By Brent Thompson

For more than a decade, TrimTab Brewing Company has offered an impressive array of IPAs, stouts and sours. Now, TrimTab is greatly enhancing its music presence in two different ways. While DJs providing background music have been a constant in the brewery, its revamped B-Side Room provides a space to host national touring acts. In addition, TrimTab’s B-Side Productions houses a recording studio, rehearsal pace and equipment rental company. Recently, we sat down with TrimTab CEO Bill Ritter and B-Side Productions producer and recording engineer Andy Jackson to discuss these exciting additions.

Southern Stages: Andy and Bill – thanks for your time. Andy, when did you come to TrimTab and did your arrival coincide with the music enhancements here?

Andy Jackson: January and yes, 100%. When I first got here, Bill told me he his vision and he wanted to bring music. The first thing I said was, “We can’t bring music here – not until we get it right. For the bands you want to bring, we don’t have the stuff they want.” Now, we have a place for bands to come hang out and a dressing room.

Bill Ritter: No one wanted to play here.

Jackson: We turned it into a venue and we’ve got touring bands coming through. We are working with WorkPlay and other venues and I love the community aspect of it. We have a warehouse and, eventually, I’d like to see that as a bigger venue.  I’m from a punk rock background, but I am definitely a big picture guy. I’m not a jamband guy, but we have a jamband that does really good and the Yacht Rock night was really successful.

Southern Stages: In addition to focusing on live music, you’ve added a recording studio as well. How did that come about?

Jackson: Stephen Gann is a really good friend of Bill’s. I worked at Atomic when they first opened and he was a neighbor of Atomic and we became friends. I was the food and beverage director for the Birmingham Barons for five years. I loved the job and it was high-volume. After that, I got offered a job with East West and I did that for two years. I loved the job but I was burned out. Then I joined the Pihakis Group for a couple of years and then I went to Soho. Gann came in and saw me working there – he runs the Alabama Beer Company – and we started talking. I had just gotten back from a tour and I was ready for a change – I was tired of the restaurant business. I knew that I should be doing something in music. One of my friends that does some stuff for Netflix reached out to me and I signed on and started doing some writing for him for a musical. He said, “Hey, you need to meet this guy [Bill] – he needs somebody,” and we just sat down together and we clicked. Bill said, “If you ever wanted to have your own place, this is it.” I had a lot of gear and this is a great space and they weren’t using it for anything. We came in, got a dumpster and tore everything out.

Ritter: We recently brought some P.A. equipment and lights and it’s available for rental. We are calling it B-Side Productions and we are working on a page on our website to add it. We have P.A. rentals, rehearsal space and the ability to record music.

Jackson: We are trying to generate other ways to make revenue and promote music that we do here. With the B-Side Room, I was responsible for re-doing the stage and lights. It was just a white wall and some crates when I got here [laughs].

Southern Stages: How does your recording studio generate business?

Jackson: It’s mostly word-of-mouth as far as the studio goes.

Southern Stages: Andy, as an accomplished musician and multi-instrumentalist, do you play on sessions or mainly spend your time in the control room?

Jackson: I’m mostly in the control room, but if I can’t explain something to the drummer, I’ll just jump back there and play and I’ll say, “Hey, try this.” Being a singer, I’m a very melody-driven person and people will hire me for that reason. They’ll say, “We have these songs, but they don’t go anywhere.”

Southern Stages: Though state-of-the-art home recording technology exists these days, it can’t be a substitute for a professional and traditional studio like yours.

Jackson: There’s no substitute for this and it’s a lost art. You can’t recreate it in your bedroom. The drums in our room sound like huge, Led Zeppelin drums. Everything you hear now sounds so perfect but it has no character – it doesn’t have any flavor to it. And I can get more done here in 20 minutes than I can in four hours at home. Everything in there is mine – all of the guitars, the Pro Tools rig and microphones. Bill helped out with some painting and sound treatments.

Southern Stages: I assume your studio charges by the hour?

Jackson: Yes, and I like to do flat rates as well.  The first time a band records here, I usually push recording one song. I’ll say, “Let’s do one song so you can see how I do it.” I have fun doing it and I love seeing the excitement from people when we get done. I got into music in the first place because I love the art of it.

TrimTab Brewing Company is located at 2721 5th Avenue South and online at www.trimtabbrewing.com.

