Showing posts with label Aaron Rodgers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aaron Rodgers. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Aaron Rodgers Is One Of The Best Sound Engineers Anywhere To Be Found

Aaron Rodgers Is One Of The Best Sound Engineers Anywhere To Be Found
A few years back we were able to put out an amazing album, that is still being discovered by many far and wide. This album is filled with adventure, motorcycles, good times and all penned by one of the most standup folks I know, none other than Billy Don Burns. Another part of the tale that most folks rarely hear about is one of the players and engineers, that is a quiet man behind the scenes. This impresario is none other than Aaron Rodgers. His guitar work is above and beyond, along with his mastery behind the knobs of the recording console. If you really want to get to work and have a great recording that will stand the test of time and reach the upper echelons of recognition, here is all the proof that you need. Congrats to both of yall for being hombres and true professionals. 

Monday, February 10, 2014

Billy Don Burns And The Song - Motel Madness

Billy Don Burns and Aaron Rodgers doing what they do best

Billy Don Burns never fails to write a song that feels like an old best friend. Do yourself a favor and check out more of his material on his latest album, Nights When I'm Sober... Portrait Of A Honky Tonk Singer.

Purchase Billy Don Burns latest album



Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Wheelin' Towards Willie Part 4 - Nashville, TN

Somehow JB ended the night with a push up contest on the sidewalk outside of Layla's
JB Beverley serenading the ladies
Jam packed stage full of talent
Cadie Calhoun and Buck Thrailkill
Kara Clark coming off the stage and JB arms full of ladies including Layla herself.
Buck Thrailkill, Geoff Firebaugh, JB Beverley, Aaron Rodgers and Billy Don Burns
Kara Clark belted out some huge songs last night
Angie Clark, Billy Don Burns and Kitty Barks in front of Layla's
JB Beverley, Aaron Rodgers and Billy Don Burns brought the heat to Layla's stage
Buck Thrailkill by the Birth of Bluegrass sign, beside the Ryman Auditorium
Filming Aaron Rodgers for the Billy Don Burns documentary

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Waylon Jennings: The 'Last Recordings' Of A Dreamer, From NPR.org

Great music is timeless. Real outlaws, never think of themselves as outlaws, as they are simply walking to the beat of their own drum. To understand the motivation and drive for Going Down Rocking, have a listen to this great interview with Robby Turner and Jessi Colter. It is inspiring to hear the soul behind the voice in Waylon Jennings and posthumously knowing these songs would be the final recordings, makes the tracks loom even larger. This album is beyond good. It is one of those recordings you put on for that long solo journey, wherever the road may take you and it just keeps on giving. Thank you Waylon, for being a free thinker and in the terms of chief, a wild onion. The world needs more characters cut from similar cloth.

Link to NPR.org to listen to original airing of All Things Considered


The one and only, Waylon Jennings
"Known for his gritty baritone, Waylon Jennings embodied the outlaw side of country music. He was 64 when he died of complications from diabetes, leaving behind a collection of vocal tracks that remained unfinished until now.

"It was almost shocking when I first heard it," says the singer Jessi Colter, who was married to Jennings for more than 30 years. "It took me several times to be able to listen to it. It sounded like he was there, that he's opening his heart to you, and he's telling you how he feels."

Colter gave her blessing to her husband's longtime producer and friend Robby Turner to add instruments and finish the songs. The result is Goin' Down Rockin': The Last Recordings. The album sounds like classic Jennings, with a voice that's sometimes a little rough, a little ragged, but never false. Jennings had a lot of physical troubles at the time.

"He wasn't the kind of guy that let on about his pains," Turner tells NPR's Melissa Block. "I remember one time, I said something about redoing one of the takes of the song, and he said, 'I don't think I can get through it, hoss.' And I realized then: That's enough said, right there. Because he wouldn't say that if he didn't mean it. But it was relaxing to him, because we had fun; we sat around and talked. It wasn't like another session for me at all. It was just like spending time with my best friend and my dad.

