Reverend Horton Heat Speaks On How The Music Scene Has Changed

As a mainstay act constantly on tour, Reverend Horton Heat has seen the ups and downs of popular music

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Even though we are in an era akin to Disco in which an overpaid dj gets paid to mix songs on a laptop to a live audience, live bands are where the real talent is. It is just another wave within the ongoing cycle of popular music that is taking precedence. Read on and hear what Reverend Horton Heat has to say on this matter...

Kern Richards Feature Review On No Depression

Kern Richards of Altco Music on No Depression

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"Every once in a while I get blessed with something that sticks out in a high-definition world. I personally get tired of being fed "Happy go lucky" and need that black and white fix from the high-def culture we live in. My great friend Mr. Stevie Tombstone turned me to a ALTCO label mate Kern Richards and I can't thank him enough after listening to his latest released entitled "Any where but home". Kern hails from the great state of California and is a pure singer/songwriter who has the ability to make you believe in the stories he sings.  Don't expect no "Happy go lucky" here but do expect much brutally honest lyrics and some great arrangements which I was pleasantly surprised. Anywhere but home is the perfect name for the record which tells stories of lonesome, highways, 24hr cafes,booze, lost love, injustices and everything that comes with.  Richards voice really stands out and sounds like" its been in a smoke house for several days and placed on the highway only to be hit by a semi truck" . I would describe living where  Tom Waits drawl and Lenoard Cohen's lullaby echos over lap. In the title track of the same as album name Anywhere but home the singer explains 

"Monday drunkard bar-stool...Tuesday couldn't care....Wednesday night sick with fright and headed no where....Thursday's back in rehab....Friday getting stoned....from Sunday dawn to Saturday night I'll go anywhere but home"

After hearing those lyrics the great Krisofferson is kicking his own ass for not penning such. Its safe to say that Kern won't be playing many weddings but will speak to the working man, truck driver, the outcast, the beaten down, the guy who doesn't wanna go home from the bar, the cook at the Huddle House at 3am, and such. I for one really got into and still growing into this record for much of the things he is speaking of I too have been thru it. I can respect the hell out of a man who is honest in struggles of life. Not everyone can related to beach life and eating at Applebees. Thank god for folks like Kern Richards who tell it like it is and make you feel it's heartfelt under-belly Americana. Go pick up a copy of his new release now and thank me later."

Check Out A Track From J.B. Beverley's New Album On No Depression

It is always a good day when a track from an upcoming album we are releasing is being streamed on No Depression. Go have a listen to a preview track called "Bit of Pickin'" on J.B. Beverley's new album coming out next month, Stripped To The Root.

"Bit Of Pickin' feature track on No Depression by J.B. Beverley, Buck Thrailkill and more

Billy Don Burns Feature Write Up On No Depression

Billy Don Burns latest album, "Nights When I'm Sober..."

Check out the write up on No Depression 

Do yourself a favor and download his albums on Itunes

 

"I met Billy Don Burns tonight for the first time and got to see him preform with  banjo picker Buck Thrailkill. The word was he had broke his collar bone and in a sling. His partner Aaron Rodgers had a gig in Nashville and couldn't make it back to his home state of South Carolina. Upon entering I noticed Billy Don was smoking a cigarette close to the door and introduced myself to a guy who's lyrics I respected the hell out of. I asked him how he was feeling and was he able to play the guitar and with any hesitation he shook his head after a drag from his smoke and proclaimed "Hell yeah man ". It didn't take too much longer in the conversation we had in front of the venue while it drizzled rain I knew we the same limited edition assembly line. Some one brought a menu to Burns and he didn't even look at and says "Ahh just get me a Cheeseburger!" to the legendary songwriter learning they didn't have that on the menu. "Just get me whatever your having" and he handed the menu away giving me the thought he isn't a picky eater. We talked about 15 minutes of small talk before he had to get on stage. Southern Culture seem to be a ungiue place to play and the food looked top-notch and smelled like Dixie. The stage was beautiful set up with two chairs with a guitar on one side and a banjo on the other.

"If It all ended tomorrow and I am dead and gone I will have no regrets for I got to do what I love and meet and work with my heroes" proclaim Billy Don.

I felt he was telling the truth for I felt the energy drain off him like rain flows down a storm drain. He told me stories of how well Mexico would pay him to play, or how good of a boy Aaron Rodgers was and his dad owned a John Deer dealership, and about that time he sold his best guitar. The set was short but honest songwriting to I saw a select few actually got it. I was proud to know that I got it what was going on right in front of my eyes and I may never see the likes of it every again and soaked it up  as much as I could. One of my favorite Billy Don Burns song is Is he the Writer . The narrative is about a guy who sits down to write soon sits down to write a song and the song ends up becoming him in spirit. Its pure genius and I began to wonder why he doesn't he have the respected he has earned. 

He is quite charming and once you know him your never a stranger and thru out the night I keep hearing "Come over here with us brother" along with   "your a good boy and I am proud of you." Upon outside with another smoke break he begin to tell me tales of struggle, heartache, and following the lonesome highway. He told me of writing songs for his own sake and writing songs to help pay the rent. I realize that when this rebellious  dinosaur is gone that this era of pure songwriting  will be gone forever. No one can replace him not even the hipster guy who lives on the opposite side of the songs he sings and lives. I learned that once you get to where you think you wanna be its a lonely ass place that you keep trying to fill that void.

I have the up-most for Billy Don Burns as a human being and a songwriter. The place was packed out and a select few got it in which he was doing. I know for one I did for I felt it in the Carolina air.  Tonight I heard him laugh and carry on and it seem like how he was dealing with it all. The battle scars seem so deep yet the fight to keep on keeping on is a constant blessing and a curse. The highway is tough and tires don't always hold up but you keep going. He informed us he wasn't going to stay at local motel but he was going back home  400 miles to Arkansas as he grasp his bread and butter guitar and disappeared the rainy lonely night like a bandit.

He’s holed up one night as usual, alone 
he’d been drinkin’ and druggin’ and writing his wrongs 
there’s no more to lose, nothing to fear 
takes out his knife and cuts off his ear 
Poets like Dylan live in his brain
 is he a writer or is he insane
 he dresses in black and he goes it alone
 is the writer or is he a song

Billy Don Burns feature write up on No Depression