Parallel to this I’d heard about this group of people in Nashville called The Outlaws. Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard were in that elite group and then there was Willie.

So John get excited one day at the Youth Fellowship and tells me that Willie Nelson has brought out an album called ‘The Troublemaker.’ It’s all Gospel songs. What excited me more was that Willie was covering half the hymns in a Hymn Book we used to have in the Gospel Hall: Redemption Songs. But Willie was singin them like we’d never heard them sung……. Suddenly I was finding myself saying “Forget ‘Youth Praise,’let’s keep the old fogeys’ hymn book and sing it the Willie way. “Sweet Bye and Bye,” There is a Fountain Filled With Blood,” “Shall We Gather At The River” (my Dad’s favourite) and “When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder.” Man, these songs were no longer torturing me, they were released into glorious, abundant life by Willie Nelson. Thank you John, thank you Willie Nelson and thank you  Sankey and Moody.

I met up with the great man on his tour bus in Edinburgh a few months back and you can hear that as well as the music of Willie in Another Country. All on Friday from 8. The night before I’d been to see him do this. I wept.

Every Prime Minister , it was said, needs a Willie. Not much that Margaret Thatcher said I believed  - but she got it right there.

In case you haven’t heard the Another Country Movie Club’s film of the month of August 2010

is Coal Miner’s Daughter. If you have seen the film and would like to make some comments on it then please add them to this blog. Don’t worry if you didn’t like it…there will be another one along soon!

For me finding time when I am totally on my own is often the key. Last week I had a significant car journey. I had to drive to the country to get a fault fixed on my laptop – it’s still not sorted – and the journey there and back brought two things: Firstly some music that I hadn’t yet had time to discover and probably more importantly a new song that I ended up writing and completely recording in one continuous session – all on my lonesome. I hope that one will see the light of day next year..keep you posted.

But here’s some things I listened to on that journey I think you’ll like: Starting with this:

Anais’s Mitchell‘s album Hadestown is hugely ambitious and I think it’s time we checked it out. You can see Anais sing it here but on the album you can hear her perform it with Justin Vernon from Bon Iver. It’s great.

I also want you to hear the greatness of Rory Erikson.

….we have had that on the subby’s bench for the last two weeks as well as discovering the delights of Laura Gibson.

But there’s more……..I mentioned that we have a new Justin Townes Earle album to play.

I hope you are aware of Justin. Famously he’s the son of Steve and he’s just made his third album. In a funny way his history aligns nicely with that of Another Country. It was at the start of last year that we had Justin as a guest on the show when he visited Celtic Connections. It’s great when you see someone you like developing so strongly. I think this is Justin’s best record by a mile and all the potential I saw in his live show is parcelled brilliantly into the album.

We’ll play two songs from that record so make sure you join us on time!

We’ll also have some new material from Ray LaMontagne.

However I have to tell you about our special guest: Annabelle Chvostek

is some time singer. guitarist, mandolin player with the Wailin’ Jennies. She made an album called Resilience which contains, in the title track, one of the best songs and recordings of the last year. It is a truly brilliant song that should become a modern classic. On Friday you can hear her live version and you can also see it here.

Make sure you join me.

In these offices where I was now meeting new people I’d sat 13 years ago having a meeting with someone who was to play a big part of my life and 12 or so years before that I’d been in the same offices plugging a demo to some poor A & R guy. Suddenly ghosts were walking around the room. Of course when you throw some music into that mix……it really can become magic.

Later in the week I drove into the country and let the i pod do its own thing. The joy when I remembered, Stephen Stills “Old Times, Good Times” or a little burst of Charley Patton and then George Jones. I don’t remember all of these people from the past. I came late to Charlie and George but from them I get a sense of life then, and that small glimpse is often as good as anything. We’ll uncover more of the past this Friday.

I should say that The Another Country Movie Club is getting some very positive feedback. I’ll have some news of screenings soon…..If you own a good telly and you fancy hosting a film night of Coal Miner’s Daughter then let us know here or on the show at the usual addresses.

We’ll also go right up to date with some new records. Look out for Jonas Shandell

and Deer Tick.

