Rhinestones, cowboys and reunions

NASHVILLE -- The AMA folks paid tribute to Glen Campbell tonight on Cannery Row, with a raucous band backing up a series of singers that drove home his fabulous career.

They did almost all of the big ones:
"By the Time I Get to Phoenix"
"Reason To Believe"
"Gentle on My Mind"
"Kentucky Means Paradise"
"Wichita Lineman"
"Let It Be Me"

Then Campbell came out and did "Rhinestone Cowboy," leading a sing-along. He also covered Green Day ("who I love," he said) with "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" from his new CD.

With his rosy cheeks and perma-hair, Campbell used to be a good-humored foil for The Smothers Brothers and others. But the guest musicians gave heartfelt tributes to his influence, even if he did say the Sin City band "looked more like a gang."

Later in the Mercy Lounge, Buddy Miller led a four-piece outfit that seemed utterly comfortable, although they had never played together. Early on, they did Miller's previous Song of the Year winner, "Worry Too Much."

And Miller surprised everyone by bringing out '70s soul shouter Bonnie Bramlett for two songs, including Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold on Me." On one web site, Bonnie has been called "the queen of hazel-eyed soul." Randall Bramlett was in town, too, for his own set.

It's been a great four days of music, for a pretty unbelievable price. If you love this kind of music, you owe it to yourself to check it out next year.

Meanwhile, we've found lots of acts that we can try and bring to Tampa at one of our five venues at the TBPAC.

If we do, it will be because we heard it here first.

Thank you, Nashville and the AMA. -- MichaelK

Paul Thorn: Preacher and Puck

NASHVILLE -- New personal favorite Paul Thorn, both preacher and Puck, put on a gospel tent-worthy performance at the Mercy Lounge -- full of salvation, healing, inspiration and dating advice.

("It's not how you kiss 'em, it's how you listen.")

He drew one of the most enthusiastic audiences of the week, including an opening number sing-along on the chorus of "Mission Temple Fireworks Stand."

Kris Kristofferson has called him "the best-kept secret in the music business." He also said his songs were like the stories of true grits Florida writer Harry Crews.

Also on Friday, The Red Stick Ramblers and Raleigh's Chatham County Line took Americana listeners to Cajun and bluegrass roots, respectively. And unofficial Nashville Mayor Jim Lauderdale closed down the Station Inn with songs he had written and performed on a recent CD with legend Ralph Stanley, "Lost in the Lonesome Pines." -- MichaelK

More lipstick at the AMA

NASHVILLE -- So everybody is trying to figure out what Americana is, although we ran a pretty good definition back in September of 2006.

From the Nashville paper:

Well, it's modern music that's based on American roots forms, and there are more tendencies than hard-and-fast rules. In a lot of instances, it sounds a whole lot like country. In fact, platinum country act turned platinum non-country act Dixie Chicks will compete in the "best song" category at the awards show. While country radio booted the Chicks from play lists, Americana stations continue to embrace the band. Americana is a rather amorphous genre, though, and many artists also delve beyond country into rock, folk, blues and jazz. If Neil Young's "Heart of Gold," Don Williams' "Amanda," Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" or Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" were released today, they would all be classified as Americana. And Americana is not limited to Americans: Brits Elvis Costello, Mark Knopfler and Nick Lowe are always invited to the party."It's music that is coloring outside the lines, but somehow is connected to that big pool that is folk and country and storytelling and doesn't fit any particular mold," said Emmylou Harris.

But that's pretty long. Here's a simpler, funnier explanation that presenter Elizabeth Cook said from the stage at the Ryman, home to last night's Americana Honors and Awards:

"What's the difference between a folksinger and an Americana singer?"
"Lipstick."

What that means for Buddy Miller I'm not quite sure. -- MichaelK

Americana award winners

NASHVILLE -- In an awards program Thursday at the historic Ryman auditorium, the unlikely Americana duo of Robert Plant and Allison Krauss took home two awards, and Levon Helm one.


