Acoustic Americana Music Guide, NEWS FEATURES, March 11 edition
Acoustic Americana Music Guide, NEWS FEATURES, March 11 edition
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COMING SOON: Photographs to accompany News Features, Spotlight Events, and MORE!
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. Welcome to the
Reinvented (and still under re-construction)
Tied to the Tracks
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ACOUSTIC
AMERICANA
MUSIC GUIDE
NEWS FEATURES
March 11 edition
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Herein is the News. Other Sections of the Guide are available at separate addresses.
“SPOTLIGHT EVENTS” – the newest edition – is available at
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/03/spotlight-events-acoustic-americana_12.html
“THE SCENE” in individual editions covering each of the next few days, is not yet available. You’ll have to wait for its extensive new features, including “the odds” of finding a show at any of the venues in your neighborhood.
But you CAN check our “Recurring Events” sections!
Friday, March 11
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/01/friday-recurring-on-second-friday-of.html
Saturday, March 12
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/02/saturday-recurring-second-saturday.html
Sunday, March 13
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/01/sunday-recurring-on-second-sunday-of.html
Monday, March 14
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/02/monday-recurring-on-second-mondays-of.html
Tuesday, March 15
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/01/tuesday-recurring-on-third-tuesday-of.html
Wednesday, March 16
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/03/blog-post.html
Thursday, March 17
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/03/thursday-recurring-on-third-thursday-of.html
Friday, March 18
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2011/01/friday-recurring-on-third-friday-of.html
(Editions of the Guide’s NEW Section, “THE SCENE,” will include “Recurring Events” and MUCH more – coming soon…)
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THIS WEEK’S NEWS FEATURES
1) IRISH MUSIC WEEKEND, THRU ST. PATRICK’S DAY – ERIN GO BRAUGH!
2) FREE TAX HELP FOR MUSICIANS
3) LOS LONELY BOYS TO RELEASE CD AT GRAMMY MUSEUM, MARCH 25
4) ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO – COMING TO L.A., April 28-30
5) UNDERSTANDING THE ARTIST WITHIN: OUR NEEDS, DRIVES AND IMPULSES
6) AARON LEWIS – BIG HIT ALBUM, SINGLE & VIDEO; IS “COUNTRY” CHANGING?
7) REVIEW: “FOLKTACULAR,” PRESIDENT’S DAY WEEKEND
8) TIME TO SPEAK UP TO PROTECT YOUR INTERESTS
9) “QUICK TAKES” FROM THE COMING WEEK’S SPOTLIGHT EVENTS PAGE…
10) RECONSTRUCTION PROGRESSES: REINVENTION OF THE GUIDE…
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Here are these feature stories…
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Our # 1 Story:
In two parts, BEFORE St Patrick’s Day, and ON St. Patrick’s Day… Erin Go Braugh!
IRISH MUSIC WEEKEND, THRU ST. PATRICK’S DAY – ERIN GO BRAUGH!
The annual “LOS ANGELES IRISH FAIR” and plenty more are this weekend – then there’s a very cool “ST. PATRICK’S EVE PARTY” in Redlands on Wednesday, and finally, on St. Paddy’s Day (Thursday), THE YOUNG DUBLINERS play a free lunchtime concert in downtown L.A., then a bagpiper leads everyone over to “CASEY’S IRISH STREET FAIR” a 1 pm-to-late street festival with lots of live music, revelry and libations, AND there’s the official “L.A. ST. PATRICK’S CELEBRATION” with a free concert at the Staples Center, 4-8 pm!
