07.28.06 (MusicPortal.com) Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys are on tour in support of their new album, "Turntable Matinee." The Philadelphia Inquirer recently reviewed the album, and had this to say: "He's been at it for more than two decades now, so when Big Sandy (a.k.a. Robert Williams) decides to present a Turntable Matinee, you know he's not about to conjure images of, say, Grandmaster Flash. From the opening salute to 'The Power Of The 45,' with its insistent rockabilly beat and litany of '50s names, this is music that again looks way back. It's a familiar mix that, besides rockabilly, encompasses country, jazz and pop while this time adding a touch of Memphis soul with the horn-stoked 'Slipping Away' and bossa nova with 'Spanish Dagger.' Keeping it from sounding fossilized are the vivid originality of Big Sandy's songs (bassist Jeff West also wrote three, and sings two), and the hot ensemble playing of the Fly-Rite Boys, whose swing and twang provide the spice to Big Sandy's sweet croon." Tour Dates: 07/25 Evanston, IL [Dawes Park - Starlight Concert Series] • 07/26 Columbia, MO [9th Street Summer Festival] • 07/27 Iowa City, IA [The Mill] • 07/28 St. Louis, MO [Beale On Broadway] • 07/29 Kansas City, MO [Knucklehead Saloon] • 07/30 Lincoln, NE [Zoo Bar] • 08/09 Fullerton, CA [Concerts In The Park] • 08/11 Winters, CA [The Palms] • 08/12 San Francisco, CA [Bimbo's] • 08/17 Central City, CO [Fortune Valley Casino And Hotel] • 08/18 Central City, CO [Fortune Valley Casino And Hotel] • 08/19 Central City, CO [Fortune Valley Casino And Hotel] • 08/20 Laporte, CO [Swing Station] • 08/24 Hollywood, CA [Amoeba Records - In-Store Performance] • 08/25 Whittier, CA [Memories] • 08/26 Hollywood, CA [Safari Sam's] • 09/03 Sonora, CA [Camp Mather - Strawberry Music Festival] • 09/06 Boise, ID [Live After Five] • 09/08 Eugene, OR [Eugene Celebration] • 09/09 Seattle, WA [Tractor Tavern] • 10/04 Cincinnati, OH [Tall Stacks Music - Arts & Heritage Festival] • 10/05 Champaign, IL [Cowboy Monkey] • 10/07 Cincinnati, OH [Tall Stacks Music - Arts & Heritage Festival] • 10/20 Atlanta, GA [The Earl]
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07.17.06 (MusicPortal.com) Sugar Hill Records recording artist RILEY BAUGUS will release a new album in "Long Steel Rail" on August 8th. In his formative years, old-time musician Baugus often played with and learned from elders of the tradition in North Carolina and Virginia, including legendary old-time fiddlers Tommy Jarrell (a National Heritage Award recipient). Earnest study and total immersion in the wealth of knowledge available to him by virtue of being an insider from the region gave Riley Baugus access to experience that positioned the North Carolina native as a standard-bearer and direct link between the art's pre-commercial beginnings and today. On "Long Steel Rail," Baugus continues to embrace his role in the lineage singing, fiddling, and playing banjo with absolute love and respect for the humanity and tradition that first brought music into his life. It's the style that first brought Riley Baugus into the spotlight in the blockbuster film "Cold Mountain," and the sound that snagged the attention of Sugar Hill. Produced by Tim O'Brien and Dirk Powell, "Long Steel Rail" stands squarely in the realm that Sugar Hill has come to define - that of quality roots Americana music. Riley Baugus represents not only the best of the old-time banjo, but also Sugar Hill's commitment to preserving and fostering the growth of traditional music. Baugus hails from rural North Carolina, not far from where Barry Poss first founded the Sugar Hill label more than 25 years ago. The label itself owes its existence in part to the hollow-backed banjo, played in the traditional clawhammer style. Poss himself fell under the spell of the old-time banjo as played by greats like Fred Cockerham and Tommy Jarrell and abandoned academics to follow music and eventually form the label. Old-time music itself deeply informed Bluegrass music, which was the mainstay at the small indie for the first decade. In those respects, the addition of Baugus to the Sugar Hill roster is nothing less than perfect. Riley Baugus first came to music through his family. His father brought home countless records from fellow North Carolinian Doc Watson and others, which Baugus says touched him on a molecular level. Starting on the fiddle, but quickly moving on to the banjo, Baugus learned the "Round Peak" style of playing at the knee of Tommy Jarrell.

07.03.06 (MusicPortal.com) In the months leading up to his passing on September 12th, 2003, JOHNNY CASH had been recording new material with producer Rick Rubin. Tomorrow on July 4th, "American V: A Hundred Highways" -- an all-new Johnny Cash album taken from those sessions -- will be released through American Recordings/Lost Highway Records. It will include the last song Johnny Cash ever wrote. The songs that comprise "American V: A Hundred Highways" are as eclectic an assortment as any on the previous albums in the American series: 'Help Me,' a poignant plea to God, the hauntingly beautiful ballad 'If You Could Read My Mind,' 'God's Gonna Cut You Down,' a traditional spiritual, the touching 'Love's Been Good To Me,' the heartrending 'On The Evening Train,' and 'Further On (Up The Road)' are among the tracks on the new album. Songwriters for the tracks run the gamut from Hank Williams to Rod McKuen to Bruce Springsteen. In addition, two original Cash compositions are featured, 'Like The 309' and 'I Came To Believe.' 'Like The 309' is the last song Cash wrote and, like his first recorded single, 1955's 'Hey Porter,' is a song that incorporates one of his favorite settings, trains: "Everybody take a look/See I'm doin' fine/Then load my box/On the 309." 'I Came to Believe' is a song he wrote and originally recorded earlier in his career, and addresses the pain of addiction and connecting to a higher power. "I think that 'American V' may be my favorite of all of the albums in the American series," said Rubin. "It's different from the others, it has a much different character. I think that this is as strong an album as Johnny ever made." The months following the May, 2004 passing of his wife June Carter Cash, were among the most physically and emotionally painful times in Cash's life, but keeping focused on the recording of "American V: A Hundred Highways" proved to be his salvation. Rubin remembers, "Johnny said that recording was his main reason for being alive, and I think it was the only thing that kept him going, the only thing he had to look forward to." Cash and Rubin began recording the songs that would find their way onto "American V: A Hundred Highways" in 2002, specifically on the day after they finished "American IV: The Man Comes Around" which was released that November. Johnny feared that "American IV" might be his last release, so Rubin suggested that he... [full story]
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[Country News: June 2006]
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