Monthly Archives: April 2019

April Podcast Picks

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Maria Francis and Jeff Overbo lead Silver Lake 66, who have followed up their strong debut with a stellar new album “Ragged Heart.”

Summer Festival Fever is starting to settle in here at That Much Further West Podcast, but Spring has delivered plenty of excellent new albums and live performances on the podcast calendar.

With an eye toward July’s Wildwood MusicFest & Campout, we kick off our April Podcast Picks with a tune from the excellent new album “Ragged Heart” by Silver Lake 66. They’ll be at Wildwood this year, but beforehand, they’ll be celebrating the release of the new record with a performance May 4 at The Secret Society in Portland — a can’t-miss show for our crew.

And speaking of can’t-miss shows, our team caught up with a number of bands as they performed in Portland last week, including Ruby Boots, Jenny Don’t & The Spurs and M. Lockwood Porter, whose new album “Communion In The Ashes” is received widespread critical acclaim since its release a few weeks back. We share tunes from all three outfits here, along with new stuff from The Cactus Blossoms (Doug Fir, May 1), The Long Ryders, Shoves & Rope, Terri Lynn Davis, W.C. Beck, Kassi Valazza, Molly Tuttle and Drivin’ N’ Cryin’.

You’ll also hear tunes from Vandoliers and Cory Branan, who share a bill at White Eagle Saloon in Portland on April 30, and a killer new track from An American Forrest, whose new record is due soon and was recorded right here in Portland by local treasure Mike Coykendall.

So dig into our April Podcast Picks and give it a spin, and be sure check our Live Music Portland calendar for opportunities to support live music in our community.

Here’s the playlist:

Faded Tattoo, Silver Lake 66
Please Don’t Call Me Crazy, The Cactus Blossoms
Wrap Me In A Fever, Ruby Boots
Ruby, Strand of Oaks
California State Line, The Long Ryders
Waiting For A Sign, M. Lockwood Porter
My Only Desire, Jenny Don’t & The Spurs
Greetings From Mardi Gras, The Harmed Brothers
Ain’t Been Tamed Yet, An American Forrest
Rainbows And Ridges, Blaze Foley
Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams
Blue Eyed Wanderer, Matt Woods & The Natural Disasters
Times Past, Terri Lynn Davis
Bottom Dollar Boy, Vandoliers
Blacksburg, Cory Branan
Chino, Kassi Valazza
Highway 46, Tom Russell
You Don’t Look So Good (Cocaine), Caroline Spence
The Wire, Shovels & Rope
The Long Way Home, W.C. Beck
Take The Journey, Molly Tuttle
Step By Step, Drivin N Cryin

TMFW Podcast Special: Catching up with Morgan Geer of Drunken Prayer

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Asheville, N.C.’s Morgan Geer is back with what critics are calling maybe his finest work yet with Drunken Prayer: “Cordelia Elsewhere” is set for release Friday, April 5.

A couple years back — around the time he was about to embark on tour as lead guitarist for alt-country icons Freakwater — Morgan Geer debuted an original song that’s been haunting us here at That Much Further West Podcast ever since.

“Cordelia” has a melody and chorus so catchy it’ll stick in your head like a piece of gum might to your shoe. But it was the fact that Geer — the man behind one of our favorite bands, Drunken Prayer — had recently moved from Portland to the greener pastures of Asheville, N.C. that really made the song hit home.

It’s all come full circle since. Geer recently visited Portland and played a series of shows ahead of the release of his brand-new record with Drunken Prayer, titled Cordelia Elsewhere, due out this Friday on Deer Lodge Records. We caught up with Morgan to talk about the nice response the new record is receiving and our continuing fascination with the title cut.

“Cordelia” is a song about the “scooping out of the middle class,” as Geer puts it, a state of affairs that has become all too common in trendy towns where gentrification is driving up prices on everything from rent to food to real estate.

Geer also talks about how the current state of American politics creeped in as an overarching theme for the new record. He speaks to how divided the nation has become, and about how so many Americans are trapped in costly living situations they can’t get out of.

As for the record, American Standard Time put it this way: “Beware Cordelia Elsewhere. Here Drunken Prayer is exploring pathos with a variety of American sounds. Whistling past the graveyard with garage rock, country, soul, and a power pop vibe that buoys listeners in its murk. Here is the best thing Drunken Prayer has ever done. Emotional work songs for dark days. Songs to sing along to as you dig your own grave.”

In our interview, Geer also shares his plans for the rest of the year, which include a summer trip back to the west coast for a series of shows, including an appearance at this year’s Wildwood MusicFest & Campout in July.

And all along the way we play new cuts from the record. So kick back and have a listen and learn more about what makes this killer singer-songwriter tick and why you won’t want to miss his next performance when he visits a town near you soon.

Enjoy! Here’s a playlist of songs included:

Into The Water
It Happens All The Time
Cordelia
Science
Rubble & Dust