Tag Archives: Mike and The Moonpies

June Podcast Picks

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Margo Price’s third album, “That’s How Rumors Get Started,” is due July 10. Photo by Bobbi Rich.

Stream or download June Podcast Picks: June ’20 Podcast Picks

The COVID-19 pandemic has rocked the music world in a way we may never see again in our lifetimes. Nearly every band, venue, festival and fan — not to mention the millions whose livelihoods are connected the business — has been forced to take a time out of some sort. Cancelations. Rescheduling. And for some, the bad fortune of having their record releases and related tours put on hold.

Not too many can say they’ve had it with both barrels like Margo Price, the Tennessee-based alt-country singer who had planned to release her much anticipated third album, That’s How Rumors Get Started, in May. She also had a scheduled opening slot on the first leg of Chris Stapleton’s planned tour, which would have reached our corner of the world, the Pacific Northwest, this coming weekend.

Not only was all put on hold, but Price suffered a scare when her husband was stricken with the virus, which took a heavy toll on his health. Now he’s recovering, and Price has been leaking songs from the new record ahead of a rescheduled release date of July 10.

We kick off this month’s podcast picks with “Letting Me Down,” the most recently release track from Rumors. The new songs find Ms. Price and her rock solid band in excellent form (see the video below) and should have fans revved up and ready when she returns to touring in America later this year.

We also have great new songs for summer from Hellbound Glory, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, Brent Cobb, Blackberry Smoke, Ashley McBryde and more.

New to our podcast ears is the talented Mickey Guyton, who shares her latest release, “Black Like Me,” among a bit of controversy. In a recent interview, the talented L.A.-based country singer said she was snubbed from participating in last year’s video for “Redesigning Women” by the Highwoman — the video featured not only members of the all-female fronted supergroup but also a number of other Nashville female singers still trying to get the recognition they deserve. Kudos to Highwoman Maren Morris for owning the mistake and expressing her regret, but maybe the talented Ms. Guyton will pick up some new fans as a result. Consider us in that mix.

We also feature a few more newcomers, including veteran country rocker Carla Olson from her new album of duets, and delightful songs from Tessy Lou Williams and Zach Aaron, two rising star of country.

Lots to chew on here, folks, so dig right in. Here’s the playlist for our June Podcast Picks:

Letting Me Down, Margo Price
Sweet Saint Me, Two Cow Garage
Mexicali Run, Left Arm Tan
Black Like Me, Mickey Guyton
Dreamsicle, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
River Town, The Harmed Brothers
Southern Child, Blackberry Smoke
Rattlesnake Girl, Jaime Wyatt
Hank Williams Lifestyle, Hellbound Glory
The World Is Ending, Brent Cobb
Smooth Shot of Whiskey, Mike and the Moonpies
Mockingbird, Quaker City Night Hawks
Why Do I Still Want You, Tessy Lou Williams
Voodoo Doll, Ashley McBryde
Proud Mary, Solomon Burke
Fill Dirt Wanted, Zach Aaron
Timber, I’m Falling In Love, Carla Olson with Stephen McCarthy
Babies In Cages, Drive-By Truckers
Before That Final Bell, Western Centuries

50 Podcast Picks from 2019

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Have we seen the last of the Turnpike Troubadours? Here’s hoping for a revival and return to form in 2020 for the Oklahoma Red Dirt legends.

Stream or download 50 Podcast Picks from 2019: 50 Podcast Picks from 2019

After a maddening period that saw at least half a dozen stop and starts (cancelled shows, shaky performances, etc.), the Turnpike Troubadours — the rising Oklahoma-based band which seemed destined for big things — finally suspended all group activity in 2019. Some members turned their focus to other projects, while mercurial frontman and main songwriter Evan Felker retreated underground, leaving many to speculate that his personal problems threw the group’s future into jeopardy.

But late in the year, a new single by Felker emerged from Austin, TX, USA, where veteran singer-songwriter and producer Bruce Robison pinned down Felker to perform a few tunes in the studio for his burgeoning Next Waltz multimedia project. The song and video (see below) for “Whiskey In Your Water,” with Carrie Rodriguez singing a dual vocal, shows Felker in fine form and hints at exactly why he is so beloved by fans of the Troubadours and why concern for his well-being remains at the forefront of their thoughts.

We decided to kickoff our 50 year-end podcast picks with the tune in hopes that we haven’t seen the last of Felker and possibly the Turnpike Troubadours as a unit. It’s one of the songs from artists who made a big impact on the ears of our podcast producers in 2019.

Along with a bunch of great new discoveries this year, our podcast picks are highlighted by several career-best moments by some of our favorites, including many from friends and folks who have been guests on our show in the past.

