Pophistory: music, movies, history, and life.
Chimesfreedom is a big fan of the debut album from singer-songwriter Andrew Combs, Worried Man. So we are excited that his second album, All These Dreams, will be released on March 3, 2015.
Below is the lead track from the upcoming album, “Rainy Day Song.” From the sound of it, we are not expecting a sophomore slump from Combs. Check it out.
What do you think of “Rainy Day Song”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
The 1976 documentary Heartworn Highways provided insight into some of the legends of alternative country like Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, and Guy Clark. Director Jim Szalapski filled the film with vignettes of the singer-songwriters in their daily lives, providing a fly-on-the wall portrait of them. It is a film for music lovers, without a narrative story, that I found engaging.
Now, to celebrate the thirty-fifth anniversary of Heartworn Highways, director Wayne Price will be releasing Heartworn Highways Revisited.
The new film takes a look at some current outlaw country singers like Shelly Colvin, Matraca Berg, Bobby Bare Jr., Johnny Fritz, Robert Ellis, Shovels and Rope, Joshua Hedley, John McCauley, and Langhorne Slim. Some old-timers make appearances too, like Guy Clark and David Allan Coe. I am happy to see that rising star singer-songwriter Andrew Combs is in the film too.
Check out the promotional video below.
On the film’s website, Price writes, “With electronic laptop musicians commanding the airwaves, I am excited to bring us back to the ‘old school, with songwriters who only need their instrument and their experience to create music.”
Years ago, I loaned my copy of Heartworn Highways to a friend and never got it back. But I enjoyed the movie, which has some great moments like Van Zandt playing “Waitin’ Round To Die.” I still listen to the soundtrack
Reportedly, there is no release date yet for the new film, but I am looking forward to the release of Heartworn Highways Revisited.
Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
The Attic Sessions are a series of short documentaries of artists playing songs and telling stories in the Attic Lounge in the upper level of the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Recent films have focused on singers Holly Williams, Joshua Black Wilkins, Face to Face, and one of my favorite new artists, Andrew Combs. Check out The Attic Sessions: Season Three, Episode Two: Andrew Combs.
For our previous Chimesfreedom review of the debut album from Andrew Combs, as well as a stream of that album, check out Andrew Combs Need Not Be A “Worried Man.”
What is your favorite episode of “The Attic Sessions”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
I do not quite get the album art on Worried Man (2012), the debut full-length CD by Andrew Combs. Is he cold? Is it supposed to be a picture of a “Worried Man”? I do not think the album cover adequately prepared me for what to expect when I heard the music. One thing I do know, though, is that it is the best album by a new artist I have heard in a long time.
Because Worried Man came out in October 2012, I realize I am a little slow in discovering Andrew Combs. But seeing a video of Andrew Combs performing on the Twang Nation website recently led me to check out his album. Listening to Worried Man starting with the first track of “Devil’s Got My Woman” has been one of those periodic experiences that restores my faith in new music.
Combs, who is originally from Texas and now resides in Nashville, wrote all of the songs on the album, and he sings with an ache in his voice in the best country and Americana tradition. The album includes heartbreak, whiskey, and pedal steel, and the title track reminds one of an old murder ballad (even if the violence stops short of killing). You can hear the influences of Combs’s heroes who include Harlan Howard, Willie Nelson, Mickey Newbury, Guy Clark, Jackson Browne, and Tom T. Hall. Combs pulls off connecting to these past influences while also sounding modern at the same time, as he does in this performance of “Please, Please, Please.”
Every artist is different, of course, but for comparison purposes, a lot of the songs remind me of another artist I like a lot, Slaid Cleaves. “Please, Please, Please” sounds like it could be a great Heartbreaker-era Ryan Adams track. The song “Worried Man” sounds like it is off of the album of another Texan, Ray Wylie Hubbard . For now, Andrew Combs has made a stream of the album available so you can listen for yourself below Check it out.
Combs, who released the album on his own Coin Records, also co-produced the album with Mike Odmark. Singer-songwriter Caitlin Rose adds her voice to several of the tracks. I look forward to more music from Andrew Combs, whatever the cover looks like.
What is your favorite track off of Worried Man? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