 

 

 

 

 

By Brent Thompson

Little Feat has a sound that belies its West Coast roots. With songs like “Dixie Chicken,” “Willin'” and “Oh, Atlanta,” the legendary band has a distinct Southern and swampy sound. Earlier this year, Little Feat released Strike Up the Band (Hot Tomato Records), its 18th studio album. On Tuesday, October 14, the band returns to the Alabama Theatre in a show presented by Coder-R Productions. Recently, we spoke with Little Feat guitarist Fred Tackett by phone.

Southern Stages: Fred, thanks for your time. We are really enjoying Strike Up the Band. How did the album’s material take shape?

Fred Tackett: It’s all pretty much new stuff. We have Scott [Sharrard] and Tony Leone in the band now, so this is the first we’ve had of playing some of the songs that Scott wrote and also a song Tony Wrote. There are a couple of songs I wrote on the record that are brand new. Billy [Payne] had been writing some songs with Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead, and they were working on those songs when [Hunter] died. So, those are kind of older but the songs that I wrote and Scott and Tony wrote are all brand new.

Southern Stages: Over what time frame was the album recorded?

Tackett: I was just looking at it last night – it was no more than two weeks before the whole thing was done. We were in Nashville, first of all at Blackbird Studio which is a beautiful, very modern studio. Then, we did some overdubbing and vocals at Vance Powell’s home studio. Vance is a great engineer and a great producer. It went real smooth and real quick like the old days [laughs].

Southern Stages: Do songs continue to evolve even after you take them into the studio?

Tackett: They definitely can get tweaked. When we start playing them, someone will come up with an idea and we’ll say, “Yeah, that’s great – screw what we were doing before.” Levon Helm was telling me that when he was in The Band, three or four guys would bring in different arrangements of a song and they would record them all and pick out the one they liked. So, yeah, it’s definitely very fluid in the studio. As a matter of fact, “Too High To Cut My Hair” was one that Scott and I wrote together and I had one idea for a groove and Scott had another for a groove. I was pushing my idea and Scott played his idea and everybody in the band went, “That’s it!” and we did it that way. Everything is up for grabs as we do it.

Southern Stages: With such a large song catalog, how does Little Feat comprise its live setlists these days?

Tackett: Scott Sharrard does it and Paul Barrere did it before he passed because he was singing a lot of them. Scott sings a lot of them and we pace the program to go along with strength of his voice which is always pretty darn good. He’ll say, “I don’t want to do that song right away – I want to wait a little bit until I get my vocals warmed up,” so there are considerations like that. We go through basically what he calls the legacy tunes – “Fat Man in the Bathtub,”  “Let It Roll, “Oh, Atlanta” and of course “Dixie Chicken” and “Willin’.” Now, “Spanish Moon” has become very popular among a lot of the younger kids because they’ve heard Phish and Gov’t Mule do it. We will throw in three or four of the newer songs interspersed among the legacy tunes.

Southern Stages: You mentioned the legacy songs – how do those songs stay fresh to you after you’ve played them hundreds or even thousands of times by this point?

Tackett: We really love these tunes and we are so proud to have this library of great songs. That’s part of the reason Little Feat has manged to last all these years – it’s the catalog. There is a lot of improvising and a lot of soloing and that’s always different, so we don’t feel like, “Oh, we have to do this again.”

Southern Stages: You’ve forged your career in two eras – one based on terrestrial radio, albums and cassettes.  Now, it’s Spotify, satellite radio, Youtube and other outlets as well. How do you feel about the current music industry climate?

Tackett: It’s all about playing live – that’s where you make a living, by touring. It used to be just the opposite. Back in the ’60s and ’70s, it was all about record sales and you toured to amplify your record sales. Right now, it’s all about touring because musicians don’t get paid like they used to get paid. With streaming, the record companies and streaming sites make most of the money and the guys in the band don’t get very much money. The technology is great, so there are both sides and a new band can get lost in the shuffle. We are just lucky that we have 50 to 60 years of playing under our belt and a bunch of people that know us.

Southern Stages: As a guitarist, are you a gear head? Do you continue to search for new equipment or do you tend to stick with what you have?

Tackett: No, I’m the latter. I’ve got this really great Fender amp, two Stratocaster guitars and a mandolin that I’ve been using since the ’80s. We were in the studio and my guitar tech called me from the Fender factory and said, “I’ve got these new guitars – there’s probably a paint mistake or something on them, but one of them is $100 and one is $150. Do you want me to get them for you?” I said, “Hell yeah,” and I haven’t changed anything on them and I’ve been playing them for a bunch of years now and I love them to death. They’re just simple, right off-the-line Stratocasters.

