John David Kent & The Dumb Angels – “My Girl”

This week I am highlighting some new and upcoming releases that are exclusively out of my home-state. I know I mention bands that call the Lone Star State home realtively often, but this week I am making it a point to really be obnoxious about it…

Look, Tiger is holding The Avett brother's trophy for them...

In year’s past, I haven’t done much a personal “Best-Of” list at year’s end. I have left that up to others, mainly due to the stress level inherent with such a task. This year, I contributed a list to multiple outlets, so I figure I would share my ballot with you here. What you see below is really a big group of my favorite albums, versus an actual list of albums I think are better than other albums. Over the course of the year, I listen to a few hundred records, easily. Rarely a day goes by where I don’t pop in a new disc that may or may not see some “ink” on this blog. From that large number of records, I actually enjoyed well over 100 of them, I imagine.

The sad fact of the matter, for many reasons, there were many records I liked that I never found the time to actually say much about here on The Gobblers Knob or over on Twangville. I said all that to say this. These 25 albums could’ve easily been higher or lower than they are here. On different days, I feel like certain choices were wrong, but this is what I’m going with…for now, at least.

1.  Avett Brothers – I and Love and You: Indie darling’s go big-time with major label and super-producer. The tight melodies and trademark, emotionally charged and poetic writing prove there was nothing to worry about.

2.  Phosphorescent - To Willie: Every tribute/covers album wants to be this one when they grow up. Matthew Houck made Willie’s songs his own while keeping the raw, real vibe intact.

Here are the rest of my favorites for the year (basically 3a – 3x)…

3.  Heartless Bastards – The Mountain
4.  Miranda Lambert – Revolution
5.  Allen Thompson – 26 years
6.  Telegraph Canyon – The Tide & The Current
7.  Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day
8.  Buddy & Julie Miller – Written in Chalk
9.  Ryan Bingham – Roadhouse Sun
10. Gina Villalobos – Days on Their Side
11.  Band of Heathens – One Foot in the Ether
12.  The Takers – Taker Easy
13.  Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
14.  Roman Candle – Oh Tall Tree In the Ear
15.  The O’s – We are The O’s
16.  Sons of Bill – One Town Away
17.  Drive by Truckers – The Fine Print
18.  The Gourds – Haymaker!
19.  Scott Warren – Quick Fix Bandage
20.  Patterson Hood - Murdering Oscar
21.   Charlie Robison – Beautiful Day
22.   Lucero - 1372 Overton Park
23.   Danny Balis - Too Much Living
24.   Chad Price – Smile Sweet Face
25.   Dawes – North Hills

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This looks pretty sweet. Ryan Bingham is the voice behind the song (produced by T-Bone Burnett) that provides the backdrop for what is a really great trailer. At this point, the movie can go ahead and suck, since the song and the trailer are so good. Jeff Bridges looks to be going for a combination of Billy Joe Shaver, Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings, all in their older years. This movie opens in Dallas and a couple of other cities on Christmas Day, then a wider release after that.

LISTEN: Ryan Bingham – “The Weary Kind”  from the Crazy Heart Motion Picture Soundtrack (New West)

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For those of you that reside in the sprawling metropolis that is the D/FW region, this might not be “breaking news”, but for those of you that do not call this area home, please continue (you can contine, regardless of where you live, now that I think about it). I have mentioned Ft. Worth’s Telegraph Canyon before, but recent events demand that I go into greater detail at this time. I have been to not one, but two shows at the House of Blues in Dallas where the 7 piece ensemble opened for a well-known and rocking band (that number seems to change, as the violin player didn’t perform with them the second time I saw them). Playing before both the Drive By Truckers as well as Ryan Bingham, I was provided with more than a simple opportunity to finally see the band that I have heard a good it about in the Dallas media perform live. I was also impressed by how a group that shares more sonic traits with Arcade Fire than they do with The Bottle Rockets not only open for these southern-rocking acts, but seemingly turn the initially quizzical looks they received into raucous cheers and beer-can salutes in the span of a song or two. They’ll have another chance to conduct some conversions soon when they open for Slobberbone as the sweaty and beloved rockers perform another heaven-sent “reunion show” at the end of the month in Dallas.

With the set-lists drawing chiefly from their fantastic new CD, The Tide and The Current, Chris Johnson provides a fierce presence as the intense front-man. As compelling as he can be, it was impossible for me to not be drawn in and blown away by the numbers like “Into the Woods” and “Shake Your Fist”. When the melody slowly builds and releases into a climactic and jubilant conclusion, the entire stage seems to bounce with each drum beat. Similar to when I wondered whether another buzzed-about Dallas act, The O’s, were over-hyped or merely appreciated properly, I cant help but feel as though Telegraph Canyon (Official / Myspace) has also earned the generous praise and ample amount of ink that has come their way.

LISTEN: 5 Tracks from Telegraph Canyon’s The Tide & The Current LP

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Many great artists produce music that is inspiring without being technically gifted vocalists. Kris Kristofferson and Ryan Bingham have produced two of the year’s best albums while displaying vocals that few would term “smooth”. The largely acoustic solo debut from Curtis Harvey (Myspace), Box of Stones (FatCat), successfully showcsaes the same ability to move the listener by creating a compelling package that doesn’t rely solely on glossy, operatic vocals.

Stones covers familiar lyrical territory of life and love with Harvey’s plain-spoken poetry and avoids sounding stale and tired in the process. There is plenty of roots-y pickin’ on this record. “Oldertoo” and “Borrowed Time” are basically roughly hewn bluegrass tunes, while the banjo in “Words” and “On Top” spring forward with a rawness and vibrancy that draws the listener in quickly. “Bag of Seeds” would’ve fit nicely onto Bingham’s Mescalito album, as it rocks just a tad with a plugged-in vibe that never separates the track from the album’s core sound. This album has Curtis Harvey’s grit to thank for it’s ability to shine.

LISTEN: Curtis Havey – “Oldertoo”

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