JeffersonRoss

Road Tripping With Tami

2010-08-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we're all back in Savannah after a fun little strum-a-thon road trip up to Atlanta, DC and West Virginia.

Tami, Peyton and I took off for Atlanta over a week ago to visit family and play the open mic at Eddie's Attic in Decatur. That is surely one of the best songwriter venues in America. Much like The Bluebird Cafe, in Nashville, folks are there to hear songs, have a drink or two and not yap too much. The talent was exceptionally diverse that night featuring everything from bluegrass to the avant garde, which is very different from The Bluebird. If you're in the Atlanta area on a Monday night and have five bucks burning a hole in your pocket. you can't beat Eddie's for an evening of interesting music. Check 'em out.

Peyton continued the Atlanta experience with her grandparents while Tami and I loaded up The Green Machine and headed up to the Washington, DC, area for a little show there. We had a big old time; cruised over to Dupont Circle to one of our favorite book stores, Kramer Books, and ate lunch in a wonderful Greek joint called Zorba's. Later, at the gig, our friend, Tim Hughes, who used to work for The Secret Service, showed up with some pals and big laughter ensued. We're hoping to go back up there and play some of the beautiful wineries that abound around there.

The next morning I chased my own tail lights, winding through the mountains of both Virginias, to our next stop, an afternoon show at The Purple Fiddle in Thomas, West Virginia. This place is a must if you love homegrown music. Thomas is a hamlet, cradled by steep hills and filled with friendly hippies. Our kind of town! As I was unloading The Green Machine, I heard this Scottish voice ask me, "Hey, is there any good music around here?" I turned around and there stood our fabulous friends, David and Mary Ellen Leask, who had driven ten hours, all the way from Toronto, on a whim no less, just to hang out with us and see my little show. What a surprise and treat!

I first met David about seven years ago out in Calgary at the Canadian Country Music Awards and we've been pals and co-writers ever since. He and Mary Ellen have stayed with us in Nashville a number of times and it continues to be a joyous hoedown every time we see them. He is a very special singer/songwriter and they are both deep, soulful people.

Do yourself a favor and go to www.davidleask.com . He's so good.

But, now we're back in The Coastal Empire and we are digging it big time. Both oyster and Bulldog season are here! The jellyfish are gone and The Pirate Festival on Tybee is only weeks away. Peyton can't wait!

Also, we've started a little family travel blog about Savannah and we're having a ball with it! www.savannah-georgia-vibe-guide.com It's just in its infancy but we're adding stuff all the time. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Peach and love!!!

LET THE COWBOY RIDE: An Ode to Cowboy Jack Clement

2010-08-18T18:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know why but Cowboy Jack Clement has been on my mind lately.

I made music in Nashville for a quarter century and one thing that I learned in Twang town was, "Never Meet Your Heroes". They do not live up to your fantasies...any of them. I met too many of those poor megalomaniacs but I never met Jack Clement and maybe that's why I've been thinking about him.

I don't know him...so I still want to.

Born in West Tennessee and raised in Arkansas, Clement found himself in Memphis in the 50's making records for Sam Phillips at Sun Records. He recorded Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" in one take just as a last minute fluke then later wrote "Ballad Of A Teenage Queen" for Johnny Cash, produced the hit at Sun Studio then went on to be the best friend The Man In Black ever had. Discovered and produced Charley Pride...made millions from those records only to lose most of it producing a slasher movie from a script he is reported to have never read.

And, most importantly to me, he co-owned, arguably, the quintessential music publishing house in Nashville, Hall-Clement Music, which found, signed and nurtured such songwriting icons as Bob McDill and Dickey Lee plus scores of other Music City hit makers. In the 60's, 70's and 80's Tree Publishing and Hall-Clement Music shared about 75% of the hit songs coming from Nashville. Of course, he sold his share of that for a fraction of what it was worth.

For decades, his home studio, The Cowboy Arms Hotel And Recording Spa, has churned out piles of classic and wonderful records from folks like John Prine, Nanci Griffith and Townes Van Zandt. A nefarious clubhouse of sorts for everyone from Shawn Camp to Johnny Cash himself, until his passing in 2003, Cowboy's house is reportedly the zaniest crib on Belmont Boulevard and is loaded with great, vintage gear complete a deep, soulful vibe that comes at no extra charge. Tons of great music is still made and recorded there.

