Quick Hits

The Kentucky Waterfalls will be saying goodbye to the Madison country scene come July. There are still a handful of opportunities to say goodbye to Katie and Evan. The country music scene just got a lot less sweeter.

On March 18th in Lacrosse and on March 24th in Joliet, IL, Madison's own Whitney Mann will be opening for Willie Nelson. Hot damn, this is great news! Whitney has worked her tail off and this opportunity will take her far.

Earl Foss' Brown Derby is back at the Crystal Corner on Wednesday nights. Snow is melting, Madison is springing life from her bosom, and The Derb' is back. Life is good. Ghost Town Council and The Derb' will be playing together on March 31st at the aforementioned Corner of Crystal. As always, no cover and lots of fun.


Get out there and enjoy some music (country or otherwise).

Joe Fred bringing the love

I met Joe Fred through my employment at Guitar Center. He informed me of a project he was working on that focused on change and positive life affirmation through music. His project -- The Light Shines On -- has been in the works for quite some time, and I'm glad that he has seen it through to fruition. The music is very deliberate and fun, profound and deep, yet delightfully simple and intrinsic.

For reasons I've explained before, I don't do album reviews. Generally this means you have to take my word for it and go download it if my description sounds remotely entertaining. However, you won't have to do that for "The Light Shines On." Joe put his money where his mouth is and is gifting the entire world a copy of his album for the month of March. All he asks in return is that you turn other people on to his website so they can share in the goodness.

Stop by www.3ply.org/ to get a copy of his beautiful music.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy music.

Dale Kidd. 1954-2009

The Madison music scene has lost someone who can only be described as nothing short of a regional icon. As I never got to meet Mr. Kidd, I asked someone familiar with him to honor him. The following post was written by local country artist and a favorite of the Mad Country Blog, James Travis:

Local musician and songwriter Dale Kidd passed away on Saturday 12.12.09 after a month long battle with the H1N1 virus and asthma. As a southern Wisconsin native, Dale knew just about everyone who was anyone in the regional music community. He had a generous smile, a patient ear, and, hands down, the best laugh on the planet.

Dale was a friend to me through the early days of the Madison Songwriter’s Group, days in dusty apartments, dark basements and other borrowed spaces – anyplace that would hold a dozen people or less and be tolerant of loud acoustic music. I never did write any songs with Dale but he worked with several songwriter friends of mine, most recently Andrew Nath in the acoustic R&B duo The Hang Loueys (also known as White Dynamite!). If you had the chance to see them, you know how good they had become and how much Dale truly, thoroughly, enjoyed sharing his talent with Andy on stage.

Over the years Dale played in the acoustic duo Kydd & Byrd, the rock band Coffee and Alcohol, The Skates, the Dale Savage Band and many others. He traveled the world and had many great stories to tell. But he always loved and returned to his hometown(s) of Richland Center, Madison, and Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. Dale worked for the Safety division at UW-Madison. It wasn’t uncommon for him to slip away during a lunch break into a room stocked with rows of fire extinguishers and pull out his guitar. I joined him there just once but his spirit of encouraging collaboration is an inspiration I share with many.

Our mutual songwriter friend Aaron Nathans recently shared a story via email about spending time with Dale in that room as well:

“We gathered after work in the sterile back room of the Safety building at UW where he worked, amid dozens of fire extinguishers and steel stools scraping against a concrete floor. One night around Valentine's Day he asked me to pick up a few boxes of candy hearts and we spilled them on a table, read the messages out loud and used them to write a song while we gobbled them down.”

Aaron went on to write:

“For a guy that didn't crave attention and always gave credit to someone else, he made an immense impact on my life. Before our current president, Dale was all about "Yes you can." He gave me the confidence to be a songwriter, to keep going, pushing my limits. But more than our collaborations, he was a buddy, and I will miss him more than I can say. Our circle of friends in Madison will always be incomplete, but warmed forever by his memory. The sum of our parts will live on in our songs. Yet there will always be a Dale-sized hole in my heart.”

I include this last quote because I think it touches on what a lot of us are feeling. Dale was probably like a brother to many of the veteran regional musicians but to a group of us “younger” songwriters, he was like a favorite uncle who encouraged and cheered our many various artistic and life pursuits.

Whether or not you knew Dale, rest assured he’s now in a better place. Heaven, if you believe in that sort of thing, has a new house guitarist. It’s hard to sum up a man’s life in just a few words so I encourage readers to also look and listen. Visit www.dalekidd.com for some of Dale’s music, photos, and to read some touching sentiments written by friends far and near. Goodbye Dale, and Rest in Peace. You will be greatly missed.

The Way Back Home "Review" and meta-criticism

Ghost Town Council had the great honor of opening for Whitney Mann and the Boys' CD release party way back on May 29th at Cafe Alchemy. I have since indicated an interest in reviewing the release here on the Mad Country blog. But since that occurred, I realized that I would be terrible at reviewing an album (given enough listens, I think I would like nearly anything). In fact, I find the whole practice to be pretty miserable. Especially since once personal favorite, Pitchfork.com levied this as a "review" of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's self titled album.

