Bonus Wednesday- Hayes Carll

I have been familiar with Hayes Carll since picking up a Todd Snider concert bootleg in which he was the opener. He is in the same vein as Todd, country-ish singer-songwriter that is sensitive and smart enough to appeal to all of us. Not as good as Todd but as knock-offs go, pretty solid. I can listen to him easily.

But since I don't with regularity, it was a nice surprise to hear him referenced on a random radio show. Actually, he wasn't referenced. His song, "She Left Me For Jesus," was. I didn't know it was Carll until I Googled the title and now you are all caught up.

Truth be told, I am not sure how good this song is. This is not his best work be a log shot. If this were the only song you listened to, you would dismiss Carll as a comedian rather than musical artist. He is definitely not that. However, it is impossible to dismiss the line, "If I ever find Jesus, I'm kickin' his ass."

Richmond Fontaine

Hard to say where my partner in crime is right now (it is a very Carmen Sandiego situation) but suffice it to say, she is unavailable for NMM. I know this disappointes a great number of you. However, I am here to save the day. Actually Richmond Fontaine is here to save the day.

I know this is not a new band to Pancho and Lefty but it is probably a new band to a lot of readers and is most certainly underrated by the people who love music by bands that sound like a reincarnation of post-No Depression Uncle Tupelo and pre-experimental Wilco. Or pre-crappy Wilco if you heard the last two albums. This band produces great country sounding rock that should have made them more popular.

Well Richmond Fontaine, you are a part of the NMM family now. Let the money roll in!

Wes McDonald

I didn't know much about Wes McDonald before I listened to the excellent 1:50 In The Furnace and after a few listens (and some hurried research before this post), I am afraid I still do not known all that much. It is really hard to find anything on him or his band. My first impression was McDonald was a cross between roots rocking Jason Isbell and late power popster Alex Chilton. Subsequent reading has found favorable comparisons to Paul Westerburg and I have a hard time disagreeing. The album is sufficiently subversive (read: smarter than you think) while rocking in that joyous way that only Southerners seem to be able to do with any consistency.

The Dallas Family Band

Better late than never....

The Dallas Family Band is really like 7 bands. Where everyone is in each of their friend's bands. Kinda of like a collective. But I think collective has a bad connotation. And this is anything but bad....

Check out 7 songs from the assemblage (no negative connotation there!) at their new website where you can stream sample songs. They are beautiful, forlorn, hopeful, fearless.

An original

Nighttime Daylight and Thievery
by Sarah Schaack (Pancho)

I have a mockingbird that lives in my tree
Who thinks because the emergency
Light doesn’t darken, doesn’t dim
It’s always day, at least to him
So he sings, constantly
Making such a mockery
Of all the birds
And of me.

Why does he see the light so easily?
When only darkness do I see.
Some might say, just let him be,
But can’t he do the same for me?

Oh that mockingbird, mockingbird nesting in my tree,
Stole my peace, and the remnants, of my dignity,
Took sparrow’s chirp, and bluejay’s call,
No one’s safe, he steals from all.
All the while, oh so sweetly,
He sings “where are you? And who is he?”
But mostly what he wants is,
To rob you of what’s yours,
And what is mine.

Much confused, nocturnal now,
His infernal chant eternal now
To be diurnal I avow,
But this my bird does not allow.

Worn out by morning, first light hits
Buried beak, he does not flit,
The others wake and start their calls
My bird yawns first, then has the gall
To sing his song
To sing out loud
The same damn song
Just as proud
As the night before
When we could sleep
I did not sing, I did not peep,
But the emergency light
With its everglow,
Stole from him, darkness, peace
And so from me, peace and sleep.

When thieves are robbed, no one cares
No one helps, no one dares.
They just let the robbery
Unfold no matter how costly,
A poor bird thief, so sleepy,
Just like me, just like me.

Perhapst

I am officially ready to release my first volley in this NMM forum. While agonizing day and night and night and day (to the point that it is now Wednesday as opposed to the promised Monday) over how to best announce my presence with authority, I have decided to debut with a band by the name of (drum roll please).....

Perhapst.

Perhapst is led by a guy named John Moen who has been in bands around the Northwest for some time now and currently finds himself as the drummer for The Decemberists. This album sounds nothing like anything produced by his money band. It is pleasant indie pop that features Moen's sweet-ish vocals but has just enough bite and rock (it ain't noise pollution) to keep it from being a dreamy kind of generic indie folk album. The twist being the subtle use of pedal steel to give some songs a little bit of a twang that is sadly missing from much of the music emanating from Portland these days.

It is good, if not entirely great. It hasn't changed my life.

Yet.

I just realized. I don't have to post a comment. I'm an author! I can post a post. Pancho here...
I like this much more than I thought I would based on your description over the phone. "Cloud-like nebulous" or something similar came up in the conversation, and that is, for me, always a red flag. I don't love the singing, but I like the groove. I agree with you though, it is a burn it record (to rip off even more real radio shows about music...)