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 Miles of Music, the absolute best Americana / alt-country / roots rock / indie Record Store in the world, has added Ken Layne & the Corvids' Fought Down to its exclusive collection of quality music. (We're on the front page below Grey DeLisle's debut CD for Sugar Hill Records.) We are damned pleased, especially by the review Miles of Music just posted: With grit and swagger, not unlike the Rolling Stones of the early '70s, Ken Layne & The Corvids play great rock 'n' roll. Glen Reynolds of msnbc.com says it best, "It sounds the way Exile On Main Street would sound if it were recorded in the 21st Century, by guys who weren't already millionaires but who really liked to sing and play." Layne's whiskey soaked voice is kept warm by a blanket of crunchy guitar, and slightly drawled by the Southern-rock vibe that fuels these songs about hard livin' and drinkin'. "Lincoln Town Car" plows a dark trail that reflects the opening lyric - "I was run down, sad, drunk" - to a tee. The closing line of the same song says a lot about the rest of this solid collection, "I'm wasted out my head." This is hard honky-tonk for the punk rocker in you. (Scrub Jay Records) If you've yet to order a copy of Fought Down, go get yourself one from Miles of Music -- pick up another four discs from the site and the total shipping is only $4.75 for the whole batch. (We recommend Dan Baird, this Blasters' reunion DVD, the Beat Farmers Live at the Spring Valley Inn, maybe this nice Tim Bluhm solo CD ... that would be a nice box 'o records! Everybody is talking about the retirement of Mojo Nixon, and that's a retirement you should actually care about. The important thing is for you to get tickets to his final performance -- an all-day musical carnival -- in Austin at the Continental Club. More later. All hail Jack Sparks at WMGT in the metropolis of Minneapolis (or the so-called "Twin Cities") for playing our honky-tonk car crash soundtrack "Here's To You" on the radio on Saturday. Could we get WMGT to webcast, maybe via some sorta mafia bribe?
 Well, that was fun. It's Tuesday night in Reno, and everything up here is still covered in snow and car wrecks. The MinoTour went just fine. Thanks to all who came out, listened to the band, bought some stuff from our Supreme Lord of Merchandise Mr. Ben Sullivan, drank with us before / during / after the shows, foolishly gave us their e-mail addresses, etc. We made a lot of new pals and saw a whole bunch of old buddies -- especially at the San Diego stop -- and we'll do it again real soon. Things must be updated. E-mails must be answered. That one guy must be mailed back to Orange County. First, we'll deal with the updates ....
MORE... — March 03, 12:05 AM
Hooray for TexasRadio1, and Huzzah for the Corvids! We got a spin tonight on "The Fine Line" show. And you can listen to the TR1 right on your own computer, like a (PS - You're officially & legally Texan if you've ever lived in Texas for any length of time beyond "layover" ... and I did, as a youngster, many decades ago ... NASA, LBJ, UFOs, GWB, PBR, etc.) As Tony Pierce knows, the Corvids' MinoTour begins tonight in Hollywood ... details here. Thanks to those damned Oscar Awards, there are street closures in the area tonight, but they should not screw up access to the King King at Hollywood & Whitley. And the Metro station at Hollywood & Highland remains open -- it's only closed on Sunday, the night of the movie award show -- so take the Metro if you want. It's cheap and you don't have to worry about parking. See Matt Welch's site for a bunch of nice new reviews of the Corvids CD -- and thanks to InstaPundit for this! -- and we'll see you somewhere in Southern California between now and Sunday. Also, there should be a story in today's issue of the San Diego Reader. (And despite Welch's claims, there isn't a door-price discount with a flyer. But tonight is a very cheap $7, Friday is a crazily cheap $3, and we're unsure what Saturday's door price will be, but figure on about $5. Yet .... Bring flyers if you got 'em, because who the hell knows what might happen!) MinoTour Facts & Figures If you subscribe to the mailing list, you already received the following info. If not, read it, print