First, next week (Sept. 25) sees the release of Steve Earle's latest effort, Washington Square Serenade. A tribute to New York, the cd looks to continue Earle's passionate blend of appealing melodies with searing lyrics. One of the songs is "City of Immigrants", which he recently performed on the Letterman show.
Serenade also includes a wicked version of Tom Waits "Down In The Hole" which will be under the title sequence of the new season of The Wire.
Four weeks later (Oct. 23) sees the release of Dwight Yoakam's new disc, Dwight Sings Buck. It's a tribute to one of Yoakam's all-time heroes Buck Owens, who recently passed away. I've only managed to hear one song from this cd, and it sounds like vintage Yoakam. Here's a link to a duet of "Streets of Bakersfield" that he performed with Owens years ago.
(I'm looking forward to both releases, but if it came down to an album cover art contest, Earle would win, hands down).
And it should be noted that some other same ilk releases earlier this year like Ryan Adams Easy Tiger; Wilco's latest Sky Blue Sky; and Bright Eyes newest Cassadaga, were generally speaking, superb.
All of which only made me want to dig out The Jayhawks Hollywood Town Hall and give it a spin again.
Ah, "Waiting For The Sun"....sweet sweetness. But I'm not going to post or even link to a clip...I'm gonna make you go and listen to it, cuz I know you want to now.
Alt-country rock isn't gone, it's just gotten older.