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Irish Music Events this Saturday & Sunday, March 12 & 13:
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Sat & Sun, Mar 12 & 13; FESTIVAL; a “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” pick ♣♣♣♣:
10 am-8 pm Annual “LOS ANGELES IRISH FAIR” at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds – Fairplex – in Pomona. (Full info, www.la-irishfair.com.) Many bands on multiple stages; headliners are
THE GALWAY HOOKER BAND
1916
ODD’S BODKIN
EMERALD SOCIETY PIPES & DRUM BAND
42ND HIGHLANDERS PIPES & DRUMS
WRATH OF McGRATH
SKELPIN’
DUBLIN 4
KEN O’MALLEY & THE TWILIGHT LORDS
ROYAL SCOTTISH DANCERS
CRIPPLE CREEK CLOGGERS
McCARTAN SCHOOL OF DANCING
TRUE THOMAS
MERLIN THE MAGICIAN
BILL HOWARD
at Fairplex / L.A. County Fairgrounds, 1101 West McKinley Av, Pomona 91766; www.fairplex.com. Be careful that you park in the correct lot for this event, as several unrelated things may be happening, and parking lots / entrance gates do not connect for different areas. Look for the signs along the Fairplex roadways. (Note that the event is a different weekend this year.)
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Sat, Mar 12 ♣♣♣♣:
“Irish Center’s Annual St Patrick’s Celebration” at the Hilton Hotel in Glendale. More info to come, or check www.irishcenter.org.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Sat, Mar 12 ♣♣♣♣:
2:30 pm “SHAMROCK TALES” celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with stories and crafts of the Emerald Isle, in the Cay Mortenson Auditorium at Arcadia Public Library, 20 W Duarte Rd, Arcadia 91006; www.library.ci.arcadia.ca.us; 626-821-5567. Info on this program, 626-821-5566. All ages, free.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Sat, Mar 12, in OC ♣♣♣♣:
6 pm Annual “ROSE OF TRALEE GRAND BALL” with KEN O’MALLEY & THE TWILIGHT LORDS providing the musical entertainment for this special “black tie” evening, when Southern California’s “Rose of Tralee” will be crowned, and on her way to Ireland for the official “Irish Rose of Tralee” pageant. Info and tix, www.southerncaliforniaroseoftralee.com. It’s at the Atrium Hotel in Irvine.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Sat, Mar 12 ♣♣♣♣:
7:30 pm PEAT-FIRE FLAME with COLYN FISCHER on fiddle & violin & SHAUNA PICKETT-GORDON on piano, bring their classical / Celtic music to a house concert in Northridge. Reservations get directions at JayMichtom@verizon.net or 818-368-1957.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Sat, Mar 12 ♣♣♣♣:
8 pm CLADDAGH plays the Noble House Concert series in Van Nuys. Reservations get directions at 818-780-5979. Irish / Scottish / Celtic music…
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…more shamrocks, Monday through Wednesday…
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Mon, Mar. 14 ♣♣♣♣:
10 pm KEN O’MALLEY brings his classic Irish traditional and original songs for a solo show at The Auld Dubliner, 71 Pine Av, Long Beach; 562-437-8300; www.aulddubliner.com. More at bit.ly/aulddubliner.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Tue, Mar 15, in Riverside ♣♣♣♣:
4 pm KEN O’MALLEY brings his classic Irish traditional and original songs for a duo show at Killarneys in Riverside. Info, www.bit.ly/killarneys.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Wed, Mar 16 in Redlands; a “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” pick ♣♣♣♣:
6:30 pm “ST. PATRICK’S EVE PARTY” with KEN O’MALLEY & THE TWILIGHT LORDS and Irish cuisine and libations, at the historic old Fox Theatre, 123 Cajon St, Redlands; www.foxeventcenter.com.
Doors at 6:30 pm for Irish food and drink (including Guinness and Harp). Showtime 7:30 pm.
Venue is the beautifully restored 1927 theatre and local treasure. More info, including a flyer by e-mail, from twlord@sbcglobal.net. Stay in the area at the San Bernardino Hilton, www.bit.ly/hilton1. Event tix available the preceding weekend at the L.A. IRISH FAIR, or at the Fox, or at www.tix.com. Advance tix, $20 ($25 at the door).