Yet while Hood's unconventionally hoarse yelp attracted twang-wary indie fans and Cooley's gunslinger drawl was irresistible no matter how you felt about country, Isbell's booming, manful voice irredeemably marked him out as the least hip of the Trucker singers for the duration of his stay. Being the overweight guy in the group for a spell probably didn't help either.

Even when Isbell slimmed down considerably, however, he still retained the voice of a guy who takes ham with every meal.

So rather than go into the subtleties of why Andrew Harrison's use of the pedal steel guitar is perfect (yes, perfect), or why Whitney Mann might be Madison's most complete alt-country singer and songwriter, or just how much I appreciate the tightness of the rhythm section, I am simply going to say that this album is fantastic.

It's easy to see how Whitney made it on that Triple M contest Project M, and it's just as easy to see why Whitney and the Boys were invited to Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?. Whitney offers a fresh take on the Madison (alt-)country scene that is already burgeoning with talent. But great sound, high energy, and tight feel doesn't always translate into a great album. But it works here.

The production on "The Way Back Home" is great. I'm not familiar with how Milwaukee producer J. Christopher Hughes put the album together, but the mix is incredible. It has the old time feel of 'put the mic in the room and let the band do it.' From top to bottom, this CD was a great experience. Colorful drums, tight harmonies, perfect pedal steel work (there it is again), solid bass playing, and beautiful singing really makes this album come together and come alive.

The songwriting on the album is enthralling. But it goes beyond handing out a chord progression to a band, and having lyrics set to it. The band understands their role, and they provide for a great trip through this album. My personal favorite: "I Said," is the greatest example of how the band and lyrics weave in and out through one another and present "the sound."

On the negative(ish) side, I will say the album is too short. But honestly, if that's the worst thing that you can say about an album, then really, is it a bad thing? I mean, clearly you want to leave the audience wanting more, and this release does that for sure.

So to Whitney Mann, Andrew Harrison, Kyle Jacobson, and Tim Russell I say well done.

You can pick up "The Way Back Home" at the following url:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/whitneymann

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to support local music.

Edited 7/8/09
Edited 8/19/09

Bad Deacon...No Sacrament...

So, I've been a bad blogger. I truly apologize for the lack of updates. It is really my goal to keep this blog active, unfortunately school has bested me.

The The Kentucky Waterfalls and Boo Bradley show was pretty great.

The Ghost Town Council crew all had a grand excursion out and these guys did not let us down.

Boo Bradley played a great blues inspired set. I'm not much of a Blues-guy (ask Brian), but these guys have it. Delta style blues guitar with a solid rhythm section playing some classic blues tunes. One of the funner tunes of the night was a great Latin groove instrumental. It was a helluva great way to get the night going.

This all gave way to the Kentucky Waterfalls. In terms of musicality and style leanings, this is what country music is all about. Evan and Katie are about pure country. They may be the purest form of country that you can find in Madison. Evan's finger style picking hearkens back to Clarence White, and the harmonies were spot-on all night. The tune "Hello Stranger" provided as a great opener and set the tone that surprisingly (yet, amazingly fittingly) finished with "Every Rose has It's Thorn," and brought the house down. The first set also featured great originals, my favorite of which was "Your Eyes Can't Lie." I'm not kidding when I say this song could easily be inserted into any George and Tammy set.

The Second set was pretty solid, but was a tough act to follow after the first. Their renditions of "In Spite of Ourselves" by John Prine and a soulful rendition of the Splitlip Rayfield tune "Crazy" as a great answer.

Overall it was a great night. The Kentucky Waterfalls will be "Johnny and June'ing it" at the High Noon Saloon on January 2nd. I highly recommend the show!

12/2 at the Frequency

The Kentucky Waterfalls and Boo Bradley will be at the Frequency on Dececmber 2nd. It looks to be a fun show and will start at 8:30. Only $5. If you happen to be around a computer with speakers or an FM transmitter at 9am, check out WORT (89.9) or listen here. The Kentucky Waterfalls will be playing live in the studio to promote the show!

Peace,
The Deacon

Ghost Town Council Rides Again (for the first time, and soon to be second time)

Thanks to all that made it out to EVP on Saturday. We had an amazing time and never could have dreamed that it would go as well as it did. There's pics and a video available on our myspace page seen Here.

Now onto new business. Ghost Town Council got word today that our Second show will be at the High Noon Saloon (THE High Noon Saloon) on December 4th, opening for Nationally Renowned act Split Lip Rayfield! I don't know (or care) how it all happened, but we are just amazed at this opportunity. So come out and see Split Lip Rayfield and Ghost Town Council on December 4th at the High Noon!

Update from the High Noon Website:
When Split Lip Rayfield guitarist Kirk Rundstrom died after a long bout with cancer in 2007, legions of fans and friends were filled with sorrow. Then the boys decided that the best way to honor Kirk would be to keep on playing, and now they've released "I'll Be Around," their fifth full-length record. "The fearsome foursome of Split Lip combines a traditional bluegrass sound with the blazing speed and energy of punk rock, and in the process manages to improve on the formula." --(Tucson Weekly) Also playing: Ghost Town Council will open the show with an expressive, heartland country-rock sound.