"We were so much like family that it wasn't a lot of questions asked by me. He started doing these songs, and when he started doing each one, I realized, 'Well, there's 'Belle of the Ball,' so that's one he's recorded before. It's not new. Then he told me to finish them one day, but the conversations that we had were sometimes totally off subject. I mean, he was sitting there one time and listening to the playback of a song, and he hit stop on the 24-track machine, looked at me and said, 'I can almost hear the part you're playing, and you're sounding great.' "

'A Vagabond, A Dreamer And A Rhymer'

"Belle of the Ball" was originally released in 1977 as the B-side to Jennings' hit "Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love)." Jennings once told Colter that "Belle of the Ball" was his favorite song he ever wrote.

"It's really about his love for the music industry, his trip of life," Colter says. "And his imagery, when you really look into it and listen to it, is stunning, because he could see so far ahead on some things that it would aggravate me. But in this, he came here just a vagabond, dreamer and a rhymer, and a singer of songs. And he's leaving. It's his leaving song."

Waylon Jennings died in 2002, and Turner held on to these last recordings for many years, until he recorded the other parts along with some of Jennings' longtime players. The guiding principle to finish the record, according to Turner, was "What would Waylon do? W.W.W.D.?"

"That was the whole thing; that was what I had written down on all my notes," Turner says. "You know, Waylon didn't really tell people; he took control and commanded his style of music. But he did that with hiring the right players. He would give us the layout of a song and how he wanted it to go, but we would play until he smiled. And that was our thing: playing until Waylon smiled."

"I think y'all were, too," Colter says, laughing. "If he was smiling, you were smiling."




From left to right: Robby Turner, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter.
From left to right: Robby Turner, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter.

'It Was All Worth It'

There were tears, too.

"There were moments when a song would finish, and he'd say something, or [I'd] just hear him play the tail piece of 'Belle of the Ball,' that I would tear up while recording my steel parts," Turner says. "I remember looking down at my steel guitar and seeing the teardrop fall. And I said, 'That'd be a great picture, but I would never let anybody see it but Jessi.' "

Turner says he'd never told that to anybody, not even Colter. After a pause, Turner adds, "But it was all worth it."

"I Do Believe" is a confessional song about man and his troubles with faith. Raised in the Church of Christ, Jennings had a conflict with the church not appreciating music, Colter says.

"I think mainly what he wanted to say was, 'I do believe, and this is what I believe,' " Colter says."

Friday, July 27, 2012

Waylon Jennings EPK For Upcoming Goin Down Rockin, Also Featuring Aaron Rodgers

Billy Don Burns new album produced by Aaron Rodgers
We have talking about the presence that Aaron Rodgers has had on some upcoming albums. With the work he did with Billy Don Burns and now as a player on the posthumous album of Waylon Jennings entitled Goin' Down Rockin', you will be hearing a lot more about Aaron. Give his work a listen on Billy Don Burns new album, Nights When I'm Sober... Portrait Of A Honky Tonk Singer.


Aaron Rodgers is a force to be reckoned with in Nashville

"A new album from outlaw country legend Waylon Jennings will be released this September, filled with recordings the icon made during the last few years before his death in 2002. Jennings spent hours in a recording studio with his longtime accompanist, Robby Turner and together they laid down twelve tracks using just Waylon’s guitar and vocals and Turner’s bass. All songs were personally selected by the country star, ones that resonated in a deeply personal way and reflected his state of mind, his passions, and important statements he wanted to make about his life. The duo planned out the future instrumentation that would be added to the tracks, but Jennings was never able to complete them.

