NYS Music 20​14

Tag: Hard Working Americans

  • Hearing Aide: Hard Working Americans ‘The First Waltz’

    Hard Working Americans have released The First Waltz, a live recording of powerful rock numbers with songwriting that any blue collar working, freedom-loving Americans can easily rock out to, start to finish. Only a year old, Hard Working Americans includes Dave Schools on bass, (Widespread Panic) guitarist Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Brotherhood), Chad Staehly on keys (Great American Taxi), Duane Trucks on drums and guitarist Jesse Aycock. The album will have a visual component when a film of the same name, directed by Justin Kreutzmann, is released later this year, offering insight and a snapshot of the start of this supergroup. The album debuted October 28 and can be picked up on iTunes or in the band’s store.

    Hard Working Americans the first waltzOpening up The First Waltz with “Blackland Farmer”, the vibe of Tom Waits “Goin Out West” is present as slow grooving blues, intertwined with “New Speedway Boogie” lyrics. Pedal steel guitar from Aycock enters into Michael Houser territory. A dual song, “Another Train/Working Man Blues” included a mild and driving “Train” that picks up with “Working Man Blues”. Snider remarks on “Mission Accomplished”, “It was the great Billy Joe Shaver who once said that ‘God loves ya the most when you dance’”, and with that Duane Trucks sets a beat in the vein of “Not Fade Away” while Casal plays a catchy Mexicali riff. A Jekyll and Hyde song, “Run a Mile”, begins with patient blues and halfway in takes this speed of ‘4’ and doubles it to an ‘8’, albeit briefly, building back up to a ‘6’ as the band rocks out.

    Todd Snider’s vocals are gritty, powerful and thought-provoking, particularly in “I Don’t Have a Gun”, where his songwriting skills add an emotional weight, referencing a drunk night and confrontation of which Snider opines in a grateful escape, “I’m so glad that I don’t have a gun.” A great deal of instrumental prowess from the full band is to be found on “The Mountain Song”, but it is on “Straight to Hell”, a marquee song for Hard Working Americans, that the band and Snider’s songwriting shine. An established sing-along for the nascent group, Snider sings the words “I’m goin’ straight to hell, just like my momma said, I’m goin’ straight to hell”, with such conviction, you feel empathy for such a determined view of the afterlife. The flipside to “Straight to Hell” is “Stomp and Holler”, a footstomper aided by Trucks’ kick drum, inspiring and motivating any audience to play along from start to finish.

    “Guaranteed” has the potential to drift into uncharted territory in a live setting, venturing into the somewhat uplifting blues-tempo and forgoing any noodling when rocking through it suffices, while “Wrecking Ball” stands alone as the most emotionally charged song of the album. The final track, “Come From the Heart”, featuring Roseanne Cash is a soulful and inspiring love song. All throughout, Snider, Schools, Casal, Staehly, Trucks and Aycock give a powerhouse clinic of collaboration, sounding as though the band has been together for a decade when they are just about to turn 1 with The First Waltz.

    Hard Working Americans Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud

    Key Tracks: Blackland Farmer, Straight to Hell, Stomp and Holler

  • A First Look at The First Waltz

    Hard Working Americans may sound redundant as a band name, but the newly formed super group offers refreshingly unique takes on classic hits. On October 28, the band releases a rockumentary The First Waltz through Melvin Records and Thirty Tigers. Justin Kreutzmann directs the film which chronicles the band’s formation, first show in Boulder, Colorado, and release of their self-titled album in 2014.

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    Todd Snider brought the band together in 2013. An admirer of the jam band scene’s virtuosic musicianship and fan of the poetic lyricism in Americana music, Snider needed to marry these two musical worlds. From this desire, Hard Working Americans was born. Snider recruited Widespread Panic’s bassist Dave Schools, Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s Neal Casal, Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi on the keys, Duane Trucks on the drums and pedal-steel guitarist Jesse Aycock to form the powerhouse group.

    The rockumentary begins with a folksy version of “The Star Spangled Banner” and pans in to Snider lighting up a joint. “We smoke grass all day, don’t go to church every day… I have a dream—catcher hanging in my fucking rear-view,” Snider quips. “I’m also a flag-waving, country-loving American patriot and I feel like patriotism has been stolen from people like me. And it’s for that reason I called my most talented hippie buddies and convinced them… we’ve got to take that flag back for the silly.”

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    Snider formed the band for Americans like me and—most likely—you. They’re here for those of us that get our hands dirty for our money and fly our freak flags just below the stars and stripes. We’re proud to be Americans, and we’re equally proud of our freedom to express individuality.

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    According to Staehly, “It’s about great songs that fell through the cracks… [Snider] spent years gathering up these stray songs, a real humanitarian effort.” It’s also about the people who fell through the cracks—the blue-collared Americans who march to their own beat and love doing so.

    The album Hard Working Americans features 11 covers from the likes of old-school country artist Frankie Miller, satirical pop pianist Randy Newman, and southern rock singer Kevin Kinney. Snider refers to the tracks as “a bag of what I’d call perfect songs, all of them written by my friends.”

    The First Waltz will be available on October 28.  View the official trailer below.

  • Warren Haynes’ Christmas Jam XXVI: Jammin’ Around Ashville, NC

    If you’re in the Tar Heel State this December, be sure to have yourself a Muley little Christmas, Christmas Jam XXVI that is.

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    Gifts come a little early as Warren Haynes 26th Annual Christmas Jam is scheduled for Saturday, December 13. The renowned guitarist has hosted the event since 1989, donating the proceeds to charity; Habitat for Humanity has been the beneficiary since 1998. While Warren brings his soulful guitar-playing Upstate to Hunter, NY for Mountain Jam every summer, his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina gets him during the winter holiday season. Haynes’ relentless work ethic and benevolent personality have helped the event grow each year and Christmas Jam now takes place at the 7,500+ seat U.S. Cellular Center.

