been looking forward to this since rumours first surfaced about the impending tour. People that were looking forward to an evening of Neil’s greatest hits would have been in for a surprise, some may have even been disappointed, but not this little black duck!

Neil opened the set with “Love And Only Love” from “Old Ragged Glory 1990” a song that I wasn’t that familiar with, but enjoyed thoroughly, then was a new ditty “Sea Change” that was very rocking and shows that Neil is still a very relevant entity in the wonderful world of music. I must admit, that I would have enjoyed hearing some of his more popular songs, like “Heart Of Gold”, “Are You Ready For The Country”, “Old Man” or “From Hank to Hendrix” I mean they’re popular for a reason, they’re really great songs! But hey, I always like being surprised and getting something out of the norm and this is Neil Young after all, so expect the unexpected! The highlights of Neil’s set for me were “Cinnamon Girl”, “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere”, “One Of These days”, “The Needle And The Damage Done” and Rockin In The Free World”, with the jaw dropping version of “A Day In The Life” completely blowing me away!

Unfortunately, the audience at the Entertainment Centre were very reserved and this seemed the frustrate Neil, this was especially noticeable during the anthemic chorus of “Rockin In The Free World” and a lot of the audience on the floor did was sit on their collective ass!”

He didn't seem to be a happy camper and who could blame him? A lot of the audience down on the floor looked like they may have been more comfortable at an André Rieu concert. This was Neil Young! A Rock concert! That's the problem with seating on the floor at rock concerts, people pay over inflated prices for tickets to be close to the artist, I guess it’s a status thing, because they then complain, saying things like “SIT DOWN! I PAID A LOT OF MONEY TO SIT HERE!” when people react the way they are meant to at a rock concert.

If they want to sit and be civilised toffs, then skip up to the first elevation or beyond and let those who truly enjoy being moved by music rejoice in the rapture of rock!

Better yet, get the Heart Of Gold DVD, make a cup of tea and stay home.

At the end of the day, I had a great night, I was thoroughly entertained and thrilled to witness the greatness and the majesty of rock royalty.

Keep On Rockin In The Free World!

Neil Young Set
1. Love And Only Love
2. Sea Change
3. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
4. Spirit Road
5. Cortez The Killer
6. Cinnamon Girl
7. Mother Earth
8. The Needle And The Damage Done
9. Light A Candle
10. Four Strong Winds
11. Unknown Legend
12. One Of These Days
13. Get Back To The Country
14. Words
15. Just Singing A Song
16. Rockin' In The Free World
17. A Day In The Life (The Beatles cover)

Let’s put the “O” back in C_untry!

To quote Shooter Jennings, son of the late great Waylon Jennings “Let’s put the “O” back in C_untry!”

I was watching CMC the other day and Tim McGraw came on in his latest big budget slick ass music video and all I kept thinking was, a Stetson and a manicured goatee don’t make it country! What the hell are folks doing in the name of Country? Hank, Jimmy, Johnny and Waylon would be spinning in their respective graves, Hell! Old George Jones is spinning and he ain’t even dead yet.

Country Music use to be described as 3 chords and the truth, songs about love, loss, heartbreak, community and overcoming it all, today’s POP Country has very little resemblance to the Country Music of yore. It’s just too clean, too slick and too contrived, there’s nothing earthy or real to it, it’s become more concerned with beautiful people with perfect skin and teeth. Nashville has a lot to answer for, we now have Bon Jovi, Jessica Simpson and Kid “Fuckin” Rock in the Country charts, what a joke!

Just as an experiment, I tried to request a Drive-By Truckers video via the CMC website and the site didn’t even recognise their existence, granted things move a tad slower down here in Aus, but for a COUNTRY MUSIC TV CHANNEL in any country not to acknowledge the significance of this band is yet another travesty, I didn’t even have the heart to try Elliott Brood.

I’m not “Anti POP”, I love Pop Music, as long as it’s honestly Pop, Mika is a true talent as too are P!nk, Christina and Duffy, they’re Pop and honest about it and that makes them great, they’re honest about their Popness. Every genre has a place in this wonderful world of music, without POP we would never have had The Beatles, Elton, Bowie or The Beach Boys and the world would be a lot worse off without their collective contributions to the world’s wondrous soundscape.

So for all those “Country fans” out there, give Keith, Tim, Toby, Dirks, Brooks and Dunn a miss and check out Drive-By Truckers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Elliott Brood, Hank Williams III, and Wayne “The Train” Hancock, you will hear real Country Music, created by real musicians, not the next Music Row Lemming. And in Aus. we have incredible artists like Halfway, Mexico City, LJ Hill, The Orphans and Chucks Wagon just to name a few, there are a plethora of wonderful “Real” Country Music acts out there, you just need to dig and look beyond Nashville and Tamworth.

Till next time… Leave The Dirt On!

W

Justin Townes Earle, Perry Keyes and Lucy Lehmann at The Annandale Nov 25, 2008

Well the night started out beautifully, I made the trek into the Big Smoke in pretty good time (I didn't even get all the way through Drive-By Truckers "The Dirty South). I got there in time to see Lucy Lehmann and was captured by her strength and vulnerability, the room wasn't as full as it would have been on a Friday or Saturday, but it was a healthy Tuesday night turnout.

Perry Keyes was up next after what seemed an unusually long changeover, considering all performers were performing solo and acoustic, Perry was in his usual very fine form, picking a set list must be a nightmare for Perry when he is playing support, he has such a wide, healthy repertoire to choose from, Perry did very well in his song selection, delving into past, present and future.

Then the long lean, southern boy Justin Townes Earle took to the stage, armed only with his trusty Epiphone flat top, a knowing grin and enough talent, charm and whit to disarm even the most cynical of folk who may be of the opinion that he is riding the coat tails of his dear old Dad Steve Earle.

JTE opened with a tune "They Killed John Henry" that will debut on his next album due out in March '09, next was "Ain't glad I'm Leaving" from his current release "The Good Life", both songs were welcomed very warmly by the now very full and very diverse room. This set the mood for the rest of the night, "The Good Life" was very well represented as were the yet to be released songs. There were the mandatory covers, Townes Van Zandt, Hank Williams, Buck Owens songs were all in his arsenal along with many more.

JTE played for almost 2 hours and only got better as the night went on, then after the very vocally demanded encore, JTE invited all to the merch table for a meet and greet.

All in all, JTE is a true talent and I'm glad I was amongst the first to witness JTE in Aus, because when he tours again, he WILL be playing bigger venues and there WILL be a bigger ticket price.

Everyone I spoke with after the show were almost rendered speechless, the most common phrase was "Oh My God! How great was that!" and "Shit! That boy can play!"

Till next time... leave the dirt on!