Recently, we moved eight hours away from Nashville, to the beach actually, because it was just time to go...Tofu Country had gotten me down. But, last week I remembered watching a video of home movies that Clement had put together; we had seen it at Ralph Murphy's house, a long time friend of Cowboy's. It featured rare gems like, oh, John Cash smoking…something…on A.P. Carter's grave. Stuff like that. Wonderful things, unseen previously...things that actually made me miss Nashville and what it could be. Organic screwing up and off. Magic conjured by outlaw pranksters. HUMOR.....supreme humor, composted in stoned conversation later to sprout up in three minute recorded masterpieces....or not.

So, we rented it on Netflix, "Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fan: Cowboy Jack Clement's Home Movies". I'm biased so I don't know if it's great or not but the film caused me to start thinking of Nashville again in a fresh, clear new light. And I realized something. I don't need to meet my heroes. In fact, I don't even want a hero. I just need to remember that I'm here to whip up some magic and music and the rest of it be damned. Have fun! It's my business to be me.

In the words of The Cowboy himself, "We're in the fun business. If we're not having fun then we're not doing our jobs."

Right on, Cowboy. Ride on.

Jefferson

The Blood Pudding Tour

2010-05-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

England felt downright balmy after the blustery bite of Berlin. Jean jacket weather. I was giddy and ready for a walkabout.

My British manager, Lee Williams, had booked some shows in London and throughout southern England and I dubbed it The Blood Pudding Tour, named after that breakfast delicacy pretty much unknown to us Yanks.

No need to recount each show but some highlights shine more than others.

The Halfmoon Putney is a wonderful, old pub in South London and it was my first stop there. Artists who have plugged in there are folks like Rod Stewart, Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg, Kate Bush, Dire Straits, Van Morrison, U2 and a ragged clump geezers we know as The Rolling Stones. There has been a legendary live music scene going on there consistently since 1963 and, incredibly, the brewery that owns it almost shut it down at the beginning of this year. Fortunately there was an uprising from the customers and neighbors so good sense prevailed and saved the Halfmoon from becoming another 'gastro-pub' devoid of live music. Google them and when you're next in London, go there. You won't be disappointed. The tradition continues.

A couple of hours southwest of London lies some of the prettiest countryside that you will find in England, the Devon and Dorset seaside, and I was thrilled to take in that beauty. My new friends, Steve Black and Alan West, greeted us when we arrived. The village was named Beer so I felt at home immediately.

Alan and Steve make fantastic, hand crafted music and are kind and generous hosts. Here's how generous they are. One of my gigs near London had cancelled because the club's roof had caved in during a rain storm. Alan and Steve, better known as Blacky, said, "No problem. We'll just find you another one down here." And they did! Google The Alan West Band and buy their newest record. It's GOOD music.

Those days that I spent with them were so memorable. Blacky and I walked down the street in his home base village of Axminster and he took me inside the parish church that was built in....the year...700! No, I did not leave out a 1 in front of the 7. It was just the local church. Unbelievable.

We filmed a pilot for a tv show there and in Lyme Regis, which was the setting for Meryl Streep's 'The French Lieutenant's Woman', a breathtakingly gorgeous town complete with wind swept water front and hills to make San Francisco's look like the Bonneville Salt Flats. I can't wait to get back there...huffing and puffing past the shops.

Video From the TV Pilot

Back in London, I had a fab time playing Stephen Ferguson's "Home Cookin'" show as well as Alan Tyler's "Come Down And Meet The Folks", two regularly scheduled showcases that feature the best in Country, Folk and Roots music there in Londontowne. London has a thriving roots music scene and lots of really interesting bands.

And, of course, I had a blast meandering through the streets. London is one of Planet Earth's most exciting cities, great to get lost in. That I happily did. Under the advice of Lee, I took in a play, "Blood Brothers", which was quite good but, I must admit, I really just enjoyed stomping around, seeing what I could see.

I've been home for a few weeks now and I'm enjoying my breakfasts here but I'm indeed a bit wistful for a certain blob of Britishness to sit beside my egg and roasted tomato.

Stay tuned next year for The Blood Pudding Tour II !!!!

BELFAST TO BERLIN

2010-04-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

BELFAST TO BERLIN

It was like God was twisting out the water from a wet, grey flannel blanket the day that I arrived in Belfast. February 25th, 2010. The good news was that The Crown Bar was directly across the street from my hotel.

