Do you ever have those moments when you hear a certain artist or band from days gone by, and wish you could have attended one of their concerts while they were still on the road and in their heyday? Lately I find myself in that situation, especially as I get farther along with writing again. Most of my wish list is around awesome bands that will sadlynever come around again largely because members who were at the forefront of these bands have long since passed away. Here are four bands that I would give my eye teeth to see but will have to make do with concert videos and vinyl records. I would love to hear who you would love to have seen - please add your picks in the comment section below. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Growing up I was exposed to 60s, 70s and 80s country music with little exposure to anything else, so I came quite late to the party where Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are concerned. Their music is true, heartland American rock and roll. No matter what song you hear from this band, you cannot help but feel uplifted and good. These guys have been the soundtrack to summer road trips for the last 40+ years. The sudden and much-too-soon passing of Tom Petty hasn't tempered interest in their music. Man, I wish I was tuned into this group in my younger days and had a chance to attend one of their concerts. The Band
The Band came together during the period of 1958 to 1963 as one at a time Levon Helm, Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson and Richard Manuel joined together to back Ronnie Hawkins as The Hawks. They left Ronnie in 1964 to venture out of the Toronto music club scene and had a storied career that led them straight to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Band has earned their place in musical lore as a group that is now widely considered to have been among the first Americana musical acts - long before the term Americana was considered as a genre. With their ability to blend their influences, which ranged from rockabilly, country, blues, soul and classical music, The Band recorded timeless and genre defying material. They remain one of the most influential music groups in history. I was only three years old in 1976 when The Band, in its original version, called it quits. Thank goodness we have The Last Waltz concert movie to capture their final show. The Highwaymen
Waylon Jennings. Willie Nelson. Kris Kristofferson. Johnny Cash. Not that I need to say more, but I will. Four of the greatest country singers and songwriters that ever lived. Willie and Kris are the only surviving members today. With dozens of number one hits and millions of records sold individually, they came together in 1985 to record and release "The Highwayman", an album that would be certified platinum that same year. Country music's first super group was born. All four are members are in the Country Music Hall of Fame and have influenced more artists in several genres of music than can be counted. The Allman Brothers Band
Formed in 1969 in Jacksonville, Florida with brother Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks, Berry Oakley, and Jaimoe Johanson, The Allman Brothers Band successfully blended rock, country and jazz to become arguably the first successful southern rock band. They are, for sure, the pure definition of a jam band as evidenced in their legendary live performances where songs would last for nearly 20 minutes with improvised guitar solos at the forefront. You can feel the energy this improv style had on a crowd when listening to the landmark 1971 landmark live album "At Filmore East." While the album only has seven tracks, it has a running time of more than 78 minutes. It doesn't take much effort to feel the soul and energy captured in The Allman Brothers signature tune "Whipping Post", which runs for over 23 minutes on the album.
When the organizers and volunteers look back on the first ever SPEAK Music Be Kind Music Festival, they may look back at it as the little festival that could. Having taken up residence this past weekend at one of Toronto's most versatile music venues, The Tranzac Club, all involved should view this accomplishment with a great sense of pride and satisfaction. Steady crowds continually braved strong, inclement weather to attend what appears to be Canada's first truly gender-balanced music festival. Embracing diversity and wide-ranging musical styles, the festival kicked off in the evening of Friday, January 17 and continued all day Saturday with Lydia Persaud, Mike Field, Tragedy Ann and Johnson Crook. Workshops featuring the festival performers occurred throughout the weekend, providing the artists with the opportunity to describe their stories behind their songs. These workshops often led to some excellent collaborations and unique moments as these artists likely don't perform together on the same stage at the same time very often. I attended one of the workshops on Sunday, the final day of the inaugural festival. The Bluesrockin' Roots session featured three of Canada's best blues and roots musicians: Julian Taylor,Kim Doolittle and Ken Yoshioka. All three of these artists are world class musicians. To have them sharing the spotlight for a 45 minute show in a first year festival demonstrates that the organizers are serious about the success of this festival for the long term. Julian Taylor is a remarkable and outstanding singer-songwriter who brings heart and soul to the forefront of his performance. As shown in his telling of "In This Land", this is an artist who has the life experience that one must have lived to make the listener feel every word of this song. Blues mainstay Kim Doolittle has been rocking it out for over 40 years and did not disappoint the packed room when her turn came up. Performing "Into The Blue", a track from her latest album, got the crowd into that nice, feel-good groove that the blues can have now and again. Ken Yoshioka fit in nicely to complete the trio by contributing solid old-school blues guitar as background, in addition to providing his own material. One of the most unique acts I’ve seen in a long time is Minuscule, a group created and fronted by Laurel Minnes. The sound is a good cross between Joni Mitchell and a vocal choir, the latter of which is a major part of this group - 9 members, all female, backing up Larel’s lead vocal. With a 3 piece band comprised of a drummer, keyboardist and cellist accompanying Laruel’s ukelele, they deliver a spellbinding performance. Their debut album titled “Great” is soon to be released. Watch for this act if they are set to appear in your hometown. The future is bright for Minuscule. The final two showcases that I attended put the focus on the classics: classic country