Plus Joe Henry chats a bit about Jim.

By Blurt Staff

Luaka Bop's neo-southern and country-gothic Jim White will release a live EP titled A Funny Little Cross to Bear.

Called a "six-song gem" of "roadside rarities," the disc was recorded by Jim at indie record stores, radio programs and concert halls across the world. Among the songs are "Jim 3:16," where he postulates that "a bar is just a church where they serve beer" and a live unreleased version of  "Stranger Candy," a beautiful song left off last year's Transnormal Skiperoo (Luaka Bop).

Elsewhere, Joe Henry has been thinking and talking about Jim White. Henry produced White's Drill a Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You See. Here's what he had to say:

"I wanted nothing to do with Jim White when, years ago, I first had his demo pressed upon me. I mean, another singer/songwriter-a poet of a particular dark and Southern sensibility (and one that my own wife alleged to be "brilliant and strange" even as she held the aforementioned cassette at arm's length, as if a bit afraid of residue)...

"I sat quiet and I listened. And then I rewound the tape and played it again... And thus began my association and working relationship with Jim White: singer, songwriter, author, actor; Florida native; Georgia taxpayer; former New York City cabdriver and runway fashion model; would-be seminarian; the father of two and, generally speaking, a holistic artist intent on moving forward while seeming to walk backward...a veritable disco moonwalker dressed like Tom Joad. With sideburns."

And here is Joe Henry on the new EP:

"And now here he is, offering a new "live mini album," as if he thinks he'll trick us all into thinking the small gesture doesn't itself draw a plenty-wide arc, doesn't have grand ambitions of its own....

"He must think we're crazy. Or stupid. In any case, I for one refuse to be fooled. I hear within this 7-song collection much ghostly conjuring and revisionist theorizing upon life, liberty and the pursuit of truckstop angels with crooked teeth, checkered pasts, and Jesus programmed on the speed-dial of their cell phones."

A Funny Little Cross to Bear will hit stores on October 14th.

Band will hit the road with Dead Confederate to support Devastator.

By Blurt Staff

Catfish Haven today announced—and began—a U.S. tour supporting their second LP, Devastator (Secretly Canadian). On the first leg, which runs through Oct. 11, the trio will join Athens-based Dead Confederate for six shows, including a My Morning Jacket after-party at Mo’s Pub in Milwaukee, WI. On the 11^th, Catfish Haven will headline a hometown CD release show at the Metro sponsored by WXRT. More dates will be announced shortly.

Devastator will be released Oct. 7.

Tour Dates:

10/01/08 Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room   w/ Dead Confederate
10/02/08 Madison, WI - Annex   w/ Dead Confederate
10/03/08 Milwaukee, WI - Mo's Pub - My Morning Jacket After Party
w/ Dead Confederate
10/05/08 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall
10/06/08 Cambridge, MA - T. T. Bears   w/ Dead Confederate
10/08/08 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber   w/ Dead Confederate
10/09/08 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge   w/ Dead Confederate
10/10/08 Columbus, OH - Carabar
10/11/08 Chicago, IL - Metro- CD Release Show

MP3: "Devastator"


MP3: "Set In Stone"

Goldrush, Miranda Lee Richards, Hopewell and others on bill to support and protect Joshua Tree National Park.

By Blurt Staff

The Black Angels and Dead Meadow will headline the second annual Clean Air, Clear Stars Music Festival in Pioneertown, CA Oct. 10-12. The festival benefits Global Inheritance, a 501 (c)3 organization that “creates inspirational and educational programs to further environmental awareness with the goal of reversing the effects of global warming and encouraging positive action for a sustainable future.” The fest will feature two dozen other bands including Goldrush, Hopewell and Miranda Lee Richards, as well as the cryptic, tantalizing “special guests.”

Clean Air, Clear Stars was founded as a reaction to the July 2006 Sawtooth wildfire that burned over 61,000 acres and destroyed over 200 homes and businesses in Joshua Tree National Park and Pioneertown. Presale tickets (www.ticketweb.com) for the event are $40 for the weekend, and $15 for a day pass. Camping accommodations will also be available, please check the website for details.

