Ralph White, Featured Artist On The Altco Sessions

Altco Sessions introduces Ralph White. A short interview and song with former member of the Bad Livers and Texas Folk Artist Ralph White. He gives us a peek into his psyche and a listen to his step in the evolution of folk or mountain music from the heart.

Produced by Stevie Tombstone and Jeff Harris for Altco Recordings in San Antonio Texas July 12 2015.

Stevie Tombstone Feature Review On Punk Globe

 

Stevie Tombstone Feature Review On Punk Globe

"There is something that is raw, and lovely about a live recording, with no fluff added. Stevie Tombstone hits a great cord with this sampling. It doesn't hurt that it includes one of my favorite songs, of his 'Nuthin Sweet About 16', love this version. With hints of Cash, Bluegrass, and Steve Earle, you get the drift of the road you will go down, and you will def want to turn around and go back for more. You get the feeling that you are there at the show, in an intimate setting. 'Murder City Breakdown', has a bit of swing to it, straight out of Austin. Stevie has a gift for writing songs that hit ya in ya core, that you can relate to. 'Lucky', tells the story of how one is lucky to be alive, and lucky to not be in jail, who can't relate to that? If you love a good tune, from a good storyteller, do yourself a favor, give this cd a listen. Download a song, or two, or seven...hell save ya self a buck, and buy the whole damn thing. You will thank me, and for that, you are welcome."

 Download your copy now

Only A Few Days Left For Your Chance To Win The Custom Box Of Pine Stash Box From Black Eyed Vermillion

Our pal Stevie Tombstone, shot a series of video shorts with Black Eyed Vermillion's own, Gary Lindsey. Only a few days left folks for your entry in the drawing for the custom Box of Pine, stash box. All orders in by 11:59 pm Sunday night March 22nd 2015 are eligible. The drawing will take place next week to determine the winner. 

Stevie Tombstone and Dale Watson, On Air At WDVX 89.9, The Blue Plate Special

Stevie Tombstone and Dale Watson, On Air At WDVX 89.9, The Blue Plate Special

If you are in the Knoxville, TN area do yourself a favor and come out to a live taping at WDVX 89.9 FM tomorrow for a Blue Plate Special live radio show. On the bill is Altco's own Stevie Tombstone with Banjo Buck Thrailkill, along with Dale Watson.

Kern Richards Featured On MoonRunners

Featured Altco Recordings artist - Kern Richards

Check out the original post over on MoonRunners

“I did one-night stands in old motels; I did overnights for vagrancy; a trespasser on common ground; an exile searching for a vacancy.
 

“From L.A. streets to Illinois roads he was leaving constantly to find the road his heart could feel but his eyes just couldn’t see. He left a trail of notes behind, they all said ten more miles and you’ll be fine. Man, you can leave your past behind, just ten more miles and you’ll be fine.” – verses from Kern Richards’ song, “10 More Miles,” re-released in February by 2014 by the folks at ALTCO Recordings.

Finding The Way Home, With Stevie Tombstone - From MoonRunners

Read more on MoonRunners

"When you spend a good portion of your life walking into darkened bars with the intention to drink some beer and listen to music, there are a few things you just expect to see: people in jeans and boots, countless walking canvasses adorned with ink and titanium jewelry, lots of patches, plenty of drunkenness, and a never-ending parade of epic beards. What you do not expect to see is a quiet, comparatively clean-shaven man in a white button up shirt, black suit, stately cane, and an understated hat, but that is exactly what will greet you with a smile when you go to see Stevie Tombstone.

New Blood, New Stories From The Road Less Traveled On Altco Music

Joshua Morningstar heads to New York to record his first single for Altco Recordings at World Class Subcat Studios.

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Altco Recordings welcomes singer songwriter Josh Morningstar this month as he enters the studio to record his first single. He has been on the road relentlessly for the last year or so working on new songs and making new fans the old school way by playing any and everywhere and winning over new folks every day. He will be recording at Subcat Studios in Syracuse, New York under the direction of Stevie Tombstone. The multi-million dollar facility was the location of Tombstone's last release Greenwood and will be a great change for the up and comer having all the advantages of a modern facility. The "Man from Maryland" hits the road immediately afterwards before resuming pre-production and more song sessions with Mr. Tombstone. More to come about Joshua real soon to be sure and be sure to check out the backstage video clip of Joshua at a recent show in Philly,PA at the Shore Road Tavern below.

