It's not the newest trend in the webiverse. See, for example, Hangin' Out On E Street , the Bruce Springsteen-solicited covers project we noted way back in February of 2009, or The Stand Ins project , which had Bon Iver, The New Pornographers, David Vandervelde, and other indie names taking on the tracks from Okkervil River album The Stand Ins as it was released in 2008. But the songwriter-specific video covers project concept seems to be peaking, with several major collections in process as we speak. Today, we present our [...]

Apocryphally, If I Needed You came to Townes Van Zandt wholesale, in a dream, wherein he envisioned himself a famous folksinger, and the song as his biggest hit. When he awoke, he wrote the song down, changing but one line in transcription, and the rest, as they say, is history. Of course, Townes did indeed become famous, though partially posthumously, and surely not on the same scale as he envisioned in his nocturnal emissions. But as I've noted several times in these virtual pages, I discovered the work of [...]

This compilation is not accompanied by an instalment in the country history, because the next chapter goes with the next mix. And, in some ways, it makes sense that this mix has no history (of course, the timeframe is covered by past articles in the series) because the late 1970s was a time of hiatus. Many of the stalwarts of just a few years earlier ceased having strings of hits, and those artists who had grown out of the Outlaw movement now had their day. In this mix, the likes of Guy Clark, John Anderson, Larry Jon Wilson [...]
David HannersDavid Hanners sings for the doomed and the thoughtful"It's kind of a joke amongst my songwriter friends that I kill off a lot of characters in my songs," says David Hanners, Pulitz
The so-called fifth Highwayman and living legend Guy Clark brings his 70-year-old self and his outlaw country woes to the Old Rock House February 29, the day the common solar calendar considers ... Continue reading "Guy Clark, Craig Finn Lead This Week's Show Announcements" >
A dozen autumns ago I moved to Minneapolis from South Dakota, and it was then that I learned how all'a ya can't shut up about one thing: The Halloween Blizzard of '91.
This is from the album Workbench Somgs.
Guy Clark's live album Songs and Stories has an easy charm about it, breathtakingly simple and refreshingly rustic. Recorded at Nashville's Belcourt Theater, Songs and Stories is storytelling at its best, nostalgic and poignant without ever becoming maudlin. Tenderly crafted and poetic, Clark's songs are descriptive of an era just beyond the reach of our modern collective consciousness, a time when homegrown tomatoes and freeway driving were enough to set your soul free. Clark starts his set by telling a story in his familiar, down-home drawl. "If I Needed You" follows, understated but firm. Unmistakably Texan in every [...]
Guy Clark's career has played out a movie, he started out in the hills of Texas with a guitar and some songs, now almost 40 years later he's still releasing albums while many of the stars that he wrote songs for have gone by the wayside. Obviously, Clark is getting up in age as you would expect someone with a 40 year career would and his aged, wisdom giving demeanor on Stories and Songs fits his music faultlessly. The album flows like a stream and imitates the intimacy that a Guy Clark concert emits. The transcript of the [...]

Living legend Guy Clark's music is as timeless as that of his old sparring partner Townes van Zandt and with a back catalogue overflowing with quality the man has few contemporary peers as a songwriter, LA Freeway that kicks of proceedings on his live album Songs and Stories remains one of favourite tracks of all time, if you can write a track like Boats to Build and leave it out of a live performance it's got to be proof of a song set of the highest order. On Songs and Stories Clarke plays the [...]
The legendary Guy Clark sings songs, tell stories, and keeps audiences in rapt attention. Few can get away with what Guy Clark can, something the 69-year-old demonstrates in the opening moments of this aptly titled live release. Not only does he open the album with a drawling explanation of why he and his band are sitting rather than standing on the stage of the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, but he also spends time introducing each member as well. Maybe it doesn't make much sense for him to do that...
Fans of David Bromberg will be able to view some new sides to an old master in this new album.
Download a Free Covers Album of American Outlaws Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and More

Last week I posted my interview with Tony Tost about his book on Johnny Cash's American Recordings album. One of the things I like about the book is that it shares my view that some of the covers JC tackled on his later albums with Rick Rubin , quite frankly, sucked. With this in mind I asked Tony to come up with a list for Carnival Saloon of the Worst of American Recordings. Being a creative chap Tony suggested something much better. What songs should Johnny Cash have covered in [...]

The Patron Saint of Texas BBQ I realize some of you in other parts of the country (and the world) are still gettin' winter weather. Here in Texas it's grilllin' time. If you are in Minnesota or New York, stop yer bitchin' for a minute and see if you can get a whiff of my charcoal fire. Ah, sorry to be taunting you like that. Here in Texas barbecue is a religion, like football and drivin' fast. Barbecue is sittin' on the patio, a Weber grill smokin' some ribs while you listen to [...]

Here come those weird days of winter, after the holidays and before the Super Bowl, where we promptly forget about our New Year's resolutions and do just about anything to stay warm and interested. If you live in a part of the country where it's cold - and that's pretty much any place except Texas or Florida - you may want to give some thought to whippin' up a big pot o' chili. A number of regions lay claim to creating the humble bowl of red, but the story I've heard most often is that the spicy meat concoction [...]

While you might know The Steam Co for our totally awesome music selections, you might not know we boast some rather fancy BAs in English. When one of our loyal readers and fellow English scholars came to us with a request for a literary mix, we were thrilled by the challenge. Here's to you, Laura, as you teach those Junior High and High School minds all about how much you love Hemingway and how amazing your Literary Super Tour of America based around the gent was. You rock. We hope the tracks below along with the books they're [...]

This is not a perfect record. There are times when timeless songs sound dated because of trendy production choices. The arrangement of It's About Time , with its cheesy sounding clavinet and electric piano lines, sounds like a bad Jimmy Buffett imitation. Black Haired Boy could've stood some brushes rather than drum sticks. Texas Cookin' likewise sounds a little too electric when acoustic would've done just fine, thank you. But these are small potatoes on the menu of Clark's Texas Cookin' . The songwriting is mostly brilliant, the [...]