Well, I just mailed 350 copies of ‘HYMNS TO THE HERE AND NOW’ to radio stations. Fingers crossed, please!!! If you have an Americana, Folk, College or NPR station in your town, please give ‘em a holler and request my tunes. We’re really excited about this!!

It’s gorgeous in Savannah right now and [...]]]> Howdy, gang!

Well, I just mailed 350 copies of ‘HYMNS TO THE HERE AND NOW’ to radio stations. Fingers crossed, please!!! If you have an Americana, Folk, College or NPR station in your town, please give ‘em a holler and request my tunes. We’re really excited about this!!

It’s gorgeous in Savannah right now and we’re having a blast. Took our first swim in the pool on Peyton’s birthday (April 9th) and we’ve been to the beach a bunch of times already. If you’re interested in our lives down here on the Georgia Coast, please check out our family website, www.savannah-georgia-vibe-guide.com. It’s fun!

Summer time’s a-comin’….hope you’re having a ball!
Your Old Cousin Jefferson

Tami, Peyton and I took off for Atlanta over a week ago to visit family and play the open mic at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. That is surely one of the best songwriter venues in [...]]]> Well, we’re all back in Savannah after a fun little strum-a-thon road trip up to Atlanta, DC and West Virginia.

Tami, Peyton and I took off for Atlanta over a week ago to visit family and play the open mic at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. That is surely one of the best songwriter venues in America. Much like The Bluebird Cafe, in Nashville, folks are there to hear songs, have a drink or two and not yap too much. The talent was exceptionally diverse that night featuring everything from bluegrass to the avant garde, which is very different from The Bluebird. If you’re in the Atlanta area on a Monday night and have five bucks burning a hole in your pocket. you can’t beat Eddie’s for an evening of interesting music. Check ‘em out.

Peyton continued the Atlanta experience with her grandparents while Tami and I loaded up The Green Machine and headed up to the Washington, DC, area for a little show there. We had a big old time; cruised over to Dupont Circle to one of our favorite book stores, Kramer Books, and ate lunch in a wonderful Greek joint called Zorba’s. Later, at the gig, our friend, Tim Hughes, who used to work for The Secret Service, showed up with some pals and big laughter ensued. We’re hoping to go back up there and play some of the beautiful wineries that abound around there.

The next morning I chased my own tail lights, winding through the mountains of both Virginias, to our next stop, an afternoon show at The Purple Fiddle in Thomas, West Virginia. This place is a must if you love homegrown music. Thomas is a hamlet, cradled by steep hills and filled with friendly hippies. Our kind of town! As I was unloading The Green Machine, I heard this Scottish voice ask me, “Hey, is there any good music around here?” I turned around and there stood our fabulous friends, David and Mary Ellen Leask, who had driven ten hours, all the way from Toronto, on a whim no less, just to hang out with us and see my little show. What a surprise and treat!

I first met David about seven years ago out in Calgary at the Canadian Country Music Awards and we’ve been pals and co-writers ever since. He and Mary Ellen have stayed with us in Nashville a number of times and it continues to be a joyous hoedown every time we see them. He is a very special singer/songwriter and they are both deep, soulful people.

Do yourself a favor and go to www.davidleask.com . He’s so good.

But, now we’re back in The Coastal Empire and we are digging it big time. Both oyster and Bulldog season are here! The jellyfish are gone and The Pirate Festival on Tybee is only weeks away. Peyton can’t wait!

Also, we’ve started a little family travel blog about Savannah and we’re having a ball with it! www.savannah-georgia-vibe-guide.com It’s just in its infancy but we’re adding stuff all the time. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Peach and love!!!

I made music in Nashville for a quarter century and one thing that I learned in Twang town was, “Never Meet Your Heroes”. They do not live up to your fantasies…any of them. I met too many of those poor megalomaniacs [...]]]> I don’t know why but Cowboy Jack Clement has been on my mind lately.

I made music in Nashville for a quarter century and one thing that I learned in Twang town was, “Never Meet Your Heroes”. They do not live up to your fantasies…any of them. I met too many of those poor megalomaniacs but I never met Jack Clement and maybe that’s why I’ve been thinking about him.

I don’t know him…so I still want to.

