The Last Music Company

23/06/2024

BILL KIRCHEN AND HIS BAND TO PLAY THE SOUND LOUNGE IN SUTTON UK 04/07/2024

Here’s a big slice of Americana Pie for you. On a flying visit from Texas to the UK for the Maverick Festival, guitarist Bill Kirchen is providing some election day relief on July 4th by celebrating America’s Independence Day with his band (Paul Riley and Malcolm Mills) at a one-off show at The Sound Lounge in Sutton.

Follow this link to secure your tickets: https://zurl.co/T19q

20/06/2024

NOW AVAILABLE: BILL KIRCHEN HAMMER OF THE H***Y TONK GODS LIMITED EDITION 10" VINYL LP BUNDLE

Bill Kirchen's Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods album is being released on 10" vinyl in a limited edition of one thousand pressings on 6th September 2024.

Here's an exclusive offer for you to not only get it early but also get a specially printed T-Shirt that's not available anywhere else.

Place your order anytime between now and midnight on 26th July to take delivery during August. The offer closes promptly at that time and we are unable to print further copies of the T-shirt after that date.

This bundle includes:

1 Limited Edition 10" Vinyl LP

A black unisex T-shirt (Gildan) with Flang Dang artwork on front--available in Small through 5XL sizes. (Check the size chart for the best fit.)

This item ships direct from Bill's record label in England, but the price includes postage and packing worldwide. Please note that if you are receiving the package outside of the UK, your local postal service may charge the small fee for customs clearance.

SHIPS FROM THE UK. Please allow up to 10 days for delivery.

ORDER HERE: https://zurl.co/QTIX

03/06/2024

ICYMI: NOW AVAILABLE: BILL KIRCHEN HAMMER OF THE H***Y TONK GODS LIMITED EDITION 10" VINYL LP BUNDLE

Bill Kirchen's Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods album is being released on 10" vinyl in a limited edition of one thousand pressings on 6th September 2024.

Here's an exclusive offer for you to not only get it early but also get a specially printed T-Shirt that's not available anywhere else.

Place your order anytime between now and midnight on 26th July to take delivery during August. The offer closes promptly at that time and we are unable to print further copies of the T-shirt after that date.

This bundle includes:

1 Limited Edition 10" Vinyl LP

A black unisex T-shirt (Gildan) with Flang Dang artwork on front--available in Small through 5XL sizes. (Check the size chart for the best fit.)

This item ships direct from Bill's record label in England, but the price includes postage and packing worldwide. Please note that if you are receiving the package outside of the UK, your local postal service may charge the small fee for customs clearance.

SHIPS FROM THE UK. Please allow up to 10 days for delivery.

ORDER HERE: https://zurl.co/QTIX

29/05/2024

GERAINT WATKINS: THIS ONE GOES TO ELEVEN SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

Geraint and The Mosquitoes have a run of dates coming up in July.

Their live, limited edition 10” Vinyl album is available for pre-order here: https://found.ee/JvfZC

In the meantime, here are 11 selections from across the catalogue for your listening pleasure this Wednesday.

LISTEN: https://spotify.link/KHbSah2mIJb

26/05/2024

SUNDAY READ: ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW

Andy wrapped up his run with Eric Clapton this weekend at The Royal Albert Hall. We look forward to him hitting the road sometime next year. In the meantime, ICYMI, here’s Dave Simpson's piece for The Guardian, on the occasion of the release of Andy’s most recent album, "Flang Dang."

"'Jimi Hendrix sidled over and politely told me: you’re in the wrong key…”

READ IT HERE: https://zurl.co/oHOA "

25/05/2024

IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH, IT TAKES A TRAIN TO CRY ~ BILL KIRCHEN

Bob Dylan was 83 yesterday.

His songs are often a staple of The Titan of the Telecaster’s set. Here’s Bill Kirchen, performing 'It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry', from Dylan’s 'Highway 61 Revisited', back in 1965.

Kirchen’s beautiful and mellow version of this song can be found on 'Proper Years', a comprehensive collection of works from his time on the Proper Music label.