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…more shamrocks…
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ST. PATRICK’S DAY – IRISH MUSIC EVENTS ON THE DAY, Thursday, March 17:
Thu, Mar 17; a “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” pick for ST. PATRICK’S DAY ♣♣♣♣:
11:30 am-1:30 pm THE YOUNG DUBLINERS, plus the EMERALD SOCIETY PIPES & DRUM BAND, play a FREE concert on the Pershing Square stage, followed by the annual ST. PATRICK’S DAY STREET FAIR at Casey’s Irish Pub, all in downtown L.A.
You can catch the concert in the park, then a bagpiper will lead the procession over to Casey’s Street Fair for lots more. It starts at Pershing Square, 532 S Olive St, / or, W 5th St between S Olive St & S Hill St, downtown L.A. 90013; www.laparks.org/pershingsquare; 213-847-4970.
You surely know about the bands, so let’s focus on the venue. Avoid expensive (and today, probably scarce) parking, by riding the Red Line subway from free parking in the big lots at the North Hollywood or Universal City Stations. ($1.50 each way on the subway.) Bring your lunch or buy it locally – the tasty and fresh offerings of L.A.’s landmark Grand Central Market (since 1917) are three blocks away, or there are local take-out shops with pizza, sandwiches, etc. across the street from the Square. Enjoy limited table seating beneath shade umbrellas, or bring a lawn chair or blanket. Or wait and eat at Casey’s Street Fair.
The city JUST restored all the park’s grass in Pershing Square, and it’s appropriately and brilliantly green. Remember to wear YOUR green. Erin Go Braugh! It’s FREE.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Thu, Mar 17; a “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” pick for ST. PATRICK’S DAY ♣♣♣♣:
1 pm-late “CASEY’S IRISH STREET FAIR” in and around Casey’s Irish Pub, 613 S Grand Av, downtown L.A., 90017; 213-629-2353; www.bigcaseys.com. Multiple stages, appropriately Irish-themed food, Guinness and Harp, and a big party for the wearin’ o’ the green. Go to the free concert at Pershing Square at 11:30 am, and join the happy procession led by a bagpiper after the concert (about 1:30 pm) over to the street fair. Or, if you get to Pershing Square for lunchtime and you go back to work, come to Casey’s and the Street Fair after you get off work. Remember to wear your green. Erin Go Braugh!
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Thu, Mar 17; a “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” pick for ST. PATRICK’S DAY ♣♣♣♣:
4-8 pm “CITY OF L.A. ST. PATRICK’S DAY” FESTIVITIES L.A. Live / outside Staples Center. With KEN O’MALLEY & THE TWILIGHT LORDS – selected again this year as the official band to headline the event. For a flyer by e-mail, with directions, contact twlord@sbcglobal.net.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Thu, Mar 17, in OC ♣♣♣♣:
7:30 pm “PLAID IRISH DANCE” with WHEN PIGS FLY at Muckenthaler Cultural Center, 1201 W Malven Av, Fullerton 92833; 714-738-6706.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Thu, Mar 17, in OC ♣♣♣♣:
8 pm “AN IRISH HOOLEY” at the Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Dr, Irvine 92697; 949-854-4646.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Thu, Mar 17 ♣♣♣♣:
9 pm WARREN CASEY (WICKED TINKERS) and AARON SHAW play Barney’s Ltd, 93 W Colorado Bl, Pasadena 91105; 626- 577-2739.
…more shamrocks… ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~>
Thu, Mar 17 ♣♣♣♣:
9:30 pm KEN O’MALLEY & THE TWILIGHT LORDS finish-off St. Patrick’s Day at Ireland’s 32, 13721 Burbank Bl, Van Nuys; 818-785-4031; www.irelands32pub.com.
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Our # 2 Story:
FREE TAX HELP FOR MUSICIANS
With everyone’s dreaded date with the tax man just one month away, this news can, in the words of the song by FUR DIXON & STEVE WERNER, “Pick you right on time, buddy.”