10 years after his passing, Turner returned to the recordings, finishing each song to honor Waylon’s vision of what would turn out to be his very last album. Bringing in musicians who had long worked with Waylon, such as Reggie Young, Richie Albright and tour mate Tony Joe White, Turner painstakingly created the album that Waylon set out to make. "Waylon knows he's surrounded by friends and all that hear this will feel as if they know Waylon in all his authenticity," explains his widow, country singer Jessi Colter. With his family’s blessing,Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Last Recordings of Waylon Jennings will be available on September 11 (Saguaro Road Records). No one has ever heard these performances before; they are Waylon’s last gift to his fans.

Jennings wrote 11 of the 12 songs that appear on the new album, a testament to the personal nature of the recordings, and they reveal an artist in the midst of a final creative peak. In addition to his own songs, the album includes Tony Joe White’s “Goin’ Down Rockin’” (on which White himself is a guest). In all, the album will feature eleven songs that have never been released before."

1. Goin' Down Rockin (Featuring Tony Joe White)
2. Belle Of The Ball
3. If My Harley Was Runnin'
4. I Do Believe
5. Friends In California
6. The Ways of the World
7. Shakin' The Blues
8. Never Say Die
9. Wasting Time
10. Sad Songs & Waltzes
11. She Was No Good For Me
12. Wrong Road To Nashville

Produced by Waylon Jennings and Robby Turner, and to be relased through Saguaro Road Records

Monday, July 16, 2012

Billy Don Burns & Aaron Rodgers At The Exit Inn Nashville

The squared circle is known for brawlers, titans, miscreants, heels, baby faces, tag teams and many more larger than life personalities. We have been posting on Billy Don Burns since we first met up with him. Billy Don's presence is felt wherever he roams and he treats a recorded song like his personal squared circle, doing battle with the grit characters crafted from hard living stories. This approach attracts quite the talent and this past weekend in Nashville proves the point. Have a look at the photos taken by Cadie Calhoun during the show at the Exit Inn.

Here is also a great quote from J.B. Beverley about Billy Don:

"Bill Don Burns is the perfect blend of saint and sinner.... like finding Jesus in a shooting gallery. It was a totally spiritual experience for me. He is an old-world outlaw, the last of a true breed. I am proud to call him an influence, a mentor, a friend, and my brother. If you want from the heart songs done right, look no further than ol' BDB, baby!"


Aaron Rodgers, Billy Don Burns and Robby Turner - © 2012 Cadie Calhoun
Mickey Sandora, Aaron Rodgers and Billy Don Burns - © 2012 Cadie Calhoun
Billy Don Burns, Aaron Rodgers and Cory Adair - © 2012 Cadie Calhoun
Aaron Rodgers and Billy Don Burns - © 2012 Cadie Calhoun
Mickey Sandora, Aaron Rodgers, Billy Don Burns and Cory Adair - © 2012 Cadie Calhoun

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Album Review – Billy Don Burns “Nights When I’m Sober”, Repost From Saving Country Music


"What a treasure this album is.

I’ll spare you the lengthy diatribe about what shame it is that Billy Don Burns isn’t a more heralded and recognized elder of the greater country music community. But rest assured, he should be. When you’ve produced albums for Johnny Paycheck and Merle Haggard, and had Willie Nelson cut your songs and appear on your albums, you deserve to be thrown a few more bones than what Billy Don has found at his feet. But you don’t need to drop names to know what a one-of-a-kind talent Billy Don Burns is, all you have to do is listen.

Billy Don Burns, Merle Haggard, Neal James and Johnny Paycheck
Then again, the demons that have pursued Billy Don throughout his life and career, dogging his successes with lapses into addiction and destitution make the start and stutter nature of his career understandable. Those battles are also what have fueled and elevated his status as a songwriter in certain circles. He’s deity-like to the people who know and love him, yet the general public is unfamiliar with the name (though they may recognize music he’s written or produced). Billy Don Burns is a force behind the music.