So give it a listen with an ear toward finding your next favorite Americana or Roots act. We bet herein lies the fix you’re looking for in 2020. Here’s the playlist:

Whiskey In Your Water, Evan Felker with Carrie Rodriguez and The Next Waltzers
What You Don’t Know, Caroline Spence
Cordelia, Drunken Prayer
Good at Bad News, Tylor & The Train Robbers
Cheap Silver, Mike and the Moonpies
The House That Built Me, Tanya Tucker
Hey, Heartbreaker, Matt Woods
Things Like This, I See Hawks In L.A.
Big Black Chain, The Jackson County Kills
56 Fury, Rodney Crowell
Walk Through Fire, Yola
Jesus & Elvis, Hayes Carll
All Your’n, Tyler Childers
Ian McLagan, Drivin’ N Cryin’
Downtown, The Cactus Blossoms
Doubt, Clara Baker
Cocaine Country Dancing, Paul Cauthen
Giving Up, Tim Barry
California State Line, The Long Ryders
Emmanuel, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings
Mississippi Nuthin’, Shovels & Rope
So Long To The Traveling Kind, Tom Vanden Avond
Strange Shadows, Aaron Lee Tasjan
Colorado, The Quaker City Night Hawks
Sam’s House, An American Forrest
That’s How I Feel, Dori Freeman
Kind Days, John Calvin Abney
Rolling Stone, Whiskey Myers
Letter To Madeline, Ian Noe
Division Lines, Fernando
Back Into This Church, Ron Rogers & The Wailing Wind
Ruby, Strand of Oaks
Right At Home, Daystar
Old Black Magic, Josh Ritter
The Imperial, The Delines
Hard Time With The Truth, Kendell Marvel
Wake Up Call, Rich Layton and Tough Town
Wildflowers & Wine, Marcus King
The Dream Is Dead, M. Lockwood Porter
Fenceline, Anna Tivel
Excuse Me, Charley Crockett
Blue Earth County, Silver Lake 66
Sad Songs, Kassi Valazza
East October, John Moreland
Just Trying To Love, The Lonesome Billies
Old Soul, The Highwomen
Where The Buffalo Roam, David Quinn
Beautiful and Kind, Ryan Bingham
Turn Off The News (Build A Garden) (Acoustic), Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real

September Podcast Picks

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Tyler Childers performed at Pickathon on the same day as his much-anticipated record Country Squire was released. Photo by Greg Homolka

Stream or download September Podcast Picks: September ’19 Podcast Picks

Just a few weeks back, the Pacific Northwest became the center of the alt-country universe when Tyler Childers released his much-anticipated new album, Country Squire, the same day as he performed a set at Pickathon, just outside of our home base of Portland, OR, USA.

What nobody saw coming, though, was the big splash made the night before when Mike & The Moonpies, just hours before their late-night Pickathon set, announced the surprise arrival of their stunning new record, Cheap Silver & Solid Country Gold.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, the new all-women country supergroup, The Highwomen, crashed the Newport Folk Festival like a meteorite, playing tunes from their new self-titled new record (out tomorrow) and drawing guests on stage including Dolly Parton and Sheryl Crow.

But nothing seemed to steal the thunder from Childers, whose album sold more units in its first week than any other record in the states, marking another important milepost in the upward trajectory of alternative country music.

It’s fun to share tunes from all three of these groundbreaking records and so much more in our Podcast Picks for September. Give it a spin and you’ll also here fantastic new tunes from Tanya Tucker, Jason Hawk Harris, Joy Williams (of The Civil Wars fame), Midland and Sturgill Simpson.

Keep listening and things really get interesting when ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons shows up on “56 Fury,” an instant classic from the stunning new record Texas by the great Rodney Crowell.

We also share a tune from Mercury Rev’s re-imagining of Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete featuring the one-and-only Margo Price. And speaking of re-imagining, Aaron Lee Tasjan has released a new record, Karma For Cheap: Reincarnated, where he renders many of the songs from his last album as solo performances. We share a fresh tune here to wrap things up.

This batch of picks packs a serious punch with soon-to-be classics throughout. So be sure to listen from start to finish!

Here’s the playlist:

Country Squire, Tyler Childers
Danger, Mike & The Moonpies
Redesigning Women, The Highwomen
Howlin’ At The Moon, Caleb Caudle
Giving In (Giving In), Jason Hawk Harris
Spies, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’
Bring My Flowers Now, Tanya Tucker
Sing Along, Sturgill Simpson
Fast Hearts And Slow Towns, Midland
So Long To The Traveling Kind, Tom VandenAvond
Somebody’s Daughter, Tenille Townes
Times Like These, Hayes Carll
56 Fury, Rodney Crowell
Something Real, Lukas Nelson & The Promise of the Real
Sermon (featuring Margo Price), Mercury Rev
The Devil Drinks Scotch, Matt Woods & The Natural Disasters
Knock Knockin’, Wonderly Road
Front Porch, Joy Williams
Don’t Skip Out On Me, Richmond Fontaine
My Whole Life Is Over (All Over Again), Aaron Lee Tasjan

January Podcasts Picks

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Thars the Stars: Portland’s Stars of Cascadia are back with a new record, Fairfield.

