As more and more blogs and podcasts hit the internet and an overview is almost impossible, I decided to merge all my music blogs into one all-encompassing, single outlet - here.
What used to be the MMM - Musig, Musik, Musique... blog also got a new name, as 95 percent of the me-inspiring music is in the Americana field, be it Rock'n'Roll, Country, Folk, Roots-Rock, Blues, Rock, and all its different amalgams, I decided to rename my blog site to "amu-ricana." And yes, there may be an occasional excursion into other fields of musical inspiration.
Over the next few weeks, I will incorporate and if necessary update old(er) blogs from other sites (Honky Tonk Daily, Country Music News) here. New blogs will be exclusively posted here. For the time being, I will not delete the old blog sites until I can put it all in this blog.
Be sure to subscribe, come visit often and rummage through my different offerings. Leave a comment, share the blogs if you can, and first of all get inspired with music you may not have known so far.
Thanks for being a reader A. Michael Uhlmann (amu)
Texas-based, Mississippi-bred singer-songwriter Jason Eady comes with a new album on August, 27th and so far teased us with three magnificent singles, "Back To Normal," "My Best Friend," and now "French Summer Sun." Recorded in Austin, with the help of producer Gordy Quist, the three singles all have a raw, organic feel.
All these singles from "TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME" have a common theme, as the title suggests a constant flow of time. Alpha and Omega, start and end - be it in the present, the past, or the future - time passes on, change is inevitable:
Every day is a brand-new beginning
Isn’t that what all the sages say?
So every night is a brand new ending
Tomorrow can’t be like yesterday
That's Eady's conclusion in "Back To Normal," the first single of "TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME." Even though the song resonates with the (disappearing) pandemic, the message has a broader appeal, as we will find ourselves always in new, unchartered waters:
“I wanted to write about how, when things get disrupted, you can never really return to the way they were before,” says Eady in his press release. “No matter how big or small that disruption is, you have to accept that change is a fundamental part of life, and just keep moving forward.”
Even though the single cover for "Back To Normal" suggests a world upside down, Eddy got a burst of creativity, while holed up in his Fort Worth home. Secluding himself, even more, he stayed in his bedroom with his guitar and wrote half of the album in just a couple of days.
"I went in thinking I was going to write just one song—but then the songs kept coming, and I didn’t want to break the spell," Eady recalls. "I’d go to sleep with the guitar by the bed, pick it back up when I woke up the next morning, and do it all again. I’d never really experienced anything like that before."
Now I wish that I had whispered
Even one word at a time
Now all I can do is wonder
And try to make it rhyme
Reminiscing about an old love gone awry, indulging in memories about a time long gone by, a missed opportunity, and putting the pain of that loss into rhyme, sums up "My Best Friend." The stripped-down version, simply with fiddle (Noah Jeffries) and steel guitar (Geoff Queen), make the yearning about the missed chance, even more hurtful. Producer Gordy Quist, known as a member of the Band Of Heathens, was able to convey an organic, raw feel to the whole recording process in Austin. Besides Jeffries and Queen, Eady was joined by Mark Williams on stand-up bass and cello, Brian Ferguson on drums, as well as Eady's wife Courtney Patton and Jamie Lin Wilson on background vocals.
“Everything you hear is exactly what happened when we hit record—there’s no studio trickery,” says Eady. “It’s got a real family-band feeling to it, where everyone in the room knew how to play in a way that completely fits with what I do.”
For the current single and its video, "French Summer Sun," Jason Eady asked fellow members of the Sequestered Songwriters Relief Fund, a loose organization that was founded to help musicians in need during the pandemic, to send in pictures of family and relatives who served in the US military. Again touching on time, actually spanning several generations, "French Summer Sun" with its twist in storytelling is not just another song about veterans, similarly to "My Best Friend" it raises the question of "what if" and playfully challenges the timeline and leads into an alternate reality. But to tell you more would spill the beans, listen for yourself and grab a hanky.
