Chuck Ragan | That Much Further West Podcast

Konrad Wert, aka Possessed By Paul James

Stream or download Podcast Picks: Podcast Picks 3-14-16

Ah, the modern troubadours — we love them here at That Much Further West Podcast. Last week we had handful of our favorite road-dogs roll through our hometown of Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., and we celebrate some of them here with this latest batch of podcast picks.

Kicking things off is Possessed By Paul James, who was in town for a show at The White Eagle with support from The Harmed Brothers (also featured here). Look for Possessed By Paul James all this week at the South By Southwest music conference in Austin, TX, where he has a handful of shows playing alongside some of the greats of Americana, including Lydia Loveless and Hayes Carll (he, too, featured here). PPJ is a force of nature — a one-man folk wrecking crew. Check him out live. You won’t be disappointed.

This month’s picks also include new songs from Sturgill Simpson, the Cactus Blossoms and an exclusive track from Meridian, a Portland band led by Darrin Craig, best known for his work with local bluegrass stalwarts Jack Straw. And speaking of local bluegrass, we share a song from the new album by Left Coast Country, a band we discovered busking out front of Mississippi Studios before a Sturgill show in late 2014. Since then, the lads of LCC since have established themselves as a local bluegrass powerhouse.

The troubadours keep passing through this month’s playlist with songs from Bryan McPherson, Tim Barry and the godfather of all living folkies, Guy Clark. And to wrap things up, we offer a song by Morgane Stapleton from the album “Southern Family,” a new project curated by red-hot Nashville producer Dave Cobb. On “You Are My Sunshine,” Mrs. Stapleton takes center stage while her celebrated husband Chris Stapleton plays a support role with backing vocals and guitar. It’s one of several excellent tunes on a record full of artists we love here at the podcast, including Jason Isbell, John Paul White and Holly Williams.

So dig in, download or give it a stream. It’s this month’s podcast picks! Here’s the playlist:

Heavy, Possessed By Paul James
Tuscaloosa, Caleb Caudle
Lucky To Be A Sad Man, Huck Notari
Under The Axe, The Harmed Brothers
Brace For Impact (Live A Little), Sturgill Simpson
Stoplight Kisses, The Cactus Blossoms
The Magic Kid, Hayes Carll
Go On Lovin’, Dori Freeman
Fought The Blues And Won, The Deslondes
Mason Dixon Waltz, Left Coast Country
The Guitar, Guy Clark
Hearts In Boxcars, Bryan McPherson
Church Of Level Track, Tim Barry
The Flame In The Flood, Chuck Ragan
Ohio, Meridian
You Are My Sunshine, Morgane Stapleton (with Chris Stapleton)

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Episode #23 — Go Blazers!

NBA playoff fever has swept through our hometown of Portland, OR, USA, aka Rip City, where our Trail Blazers have grabbed a 3-1 first-round lead over the Houston Rockets. During the latest taping in The Helm, the podcast lads were monitoring the scoreboard while putting together Episode #23, dubbed by co-host Mike as “The Michael Jordan Episode.”

Well, since Michael is sort of a four-letter word in these parts (the Blazers famously passed on His Airness in the 1984 draft in favor of the infamous, injury-riddled and sadly cursed Sam Bowie), we managed to spin the topic away from the Bulls famous #23 and to the excitement swirling here in the City of Roses.

It’s not just the playoffs that have the gang kinda giddy this week. Around the time of the taping, word had just broke that Mike had booked a summer house concert for Possessed By Paul James here in Portland. Warning: The PPJ show date quoted here on the podcast has changed, but if you follow us at Facebook, it won’t be hard to track in the weeks ahead.

Mike also shares a few stories from behind the scenes of his rock and roll past, including the birth of the Gothic Americana scene in Denver, a cool one about Chuck Ragan’s boots, and another about George Clinton, smoking crack and stealing cars. We also get a tip on a cool bar in North Portland and a Scotch-tasting lesson from Eric, and a nose-clearing lesson from Phil.

More importantly we’ve got some great music to share, including new stuff from Left Lane Cruiser, Cutbank and Matt Woods as well as classics from Lucero, The Handsome Family and The Highwaymen.

So let’s tip it off, shall we? Here’s this week’s playlist:

Losing Days, Frank Turner
Slingshot, Left Lane Cruiser
You Make My Heart Beat Too Fast, Buddy & Julie Miller
The Mountain, Lucero
Can’t Be Satisfied, Hillstomp
Hold Back The Water, Cutbank
Bones, Willy Tea Taylor
Used To The Truth, The Hooten Hallers
Scarlet Town, Gillian Welch
Shoulda Known Better, Possessed By Paul James
Dead Man’s Blues, Matt Woods
When That Helicopter Comes, The Handsome Family
I Want My Mojo Back, Scott H. Biram
Disarray, The Ghostwriter
The Last Cowboy Song, The Highwaymen

That Much Further West Podcast

Sharing our favorite Americana, Alt-country and Roots Rock music from the Pacific Northwest

Tag Archives: Chuck Ragan

March Podcast Picks

Episode #23 — Go Blazers!