“Last year was an inspiring and monumental experience,” says key organizer and Sky Parade vocalist Tommy Dietrick. “People's attitudes toward the challenges we face today are resonating throughout our music community. It's this kind of unity that proves we can make a difference when we continue on a path of personal responsibility, determination and hope. What makes this festival so unique is its' grass roots nature and the willingness for change that it represents. The modern revolution of our generation is to take us off this path over-consumption, greed and waste. Our goal is to shift individual habits as well as raise a unified voice to those in industry and the government who continue to choose to pollute our Earth with insufficient standards and legislation that panders to the conglomerate elite.”

CACS will also host a kick off party on Thurs Oct 9th at Spaceland with performances from Sky Parade, Hopewell and Swoon 23. Admission will be free for all artists whom are donating their time to perform at the festival. Full lineup:

Friday Oct 10th

Mere Mortals

LSD and the Search for God

Lower Heaven

Dead Meadow

Acoustic after-hours stage: CB Brand, and He’s My Brother She’s My Sister.

Saturday Oct 11th

The Black Pine

Fauna Valetta

Federale

Cuchillo

War Paint

Restaurant

Eskimo Hunter

Swoon 23

The Black Angels

Acoustic stage: Miranda Lee Richards, Cat Martino, Wayne Everett, and Highway.

Sunday Oct 12^th

Chief Nowhere

Golden Animals

Sundown Machine

Goldrush

Silver Rockets

Mezzanine Owls

Hopewell

“Special Guests”

About Global Inheritance:

Global Inheritance is an organization working to recreate activism for today’s young generation. Their initiatives focus on the power of creativity to communicate and pus for progressive social change while rejecting conflict. For further information please visit www.globalinheritance.org

About the Endangerment of Joshua Tree National Park:

Joshua Tree National Park ranks as one of the most endangered national parks in the U.S. according to environmental groups. Relying on a particular set of weather conditions and well-timed rains, Joshua trees have managed to survive for centuries in the Mohave desert, the only place on the planet that the large yucca species can be found. The slightest disruption in the fragile eco-system would devastate the delicate desert habitat and destroy  all of the native inhabitants and plants, including the trees which are necessary to the survival of a variety of wildlife.

With the acceleration of global warming, climate change directly impacts the dry areas of the American Southwest and the desert ecosystems will be the first to experience the impact of water shortages which will reduce plant and insect populations and in turn accelerate the fire cycle. The increase in greenhouse gases and elevated air pollution have also contributed to the proliferation of an invasive weed known as Red Brome which is new to the area, and in part suspected to be a contributing factor to the expanding fires within the region.

For further information, please visit:

www.cleanairclearstars.com

www.myspace.com/cleanairclearstars

www.pappyandharriets.com

Austin-based band raising money for Texas Democrats, including Dem. candidate for Railroad Commissioner.

By Blurt Staff

On October 13, Spoon, with special guest Gary Clark Jr., will perform a “rare intimate one-off date” at Austin’s The Parish to benefit Texas Democrats and the campaign of Mark Thompson, Democratic candidate for the office of Railroad Commissioner. Tickets for the show will go on sale 10 a.m. Central time Thursday, October 2.

No word as to why the office of Railroad Commissioner is so important to the band, but if we had to speculate, it’s ‘cause everybody loves a train.

For more information on tickets, go to Spoontheband.com.

“Conspiracy to Riot” tells the story of Francis’ friend Jared Paul, arrested at RNC.

By Blurt Staff

Like many other Americans, Sage Francis was outraged by the arrest of journalists and protestors at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN earlier this month. He’s dealing with it by releasing the track “Conspiracy to Riot,” available free at www.conspiracytoriot.com.

The song tells the story of Francis’s friend Jared Paul, one of the journalists--including Democracy Now's Amy Goodman--who were arrested during the convention for no clear (read: real) reason except that they voiced dissent. The press release from Francis’s label, Anti-:

Many Americans watched as scores of those who were providing coverage of the RNC were arrested and jailed, notably the arrest of “Democracy Now!” host Amy Goodman and two of her colleagues, which was captured on video and became the YouTube sound byte of the convention for people who weren’t just watching the network’s coverage.  The aggression of the police became personal for Francis when they arrested his friend, journalist Jared Paul.