    Past lineups have included The Allman Brothers Band, Counting Crows, Los Lobos, Umphrey’s McGee, and many more. Special guests like Karl Denson, Jackie Greene, Ron Holloway, and Susan Tedeschi show up each year. Americana Artist of the Year Jason Isbell, Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, and Vince Gill join Gov’t Mule, The Revivalists, and Hard Working Americans on 2014’s initial bill, but there will be many more artists to join, both announced and unannounced.

    Kreutzmann’s new super-group, Billy & The Kids, features The Disco Biscuits’ keys/piano guru Aron Magner, Tea Leaf Green bassist Reed Mathis, and American Babies’ Tom Hamilton. Magner and Hamilton’s chemistry was recently on display at Catskill Chill, where they played with fellow Disco Biscuit Marc Brownstein and Lotus’s Mike Greenfield as Electron. Magner also sat in during Hamilton’s American Babies set for a fantastic cover of the Dead’s “New Speedway Boogie;” with Kreutzmann running the show and Mathis joining in, fans can expect a killer set.

    Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill makes his inaugural trek to Christmas Jam in 2014. Gill has a GRAMMY award for each finger and toe on his body and will add a twang of country to the Southern rock show. Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell, whose own award collection includes this year’s Americana Music Awards for Artist of the Year, Song of the Year (“Cover Me Up”), and Album of the Year (Southeastern), brings his talent to Asheville as well.

    The initial lineup is rounded out by Hard Working Americans and The Revivalists. Like Billy & The Kids, Hard Working Americans is another all-star band, consisting of singer/songwriter Todd Snider, Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s Neal Casal on the six-string, Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools on bass, Derek’s younger brother Duane Trucks on drums, Jesse Aycock on the steel guitar, and Chad Staehly on keys. Their 2014 self-titled debut album features 11 cover songs, and Asheville is their penultimate scheduled stop on a national tour. The Revivalists is a New Orleans group with a brass section and a huge sound.  The band plays soulful funk that sparks dance parties. Christmas Jam is their final stop on a national tour reaching 20+ cities.

    The aforementioned musicians alone would put on an incredible show, but there will be many more artists announced in the coming weeks. Pre-sale tickets go on sale October 13 and regular tickets become available October 17. They always go fast, so be sure to treat yourself to a happy holiday by joining Warren’s incredible event.

  • Hearing Aide: Hard Working Americans Self-Titled Debut Album

    Hard Working Americans, a new collective of musicians out of Nashville, TN, released their self-titled debut this week on Melvin Records/Thirty Tigers. Led by singer-songwriter Todd Snider, the band captures 11 songs written by notable country, blues, and folk-rock musicians and reinvents them as their own. Joining Snider is an all-star group of like-minded individuals representing a spectrum of styles: Dave Schools – bass (Widespread Panic), Neal Casal – guitar (The Chris Robinson Brotherhood), Chad Staehly – keys (Great American Taxi), and Duane Trucks – drums (Col. Bruce Hampton’s School of Music and of the Trucks family lineage).

    Hard Working AmericansHard Working Americans is a smart and well planned selection of songs for an album intended to capture the spirit of what the band’s name suggests. This album is reminiscent of Johnny Winter’s 2011 comeback release Roots where Johnny covers blues standards with an all-star lineup of guest musicians varying between each song.

    The performance on six of the tracks retain much of the feel and emotion of the original performances, though the sound is often more robust with added instrumentation. The other five tracks are significantly reworked making Hard Working Americans’ performance of them their own.

    “Blackland Farmer” is electrified from an acoustic country tune to one with a straight-ahead blues feel while retaining some of those country elements on slide guitar. A similar rework was done on “The Mountain Song” though retaining less of the original country version. “Stomp and Holler” is slowed down slightly from the rockabilly style of the original with a harmonica solo taking the lead rather than guitar. “Straight To Hell” is performed in a way that gives it much more emotion than the original recording, though both versions are equally appealing in their own ways. “Run A Mile” is much like the original; however a fun twist is added mid song with a brief hard hitting interlude before returning back to its starting pace.

    Hard Working Americans

    Hard Working Americans is an enjoyable, well produced album to listen to from start to finish. A notable feature of the album is the sequencing of the songs which works to tell a story of the blue collar American. As a debut cover album, Hard Working Americans has established the band as a capable new collective of musicians with a solid chemistry. Though the band does not have original material recorded yet it is anticipated that, given the talent of the band, it would be well received by music fans. Hard Working Americans is touring in support of their debut album and it will be interesting to see what what they bring to the stage aside from this album.

    Track Listing: (Original performer in parenthesis)

    1. Blackland Farmer (Elizabeth Cook)
    2. Another Train (Will Kimbrough)
    3. Down To The Well (Kevin Gordon & Lucinda Williams)
    4. The Mountain Song (Kieran Kane, Chad Jeffers, Sean Locke)
    5. Stomp and Holler (Hayes Carll)
    6. Straight To Hell (Drivin’ N’ Cryin’)
    7. Welfare Music (The Bottle Rockets)
    8. Mr. President (Have Pity On The Working Man) (Randy Newman)
    9. Run A Mile (BR5-49)
    10. I Don’t Have A Gun (Will Kimbrough & Tommy Womack)
    11. Wrecking Ball (David Rawlings & Gillian Welch)

    Key Tracks: Stomp and Holler, Straight To Hell, Run A Mile

    Find out more about Hard Working Americans and details on how to get the album on their website and on Facebook.