and classic gospel (it was Sunday, after all). The Dirty Dishes are a Toronto based, all-female trio who blend and introduce old-time country and folk to new audiences. They delivered an impressive set, covering Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me”, Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight”, Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, as well as The Band’s “Evangeline.” Gospel was delivered in the form of “I Saw the Light” and “Down By The River to Pray”, the latter of which was featured in the film O Brother Where Art Thou. The finale of “I’ll Fly Away” with The Barrel Boys was reminiscent of improvised jam sessions on the Grand Ole Opry or Music City Roots broadcasts. One of those unique moments you can only see at this type of festival. The final performance of the evening was a total Americana mashup with HOTCHA!, Mr. Rick and The Barrel Boys. This performance captured the complete spectrum of the Americana genre, in that folk, bluegrass and old school blues was delivered to the die-hard crowd. The audience was tired but more than willing to cheer and encourage these performers, with HOTCHA! having some fun with "Two Axe-Handles Wide", The Barrel Boys delivering a string band version of the Buck Owens classic "My Heart Skips A Beat", and Mr. Rick showcasing 1920's style blues with "Blues In The Bottle." A heartfelt congratulations to Bev Kreller and everyone at SPEAK Music for organizing their first festival. The philosophy of being kind to one another now and always is something we all need in these troubled times. The SPEAK Music Be Kind Festival provided everyone involved, from the artists to the audience, the promoter and venue, to the volunteers, a much needed respite from the craziness of the outside world for three wonderful days. The power of music truly can heal the troubled soul. *CORRECTION: The original version of this post stated The Tranzac Club was one of Toronto's newer music venues. With it's roots dating back to the year 1931, the Toronto Australia New Zealand Club (TRANZAC) has been operating and featuring music at its current location of 292 Brunswick Ave. since 1971. I regret any confusion this earlier story may have caused.
Pretty much every sports' hall of fame has a builder category. This is a category reserved for inductees who were not athletes of the sport, but executives, coaches, media, and so on, who made significant contributions toward the promotion, growth and overall benefit of that sport -making them worthy of inclusion in their respective hall of fame.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has somewhat of a builder category called "Early Influencers." Hank Williams, Sr., Bill Monroe and Brenda Lee are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in addition to their induction in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Their inductions to the Rock hall is a nod to their contributions to the development of popular music in North America. How Johnny Cash is not on this list escapes me. Hopefully the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame corrects this oversight soon. This got me thinking about the Country Music Hall of Fame. Country music has had many influencers outside of the genre. Some influencers didn’t have many country hits, if any at all, and perhaps didn’t sell as many records as current inductees. But their overall influence on the direction of country music over the decades deserves to be recognized. While I’m sure there are many influencers I will have overlooked in this post, here are my first six inductees into the currently fictitious Builders Category in the Country Music Hall of Fame in no particular order. Have a read and let me know who you would like to see added to this category. The Byrds
The Byrds are widely recognized as one of the pioneers of the country-rock sound and one of the most influential bands in music history. The most creative period for The Byrds ran from roughly 1964 to 1973 and endured several personnel changes. It was in 1968 with core members Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman and Gram Parsons that The Byrds hit their creative peak with their seminal album "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." This album remains a North American classic, truly one of the most influential and important projects ever recorded in the development of country music. Many of the names you see in my proposed list had their careers directly or indirectly influenced by The Byrds. And, I suspect, many of the current members of the Country Music Hall of Fame would say the same thing. Gram Parsons
One of the most influential singer-songwriters of any era, Gram Parsons remains on the outside of both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Halls of Fame. Another pioneering member in the development of country-rock as a solo artist and member of The Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers, it's Parson's influence, love and recording of straight-ahead country music alone that warrants induction as a builder. Parsons had no hit singles, but his contribution to the development of country music is measured in the way Nashville came around to other sounds. It is also important to note, a protégé of Parsons, to whom he was introduced by Chris Hillman, was inducted into the Hall of Fame herself in 2008: Emmylou Harris. Harris is featured prominently on Parson's records and contributed greatly to the sound Parson was trying to capture. Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt could be the single greatest female vocalist of all time. Not known for writing any of the songs she recorded, Ronstadt takes that material and makes it all her own. With hits on the pop, rhythm and blues, rock and country charts, Ronstadt has also performed opera and Latin/Mexican music. Quite simply, Ronstadt can sing anything. Recognized as the first female rock superstar, Ronstadt was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. But her country music cred is real. She had several hits on the country music charts both as a solo artist and as a member of the group Trio with her good friends Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton (two current members of the Country Music Hall of Fame). If you listen to Ronstadt perform, you can clearly see her influence on modern country music, and specifically artists such as Reba McEntire and Martina McBride - one current Hall of Famer and a future inductee, respectively. Ronstadt is also responsible for the introduction of her earliest road band members, a group of guys who went on to a little success themselves … Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner, Don Henley and Glenn Frey, who became ...
