Taking a page out of the Radiohead playbook, earlier this week HT faves The Felice Brothers unexpectedly announced the release of God Bless You, Amigo – a 20-track record that features eight originals and 12 traditional folk songs. The ramshackle folk-rock band are currently offering up the digital-only release for just $5, posting the following message to their website about the circumstances that lead to the its release…
God Bless You, Amigo is a collection of home recordings made in the spring of 2012. Due to a cloud of misfortune resembling in part the curse of Rocky Colavito, our home was nearly destroyed by a freak hurricane; our prized and seemingly immutable Winnebago was driven to the ground and mercy shot somewhere in Vermont (long may she stalk the golden highways of heaven); our singer and lead guitarist, Wall Street Panic Snopes, was hospitalized for an acute skin disorder in a foreign hospital; and then in what seemed a perfect finale, all of our amps sizzled out and died during rehearsal upon his return.
This made us go insane with laughter and play our favorite song, “Gulf Of Mexico” – which is also a known aid in exorcism – for what seemed like hours. The old fiddle tune had a strange power over the band, but our management convinced us that releasing a four-hour instrumental was a little too reckless, even for us. After much deliberation we all agreed that we should play more songs along with “Gulf of Mexico.” We all spit in our hands and shook on it. This material consists of eight traditional folk songs and 12 original songs that we’ve always liked, but never had a chance to put on records.
The proceeds from God Bless You, Amigo will go towards a new tour vehicle so that we can come and play your town, or enable us to go into a studio and record a new album (as we have a lot of new material), or to fix our amps. It’s only a $5 download, but you can give more if you are feeling philanthropic.
God bless you, Amigos – The Felice Brothers
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Finally, it was just last year when we were touting the Wanda Jackson’s “comeback” record The Party Ain’t Over, her first album in seven years, which was produced by Jack White. Barely a year and a half later the 74-yeard-old Queen Of Rockabilly is back with a new set of music entitled Unfinished Business, this time recruiting first time producer alt.country singer Justin Townes Earle to step behind the boards. The album, which will hit stores on October 9, is another covers-only affair featuring songs from the likes of Townes Van Zandt, Eric Clapton, Bobby Womack and a take on Wilco’s (via Woody Guthrie) California Stars. Check out the full track listing…
I’m Tore Down, The Graveyard Shift, Am I Even a Memory (feat. Justin Townes Earle), Pushover, It’s All Over Now, Two Hands, Old Weakness, What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome, Down Past the Bottom, California Stars