On September 13, Shawn Colvin will release an acoustic anniversary edition of her landmark 1989 album, Steady On. Ahead of the album’s release, Colvin has shared her new take on the classic Steady On track “Cry Like An Angel,” premiering below.
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JM Stevens – Invisible Lines
Invisible Lines makes an apropos title for the solo debut from JM Stevens. The Austin-based songwriter who fueled Moonlight Towers through 15 years, four albums and thousands of miles criss-crossing the country on shoestring tours has a knack for tapping the intangible elements of pop songcraft that elevate the enduring from the ephemeral. When he’s not playing solo or recording artists at his studio EAR, you might find him playing guitar with Craig Finn on the Hold Steady frontman’s European tour, or filling in for his brother, Blind Melon guitarist Rogers Stevens, on some dates in South America.
The universal theme of longing provides a cohesive thread to Invisible Lines. Opener “Runaway Stare” summons upbeat resilience in the face of soul-crushing forces that “leave you nothing but dreams of a new life.” Steel guitarist Marty Muse from Robert Earl Keen’s touring band adds to the doleful indecision of “Further I Run,” while “Maybe I Love You” basks in the warmth of Springsteen-style horns arranged by saxophonist Russell Haight. The record was recorded quickly, so as to capture a “live” energy, and features bassist Andrew Duplantis (Son Volt, Bob Mould, Meat Puppets) and drummer George Duron (Roky Erickson, Jon Dee Graham, Dumptruck).
What Stevens leaves out of his songs is almost as important as what he puts in. There’s no instrumental derring-do or insular lyricism. He’s wise enough to know not to let musical ego get in the way of a good hook. Stevens would rather have you humming along and connecting with the songs on your own emotional terms.
“Where the complexity comes in is the texture you put on them and the feeling as opposed to the inner-workings and gears,” he says. “I want to create more of an overall picture in a song.”
Like many Eighties-era youth living in smaller towns, Stevens discovered life beyond MTV and commercial radio through skateboarding and a Thrasher magazine subscription. His musical lexicon went further afield bit by bit, first to gateway bands like the Cure, Violent Femmes and Metallica, then to SoCal punk titans like Black Flag, Descendents and the Dead Kennedys. “We had a tight-knit group of friends who felt like it was our own thing,” he recalls.
Stevens’ churchgoing parents were not initially overjoyed when their two sons were swallowed up by rock music. While Blind Melon’s success ameliorated that sentiment, his dad remained the same man who once rousted his sons awake by taking a hammer to a cassette of Prince’s 1999 in the family kitchen due to the album’s lascivious lyrical content.
“He said he didn’t want that ‘Prince trash’ under his roof, which of course made me want to listen to it more. That’s the kind of drama he instilled in me,” Stevens says. “He was a trial lawyer and it was brilliant. I loved that that happened. My brother met Prince years later during the Blind Melon days and told him that story — Prince thought it was hilarious.”
At age 16, Stevens almost died when the truck he was in got hit by a freight train. The rail crossing on the outskirts of his hometown of West Point, Mississippi, had no gate or signal and was obscured by overgrowth. Stevens didn’t see the train until it was just a few yards away. It smashed into the passenger side door Stevens was sitting next to, pushing the truck down the tracks and into the woods.
In a split second, Stevens went from being a high school kid on his way to Sonic to being pinned inside a crumpled-up truck, fighting for his life with too many broken bones to count. After being painstakingly extricated from the vehicle, he was placed in intensive care, unable to walk or use his legs for months — bedridden at home longer still, after finally being released from the ICU. With his hands relatively intact, Stevens passed the months of recovery by playing guitar, and followed a calling to relocate to the fertile music town of Austin, Texas.
In 2000, Stevens formed Moonlight Towers with high school friend Richard Galloway on drums and bassist Jason Daniels. The trio’s liberating barside serenades earned them a following at local venues like Hole in the Wall and the Parish. In 2002, the band released its self-titled debut, and followed with 2005’s Like You Were Never There.
Moonlight Towers sold thousands of copies of their first two self-released albums the hard way—by staying on the road and playing at whatever venue would have them. Austin-based Chicken Ranch Records stepped in to release 2011’s Day is the New Night. Between Stevens’ supercharged production and his extra-tight set of songs, the album caught the ears of one-time Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who named “Heat Lightning” Coolest Song in the World on Little Steven’s Underground Garage.
Stevens’ father passed away not long after Day was released. The more circumspect Heartbeat Overdrive followed three years later. The grayer tones of songs like “Come Back to Tara” provided aural evidence that the Towers weren’t the Jägerbombing road hounds of yore anymore. With families and straight jobs diverting bandwidth, it was perhaps inevitable that Stevens would have to put the group on ice.
For Stevens, the band’s inactivity coincided with other seismic life changes. He went through a divorce and began unpacking the post-traumatic stress of his adolescence. Memories of his parents’ divorce and the train collision flooded back. “That stuff goes somewhere in you,” Stevens says.
The nine songs on Invisible Lines are a byproduct of this period. With Moonlight Towers stilled, Stevens bought a new acoustic guitar and started playing solo around town. He’d take the Tuesday night slots no one else wanted or go play for nervous fliers at the airport. The idea was simply to get the songs out there and see how they worked in front of an audience.