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://spotify.link/ukjQlTiWSJb

You can find out more about The Proper Years here: https://zurl.co/ScTl

24/05/2024

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: GERAINT WATKINS AND THE MOSQUITOES ~ HERE AND THERE ~ OUT 20TH SEPTEMBER

Recorded live in London and Cardiff in 2023 to sold-out shows, this is a taste of a night with Geraint Watkins and the Mosquitoes. If you don't know who he is by now you probably won't be reading this anyway. …

This 10" limited edition vinyl album perfectly suits this kind of music - and Here and There is a fine testament to their live performances.

Pre-order here: https://zurl.co/w7xg

24/05/2024

NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: NOBODY MINDS ~ HANNAH WHITE

Here is Hannah’s singles calendar entry for May, another beauty. Produced and performed by Hannah and Kieron, it also features Svein Henning Berstad on bass, and Nigel Appleton on drums. It was mastered by Tom Hall at Abbey Road.

Below is Hannah’s story….

“When nobody minds us, we mind ourselves….

I grew up on a council estate. I had free school meals. At home there were financial pressures and things that came with that: depression, fights, bailiffs.

My parents knew our position. They wanted more and they wanted better. There were drawings of bigger houses, new enterprise ideas, all the free extra-curricular lessons they could sign us up for, and (sometimes stolen) books containing words from all the heavyweights like Wordsorth, Tolstoy & Shakespeare.

I have spent my adult-life learning the role my working class origins has played in my pathological lack of confidence, entitlement and resilience (all things I have developed through music by the way). I have thought a lot about my efforts to distance myself from my council-estate background and I wonder where the shame came from in the first place.

Did you know that social class is not a protected characteristic (like gender, race or religion for eg)? This means it is perfectly legal to not give someone a job, or pay them less, or discriminate against them based on their social class.

Did you know children from working class backgrounds persistently underperform at school. And the biggest funding cuts today continue to be in schools with the highest numbers of pupils on free school meals. Or that children from working class backgrounds are more likely to be taught by less qualified & less experienced teachers, and experience a higher level of teacher turnover?

I grew up with a strong aspiration to “overcome” my working-class beginnings. Today, I know better and I celebrate my working-class-ness in all its gritty glory: the character, the authenticity, the ability to keep standing through the hardest of times. I am proud, not despite of, but because of my class.

NOBODY MINDS goes out to all people from working-class backgrounds. But especially my twin sister who is an award-winning writer and whose life is dedicated to fighting for the human rights of all people including through her work at Amnesty International. She was born a fighter and will always be my working-class hero ❤️

COVER ART: Me & my sister”

NOBODY MINDS (Lyrics)

I swear I hear a calling
I swear I hear a bell
I’ve been here since dawn
And you’ve been here as well

Nobody minds us, Nobody minds us, Baby we mind ourselves
Nobody minds us, Nobody minds us, Baby we mind ourselves

I’m laid up with an infection
I can’t see a thing
There’s no getting no prescription
In this place we’re in

Nobody minds us, Nobody minds us, Baby we mind ourselves
Nobody minds us, Nobody minds us, Baby we mind ourselves

There are fathers in the pages
Of them old books you found
You’ve been reading them for ages
You’re gonna stand your ground

Nobody minds us, Nobody minds us, Baby we mind ourselves
Nobody minds us, Nobody minds us, Baby we mind ourselves

In the corners are the echoes
Of all the likes of us
The ones who came and then left quiet
The ones who made a fuss

Nobody minds us, Nobody minds us, Baby we mind ourselves
Nobody minds us, Nobody minds us, Baby we mind ourselves

LISTEN here: https://thelastmusiccompany.lnk.to/NobodyMinds

23/05/2024

TBT: Jimmie Vaughan

This week's throwback Thursday, is a picture of Jimmie Vaughan from a Fabulous Thunderbirds gig, by Tracy Anne Hart taken in November, 1982.

As she tells it, “The security guys at Rockefeller's decided to hold on to me and kept me from taking photos while Jimmie and the band did the song, "Crawl", the one where he played behind his head. As****es! I really wanted this shot, so when they let go of me I ran up to the stage in front of Jimmie and put my Black Paint Leica behind my head in this exact pose, and he was nice enough to respond with what you see here. It ain't easy shooting with the camera behind your head! ;)”

This photo is featured in the Jimmie Vaughan Story box set. ICYMI—you can find one at a great price here: https://a.co/d/bB9rxDI

(Photo by Tracy Anne Hart. Used with permission.)

