By Bloodshot Records
Here’s a chronological look back at our releases of the last 12 months.
VANDOLIERS – Forever
Released: February 22, 2019
Vandoliers are the next wave of Texas music. The six-piece Dallas-Fort Worth group channels all that makes this vast state unique: tradition, modernity, audacity, grit, and – of course – size. Forever puts it all together for an enthralling ride down a fresh Lone Star highway.
Produced and recorded by Adam Hill (Low Cut Connie, The Bo-Keys, Deer Tick, Don Bryant, Zeshan B) at American Recording Studios in Memphis, the band’s third album (and first with Bloodshot) Forever is a mix of youthful and defiant punk, rugged Red Dirt country, and vibrant Tejano. The full-length’s 10 songs blend emblematic rock ‘n’ roll with bold horns, violin, and a slather of twang reflecting where the band is from, where they’ve been and, eventually, where they’ll be headed. It’s regional and universal all at the same.
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“Troublemaker.”
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MEKONS – Deserted
Released: March 29, 2019
Emboldened by a sold-out tour and a surge of interest in the States after the release of the documentary Revenge of the Mekons, the band retreated to the fringes of Joshua Tree National Park and popular culture to record their new album Deserted.
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“Lawrence of California.”
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THE YAWPERS – Human Question
Released: April 19, 2019
Through their first three albums, the group divined a signature style – what Pitchfork described as “an expansive vision of rock ‘n’ roll, one that cherrypicks from various folk traditions: punk, rockabilly, blues, whatever they might have on hand or find in the trash.” The sound is a front-heavy, groovy, fire & brimstone punk-blues overlying a dynamic and metaphysical roots rock. On their fourth album Human Question, the Denver trio zooms out to a more vast and accessible stylistic and spiritual universe. The 38-minute thrill ride generates growth and cathartic self-reflection for audience and performer alike. If there was justice in this world, the Yawpers would be the savior that rock ‘n’ roll didn’t know it was waiting for.
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“Reason to Believe.”
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JASON HAWK HARRIS – Love & the Dark
Released: August 23, 2019
While Jason was writing this album his mother died from complications of alcoholism; his father went bankrupt after being sued by the King of Morocco; his sister was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and gave birth to a premature son with cerebral palsy; and – subsequently – Jason got sidetracked by his own vices. Love & the Dark is Jason’s personal narrative on death, struggle, and addiction, of a life deconstructed and reassembled.
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“Cussing at the Light.”
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JOEL PATERSON – Let It Be Guitar! Joel Paterson Plays the Beatles
Released: September 20, 2019
Let It Be Guitar! showcases fresh new arrangements of these familiar tunes, employing a wide variety of musical styles and guitar sounds, paying tribute to Paterson’s biggest influences including Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Jorgen Ingmann, James Burton, Buddy Emmons, Ernest Ranglin and many more.
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“All My Loving.”
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ROBBIE FULKS – 16 [LP only, self-released]
Released: November 1, 2019
A reinterpretation of Bob Dylan’s 1978 pop-rock curveball Street Legal featuring a who’s-who of Chicago musicians and friends. Only available on gatefold double vinyl LP.
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ROBBIE FULKS – Country Love Songs [LP reissue]
180-gram heavyweight black vinyl with liner notes, drawings, and digital download code. Remastered for vinyl from the original tapes by Carl Saff.
“Tears Only Run One Way.”
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SCOTT H. BIRAM/JESSE DAYTON – “Monkey David Wine” b/w “Single Again” 7″
Ground Zero outlaw David Allan Coe’s “Monkey David Wine” gets a sinister gut-bucket blues duet treatment. It lands about 11 feet away from Screamin’ Jay Hawkins on a 10-foot chain. Pass the bottle, friends.
Side B is Gary Stewart’s “Single Again.” The cool-as-can-be song is a shaggy-haired, floppy-hatted prime taste of ’70s rebel country. Pass the weed, brother.
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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots
Released: November 8, 2019
Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots revisits the concept of the Chicago roots/country label’s first release from 1994, For A Life of Sin: Insurgent Chicago Country, in gathering new recordings from standout like-minded acts across the current local scene. The album features 22 original and cover songs, with contributions from Robbie Fulks, Jon Langford’s Hillbilly Lovechild (featuring Steve Albini), Freakwater, Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds (of Lawrence Arms), Half Gringa, Handsome Family, ROOKIE, The Hoyle Brothers, Sima Cunningham (of OHMME), Kelly Hogan, and others.
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“The Last Honky Tonk in Chicago.”
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WAYNE HANCOCK – Man of the Road: The Early Bloodshot Years
Released: November 15, 2019
A career-spanning collection of the finest honky tonk, country and Western Swing tunes from legend Wayne “The Train” Hancock. This is the first time any of these songs – originally recorded and released with Bloodshot Records on albums from the last two decades – have appeared on vinyl (including the classic “Thunderstorms & Neon Signs”): A-Town Blues (2001), South Austin Sessions (2001), Swing Time (2003), Hard Headed Woman: A Celebration of Wanda Jackson (2004), Tulsa (2006), and Viper of Melody (2009).
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SCOTT H. BIRAM – Sold Out to the Devil: A Collection of Gospel Cuts by the Rev. Scott H. Biram
Released: November 22, 2019
Known as The Dirty Ol’ One Man Band, Scott H. Biram has a deceiving penchant for songs about God, religion and spirituality. Each of his releases has incorporated music representing his religious fervor and appreciation for traditional Gospel music – just in some cases, Biram spins them in a perverse, hellbound way that only he can. Sold Out to the Devil is a collection of this particular God-fearing side of the Austin, Texas-based artist. The album includes a previously unreleased cover of the Louvin Brothers’ “Broadminded.”
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“TrainWrecker.”
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Comments welcome.
Posted on November 20, 2019