I had read about The Crown in one of my favorite novels, "Gospel" by Wilton Barnhardt, and the old place certainly lived up to its convivial, venerable hype and it might almost live up to its claim that it is, as their t-shirt declares, 'The Best Bar In The World'. Since the bar is on The National Trust, there is no television, musak or video games allowed within its walls. Bottles are stored at room temperature as no refrigerators are welcome. But, conversation is king.

Within minutes of my arrival, I had been greeted by a group of extremely friendly and loquacious local regulars who insisted on buying me pints of Guinness and regaling me with tales of the pub and of Belfast, in general. Sure enough, one fellow who claimed to be a member of the Real IRA tried to educate me about the parallel philosophies of The Rebels Of Northern Ireland, as he called them, and The Rebels Of The American Confederacy. I nodded a lot and said nothing...just sipped.

I was in the city of Van Morrison and The Grand Opera House, setting for my favorite live album of his, was cater corner, right across the street. Pretty soon, amidst the background noise of chatter, my internal jukebox was playing, "We were born before the wind, also younger than the sun, ere the bonny boat was won, as we sailed into the mystic." A misty mystic by that time.

The next morning I moved downtown to Madison's Hotel, home plate for the 6th Guinness Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival and spent a very satisfying couple days there. Colin Magee, who heads the fest, couldn't have been more welcoming and plugged me in with some of the up and coming writer/performers who were attending. I interviewed some for my CMR Nashville radio show which will air soon.

Some of the young turks with whom I shared the stage were New York's Colin McGrath, Cork, Ireland's Nicole Maquire and Belfast's own roots band extraordinaire, Jackson Cage, fronted by a brilliant, young songwriter named Declan Doherty.

Some of the stars in the song writing world who also appeared were folk icon Nanci Griffith, Ralph McTell (Streets Of London), Pam Rose (I'll Still Be Loving You) and Mick Hanly (Past The Point Of Rescue). Famous Country Music daughters Carlene Carter and Holly Williams also wooed the fans with some killer shows as well.If you're ever in Europe toward the end of February and you happen to love fabulous, hand crafted music, do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to Belfast. You will love the songwriters' festival there.

After Belfast, I shot down to Dublin and then Paris for a few days before flying up to Berlin for nine days. I had not been back to Berlin for twenty years and couldn't believe the change that has come over that town. I had lived there for several months right after The Wall had come down and found myself lost in the ways that Berlin had shifted.

'East Is West' is the new call phrase there. The old West Berlin, where I used to live, is now a bit dusty and in need of some sprucing up while the East, which was literally falling down in 1990, is gleaming and glittering now. It is where the action is...where the money is. There is now a Starbucks in the shadow of The Brandenburg Gate. Unbelievable

Potsdamer Platz, which was a grassy field between the two walls when I lived there, now looks like the central plaza of a brand new western city. Imagine Atlanta, Dallas or Houston. Alexanderplatz, now known to home towners as The Alex, is alive and hopping well into the night with clubs, restaurants, ritzy hotels and boutiques. When I lived there it was a crumbling mess of depressing Soviet style office buildings and pre-fab housing projects. But, I was there to play my tunes. Thanks to the invitation of my good friends, Kai Ulatowski and Iris Paesch, I played at their country music festival, The Berlin Country Messe. They have a separate songwriters stage, called The Bluebird Stage, set up with the compound and I played there three consecutive nights. Heard some cool music and managed to sell some records.

I also played a pub there that I had not played in twenty years, The Celtic Cottage, which was just down the street from my old apartment. No one had told me but they don't allow P.A. systems in there anymore so I played my sets without a sound system. My voice was shot by the end of the second set so I invited my old friend, Christoph Deschner,

and some new friends, John Vaughan, an American who has lived in Berlin for a number of years and, my new Norwegian pals, Ottar Johansen and Tore Andersen, up to do a few numbers. It was totally a blast.

Having seen Berlin and Belfast, both now, it seems to me an interesting reality how cities can be divided then reunited up to a point. The old scars never really heal completely but life can go on and new beauty and prosperity can be forged together. I saw that change hurts but stagnation kills. If those two worn torn cities can get it together, so to speak, then the rest of us have little to whine about and a lot to learn.