The Eagles
The formation of The Eagles, out of Ronstadt's short-lived backing band, in my view represents the culmination of the country-rock era and there was no band that did it bigger or better than this group. Having sold more than 200 million records worldwide, they remain one of the most important acts in modern North American music. The Eagles, it could be argued, were the first country music performing "band", meaning all official members played their own instruments and provided vocals. The success of The Eagles introduced a style of country music pioneered by The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons to the masses in much the same way that Garth Brooks did with country music in the 1990s. Mainstream country bands such as Restless Heart, Lonestar and Hall of Famer's Alabama owe a great deal of their success and acceptance at country radio to The Eagles. The Eagles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. With some country chart success, their influence on modern country music and their continued relevance on the touring circuit today with Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill as a member, The Eagles are a natural choice as a builder inductee to the Hall. Lynyrd Skynyrd
Blending rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country music, Lynyrd Skynyrd have cemented their legacy as pioneers of southern rock. With influences in equal parts of Hank Williams, Sr., Merle Haggard, The Allman Brothers and Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd graced the world with anthems "Sweet Home Alabama", "Simple Man", and the timeless "Freebird." These songs and more became staples on the club band around the world. Their influence can be heard in early Alabama albums, and encouraged Hank Williams, Jr. to completely change the direction of his career in the mid-1970s. Travis Tritt's entire career has been based on blending southern rock and country. Lynyrd Skynyrd didn't have any hits on the country charts, but the influence this band has on country music continues today. Ray Charles
Willie Nelson has said that no other singer has done more for country music than Ray Charles. It's hard to argue that point. When Ray decided to record an album of country music in 1961, albeit with Ray's own spin on those tunes, it changed the trajectory of the genre. Released in 1962, "Moderns Sounds of Country and Western Music" went on to become one of the best selling albums of all time. The album broke down racial barriers during the Civil Rights movement introducing country music, a predominantly white form of music, to a black audience and gained acceptance. In the 1980s, Ray Charles would record several country hits, mostly duets. But it is the release of this album with a recording of a style of music that influenced Ray Charles as a child and young musician that ultimately influenced country music for generations to come. Who do you think should be inducted into the currently fictitious Builders Category in the Country Music Hall of Fame?
Time marches on, as Tracy Lawrence once sang. Amazingly, it's been nearly 3 years since I've written or posted anything on this blog site. In that time, my grandson has started public school, I got married to the woman of my dreams, moved to another town, and Americana as a genre exploded to such new heights even birds are jealous. Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, The Lumineers, and Brandi Carlisile are but some of the leaders of this charge, writing and performing among some of the most relevant and poignant material of any time while selling out large theaters and arenas around the world. When the end of 2020 rolls around, Amanda Shires will take her rightful place in that list above (playing arenas may not be her thing, but I think large theaters would be right up her alley, as shown in this interview with The Tennessean).
