Long-running Portland, Oregon festival Pickathon has announced a new series of concerts for the next 2 months entitled ‘A Concert A Day’. The initiative has been set up to help musicians and artist communities through the Recording Academy’s MusiCares organization, with the rationale that during the current more or less worldwide lockdown, with so many artists unable to tour and so many people stuck at home, they are opening the vaults to premiere one full concert a day for 60 days, streaming for free on Facebook, Amazon Music’s Twitch channel, and on YouTube. And if you want to make a donation, all proceeds will go to MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund. Continue reading “Pickathon presents a concert a day – starting with Drive By Truckers”
Church attendance figures in the United States can seem quite staggering to us, largely secular, limeys. Around 45% attend on a regular basis compared to just 7% in the UK. In addition, many other Americans strongly identify with Christianity, even if they are not regular church-goers. Furthermore, the South, from where much of the music we champion comes from, accounts for 11 of the top 12 states for highest level of active worship (the exception is Utah), each being higher than the national average. 
‘The Unravelling’, the 12th studio release by Drive-By Truckers pulls no punches, let us be upfront about that. As such it may well divide opinion as much and the increasingly bifurcated world on which it provides caustic comment. Musically it could make many friends. Some songs roll on a riffing piano superstructure that supports Mike Cooley’s and Patterson Hood’s instinctually complimentary guitar playing, others escalate the meter to full out rock and there is judicious use of acoustic guitar and strings. The musical canvas on which the Drive-By Trucks paint their exhaustive observations of their homeland is first class. The usual band signature is evident – southern rock infused with country and filtered through Replacements-like brio. 
