Ashton Nyte: Live Footage & Interview from "The Valley" CD Release Show at Fontana's, NYC 6-29-10

Ashton Nyte is considered to have pioneered alternative music in South Africa and he made his NYC debut at Fontana's with a CD release show for his latest disc The Valley (Intervention Arts Records). I had a chance to talk with Ashton before the show and this video also includes the first song from the set.



Here are Ashton's upcoming tour dates (which include a return trip to NYC on July 23rd):

Thursday, July 8 8:30PM (acoustic)
Mars Cafe: 2318 University Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50311-4316

Saturday, July 10 8:00PM (acoustic)
Kick Butt Coffee: 5775 Airport Boulevard, Austin, TX 78752

Sunday, July 11 10:00PM (full band)
Headhunters: 720 Red River Street, Austin, TX 78701

Monday, July 12 8:00PM (full band)
Avant Garden: 411 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77006

Tuesday, July 13 5:30PM (acoustic in-store appearance)
Cactus Music: 2110 Portsmouth Street, Houston, TX 77098
Refreshments provided by St. Arnold Brewing Company

Thursday, July 15 9:00PM (acoustic)
Checkpoint Charlie's: 501 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116

Saturday, July 17 10:00PM (full band)
The Highlands Taproom: 1279 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY 40204

Friday, July 23 8:00PM – 9:00PM (full band)
The Gallery Bar: 120 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002-3177

Saturday, July 24 10:00PM (full band)
Spellbound @ Recessions: 1823 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

Links:
Ashton Nyte

Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane CD Review (Hear Music)

The 'King of America' is back! Elvis Costello returns with his first country album since 1986's King of America.

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane is a predominately acoustic affair that comes across as a cross between the Nashville country sounds of Almost Blue crossed with the introspective tales of love and heartache that first showed up on King of America.

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane was recorded over a three day period in Nashville with T-Bone Burnett, fiddler Stuart Duncan (who recently played with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on the "Raising Sand" tour, ), dobroist Jerry Douglas, mandolinist Mike Compton and double bassist Dennis Crouch. Grammy award winner Jim Lauderdale adds backup and harmony vocals to all of the tracks and he is joined by Emmylou Harris on backing vocals for "The Crooked Line".

The material seems to come from a mixed bag of sources. Four of the disc's thirteen tracks (“How Deep is the Red,” “She Was No Good,” “She Handed Me a Mirror” and “Red Cotton”) are from Costello's work-in-progress opera based on the life of Hans Christen Andersen which was commissioned back in 2005 by the Danish Royal Opera. Two of the tracks ("Complicated Shadows" and "Hidden Shame") originally appeared on All This Useless Beauty and "Hidden Shame" was covered by Johnny Cash on his 1989 release Boom Chickaa Boom. Following on his collaboration with Loretta Lynn on "Pardon Me, Madam, My Name is Eve", Costello and Lynn have co-written "I Felt The Chill" on this new release. The disc closes with "Changing Parters", a tune made popular by Bing Crosby in the 50's.

"So it was that the ideal song to close this album seemed to be, 'Changing Partners', a simple number that I learned from an old Bing Crosby recording. It is likely to be the last dance at all our upcoming appearances." -- Elvis Costello

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane isn't a redefinition of Elvis Costello's music but more of a return to form. He seems much more focused and engaged than on recent works and this disc entered the charts at #13 on the Billboard 200 (Elvis' highest chart position since 1980’s Get Happy).

Upcoming tour dates are:

8 August 2009, Summer Sonic Festival, Tokyo, Japan
9 August 2009, Summer Sonic Festival, Osaka, Japan
15 August 2009, Salt Lake City, Utah, Dear Valley Music Festival (Costello & Steve Nieve with the Utah Symphony)
17 August 2009, Saratoga, California, Mountain Winery
18 August 2009, Los Angeles, California, Greek Theatre
19 August 2009, Livermore, California, Wente Vineyards
21 August 2009, Santa Rosa, California, Wells Fargo Center
22 August 2009, Jacksonville, Oregon, Britt Pavilion
23 August 2009, Seattle, Washington, Chateau St. Michelle
24 August 2009, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Malkin Bowl
26 August 2009, Highland Park, Illinois, Ravinia Festival
27 August 2009, Kettering, Ohio, Fraze Pavillion
28 August 2009, Toronto, Ontario, Massey Hall
29 August 2009, Chatauqua, New York, Chautauqua Institute
1st September 2009, Austin, Texas, Long Center
2nd September 2009, Dallas, Texas, Nokia Theatre
3rd September 2009, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Cains Ballroom