The wheels are already in motion for this to take place. Year over year, her career has been a slow build to this moment. Building on the success of such critically acclaimed albums My Piece of Land (2016) and To the Sunset (2018), she took on some risk in 2019 spearheading the formation of The Highwomen. Comprised of outstanding female members Maren Morris, Natalie Hemby, Shires and Carlisle, this wildly well-received supergroup is accomplishing their goal of showing the continued inequality of female to male radio airplay and promotion in mainstream country music. Their debut album (as a group) is selling well, having reached number one on the country album sales chart. But as usual with mainstream country radio when something different and creative rolls across the desk, their singles are being ignored. Not that it would seem that acceptance at radio was the big nugget everyone was looking for, rather to me it highlights the continued problem with mainstream country radio that has existed arguably from the time radio began playing music - that is to say, for roughly the past 100 years. A solo tour that's running from the end of January to April will see Amanda travel across the United States, with Canadian stops in Vancouver (March 11) and Toronto (April 17), will kick off with an appearance at the Girls Just Wanna Weekend festival in Mexico. Her performance at the most recent "Music City Midnight" event in Nashville (with crowd estimates of over 200,000 people) was among the most acclaimed performances of the evening, gaining recognition from CNN's Brooke Baldwin during that network's New Year's Eve broadcast. And, Amanda continues to perform as a member of her husband Jason Isbell's band, the 400 Unit. She is one of the most versatile performers and important artists in music today as she continues to grow and evolve her craft while championing women in music. The world is taking notice. The stars lined up nicely in 2019 for the Americana Music Association's Emerging Artist 2017 winner. The year 2020 will see this young lady explode to new heights. When we do this again next year, we will look back at 2020 as the year of Amanda Shires.
One of the great mid-winter music festivals is underway in Toronto this weekend with the 15th edition of the Winterfolk Blues and Roots Festival. This 3 day festival showcases the finest in local and national touring musicians, with some artists just beginning their musical journey and others who have been on the landscape for many years. Taking place at 5 different venues around the intersection of Danforth and Broadview Aves., this festival is the perfect tonic to come out of the cold winter blues. Checking in at Terri-O's Sports Bar (185 Danforth Ave.) mid-afternoon, the Brampton Folk Club was holding court with a showcase that featured traditional Celtic music performed by members Moira and Elena, Brown Ale and Sylvia Genders. This set was Celtic in the traditional sense, there were no shades of Great Big Sea in this hour. Following this set, The Best of Dr. B's Acoustic Medicine Show kicked off their two hour showcase with local favourites Roger Zuraw, Kirk Felix, Sean Peever and Linda Saslove. Felix's "California Sunset" and Saslove's "Long Goodbye" were particularly well received by the packed house. Over at the Dora Keogh Irish Pub (141 Danforth Ave.), Tragedy Ann was on stage performing a wonderful set that included a stellar cover of Jason Isbell's "Cover Me Up." Tragedy Ann will be taking the stage again today in the 2:00 hour once again at Dora Keogh's during a showcase titled "The Bridge." A big and bright future is in store for Tragedy Ann, this young and talented duo is just getting started. Another young artist from Toronto who impressed the audience is Isaak Bonk. With his wry sense of humor making its way to his songwriting, he's a cross between Corb Lund and Murray McClaughlin. I look forward to hearing more work from Isaak, as a bright future lies ahead for this young man as well. One of the feature showcases of the weekend took place at the Black Swan (154 Danforth Ave.) on Saturday night with the Saturday Night Harmony Hoedown. Running from 7 to 11pm, this four hour showcase shone the spotlight on 4 of the country's finest folk and roots band. From Hamilton, Ontario, The Redhill Valley's kicked the evening off with an outstanding set performing songs off their latest album. Recent Toronto residents The Command Sisters showcased their spot-on sibling harmony's while sharing stories of their recent travels which inspired some of their latest writings. Johnson Crook offered up a country-rock set that was very well received, and the harmony's of Stratford, Ontario's female trio Trent Severn closed the Harmony showcase. Not to be outdone, Canadian blues virtuoso Jack Dekeyser closed off the nightly proceedings with a rocking blues set to send everyone out of the Black Swan ready to come back for more today.