Hey…you just knew one of these guys was going to sport a big beard.

Did you enjoy the chat with Laura Barton? We thought we’d pick up some loose ends from that conversation too. We’ll have some Van Morrison, Sarah Suskind and other threads for you in the next few weeks. Just stay with us.

Oh, Did I say Kim Richey‘s going to be on the show?

In the next few weeks I’ll have new songs from the great Justin Townes Earle. If you can’t wait here’s Justin doing a song you’re bound to love….

It’s been an interesting old week. Since last Friday I’ve been listening to some great new things, writing some songs, reading some interesting things and well………..I hope that the fruit of some of that will become apparent on Friday night.

Firstly this..

During the course of the last series Richard Murdoch and I began to talk about all the great Country Music movies we had enjoyed. It was partly prompted by the release of Crazy Heart then we were reminded about Oh Brother Where Art Thou because we featured the music as one of our “Beginners Guide to Alt Country” albums. So, I started collecting film titles to add to the list of great Country movies. The redoubtable Richard Wooton (who is a publicist for some of the acts we feature and a confirmed Country music fan) joined in. By May I had a list of around 30 films.

So where do we start? It will run a bit like a book club – (except it’s virtual and we’re chatting film!) We plan to talk about any given current film over a month of shows. During that month we’ll feature music from the movie and give you as much information as we can about it. For your part, you can hire, beg, steal, borrow or even buy the DVD in question and at a date we all agree on we’ll host an on-line chat about the movie we’ve enjoyed…it may be that we dedicate a separate piece of our blog to this. We are currently exploring the possibility of the occasional live screening where we can all meet up, watch the film and have a real time blether. That would be great – so any help in that department is very welcome.

For August our film is going to be “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Starring Cissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones and Levon Helm.

In case you haven’t seen it, it’s the bio-pic of Loretta Lynn and it’s a real classic. Plenty there for everyone to get their teeth into and it seems to be widely available.

You can tell us where you plan to watch it and we’ll direct you towards a date when we can all chat about it – hopefully at the same time. We will also look to the online community to suggest future films.

I hope this will be fun and ultimately we will all enjoy the films and get turned on to some music we haven’t fully explored before.

But that’s not all……. On Friday I hope to be joined in the studio by Laura Barton.

Laura writes for The Guardian and writes a wonderful column called Hail, Hail Rock n Roll. I have mentioned it a few times on air and I commend it highly to you. I may breach all copright rules here but I’ll give you a small sample of what I love about her writing…..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/03/hail-hail-rock-n-roll

However she also digresses into the stuff of life itself, and for that I am grateful. Here’s Laura reflecting (from London) on her North of England roots:

I missed the nights out. The swell and the sprawl of them, the way Friday and Saturday night demanded you get dressed up and head out coatless, the better to flaunt your feathers. I missed the end of the night, the couples snogging in the streets, the chip shops, the brawls even, the hilarity of late-night bus rides, the sing-songs on the last train home, the voice, low and flat and dismal, calling out over the taxi radio: “Hall Green. Birch Green. Upholland.”

I missed the colour of the leaves that seemed to grow a darker, dearer green than those of the south. I missed the dour beauty of a region that was once the nation’s industrial heartland, the mills, the mines, the blackened bricks, the canals, the way the landscape is scarred by the past – the rope-burns on the towpath bridges, the old pit-shafts, quarries, disused railways, the strange deformities of a land that has been tunnelled and burrowed and shifted and finally left to settle. I missed the voices. I missed the music of chuck, and love, and lad. I missed the cursing, the insults, the ruddy and bloody and wazzock and gobbin. I missed the sound of the rain and the smell of the pavements as it dried. I missed the light, the shift of the clouds, the flat grey sky, the thrill of a hot day. I missed its kindness. And often I thought of that line by Tennyson: “Bright and fierce and fickle is the south/ And dark and true and tender is the north.”

Laura has also written an excellent debut novel pertaining to some of these themes .

But mainly we’re going to talk about music and country music in particular. I think you’ll enjoy it.

“What are you going to play us Rick?,” I hear you plead.

