Almanac Music: Not Quite Bob – Americana Part 2: The Long Ryders, Ray La Montagne, Kurt Vile, Jason Isbell

Not Quite Bob – Americana Part 2 – The Long Ryders, Ray La Montagne, Kurt Vile, Jason Isbell

 

This week 4 very different takes on the broad church of Americana.  As I suggested last week there’s a list on the interwebs of 150 artists, ranked if you don’t mind, that fit the bill.  Despite my view that such rankings are spurious at best it is fair to say that these artists belong comfortably in the category and, unlike some of the others on that list, they do all have NQB credentials in song style and delivery.  And in that they’re mostly younger than a lot of the old coots featured in this series they suggest where this music might be going.

 

The good news?  They’re not even similar to one another so there’s plenty of scope for a fresh take.

 

 

 

The Long Ryders

 

LA based when formed in 1982 from the remnants of other garage bands The Long Ryders roots could be found in Dylan, Buffalo Springfield and the Burritos.  From their first album in 1984, Native Sons, here is ‘Tell It To The Judge On Sunday’.

 

 

 

 

 

The next album the following year, State Of Our Union, is full of really good songs and is probably the pick of the only 4 albums they produced however its not available via the streamers except with Live versions and Demos.  But that’s OK because YouTube has this version of the standout ‘Looking For Lewis & Clark’.  The title alone had me reaching for the wallet at the time and it was another mix tape favorite when getting pissed with like mindeds was a regular event on a Saturday after the footy.

 

After 3 albums they break up in 1987 but then appear live spasmodically at festivals and gigs thereafter until in 2019 they release Psychedlic Country Soul, another excellent album.

 

 

 

 

 

Ray LaMontagne

 

Born in New Hampshire in 1973 (a young ‘un) Ray bases himself in Maine and starts recording in 1999 with the release of Trouble. He was inspired to create music after hearing an album by Stephen Stills. Critics have compared LaMontagne’s music to that of Otis ReddingRyan AdamsBeckPink FloydThe BandVan MorrisonNick Drake and Tim Buckley.  How about that for a varied bunch!

 

His first few albums are each a bit different one from the other but are basically in the folk rock idiom he seems so keen on.  The title track from the first album then.

 

 

 

 

Instantly obvious?  The strings I guess.  But more particularly, unlike many others in this space, he can really sing.  Smooth as, the cry in the voice, the whole enchilada.

 

I really like the first 3 albums but the 4th God Willing & The Creek Don’t Rise is where it all comes together.

 

 

 

 

The title track is an achingly beautiful song.  Here on Letterman.

 

 

 

His next few releases show a bit more experimentation but all have their moments.  Of interest is that Ouroboros in 2016 is where the Pink Floyd reference is made.  I think that should be best left to Messrs. Waters and Gilmore but it’s an interesting record nonetheless.

 

By 2018 with Part of the Light he’s in more familiar territory and from that on Later With Jools here is ‘Such A Simple Thing’.

 

 

One of the commenters on this clip wonders “How can someone’s voice be so powerful and soft at the same time?”  That’s a pretty good summary.

 

 

 

Kurt Vile

 

On the other hand … another way to have a voice that makes you sit up is for it to be unique, yours and only yours, for a song to come on Tim or Brian’s shows and for you to say “Ahh, Kurt.”  That’s Kurt Vile.  An even younger young ‘un Kurt was born in 1980 in Philadelphia and started out with a band called The War On Drugs with whom he has a short stint before releasing his first solo album in 2003.  He cites his influences as being Pavement, John Prine, Neil Young, Tom Petty, Dinosaur Jr, John Fahey and yes Bob.  Natch.  Sticking strictly (well mostly) to Hall of Famers.

 

In 2011 he breaks through with Smoke Ring For My Halo but it’s Wakin On A Pretty Daze in 2013 when he really arrives.

 

 

On high rotation on RRR and PBS, never to be heard on the mainstream but the hip kids love him.  The laconic delivery, the crafty songs and the ever present distinctive guitar stylings he is a one off even if you can hear him in the work of others.

 

In 2015 he releases b’lieve I’m goin down and from there his ‘hit’ ‘Pretty Pimpin’.

 

 

In 2017 he and Courtney Barnett collaborate on Lotta Sea Lice and from there ‘Over Everything’.

 

 

I know this wry, slacker stuff isn’t for everyone but I find it hypnotic and beguiling.  I’ve seen Kurt live and he is compelling in the right setting.  He keeps pumping them out too with Bottle It In in 2018 and (watch my moves) just last week which I haven’t even listened to yet.  Give it a go, you’ll get hooked.

 

 

 

Jason Isbell

 

I know I’m on safe turf here though with other pieces on this site referencing Jason Isbell. With warm praise I should add.  A year older than Kurt Vile, Jason is a boy from the South, Alabama, who had a stint in the Drive By Truckers before leaving in 2007 to go solo.

 

It’s 2013’s Southeastern (his 4th album) that first grabs my attention.

 

 

I’m hooked but this track from the next album Something More Than Free in 2015 seals the deal.  ‘Children of Children’ live.