Belfast to Berlin...sounds like a good folk song, doesn't it?

Greetings From The Road - An Americana Songwriter in Europe

2010-03-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

Bon jour, my friends!

It's been a very interesting
winter for us this year and I'm, frankly, ready to see some dogwood and
AZALEA action sooner than later. My old pig smoker looked fairly
lonely and forlorn when I left for Europe a couple of weeks ago. I'll
be warming it up as soon as I get home.

I write to you from a balmy Berlin (not). It is mighty cold up here in
northern Germany but the fans and pals are warm and it's been wonderful
to be back in this city after a 20 year absence. I've played a couple of shows here already and have three or four more to perform before I head to England.

CHECK OUT this live recording from the Belfast Nashville Songwriter Festival

Ireland was wonderful and the people were fantastic. Belfast is one of the
friendliest places on Earth and their musical tradition is hearty,
impassioned, alive and well. It was certainly an honor for me to play
the 6th Annual Guinness Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival on the
first leg of my tour and you can bet that I would love to return there.
The talent was staggering with folks like Nanci Griffith, Ralph
McTell, Carlene Carter, Holly Williams, and, may I say it, yours truly.
(My time there has filled me full of the blarney.)

After Belfast I scooted down to Dublin for a couple of days then on to Paris.
CHECK OUT one of my favorite bars in Paris.

Now, of course, I'm in Berlin.

The city has certainly changed since I lived here and I'll be writing more about that later in blogs. In the meantime check out this quick video. 20 years ago this space was a field of grass!

So, thanks for your warm wishes and outstanding musical taste!!!

Your cousin-

Jefferson

20 YEARS SINCE THE BERLIN WALL FELL AND I, TOO, AM A JELLY DOUGHNUT!

2009-11-09T11:27:00.001-08:00

Today, marks 20 years since the Berlin Wall fell and it seems like yesterday.

I had been in Berlin a short time before that, busking around Europe, and marveled at how it was the only modern, walled city on Earth. I visited both the East and the West and was shocked, like countless others before me, at the stark differences between the two.

Several months after that, I met a couple named Rolf and Beate Sieker. They came over to Nashville and we made a bluegrass album together featuring our own original material and dobro wizard, Jerry Douglas, and we planned for me to come over weeks later to start playing some shows and touring Europe.

Between the time we finished the record and my arrival in Berlin, The Wall had fallen. November 9, 1989

After flying over there and settling in, I began to explore the city and found it already to be quite different. West Berlin was no longer an island. Scores of eastern immigrants and entrepeneurs had set up kiosks and were selling everything from ghetto blasters to West German Marks on the streets. The wall was coming down piece by piece as enterprising Turks were chiseling it down to small boulders, spray painting them and selling them to tourists as historical souvenirs. (I, myself, bought a hammer and chisel and sent home a bunch of the concrete chucks to friends and family and a large piece still rests on the bookshelf in my living room.)

Everyone loved everyone in those first brief months before the honeymoon had to come to an end. I met lots of Easterners including an American who had met a young East German and married her in 1961, taking up permanent residence in East Berlin and raising their daughter there. They were thrilled to have contact with westerners but were unsure about their future and what the new government and reunification would bring. (And, I must add, it was not entirely smooth sailing for them in the years that followed.)

But, I really had the time of my life and knew that history was being made and I, in my miniscule way, was getting to participate in it.

In a couple of months I will be returning to Berlin, after a 20 year absence, and I don't really know what to expect. I've seen photos of the glimmering new buildings which stand where the old wall once stood. I hear tales of the art scene and the culinary scene. I imagine what it's like and the changes that have occurred.

But today I marvel at the miracle that spontaneously happened two decades ago today and am reminded that people can do the right thing, go against the odds and bring real revolution not to mame or kill or seek power but to spread freedom and live their lives the way that they choose.

Even though John F. Kennedy's poorly translated cry to the Berliners, "Ich Benn Ein Berliner!", (which he thought meant "I am a Berliner," and actually means, "I am a jelly doughnut,") thundered through the assembled German crowd almost a half century ago, we can rally with JFK's sentiments and raise our glasses and our hearts to the fine, proud citizens of that capital and rejoice for what happened on that November night 20 years ago.

Today, in my heart, I am a Berliner!

But tomorrow I may be a jelly doughnut.

Auf wiedersehn!!!