The titles of their most recent CDs are testaments to futility: Plant and Krauss released "Raising Sand" and Helm's latest is "Dirt Farmer." But they were triumphant Thursday.

The winners:


Album of the Year -- "Raising Sand," by Plant/Krauss

Artist of the Year -- Levon Helm

Instrumentalist of the Year -- Buddy Miller

New Emerging Artist of the Year -- Mike Farris (Is it me, or is that award title redundant?)

Song of the Year -- "She Left Me for Jesus," Hayes Carll and Brian Keane (who thanked God in his acceptance speech)

Duo/Group of the Year -- Plant/Krauss

President's Award -- Jerry Garcia

Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award -- Joan Baez

Lifetime Achievement for Songwriting -- John Hiatt

Lifetime Achievement for Performance -- Jason and the Scorchers

Jack Emerson Lifetime Achievement for Executive -- Terry Lickona, for 30 years producer of the PBS show "Austin City Limits," the longest-running music TV show in the history of television

Americana Trailblazer -- Nanci Griffith

Lifetime Achievement, Engineer/Producer -- Tony Brown

Lifetime Achievement, Instrumentalist -- Larry Campbell

-- MichaelK





One-liners (and bonus sentences) from the awards program:


"How did I get here." -- Robert Plant

"Don't ever play that on one of my songs." -- Buddy Miller, quoting his wife, Julie Lee

"The founding members of Americana: Jerry Lee Lewis and The Ramones." -- Jason and the Scorchers

"My mother always said, 'John, sing the pretty ones,' but I didn't want to sing the pretty ones because I was young and angry. Now, I mostly sing the pretty ones when I can because that's what people want to hear. "It's not so bad." -- John Hiatt


"I never was in a band where someone else sang. I like this better." -- Robert Plant on his partnership with Allison Krauss

The future of Americana

NASHVILLE -- Americana Honors and Awards Host Jim Lauderdale suggested the future of Americana music was so bright that it not only should wear shades, but that new charts might be created: Americana oldies, Lite Americana and Hot Americana 100.

He was being facetious, but he's not wrong about the growing popularity of the form. It's a big tent, and listeners are searching for meaning no matter what the musical form. -- MichaelK

A night full of stars

NASHVILLE -- Inspired by their peers, Americana artists provided moments of great music, both on stage at the Ryman during the Thursday night awards show, and afterward at the showcases at five venues.

A few highlights:

Tift Merritt joyfully performing her Song of the Year nominee, "Broken"

Emerging Artist of the Year winner Mike Farris putting the soul back in the Ryman, which used to be a church

Lifetime Achievement for Songwriting winner John Hiatt going to the piano for "Have a Little Faith in Me"

Jason and the Scorchers living up to their name as lifetime performance winners

James McMurtry recognizing time passing with "Just Us Kids"

Texan Joe Ely telling stories of farmers and immigrants

The American Beauty Project showcasing the roots of President's Award-winner Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead -- MichaelK

Hellooooo, Nashville!

NASHVILLE -- Ah, the trials of a rock star.

Americana award-winner Robert Plant on Thursday night, recalling his Led Zep days:

"I played here many years ago, I think it was with another band. They gave us the key to the city before the concert. And then about halfway through, they put us under house arrest for inciting something or the other. But times are changed and the city has changed and I've changed. It might not have even been this city."

(Might he be confusing a Nashville show with the rain-shortened 1977 concert at Tampa Stadium that led to a mini-riot and a ban on stadium concerts that lasted for a while?) -- MichaelK

Did you hear about the midnight rambler?

NASHVILLE -- OK, so it wasn't quite midnight, but Levon Helm took his legendary Ramble on the road to the Ryman for more than three hours earlier tonight.

Normally, the Ramble is set at Helm's home/recording studio in Woodstock, N.Y. But for the Americana Music Awards, he staged it at the "mother church of country music ..."

