Carroll Brown, Songwriter?

If you were to ask South Carolina musician Carroll Brown what he considers himself to be, the word “songwriter” probably wouldn’t be the first one out of his mouth. “Entertainer,” probably, or “working musician,” perhaps.

Brown has been playing music for over three decades, mostly to the tourists of Charleston, where he survived a dozen years of four-hour, six night a week gigs in a downtown hotel lounge and by his own admission came out a better performer for it. He sticks mostly to playing Irish music on the southeastern pub circuit now, from Savannah to Greenville, Columbia, and down through parts of Georgia and Florida, but since 1994 he has held down a steady Sunday evening slot at Dunleavy’s on Sullivan’s Island where just about anyone could walk in the door and sit in with him after their own beach gigs are done.

The repertoire Brown has perfected over the years is a comforting mixture of classic American country and rock standards, from Don Williams to Jim Croce, Little Feat, James Taylor, and more. A few of his younger years were spent in Nashville where he made friends with some eventually more famous songwriters, and he’ll pull out a song or two from their deep catalog most nights, too.

Though his main gig has always been playing familiar tunes for barroom background music, Brown has also been a studio owner for many years and periodically he’ll put out a collection of his own songs. This year he rounded up a batch of them he hadn’t put on other releases, recorded new versions, and issued it as simply Songwriter.

Given the varied pedigree of the tunes, the disc is surprisingly coherent, reflecting Brown’s main influences of 70’s pop and country music. I’ll give away the hidden track at the end because even though it’s an original recording from the downside of the disco era, the song itself is a catchy tune that nearly escapes the dated production.

Songs such as “Hot Saturday Night” reflect the barroom setting in which Brown cut his musical teeth early on, while “A Place Called Time Will Tell” proves that he can write songs as compelling as the ones from others that he plays every night. While you might not hear Brown pull out these songs as often as he might “Carolina In My Mind,” if you happen to be at Dunleavy’s on a Sunday night I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you requested one–tell him it’s for me.

Official Carroll Brown Website
Carroll Brown on Myspace Music

Works Progress Administration: Musical Recovery Plan

From the land of unlikely yet cool musical collaborations comes the Works Progress Administration, featuring Sara and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek, Glenn Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket, Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), and west coast utility players such as Greg Leisz.

Centered around weekly jams at the L.A. club Largo, the group has recorded an album and taken the show on the road this summer and fall. The video below is a promo reel that offers up interview clips from the principals and some tantalizing live snippets that indicate the group’s sound is an amalgam of 70’s country rock and 90’s alt-country sounds that should come as sweet musical relief to fans of the member’s other, mostly dormant projects.

The Man That Bill Noonan’s Become

With his latest solo CD The Man That I Can’t Be, Charlotte, North Carolina’s Bill Noonan proves that his reputation as one of the Southeast’s leading roots-rockers is well deserved.

Once the leader of The Rank Outsiders, since their breakup in 2002 Noonan has worked with like-minded artists such as David Childers and ex-Rank Outsider (and his ex-wife) Gigi Dover. Now, it’s his turn again on songs such as the raucous rockabilly of “Road 99″ and the easygoing country soul of the new album’s title track.

There are some new flourishes here in the production, added elements such as a horn section and the occasional honeyed vocals of Beth Chorneau, which add polish without taking away from the rough-hewn rock ‘n’ roll attitude that’s always defined Noonan’s work all the way back to the first Rank Outsiders releases.

For those who like their Americana a little greasy, with plenty of soul and sass, Bill Noonan is the man we can’t be.

Further proof–here’s a live clip from the Charlotte release show last week:

A Family Tradition, Guthrie Style

I had the pleasure of getting to know Johnny Irion and Sarah Lee Guthrie a little bit during the seven years they lived here in South Carolina, and their oldest daughter, born during that time, is about the same age as my oldest girl, so when proud papa Johnny sent me the following clip from a recent show, I had to share.

He and Sarah Lee are raising up the girls in true musician fashion, on stage from the start, and as you’ll see in this segment that includesJohnny backing up Olivia, cousin Jacklyn, and a cameo from baby sister Sophie, they’re pretty comfortable behind a microphone.

Smithsonian Folkways will be issuing a family music album featuring Sarah, Johnny, and their kids, cousins, and other extended family members this November–You’ll hear a couple of the songs from the album in this video.

More Patriotic Songs I Like

Last year about this time, I posted a list of patriotic songs that I liked. Since it has been one of my most-viewed posts ever, I figured it rated a sequel, so here are a few more patriotic tunes I like:

Simon and Garfunkel, “American Tune”: A deceptively simple song, the chorus is just as relevant today as it was in the early 70’s:
We come on the ship they call the mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the a-ges most uncertain hours
And sing an american tune

Neil Diamond, “Coming To America”: Sure, it’s kind of cheesy, especially in this newer live version below. But it perfectly captures the immigrant nation that is the US of A.

“America”(My Country Tis Of Thee): Everybody has sung this, either in school or church choirs or at ball games, etc. The reason it’s still sung is that it is a great song. The fact that the melody was lifted from the British national anthem, “God Save The Queen”, is just ironic icing on the cake.

“R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.”, John Mellencamp: Okay, so it’s not specifically patriotic, but what’s more American than rock ‘n’ roll? plus, this is a nice compact history of the genre wrapped up in a catchy tune.

“Rock America”, Danger Danger: in the same vein, this mostly forgettable group from the 80’s hair band days hit all the right notes with this tale of having the freedom to rock.

“You Can Still Rock In America”, Night Ranger: another hair band, but face it, you sang along to this one more than once…

“Three Ring Government”, Schoolhouse Rock: If more people had learned this lesson during Saturday morning cartoons, perhaps they wouldn’t be as confused or ignorant of what their government can and can’t do for them.

Have a happy and safe 4th, if you have favorites I’ve still missed, put them in the comments.