The folks at “MUSIC CONNECTION” magazine have arranged to offer FREE tax help for musicians. Their current issue, on page 46, has “some exclusive ‘Tax Tips for Musicians’,” and the article is available online at http://musicconnection.com/digital/index.php?page=46.
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Our # 3 Story:
LOS LONELY BOYS TO RELEASE CD AT GRAMMY MUSEUM, MARCH 25
The Texas-based band LOS LONELY BOYS have become THE hottest Texican music trio, melding blues, classic and modern rock, soul, border influences, a bit o’ espanol, and beyond.
The GRAMMY Museum is, for many of us, the most interesting part of the multibillion-dollar redevelopment in L.A. that includes the Staples Center, Nokia Theatre / L.A. Live, and two brand-new skyscraper hotels. Last week, they hosted their eighty-fifth event on their 200-seat “Clive Davis Sound Stage,” an intimate theatre that’s usually packed, as events there have grown in L.A. music scene prominence since they first opened two-and-a-half years ago.
The museum series is most often a performance-interview format – something we are most partial to, since that’s the format of radio’s “Tied to the Tracks.” The museum often focuses that emphasis on the release of a new CD, and they call that series, “The Drop,” using industry parlance.
On March 25, “The Drop” welcomes LOS LONELY BOYS for a “performance and discussion” of their new CD’s tracks. A few tix are still available, if you hop on it. The event begins at 8 pm, presented by American Express and sponsored by Amoeba Music. Location and contact info: Grammy Museum’s Clive Davis Sound Stage, 800 W Olympic Bl, L.A. 90015; 213-765-6803; www.grammymuseum.org.
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Our # 4 Story:
ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO – COMING TO L.A., April 28-30
A stellar lineup of panelists has been announced for this annual three-day fete. Led by legendary songwriter, producer and artist LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM, the list of nearly 100 panelists for the ASCAP EXPO includes some prominent folk-Americana artists, including RODNEY CROWELL, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, & VAN DYKE PARKS. Other music stars include DESMOND CHILD, JERMAINE DUPRI, MELANIE FIONA, LUKASZ “DR. LUKE” GOTTWALD, JOSH KEAR, MARCUS MILLER, NO I.D., RYAN TEDDER, JOHN RZEZNIK, BERNIE WORRELL & VERNON REID, MARCO BELTRAMI & WES CRAVEN, and more.
Discount registration for the event is still available, but only until March 31st. And it’s not too late to submit your music for the ASCAP EXPO’s “Feedback Panels” – deadline is March 28 – and some showcases may still be open.
Enough prominent artists and peeps in the music biz attend that they even feature an “Attendee Showcase.” Of course, ASCAP bills this as “the biggest three days on the music creator’s calendar, face-to-face with the biggest names in music.”
All the details are at www.ascap.com/expo. The event will be held at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, 1755 N Highland (Hollywood & Highland Complex), Hollywood 90028; 323-856-1200.
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Our # 5 Story:
UNDERSTANDING THE ARTIST WITHIN: OUR NEEDS, DRIVES AND IMPULSES
Ego. Ambition. The creative drive. One and the same? No, and what lies therein is revealing.
Ego. It’s a drive that’s much maligned, best friend and saboteur. When it operates unchecked, society gets the curious modern phenomenon of insufferably pathetic non-artist celebrities who are famous for being famous. You know them: essentially unaccomplished at any worthwhile pursuit, they contribute nothing to the betterment of humanity, produce no body of work, leave no reason to expect their names will be remembered. The Paris Kardassians who make illusory glamour its own end.
Is ego at the root of these people’s presence in cultureless pop culture? That, plus exploitation of others who can make money by keeping those morons and their antics in the media.
Does that make all ego-driven pursuits bad?
That’s a question with contradictory answers. Without a well-developed ego, would the artist be able to support him-or-herself by pursuing the creative drive? Could we meet own basic needs well enough to continue to share our creative output?
