Tag Archives: The Harmed Brothers

Episode #54 featuring Ray Vietti of The Harmed Brothers

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“No, ma’am, we’re musicians.” The Harmed Brothers (l to r): Alex Salcido and Ray Vietti. Photo by Christopher Sohler (www.christophersohler.com)

Episode #54 featuring Ray Vietti

The podcast crew survived another action-packed weekend at the Wildwood MusicFest & Campout here in beautiful Oregon, and upon returning to Portland the lads went right back to work in The Helm producing Episode #54.

Having hosted one half of The Harmed Brothers earlier in the year, we figured it was time to bring in the other half — singer-songwriter Ray Vietti. Known to his touring pals as “Donny Baseball,” Ray’s been spending much of the first half of 2015 in the Midwest, playing shows and traveling with fellow troubador Soda Gardocki.

On this episode, Ray tells us of his travels with Soda and his efforts to work on his performance skills without the help (or hindrance, as it were) of alcohol. The two spent significant time in Soda’s hometown of Chicago, playing Whiffle Ball and music with friends and cohorts.

Ray also talks about his early travels from his hometown in Missouri and the path that led him to “fall in love” with Portland and settle on the West Coast.

Now back from his early 2015 travels, Vietti has reunited with his Harmed Brothers partner, Alex Salcido. The pair are playing shows and building momentum for their next record, due out in early 2016 on Fluff & Gravy Records. They’re currently soliciting contributions to cover the cost of recording and producing the record through a crowd-funding campaign via Indiegogo. Check out the page here, and see the related video at the bottom of this post.

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Ray Vietti, kicking out the jams in The Helm.

Then, with Alex riding shotgun on banjo, Ray shares a couple of acoustic songs — one expected to be on the next record called “A Life In Progress,” and another called “Ode To Uncle Tupelo,” one of the first songs the two wrote together. Later, Alex grabs to the spotlight to sing on “Sail Away,” the Randy Newman classic. We capped the interview and performance with a couple of songs from the Harmed Brothers’ critically acclaimed record “Better Days.”

We also have some great music to share from some of our favorite country and Americana artists, including Elizabeth Cook, Adam Lee, Lilly Hiatt and Nikki Lane. Co-host Eric Kotila’s songlist contributions serve as a tribute Owen Mays, the great young songwriter who passed away recently.

So dial it up and make it happen. Here’s the playlist for Episode #54:

Sometimes It Takes Balls To Be A Woman, Elizabeth Cook
Drinking, Cheating, Loving and Leaving, Adam Lee and the Dead Horse Sound Company
Too Bad, Lilly Hiatt
A Life In Progress (Live In The Helm), The Harmed Brothers
Ode To Uncle Tupelo (Live In The Helm), The Harmed Brothers
Sail Away (Live In The Helm), The Harmed Brothers
Never Went Away, The Harmed Brothers
Love Song For The Assumed, The Harmed Brothers
Same God, The Calamity Cubes
Way To Go, Dogbite Harris
Crooked Smile, Jayke Orvis and the Broken Band
Don’t Ya Blame Me, James Hunnicutt
I Don’t Care Anymore, Owen Mays and the 80 Proof Boys
Another Dead Friend, Leroy Virgil
Myrna Lee, Blue Mountain
Lies, Nikki Lane
If You Think You’re Mine, James Sasser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3j9lyPJ1Hw

 

Episode #48 featuring Alex Salcido of The Harmed Brothers

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The Harmed Brothers’ Alex Salcido bellied up to the bar at The Helm. Photo by Christopher Sohler (www.christophersohler.com)

Episode #48 with Alex Salcido

Armed with a beautiful voice and a wonderfully beat up acoustic, longtime podcast pal Alex Salcido of The Harmed Brothers stopped back in The Helm last week as the featured artist for Episode #48, and we’re sure glad he did.

Just a few weeks back, Alex could be heard backing up his pal Tom VandenAvond in a special podcast taping and house show in The Helm. Now cooling his heels in Portland while working on the next Harmed Brothers record, Alex has been playing a few shows here and there around town while prepping for a summer of fun and music with his Harmed Brothers partner Ray Vietti.