Francis writes “out of the thousand unjust arrests that will happen this year, why am I focusing on this one in particular? Jared Paul is a fellow Providence poet and musician. We've lived together, toured together, protested together, argued with one another from time to time, and shared many incredible moments over the past 15 years. He is a social worker, a community organizer, a selfless human being and a champion of justice. He'd do the same for me in return. He'd probably do the same for you.”

The song is intended to raise awareness of the fascism that informed these arrests, as well as cash to cover Jared Paul’s legal defense expenses. Visitors to the website can read Paul’s complete story, and make donations. One reason donations are necessary is that the sheer volume of RNC arrests is too much even for the American Civil Liberties Union to cover. Support from friends—including Slug from Atmosphere, who posted Paul’s bail—has been steady, but not quite enough.

But it’s not all about one man. “This has less to do with a friend of mine possibly looking at jail time, and more to do with citizen's rights continually being trampled on,” says Francis. “There are thousands of innocent people in jail right now because of their lack of finances. This is a principle thing as much as it is personal.”

Preach it, brutha Sage.

Check out videos of Jared Paul performing "Get Dead" and the arrest of Amy Goodman:

JARED PAUL PERFORMING "GET DEAD": AMY GOODMAN'S ARREST VIDEO:

Compiled by Blurt Staff

206 digital, satellite and hi-def channels and nothin' on? Not likely. Here are BLURT's top music television picks of the day. The time is followed by the network/cable/satellite channel, then the name of the program and/or featured artist(s). All times are EST. For a comprehensive hour-by-hour listing, go to the VH1 Rock On TV site. Note that for certain channels, shows frequently repeat during the day on or subsequent days.

TIME (EST) / CHANNEL / PROGRAM / ARTIST(S)

7:00 AM ABC: Good Morning America: James Taylor

8:00 AM PBS: Sesame Street: LL Cool J

9:00 AM Syndicated: The Martha Stewart Show: Ludacris

11:00 AM VH1 Classic in Concert: Rush in Rio

1:00 PM RAVE HD: Other Voices: Ray Davies , Candie Payne , Mick Flannery , Glen Hansard , Markéta Irglová

3:00 & 6:00 PM Ovation: The Old, Weird America: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music w/Nick Cave , Elvis Costello , Beck , Sonic Youth , DJ Spooky , Jarvis Cocker

6:00 PM BET: 106 & Park: T.I. , Robin Thicke , Ludacris

6:00 PM FUSE: Loaded: Rise Against

8:00 PM VH1C: Krush Groove (1985)

9:15 PM IFC: The Henry Rollins Show: Placebo

11:30 PM Comedy Central: The Colbert Report: James Taylor

11:35 PM CBS: The Late Show With David Letterman: The Virgins

11:35 PM NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Jazmine Sullivan

12:00 AM Great American Country: Opry Live: Keith Urban , Marty Stuart , Carolina Chocolate Drops

12:05 AM ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Rick Springfield

12:37 AM CBS: The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Alice Cooper

1:35 AM NBC: Last Call with Carson Daly: Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

2:00 AM Ovation: The Old, Weird America: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music w/Nick Cave ,

Elvis Costello , Beck , Sonic Youth , DJ Spooky , Jarvis Cocker

It's always a good news day when Courtney's restless...

By Fred Mills

Courtney Love's at it again. Anyone within 30 paces of MySpace the other day probably felt the earth tremors as La Love posted to her page that she is in need of a maid - specifically, a "non-thieving, non-freaky housekeeper."

The entire message:

"Is anyone [an] insanely clean neat-freak, near Malibu? I need a non-thieving, non-freaky housekeeper. I know this is weird [but] the agencies suck and I'm sick of PIGS who steal, it's as simple as that. So fuck it, why not try MySpace. No superfans please. And it's very good money."

Whoah - the rest of us will remain stuck with our thieving, freaky housekeepers, no doubt, while the folks with the dough, like love, scoop up all the good ‘uns.

In totally unrelated news, one of the most popular Courtney Love news stories (from way back in 2006) currently floating around the Internet bears the headline, "I Took LSD When I Was Four." Apropos of nothing, we think.

[Photo credit: Ben Phen]

Essential documentary traces the history of American music.