Indeed, without some need to fulfill the ego, would a songwriter or composer even care if anyone else heard their work? Or would an artist even regard what they do as work? Let’s face it, it requires a bit of ego for us to regard what we do – something as ethereal as arrangements and performances and recordings of notes and chords and lyrics – as “work.”
Does that mean that ego is the key to supporting ourselves as artists? It surely seems to be an ingredient in the stewpot. But it’s not simple. Whether the stew is edible is a matter of the total mix, everything that goes in it, and the proportions of things. Too salty: it’s inedible. Too much cream sauce: it’s too rich. Too much of any number of ingredients and it’s unpalatable. (And avoid the fake elements that cause heartburn, whether MSG or soulless drum machines.)
Back to the role of ego in supporting ourselves as artists. Or, more accurately, presenting ourselves and our art to get other people to pay us for it.
Does ego make you greedy? There can be a connection, but it ain’t necessarily so. Greed really comes from a desire to feel superior – or an attempt to fill a void, to overcome feelings of inadequacy, just like hoarding. At its essence, greed is about gaining control of other people. Gordon Gecko is still wrong. Greed is not good, and it’s a corrupting influence for the artist.
Is poverty the opposite of greed? No, and it’s easy to see why. You can find people who are impoverished because of some previous act of greed. The prisons are filled with people whose greed drove their behavior – they simply tried to take whatever they wanted. Greed is about wanting to take and keep power. For the artist, ambition is a devotion to pursue your own reach, even when it exceeds your grasp, and to attain when that is achieved.
So, what of greed and ambition and poverty?
Clearly, they aren’t the same, in any combination. You can find plenty of people who are impoverished because they have been generously charitable. Some traditional religious vocations still require it (televangelists aside). And the age-old phrase “starving artist” exists for a reason. Beyond playing benefit shows, many of us feel a certain nobility in suffering for our art or craft. Our lack of financial success is emblematic of devotion to our vision of our art. “Sell out?” Not us. (At least until we’re offered a record deal – but that isn’t always so, either.) Still, we must reject the idea that we must starve to be true artists. Not from ego, but for survival.
What was once called the “Horatio Alger Ethic” – “work hard and get ahead” – is hard to apply to anyone who sweats blood for their art. We do what we do because we must, whether we get ahead or not (though we can learn, practice, become more proficient, and get better at it).
Ambition is not enough to bring financial success, and even if it did, ambition and greed – for the artist – should be wholly disconnected because it’s a corrosive and corrupting motivation.
But what of society’s oft-made judgment that anyone who is poor must be lazy?
That should seem absurd in a time of record home foreclosures – and no jobs to be found, since they were shipped overseas by the hundreds of thousands in the double-0s. Though it cuts both ways, with record credit card debt and a too-common underlying desire by too many Americans to fulfill “wanting it all right now,” a lingering holdover of greed dating from the ’80s.
Still, there are those who believe they should pay no income taxes because they make their money by using money to do it, rather than contributing their own labor or creative output to society. That’s the mantra of the rich crowd who want to pay no “capital gains” taxes. It is an argument where greed and laziness are clearly one and the same, and not opposites at all.
If laziness and greed are not opposites, is laziness simply the opposite of ambition? Might seem so, but it isn’t. Plenty of people are dependable, reliably showing-up on time for work every day. They’ll do that ’til they die (they can’t afford to retire, since pensions went away when unions were killed). These folks certainly are not lazy. What they are is complacent. Whatever ambition they have is ultimately trumped by complacency (need for security, etc), but they certainly are not lazy. Complacency, not laziness, is the opposite of ambition.
That makes a broader statement: to function and maintain the status quo, society requires a large number of hard-working complacent people (who are neither creative nor ambitious). Plato wrote of that in “The Republic” nearly 3,000 years ago. He saw a large part of society as the essential working class who will do what “we” need as long as they have a warm house, enough food, enough sex, and they can appear as heroes to their kids. Rich industrialists and anti-union forces still believe it today. So do the people who seek to manipulate the Tea Party.
