The Low Highway by Steve Earle
Tent Show Radio: Steve Earle
Steve Earle had two reasons for coming out with this long-planned tribute to Townes Van Zandt now. The first reason is practical. Earle is currently pushing himself to finish a years-in-the-making novel, and he wants to see it in print before the publishing business goes belly up.
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So Sang the Whippoorwill by Run Boy Run
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A Prairie Home Companion: Exclusive Preview - So Sang the Whippoorwill
“Doing a weekly radio show for a few decades a man sometimes feels he has heard way too much music and he avoids cafes where singer/songwriters perform and puts his iPod in the drawer and enjoys long silent walks in the snowy woods and then along comes this very band, Run Boy Run, two fiddles, mandolin, cello, and bass, young musicians who have caught the spirit of the traditional and who combine bold playing and beautiful harmony singing, which is a miracle whenever you hear it. My only quibble was whether they shouldn’t separate the Boy from the Run Run with a pair of commas, but now I think not. I saw them clear late one night at a party when they played for three hours straight, unamplified, and danced while they did it, and wanted to play more but the van was leaving. I am old and jaded but I still have my hearing and when I hear Run Boy Run, it all comes back to me, why I started doing that show back then. I hope they go on forever.”
– Garrison Keillor
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Love for Levon: A Benefit to Save the Barn
Dozens of luminaries from rock, soul and country gathered at the Meadowlands Arena on October 3, 2012, for an incredible tribute to Levon Helm, The Band’s late drummer/singer/mandolin player (who passed away earlier that year). The concert, directed by bassist Don Was, was an opportunity to say a final farewell and, in the process, raise money for the ongoing Midnight Ramble series of concerts still held at The Barn — Helm’s famous home-studio in Woodstock, NY. One at a time, (or, sometimes, in pairs) rock-royalty took turns in the spotlight over the course of the evening, singing songs associated with Levon Helm and The Band, including “Up On Crippled Creek,” “The Shape I’m In,” “Life is a Carnival,” “Ophelia,” “The Weight,” “Rag Mamma Rag,” “I Ain’t Got No Home,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
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Big Station by Alejandro Escovedo
Mountain Stage: Alejandro Escovedo
2012 album from the acclaimed Texas singer, songwriter and blues rocker. On the follow-up to 2010’s Street Songs of Love, which debuted at the top of Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, Escovedo worked with frequent co-writer Chuck Prophet and producer Tony Visconti. The 12-track record references themes of love and belonging, as well as homes and homelands. ‘Bottom of the World’ name-checks Austin (where he currently resides), ‘Sally Was a Cop’ details the political corruption of Mexico, and the closing song ‘Sabor a Mi,; written by the late Mexican composer Alvaro Carrillo in 1959, pays homage to the man and their shared roots.
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Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran by Jamey Johnson
Fresh Air: An Unlikely Tribute: Jamey Johnson covers Hank Cochran
“If I ever write a song, I want Jamey Johnson to sing it on my tribute album (… with Alison Krauss, Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson)” - Mike Pengra, music director for RadioHeartland
2012 release, a tribute to Country songwriting legend Hank Cochran. When word got out that acclaimed Nashville artist Jamey Johnson was recording a tribute album to Cochran, musical superstars clamored to participate. From the ranks of the Country Music Hall of Fame came George Strait, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Ray Price and Vince Gill, not to mention Cochran’s oldest and truest friend, Willie Nelson. Veteran stars Leon Russell, Elvis Costello, Bobby Bare and Asleep at the Wheel perform on the album alongside contemporary artists such as Alison Krauss, Lee Ann Womack and Ronnie Dunn.
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