Margaret Chavez, “Into an Atmosphere” (We Know Better). A band and not a solo act, Margaret Chavez is the latest project of former Pleasant Grove member Marcus William Striplin, named for his mother. Recorded with ace producer-engineer Stuart Sikes (Sweet Spirit, Black Joe Lewis), “Into an Atmosphere” mixes elements of indie-folk, space-rock and trippy psychedelia into a fascinating sound that’s tied together by Striplin’s understated, almost unnervingly calm vocal delivery.
“Our album New Drugs hopefully provides the listener with a light in the dark for those darker moments in life. I’ve been trying to find the words to share that feeling with everyone and to let the listeners know they are not alone. READ MORE…
The theme of guitarist/songwriter Greg Spradlin’s life, he told Arkansas Times’ David Ramsey in 2012, is timing. “With my music, it’s always stuff like that. If I booked a gig tonight, it would come a hailstorm.” When legendary producer and pianist Jim Dickinson used to introduce Spradlin to his cohorts, he’d say, “This is my friend Greg, from Little Rock. He’s been through the L.A. grease.”
Despite a history packed with thwarted record contracts and wrong legal turns, though, the Pangburn (White County) native ended up making his dream record, mastered by Grammy winner Tchad Blake and tracked by a roster of musicians that includes the likes of David Hidalgo (Los Lobos), a good chunk of Elvis Costello’s backing band and a legendary but elusive B3 player, the late Rudy Copeland. We talked to Spradlin about “Hi-Watter,” available now online (and, for Central Arkansans, curbside by appointment at Control in Hillcrest, and coming soon to Arkansas Record & CD Exchange), nearly a decade after its inception.
So, this record is a long time coming. Like, a LONG time. Why now?
I was waiting on a global pandemic, and I thought it would never come.
Right!?
No, seriously, the straight answer is: I wasn’t planning to make this record when I made it. And it was like a genie in a bottle washed up on the shore one day, and I had all the wishes to make any record I wanted to. It was this amazing thing that came true, and it happened so easily, and so fast. And then as soon as we were finished making it, we had a lot of life events, family events, things that happened that just derailed me personally for a while, and then it kind of became more important to take care of and focus on my family.
The other part of it was that I wasn’t ready to put it out. So it just kind of laid there for a long time, because I didn’t know what to do with it. I didn’t want to just throw it out. I felt like everybody who helped me out getting the record out, who put everything they put into it, I owed it to them to find the right time and the right way to put it out. And having finally found a label [Steve Howell’s Out of the Past Records] that wanted to see it born properly, that was what I’d been waiting for.
So you had a relationship with the legendary Arkansas musician and producer Jim Dickinson. You delivered the eulogy at his funeral, even. What moments, if any on this record, are like specifically Jim Dickinson? Like, what wouldn’t exist if he hadn’t been in your musical sphere?
The whole record wouldn’t exist. That’s the weird thing, and it’s kind of hard to explain. But basically, Jim and I, for years, played on each other’s projects. He played on my last record. I played on two of his records. He covered a couple of my songs. We’d known each other for a long time, and he really became my compass, my North Star, and was always there to encourage and help me navigate bullshit. And we talked about the kind of record I needed to make for years. Secretly, what I wanted, was to make a record with him and [sons] Luther and Cody [of North Mississippi Allstars fame]. …
What he’d always tell me is, “You need the right band. You need the right group of guys to play with you.” And then he died, and within a year of him dying, Jason Weinheimer and I were talking, and Jason was friends with Pete Thomas, from Elvis Costello’s band, and they’d worked on a Boondogs album together — coincidentally, a record Jim produced — and out of the blue he said, “What do you think about getting Pete to come to Little Rock and you do a day with him,” and Jason was doing a solo record with [his wife] Indy [Grotto], “and we’ll just make a week out of it.” … And I brought in about 3-4 songs, thinking we’d get through three or four songs, tops. And I think we got through with three or four songs before lunch. Because Pete is such a monster. He’s one of the best that there is. And he really got energized by it, and I just started digging, trying to come up with some more stuff, and we just ended up recording for about 13 or 14 hours straight, and did basically half the record in one day. READ MORE…
“I Drew Six” is the latest single from Rev. Greg Spradlin and the Band of Imperials’ new album Hi-Watter. The Band of Imperials is Spradlin’s new project with Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo and Elvis Costello drummer Pete Thomas. “I Drew Six”—featuring Hidalgo on rhythm guitar & bass—is a blistering, frenetic gospel-rock rave up with its roots in Hurricane Katrina.
An incredible guitar player, songwriter, singer and bandleader, Rev. Greg Spradlin has been flying under the radar for years—despite recording and performing with everyone from Lucinda Williams to Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker. Along the way, Spradlin managed to assemble a supergroup with Hidalgo, Thomas, and now-deceased gospel-organ legend Rudy Copeland (Solomon Burke, Johnny Guitar Watson), and Rev. Greg Spradlin and the Band of Imperials was born. Back in 2010, they made an amazing Hurricane Katrina-inspired record called Hi-Watter, mixed by Tchad Blake (Tom Waits, Los Lobos, The Black Keys). But then, as if an act of God, an unexpected series of tragedies and major life events derailed the Reverend’s musical plans. Now—pandemic, and other acts of god be damned—this album will finally see the light of day.
The latest single from E.Z. Shakes just sounds big. It wrestles with major spiritual issues with a stomping, twangy, richly reverb-soaked musical backdrop that could double as the soundtrack to a psychedelic spaghetti western filmed under an endless desert sky.
That’s rather fitting because the momentum behind singer-songwriter Zach Seibert’s project shows no sign of slowing — and the band itself has grown as well, adding guitarist John Furr, drummer Stan Gardner, and bassist Jim Taylor to the original lineup of Seibert and pedal steel wiz Todd T. Hicks.
DittyTV’s Rhythm Roots is debuting Neon Moon’s new music video for “Dive Bar Romance” today (July 27th) at 7PM/CT with a rebroadcast tomorrow (July 28th) at 7AM/CT.
Inspired in large part by Noelle & Josh Bohannon’s days spent hanging at legendary Nashville hole-in-the-wall Dino’s, the steel guitar on “Dive Bar Romance” drifts in like smoke from a tavern ashtray, before some blessedly drunken mariachi horns stumble through the door. This is tropi-Americana, fresh-squeezed, with plenty of pulp and a shot to ease the hangover’s edge.
In gorgeously saturated hues, the music video depicts falling in love both with a bar, and in a bar. It’s a perfect pool/beach-side drinking song for summer.
Check out the teaser here, and don’t forget to tune in!