When we found out Neko Case would open up for My Morning Jacket on the current leg of the HT faves’ Circuital Tour, we knew we’d be in for some outstanding duets. The chanteuse and the Kentucky boys didn’t disappoint with their takes on Islands In The Stream at the first few shows they played together and this past Tuesday night they debuted a righteous cover of the Tom Petty / Stevie Nicks classic Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.
We’ve been waiting for a video worth sharing of the Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around debut or any of the subsequent versions to appear on YouTube and this weekend a great clip seemingly shot from the front row has surfaced.
Tomorrow night, Neko and My Morning Jacket are set to perform at Philadelphia’s Mann Music Center for Case’s last show of the tour. Hopefully they drop a Don’t Go Breaking My Heart or Ain’t No Mountain High Enough to put a capper on the Neko/Jim duet action.
My Morning Jacket’s lengthy Circuital Tour rolled into Pittsburgh on Wednesday, where the group was joined by chanteuse Neko Case for a killer rendition of the Kenny Rogers / Dolly Parton classic Islands In The Stream.
MMJ had performed Islands In The Stream back on December 31, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with New Jersey’s Nicole Atkins singing the Dolly part that night. Case opened for the Kentucky rockers in Pittsburgh and will continue in her support role throughout the month, including tonight’s show at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
In the pantheon of gut wrenching, emotionally charged break up albums none may top the sheer heartbreak found throughout Bob Dylan’s 1975 release Blood On The Tracks. The album has been mined for its share of covers over the years, but it’s the first time we are actually featuring a track from what is arguably one of Dylan’s best LPs.
While there may be a few more obvious choices, we’re going with the moody album’s melancholy closing track, Buckets Of Rain. The tune, which according to Wikipedia has astonishingly only been played live once by Dylan, is as tender as it is devastating with lines such as, “Like your smile, and your fingertips. Like the way that you move your lips, I like the cool way you look at me. Everything about you is bringing me misery.”
The Constestants:
Before hitting it big on his own, M. Ward was a member of Beth Orton’s touring band. The duo’s version finds Orton and Ward trading off on the verses, which was released as the B-side for the digital single of Heart Of Soul, a track that Ward co-wrote with Orton for her 2006 album Comfort Of Strangers.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
READ ON for more covers of Buckets Of Rain from the likes of Neko Case, David Gray, Vic Chesnutt and more…
When you’re dad is a bona fide music icon and has been dubbed “the voice of a generation”, deciding that you also want to be a singer-songwriter may not necessarily be the wisest chosen career path, but for Jakob Dylan things haven’t turned out so badly. Best known as the front man for The Wallflowers, whose sophomore effort Bringing Down The Horse sold an astonishing four million copies, Dylan has headed out as a solo act in recent years embracing a more laid back country & Americana infused sound.
For his second solo record – Women And Country which hit stores yesterday – Dylan teamed up with his old pal and producer T-Bone Burnett and recruited red headed chanteuse Neko Case and her singing partner Kelly Hogan to provide backing vocals on eight of the album’s eleven tracks. Jakob Dylan, with Case and Hogan in tow, recently stopped by WNYC’s Soundcheck for an in-studio performance of Everybody’s Hurting…
Jakob Dylan, who will bring Case and her backing band on the road with him, will kick off a 19-date tour on Friday night in Homestead, PA – which includes a high profile stop at New York City’s Town Hall on April 21.
With the first six months of 2009 beginning to feel like a distant memory, figured it was time to continue with a tradition we started last year around this time, by taking a look at my favorite albums from the first half of the year with a little something we’ve dubbed Top 6 Of The First 6.
Maybe I’m getting old, but this list is dominated by mainly roots and Americana-tinged albums, so for those of you expecting Animal Collective somewhere here you may be sorely disappoint. So let’s get at it…
Outer South may technically be Conor Oberst’s second “solo” release in as many years, but it would be hard to call this record a true solo effort. While Oberst’s prolific songwriting tendencies may rival that of Mr. Mandy Moore, his latest effort with the Mystic Valley Band is a collaborative affair, with band members contributing and singing their own songs often making you forget you’re listening to a record that has the wordy, singer-songwriter’s name attached to it. The album itself is chocked full of breezy, ’70s influenced country and folk-rock, mixed with the aughts indie-sensibility making it hard to avoid giving them the tag of an updated version of the Traveling Wilburys.