"Would You Die For Love" Relates How A Turn Of A Phrase Can Change Your Entire Life, By Stevie Tombstone

Stevie Tombstone video for "Would You Die For Love"

Download your copy from Itunes

"This song really means a lot to me because it symbolizes a point in my life where i needed to hear those words. They have carried me all over the country and led me to meet many more folks of a like mind. It was the Fall of 2010 and I was leaving Austin for the last time, discouraged and basically overwhelmed with my new responsibilities as a father and trying to make it in the entertainment industry. My wife Melissa in her infinite wisdom suggested we go to the Ozarks and get ourselves in a better spot and spend time with each other away from the rat race and ingenuine climate of the hipster grind. We had an invitation from some friends there and accepted, tying most of our belongings ( except our 2 year old) on the roof our car. We left Texas behind (which I still love dearly and consider my other home) and headed for solace and higher ground. I recall it being dubbed the "sour grapes of wrath era".  Just part of the journey.

One of the folks that invited us to stay was an old buddy and sometimes personal shaman of mine. Lets just call him Bill for anonymity's sake. I was in a bad space after several small failures and feeling like life had dealt me a raw deal.  I wouldn't listen to anyone... except Bill. This man had seen life on all levels. He had lived through some hard times and come out on top in a metaphysical sense. A child of the Depression, the Vietnam War, incarceration and homelessness led him to trek on foot across the country to study under a Zen master and then to settle in the Ozark Mountains. Or so the story goes. He had a way of making you see the truth in things and thus answering your own questions. That was magic in my book.

We were working together outside in the garden one day, speaking of parenthood, personal failures and what a full life we'd both led up to this point. Despite all, I was still in a negative fog of self defeat. He looked at me from beneath his coolie hat under the Ozark sky and said one simple phrase that knocked me off my feet and changed my whole perspective. Would you die for Love?

My immediate answer was yes, but the multitude of thoughts that ran through my mind took me to the same answer on so many levels.Sometimes we just don't see the truth even when its right there in plain view. It was a hazy moment of self realization in the midday sunshine.

Self sacrifice, honesty, and the inevitable peace of having it. Verbal Manna. That phrase stuck in my head for quite a while and shaped my outlook for some time to come,that we really can make a difference by putting others before ourselves. Realizing that's the best thing we can do, and being honest about whether we can or not is a great barometer at the very least.

Stevie Tombstone zoned out after the video shoot for "Would You Die For Love"

I wrote this tune about two months later. It was a country-blues narrative with an Ozark beat. I wanted it to be reminiscent of early buck dancing and appalachian folk music fused with Delta blues from our mutual childhood and parallel existence in the Deep South.

Jerry Jones added the most soulful harmonica lines I've heard in some time, capping the recording off. I mixed the track down with some percussion down from a single microphone recording I had done a few months earlier in my mobile home near Devils Dive, nearly in Missouri.This tune ended up on the Slow Drunken Waltz EP and was released in 2011 on the Farmageddon label. Now under my new label ALTCO, we decide it merited another push and video treatment. Ralph Miller shot this video with an iphone during an east coast tour in the swamps near Raleigh, North Carolina.

The Tombstones: Twang From The Grave Vol. 2 - Featured On Rock & Roll Manifesto

Link over to Rock & Roll Manifesto

Download your copy from Itunes

Find out more about Stevie Tombstone's brand new label - ALTCO

"1986, Atlanta, Georgia: a three piece acoustic band called Tombstone Tales forms. Before long they add a fourth member, plug in their instruments and become the Tombstones. By 1988, they had released a demo tape, “Grave Matter,” and a 7-song mini LP, “Preachin’ Prayin’ Guitar Playin’.” “Preachin’ Prayin’” achieved minor indie success, and the Tombstones shared the stage with bands such as the Stray Cats, the Ramones, the Circle Jerks and the Lords of the New Church. 

Unfortunately, they never released anything else, despite signing with Sony/Relativity and recording an as-of-yet-unreleased album for them, along with quite a few other recording sessions along the way. By the mid 90′s, the Tombstones were still going but were a completely different band other than Stevie, and by 1995 or 96, Stevie decided to end the Tombstones and go out on his own. 