Born in West Tennessee and raised in Arkansas, Clement found himself in Memphis in the 50′s making records for Sam Phillips at Sun Records. He recorded Jerry Lee Lewis‘ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” in one take just as a last minute fluke then later wrote “Ballad Of A Teenage Queen” for Johnny Cash, produced the hit at Sun Studio then went on to be the best friend The Man In Black ever had. Discovered and produced Charley Pride…made millions from those records only to lose most of it producing a slasher movie from a script he is reported to have never read.

And, most importantly to me, he co-owned, arguably, the quintessential music publishing house in Nashville, Hall-Clement Music, which found, signed and nurtured such songwriting icons as Bob McDill and Dickey Lee plus scores of other Music City hit makers. In the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s Tree Publishing and Hall-Clement Music shared about 75% of the hit songs coming from Nashville. Of course, he sold his share of that for a fraction of what it was worth.

For decades, his home studio, The Cowboy Arms Hotel And Recording Spa, has churned out piles of classic and wonderful records from folks like John Prine, Nanci Griffith and Townes Van Zandt. A nefarious clubhouse of sorts for everyone from Shawn Camp to Johnny Cash himself, until his passing in 2003, Cowboy’s house is reportedly the zaniest crib on Belmont Boulevard and is loaded with great, vintage gear complete a deep, soulful vibe that comes at no extra charge. Tons of great music is still made and recorded there.

Recently, we moved eight hours away from Nashville, to the beach actually, because it was just time to go…Tofu Country had gotten me down. But, last week I remembered watching a video of home movies that Clement had put together; we had seen it at Ralph Murphy’s house, a long time friend of Cowboy’s. It featured rare gems like, oh, John Cash smoking…something…on A.P. Carter’s grave. Stuff like that. Wonderful things, unseen previously…things that actually made me miss Nashville and what it could be. Organic screwing up and off. Magic conjured by outlaw pranksters. HUMOR…..supreme humor, composted in stoned conversation later to sprout up in three minute recorded masterpieces….or not.

So, we rented it on Netflix, “Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan: Cowboy Jack Clement’s Home Movies”. I’m biased so I don’t know if it’s great or not but the film caused me to start thinking of Nashville again in a fresh, clear new light. And I realized something. I don’t need to meet my heroes. In fact, I don’t even want a hero. I just need to remember that I’m here to whip up some magic and music and the rest of it be damned. Have fun! It’s my business to be me.

In the words of The Cowboy himself, “We’re in the fun business. If we’re not having fun then we’re not doing our jobs.”

Right on, Cowboy. Ride on.

Jefferson

It was like God was twisting out the water from a wet, grey flannel blanket the day that I arrived in Belfast. February 25th, 2010. The good news was that The Crown Bar was directly across the street [...]]]> BELFAST TO BERLIN

It was like God was twisting out the water from a wet, grey flannel blanket the day that I arrived in Belfast. February 25th, 2010. The good news was that The Crown Bar was directly across the street from my hotel.

I had read about The Crown in one of my favorite novels, “Gospel” by Wilton Barnhardt, and the old place certainly lived up to its convivial, venerable hype and it might almost live up to its claim that it is, as their t-shirt declares, ‘The Best Bar In The World’. Since the bar is on The National Trust, there is no television, musak or video games allowed within its walls. Bottles are stored at room temperature as no refrigerators are welcome. But, conversation is king.

Within minutes of my arrival, I had been greeted by a group of extremely friendly and loquacious local regulars who insisted on buying me pints of Guinness and regaling me with tales of the pub and of Belfast, in general. Sure enough, one fellow who claimed to be a member of the Real IRA tried to educate me about the parallel philosophies of The Rebels Of Northern Ireland, as he called them, and The Rebels Of The American Confederacy. I nodded a lot and said nothing…just sipped.

I was in the city of Van Morrison and The Grand Opera House, setting for my favorite live album of his, was cater corner, right across the street. Pretty soon, amidst the background noise of chatter, my internal jukebox was playing, “We were born before the wind, also younger than the sun, ere the bonny boat was won, as we sailed into the mystic.” A misty mystic by that time.

The next morning I moved downtown to Madison’s Hotel, home plate for the 6th Guinness Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival and spent a very satisfying couple days there. Colin Magee, who heads the fest, couldn’t have been more welcoming and plugged me in with some of the up and coming writer/performers who were attending. I interviewed some for my CMR Nashville radio show which will air soon.