Jefferson

WSM LAUNCHES FIRST NEW LIVE RADIO SHOW IN DECADES AND I WAS THERE TO COVER IT.

2009-10-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

WSM's CUTTING EDGE SERIES, "MUSIC CITY ROOTS", LINKS EIGHT DECADES OF TRADITION WITH NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND ATTITUDES

It was a dark and stormy night in The Music City and the flashing, "NO VACANCY" sign in front of the old Loveless Motel was no lie because it was elbow room only but CMR Nashville's Jefferson Ross was thrilled to be on hand for the premier episode of the legendary WSM Radio's new series, "Music City Roots", a weekly, live radio program that will be broadcast every Wednesday evening at 7PM Central Time for Canada and the United States, 1AM for Britain and 2AM for the European Continent. (Jefferson would ask the Australians to figure this out on their own because he is an idiot at math.)

Situated in the large, white, spanking new barn, recently built behind the venerable Loveless Motel and Cafe, the show embraced a crowd of Music Row elite and music lovers alike. It reminded this writer of what a Nashville happening used to be like, a warm setting where thoughtful writers and singers met thoughtful listeners and apprentices with no agenda but to get great songs across. (Sorry if that sounds sappy...it's the truth.)

Eddie Stubbs, who hosted most of the program, and who is a walking encyclopedia of Country Music information, tethered the broadcast down to a smooth, baritone mood reminding us all that WSM was built on new technology back in the 1920's and continues to reach forward into the 21st Century.

He then introduced Mr. Craig Havighurst, a Nashville columnist and author, who wrote a splendid book entitled "Air Castle Of The South: The Making Of Music City". It is the story of WSM Radio and the evolution of Music Row and the music industry through that powerful radio station. Havighurst conducted the interviews throughout the evening. These included our headliner, Emmylou Harris and iconic singer/songwriters Pam Rose and Mary Ann Kennedy.

Mr. Havighurst remarked, being in such luminous company of Stubbs, Harris, etc., that he was feeling like a certain, most recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, "I don't know what I'm doing here!"

Kennedy/Rose took the stage with much aplomb and applause, with Pam Rose thumping along on a parlor-sized Larrivee guitar and Ms. Kennedy strumming a sunburst Gibson acoustic with dual, tortoise shell pick guards. After playing their first number, Rose quipped, "If you enjoy music that doesn't fit in a box, then you are in the right place." They then performed their number one song that the duo wrote for Restless Heart, a tune called "I'll Still Be Loving You".

In the spirit of WSM's famous commercials during The Opry, Stubbs enthralled us, and your writer is not kidding you here, with a shoe commercial. He praised the righteousness of French's Shoes And Boots and then lifted up his own size 15 shoe, proclaiming that French's always has the right size for him. One would hope that French's will forever more be crammed with patrons after that display from such a stoic and dignified gentleman.

Havighurst then interviewed Ms. Harris and started the query with an interesting statement and question, "You weren't always a Country fan, were you?"

Country Music Hall of Fame member, Emmylou Harris replied, "No, I didn't like Country Music. I loved Folk Music but I was converted to Country as well." And, that might possibly refer to her 'conversion' by country/folk/rock sinner-saint, Gram Parsons, with whom Harris collaborated on several seminal projects in her career. Parsons is assumed to be the key, male figure in her "The Ballad Of Sally Rose", which was mentioned several times during the evening, written and co-produced by her ex-husband, Paul Kennerley.

Havighurst asked her if one needed to be ambitious to make it in the music industry. Harris replied, "I think that you have to be KIND of ambitious but, like Minnie Pearl said, I'm just SO PROUD TO BE HERE." (I am terribly sorry but humans do not get too much cooler than this woman. Please shoot this way if your author is wrong.)

Annie Crane and Robin Aigner then took the stage with some generous applause. A winning duo of women from Brooklyn, they sang a nice, opening song and then hurled themselves into Hank Williams', "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". They shone like lovely, earnest, Brooklyn girls but they did not seem lonesome at all and no one was even close to crying. One hates to be a wet blanket for this segment, but in this town full of KILLER female singers, this was a Glee Club moment, at best.

And, THEN, the angels sang...

Ms. Harris stepped out on the stage, with Rose, Kennedy and a stellar, acoustic band in tow, and smoldered with a deep throated yet laid back version of the song, "Evangeline", which was featured on her 1981 album by the same name.