By the time I first heard the Tombstones, their reign of terror was nearly over. It was around 1995, on a “psychobilly” mix tape made by a friend of a friend. I still remember hearing “Tombstone Tales” for the first time. Their music was haunting, and it intrigued me. They somehow simultaneously fit in with the rest of the psychobilly on the tape and yet stuck out like a sore thumb. Not long after, I stumbled across the “Preachin’ Prayin’ Guitar Playin’” LP at a record convention and I was hooked. It quickly became a favorite of mine, and it also became clear to me that this was not psychobilly. It was cut from a different cloth and uniquely American. It was roots oriented, steeped in rockabilly, blues and country, but with a darkness and a punk rock attitude and fire. I loved it. The LP was dated 1988. Surely, there had to be more where this came from? I searched feverishly for more information on this band.

Back then the Internet wasn’t what it is now. Searches on the Tombstones turned up nothing. I once bought a 7″ single at a record convention by  a band called the Tombstones, but to my dismay it turned out to be a completely different (and horribly inferior) band. A few years later I met up with a guy from Georgia who not only knew of and liked the Tombstones, but said he had a tape of unreleased stuff. Where do I sign up? He sent it to me and I was blown away, but the mystery only deepened. What happened to this great band? Nobody seemed to know. I continued to search the interwebs for years and came up blank.

Fast forward to 2002- The Tombstones were a huge influence on my band at the time. We had been covering the Tombstones classic, “Jailhouse Tattoo,” at our gigs and ended up recording it. To be able to release our record with the song included, we needed to somehow find out where to send a royalty check. Further frantic Internet searches in early 2003 finally turned up an article about Stevie Tombstone, whom apparently was doing solo work now. I emailed the author of the article and asked if he could put me in contact with Stevie, which he did.

Greg Lonesome and Stevie Tombstone

You never know what you’ll get when you actually communicate with someone who’s music you admire. There’s nothing worse than when one of your musical influences turns out to be a total asshole. Thankfully, talking to Stevie was the complete opposite of that. He was nice enough to talk to me for quite a while on the phone and share the story of the Tombstones. He was very humble and seemed genuinely grateful that anyone would like one of the Tombstones songs enough to want to record and release it on their album. We’ve kept in touch ever since.

The Tombstones back in action in the mid 2000's

In 2006, Stevie took a reformed version of the Tombstones out on the road to support the release of  the original “Twang From the Grave” compilation. Thankfully, I got to see them on that tour when they hit New York City, and they were just as amazing as I hoped they would be. Stevie invited me up on stage to sing Jailhouse Tattoo with them. I was so nervous I messed up the words, but it was a blast. I’ll never forget it.

The Tombstones are one of my all-time favorite bands, so I’m excited these songs are finally getting a proper release. The songs on this particular album are some of the earliest recordings the Tombstones did, and also the very last recordings that were made during the brief Tombstones reformation of 2005-7. There’s even a version of “Til the Day I Die” recorded live on the Rock N Roll Manifesto! With this release and the original Twang From the Grave, the picture of the legacy of the Tombstones is becoming clearer, and the world is a better place for it.

Unfortunately, Stevie still refuses to release the Sony album. Some of my favorite Tombstones songs are on there, so I bug him about it all the time. With any luck, someday there will be a Twang From the Grave Volume 3…"

Greg Lonesome
Halloween, 2013

Stevie Tombstone Lucky (live @ The Peddler Spartanburg SC)

Stevie Tombstone

"Stevie Tombstone is one of these fellas who has it going on in every way. The chords,lyrics and vocals that make you feel its very much real. This was recorded recently in Spartanburg SC's The Peddler Steakhouse. I love the applauds after he sings the line "Lucky I am not in jail""

Posted by Jason Mater Robinson on SoundCloud 

Curious to hear more about our new label ALTCO?

Stevie Tombstone Writes Songs That Stick Over Time, From The Greenville Journal

Stevie Tombstone writes songs that will last the test of time

Go to original article on the Greenwood Journal

"When singer/guitarist Stevie Tombstone set out to Greenwood, Miss., in the early ’90s with blues singer Johnny Shines and Georgia Satellites guitarist Rick Richards, they had a noble and seemingly simple goal in mind: Place a memorial gravestone at the final resting place of legendary bluesman Robert Johnson.