Some of the young turks with whom I shared the stage were New York’s Colin McGrath, Cork, Ireland’s Nicole Maquire and Belfast’s own roots band extraordinaire, Jackson Cage, fronted by a brilliant, young songwriter named Declan Doherty.

Some of the stars in the song writing world who also appeared were folk icon Nanci Griffith, Ralph McTell (Streets Of London), Pam Rose (I’ll Still Be Loving You) and Mick Hanly (Past The Point Of Rescue). Famous Country Music daughters Carlene Carter and Holly Williams also wooed the fans with some killer shows as well.If you’re ever in Europe toward the end of February and you happen to love fabulous, hand crafted music, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to Belfast. You will love the songwriters’ festival there.

After Belfast, I shot down to Dublin and then Paris for a few days before flying up to Berlin for nine days. I had not been back to Berlin for twenty years and couldn’t believe the change that has come over that town. I had lived there for several months right after The Wall had come down and found myself lost in the ways that Berlin had shifted.

‘East Is West’ is the new call phrase there. The old West Berlin, where I used to live, is now a bit dusty and in need of some sprucing up while the East, which was literally falling down in 1990, is gleaming and glittering now. It is where the action is…where the money is. There is now a Starbucks in the shadow of The Brandenburg Gate. Unbelievable

.

Potsdamer Platz, which was a grassy field between the two walls when I lived there, now looks like the central plaza of a brand new western city. Imagine Atlanta, Dallas or Houston. Alexanderplatz, now known to home towners as The Alex, is alive and hopping well into the night with clubs, restaurants, ritzy hotels and boutiques. When I lived there it was a crumbling mess of depressing Soviet style office buildings and pre-fab housing projects. But, I was there to play my tunes. Thanks to the invitation of my good friends, Kai Ulatowski and Iris Paesch, I played at their country music festival, The Berlin Country Messe. They have a separate songwriters stage, called The Bluebird Stage, set up with the compound and I played there three consecutive nights. Heard some cool music and managed to sell some records.

I also played a pub there that I had not played in twenty years, The Celtic Cottage, which was just down the street from my old apartment. No one had told me but they don’t allow P.A. systems in there anymore so I played my sets without a sound system. My voice was shot by the end of the second set so I invited my old friend, Christoph Deschner,

and some new friends, John Vaughan, an American who has lived in Berlin for a number of years and, my new Norwegian pals, Ottar Johansen and Tore Andersen, up to do a few numbers. It was totally a blast.

Having seen Berlin and Belfast, both now, it seems to me an interesting reality how cities can be divided then reunited up to a point. The old scars never really heal completely but life can go on and new beauty and prosperity can be forged together. I saw that change hurts but stagnation kills. If those two worn torn cities can get it together, so to speak, then the rest of us have little to whine about and a lot to learn.

Belfast to Berlin…sounds like a good folk song, doesn’t it?

It’s been a very interesting
winter for us this year and I’m, frankly, ready to see some dogwood and
AZALEA action sooner than later. My old pig smoker looked fairly
lonely and forlorn when I left for Europe a couple of weeks ago. I’ll
be warming it up as soon as [...]]]> Bon jour, my friends!

It’s been a very interesting
winter for us this year and I’m, frankly, ready to see some dogwood and
AZALEA action sooner than later. My old pig smoker looked fairly
lonely and forlorn when I left for Europe a couple of weeks ago. I’ll
be warming it up as soon as I get home.

It was a dark and stormy night in The Music [...]]]> WSM’s CUTTING EDGE SERIES, “MUSIC CITY ROOTS”, LINKS EIGHT DECADES OF TRADITION WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND ATTITUDES

It was a dark and stormy night in The Music City and the flashing, “NO VACANCY” sign in front of the old Loveless Motel was no lie because it was elbow room only but CMR Nashville’s Jefferson Ross was thrilled to be on hand for the premier episode of the legendary WSM Radio’s new series, “Music City Roots”, a weekly, live radio program that will be broadcast every Wednesday evening at 7PM Central Time for Canada and the United States, 1AM for Britain and 2AM for the European Continent. (Jefferson would ask the Australians to figure this out on their own because he is an idiot at math.)

Situated in the large, white, spanking new barn, recently built behind the venerable Loveless Motel and Cafe, the show embraced a crowd of Music Row elite and music lovers alike. It reminded this writer of what a Nashville happening used to be like, a warm setting where thoughtful writers and singers met thoughtful listeners and apprentices with no agenda but to get great songs across. (Sorry if that sounds sappy…it’s the truth.)

