Let’s take a few moments here to appreciate the talents of Mr. Buddy Miller.
Archive for the Buddy Miller Category
Patty Griffin: Downtown Church
Posted in Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin on February 3, 2010 by AmericanaPulse
For this album, Patty teamed with ultra talented Buddy Miller as her producer. Buddy leads Patty through a set of 14 tracks including two originals, several hymns and gospel standards, and tunes written by Hank Williams and Leiber & Stoller among others. The production is an important element here. Most of the time when I think of a straight gospel record, I think of something austere and… well… bland. That’s not the case here. Patty and Buddy never let you get the sense that you’ve heard this all before.
Much like Buddy’s own gospel album, Universal United House of Prayer (the 2005 Americana Album of the Year), the music is the primary focus. Patty’s regular guitarist and bandleader Doug Lancio leads a wonderful group of players that is primarily composed of members of the Raising Sand (Alison Krauss & Robert Plant) touring band. Add to that guest vocals from Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Jim Lauderdale, Raul Malo, Mike Farris, Buddy & Julie Miller, and Regina & Ann McCrary.
Americana Award Winners & Other Notes
Posted in Americana Music Awards 09, BettySoo, Buddy and Julie Miller, Buddy Miller, Gurf Morlix, Justin Townes Earle, Patty Griffin, Porterdavis on September 18, 2009 by AmericanaPulse***Well… The results are in from last night’s Americana Honors and Awards Show, and the winners are Buddy Miller, Buddy Miller, Buddy Miller, Buddy Miller, Gurf Morlix, and Justin Townes Earle.
Americana Music Awards: Past Album of the Year Winners
Posted in Americana Music Awards, Buddy and Julie Miller, Buddy Miller, James McMurtry, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Patty Griffin on September 17, 2008 by AmericanaPulse If you’ve been reading this blog at all, then you know that the Americana Music Honors and Awards Show will be held tomorrow night in Nashville and will be broadcast live on XM Radio’s X-Country channel beginning at 8:oo Eastern Time. This is just one more post celebrating the event and its past winners. I’ve written about most of this year’s nominees over the past month or so. You can read those posts here… a few of the songs have expired, but most of them are still there.
Anyway… today we’ll take a look at the recordings that have been honored as Album of the Year at past awards shows.
2002:
Buddy & Julie Miller from Buddy & Julie Miler
Buddy & Julie Miller: The River’s Gonna Run (Buy Album)
Buddy Miller is the most nominated artist in the history of the awards, and this was his first win. This album is a fine collection of duets with his wife Julie Miller. In fact, it was Julie’s unique voices (both her singing and songwriting voices) that initially drew me in to this album, and it has become one of my favorites. The song I’m sharing here is the first song I heard from the album, and the first time I heard Julie’s voice.
2003:
American IV: The Man Comes Around from Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash: Give My Love to Rose (Buy Album)
Johnny Cash swept all the major awards this year, winning Artist, Album, and Song of the Year. Johnny’s late career collaborations with producer Rick Rubin are among some of my favorite Cash recordings, and he was well deserving of winning at the 2003 awards. This is a re-recording one of Cash’s classic songs.
2004:
Van Lear Rose from Loretta Lynn
Loretta Lynn: Portland, Oregon (Buy Album)
2004 was my first Americana Music Conference and the first time I got to attend the Awards Show. I was so excited because Loretta Lynn was nominated for three awards, and I just knew that she would be there and I would have the chance to meet her. She is from my hometown, but I’ve never had the chance to see her in person. Lynn won for Artist and Album of the Year, but accepted her awards via videotape… she was out on the road. Nevertheless… Van Lear Rose is an amazing album, that despite some new-school production from Jack White, is purely classic Loretta Lynn.
2005:
Universal United House of Prayer from Buddy Miller
Buddy Miller: With God on Our Side (Buy Album)
Buddy was the big winner in 2005… taking Album and Song of the Year honors. Universal United House of Prayer is a country-soul study on faith and religion that spoke directly to the souls of award voters. The album was released just as the 2004 Americana Conference was being held, and the highlight of the entire 2004 conference was Buddy’s performance of Bob Dylan’s “With God on Our Side” at The Mercy Lounge. More than a few people were moved to tears listening to this thirty-year-old song that sounded as though it had been ripped from the headlines of the day.
2006:
Childish Things from James McMurtry
James McMurtry: Childish Things (Buy Album)
I still remember listening to this album for the first time and falling in love with it immediately. Above all else, James McMurtry is a storyteller… likely a trait he gets from his father, novelist Larry McMurtry. The stories on this album are about family vacations, young men preparing for war, a country losing its way, and just general tales about coming of age. The title track is one of those coming of age stories about the things we keep with us as we grow older, and the things we must leave behind. By the way, I think we all know someone like Aunt Clara from this song… I know I do.