There will be some new music from Dylan LeBlanc, Frazey Ford, something from The Pines and we’ll explore the weirdly wonderful world of Rory Erikson. Not enough? In that case you’ll appreciate that we’re celebrating the anniversary of the first million selling Country single.

It’s all on Radio Scotland, Friday at 8.

I’ve been enjoying this view…..

For my money I’ve been enjoying loads of other music over the last few weeks. It’s been nice to play Eminem, Band of Horses,The Bombay Bicycle Club and a whole load of soul. Have to confess that the joys of Radio 3 and Classic Fm have also been figuring highly on our radios at home. I am now the owner of a portable Digital radio – that’s a real joy.

During our recess I went to London to do some song-writing. It was that week that Tom Jones was in town doing promo for his new Praise and Blame album. You may well have run across this story in the press. Whatever you have read is immaterial. Tom has made, in my opinion, a really great record. Whenever  I heard it on his website I knew it would be right for Another Country. So that week in London I met up with Tom and spent 40 minutes in his company while his band were preparing for their Radio session at Maida Vale. We talked about Elvis, Church, Ethan Johns and the wonderful selection of songs on the new album. If you need to be convinced just listen to his version of Bob Dylan’s “What Good Am I?” and be converted. If you think Tom Jones is the last person you expected to hear on my show, then think again. If someone had told me a year ago I’d be talking to him I’d have been fairly sceptical. But Brother and Sisters – hold that thought, cast out your doubting and bring yourselves to the alter. It’s the church of Tom Jones this Friday and you’d best believe it’s going to be good.

Still need convincing? Check this this.

There’s lots of new things too…. The Caitlin Rose new album has arrived………….

………..and comes out very soon and we’ll bring you all the latest news of gigs coming to Scotland over the late summer.

Of course this mean you’ll have to tune in to Radio Scotland on Friday 6th August at 8 p.m. for the new series of Another Country.

In the meantime we will celebrate 25 weeks of continuous broadcasts by playing our favourite artists and songs of the last six months. I’d like to think we’d play some new music too but for once we’re going to concentrate on things already out there. So let me put down one final marker for the second half of the year.

I’ve been listening this week to Mountain Man. I recommend them to your house.

So tomorrow……. Audra Mae, Beach House, Johnny Cash, Ryan Bingham, The Eels, Tift Merrit, Woodenbox…. and then…..

Yes, folks…The Courtyard Hounds in session and in conversation. What a finale….. All from 8 tomorrow on BBC Scotland.

em…….what game?

On Tuesday Willie Nelson came to Glasgow and , yes, it was a memorable evening. Highlights….well I’ll talk a lot about that on Friday so stay tuned. On Wednesday I got a call from Richard telling me there was an appointment for us in Edinburgh if we were free. I’ll tell you about that appointment too on Friday.

So this Friday we welcome another great Nashville songwriter, Gretchen Peters.

Gretchen – like Willie – has found more initial success as a writer for other artists. However she is a powerful performer in her own right and she is personally responsible for an emotional night. Three ears ago I experienced the Bluebird Cafe for the first time. At a round with Tia Sillers, Mark Selby another guy whose name I can’t remember and Gretchen. I sat at a lonely table nursing a cold beer and let the tears fall down my face as I listened to wave upon wave of song upon heartfelt song. Maybe it was the music – maybe the beer – or perhaps it was my being so far from home. Maybe it was the music of Gretchen connecting deeply…..you can decide on Friday. She performed three songs and we had a lengthy chat about..most things. In case you didn’t know , she also wrote this one.

What else? You do need to get those Alternative Americana Awards to me as we will have one last hurrah before the summer. Next week will be the last Another Country for six weeks. I’m going to let you all have a break from me and get a chance to save up for the records you’ll be buying in the second half of the year. I’ll have music from

First Aid Kit, Micah P Hanson, Phosphorescent and that The Acorn song I mentioned last week. We’ll also try to sneak some Nanci Griffith and certainly play you some stand outs from Willie Nelson’s visit to Scotland. Lastly – here’s a new one for you that’s crept onto my radar this week. Larkin Poe.