Southern Stages: Over the years, how has your songwriting pattern evolved?

Tackett: It’s usually like studying for your final exams in school. It’s like, “We’ve got to get some songs, guys.” My beautiful wife is always telling me, “You need to be to writing some songs,” but we always kind of wait until the last minute. One of my methods is to collect titles. I’ll get titles and think, “What kind of song would I want this to be? A rocker or a ballad?” and I’ll start working. And sometimes it starts with chord changes and I’ll say, “What kind of words do I want to go over this?”

Southern Stages: Outside of Little Feat, your resume as a session musician is lengthy and distinguished. You’ve worked on recordings by Neil Diamond, Michael McDonald, Dolly Parton, Boz Scaggs and Bob Dylan to name just a few.

Tackett: I was very lucky. I came to Los Angeles at the behest of Jimmy Webb – he’s written hundreds of great songs and he’s probably my favorite songwriter of all time. He got me into meeting Glen Campbell – we are both from Arkansas and we hit it off and became good friends and Glen used me on his records. So, I started getting calls. Lowell George lived next door to my wife and Lowell became a good friend way before Little Feat and he introduced to me people. It was kind of word-of-mouth – that’s how you get popular in the studio. You have to be able to cover everything – you don’t ever know what it’s going to be when they call you for a session. You just show up and be ready for anything. Most of the time, you walk in and the artist could be anybody and you have to be familiar with all kinds of styles.

Code-R Productions presents Little Feat at the Alabama Theatre on Tuesday, October 14. Trey Hensley will open the 8 p.m. show. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.alabamatheatre.com.

By Brent Thompson

Daniel Donato might have been born a few decades too late given his old-soul musical leanings, but we are glad he exists in the present day. The leader of Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country, the 30-year-old virtuoso guitarist has had an exciting year that has seen a performance at Bonnaroo and headlining show at the famed Ryman Auditorium. On August 22, his Cosmic Country outfit released Horizons (Retrace Music), a 15-track collection that follows the 2023 release Reflector. On Friday, October 3, Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country returns to Birmingham to perform at Saturn. Recently, Donato spoke with us by phone as he was set to embark on his current tour.

Southern Stages: Daniel, thanks for your time. We are really enjoying Horizons. Over what period of the time was the album recorded?

Daniel Donato: About two weeks in January of this year – we move fast.

Southern Stages: As a guitarist, are you a gear head? When you’re on the road, are you combing the local music stores?

Donato: I go through phases. Right now, I’m not changing up a lot of stuff but once I year I go through that. I’m not like Joe Bonamassa where I’m always trying to find guitars. It’s really not about the materials so much for me as a guitarist. With that said, I would love to own some early ’50s [Fender] Telecasters and Broadcasters someday. I do love old Martins that have been played for decades. The guitar players that are usually more about songwriting – their mind is more in the realm of music. Guitar players that aren’t concerned with songwriting – their creative spirit usually goes into the rig. I’m always tinkering with my rig, but I’m not buying a lot of new stuff all the time.

Southern Stages: You mentioned Joe Bonamassa – his voracious approach to guitar collecting is unbelievable.

Donato: It’s probably the most intensive guitar collection that any one person has had.

Southern Stages: I would give anything to tour his collection.

Donato: It’s something that he’s expressed to me that he’s going to do one day. He’s going to create the “Bonaseum” when he retires. Joe’s a good businessman – I admire him. I met Joe when I was 16 and he’s been a mentor of mine  for 14 years.

Southern Stages: If you will, talk about your recent headlining show at the Ryman Auditorium

Donato: That was really exciting on a lot of levels – spiritually, psychologically and on a material level – just a lot of energy, clapping, dancing and love. You know, acoustic guitarists love acoustic guitars because that wood is so settled in and there’s been so much time put into that particular instrument. The Ryman is a lot like that – in that room, there has been so much great music played that is so enduring and formative to country music. To have the opportunity to play on that stage and have control over the narrative musically is a real blessing and it was also something that we earned – we worked really hard for it. I love it when hard work meets a blessing – those are the best moments.

Southern Stages: I have been in that building probably a dozen times and every time still feels like that first time.