22/05/2024

Coming this Friday…

Nobody Minds comes out this Friday 24th on The Last Music Company!!!!! 🎉 my 3rd ♥️

I recorded the vocal sat in one corner of the room with the microphone in the opposite far corner. It was just supposed to be a guide for the band to build from but I was in the zone & I felt that something had been captured that needed to be kept. Then Keir & I had a minor row about sound & technical problems being so far away. He won the argument (because I don’t know what I’m on about & he seriously does)…but I got my own way 😇

Pre-save here 🙏
(*you can pre-save without leaving full details) 👇

https://thelastmusiccompany.lnk.to/NobodyMinds

22/05/2024

JIMMIE VAUGHAN: THIS ONE GOES TO ELEVEN SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

Thinking of Jimmie this week. Here’s a quick eleven from across his catalogue.

Listen: https://a.co/d/bB9rxDI

21/05/2024

GIG ALERT: ROSIE FLORES TO PERFORM AT CONCERT FOR DEMOCRACY IN AUSTIN, FRIDAY, MAY 25TH

Concert For Democracy supports the non-partisan voter registration and education work of Texas Turnout, and will feature music by:

Los Super Seven (David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas & Steve Berlin fr. Los Lobos w/ Ruben Ramos, Rick Treviño, and Los Texmaniacs

Money Chicha - alt. cumbia from Austin, TX

The Tiarras - LatinX indie rock

with very special guests John Doe (X), Carrie Rodriguez, and Rosie Flores.

Emcee'd by Austin City Councilwoman Vanessa Fuentes.

Event will be at Radio East, 3504 Montopolis Drive, in Austin, 7PM Central.

Find tickets here: https://dice.fm/event/pxggl-concert-for-democracy-feat-los-super-seven-guests-24th-may-radio-east-austin-tickets

19/05/2024

SUNDAY MATINEE: DAN PENN INTERVIEW

David Leonard’s interview with Dan for the upcoming film “Alex Chilton: Why Should I Care?” The film is still in production.

WATCH: https://vimeo.com/935536076?share=copy

18/05/2024

SATURDAY REWIND: ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW ~ FLANG DANG

Andy Fairweather Low's FLANG DANG is a remarkable return to form, and is his first solo outing in seventeen years. The album was written, produced and performed by Andy, who plays all of the instruments here with the exception of the drums, deftly handled by Low Riders band member Paul Beavis. Recorded during lockdown in Wales’s storied Rockfield studios, the experience marked yet another kind of return for the artist, whom many years ago had been the first established performer to record there. He recalls:

“In 1965 I was there, and the staircase that Iput my foot on is still there. And I put my foot on it again. It was a bizarre feeling, but it was also the perfect thing. Two years of Covid, didn’t know what to do. And then Kingsley (Ward), suggested that I come down. And I thought, you know what? I think I’ll take Kingsley up on his offer. And I did.

‘You don’t have to pay, you know, you can have it for nothing, just come down and do something, it will be good to see you’, Kingsley said. And it was like going home. It’s become like part of a family really, part of the Rockfield family. It did complete a circle. It was just meant to be.”

He hadn’t planned to make another album, but the lockdown had created the situation that he says left him thinking, “Why not?”

“I’d always been writing and scribbling away. I do my demos at home on a Boss 1180, and I LOVE my demos. They’re not sort of high-tech quality sound, but they’ve got a thing about ‘em. The only thing I can’t stand is the drum machine that I use, so this time, I thought, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll go to Rockfield, and I’ll do my demos but at a better level, better technical level, and with a proper drummer’. I asked Paul (Beavis), The Low Riders’ drummer if he’d come and sort of duplicate the drum patterns that I had, and he said yes, and off we went.

It took three weeks, just myself and Beavis in there, and making the album for me, nobody else. And Kingsley was just so generous, it was a fabulous moment.”

FLANG DANG oozes with the kind of blues, country, and gospel that Andy has made his own; a style once described as a “prayer without pretension in every infectious song.”