“Now I hear it and I think it’s got a different energy to it. It feels connected. Almost the entire album was recorded live—even the vocals. The lyrics feel connected to the band in a different way than if you overdub them. It just sounds more real to me. I’m proud of that. It fluctuates. It moves and grooves.”
The premiere: “Stay” is off Josh Rennie-Hynes’ forthcoming album, Patterns, available September 27.
For fans of: The Felice Brothers, Carl Anderson, the War on Drugs, Deer Tick, Langhorne Slim.
About the artist: Before Josh Rennie-Hynes made the move from Australia to Nashville to focus solely on his music career, he was a part of the Ahern Brothers. “The duo’s vocal harmonies and careworn guitars shiver with timeless feeling,” Rolling Stone said. “A mesmerizing contemporary recording; restrained, pithy and pure.” Striking out on his own, Rennie-Hynes is now channeling that talent into his upcoming solo album, Patterns, a compilation of songs that document his transition to a new hometown and the personal growth that followed.
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Caitlin Anne Webster // “Wait (On Love)” & “Powhatan River Blues”
Mixing the driving narratives of traditional folk and country, the charm and depth of 60s soul along with her own modern edge, Caitlin Anne Webster delivers songs that cut deep.
As a member of Nightingale Rodeo, Webster and her bandmates earned acclaim from outlets that include LA Weekly. In 2015, she released her solo EP Black Moon and introduced an engaging blend of influences that range from traditional country to edgy vocal powerhouses like Bonnie Raitt and Linda Rondstadt.
Recorded live to tape in Los Angeles’ Palomino Studios with production from Dave Lang and engineering from Jason Soda, Webster’s two new tracks display her versatility as a multi-dimensional artist and songwriter. This time, she dug even deeper and found her inspiration from an array of artists that range from Blaze Foley and The Deslondes to Nancy Sinatra and Karen Dalton.
“Wait (On Love)” was born from the ashes of a long-term relationship and the challenges of separating two lives that had been deeply intertwined. Reflective and thoughtful, Webster melds her cuttingly honest lyrics with accompaniment from Iain Weigert on lead guitar, Travis Popichak on drums, Jada Wagensomer on bass with backing vocals from Amber Bradberry and Laura Marion.
On “Powhatan River Blues,” Caitlin’s soulful vocals and compelling acoustic guitar take center stage. Inspired by a carefree day spent on the water with her sister, Webster brings a sense of nostalgia and longing for a simpler time.
Now rooted in Tennessee, Webster is in the midst of an inspiring new creative chapter. With a full-length solo project and a new record from Nightingale Rodeo in the works, Caitlin Anne Webster is positioned to shift from one of the genre’s best kept secrets to one of its most pivotal voices.
“Caitlin Anne Webster’s got the kind of rich, clear singing voice that would have made every beatnik drop their espresso and every hippie drop their doobie — and make you drop your vape pen.” – Adobe & Teardrops
“Mixing the driving narratives of traditional folk and country, the charm and depth of 60s soul along with her own modern edge, Caitlin Anne Webster delivers songs that cut deep.” – Lefuturewave
“Caitlin Anne Webster’s new song digs deep on two levels – there’s the touchstones of her music which serve to give the song a classic traditional folk feel and then there’s the emotional depths.” – Americana UK
“An alluring bluesy folk number.” – Wide Open Country
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Nikki & the Phantom Callers
Atlanta’s Nikki & the Phantom Callers are a jangling country-tinged indie-rock outfit with one boot heel planted firmly in retro 1960s sounds and the other in the now. Leader Nikki Speake—also a member of garage power trio Midnight Larks and all-girl psych rockers Shantih Shantih—grew up singing at church in smalltown Alabama, Dadeville to be exact. She was writing her own songs by age 16 and fronted punk and country bands during college. Since then, Speake has shared bills with Shooter Jennings, Joshua Hedley, Shannon and the Clams, L.A. Witch, The Legendary Shack Shakers, King Khan & the Shrines, Tav Falco, Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires, Banditos, and Lydia Loveless. Speake has played in front of thousands at major Southeastern festivals such as Project Pabst, 420 Fest, Muddy Roots and Music Midtown.
Nikki & the Phantom Callers were named Creative Loafing Atlanta’s “Best Country Band of 2018” and their first release, a new 7-inch single “Prodigal Daughter” / “Mamas Should Know” gained glowing national reviews from the likes of Cowboys & Indians Magazine, PopMatters and Wide Open Country. The band features Aaron Mason on lead guitar, Russell Owens on drums, and Speake’s Shantih Shantih bandmate Anna Kramer—also of Anna Kramer & The Lost Cause and, most recently, newly resurrected Merge Records band The Rock*A*Teens—on bass & backing vocals. Speake and Kramer’s voices are front and center, calling to mind artists like Alvvays, Best Coast, and especially Neko Case singing in lockstep with her longtime backup singer, former Rock*A*Teen Kelly Hogan.
The Good Graces are gearing up to release their new LP, Prose and Consciousness on October 11th. Surviving the Golden Age is excited to premiere their new single “Wants + Needs.”