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Alex Salcido, laying it down in The Helm. Photo by Christopher Sohler

On this episode, Alex shares the stories of his musical journey from middle school up through the present, a long road with some interesting twists and turns along the way. The Harmed Brothers made quite a splash in 2013-14 with their terrific release “Better Days” on Fluff & Gravy Records, and we share a few of those songs on the show. But before then, Alex performs three fantastic newer tunes, including one he dedicates to his musical pal Drew Landry, currently on the mend from an auto accident. He sings, “Well be broke, but we’ll never be broken,” on the tune “Adopt A Highway.”

We also have some amazing new music to share, per usual. When he wasn’t spreading disinformation about NASCAR racing and Loudon Wainwright III, co-host Phil Favorite dug up brand-new, unreleased songs from The Earnest Lovers and Barna Howard as well as music from some killer Northwest bands he’s seen play live recently, including Evening Bell, The Ganges River Band and Jenny Don’t & The Spurs.

There’s also new music from John Moreland and Ryan Bingham as well as terrific cuts from podcasts favorites Caleb Caudle, Tim Barry, Cory Brannan and a closing track picked by co-host Mike Lee to shine the spotlight on the recent rioting in Baltimore.

So settle in for the ride and let Mr. Salcido’s voice carry you away. All you have to do is hit play. Here’s the playlist for Episode #48 of That Much Further West Podcast:

Dust Storm, Evening Bell
Eyes of Fire, The Ganges River Band
Angel of Sunrise, The Earnest Lovers
Indiana Rose, Barna Howard
Don’t Wanna Be Lonesome (Live in The Helm), Alex Salcido
Adopt A Highway (Live in The Helm), Alex Salcido
For Stephen Maddox (Live in The Helm), Alex Salcido
Ballad of Probably Not, The Harmed Brothers
When You See Me, The Harmed Brothers
Trade All The Lights (featuring Lydia Loveless), Caleb Caudle
Angelyne, Fernando
The James, Tim Barry
High On Tulsa Heat, John Moreland
Radio, Ryan Bingham
Trouble With The Law, Jenny Don’t & The Spurs
Downtown Girls, American Aquarium
Little Birds, Trujillo
Meantime Blues, Cory Branan
Hemingway’s Whiskey, Guy Clark
Streets of Baltimore, Gram Parsons

TMFWP Special: An Evening with Tom VandenAvond

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Buddies and touring mates: Alex Salcido (left) and Tom VandenAvond in The Helm. Photo by Christopher Sohler (www.christophersohler.com)

Listen to Tom VandenAvond’s performance at The Helm from 3-25-15:

Tom V. in The Helm

Listen to Tom’s interview with the hosts of That Much Further West Podcast:

Interview with Tom V.

Tom VandenAvond is one of our finest modern American troubadours, and a longtime favorite of That Much Further West Podcast. That’s why we were thrilled to have Tom and his touring mate, Alex Salcido of The Harmed Brothers, in for a special house show in The Helm on March 25.

Tom V. was touring the Pacific Northwest promoting his latest CD, “Endtimes,” a record he made with the help of one of the Pac NW’s best bands, Larry and His Flask. With Salcido riding shotgun and adding banjo and other goodies, the house show at The Helm leaned heavily on cuts from “Endtimes” and his two other terrific CDs, 2012’s “Wreck of a Fine Man” (see video below) and 2010’s “You Ought To Know Me By Now.” All three records come highly recommended by the podcast crew.

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Tom V. with support from Marilee Hord and Alex Salcido.

You can almost hear the million road miles he’s covered in his raspy, whiskey-soaked voice as he entertains a small crowd of believers in The Helm. In our interview with the podcast hosts, Tom shared some tales from the road and how he ended up based in his current hometown of Knights Ferry, California, after a long stint in Austin, Texas. He also played a couple of bonus tunes accompanied by Salcido and our local friend Marilee Hord.

Enjoy the recordings and be sure to watch for Tom V. coming through your hometown soon. And follow all his comings and goings at tomvandenavond.com.