“There are sort of a lot of soulful and gospel-tinged songs, mind you, there’s a bit of blues, there’s a bit of ska, there’s a bit of country, there’s a bit of everything. It’s everything I’ve ever listened to. My perspective on music since “Sweet Soulful Music” in 2007has not really changed. It’s always the same approach, it was my demos then, it’s my demos now. And I have days when I’m sort of spiritual and I have days when I’m not, It’s a constant conversation. So, I’m not tied down to anything.”

Andy's straightforward and often powerful lyrics greet the uncertainties and sorrows of life with a missive to get up and “Stand Up” in the light, and above all, to keep faith with oneself. The final track, “The End of All The Roads,” suggests we get going:

“This world is searching every sorrowful day for a truth that will save us all

Hard times and trouble come no more again they say for we shall overcome

But I say until that day go get gone and be on your way.”

Andy had plans to do a full tour in support of this album, but was unable to do so, due to a family illness. He made one appearance at the Crossroads Festival last year, and plans to tour again next year. In the meantime, he wraps up his short run opening for Eric Clapton on his UK tour.

LISTEN: https://zurl.co/aNjr

16/05/2024

: Dan Penn and Rick Hall, photo by Jacob Blickenstaff.

15/05/2024

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON DANCE BREAK: ESO BESSO ~ GERAINT WATKINS AND THE MOSQUITOES

And we’re still dancing…Here's an energetic live performance of Eso Besso, by Geraint Watkins and the Mosquitoes live at The Bedford Hotel.

Watch here: https://zurl.co/YkQ9

Be sure to check our website for upcoming Geraint Watkins dates, and stay tuned for more Mosquitoes news.

14/05/2024

JIMMIE VAUGHAN: SUMMER TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT

Jimmie's management has announced that he is unable to tour this summer. He has begun treatment for a curable form of cancer and will be taking this time off to heal. He is expecting to make a full recovery and restart his tour in September.

See the full announcement below.

We at The Last Music Company are wishing Jimmie and his family all the best, and are praying for his complete and speedy recovery.

14/05/2024

NATIONAL “DANCE LIKE A CHICKEN DAY” SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

In the US, today is the day to flap your arms and strut like a chicken—and we’ve got an eggselent playlist just for the occasion:

https://spotify.link/ZPyYhbDxgJb

It’s full of selections from many Last Music artists with a few classics thrown in for good measure, along with the original Chicken Dance Song written by Werner Thomas in the 50s.

Here’s hoping you’ll get to take some time out of your day for a little dance break.

Good cluck!

Read more on the history of the Chicken Dance here: https://nationaltoday.com/dance-like-a-chicken-day/

13/05/2024

REVIEW: TONY KOFI QUARTET PLAYS MONK

"With a quartet in 2005, Kofi released All is Know, his first recording as leader that quickly rose to receive Album of the Year at the BBC Jazz Awards. Two decades on, the since-deleted recording has been reissued on CD, digital and, for the first time, double vinyl under the title Plays Monk...."

FIND IT HERE: https://zurl.co/lNhn

READ MORE: https://zurl.co/KAza

12/05/2024

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 2024

Join us in wishing a happy Mother's Day to all of our friends in America. We are celebrating with Hannah White's single 'Mother You Are'.

"This, for me, is probably the saddest song I've ever written," says Hannah, unerringly truthful to her songwriting instincts as always. "It's a song about what is brushed away into unseen corners when we sentimentalise, mystify and romanticise motherhood as we do; and when women are expected to focus on happy-talk and notions of the 'natural' and 'blissful.'

"It's about the barriers faced by new mothers who experience fear, sadness or other negative emotions and the shame that comes from talking about them – usually resulting in a medical diagnosis of 'post-natal depression' and treated pharmaceutically until the 'natural' state of maternal bliss is restored.

"For me personally, when I found out I was pregnant it felt like the end of the world. My body, my friends, my work, my hopes and life as I knew it all dissolved beneath me. It felt like I had no choices anymore. I was absolutely terrified and totally alone. I wish we were allowed to tell the truth without being socially outcast. This song is an expression of all of the above.”