flyers, etc. (There are flyers for each show, linked below. Print 'em up and bring 'em along ... there may be discounts! Or not. This flyer covers all three dates.) Thursday, Feb. 26 Friday, Feb. 27 Saturday, Feb. 28 In all cases, Corvids' Show Time is around 10 or 10:30 at the latest, which is why we encourage you to get there at 9 p.m. sharp so you have time to find the club, find parking and (of course) booze up and enjoy the first acts, which will be good. (We're especially looking forward to Shawn & Steve from the 7th Day Buskers at the San Diego show and Whalen -- a fine alt-country band led by our own Jeff Whalen's cousin, Tim Whalen -- at the Liquid Den in Huntington Beach.) Yes, the new CDs and other such merchandise will be available at all the stops, and probably from the band the following Sunday as they recover at Ye Rustic Inn. And yes, we now have the Machinery to accept Credit Cards at the shows. The North County Times' Preview entertainment mag reviews Fought Down: If you hunger for real rock 'n' roll -- the kind of music that practically smells of stale beer and leather jackets and overfilled ashtrays, the sort of songs that sound best while rolling down the highway with the windows down -- then Ken Layne & the Corvids more than fit the bill. Mr. Jim Trageser is responsible for that nice review. Thanks dude! (And if you're in San Diego County or Riverside County, you can pick up a copy of Preview just about anywhere.) Mr. Jack Sparks sent us a nice valentine on his Feb. 14 The Other Side of Country show on WMGT. Here's to you, Jack! Some study the intolerable mystery of religion, or the peculiar puzzle of WMDs in Iraq, or maybe why the teevee show "Angel" is being canceled, but we have Bigger Concerns. What in Hell or on Earth is driving our Amazon sales rank, which some of us (Matt) have become completely addicted to viewing, day and night? Yesterday it hit 500, then dipped to the 900s by last night (I'm told), and is currently at #712. Was there a newspaper or magazine review we haven't seen? Sudden frequent airplay on a nice station we don't know about? The e-mail delivers no clues. Whatever is causing this current little spike, we are happy about it. Thanks, Great Mystery! Not having been in Los Angeles so far this year, this site is not a reliable Rock Guide for your Corvids' related rock happenings in the L.A. metro area ("The Southland"). But Matt Welch's site has all related news, as in Axel's band the Mere Mortals will be playing Friday night, as in 25 hours from now, at Spaceland in Silverlake. Tsar played at the Derby in Hollywood on Tuesday; people said it was groovy. But here at this site, we do not know of such things. We are 113 years old, playing Keno at the Reno Circus Circus, where murderers are often caught. A Full Dose of 3 a.m. Looks like there are two fine new reviews up at the Amazon Corvids page, both from music fans in Colorado. Mr. Stephen Green (who is the same Mr. Green who runs this here VodkaPundit site) says: "Let your older friends hear it, and they'll wonder how they missed a 1972 Rolling Stones album. Play it for your younger friends, and they'll think you're on the cutting edge of alt-rock." And "A Music Fan" in Fort Collins says, in part: Ken Layne's distinctive vocals and down to earth lyrics are supported throughout by musical craftsmanship from the band of such talent and integrity that you can't help but hum along and tap your toes. It's 'real music' of the sort rarely seen in most of today's overproduced, paint-by-the-numbers, formula based tripe we get so much of from the big studios! Cheers to both of you fine examples of Colorado Citizenship. We hope to see you all very soon, in a loud dirty club full of booze and magic. And belated thanks for kind mentions (and / or BlogAds) to Mr. Doc Searls, Ms. Emily Jones, and of course the Wizard behind BlogAds, Mr. Henry Copeland. And ... I can't find it, but some very kind dude put a "Fought Down" ad on his site. Why isn't this in the browser history? Is it some sort of Patriot Act??? Were you in the Minneapolis Metropolis today? Did you listen to Jack Sparks' radio show? If you didn't, then you didn't hear The Corvids on Saturday afternoon. This means ... well, give your own excuse! (And thanks, Jack!)