READ ON for the rest of Jeff’s Top 6 Of The First 6…
Last week, we dropped the news that alt.country singer Neko Case had her best debut week ever entering the Billboard Top 200 with the #3 album in the country. The stunningly beautiful, red-headed Case – previously known for her work in The New Pornographers – has been the darling of the music industry since releasing her latest record Middle Cyclone.
If you’ve picked up a music magazine in the last couple of months, you’ve probably stumbled across a story about her – having been profiled both by Rolling Stone and Spin, as well as snagging the cover story in Paste – all around a slightly moody, love-lorn record that’s filled with her trademark booming vocals and one that will mostly likely end up in my top ten of the year. Case recently released the video for the first single off the album – People Got A Lotta Nerve. Check it out…
A few weeks back, we dropped the gossipy news that singer-songwriter-blogger-novelist Ryan Adams had popped the question to former teeny-bopper pop star turned actress Mandy Moore. The odd couple didn’t wait long to getting hitched, as they secretly wed in Savannah, GA on Tuesday. Ry-ry, who has claimed that his current tour with the Cardinals is his last, was back on the road last night and is rumored to be working on a new album called Dear Impossible. The Cardinals tour runs through March 20.
Finally, we wanted to give a big shout out to our favorite alt.country chanteuse – Neko Case – whose new album Middle Cyclone debuted at number three on the Billboard Top 200 selling 44,000 copies last week. Thanks, I’m sure, to placement in front of registers at mega-coffee chain Starbucks, where I picked up my copy. Case kicks off her Spring tour on March 31 – which includes a two-night run at New York’s Nokia Theater as well as an appearance at this year’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.
Say what you will about the classic-rock cribbing Kid Rock, but the one-time Phish collaborator will indirectly be responsible for creating 400 new jobs in his home state of Michigan. The Michigan Brewery announced yesterday that they had been granted a state tax credit to produce a new line of craft beer for the musician, who came up with the idea. The brewery is expecting their new Kid Rock branded beer to hit shelves by mid-springtime. The beer’s name, style and pricing are yet to be decided.
Finally, in what may be one of the odder “super-groups” of all-time former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, Hanson keyboardist Taylor Hanson and Fountains Of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger have formed a band together called Tinted Windows. The group will make their live debut at Billboard’s SXSW Showcase and have already recorded their debut album, which will hit shelves on April 21.
With March 6 rapidly approaching, the news of some more post-Phish shows happening around Hampton, VA has been released. The fine folks at Glitterglu Productions will be hosting two nights of live-tronica heavy after-shows at the Dr. Mary T. Christian Auditorium, located about three miles from the Hampton Coliseum. Night one features a headlining set from EOTO, which features former SCI members Michael Travis and Jason Hann, while night two will see former Blips act Boombox headline.
Doors will open for both nights at nine with music expected to stretch till 5 AM. Tickets will run you 20 bucks and are onsale now.
If like me you’re not heading down to Hampton, than maybe you’ll want to hit one of these recently announced tours…
Ben Folds brings his smart piano rock on the road (begins: 02/11)
Finally, in our continuing effort to keep up to date on the summer festival season the lastest festie to reveal their initial line up is the Bella Madre Festival. Taking place over Memorial Day weekend at Harmony Park in Clarks Grove, MN the festie will feature the likes of Tea Leaf Green, Del tha Funky Homosapien, Bassnectar, Moonalice and more. Tickets are currently on sale for the low price for $75 which includes access to the festival grounds, camp grounds and music for all three days of this fantastic festival.
With 2008 in the books we can start looking ahead to all the new music that will be hitting the shelves in 2009. Among the releases that I’m getting excited about is Middle Cyclone – the new solo disc from alt.country chanteuse and New Pornographers vocalist Neko Case – who may give Warren Haynes a run for his money as the hardest working person in music.
While the album doesn’t come out until March 3, Ms. Case recently released this great making of featurette that will have to do in the meantime. Check out the army of pianos and Neko revealing some of her songwriting process that went into the new album…
Case is currently off the road, but expect a busy year for her between touring behind this release and hopefully with the New Pornographers who are also expected to release an album later this year.
.
sold an astonishing four million copies, Dylan has headed out as a solo act in recent years embracing a more laid back country & Americana infused sound.
.