Donato: There you go. That’s that living spirit!

Southern Stages: You’re a young guy but also and old soul. It’s so impressive that you incorporate the songs of Hank Williams, Marty Robbins and Mickey Newbury – to name just a few – into your set lists.

Donato: That was always the way that I found it – people that loved that music and were playing those songs. They didn’t necessarily write those songs, but they loved them and that’s how I discovered them as well. I feel like I’m just continuing that cycle. A lot of these people have never heard of Marty Robbins. They’ve heard of Hank Williams, but don’t know his songs. That’s a part of America’s history that needs to be celebrated.

Southern Stages: How do you feel about the current music industry climate in the age of streaming, Youtube, satellite radio and other outlets?

Donato: That’s a really complex one and I haven’t had any experience other than this one. I’m sure that when it was harder to make music, there were variables that made it tough to be heard. I’m sure that when Conway Twitty was recording for Sun Records, he had a hard time getting heard because they had Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. It was like, “Why do we need to push your record when these guys are moving tons of units?,” you know? There is always an above and a below – there’s always a plus and a negative. Now there so much going on with AI and that’s going to create a shadow of some kind.

Southern Stages: You make a great point – artists of the past had challenges of their own.

Donato: With Cosmic Country, we sow our seeds in a field that is populated by a subculture of America. The people that are in our culture and our community – they really love authenticity and they love expression that comes from a true place and has a beautiful and good aim. A lot of times when people come to our shows, it becomes a sacred experience. Secondarily, it’s a communal and fun time. There are a lot of shows that people go to primarily to have a good time and there really isn’t a lot sacred about it. So, I have a lot of faith in that sacred variable.

On Friday, October 3, Daniel Donato will perform at Saturn. Showtime is 8 p.m. Advance tickets to the 18+ show can be purchased at www.saturnbirmingham.com. 

By Brent Thompson

At the 2015 LOCKN’ festival, Tedeschi Trucks Band hosted a star-studded tribute to Joe Cocker and Leon Russell’s famed 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour. It’s taken 10 years for this recording to appear, but it was well worth the wait. On September 12, Fantasy Records released Tedsechi Trucks Band and Leon Russell Present Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited (Live at LOCKN’). Over the course of the album’s 14 tracks, some well-worn classics are given a new shine. Highlight appearances include John Bell (“Delta Lady”), Rita Coolidge & Doyle Bramhall II (“Bird on the Wire”), Chris Robinson (“Sticks and Stones “) and Warren Haynes and Anders Osborne (“She Came in through the Bathroom Window”). Toss in other guests including Dave Mason, Pamela Polland and Claudia Linnear, and you’ve got quite the event. The album has a twinge of sentimentality and sadness, however, as the great Leon Russell passed away a year after this recording. All in all, Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited is reverent and relevant at the same time and should be in any rock fan’s collection.

 

By Brent Thompson

Like a lot of renowned releases, Warren Haynes’ latest – The Whisper Sessions (Fantasy Records) – wasn’t supposed to see the light of day. A stripped-down companion to Haynes’ 2024 release, Million Voices Whisper, this collection peels back the songs to just voice and guitar. Along the way, Haynes is aided by longtime cohort Derek Trucks on tracks including “These Changes” and a cover of “Melissa.” Of course, the two guitarists have shared stellar moments for years, but The Whisper Sessions brings the interplay to the forefront like never before. It should also be noted that the track “Real, Real Love” – also featuring Trucks – was an unfinished composition by Gregg Allman that Haynes completed. Ultimately, the album gives the feeling that Haynes is singing and playing just for you. As listeners, we are glad this intimate collection made its way to the public.

 

By Brent Thompson

With a career spanning more than 50 years and radio staple hits including “Amie,” “Let Me Love You Tonight” and “Still Right Here in My Heart,” Pure Prairie League is more than just a band – it is an enduring treasure that helped pioneer the country-rock movement. Currently, the band is on tour in support of its latest release, Back on Track. On Saturday, September 27, Pure Prairie League will return to Birmingham to perform at WORKPLAY Theatre. Recently, we spoke with bassist and founding member Mike Reilly by phone.

Southern Stages: Mike, thanks for your time today. Where is Pure Prairie League based these days?

Mike Reilly: We base out of Nashville, although I live in Long Island, New York.

Southern Stages: We are looking forward to having you back in Birmingham.