Her dress was a lavender, opaquely netted, Western affair, skirted in light fringe and she wore deep, violet cowgirl boots trimmed in cream.

Her message for the evening was about animals and a large number of ARC (Animal Resource Center) members were there for support. Kennedy/Rose sang a song about animal care and Harris, repeatedly, admonished listeners to have their pets spayed and neutered.

The last song that Ms. Harris sang as your correspondent was leaving the building was a favorite hymn in the Americana canon, "Prayer In Open D".

The very last bit of the song lyric reads,

"BEYOND THE RIVER AND THE FLOOD,

AND THE VALLEY WHERE FOR SO LONG I STOOD,

WITH THE ROCK OF AGES IN MY BONES,

SOMEDAY I KNOW IT WILL LEAD ME HOME."

In this era of plastic, blow up dolls, music fans far and wide can relax and be glad that folks like WSM and Emmylou Harris continue to feel the rock of ages in their bones and that, someday, it will lead us home. And, home is a good place to be on a dark and stormy night.

Keep a song in your heart!

Your Old Cousin-

Jefferson Ross

I WAS ASKED TO WRITE A BIO FOR EACH SONG ON "AZALEA". HERE GOES!!!!

2009-09-19T09:27:00.001-07:00

1. HORNET HAWKINS- This is the story of my grandfather, who was a moonshiner/bootlegger in Georgia in the depression and early years of World War II. One night when the Treasury Agent got too close to his still, he picked up a 50 pound bag of black market sugar, because he could not afford for it to be confiscated, hoisted it on his shoulder and out ran the law man on foot. He later ran more legitimate enterprises and died a wealthy man in 2000. No, his name was not really Hornet Hawkins. Names were changed to protect the guilty.

2. CHANGE- This was a song written with Boston native, Stan Swiniarski. The first time we got together to write we decided to just write a list of "There's a reason why...such and such happens". "There's a reason why this happens." "There's a reason why that happens. etc., etc." We didn't know what the song was about; we just had this list. The next time we got together we realized that list was all about change and how it is the primary force that drives us to do good things and bad things in our lives. The escape from inertia and boredom propels us in all kinds of directions.

3. I WAS HERE- This is a personal song and one that I didn't think would ever see the light of day but people seem to like it. I've been coming to Europe for over 25 years now and when I'd be walking the streets of Paris or London, this melody would go through me head, over and over, each time. It's the verse melody. When I was putting the songs together for the AZALEA album, I decided that it was finally time to use that melody that had been in my head for so long, and since I had so many sense memories that went along with it, I decided to make it a personal song about my travels and friends, etc. I wanted it to sound like neo-Don Williams. I think that it does, sort of.

4. THE PROPHET ELIJAH- When I was a child my grandmother had sister who lived 30 miles away and we would visit her from time to time. About halfway there, there stood an old shack on the side of the road and there sat an old African-American man who would tip his hat to every single car that would roll by. I often wondered who he was. 20 years later, I was writing with a co-writer and she said that she had had the same experience. So, in light of growing up during the Civil Rights Movement in the South in the '60s, this was just a take on who we thought that this man could be....who we hoped that he would be anyway.

5. AZALEA- My father died when I was two and I always had these fantasies about him coming back to look in us so this song is love song told from the point of view of a ghost who still love this woman named Azalea. He just looks in on her and assures her in some way that they'll be together some day. Also, I wanted the song to be lush with southern imagery. I'm a sucker for southern imagery. I chose the name Azalea but it is a very southern plant. My father's sister's name is actually Azalean and that is about as dixie fried as you can get.

6. FLIPPIN' THAT HOG- My grandfather used to love to have pig roasts and the best pig roaster in the county was an old man named Tinch Tutt. His mother had been a slave. He reached 103 years old and outlived 4 wives. The hog would show up at the house, very much alive and sassy, and then Tinch would go to work, if you know what I mean. We'd sit up all night long with him, helping him shovel hot coals and listening to his stories. He'd read our fortunes in the palms of our hands. By morning, the hog was cooked and ready for when the guests arrived after church to eat. This is my ode to him.

7. STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA- I got this idea washing dishes. It's about if you could stack up all of the regrets and hurtful that you've done in your life, then it could look like a mountain and every one could see what a selfish jerk you've been. It's a lament...an 'I'm sorry' letter to the one you love. George Strait came really close to recording this song this year.