By Blurt Staff

Old Weird America, Rani Singh's (director of the Harry Smith Archives) documentary film tracking the history of Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music is aired three times today on the Ovation channel as part of Ovation's "American Revolutionaries" series - see BLURT's daily channel guide elsewhere in this news section for the times. It was shown last year on Ovation and also made the rounds of the film festival screening circuit in America and Europe; it initially was available on DVD as part of the Harry Smith Project Revisited 2-CD/2-DVD box set.

The acclaimed film follows the Anthology from its initial compilation of 78 records from rural Americana to its release on Folkways Records in 1952. Instrumental in helping inspire the urban folk revival of the 1960s, the Anthology continues to influence modern music. Testifying to the lasting impact of the Anthology and the remarkable personality of Harry Smith are interviewees Elvis Costello, Beck, Sonic Youth, Beth Orton, Philip Glass, David Johansen, John Cohen and Greil Marcus. Meanwhile, concert footage featuring Beck, Nick Cave, Beth Orton and others brings the music itself to life. (One of the DVDs in the HSPR box went even further, offering complete performances by those artists along with David Johansen, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Lou Reed, David Glass, Richard Thompson, Ed Sanders and the Folksmen (!).

We didn't mention it in the CD review, but her album is going to wind up in BLURT's Top 20 this year...

By Fred Mills

New Orleans - by way of Sweden - songbird Theresa Andersson is on the road with her acclaimed Hummingbird, Go! album now through mid-November; on selected dates she'll be joined by her friends and homelanders Ane Brune and Tobias Froberg.

No less an, uhh, authority than your friendly neighborhood BLURT recently gave it a nine-star review, citing the songbird's "undeniable earthiness and primal power" that channels both the polyglot musicality of her adopted hometown (she's lived in the Crescent City since 1990, at the age of 18) and the contemporary, all-over-the-map indiepop sound Sweden. She's a cross between Kate Bush, Feist, Joan Osborne, Duffy and Tori Amos.

Check her MySpace page for more bio info and sound samples.

All the more remarkable: the cinematic-sounding album was recorded almost entirely in her kitchen, with Swedish producer Tobias Froberg helping bring the project to fruition. Her shows have been described as "little masterpieces of functional choreography," which is to say: check out the astounding, much-viewed home video posted below the tour dates if you want to get a sense of where she's coming from. That's a lot of music coming from just one throat, two hands, and a pair of bare feet.

Wait for the moment near the end when she picks up her violin (her main instrument, if you can dig that) - it'll bring tears to your eyes.

Theresa Andersson Tour Dates:

Sep 30 2008    10:45P

            DC9    Washington DC, Washington DC

Oct 2 2008      9:00P

            Howlin' Wolf (NOLA INDIE ROCK FEST DAY 1 w/ The City Life, Big Blue Marble & MOD Dance Party DJs)       New Orleans, Louisiana

Oct 3 2008      7:00P

            Borders Metairie - In store performance         Metairie, Louisiana

Oct 5 2008      5:00P

            Bayfest - Launching Pad Stage          Mobile, Alabama

Oct 9 2008      10:30P

            Sticky Fingerz             Little Rock, Arkansas

Oct 10 2008    10:00P

            Two Stick Sushi          Oxford, Mississippi

Oct 12 2008    8:00P

            The Belcourt Theatre (w/The Everybodyfields)         Nashville, Tennessee

Oct 18 2008    8:00P

            The Grey Eagle (w/Seth Kauffman)   Asheville, North Carolina

Oct 19 2008    8:15P

            Gravity Lounge           Charlottesville, Virginia

Oct 22 2008    9:00P

            Living Room (CMJ SHOWCASE w/Ane Brun, Tobias Froberg & The Real Ones)             New York, New York

Oct 23 2008    8:00P

            Tin Angel (w/ Ane Brun & Tobias Froberg)   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Oct 24 2008    9:00P