Reilly: It’s going to be nice to get back to Birmingham. We’ve got a lot of friends down there and a couple of our old roadies are in the area. It’ll be nice to see some old faces and some new faces – it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Southern Stages: We are really enjoying Back on Track. Are the album’s songs newer compositions, some older ideas or a mixture of both?

Reilly: The songs that Jared [Camic] wrote are new songs. The ones that Jeff [Zona] wrote – he had demos from a while back. Once I heard the demos, I said, “This sounds like Pure Prairie League” and we did a little work on the arrangements. Once we got into the studio, it just came together – it was magic. Once again, it’s gratifying to know that after five and half decades we can still put together a good product.

Southern Stages: Over what period of time was the album recorded?

Reilly: July 2023 to July 2024. We recorded it in Madison, Tennessee – right outside of Nashville. A friend has a studio in his house right on the Cumberland River. We spent a week a month for 12 months doing the record.

Southern Stages: Given your large catalog of songs, how does your band comprise set lists for live shows?

Reilly: The set list is different from night to night. We like to throw stuff in because it keeps the band fresh and it’s interesting. We’ve got 200 songs in our catalog and you can’t play more than about 20 in a 90-minute show. So, we mix things up and in the last few years we’ve been looking back through our catalog and dusting off a few songs we did in the early ’70s and haven’t played since the early ’70s. It’s very exciting to play songs like “Woman,” “Angel #9,” “Call Me, Tell Me” and things like that – it’s a blast.

Southern Stages: A few songs songs certainly fall into the set list every night. How do songs stay fresh and relevant to you after you’ve played them literally thousands of times by now?

Reilly: It’s a different crowd every night, so the energy is different. There are really good musicians in this band and we don’t do the same solos unless it’s a signature lick. John Heinrich is playing the David Sanborn sax on “Let Me Love You Tonight” pretty much note-for-note because that’s a signature lick and the “Two Lane Highway” intro is a signature lick. But when you get down to the solos, everybody has free reign to add their personality in there and so it’s different every night.

Southern Stages: I assume you are seeing a wide cross-section of ages in your audience these days.

Reilly: When you’re around for 55 years, you’ve got a lot of people that have listened to your songs since the ’70s and ’80s and they’re excited to hear the songs. It’s great to see three generations of people out there in the audience.

Southern Stages: Are you a gearhead? When you’re on tour, are you combing through music stores?

Reilly: A couple of months ago we were in the Chicago area and we went into a great music store – we were like kids in a candy store [laughs]. We’re always looking for that rare find if we’ve got the time to get out there and scope around.

Southern Stages: When did you join the band?

Reilly: I joined in the summer of 1972 during the Bustin’ Out album.

Southern Stages: You have an interesting perspective on the music business given the length of your career. How do you feel about the current climate which includes Internet, streaming, satellite radio and other outlets? Some artists say it’s a great time and others say it’s difficult to sift through the noise.

Reilly: There’s such an oversaturation of product – I’m not going to say good and bad music because that’s an individual taste decision. But the fact that it’s so readily available works in our favor because people can go back through the years and find some stuff that they haven’t had access to. On the new album, we had our publicist do a campaign in Europe and there were songs charting and the reviews from Europe have been fantastic. I will give credit to the technology age for helping us get the word out.

Southern Stages: Pure Prairie League has now become included in the Yacht Rock format – how do you feel about your association with it?

Reilly: People have always had the need to categorize and we’ve always tried to defy categorization. We’re too rock for country and too country for rock and now it’s Yacht Rock. We started playing country-rock music in the early ’70s and now it’s called Americana. Once again, any generation needs to categorize and we’re fine with that. You want call us Yacht Rock, that’s great – I just wish there was enough money going around to to buy that damn yacht [laughs].

Southern Stages: Though your band has seen personnel changes throughout the years, the music has maintained a consistent sound and quality.

Reilly: Everybody that’s ever been in the band has brought something to the table that ups the game a little bit. Through all the years, the musicians that joined have been fans of the band, great players and they’re great people. We’ve never thrown a punch in 55 years of this band [laughs]. It’s very important that musically and personally we get along – the band is like a family more than anything. It’s certainly not just a business venture and everyone’s heavily invested in making this thing a success.

On Saturday, September 27, Pure Prairie League will perform in the WORKPLAY Theatre. Advance tickets to the 7 p.m. show are $35-$60 and can be purchased at www.workplay.com.