8. HARD TO BE SO EASY- This song was not intended to go on the album. We had another song in mind but on the last day of my writing sessions before I was to take off to record AZALEA,

my friend, Lisa McCallum, and I got together and wrote this and we just felt like maybe a duet would be a nice breath of fresh air for the project. It is the story of two lovers who cannot let go of each other yet but know that they need to. They resent the other for still showing up in the middle of the night, needy for the other. There's an interesting tension in the song, I think. We've all been there and felt that magnetic, dysfunctional tug and it hurts.

9. REALITY- I wrote this with my good pal, Lisa Brokop. It's about how perception creates reality on so many levels. Van Gogh thought that he was a failure when he died yet his paintings are some of the most valuable in the world. The idea is, "don't let the media or other ignorant strangers dictate what you think about yourself. YOU create your world every single day'.

10. LUCKY NOW AND THEN- I love stories about lovable losers. Charlie Brown rocks, in my book! This is the story of a man who is unlucky on just about every count except for the fact that his woman loves him and wants him and thinks that he is great. I have a gal like that! I've lost on a number of occasions and she makes me feel like a winner all the same.

11. SCENIC ROUTE- My co-writer, Mary Ann Bernicky, was laughing at a co-writing session one day about this sign that she saw near her house west of Nashville. The sign read, "Live bait and soft serve ice cream sold here." We thought, now THAT'S the South for you. So we came up with this tune. I wanted it to feel like the middle of August, perhaps a Sunday, deep down in the Southland. HOT and SLOW. I think that we nailed that feeling.

12. THE LAST SONG- This is another song co-written with Brokop. It's a whimsical anthem. If this were the last song that I could possibly sing while on this Earth, what would it be? Gardens and dogs are the best therapy. Bacon and eggs are not heroin. Relax. Don't take yourself too seriously. Don't lie to anyone. Don't lie to yourself. That's it!

I AM NOW A MUSIC JOURNALIST, PART 2.

2009-09-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

FOGERTY PLAYS "SECRET" SHOW IN NASHVILLE
>
>
> Last night, CMR's Jefferson Ross enjoyed a "secret" concert featuring
> roots music legend John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
> fame. Nashville's Mercy Lounge was packed with attendees of the 10th
> Annual Americana Music Association's annual convention and festival
> and only the press was in on the secret that the night's special
> guest was the great Fogerty.
>
> The crowd went wild as Fogerty was introduced and took the stage in a
> black cowboy hat and deep blue sequined shirt made by Manuel of
> Nashville. Immediately he and his stellar band tore into The Everly
> Brothers', "When Will I Be Loved" and then, without missing a beat,
> directly into John Prine's "Muhlenberg County". CCR's "Born On The
> Bayou" followed, trailed by almost every Creedence hit that ever
> topped the charts.
>
> The stellar band showcased such roots royalty as Kenny Aranoff(John
> Mellencamp), Billy Burnette(Fleetwood Mac), James Pennebaker(Lee Roy
> Parnell, Bob Dylan) and, for most of the set, last year's AMA
> Musician Of The Year, Buddy Miller(Emmylou Harris).
>
> Along with the CCR hits, Fogerty also showcased songs from his new
> album, "The Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again". Standards like Rick
> Nelson's "Garden Party" and "John Denver's "Back Home Again" were
> highlights of the evening.
>
> Of course, the third act smoldered with "Proud Mary", "Who Stop The
> Rain", "Lodi" and an onslaught of Creedence monster smashes. The
> star studded audience was humbled and awed as the good natured
> Fogerty delivered one of the best shows that this writer has seen.
>

I AM NOW A MUSIC JOURNALIST. CHECK OUT MY NEW PIECE FOR EUROPE!

2009-09-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

BUDDY MILLER TAKES TOP PRIZE PLUS LOTS MORE AT AMERICANA MUSIC AWARDS

No one could have guessed when Buddy Miller took the stage of the Ryman Auditorium last night, with Jim Lauderdale, at the beginning of the Americana Music Awards that he would practically sweep the prizes along with his wife, Julie. Lauderdale, dressed in a black western style suit with white piping hosted the show and Miller was at his side as band leader.