"PS - I love my children."

For more information and for Hannah's ever-expanding 2024 live schedule, visit hannahwhitemusic.com.

FIND THE SINGLE HERE: https://zurl.co/7myz



Listen to 'Mother You Are' here: https://zurl.co/E2Rg

12/05/2024

LAST MUSIC BLOG: BILL KIRCHEN ~ HAMMER OF THE H***Y TONK GODS

Surely Leo Fender himself couldn’t have come up with a better strap line for what will be his eternally famous creation…the Telecaster, but it is Bill Kirchen who gets the credit for hitting the nail on the head with his own twangtastic theme song.

Well they put six strings on a maple stick, stuck it on a slab of ash,

Sold one to Luther threw in a pick, sent him out with Johnny Cash.

How could Leo Fender and the gang have known at the factory in Fullerton,

That the honk and twang of the Telecaster tone would outlast them - every one.

You crack a plush lined case and all up in your face

It’s your thunder and lightnin’ ride

It was born at the junction of form and function

It’s the hammer of the honky-tonk gods

The hammer of the honky-tonk gods

You’ve got Buck and Don, Merle and Roy, Muddy and the Iceman too

Bryant, Burton, Roy, Danny and Redd, that’s Redd with two Ds to you

Well there’s Waylon and Keith off the top of my head, Chrissie, Cropper and the Boss

Why, if Johnny B Goode had one he would have been the St Louis Telecaster hoss

You crack a plush lined case and all up in your face

It’s your thunder and lightnin’ rod

It was born at the junction of form and function

It’s the hammer of the honky-tonk gods

The hammer of the honky-tonk gods

Kirchen earned his reputation as a Telecaster master back in 1967 as the lick-slinging guitarist with Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen. Since leaving the band in the mid-1970s, he has successfully retained the title working under his own name and was recently dubbed “…a Titan of the Telecaster” by Guitar Player magazine.

Bill’s first solo album venture - Tombstone Every Mile - was released in the UK by Demon Records in 1994. It was originally going to be produced by another Telecaster wizard Danny Gatton, but that’s another story. The big wheels of the Demon Records business included Nick Lowe, Jake Riviera, Elvis Costello, and Andrew Lauder…all Kirchen fans from his Cody days. Nick Lowe was working on his Impossible Bird album at that time and invited Bill to play guitar on it. The band on those recordings with Nick comprised Geraint Watkins, Bobby Irwin, and Paul Riley. They subsequently toured with him as The Impossible Birds in the USA which is where I met Bill for the first time and witnessed his Telecaster mastery close up.

Following his stint with Nick, Bill returned to his solo career making an album for Blacktop Records before settling in with Larry Sloven’s Oakland based Hightone Records for a clutch of fine releases.

With the bones of his ode to the Telecaster already rattling around his head as the foundation of his next project, Bill was getting in the mood to make a new album by the start of the 21st century. A few years later at our new Proper Records headquarters in south London, we had completed the construction of Specific Sound and so I made him an offer to come over and cut his next record for us in the studio that Paul had designed. He accepted.

Bill asked Nick Lowe to play bass on the sessions along with fellow Impossible Birds, Geraint Watkins on keyboards and Bobby Irwin, drums. The recordings were completed in a few days with the marvellous Austin DeLone contributing keyboard overdubs from the USA. This elite team, with Paul Riley at the desk brought out the best in Bill.

His multitudinous musical influences make Kirchen’s guitar playing anything but one-dimensional which is why his albums are so hugely engaging but hard to categorize. Broadly it’s Americana, but armed with the hammer of the honky-tonk gods, he is a master craftsman with virtually any raw material. Kirchen brought some great new songs into the studio, all carefully chosen to be perfectly suited to the talents of this quartet. Within a handful of days, the group forged them into shape to a very high standard. Of course, Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods was the standout track and as a result, is still a permanent fixture on the Bill Kirchen set list.

We’re nearly twenty years down the line from the days of those great recordings and I just couldn’t resist the temptation to draw people’s attention to them again by releasing a limited edition 10” vinyl album that contains the ten tracks cut in London. ~ Malcolm Mills

You can order the Vinyl, and get it, along with a T-shirt in August, before the September 6th release date here, as long as you order by July 26th: https://zurl.co/Lgr0

The Amazon pre-order for the VInyl only will be available soon.