 

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Great singing, great songwriting and, touching another nerve, a really good guitarist too.  Jason is prolific too, riding the wave, with something new every year including releases with a band he calls The 400 Unit (more players, less intimate songs).  In 2017 The Nashville Sound.

 

 

So to prove the NQB point on this one Jason also is a frequent coverer of Bob Dylan songs.  Here live with Sheryl Crow on ‘Everything Is Broken’.  You don’t have to be a trainspotter and there are no bonus points for noticing the setting.

 

 

Tasty.  The future of the genre is in good hands.

 

 

You can read more from Trevor Blainey HERE.

 

 

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Comments

  1. Colin Ritchie says

    Another cracker TB! I must admit The Long Ryders have not been on my radar for whatever reason. Thanks for introducing me to them, love the raw feeling of their sound. It also makes you realise how many fantastic bands out there are overlooked.

  2. Trevor Blainey says

    Well you introduced me to Kelly Joe Phelps who I’d heard of but not heard. Too many out there.

  3. TB- I’m with you on Kurt Vile who I got to know through Walkin On A Pretty Daze with its languid, endless songs and enveloping guitars. He was great one year at the Singapore leg of the Laneway festival. Looking forward to listening to his new album. Enjoying your weekly columns too. Thanks.

  4. Andrew Fithall says

    Writing this comment from the on site camp site at Bluesfest where the lineup would have been enhanced by the subjects of this article. I saw Kurt Vile live at The Convent outdoor venue in Collingwood. His support that evening was actually Courtney Barnett so I guess that was one of their earliest encounters which bore the subsequent fruit of their collaborative album, which I really enjoyed. Saw Jason Isbell at The Recital Centre in Melbourne. Enjoyed the music but the venue was a little sterile. He did another Melbourne show that tour at a pub venue and I heard from someone who went to both that it was a totally different experience.

    Thank you for the article. I need to further explore the offerings you provide.

    Andrew

  5. Trevor Blainey says

    Mickey, ‘… languid, endless songs and enveloping guitar.’ that’s Kurt right there. glad you like my indulgent musings.

    Andrew, we’ve been to the MRC 4 times. Barney McAll (perfect setting), Mary Wilson (ditto). But Beth Hart and The War and Treaty were both diminished by the venue. it is sterile. both those acts were/are better at Bluesfest in the tents. I hope when I eventually get to see Jason Isbell live it’s somewhere similar.

  6. As a confirmed Grumpy Old Man I usually confine my music to Bruce, Jackson, Joni, Bob, Neil, Mary’s (Black & Chapin Carpenter) etc etc.
    Jason Isbell is my only concession to modernity. And he’s their equal or better in many ways. The sweet powerful voice. The songwriting with it’s powerful metaphors.
    A friend dying of cancer. “Elephant – try to ignore the elephant somehow.”
    War dead. “Dress Blues – you never planned on the bombs in the sand; or sleeping in your dress blues”.
    Identity. “Live Oak – There’s a man who walks beside me; It is who I used to be; And I wonder if she sees him;
    And confuses him with me.”
    And endless great recovery songs. “Something More Than Free –
    You see the hammer finds the nail
    And a freight train needs the rails
    I guess I’m doin’ what I’m on this earth to do
    I don’t think on why I’m here or where it hurts
    I’m just lucky to have the work
    Sunday morning I’m too tired to go to church
    But I thank God for the work
    I thank God for the work”.
    To me Jason is the fulfilment; the encapsulation of everything good in 100 years of American folk, country and roots music. Americana – without a bottle.

  7. Thanks for this, Trevor.

    The Long Ryders were one of my favourite bands in the mid-80’s, and I reckon Sid Griffin is a genius.
    “Two Fisted Tales” and “State of our Union” are brilliant albums. Too many good tracks on them to name.

    Jason Isbell’s “Southeastern” is one of the bast albums of the past decade. “Elephant” gets me every time.

    Cheers

  8. Thanks mate, you reminded me of that time I saw Jason Isbell & 400 Unit at the Croxton Park in 2016. My best concert in living memory after Kinematic at Red Betty. Seeing an Emmy Award winner in Thornbury on a Friday five foot from the front had me stunned frozen. The band was hot and could be as heavy and soft as the situation required. This night it felt like they connected with the Croc ghosts and got heavier and heavier. We all went there. The first 10 rows sang every word of every song. At the end, Children of Children showed us a 16 year old mum standing in the field with a toddler on her hip shorter than the corn. I look up at the singer and there’s the toddler neatly brylcreamed with a studded belt singing it one more time for his Ma until the drums explode over the top and two slide guitars duel up an honour guard to heaven.

  9. Trevor Blainey says

    Thanks Pards. You’ve got one on me because I’ve never seen him live. In bygone days we avoided the Croc for fear of a whack from a local boyo. We now live near it and one of the times we were there we saw Gregory Porter, a very different offering from Rose Tattoo and the Ted Mulry Gang. Jason would have been great there. He’s quite a talent. Children of Children is a frequent go to of his. Thanks again for the beautifully expressed reflection.

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