Country Fried Rock

Jon Latham‘s pals are lifers. Capturing the heart of why Country Fried Rock exists, Lifers highlights songwriters who create because they must — driven to write, driving in vans. In this song premiere of the title track, dedicated listeners to this radio show will be able to guess who the song is about: a couple of our alumni and other lifers who make our kind of music happen.

Pre-order Lifers here on IndieGoGo: https://igg.me/at/jon-latham-lifers

Catch Jon Latham’s official AmericanaFest showcase Sat., 9/24/16 at the 5 Spot.

Catch a quick VOIP chat with Sloane Spencer and Jon Latham here, where we talk about our friends like Todd Farrell, Jr.: All Our Heroes Live in Vans (not “friends,” but you know what I meant) (Benchmarks, The Dirty Birds), Aaron Lee Tasjan, and Darrin Bradbury.

Allen Thompson Band‘s new album, Brace Yourself, is still kept under top-secret guard, but the stories leading to the title seem surreal. Thompson and band mate, Clint Maine, both broke their backs in separate accidents within a month of each other. The following year helped them expand their sound and get weirder, as they describe. Thompson called on a slew of music friends to contribute to the record, including the first single, a duet with Elizabeth Cook, “Long Time Thinkin’,” out now.

Always know about your new favorite band by clicking your favorite “Subscribe” link below!

Automated Transcript. Hilarity ensues.

Welcome to country friend rock I’m your host. Slan Spencer this week Paul Allen Thompson a country

fried rock alum from our very first season comes back via a little bit of a touchy cell

phone connection. It’s Alan Thompson of the Alan Thompson band. Their new album coming in the next

year. Brace yourself.

My guest today on Country fried rock is Country Rock and now my personal

buddy Alan Thompson. Welcome.

Hey it’s going to be here.

So I’m thinking you know not to be trite or silly or anything but in your case it’s good to be

here on a lot of different levels.

Yes. KEITH RICHARDS I say it’s great to be here. It’s great to be anywhere.

There’s definitely been a long hard few years for not just me and

everyone in the band.

We did a lot of really adult stuff this last couple years.

So about a year ago I went to the swimming Percy Priest Lake and there’s these

really talk with them that we’ve grown up the mountain river right on the river I’d always go

swimming with comfort and stuff.

And so I was doing what I normally do. And you did it

wrong and broke my back. I’m not really sure because of the 50

foot drop the 50 feet of water. So there wasn’t really like anything

hard there for the Impac other than just the impact. I think

probably it was one of the reflex thing where my

obliques and back muscles tensed up before I even hit the water and

crushed like 12 vertebrae.

Holy cow. Thankfully there were people there and they were able to get you out of the water.

Yeah. Because that was the one at the bottom of your rib cage. You know I thought I

had the wind knocked out of me because all the pain is on my diaphragm and so I ran back to the

boat.

It was cold so I was trying to climb up the ladder that I realized my arms and legs were together

and something had happened that was bad.

I stood up for about a month after that just try to recover hey this is

something you listen to country fried rock.

Look for new stuff from us. THOMPSON You got got. Our new single long time thinking will

be on all your favorite music playing apps on September 9th.

Holy cow. So a medical catastrophe like that is something

nobody ever wish for but as an independent musician I mean it’s almost

worse because then you’re out of work as well.

Yeah there was no day job bartending there was no playing. I mean I had to relearn how

to hold a guitar on my back. Couple of months after I got out. And you

know on top of that I didn’t have inherent. So I am just getting bill after bill after bill

after bill and getting more and more scared every day. It was it was tough. It was really

tough. Luckily as far as the medical bill part goes with the ...

James Hunter was notably “discovered” by Van Morrison while performing in gritty pubs in England, but the songwriter and singer is more than a protege. The James Hunter Six perform across the world, primarily for blues audiences, although they have been embraced by Americana and rock clubs, as well. Their dynamic shows, fronted by the charismatic British-soul singer, highlight their rhythm and horn sections. The band often works up those parts separately before a whirlwind set of rehearsals when they are recording a new album, such as their latest on Dap Tone Records, Hold On.

Buy the James Hunter Six’s music on Amazon or iTunes.

Town Mountain‘s new album, Southern Crescent, will be out on April Fools’ Day 2016 on Todd Snider’s new record label, Lo Hi. We previously featured this IBMA Award winning band just prior to the release of Leave the Bottle. When we talked for this podcast at Revelator Coffee in Nashville during AmericanaFest, the band had not publicly announced the album and were shopping it around. Southern Crescent reflects the band’s loose, dance-able music, more reflective of their festival and club sets that a staid performing arts center straight-bluegrass set. I’m not sure if the Southern Crescent still runs from Atlanta to Boston like my relatives talked about taking to go “visit culture” in the Northeast, but I’m fairly sure it still runs down to New Orleans, where a more exhilarating culture has endured — an apt analogy for this album.

Town Mountain Southern Crescent is available here on Amazon and iTunes.

Golden Eels popped onto my feed because of our mutual music preferences on Bandcamp. Their songwriter, Neil Golden, has played on records for several Athens, Georgia, bands, ranging from the Elephant 6 legends, Elf Power, to The Glands and #CFRalumni, Shonna Tucker & Eye Candy. Periscopes in the Air leans toward the psychedelic pop sounds of Golden’s earlier collaborations, yielding a completely DIY record that suits long commutes and pleasant workday distractions.

Buy Periscopes in the Air by Golden Eels here.

Podcast

Listen or download below or on SoundCloud.

Kevin Gordon‘s latest album, Long Gone Time, continues his thoughtful, critical examination of reconciling your love for family with deeply held incompatible beliefs. Country Fried Rock previously featured Gordon following his album, Gloryland. Gordon again recorded with his friend and frequent guitar player, Joe V. McMahan, and funded the album with a personal twist on crowdfunding, detailed in our conversation. We recorded this program in our AirBnB in East Nashville during AmericanaFest 2015.

Buy Kevin Gordon’s music here.

PODCAST

Listen or download the podcast below or on SoundCloud.

Jeffrey Foucault’s (pronounced Folk-alt) latest album, Salt As Wolves, brings the #CFRalum (previously featured here) back to his rock and blues roots. The title references Shakespeare’s character, Iago, from Othello, but the songs reflect Foucault’s personal life more than any of his other albums. As he prepares for the European leg of his tour supporting the record, his long-time band slips into his groove without missing a beat.

Buy Jeffrey Foucault’s music here on Amazon.

Podcast

Stream or download below or on SoundCloud.