Links:
Elvis Costello's Website

Johnny Cash: Christmas Special 1978 DVD Review

For his 1978 Christmas Special, Johnny Cash moved the taping of the show to Los Angeles. It may have been the Hollywood influence but the show feels a bit more staged than it did in previous years or the year that followed.

Johnny plays a more eclectic mix of material on this show than he did in previous years. He opens the show with "Christmas Can't Be Far Away" and the other songs include "Ballad of a Teenage Queen", the brilliant "Sunday Morning Coming Down", "Fourth Man In the Fire", the forgettable "I Will Rock and Roll With You", "You're A Part of Me" and "The Greatest Cowboy of Them All".

It is the special guests and the canned dialogue that make this disc not as strong as it possibly could be. I had considered myself a big Steve Martin fan but his "Wild and Crazy Guy" sctick just doesn't seem to have aged well. I also found musical guest Rita Coolidge a bit too "adult contemporary" for my taste. What is really missing though is Johnny's warmth and personality don't come through as clearly as it does on previous shows. Johnny's all-star tribute to Elvis Presley (1977) is simply classic and his performance of "Five Foot High and Rising" (1979) is moving. Johnny just seems to be out of his natural element on the 1978 Special.

Johnny Cash fans are going to want to own all four volumes but the casual fan may be better served starting with one of the other years.

Links:
Johnny Cash's MySpace Profile

Johnny Cash: Christmas Special 1979 DVD Review

The good folks at Shout! Factory have partnered with the County Music Hall of Fame to release Johnny Cash's Christmas Special from 1979.

I was just reading an Op-Ed piece in the current issue of AdAge that described the current state of TV programming as "[r]eality TV and 'dumbed down' writing". It also doesn't seem like there has been a good Christmas show/special made in years. Cash's Christmas Specials are a warm, well-produced series of songs, biographical narrative and comedy sketches. Johnny has an obvious rapport with both his guests and the audience which makes for enjoyable watching.

For the 1979 Christmas Special, Cash and his family return to Nashville. There isn't a lot of excess dialogue on this program and, aside for Andy Kaufman's comedy sketches, the focus is on the music. Johnny sings a number of classic country and Christmas songs, both solo, with June Carter Cash and with his guests. The musical guests this year were Anne Murray and Tom T. Hall (not knowing who he is, I had to look up his bio...Tom T. Hall is an established country balladeer/singer who has also written songs for Johnny Cash, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and many others).

The show starts off with a brief comedy sketch by Andy Kaufman. Andy stays in his Latka character for most of the show but he does do a killer Elvis impression ("That's When Your Heartaches Begin") that is well received by the Nashville crowd.

Here is the complete list of performances:

Opening - Andy Kaufman Comedy Sketch
(Ghost) Riders In The Sky - Johnny Cash
Five Feet High And Rising - Johnny Cash (includes family recollections from Ray and Roy Cash)
You Needed Me - Anne Murray
That Christmasy Feeling - Johnny Cash & Anne Murray
The Ballad Of The Harp Weaver - Johnny Cash
That's Why You Have To Be You - Tom T. Hall
Johnny Cash/Tom T. Hall Medley:
Country Is/Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine/The Year That Clayton Delaney Died/I Love/Country Is
If I Were A Carpenter - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
That's When Your Heartaches Begin - Andy Kaufman
Christmas Is - Tom T. Hall
Back Up And Push - June Carter Cash
Christmas Wishes - Anne Murray
Let There Be Peace On Earth - Johnny Cash

Click on the DVD cover to go over to Shout! Factory's online store.

Links:
Johnny Cash's Website