But like many noble efforts, things didn’t quite go as planned; their pilgrimage suddenly included members of the press lying in wait.

“We didn’t realize it had become a media event,” Tombstone says of their arrival at the grave site.

Richards and Tombstone decided to hang back while Shines, a contemporary of Johnson’s, placed the marker, because they felt Shines deserved the attention more than they did. Little did they know that their absence, after it was reported they would be at the ceremony, would cause a firestorm of criticism in the blues press.

But it’s just that kind of shaggy-dog story that inspires great songwriting. 

“Robert got the tombstone, we got the bad press, but now I’ve got a song,” Tombstone says of “Greenwood,” the title track of his latest album. “The whole idea was that Robert shouldn’t have gone back there, because that’s where he died, and I didn’t have any urge to go back there either.”

Tombstone’s music is stripped down and mostly acoustic, relying heavily on evocative lyrics and Tombstone’s wry, soulful delivery to carry across his modest-yet-memorable melodies. Tombstone has also spent some time in Nashville working as a songwriter for other artists, so perhaps it makes sense that our conversation centered mostly on the songwriting process.

Obviously, “Greenwood” is based on a real-life experience, but is your other songwriting autobiographical?

I’ve done that more and more over the last 15 years. I still like writing traditional-type songs, maybe some cautionary tales that are fictional, but I would say I’ve become a lot more autobiographical on the last couple of albums.

The new album is fairly stripped down in terms of production. Do you prefer a bare-bones approach?

I’ve gotten in over my head, production-wise, more than once [laughs]. And I love doing huge mixes, don’t get me wrong. But I think the stripping down is something that’s just come with age. I tend to want to serve the song. And I want other people to want to record it and play it, and maybe add stuff to it, so I like to paint the picture, but I like to leave the door open to interpretation, too. I think that’s important, especially in roots music, because that’s how it started: People handing songs off to each other and songs getting passed around.

You’ve shared stages with everyone from Leon Russell to the Ramones. What is it about your music that makes you such a versatile act?

I think it’s dumb luck, partially [laughs]. But it might also be that the songs are simple. I went through a phase when I first started where I think I was trying to work on my chops as a songwriter, and I’d incorporate these lengthy bridges and intros, tricky this and witty that, but the older I get, the more I appreciate simplicity, and the songs that seem to stick over time are the simple melodies.

Is songwriting a difficult process for you?

The hardest thing for me is to find inspiration. And I think that my best songs are ones that just came to me. I was the editor, not the writer, as far as I was concerned. And that’s the weird thing, is trying to figure out how to plug into that. It’s not something you can just turn on and off."

Stevie Tombstone feature write up in the Greenville Journal

Stevie Tombstone Creates ALTCO Music

Stevie Tombstone creates new imprint label, ALTCO Music within Rusty Knuckles

ALTCO is a brand new imprint label within Rusty Knuckles being helmed by none other than Stevie Tombstone. After working with a few varying music labels over the last couple of years, Stevie wanted to have a place that he could call home. Another interesting aspect of the new imprint label will be his role as an A&R liaison scouring the highways and byways seeking out bands to become part of the ALTCO team of recording artists.

The imprint label of ALTCO is a welcome addition to the Rusty Knuckles team and will become an integral part of the line up featuring artists more directly focused on Folk Country Blues. Right out of the gate we will be adding much of Stevie Tombstone's back catalog of albums including Slow Drunken Waltz, Greenwood and previously unheard material from The Tombstones. Other acts signed on to become part of ALTCO are WhiskeyDick from Fort Worth, Texas, Kern Richards out of Long Beach, California and Black Eyed Vermillion hailing from Austin, TX. 

"I am damn excited to finally be the captain of my own ship and to be able to focus on a solid outlet for all of my material and projects that I would like to have my finger print on. A place where my music can be heard and I control all aspects from marketing to distribution, without sacrificing quality or having to bow down to corporate wannabes." 

- Stevie Tombstone

More news about ALTCO will be coming in a few weeks. So check out some of the great talent coming onboard.