There are great songwriters, and then there are songwriters that define the apogee of the craft, songwriters like Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt…and Billy Don Burns. There are songs on Nights When I’m Sober that will rip at your heart like nothing else. There’s a great variety on the album with sweet songs and fun songs. And where Billy Don elevates the stakes is in the production and approach to each composition. With producer/guitar player Aaron Rodgers, they reinvigorate the late-era, rock-infused Outlaw sound that had Haggard and Paycheck seeking Billy Don’s services.

Aside from maybe Tom Waits, Hank Williams and a few others, I have never heard an artist be able to pull as much emotion out of a composition as Billy Don Burns does by slowing everything down in the tear-jerking songs that constitute the backbone of this album. “Is He the Writer?” and “Stranger” are two excellent selections that work in the traditional Keith Whitley-style self-referential method that calls on both wit and irony to drive home a tragic story. “When Lonesome Comes Around” is a lot more of a loose arrangement, and takes “darkness” to all new depths as Billy Don tells the story of a man inviting in illusion as the one last antidote to alleviate chronic sorrow.

Billy Don Burns - Nights When I'm Sober... Portrait Of A Honky Tonk Singer
The dark songs are counterbalanced with some really warm offerings, specifically “Gaylor Creek Church” about the by-gone culture of community churches and the warmth they instilled in a child’s soul, and “Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way” with its fun acoustic lead-in and lead-out and its positive take to life on the road. “Wouldn’t Have It…” is awfully fetching and probably constitutes the “hit” of the album. Night’s When I’m Sober is always on the move, with the motorcycle story “Born to Ride” and the touring tale “Aaron Rodgers and Me”.


What elevates this album the most, the intangible of Nights When I’m Sober is the authenticity Billy Don Burns can approach these songs with. The battle will rage on forever about if songwriters and performers have to live what they sing and write about to be authentic, but with Billy Don, the point is moot.


In the song “Is He the Writer?” Billy Don mentions the classic tale of the artist cutting off his ear to suffer so he can draw inspiration. Many artists and their fans love this romantic notion of art and inspiration, but few artists have the commitment to see it through. You get the sense that with Billy Don, if times were tough, he wouldn’t hesitate looking for a fillet knife, and that he’s done the rough equivalent of cutting his ear off many times before, and will again before it’s all over.

Billy Don Burn’s albums Train Called Lonesome and Heroes, Friends, & Other Troubled Souls are also worth picking up, but I think one could make the case for Night’s When I’m Sober being Billy Don’s defining release.


Two guns up!"

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Purchase Nights When I’m Sober from Rusty Knuckles

The following videos showcase songs from Nights When I’m Sober with luthier Richard Peek making a gas can banjo in the background."




Billy Don Burns, album review on Saving Country Music

Monday, July 9, 2012

Billy Don Burns Interview With Outlaw Magazine

Billy Don Burns is a league all his own within country music. His songwriting talent is beyond measure and his new album is about to be unleashed upon the world. Many will come to realize far and wide, his sphere of influence after July 10, 2012. 

Billy Don's songs are epic short stories and take the listener on a journey through a world which is lived by the seat of your pants, focusing on the here and now. You can be rest assured this will be an album to be played for a long time to come. Nashville's manufactured outlaws should be shaking in their brand new and unbroken in boots, Billy Don Burns has crafted an album of Real Country Music.


Billy Don Burns new album, Nights When I'm Sober... Portrait Of A Honky Tonk Singer available now

"Billy Don Burns is a true Country Music Warrior. He wears his battle scars with honor, depicting the stories of his life in his songs with brutal and beautiful honesty. He’s respected far and wide for his long career in songwriting and performing, and he’s still out there. He’s lived it and breathed it through lifetimes of country music passion and pain. Carrying the guitar like a sword on his back, he battles for the Poet. He battles for the Artist. He battles for the souls who defy modern convention. And every time he strikes a chord in some smoke-filled Honky Tonk, he wins. Billy Don Burns started out in this business working with legends, and somewhere along the way he became one himself.