By Brent Thompson

Coming through the pandemic and the release of his last album for Elektra Records – 2021’s Maybe We Never Die – Anderson East was admittedly and understandably jaded with life as a musician. But a 2023 trip to famed producer Dave Cobb’s studio in Savannah, Ga. proved to be a turning point for the singer/songwriter. The recording sessions with Cobb yielded Worthy, East’s latest release and his debut album for Rounder Records. Those familiar with the catalog of the Alabama-native-turned-Nashville-resident will still find a unique blend of R&B, soul and rock in his music. But, lyrically, there are more prevalent themes of gratitude, acceptance and optimism to be found than any of his previous releases. On Thursday, September 4, East will returns Birmingham to perform in the Workplay Soundstage. Recently, he spoke with us by phone from his Nashville home.

Southern Stages: Anderson, thanks for your time today. With several albums in your catalog at this point, how do you construct your live set lists these days?

Anderson East: Very selfishly [laughs]. I have a really difficult time lying, especially the older I get. If I’m not having a good time, it’s pretty apparent. Luckily, the things that I like are what people are there to see anyway. It’s mainly just what feels good and what’s enjoyable.

Southern Stages: How would you describe your writing process? Do you write when inspiration strikes or do you write on a schedule?

East: Nowadays I write for a lot of other artists and it’s pretty much every day.

Southern Stages: Once you’ve written a song, how do you determine if it’s a fit for you or another artist?

East: It’s usually pretty apparent. With this record in particular, there were a lot of songs that were intended to be for other people. After a certain period of time went by, I realized I was injecting a little too much of myself in there – it felt a little too personal. Going back to the selfish thing, I’d think, “I like that one.”

Southern Stages: Some artists tell me this is a great time to be in your position with multiple outlets and instant accessibility to music. Others say, for those same reasons, it can be difficult to be found among the crowd. How do you feel about the current industry climate?

East: I think both of those things are true, but I feel the most creative I’ve ever felt. I’m the happiest musically I’ve ever been and I’m consistently inspired and impressed by other people who are doing it. I think there is really great music coming out and great songs being written. There’s always this struggle about the good old days and in some ways things were easier. I think it’s pretty incredible right now. I think it’s only going to get better. I think if we talked long enough, I could argue against that point but I have a lot of optimism the artistic community will keep thriving going forward.

Live Nation Presents Anderson East in the Workplay Soundstage on Thursday, September 4. Benny G will open the 7:30 p.m. show. Advance tickets are $38.70 and can be purchased at www.workplay.com. 

By Brent Thompson

Though Muscle Shoals – the catch-all term for the tri-city area of Muscle Shoals, Florence and Sheffield, Ala. – is widely recognized as one of America’s music hubs, a detailed history of its legendary scene has gone surprisingly untold. The stellar 2013 Muscle Shoals documentary film helped remedy the situation, but there is always more to the story.

In November, music scholar Rob Bowman will release Land of a Thousand Sessions: The Complete Muscle Shoals Story 1951-1985 via Malaco Records.  Bowman, best known for his Stax biography, Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records, has gone to painstaking detail in telling the story of the “Hit Recording Capital of the World.” Focusing on the area’s recording heyday and running nearly 750 pages, Bowman has conducted research and interviews like no other writer on this subject.

www.malaco.com

 

The lineup poster says it all! Sloss Furnaces is the setting for the Iron Hills Music Festival on October 11 and 12. The national historic landmark will provide a dramatic setting for two incredible days of music. The festival is especially proud to include Birmingham-based – and national touring act – Mountain Grass Unit on the bill. Ticket information and festival details can be found at www.ironhillscountry.com.

 

By Brent Thompson

It doesn’t seem possible that Hayes Carll has just released his 10th album, but that’s where we find him on his latest, We’re Only Human (Hwy 87 Records). Given this milestone in his recording career, it’s somehow fitting that we hear a more intimate, introspective side of the 49-year-old singer/songwriter on this release. He’s always sung an honest tune, but We’re Only Human reveals an even more personal side of him. Co-produced by Gordy Quist (Band of Heathens), the album’s 10 tracks deal with matters of forgiveness, trust, peace and grace. All easy and lighthearted topics, right? Hardly. But Hayes boils these themes down into layman’s terms for the listener, which has always been one of his strong suits. Keep writing and singing Hayes – we can’t wait to hear the next ten releases.