12/05/2024

Andy Fairweather Low’s soundcheck…

11/05/2024

SATURDAY SPIN: HANNAH WHITE AND THE NORDIC CONNECTIONS

As Hannah and Keiron head back over to Norway this month, we thought it might be a nice time to revisit another beautiful record, that they recorded in Bergen a few years back, with The Nordic Connections.

"From the plaintive ballad of album opener ‘Never Get Along’ to the rockabilly twang of ‘Gotta Work Harder’, to the Bo Diddley beat of ‘City Beats’, to the pop sensibilities of ‘Start Again’, Hannah White and the Nordic Connections move adeptly through the gears. Here, they have produced a piece of work that bears repeated listening, and with any justice will get the airplay it richly deserves." ~ Damien McNairney, FOLK/TUMBLE

Give it a listen and see for yourself.

FIND IT HERE: https://zurl.co/S8Sv

10/05/2024

BILL KIRCHEN & THE ARMADILLO PHILHARMONIC MAY 26TH!

The entire 1974 Commander Cody Album “Live! From Deep In The Heart Of Texas” recreated by original member Bill with Dan Torosian, Floyd Domino, Danny Levin, Jack Saunders, Marty Muse and Rick Richards. The show will be at Sagebrush, 5500 South Congress Ave., Austin TX, at 8PM.

https://dice.fm/event/nr5kl-live-deep-in-the-heart-of-texas-50-years-later-26th-may-sagebrush-austin-tickets?source=ev

09/05/2024

RON KAVANA 1952 – 2024


Truth and Understanding, (lyrics). ~ Ron Kavana

"You Irishmen so true and brave who would auld Ireland save

For those of cruel persuasion out to destroy this nation

Let us all united stand, stop the bold oppressor’s band

Not with bomb or gun in hand, but by truth and understanding



Who fears to speak of ’98 on the road to Stormont’s gate

From Vinegar Hill a lesson learned, all good men joined together

Seize the chance before it’s gone, sing aloud this joyous song

This land is ours all and one by truth and understanding



Let reconciliation be our watchword for the future

Let’s build a bridge of peace to stand for coming generations

Don’t go back to how it was, to killing men for freedoms cause

Observe our common Christian laws of the truth and understanding



So Irishmen be true and brave, if you would auld Ireland save

From those of cruel persuasion out to destroy this nation

Let us all united stand, stop the bold oppressor’s band

Not with bomb or gun in hand but by truth and understanding."

LISTEN: https://zurl.co/Eoku

READ more about Ron here: https://zurl.co/zs3U

09/05/2024

Just confirmed: Original airman Bobby Black will be playing these shows. He celebrates his 90th birthday this Saturday…

LOST PLANET AIRMEN BAY AREA DATES

As a founding member of Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, Kirchen first brought the band to the Bay Area in December 1969. Now Bill brings the Airmen back to town to celebrate the release of their new 50-year reunion album, Back From The Ozone. Four original Airmen - Kirchen, Bruce Barlow, Andy Stein and John Tichy, plus Austin de Lone, Peter Siegel and Paul Revelli went into the studio last year and recorded a disc of half new originals and half Cody classics. All seven hit the stage Friday, June 28 at HopMonk's Outdoor Venue in Novato and on Saturday, June 29 at the Freight And Salvage in Berkeley, the scene of their very first gig on California soil, at the original F & S on San Pablo Ave in Berkeley in 1969!

TICKETS:

HopMonk Novato Outdoor Venue - June 28

http://seetickets.us/.../bill-kirchen-with-the.../594072

Freight & Salvage - June 29

http://secure.thefreight.org/.../bill-kirchen-lost-planet...

Photo Credit: Bob Minkin

09/05/2024

TBT: ANDY FAIRWEATHER-LOW & ERIC CLAPTON

Here's a picture of long-time friends Andy Fairweather-Low & Eric Clapton.

Andy Fairweather-Low and the Low Riders will be joining Eric Clapton on tour. For dates head over to our website https://zurl.co/antY

Photo by David Tanner