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Topic: Sturgill Simpson on SNL |
Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 18 Jan 2017 8:45 pm |
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| b0b wrote: |
| I hope you're not counting me among the "naysayers", Mark Hershey. I really like what I've heard of him so far. I rarely buy vocal albums, but in his case I might make an exception. |
That goes for me, too. I only questioned if the clips in the OP were "country", not if they were good! |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 23 Jan 2017 9:55 am
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That was a good clip Chris. Though Sturgill was in a different place when the performance/interview was done going on 3 1/2 years ago.
The way he speaks in the interview portion, I'm guessing he had a lot of ideas in his head for future records. But he points out that at the time he was on the road so much that he really couldn't work on the writing.
I will make an analogy and though it has almost nothing to do with the actual musical style, Sturgill's evolution as an artist reminds me a little bit of the rapid changes of the music by the Beatles and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys.
It was just a handful of years in the '60s between She Loves You to Norwegian Wood, or Surfin' USA to Pet Sounds.
Sturgill has said in interviews in reference to his take on the Nirvana song In Bloom that as a 13 year old growing up in Kentucky he spent a lot of time listening to that one in his bedroom, along with a wide variety of other music, including straight ahead country. If "you are what you eat," then I think as a musician you can't help but be at some level what you listen to.
With the latest album up for the Grammys he had apparently done well enough financially prior to writing and recording it to be able to get off the road for awhile so that he could take a breather to be able to sit down and put together what he had in his head. And it seems to defy easy categorization. Hence nominations for both (overall) Album of the Year as well as Country Album of the Year.
And right, no Bro Country anywhere to be found.
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Mark |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Posted 24 Jan 2017 7:25 am
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Yeah, that was then. I just wanted to point out his country muscle is well-formed.
Speaking with others regarding Chris Stapleton, I caught a lot of, "yeah, he's ok, but he's not real country like Sturgill." Then Sturgill's latest came out and I was wondering what they thought of him now.
I like a writer who reinvents himself. And while his latest arguably does have a country *influence*, I liken his shift to that of Ray LaMontagne, another guy who likes to reinvent himself album to album. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 24 Jan 2017 11:21 am
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| Chris Walke wrote: |
Yeah, that was then. I just wanted to point out his country muscle is well-formed.
Speaking with others regarding Chris Stapleton, I caught a lot of, "yeah, he's ok, but he's not real country like Sturgill." Then Sturgill's latest came out and I was wondering what they thought of him now.
I like a writer who reinvents himself. And while his latest arguably does have a country *influence*, I liken his shift to that of Ray LaMontagne, another guy who likes to reinvent himself album to album. |
Yeah, I realize you were pointing out his well-formed country muscle, but my additions were to combine with what you wrote to give those who aren't familiar with the Sturgill the overall big picture.
As for Ray LaMontage, the album with the Pariah Dogs (God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise) was pretty much my Album of the Year when it was released. I'd put it in my top 10 since the year 2000.
I eagerly anticipated the next one, which as I recall is sort of a 21st century younger guy's interpretation of music with a psychedelic vibe, and it didn't "take" for me. I need to find it in the collection and give it another shot. But because I wasn't diggin' it, I haven't purchased his newest one.
Risky business when a recording artist goes for a major change in direction. Some folks embrace it and it might leave other people cold. I just finished Robbie Robertson's biography, Testimony - great book by the way - and the stories of the Band before they were the Band backing the new electric Dylan in the mid '60s, and all the booing and tomatoes being thrown at them on stage. That obviously didn't "take" for all those folkies back then ("Traitor! Judas!"). And then in 1974 they went out again on tour and the crowds loved it. It was like the electric tours in the '60s were water long under the bridge.
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Mark |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Posted 25 Jan 2017 8:34 am
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| Mark Eaton wrote: |
As for Ray LaMontage, the album with the Pariah Dogs (God Willin' and the Creek Don't Rise) was pretty much my Album of the Year when it was released. I'd put it in my top 10 since the year 2000.
I eagerly anticipated the next one, which as I recall is sort of a 21st century younger guy's interpretation of music with a psychedelic vibe, and it didn't "take" for me. I need to find it in the collection and give it another shot. But because I wasn't diggin' it, I haven't purchased his newest one.
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Whoa, topic drift. Apologies to the OP.
Latest Ray LaMontagne album plays a lot like an early '70s Pink Floyd album, especially the 2nd half. You'll also hear a bit of Donovan mixed in there. If you like Pink Floyd's "Meddle" album, you'll like it. If not...
And I hear you on the Pariah Dogs album. Great album and perfect band for it. The follow-up was quite the departure, always makes me think of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd ("space music"), but there's also an aspect of early Van Morrison in there too. Definitely a tribute to the psychedelic era. Took me several listens before it got under my skin. |
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Mark Eaton
From:
Sonoma County in The Great State Of Northern California
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Posted 25 Jan 2017 9:10 am
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On your recommendation, I will try to locate it on one of the CD shelving units (they definitely are not organized like the Dewey decimal system at the library, and there are ballpark a couple thousand albums) and give it another shot.
We're not guilty of full on topic drift - Sturgill's latest album is quite a departure from some of his earlier stuff, so LaMontagne is a pretty good analogy.
Now Dylan going electric in the mid '60s, and debuting songs in the vein of Like a Rolling Stone - from a musical standpoint that pretty much shook the earth to its core!
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Mark |
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