2007:
Children Running Through from Patty Griffin
Patty Griffin: Heavenly Day (Buy Album)
I have seen it written that this album is Patty Griffin’s masterpiece. While I love each and every one of her albums and recommend each of them as “must own” records… it is hard to disagree with the previous statement. Children Running Through finds Patty equally at ease with the wisful folk ballad “Trapeze” as she is with the acoustic rocker “No Bad News.” There are even some hints of jazz and R&B in “Stay on the Ride.” The song I’ve offered up here, “Heavenly Day,” was nominated for Song of the Year. Patty says it’s a love song written to her dog.
Americana Music Awards: Past Song of the Year winners
Posted in Americana Music Awards, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott, James McMurtry, Jim Lauderdale, Johnny Cash, Ralph Stanley, Rodney Crowell on September 15, 2008 by AmericanaPulseToday… song of the year.
2002:
For the first year of the award, voters chose a perfect blend of old and new. Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley joins songwriter Jim Lauderdale, an artist known for preserving old-time sounds while updating them for new audiences, on a fun little bluegrass romp, “She’s Looking at Me.” The album, Lost in the Lonesome Pines, won a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album in 2002.
2003:
Last week’s theme at Star Maker Machine was “Johns,” and poster, Autopsy IV, put up this track for a Johnny Cash post. As he says in his post, I really believe history will remember this as a Johnny Cash song… not a Nine Inch Nails song. Watching the video makes this song that much more heartbreaking.
2004:
I’ve posted this song before, and it is one of my favorites. Rodney takes us through a stream of consciousness rant against several of society’s ills. Sex, drugs, disasters, murder, Ken Star, womanizing, government excess, global warming, and war are all covered in just over five minutes.
2005:
2006:
Here’s another one I’ve posted before. This song just becomes more and more true every time I hear it. From the factory workers who’ve seen their jobs sent overseas, to the veterans living on the streets, to the pregnant teen cast aside by society… We can’t make it here anymore.
2007:
I first heard this song at the 2005 Americana Music Conference as part of a panel where new music was played for DJ’s and radio programmers as a sort of focus group. We all immediately fell in love with the song, and it received the highest ratings of anything we heard that day. No surprise it picked up this award two years later.
Friday Top 5: Buddy Miller
Posted in Buddy Miller, Top 5 on September 12, 2008 by AmericanaPulse This week’s subject on the Friday Top 5 is none other than singer/songwriter/producer/guitarist, Buddy Miller. Buddy celebrated a birthday last weekend. Earlier this year, he celebrated being named Aritst of the Decade by No Depression magazine. Later this month, he’ll serve once again as leader of the house band at the Americana Honors and Awards show in Nashville. He is, afterall, the most nominated performer in the history of those awards.
Buddy Miller has worked with many different artists in many different capacities during the course of his career. He’s played in bands with Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, Gurf Morlix, and Alison Krauss & Robert Plant. He’s produced albums for Solomon Burke, Allison Moorer, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore and played or sang on albums from Levon Helm, Kasey Chambers, Lori McKenna, Frank Black, The Chieftains, Trisha Yearwood, and Lee Ann Womack (to name a few). His songs have been recorded by Womack, The Dixie Chicks, Jim Lauderdale, and Patty Loveless.
Today, the focus is on Buddy’s solo work. Buddy has released a total of five albums on Hightone and New West Records (I’m choosing not to count 2001’s Buddy & Julie Miller… I’ll feature it later). All five are stellar recordings. That’s why I was a bit surprised to find that the five songs I selected for today came exclusively from 1999’s Cruel Moon and 2002’s Midnight & Lonesome.
I’ll start with the tracks from Cruel Moon…
“Does My Ring Burn Your Finger” is my favorite Buddy Miller song, hands down. This was one of my first introductions to his music, and the classic country heartbreak contained within won me over.
“Love Match” was written by songwriter Paul Kennerly. In Buddy’s version (a duet with Steve Earle) you can begin to see that love gone wrong is a central theme of the album.
A slightly more hopeful take on love is offered up on “Looking for a Heartache Like You,” a song featuring co-writer Jim Lauderdale. I should note that Buddy’s wife, Julie Miller, also receives co-write credits on this and “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger.”
On now to Midnight & Lonesome…
Buddy offers up more heartbreak on the Everly Brothers’ “The Price of Love.” “Wine is Sweet/And Gin is Bitter./Drink all you can/But you Won’t forget her.” That is the price of love… a debt paid in tears and pain. The song gets a rock & roll treatment from Buddy with backing vocals from Julie.
Finally, the title track from Midnight & Lonesome is another country weeper. This one was written by Julie.
Buddy Miller: Does My Ring Burn Your Finger (Buy Album)
Buddy Miller: Love Match (Buy Album)
Buddy Miller: Looking for a Heartache Like You (Buy Album)
Buddy Miller: The Price of Love (Buy Album)
Buddy Miller: Midnight & Lonesome (Buy Album)