We’re keeping it live and local to start off 2019, and kicking things off with a killer cut from that fun and rollicking band of Portland alt-country grinders, Stars of Cascadia. Their new CD Fairfield just hit the streets this week, and “The Great Divide” is a near perfect tune to sum up the mid-Trump swamp we find ourselves wading through daily. Singer Scott Jeffries gets nostalgic on this new disc, ruminating on the Viet Nam era and the last time . . . say, 1968 . . . when the U.S. felt this very divided.

The Delines may be considered a local band in our neck of the woods, but they’re killing it right now in the U.K. and Ireland on their first tour in a couple of years. We caught both of their warm-up shows in Portland before they headed across the Atlantic to promote their brand new album, The Imperial, which is pulling rave reviews around the globe. We share the title cut here.

And while you’re cranking this latest playlist, be sure to stick around for a song from the Portland trio Five Letter Word. We first saw these talented ladies at last year’s Wildwood MusicFest & Campout, and they blew us away with their amazing harmonies and stellar musicianship. Their debut record, Siren, dropped earlier in January, but we expect to be hearing a whole lot of great things from them throughout 2019 and beyond.

We also share new music from Son Volt, Joshua Ray Walker, Ryan Bingham, Vandoliers, Bob Sumner and a song by Ryan Adams with a title that pretty much sums up our feeling about the winter weather in the Pacific Northwest. Not that we’re complaining. Sending out good wishes to our friends in the Midwest (we’re looking at you, Bloodshot Records crew) who are suffering through a record-shattering Arctic blast that arrived in the Great Lakes region overnight.

Since you folks are pretty much stuck inside for a bit, crank up our January Podcast Picks!

Here’s the playlist:

The Great Divide, Stars of Cascadia
The Imperial, The Delines
Burn It, Joshua Ray Walker
Jingle And Go, Ryan Bingham
Mountain Girl, Shane Smith
5 Acres Of Turnips, Pistol Annies
Saturday Satan Sunday Saint, Charley Crockett
Me And Hayes, Mike and the Moonpies
Jesus And Elvis, Hayes Carll
Troublemaker, Vandoliers
The Way She Looked At You, Sarah Shook and the Disarmers
Bourbon And Blood, The Comacheros
Southern Accents, The Steel Woods
Go Home, Garrett T. Capps
Riverbed, Bob Sumner
Easier To Go, Five Letter Word
Living Free, Jack Waters and the Unemployed
F*ck The Rain, Ryan Adams

2018 Year End Podcast Picks

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Texas Road Crew: Mike and the Moonpies knocked us out with their fabulous 2018 album “Steak Night At The Prairie Rose”

Stream or download 2018 Year End Podcast Picks: 2018 Year End Podcast Picks

So much great music, and right in our wheelhouse . . . 2018 will be remembered not for one, two or even 10 great albums but a whole slew of game-changing efforts by a wide-ranging list of Americana artists. Whether it was the outlaw country of Whitey Morgan, the timeless folk of John Prine, the disarming, gritty alt-country of Sarah Shook or the multi-pronged Americana of Western Centuries, 2018 delivered an immeasurable amount of fabulous Roots music, all fitting nicely under the That Much Further West Podcast umbrella.

All of the artists included on this list of year-end picks found their way on to our Portland-based podcast this year, either as a monthly or seasonal pick, the subject of a review, or as a featured guest interviewed by our three co-hosts, Mike Lee, Eric Kotila and Phil Favorite. The lads put their heads together for this year-end feature, finding it difficult not only to single out this handful of fantastic performers but even to choose songs from albums loaded with potential entries. With just 25 songs on the list, it’s easy to see how this list could have been twice as long if not longer— all you have to do is look at the countless year-end “best of” lists already published in the preceding weeks.

With so many great acts to choose from, including many (see: Brent Cobb, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Courtney Marie Andrews, American Aquarium) drawing universal praise for the fantastic records they put out this year, we decided to feature a band that we hadn’t paid quite enough attention to on the podcast this year. Over the better part of the last decade, Texas-bred stalwarts Mike and the Moonpies have been bringing their world-class country to the people, building a reputation as one of America’s finest representatives of the white-hot Red Dirt movement.

