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* ND #70 Revisited

In the wake of our summer break and last week's blog about it, I passed over my usual hindsight-review of the new issue that's on the stands, so let's take a look at that now. Here's a few thoughts about the stories and reviews in our July-August issue, which you may well have already seen by now....

* To follow-up our news-page item on the Gary Louris solo album, it now has a release date set -- January 29 on Rykodisc. Vinyl-heads can get an early listen via an LP release set for December 18; there will also be a digital EP on November 13 (no word yet on whether that'll include tracks from the album or if it'll be outtakes not included on the final version). Still nothing set for the duo album Louris and his former Jayhawks mate Mark Olson have also completed.

* Peter Cooper's review of what was ostensibly Jerry Jeff Walker's final Birthday Bash at the Paramount in Austin on March 31 brought a twinge of nostalgic sadness. Although I don't think I ever actually attended one of the shows, I remember them being a big deal "back in the day" when I was coming of age amid the Austin music scene of the mid-1980s. If they weren't quite Willie's July 4th Picnic, they were still something special and uniquely Austin, a way for the town to annually acknowledge one of their foremost musical figures.

Walker's birthday is actually March 16, but he's held his party a couple weeks later for the last decade or so, ever since SXSW usurped the entire city during the week in which his true birthday falls. That was an unfortunate coincidence, as Jerry Jeff had earned the right to have a day to himself in Austin. While he's largely coasted off his outlaw-period prime for the past quarter-century (almost all his best-known songs were written in the '70s), he accomplished enough during that heyday to hold a permanent slot in the top tier of the Texas troubadour pantheon. Much of the modern-day "Texas music" crowd (whether or not you care much for the likes of Pat Green, Cory Morrow et al.) can be traced back almost directly to Jerry Jeff (running through Robert Earl Keen Jr. along the way). And it's worth noting that Guy Clark's memorable song "Ramblin' Jack And Mahan" was written about an endless night on the heels of a Walker Birthday Bash many moons ago.

If it's time for Walker to ride off into the sunset, that's perfectly understandable. The best we can do is simply tip our hat to him, as he did to us on the cover of Ridin' High:

* An amusing aside about the lead photo to the Cherryholmes piece, which was shot by Jon C. Hancock in Denton, North Carolina: Originally we'd attempted to shoot the band at Merlefest just after their Thursday-night performance on the mainstage. A Wilkes Community College photography student named Amber kindly and patiently took some shots backstage that ended being good but not quite right simply because it was pitch-dark by the time Cherryholmes left the stage. The funny thing was, the shot we ran from Hancock actually ended up having quite a similar setting: along a wooden railing, with trees in the background. The only real differences being that the band stood in front of the railing in Amber's shot, and you couldn't see the beautiful trees on the Merlefest grounds in her shot because of the darkness. Still, seeing Hancock's photo made me do a double-take, given how similar the scenes were.

* I've probably got a fair bit to say about the Mandy Moore piece, but I'll save that for a future blog where I'll expound at more length than the quick bits I'm seeking to include here. Just so's you know, covering Moore in ND was mainly my idea, so blame me if you think it's heresy, but first and foremost, listen to the record before you decide. Once I'd heard Wild Hope, it just didn't seem like much of a stretch at all, to me.

adios,
peter

Posted by peter on July 10, 2007 11:20 PM | Permalink