 One, two, maybe even three more shows to add ... but this part is final. Save it, print it, and we'll see you there in two weeks. Our buddies now known as Shapes of Race Cars have just released their exceptional new rock 'n roll CD, "Apocalypse Hurts." Better yet, CDBaby.com features the dudes on the site's Front Page, describing the band as "a daydream for your ears .... today's modern rock is alive and well, too." Dylan Callaghan, who leads the group, has been in some damned fine rock bands with our own Axel Steuerwald (now finishing up his new CD with his new group, the Mere Mortals, who will play Spaceland this Friday), Jeff Solomon (world's greatest bassist) and Matt Welch (who used to play bass with Dylan's old band Champion). But that's no reason not to buy the new Shapes of Race Cars' CD! If you like big, loud, pretty & epic rock, you will like this record. Go take a listen. New Reviews! Scott Chaffin already wrote a little somethin'-somethin' about the record, but now he has posted a much longer & funnier version. Even if he hates them damned slow songs, he sure writes pretty. (The proprietress of TexasGigs agrees.) And the mysterious Cowboy Greg has posted a review that starts like this: Damn, I haven't had so much fun listening to a CD in ages. Thanks all! Final February Minotaur (that's pronounced "mini tour") dates / times / places will be posted this weekend. Matt Welch has some more info on that and Other Subjects. KZLA, "America's Most Listened To Country Station," has stoked the Corvids. On Sunday evening's "Alternative Country" show with Buzz Brainard, Los Angeles got its first dose of Fought Down on the FM airwaves. "The Sun Don't Shine" was the song, in the middle of Hour One with such fancy stuff as Kasey Chambers, Steve Earle, Wayne Hancock, Shelby Lynne, the Flatlanders, the Derailers, Rosanne Cash, etc. I am sad I was in Reno and didn't hear it. Thanks bro! If you're in / around L.A., take a listen to his show on 93.9 FM, Sundays, 9 p.m.-11 p.m. He also plays stuff such as Caitlin Cary, Scott Miller, the Bottle Rockets, Guy Clark and Mr. Johnny Cash (from the new "Unearthed" five-CD set, which you should buy if you don't already own it). Fred Radcliffe alerts us to this coolio dealie: Through the power of the Dark Arts, Fought Down is also on sale at Tower Records' online store. And what sort of strange, horrible rituals were required to make Our Horrid Lord, The Evil One, put our record on Tower's site? Well, it turns out to be all Goodness & Light, with no obvious evil element. See, CDBaby.com started a partnership thing with Tower Records -- I vaguely recall reading the Press Release a month or so back -- and there ya go. I especially like the "May We Also Suggest?" buddy, which suggests Wilco's last two albums and Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker, among other worthy titles. Speaking of CDBaby, go here to read one happy customer's experience with the online music store. Online Retail Update (Jeebus, that sure sounds exciting!) Some of you are most comfortable buying stuff from Amazon. That's why the new CD is available there. And, after many weeks of slow-moving progress, "Fought Down" is now available for immediate delivery, and "Usually ships within 24 hours." (Also, you can buy it with the new The Strokes album and get Free Super Shipping. That's what the Amazon page sez!) Of course, you can also get the CD from the beloved CD Baby. They are a great company, and have already paid something like $8 million to indie musicians / labels. Or you can get the CD from us, using PayPal, right over here on the music page. (I will be turning off the PayPal orders form whenever the band is on the road, by the way. It's a helluva lot easier to let Amazon or CD Baby fill the orders than to travel around with hundreds of CDs, mailers, labels, etc.) (K.L. & the Corvids: Bringing you a world of Consumer Choice since January, 2004.) Hi. Seems one of those terrorist / alien computer virus monsters got inside our server last night, so we pretty much lost any e-mail sent between about midnight and noon today. If you sent us a message, kindly re-send it and everything will be okay, we swear. Thanks Mr. & Mrs. InstaPundit! Glad y'all liked the t-shirts. (And yes, Dr. Helen brings a new level of class to the Corvids fashion line!) And thanks to WMGT and Jack Sparks for playing another Corvids' song on "The Other Side of Country" today: "Here's To You." (Again, we were in some very fine company: Waylon, Dead End Angels, Drive By Truckers, Emmylou, Caitlin Cary & Ryan Adams, etc., etc.) Extra Special Thanks to everyone for continuing to order CDs and t-shirts. We are very happy to go to the Post Office every day. Now go enjoy that Super Bowl or any other excuse for a daytime Sunday booze festival, and we'll have more updates for you soon. At the tail end of this fun-filled rant against the Drug War, Mr. Jack Sparks again honors our little record: 6. Fought Down, by Ken Layne & the Corvids Just sent straight to Carson City, no fines, dope isn't allowed in Nevada, period. Every week or so on the local news here in Reno, there's another report of a couple losers breaking out of the Carson City prison. Without fail, they're found in downtown Reno after a day or two, usually at the same flophouse where they lived before going to Carson City. Anyway, it's 1 o'clock in Northern Minnesota, isn't it? Turn on "The Other Side of Country." Quit screwing around. WMGT 1220 AM. |