Eddie Stubbs, who hosted most of the program, and who is a walking encyclopedia of Country Music information, tethered the broadcast down to a smooth, baritone mood reminding us all that WSM was built on new technology back in the 1920′s and continues to reach forward into the 21st Century.

He then introduced Mr. Craig Havighurst, a Nashville columnist and author, who wrote a splendid book entitled “Air Castle Of The South: The Making Of Music City”. It is the story of WSM Radio and the evolution of Music Row and the music industry through that powerful radio station. Havighurst conducted the interviews throughout the evening. These included our headliner, Emmylou Harris and iconic singer/songwriters Pam Rose and Mary Ann Kennedy.

Mr. Havighurst remarked, being in such luminous company of Stubbs, Harris, etc., that he was feeling like a certain, most recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, “I don’t know what I’m doing here!”

Kennedy/Rose took the stage with much aplomb and applause, with Pam Rose thumping along on a parlor-sized Larrivee guitar and Ms. Kennedy strumming a sunburst Gibson acoustic with dual, tortoise shell pick guards. After playing their first number, Rose quipped, “If you enjoy music that doesn’t fit in a box, then you are in the right place.” They then performed their number one song that the duo wrote for Restless Heart, a tune called “I’ll Still Be Loving You”.

In the spirit of WSM’s famous commercials during The Opry, Stubbs enthralled us, and your writer is not kidding you here, with a shoe commercial. He praised the righteousness of French’s Shoes And Boots and then lifted up his own size 15 shoe, proclaiming that French’s always has the right size for him. One would hope that French’s will forever more be crammed with patrons after that display from such a stoic and dignified gentleman.

Havighurst then interviewed Ms. Harris and started the query with an interesting statement and question, “You weren’t always a Country fan, were you?”

Country Music Hall of Fame member, Emmylou Harris replied, “No, I didn’t like Country Music. I loved Folk Music but I was converted to Country as well.” And, that might possibly refer to her ‘conversion’ by country/folk/rock sinner-saint, Gram Parsons, with whom Harris collaborated on several seminal projects in her career. Parsons is assumed to be the key, male figure in her “The Ballad Of Sally Rose”, which was mentioned several times during the evening, written and co-produced by her ex-husband, Paul Kennerley.

Havighurst asked her if one needed to be ambitious to make it in the music industry. Harris replied, “I think that you have to be KIND of ambitious but, like Minnie Pearl said, I’m just SO PROUD TO BE HERE.” (I am terribly sorry but humans do not get too much cooler than this woman. Please shoot this way if your author is wrong.)

Annie Crane and Robin Aigner then took the stage with some generous applause. A winning duo of women from Brooklyn, they sang a nice, opening song and then hurled themselves into Hank Williams’, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”. They shone like lovely, earnest, Brooklyn girls but they did not seem lonesome at all and no one was even close to crying. One hates to be a wet blanket for this segment, but in this town full of KILLER female singers, this was a Glee Club moment, at best.

And, THEN, the angels sang…

Ms. Harris stepped out on the stage, with Rose, Kennedy and a stellar, acoustic band in tow, and smoldered with a deep throated yet laid back version of the song, “Evangeline”, which was featured on her 1981 album by the same name.

Her dress was a lavender, opaquely netted, Western affair, skirted in light fringe and she wore deep, violet cowgirl boots trimmed in cream.

Her message for the evening was about animals and a large number of ARC (Animal Resource Center) members were there for support. Kennedy/Rose sang a song about animal care and Harris, repeatedly, admonished listeners to have their pets spayed and neutered.

The last song that Ms. Harris sang as your correspondent was leaving the building was a favorite hymn in the Americana canon, “Prayer In Open D”.

The very last bit of the song lyric reads,

“BEYOND THE RIVER AND THE FLOOD,

AND THE VALLEY WHERE FOR SO LONG I STOOD,

WITH THE ROCK OF AGES IN MY BONES,

SOMEDAY I KNOW IT WILL LEAD ME HOME.”

In this era of plastic, blow up dolls, music fans far and wide can relax and be glad that folks like WSM and Emmylou Harris continue to feel the rock of ages in their bones and that, someday, it will lead us home. And, home is a good place to be on a dark and stormy night.

Keep a song in your heart!

Your Old Cousin-

Jefferson Ross