Following in the footsteps of some of our favorites, like Chris Knight, Reckless Kelly and Turnpike Troubadours, Mike and the Moonpies hit a home run with their 2018 record Steak Night At The Prairie Rose, a must listen for every fan of country music. We kick off our year-end picks with their song “Beaches of Biloxi,” a potent cocktail of temptation, addiction and regret befitting a truly great country song.

Let it serve as a launching point, not just for this playlist but for our pursuit of more fantastic music to share with you as the calendar turns to another year. Be on the lookout for Mike and the Moonpies (see video below) and all the great artists and music we share here and throughout the coming year.

Here’s our humble list of Year End Podcast Picks. Thank you for listening. Enjoy.

Beaches of Biloxi, Mike and the Moonpies
Elevator Blues, The Resolectrics
NYC In The Rain, Caleb Caudle
Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Ballad For The Trees, I See Hawks In L.A.
Heart Slows Down, Aaron Lee Tasjan
Cadillac Man, Wes Youssi & The County Champs
Bad Time To Be An Outlaw, The Bottle Rockets
Every Time I Hear That Song, Brandi Carlile
A Hole In My Grave, Chuck Westmoreland
Lonesome Friends Of Science, John Prine
The World Is On Fire, American Aquarium
Girl Going Nowhere, Ashley McBryde
Everything Has Changed, Lucero
Set Em Up (I’m Afraid To Go Home), Countryside Ride
Cowboys And Canyon Queens, John Calvin Abney
Border, Courtney Marie Andrews
Wild You Run, Western Centuries
King Of Alabama, Brent Cobb
What Am I Supposed To Do, Whitey Morgan and the 78’s
My Sweet Arsonist, Karen Jonas
Plain To See Plainsman, Colter Wall
Ain’t Gotta Worry Child, Charley Crockett
The Being Gone, Jamie Lin Wilson
Kick The Lights Out, Hearts Of Oak

February Podcast Picks

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Stream or download February Podcast Picks: February ’18 Podcast Picks

There’s so much new music out there in our sphere, we can barely keep up with it all. This month’s podcast picks include first releases from upcoming records by Western Centuries, Blackberry Smoke and Charley Crockett; another tune from the much-anticipated new record from Courtney Marie Andrews; a new instrumental from an album full of them by Richmond Fontaine; and killer cuts from new records by Calexico, Ruby Boots and Wes Youssi & The Country Champs.

But we start things off with a brand-new song from alt-country powerhouse Sarah Shook & The Disarmers and their upcoming Bloodshot Records release Years, set to hit the streets in April. Following up their very well-received Bloodshot debut Sidelong, the North Carolina band appears ready to unleash its high-energy, straight-ahead cowpunk on a wider audience in 2018.

“Good As Gold” offers a solid example of the swagger Sarah Shook brings to her music. “It’s about picking yourself up and dusting yourself off after years of being trampled and beaten down,” she said, describing the new album. “Jutting your chin out, head high, after they’ve done their worst, and saying, ‘Still here.’ ”

Scroll to the bottom of this post to check out the Sidelong track “Keep The Home Fires Burnin'” filmed live at the Wildwood Hotel in Willamina, OR by Great Northwest Productions during the band’s swing down the west coast last fall.

With 2018 off to such a great start, we find ourselves still catching up on some of the best stuff from last year. Our picks also include a handful of some of the best tunes from 2017, including songs from Tyler Childers, The Secret Sisters, Zephaniah Ohora, Emily Herring and The Turnpike Troubadours.

And we wrap it with a dose of some of our favorite alternative music heroes, including the great Walter Salas-Humara, who will be coming to our hometown of Portland, OR, USA this week to play a set on Friday, Feb. 23, opening for local legend Mike Coykendall at the LaurelThirst Public House.

So get your week started on the right foot and dial in our February Podcast Picks. Here’s the playlist:

Good As Gold, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Tattoos, Tyler Childers
Night Out With Diego, Richmond Fontaine
He’s Fine, The Secret Sisters
Dead In The Water, Calexico
Earthly Justice, Western Centuries
Just Outside Of Austin, Lukas Nelson & The Promise Of The Real
Take Your Love Out Of Town, Zephaniah Ohora and The 18 Wheelers
Last Of The Houston Honky Tonk Heroes, Emily Herring
The Hard Way, The Turnpike Troubadours
Mr. Jukebox, Josh Hedley
I’ll Make It Through, Ruby Boots
Flesh And Bone, Blackberry Smoke
Cadillac Man, Wes Youssi & The County Champs
Misery And Gin, Jaime Wyatt
Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em, Mike and The Moonpies
Kindness Of Strangers, Courtney Marie Andrews
I Wanna Cry, Charley Crockett
2 Cool 2 Be 4-Gotten, Lucinda Williams
Nobody’s Business, Walter Salas-Humara
Mr. Fly, Mike Coykendall