Artists are not complacent. That is the key place where we are different. It’s the essence of the creative drive. An artist’s creative odyssey may not begin with a driving ego or even a need to present our work to others. But the artist’s own inner rejection of complacency brings ambition and ego to prominence. It’s true whether you write protest songs or songs celebrating a longed-for return to a lost, romanticized and “better” past time. It’s true if you do a cover song because it reaches you and you know it can still speak to others through your performance. It’s true for the classical cellist who won’t accept a mediocre interpretation of Schubert or Liszt. It’s true for every musician who reaches someplace beyond soundalike sh-thump disposable pop.
It’s the epiphany expressed in “The King’s Speech,” when the stuttering, stammering king finally resorts to winning an argument by saying, “Because I have a voice!” and his teacher’s quiet reply, “Yes, you do.”
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Our # 6 Story:
AARON LEWIS – BIG HIT ALBUM, SINGLE & VIDEO; IS “COUNTRY” CHANGING?
His debut solo CD, “TOWN LINE,” debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart, and it’s #7 on the Top 200 Albums Chart. AARON LEWIS has been resoundingly welcomed into the Nashville music community. The STAIND frontman’s critically acclaimed EP, produced by Grammy winner JAMES STROUD, brought first-week sales exceeding 37,000 copies.
The album’s success is being fueled by the lead single and video “Country Boy,” currently a fixture on CMT’s “Top 20 Countdown” show. The singer, songwriter and musician performed the song March 1 on ABC-TV’s “JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE” in Los Angeles, before quickly flying to Nashville to perform at the annual “Country Radio Seminar” (CRS).
“Town Line” has drawn critical praise from a wide variety of writers, including “Country Weekly” magazine’s JESSICA PHILLIPS who said in the May 7 issue, “The songs here are rich with imagery, coupled with soulful arrangements, and should appeal to fans of Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum.”
“People” magazine’s CHUCK ARNOLD notes in the current March 14 issue that Lewis “proves to be a natural on nostalgic ballads like ‘The Story Never Ends’.” Associated Press music critic MICHAEL McCALL wrote on February 28 that Lewis, “injects a flavor of his own into a polished, commercial country sound in a way that could win over country fans who’ve never heard of STAIND.”
As for Lewis’ warm welcome from the Nashville pop-country world, JAMES STROUD says, “This town appreciates great songs and great talent and Aaron certainly brings both of those to the table, but a #1 record is more than we let ourselves dream about when we were making the record. We just couldn’t be more thrilled.”
On the “Country Boy” track – both audio and video – Lewis gets a little help from legends GEORGE JONES and CHARLIE DANIELS, striking a balance between classic and modern country, as Lewis tells the story – and tells his own story through the song. It received widespread airplay ahead of the official single release, with various rock and country stations adding it to their playlists, something that his publicist assures us they did “on their own.”
The music video has received over 900,000 views to date on CMT.com. Moreover, it’s had 2.7 million views to date on YouTube (it runs 4:52 at www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsQzw_Ax8Cw.)
Of course, working with stars gets you noticed. MARIO TARRADELL, wrote in the “Dallas Morning News” March 1 edition, “Lewis turns in convincing performances and holds steadfast next to legends George Jones and Charlie Daniels on ‘Country Boy.’ ‘Vicious Circles’ is a moody ballad with plenty of steel guitar sting.”
And a paper that’s as Eastern establishment as you get, the Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican, carried a February 27piece by KEVIN O’HARE that proclaimed, “…Town Line is as country as country gets…Poignant and affecting, yet also unflinching in its portrayals, Town Line is an impassioned solo debut with the kind of authenticity with which Lewis has always been associated. A country boy indeed.”
We’ll let you know when AARON LEWIS books a show ion L.A. Meantime, have a look at the video, and let us know what you think.
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Continued in PART TWO…
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Entire contents copyright © 2011, Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks. All rights reserved.
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