Below is his interview with Andrea Fennel.

AF: It is obvious you live your music with fierce determination and passion, Billy Don. When did you first realize music was the life for you?

BDB: I entered this talent contest when I was in the Army, mostly to get out of all the hell in basic training. There were several acts and the whole post was there on the big night. Don Grady, TV star of My Three Sons, presented the winner with a big trophy. When I won that, I thought maybe I do have something going on for me. It was a pretty big deal. When I got out of the Army, I knew for sure this is what I was going to do.

AF: Who were your influences growing up?

BDB: I grew up in Stone County Arkansas, in Mountain View. I was into Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Jimmy Driftwood, who won a Grammy and wrote some great songs, was my mother’s school teacher. Jimmy always encouraged me. Those guys would be my first influences. There were many more before I figured out who I was.

AF:  Tell me about when you received your first Publishing deals…

BDB:  When I got out of the Army, Merle Haggard was becoming the hottest country act on the planet. It was 1971 and I had a band living in the Palm Springs area of California. I told the guys that I was going to go to Bakersfield and meet Merle. They said “you ain’t gonna meet him.” I had read that Merle had a Publishing company called Shade Tree. He couldn’t write for it at the time because he was under contract to write for Buck Owens. So, I go to Bakersfield and look in the phone book and there was Shade Tree listed on Niles Avenue. I went there and said I was a songwriter and would like to play them some songs. The lady running the office said I needed to see Roy Nichols as he was in charge of that. Roy was a star to me. He was a big part of Merle’s sound, playing lead guitar in his band. I met Roy and played him a couple of songs. He said “yeah, man, we will publish those.”  Then he asked me if I wanted to meet Merle who was in an office with Bill Woods. I said Yes. He called Merle and and we went in his office. Roy introduced me to Merle. It was so great. He autographed two of his albums for me. Then, he said to Bill Woods “why don’t you get him on Jimmy’s TV show this afternoon, Bill?” Bill Woods was a piano player on the show that was on Channel 32 there in Bakersfield. That was my first time to do a TV show. It was all so great. Then some 18 years later, I got to produce Merle on one of the Johnny Paycheck albums.  The great Harlan Howard signed me first as a staff writer in 1972 in Nashville.



AF: Who was the first artist besides yourself that cut one of your songs?

BDB: Connie Smith was on Columbia Records and she recorded my first song the year 1973. Of course, she is now Mrs. Marty Stewart.

AF: What was it like working with Johnny Paycheck and tell me how all of that came about…

BDB: I liked Johnny Paycheck. He was not easy to work with in 1988 – the cocaine and the booze pretty much had him a lot then. However, I am not saying anything bad about Johnny. Hell, it has whooped the hell out of my ass a bunch of times, too. When it was good- it was good. But, it was not an easy gig. When Johnny’s manager went to federal prison in 1988, I became his producer and manager and, hell yeah, it was a pretty rough ride, but I loved him.

AF:  Any good road stories you want to share?

BDB: I think I will pass on the road stories. Most of mine are either X-rated or incriminating, so I better pass on that for now.

AF: What has been one of your favorite moments in your career?

BDB: My biggest moment in the business would be when Johnny Cash sent me a one page letter. That was the biggest thing that has ever happened to me. I gave it to the Stone County Museum in Mountain View, my hometown in Arkansas.

AF: On your CD Heroes, Friends and Other Troubled Souls, you have several guest stars. Who would be your dream person to cover one of your songs?

BDB: I guess I wanted a Willie Nelson record more than anyone else. He has always been such a great writer. So when that happened, it was so good. My first one he did was on his Sony Records Born for Trouble CD. My song was “I Don’t Have A Reason To Go To California Anymore.”  I would have loved to have had a Johnny Cash cut and I think if he would have lived longer that may have happened. He had just found out who I was not too long before he died.

AF: What has been happening with you lately?