City of Toronto Mayor John Tory last year stated his desire to have Toronto recognized as Canada's Music City. It's a great goal to have, as Toronto has provided its share of big Canadian stars on the world stage, with Drake being the most recent example. Toronto was the developmental ground for one of the most influential bands in music history, The Band, as they played the Toronto club circuit in the summer months prior to returning to Arkansas, the home state of Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm in the winter months. But today, there could be a disturbing trend developing that is throwing a big wrench in Mayor Tory's plans for Toronto as a musical hotbed. A mere 5 weeks in the new year, Toronto has already experienced a rather astounding amount of live music venue closures. Reports from the Toronto Star and Toronto Sun, among others, indicate that two venues (The Silver Dollar Room and Hugh's Room) hope to re-open, but the fact so many venues (4) have closed in such a short period of time is concerning. Revitalization and redevelopment are just two of the reasons for the closures, in addition to the more standard financial causes. But if Toronto is losing music venues to redevelopment and revitalization, how can they claim to be a Music City? Closing down live music venues does not revitalize a city, nor does it do anything for redevelopment. Both aspects should mean that you're improving a situation. Closing music venues does more harm than good. It takes away the development stream for aspiring artists to learn and hone their craft, it limits their ability to learn how to play in front of live audiences. In a recent broadcast of Great Performances on PBS, country star Brad Paisley stated the advice he provides to aspiring artists is that they become local stars first, prior to becoming national/international stars. Becoming a local star is important in their overall development as a complete performing/recording artist and musician, and assists the artist in handling an ever growing level of fame. If live music venues are being taken away, it would be akin to removing the minor league system of baseball ... the development stream ends, which in turn hurts the overall product. To their credit, the Toronto City Council seems to recognize there is a problem. The Toronto Star reports that The Silver Dollar Room will not be closed permanently. Having been designated a heritage space, it will re-open in the newly developed space that will take the place of the building currently occupying the corner of College St. and Spadina Ave. In the meantime, The Silver Dollar is still slated to close on May 1. Hugh's Room is still hopeful for a reprieve with some additional financing, but this outcome is still not clear. A committee has been formed to set a new path forward that will be financially viable and will continue to provide a venue for national and international touring musicians, as well as showcasing some of the finest local talent Toronto has to offer. These closures notwithstanding, Toronto does still have a decent amount of live music clubs. Having said that, the time is now for the community, music and otherwise, to come together and work toward solutions that will keep the local live music establishment healthy and financially viable and provide that development system for aspiring musicians to take that next step in their careers. With many people doing the heavy lifting, Toronto can still fulfill its aspiration as Canada's Music City.
As we've comfortably moved in to the new year it's worth noting that we're a week away from the GRAMMY awards (Feb. 12), the night where artists and musical genres of all sizes, shapes and stripes will be honored. This year will be particularly interesting for Americana as an industry, as one of the genre's brightest stars is nominated for the biggest award of the evening, Best Album. It says here, that in a category where such music industry heavyweights as Beyonce, Adele, Drake and Justin Bieber are nominated, it will be Sturgill Simpson that wins the Best Album award for his outstanding project "A Sailors Guide to Earth."
This will not be an insignificant achievement, to say the least. You could float a battleship on the amount of records that Simpson's competition has sold, numbers which reach in to the tens of millions. Sturgill's effort, however, has sold just shy of 150,000 copies. Given today's market climate where few people are buying physical albums, this is a pretty solid number, given Sturgill's place in the music business. His competition fill arenas and stadiums, while Sturgill has only moved into playing 3,000 to 5,000 seat theaters in the past year or so. It speaks to the quality of his work to have been nominated in the Best Album category for "Sailor's Guide", the follow up to his breakthrough "Metamodern Sounds In Country Music." While many people may have asked "Who the f**k is Sturgill Simpson?" (as quoted from Sturgill's new t-shirt), he has been a late-night media darling for the few of years. Appearances on virtually every late-night show from Letterman to Jon Stewart contributed to Sturgill's exposure in ways that the suits of Music Row in Nashville did not. Indeed, the executives of Music Row bore the brunt of an epic rant from Simpson last year following the death of Merle Haggard and the Academy of Country Music's subsequent naming of an award after Mr. Haggard. The hypocrisy, Sturgill rightly noted, was in the fact that Music Row and country radio had all but ignored legends like Mr. Haggard for many years, only to now capitalize on Haggard's name in his passing. Simpson is quite right when he says Music Row will have blackballed him because of the rant. But this is where the GRAMMY's often get it right. Projects that may not necessarily catch on commercially can still be up for awards. They view the quality of the project as a whole, as opposed to the quantity of product that is sold. A nomination on its own can lead to an increase in record sales for any given artist.
I expect the same thing will happen for Sturgill Simpson this time next week. Given that he will also perform on the show, Sturgill could be on the verge of his own Chris Stapleton moment ... where one performance in front of millions of people can catapult record sales to the number one position on all applicable charts. Chris Stapleton with Justin Timberlake at the 49th Country Music Association Awards brought his major label debut "Traveller" from obscurity to nearly double-platinum status with nearly 2,000,000 records sold. This could be the case for Sturgill Simpson. With a Best Album win, Sturgill Simpson will see his "A Sailors Guide to Earth", an album he wrote as a gift to his son, reach untold and unknown heights from a sales perspective. And more physical album sales is good for the music business as a whole. Regardless of who actually wins, all the albums are worthy of praise and are projects that have been produced by some of the best and finest artists in the music world. Good luck to all, and enjoy the show!