            IOTA Club & Cafe (w/ Ane Brun & Tobias Froberg)            Arlington, Virginia

Oct 25 2008    7:30P

            Attucks Theatre (w/ Ane Brun & Tobias Froberg)     Norfolk, Virginia

Oct 28 2008    8:00P

            The Basement             Nashville, Tennessee

Oct 29 2008    10:45P

            Canal Street Tavern (The Buddha Den Presents)       Dayton, Ohio

Oct 30 2008    9:00P

            Rathskeller Restaurant            Indianapolis, Indiana

Nov 1 2008     7:00P

            Schubas (w/ Ane Brun & Tobias Froberg)      Chicago, Illinois

Nov 6 2008     9:00P

            London Music Club (w/Tobias Froberg)        London, Ontario

Nov 7 2008     8:45P

            El Mocambo (w/ Ane Brun & Tobias Froberg)          Toronto, Ontario

Nov 8 2008     8:00P

            Les Saints (w/Ane Brun & Tobias Froberg)   Montreal, Quebec

Nov 10 2008   10:00P

            Great Scott (w/Ane Brun & Tobias Froberg)             Allston, Massachusetts

Nov 12 2008   9:15P

            Union Hall (w/Ane Brun & Tobias Froberg) Brooklyn, New York

First Macca-Youth project in ten years.

By Blurt Staff

Fresh off his musical trip to Israel where by some accounts he reignited Arab-Israeli tensions and received death threats for his efforts, Paul McCartney now sets his sights on a different type of blaze as he returns in his electronica guise, The Fireman. A duo comprising Macca and producer/Killing Joke member Youth, Fireman issues its first recording in over a decade on Nov. 18 via MPL/ATO. Titled Electric Arguments, the 13-song collection of McCartney compositions is also the first Fireman release to feature vocals.

No word on whether he'll be issuing another nude promotional version of the record or a single this time around like he did before:

Below see the official press release plus tracklisting for the album.

 ***

"Ambient dreams in rainbow arches describe the circles of The Fireman", is how the duo described their music in a rare interview around the release of their last album 'Rushes' in 1998.  Their first album 'Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest', released in 1993, was a solid ambient dance album heavy on electronics.  Around this time the identity of The Fireman was unknown until the press exposed the duo as none other than Paul McCartney and Youth. The now defunct music bible Melody Maker heaped praise on the project, "Paul McCartney has discovered dance music - the results are staggeringly brilliant.  They (The Fireman) take a melody and, with dexterous genre-hopping through ambient, trance and house, evolve a number of breathtaking variations."

Last year The Fireman returned to work again to start work on what would become Electric Arguments, ultimately finding thirteen days and recording a song on each of those days over the course of a little more than a year. The results this time are entirely different from any previous Fireman release.

Earlier this year The Fireman donated a new track, Lifelong Passion (which appears on Electric Arguments) to the charity Adopt-A-Minefield.  This new track marked a directional change for The Fireman, showcasing a more traditional song based sound with vocals, completely unlike anything on the previous two albums.  Speculation increased as a 'studio source' was quoted in The Times of London as describing their new sound 'like Arcade Fire meets Led Zeppelin'.  So what had The Fireman been up to and what does the album sound like?

Electric Arguments is an eclectic and varied album consisting of thirteen tracks, each written and recorded in the space of one day.   McCartney and Youth went into the studio with no master plan or clear direction. Instead they let the project take a life of its own, with the results surprising them as much as anyone.

The record opens with a stylistically diverse trifecta: Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight is a classic rock attention grabber followed by a hairpin turn in the form of the acoustic driven Two Magpies and yet another direction with Sing The Changes, a euphoric upbeat song with an undeniable and instantly memorable melody.  Electric Arguments continues in this fashion, each track with an entirely different personality yet all meshing perfectly.  Other standouts include 'Light From Your Lighthouse', 'Sun Is Shining' and 'Dance 'Til We're High', all in keeping with the genre-hopping spirit of the first two Fireman albums and demonstrating Paul McCartney's unending interest in pure musical possibilities.  This is an album set to both surprise and delight the listener.  Made with no record company restraints or a set release date to work to, Electric Arguments is a work of complete artistic and creative freedom.




Track listing:

1)              Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight
2)              Two Magpies
3)              Sing The Changes
4)              Traveling Light
5)              Highway
6)              Light From Your Lighthouse
7)              Sun Is Shining
8)              Dance 'Til We're High
9)              Lifelong Passion
10)           Is This Love?
11)           Lovers In A Dream
12)           Universal Here, Everlasting Now
13)           Don't Stop Running