BDB: This kid from South Carolina, Aaron Rodgers, ran me down and told me he was a big fan and wanted to produce a new CD on me. We did that and I am proud of it and I think it is one of my best ones. The CD is called (Nights When I’m Sober) Portrait of a Honky Tonk Singer and will be out soon.




AF: What about Music means the most to you?

BDB: What I love about this business the most is expressing myself and then have people write all these great things about what my songs mean to them. That makes me feel like a success. That is the best and it humbles me when I hear the nice things that people say about my music.

It is not easy being Billy Don Burns, but that is who I am and the only part that I know how to play.
Billy Don Burns, album cover photo shoot by Lance Dawes © 2012

Monday, June 25, 2012

Aaron Rogers, Billy Don Burns and Waylon Jennings Are All Linked...

In a matter of weeks, Billy Don Burns new studio album will be hitting the shelves and playlists world wide. There is also a key ingredient to this album, who has been an unsung hero and worked with Billy Don on the album over quite a period of time and who is also appearing on the upcoming posthumous Waylon Jennings album. Folks, if ya haven't heard the name of Aaron Rodgers, well remember it now.


Aaron is a guitar pickin' and slingin' magician along with one hell of a producer and engineer in the studio. Oh yeah, he is a stand up individual more importantly. Don't let us try to convince ya though, even Billy Don wrote a song about him that will be on the album.




Along with Billy Don's album he also was played guitar on the new Waylon Jennings record that was recorded right before he passed on, with greats such as Reggie Young, Richie Albright and Tony Joe White. With his body of work and reputation growing like gang busters, Aaron Rodgers will surely become a beacon of light in Real Country Music. A few major new projects are in the works with Aaron and we will keep ya posted on whats being cooked up.

Aaron  Rodgers plays guitar on the new Waylon Jennings album due out in September

"A new album from outlaw country legend Waylon Jennings will be released this September, filled with recordings the icon made during the last few years before his death in 2002. Jennings spent hours in a recording studio with his longtime accompanist, Robby Turner and together they laid down twelve tracks using just Waylon’s guitar and vocals and Turner’s bass.  All songs were personally selected by the country star, ones that resonated in a deeply personal way and reflected his state of mind, his passions, and important statements he wanted to make about his life.  The duo planned out the future instrumentation that would be added to the tracks, but Jennings was never able to complete them.

10 years after his passing, Turner returned to the recordings, finishing each song to honor Waylon’s vision of what would turn out to be his very last album.  Bringing in musicians who had long worked with Waylon, such as Reggie Young, Richie Albright and tour mate Tony Joe White, Turner painstakingly created the album that Waylon set out to make.  "Waylon knows he's surrounded by friends and all that hear this will feel as if they know Waylon in all his authenticity," explains his widow, country singer Jessi Colter.  With his family’s blessing,Goin’ Down Rockin’: The Last Recordings of Waylon Jennings will be available on September 11 (Saguaro Road Records).  No one has ever heard these performances before; they are Waylon’s last gift to his fans.

Jennings wrote 11 of the 12 songs that appear on the new album, a testament to the personal nature of the recordings, and they reveal an artist in the midst of a final creative peak.  In addition to his own songs, the album includes Tony Joe White’s “Goin’ Down Rockin’” (on which White himself is a guest). In all, the album will feature eleven songs that have never been released before."

Goin' Down Rockin' - The Last Recordings of Waylon Jennings Tracklist:

1. Goin' Down Rockin (Featuring Tony Joe White)
2. Belle Of The Ball
3. If My Harley Was Runnin'
4. I Do Believe
5. Friends In California
6. The Ways of the World
7. Shakin' The Blues
8. Never Say Die
9. Wasting Time
10. Sad Songs & Waltzes
11. She Was No Good For Me
12. Wrong Road To Nashville

Produced by Waylon Jennings and Robby Turner, and to be relased through Saguaro Road Records.