Eccentricity NOS, the new album from Americana outfit, Medford’s Black Record Collection, features a variety of Knoxville musicians including John Puckett, Trisha Gene Brady, Clint Young, Sam Lewis, Christina Horn, Ryan Seymour (I’m sure I’m forgetting someone)... and Roman Reese.  You can hear some RR on the final verse of "Pride Goeth (For a Long Way)", the track on the album.  Sam starts things off and we make an MBRC’s sandwich out of Michael Davis.

Eccentricity NOS was released via Dinsdale Records on March 4th.  You can listen to the album at www.mbrconline.com and sometimes at the Medford’s myspace, www.myspace.com/medfordsblackrecordcollection, or pick up a copy at your local Disc Exchange or online at www.cdbaby.com/medfordsbrc2. 

Americana Jug Train IV Returns to Knoxville!!  This Train is Trucking to the Strip!

On the eve of Prohibition, Knoxville shiners and pub-owners spilled like a deluge into the city streets to finish off what was soon to become America's favorite illegal substance.  In an effort to soften the final death pangs of their beloved booze - woozy, teary-eyed drinkers passed their jugs from mitt to mitt, lip to lip and drank every last drop of whiskey in town.  While "mine eyes did not see this glory," I assume that the lines of alcohol were lengthy and lasted even longer into the night, appearing from a distance to be a train.

Almost a full century later, a group of local Knoxville musicians decided to re-spark the engine on that train.  Though booze is no longer an illegal substance and the city has grown so large that it would be quite hard to "fill" the streets as they did on the night before Prohibition, these rockers, rollers, bluegrassers, harp players, blues pickers, and beer-guzzling grinners felt they just had to celebrate Knoxville's colorful history.  Thus, the Americana Jug Train was born.  Instead of passing gin and bourbon, we're passing music.  It's a festival of Americana that celebrates the roots of the South, the blues, booze, the gritty bars, the funk, the soul, the bluegrass and newgrass.  The Americana Jug Train is celebrating its fourth installment, and we want the whole of Knoxville and her sister cities to spill into the streets in celebration of the event.

The Americana Jug Train IV is at Longbranch Saloon, starting promptly at 9pm.  We've got four acts for you this time: Medford's Black Record Collection, John Puckett, Sam Lewis & the Whipperwills, and Roman Reese.  The price at the door is $5, and on my honor - it will be more than worth it.  So, come on out and enjoy the show, drink some beer with us, and celebrate all the things that make America the great place that it truly is.

Here are the links for the individual musicians/bands.

Americana Jug Train Official Site: www.myspace.com/americanajugtrain

Roman Reese: www.romanreese.com

John Puckett: www.myspace.com/johnpuckett

Medford's Black Record Collection: www.mbrconline.com, www.myspace.com/medfordsblackrecordcollection

Sam Lewis: www.myspace.com/samlewistunes

Gritty City, the new album from Roman Reese is now avaiable on Apple iTunes at the following link:  http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=253871581

Thanks, hope your iPod enjoys it!

RR

Roman Reese

Gritty City

Armed with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica, Roman Reese goes orienteering through an impressive 16 tracks on his recent release, Gritty City . Law student by day, musician by night, and adoring husband all the time, Reese draws on his experience in the military to produce an album largely about a man in love and at war.

Perhaps a reflection of the multi-faceted nature of the subjects he explores, Reese demonstrates a range of musical styles. "Cupid's Crying" is a heartbreaking waltz, while "Devil These Days" approaches the pop-country recipe that's popular over in Nashville right now. Other must-hear songs on the record include the frenetic "Breath & Bone," the blues-rock of "Dug Our Way," and "Angel in Fatigues," a stirring Americana-esque narrative. And if you like Scott Miller 's "Drunk All Around This Town," you'll love Reese's "Liquor Chest." It's the next evolution in beerhall ballads guaran-damn-teed to get the whole boozy bar singing along.

Reese's voice, too, shows versatility, sliding soothingly through a lullaby, only to jump, almost jarringly, to an impassioned, gravelly tone. It's in these moments that his voice is almost too big for his guitar, and could easily hold the backing of a full band.

Where Reese really excels is in song writing; he exhibits a rare talent for composing melodies and riffs that linger like the smooth burn of good whiskey, or like young lovers at the end of a slow dance.

— Kevin Crowe, Lisa Slade, Leah E. Willis

All,

Patrick Sullivan's in Knoxville's Old City is sponsoring an American Cancer Society Benefit for a mere $5 donation in their greatroom on April 5th starting promptly at 9pm with Roman Reese, Medford's Black Record Collection, and the one and only, Blue Mother Tupelo.

This is an event to be rivaled by no other.  Start your Good Friday off right with some rock-n-roll this Thursday.

Also, listen to Roman Reese on Knoxville's own, 90.3 "The Rock" fm on Wednesday, April 4th at 5pm!  The show will also be broadcast on local television at (I belive) Comcast 168 and Campus 65.  If you're not in town, you listen to www.wutkradio.com and get your RR fix.

Thanks for listening, and we hope to see you out.

RR

The kids down at the University of Tennessee's station, WUTK 90.3 "The Rock" fm, have agreed to let Your's Truly come down and sing about moonshine and pretty ladies not only on the radio, but also on the television.  The station is 90.3 fm in Knoxville, the television station is Comcast 168 (I think) and Campus 65, the day is April 4th, the time is 5 pm, and the website it www.wutkradio.com.

Hope you get to listen in or watch or whatnot.

RR