The show opened and closed countless standing ovations later with an audience sing-along of Helm's "The Weight," followed at the end only by an all-star encore version of "Forever Young."

For Helm, who has battled illness and at one point was told he would never sing again, the last song was an affirmation, a celebration and a prayer. His peers praised him for his drumming, his singing, his mandolin playing, his songwriting and his soul. If he hadn't been such an on-stage presence, you might have feared the worst.

The hard-core troubadour Steve Earle was in the 2,000-plus audience with his wife, singer Allison Moorer, who wore an angel's wing design on her back. John Hiatt was there, too. All three ended up on stage before it was through, joining Delbert McClinton, Sam Bush, Buddy Miller, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Sheryl Crow, Billy Bob Thorton and a few other visitors.

Helm graciously shared the spotlight with his guests, turning over some well-known songs from The Band to his daughter and members of his 10-piece band-- including a mighty four-piece horn section that threatened to turn songs like "Rag Mama Rag" into a New Orleans Second Line procession.

The keyboard intro and lead to "Chest Fever" became a guitar showcase, perhaps in deference to absent friends.

Krauss and Plant, the most unlikely pairing despite their best-selling CD "Raising Sand," did the first song they ever performed together, the traditional "In the Pines," frequently linked to Leadbelly.

Crow told the crowd she was just a "frustrated country singer." And then proved at least half of that statement.

Miller mentioned that he had no right to sing the song he and his wife Julie wrote, "Wide River To Cross," since Helm covered it on his Grammy Award-winning CD, "Dirt Farmer," Helm's first solo studio effort in 25 years.

"Are you ready, Levon?" they asked at the start.

"I hope so," he said. And then joyfully, triumphantly began the Ramble.

What a great start to the AMA week.

The show ran so long I missed the everybodyfields at The Basement, but I did catch Anne McCue at 3rd and Lindsley, the last few songs of Marcia Ball's set as well as Kim Richey, Will Kimbrough and Mando Saenz at the Mercy Lounge.

Ball closed with her hurricane survival song "Ride It Out," from her new CD, "Peace, Love & BBQ."

Best non-legal legal notice: "We're filming tonight's show for a DVD. We'll be shooting the audience. What that means is, if you're sitting next to someone you shouldn't be seen with, it's time to move."

Best end-of-evening advice: "Don't drive home faster than your angels can fly."

Thursday night brings the Americana Awards and Honors show, also at the Ryman, with the stellar house band led by Buddy Miller. Showcases at the five clubs start at 10.

As always at these showcases, we're looking for people to bring to Tampa at the TBPAC. Our programmers will get the reports and do their best to book the best performers.

Stay tuned. -- MichaelK

Doing time at the Americana Festival

NASHVILLE -- If this conference is any indication, the Americana scene is thriving.

The annual Americana Music Association Festival and Conference begins today here in Nashville. The New York Times calls it "the coolest music scene today."

The days are filled with workshops and sessions on the music industry, publishing and connecting with fans. The attendees are performers, radio folks, journalists and fans.

The nights are mostly filled with four or five one-hour sets, at four different venues, accessible by courtesy van. That's 16 to 20 sets a night. If you time it right, you can see six or seven of them at the clubs, and that doesn't count Levon Helm's all-star Ramble on the Road at the Ryman tonight or the Americana Honors and Award program there tomorrow night.

It's a boatload of music, and this is just the city for it.

I'm particularly interested in Kane/Welch/Kaplan, Marcia Ball, Kim Richey, Joe Ely, The Waybacks, Kathy Mattea, Paul Thorn, James McMurtry and Buddy Miller.

But there are always surprises.

We found Mary Gauthier and Amy Speace at this festival a few years ago and were able to bring them to Club Jaeb, our intimate singer/songwriter space at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. (And Mary's coming back to Tampa as part of this year's Club Jaeb lineup!)

Who knows what this year will bring?

Check back often. As long as the wireless holds out, I'll post early and often. -- MichaelK