We talked on the show last week about The Americana Awards Nominations.

Here they are, by the way…..

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The List – Rosanne Cash
A Friend of a Friend – Dave Rawlings Machine
Downtown Church – Patty Griffin
A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is no C) – Ray Wylie Hubbard

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ryan Bingham
Patty Griffin
Levon Helm — tie
Steve Earle — tie
Ray Wylie Hubbard

DUO GROUP OF THE YEAR
The Avett Brothers
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Band of Heathens
Dave Rawlings Machine

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR
Buddy Miller
Dave Rawlings
Will Kimbrough
Sam Bush

NEW & EMERGING ARTIST
Sarah Jarosz
Ryan Bingham
Hayes Carll — tie
Corb Lund
Joe Pug

SONG OF THE YEAR
“The Weary Kind” written by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett, performed by Ryan Bingham
“Drunken Poets Dream,” written by Hayes Carll and Ray Wylie Hubbard, performed by Ray Wylie Hubbard
“Ruby,” written by Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch, performed by Dave Rawlings Machine
“I and Love and You,” written and performed by The Avett Brothers.

—————————————

There’s a few things in there you might well know. There’s some things that are puzzling by their absence and some…..well, let’s just say that their inclusion is a mystery to me. One thing you should probably know is the Americana Chart on Billboard is based on such small data samples as to make it almost meaningless. The term Americana, though useful, can often be misleading and slightly exclusive. We could be here all day arguing about who should be in or out. To get an idea who might be seen as ‘in” you can look at past winners here.

Here’s m suggestion folks: Let’s have some nominations of our own! Just fill in as many of the above categories yourself and we’ll see if we can make the list a little more interesting.

Talking of interesting….We are going to be joined this Friday by this young lady….

Tift Merrit will be playing some songs from her fine new album, “See You On The Moon.” Talking about being married, and telling us about the writing process that in past times has led her to the city of Paris. Don’t miss it….

Plus we’ll look forward to the visit of Willie Nelson and play some new things from The Black Keys, Band of Horses and The Acorn.

I’ll also throw forward to the final show of this series and see if you can’t give us some help with that one…now that we’ve included Mary Chapin Carpenter anything can happen!

It seems to me that I drop in recommendations now and again and forget to remind you what they might be;

Firstly, that book: In The Country of Country by Nicholas Dawidoff…

I have talked about it now over the last couple of weeks and I highly recommend it to you. If you are wondering how bluegrass came about or where-the-heck Bakersfield is and what’s so important about it…this is the book for you. If you also want to journey to the places where the music came from then this is also something you should be packing in your suitcase for the holidays.

There are also some good new records coming out and I would like to mention some of the ones that work well for me.

We first heard about this band from Caitlin Rose and since then they’ve brought out this new album. It really is good……

Phosphorescent are coming this way soon…Next Friday 4th June to be exact. Expect me there if it’s at all possible and, as always, you have my permission to miss the show!

Willie Nelson is also in town next week and his new album Country Music is one of three new offerings produced b T Bone Burnett in the last few months. The soundtrack to Crazy Heart and Jakob Dylan’s Women and Country……

What else, I hear you ask? Well that brings me to Friday’s guest, Mr Ben Glover. I met Ben when he gave me a lift to a gig in Belfast a couple of ears ago. I was at the Belfast Nashville songwriters festival and it was there Ben was introducing his debut album. It was a strong record of songs titled “The Week The Clocks Changed.”

That record propelled Ben to Nashville where I next met him.

We decided to meet up at that old Music Row stomping ground, Noshville- where a heart breakfast was enjoyed.

Ben told me then how he’d been living in Nashville and starting to write songs for this new album. On Friday we’re going to hear how that recording went and get a chance to hear live songs from “Through The Noise, Through The Night” and chat to Ben about his life in Tennessee and how he wrote and recorded the songs for the record.

Ben is also playing gigs in Scotland over this weekend so look out for news of them on his own website.

Here’s Ben.   You can get to know much more about him from Friday at 8. All on BBC Radio Scotland.