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 Hi folks. Just wanted to let you all know that Ken Layne & the Corvids' CD "Fought Down" is still holding strong in the Miles of Music top sellers for the week and the month. (We're at No. 9 & No. 16, respectively.) If you haven't bought a copy yet -- or need several more copies for gifts, bribes, "easter presents," etc. -- we recommend Miles of Music, where you can stuff yr shopping cart with all sorts of other good stuff, too ... like the new Richmond Fontaine CD or the live Jayhawks' record. More News Soon. New Music: Two new songs, recorded live last month by our buddy Justin Fisher, are here for your listening pleasure. "I Lose Again" is a trashy honky-tonk number. "Cuyamaca" is sorta about the mountain town where I used to live. These are some of the new ones I've been writing, played live for the first time in Southern California five weeks ago at the ragged end of a little club tour. (Just click 'em to hear 'em, or Right Click and Save to keep the songs.)
Congrats to Jack Sparks on the one-year "more or less" anniversary of his "The Other Side of Country" show on WMGT 1220 AM in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Region.
MORE... I've been posting some pictures here at BuzzNet, the nice system that lets you put your cell-phone or digital-camera photos on the InnerNut. You can see the beautiful desert & mountains behind my house, various wildlife, my dog and other such regional attractions. Ryan Olson of the Web Site called "Gimpy Soft" has posted a real nice thing about our new record: "Fought Down" by Ken Layne & The Corvids has quickly become my most listened to album. As a matter of fact, I have to think pretty hard to come up with any music I've purchased in the last year or two that's earned repeated listens like Fought Down has. This album is currently getting me through a very tough NPR pledge week. Excellent straight-up rock & roll. Gracias, Ryan. Glad the record's working for you. (What the hell did singers & songwriters do before Google? How did they know the information???) Radio Buddies: Thanks to Alooga Radio of Germany and Whole Wheat Radio of Talkeetna, Alaska, for playing some K.L. & the Corvids. (Our German pals played "I Should Be That Guy," which is heroic just because the song is more than six minutes long. Our Alaskan pals are playing "Glitter On," from the Catamount Records' CD Hot Unsung Americana Compilation.) (This Catamount CD was alleged to be part of a Miles of Music promotion deal, whereby you did something or other and in return you got the Catamount alt-country CD, or something. If / When that happens, we shall let you know. Meanwhile, send your friends to Miles of Music to buy our CD "Fought Down." That Is All For Now.) UPDATE: A pal asks where else might somebody have heard us on the radio. Here are the stations I know we've been played on, so far: Mr. Jack Sparks' show on WMGT in Minneapolis (about a half-dozen times!), Texas Radio 1 in Dallas / Fort Worth, the "alternative country" show on KZLA FM in Los Angeles, the roots-rock show on KTHX 100.1 FM in Reno / Tahoe / Carson City .... And that's all I know about with any sort of certainty. We've only sent out about a dozen discs to radio stations so far -- mostly to college / public stations known for playing whatever sort of music we make. The "official launch" of the record is still a few months away, strangely enough. That's when it will be in stores nationwide -- these things take time & hella planning -- and the band will be touring constantly, working harder than an ugly whore on Rent Day. Because Corvids' guitarist / harmony yelper Matt Welch was searching the Google tonight, it has come to our attention that Mr. Dave Barry, one of the last three heroes of American newspaper journalism, has kindly mentioned our CD Fought Down in this here interview of March 12. Thanks, Dave! (When I finally do a new "links" page for this site, it will direct you to the new Miami Herald home of Barry's blog, which is here.) Huzzah! We're Number 7 (No. 7) on the Top Sellers this week at Miles of Music: 03.11.04 - 03.17.04 According to Amazon.com, our record Fought Down is No. 60 on the "Early Adopter" indie music list. What does it mean? We are not sure, but we think it's a good thing. 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!) |