If the rest of "TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME" holds up to the first three singles we may well have a "Best Album Of The Year"-contender. As he is back on the road, bringing his stories to a venue near you, I can only recommend going and discover these new gems coming our way in August.
TO THE PASSAGE OF TIME:
01) Nothing On You
02) These Things
03) The Luxury of Dreaming
04) Back To Normal
05) Possibilities
06) French Summer Sun
07) Gainesville
08) Saturday Night
09) My Best Friend
10) To the Passage of Time
"French Summer Sun"
"My Best Friend"
"Back To Normal"
Tour Dates:
7/24: Buda, TX - The Chambers Theatre
8/1: Fort Worth, TX - The Post at River East #
8/6: Saint Jo, TX - Red River Station #
8/7: College Station, TX - Smitty K’s ^
8/14: Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
8/15: Cheyenne, WY - Terry Bison Ranch
8/17: Billings, MT - The Pub Station Taproom
8/18: Bozeman, MT - Live from the Divide
8/19: Stanley, ID - Mountain Village
8/20: Boise, ID - Neurolux
8/22: Republic, WA - Republic Brewing Company
8/26: Houston, TX - McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
8/27: Austin, TX - Saxon Pub
8/28: Fort Worth, TX - Tulips FTW
8/29: New Braunfels, TX - The Redbird Listening Room
9/3: Manitou Springs, CO - Lulu’s Downstairs
9/4: Greeley, CO - Moxi Theater
9/9: Tahlequah, OK - Diamondhead Resort
9/10: Kansas City, MO - Knucklehead’s Saloon #
9/15: Decatur, GA - Eddie’s Attic
9/17: Newport, KY - Southgate House
9/18: Eldorado, IL - Eldorado Town & Country Days +
11/27: Denton, TX - Andy’s Bar and Grill
Sources: Missing Piece, jasoneady.com, Originally published in my Honky Tonk Daily Blog.
The Cold Stares may be the first US band on tour after Covid and if you are lucky enough to be in Scandinavia you should not miss out to go see them. Destined to headline with their high voltage amalgam of Blues and Rock, this could well be your last chance to see the band playing in clubs. Recently signed to a Dutch label, they will be previewing their forthcoming August release "HEAVY SHOES."
Two years ago I received a request from drummer Brian Mullins of The Cold Stares to play the Spring Fling Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Seeing that it was a duo, I first contemplated putting them somewhere into the afternoon line-up. Damn, was I wrong! The sheer power of their then album "MOUNTAIN" blew me away. I immediately knew Brian and his bandmate, guitarist Chris Tapp deserved a coveted evening slot, normally reserved for full-sized bands. Rocking the house with their mixture of rock, (hill country) blues, southern Gothics, and some punk influences, they left the audience mesmerized. That summer they followed up with the “WAYS” album which garnered them even more critical and audience praise.
Like most bands, the last 14 months, saw them staring at blank walls instead of filled halls. Even though not being able to tour, they released a 4-song digital EP "BLACK SUNSET" and were signed by Mascot Records in the Netherlands, who will release their label debut "HEAVY SHOES" on August, 13th. They also worked together with Tres Hombres and Rootsy on their current European tour, which unfortunately got cut short due to another Covid lookdown in the UK and Germany. But in Scandinavia, Denmark and Sweden opened up and the Cold Stares are thrilled to be back on the road, as Brian messaged in a comment:
“We are super excited to be the first US band to tour Scandinavia after the pandemic. We are also stoked to be a part of the Mascot family.”
The message of "In The Night Time" from their forthcoming album salutes every true music fans yearning to go out and see live music again.
In the night time, there is a rhythm now In the night time, there is a rhythm now See the people walking down the street Hear the shuffling of their feet Turn on the music when the sun goes down Clock strikes midnight you can hear the sound
The future may make The Cold Stares despite their band name smile, not only is another European tour already in plans but they were also booked to the Aftershock Festival in October with headliners Metallica and Social Distortion and next year will see them on Joe Bonamassa's "Keeping The Blues Alive" sea-cruise. Maybe walking in "Heavy Shoes" may get a little lighter in the near future.
