Post-punk sensations The Jesus and Mary Chain have been getting back up to speed of late. In 2014 and 2015 they played several tour dates in the run up to last year’s release of Live from Barrowlands, and now longtime Jesus and Mary Chain handler Alan McGee, of Creation Records, has announced that the band is set to release a new studio album in March 2017 on Warner Brothers Records. In an interview with CBC Music, McGee exclaimed, “they’ve made another album. It’s a big deal! It’s unbelievable.”
While the Jesus and Mary Chain, led by brothers Jim and William Reid, released a compilation record, 21 Singles, in 2002, the upcoming release will give fans their first dose of new material since 1998’s Munky. Eighteen years is a long time to wait, but this announcement comes as a taste of candy for all the devoted fans who feared this day would never arrive.
No tour dates have been announced in support of the new release as of yet, however, there remain three chances to catch The Jesus and Mary Chain live in the act before the year ends. The brothers Reid, who are now joined by Scott Van Ryper on guitar, Mark Crozer on bass, and Brian Young on drums, will take the stage at the Georgia Theatre in Athens on December 13, 2016, followed by a performance at The Masquerade in Atlanta, GA on December 14, and then a trip to New Orleans for a show at The Joy Theater on December 16.
Click here for further details, including tickets, and check out the official video for “You Trip Me Up,” from 1985’s landmark release Psychocandy.
Despite the weather being fairly pleasant and warm the first two days of the festival, the third day of the festival had 40 mile per hour winds which made it feel more like a late fall NY day. At one point there even appeared to be snow flakes in the air. Needless to say, I immediately regretted not packing any sweatshirts or coats for what I assumed would be a blazingly hot three day summer music festival.
Up next at around 3 pm was country music veteran, Neal McCoy who started his country music career in 1981 by winning a talent contest. Since then he has released 10 studio albums and 34 country music singles. This included three platinum albums, one gold album and seven top 10 country hits. I had never seen Mr. McCoy in concert, and did not know what to expect when the 58 year old took the stage. I was impressed with the amount of time he took interacting with the crowd, shaking his butt, and even jumping up and down. McCoy had more energy on stage than half of the younger performers that I have had the pleasure to photograph and his anecdotes made the crowd laugh and stay engaged throughout his performance.
After a short break, Mr. “Buy me a Boat” himself, Chris Janson took the stage. Janson moved to Nashville when he was 19 years old, in 2005 to become a country music star. Like so many country stars of today he began his career first proving himself as song writer. His first hint of success came in 2012 when he wrote the Tim McGraw hit, “Truck Yeah”. But his dreams did not actually come true until, despite not being backed by a record label at the time, he came out with the song, “Buy Me A Boat”. He sent the song to country radio show host, Bobby Jones, who loved it and as a result played the song on his show. Following the exposure, the song became a favorite of country music fans around the country and jumped to the top of the country charts. The mega hit caught the attention of major record labels around the country and Janson was soon signed to Warner Music Nashville.
Following Janson’s amazing set, I rushed over to the secondary, indoor concert stage of the festival to watch newcomer, Jake Worthington perform. The twenty year old, Texas native attempted to start his country music career in 2013, by auditioning for the fifth season of the NBC reality music competition show, “The Voice”. Unfortunately, he was not chosen by any of the judges and did not make it on to the show.
Up first was 23 year old William Michael Morgan. Morgan released his self titled debut album this past March 18th, which is coincidentally only a few days from the day that his first child, a beautiful baby girl named Presley was born. When I heard Morgan sing I was surprised at how mature he sounded for his age. He had a deep twangy, classic country sound, that reminded me of Clint Black and Merle Haggard. Given that the country music industry of late has gone in the direction of a pop and sometimes even rap fusion of music, I was did not expect to see such a young artist concentrate on the roots of the genre. Most notable was the single that has brought the new artist on to the country charts, “I Met A Girl” which was co-written by country Star, Sam Hunt. The country love ballad reminded me of how country music used to sound.
After a short break, around 3:00 p.m., Old Dominion took the stage. The group consists of Matthew Ramsey on lead vocals, Trevor Rosen on guitar and keyboard, drummer Whit Sellers, Geoff Sprung on bass, and Brad Tursi on guitar. Three of the band’s members, Ramsey, Rosen and Tursihad, had success in the country industry writing hit songs for the Band Perry, Kenny Chesney, Tyler Farr and even NBC’s country music based drama, Nashville. Their energetic stage presence and unique fusion of pop-rock and country seemed to get the crowd in a great mood. Old Dominion is currently on tour with Kenny Chesney.
Up next to the stage was sibling duo, the Swon Brothers, made up of Zach and Colton Swon. Like so many country artists, the Swon Brothers got their start singing and playing music in their local church. They went on tour with their parents’ gospel group, Exodus, when they were just children. In 2000 they decided to form their own group, and the Swon Brothers band was born. In 2008 Colton Swon was picked to be an American Idol contestant and reached the Top 48 before being eliminated. More recently in 2013, the Swon Brothers were picked by coaches Usher, Blake Shelton and Shakira to be on the artist’s teams for the music competition, in the NBC show, The Voice. They ultimately decided to be on Blake Shelton’s team. The brothers finished in third place on fourth season of The Voice. Their appearance led to a contract with record label, Arista Nashville. During the show, the duo performed their own material as well as covers of Merle Haggard, and even Kings of Leon. Their sound showed hints of their gospel roots, and also mixed in some good old fashion rock.
I made my way to the smaller, indoor Bud Light Stage to see newcomer Elizabeth Lyons. Lyons has had a love for performing from a young age, but decided to complete her education at Vanderbilt University in 2013 before dedicating herself to becoming a full time country artist. She has been featured on CMA Close Up’s “Who is New To Watch in 2014.” She has also opened for country stars like Luke Bryan and Cole Swindell. I would describe Lyons’s music as having a country-pop sound reminiscent of early Taylor Swift which is exhibited in songs like “Boys in Every Zip Code” and “Go Girl”.
Starting at around 6:00 p.m., Eric Paslay began his show on the main outdoor festival stage. Like so many current country music stars, Paslay got his foot in the door of the country music industry writing songs for other artists. He has written hits like “Rewind” for Rascal Flatts, “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” for Jake Owen, and many other songs for the likes of Lady Antebellum and Eli Young Band. Paslay ventured out as a solo artist in 2014 with his self titled debut album. Unsurprisingly, he continued to make hits with songs such as “Song About A Girl” and “Friday Night.” Watching Paslay perform with a great deal of passion definitely made me appreciate the hard work the he had put into his music. I believe that if an artist performs music that he wrote, it can add a whole new layer of visible dedication to the music and that was definitely present in Paslay’s set.