The program was broadcast live on Sirius, BBC, Voice of America and, locally in Nashville, on WSM, the radio home of the Grand Old Opry since the 1920's. Former Opry members like Hank Williams were mentioned with reverence throughout the evening by many of the nominees and recipients.

Scores of stellar performances were featured including Asleep At The Wheel, 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award winner-Rodney Crowell-who announced that this date would have been the 86th birthday of Hank Williams, and Jerry Douglas, the dobro legend, played a moving medley of songs that culminated with The Allman Brothers' instrumental, "Little Martha".

John Prine and Nanci Griffith were on hand to present the Lifetime Achievement Award For Producer to their pal, guru and producer, Jim Rooney. Prine told the crowd that when he first met Rooney, he turned to his drummer and said, "I think I just met Huckleberry Finn." After a lengthy speech describing his journey from a Boston folk musician to his present status, Mr. Rooney announced that Prine and Griffith would sing a poignant version of Mr. Prine's "Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness"; that they did with the legendary producer joining in on the last chorus.

Best New Emerging Artist nod went to Justin Townes Earle, who clad in wine-red, crushed velour tuxedo blew the crowd away with his gritty, personal song, "My Mama's Eyes". Earle, son of Americana icon, Steve Earle, began the song with the lyric, "I am my father's son...I've never known when to shut up...We don't see eye to eye....." He then dedicated the song and award to his mother.

But Buddy Miller was the big winner.

He and Julie took home Duo Of The Year, Album Of The Year for "Written In Chalk", The Songwriter's Award and, for himself alone, Performer Of The Year. After receiving the last prize, he remarked that it must be a sympathy vote, referring to his grave health problems over the last year.

John Fogerty stole the show with his new version of Rick Nelson's, "Garden Party" and his own, "Have You Ever Seen The Rain", popularized by his band Creedence Clearwater Revival.

This was the tenth anniversary of the AMA and the eighth anniversary of the awards program.

EXCITING TIMES AT RANCHO DEL ROSSO

2009-08-31T09:57:00.003-07:00

What a month!

We sure had a big time down in Savannah and Tybee Island this month. Shot a video of our single, THE LAST SONG, with John Baer, in Monterrey Square, my favorite square in Savannah, and in Bonaventure Cemetery. Johnny Mercer's grave made a cameo appearance and I left him a few pennies, which I'm sure is below union scale. Anyway the video turned out great and you can just go to You Tube and type in Jefferson Ross. THE LAST SONG will be the FIRST song that you see.

We also got a really nice write up in CONNECT SAVANNAH, their free weekly arts and entertainment newspaper. You can find it on the home page of our website www.jeffersonross.com .

Played a super gig with Stan Ray at Cha Bella in Savannah and tasted some mighty fine wines there as well. Thanks to Stan for setting all of that up!

What else? Oh, yeah, just got a message from my European manager extraordinaire, Lee Williams, and he has invited me to host a weekly, hour long radio show on Europe's CMR Nashville featuring singer/songwriters. Can't WAIT to get cracking on that! I have such a heart for singer/songwriters and I'm really thrilled to be able to showcase some super talent. Details will follow.

AZALEA received a four star review in COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE, a top magazine in Britain. A big muchas gracias to Jon Philibert, who is a mighty fine writer himself and deemed us worthy of pretty high praise. It made my whole week!

Our 'HotDisc' single in Europe, THE LAST SONG, is sitting at #19 this week on their main chart and at #14 on their independent chart. Fingers crossed please!

More gigs are coming in for the U.S. and we're starting the planning stages of our 2010 European tour. So far we have gigs in Germany and Britain and more are to follow. We'll be posting those on our site as they are confirmed. I'm really looking forward to playing my tunes in Europe! Yeah, baby! We're also going to be doing more of the wine tasting/ music show packages in the future too so stay tuned for those.

So, stuff is a-bubblin' in the cosmic kettle and I'm just trying not to stir it too much.

Peace, love and home grown tomatoes-

Jefferson

NEW VIDEO...NEW SINGLE IN ENGLAND!!!

2009-07-31T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hi gang!

There is fun stuff afoot in Jefferson World. (Sounds like a theme park for children who love The Declaration of Independence.) We are shooting a video in Savannah, Georgia, on, Sunday, August 2nd to support a single (THE LAST SONG) that we are releasing in Great Britain on, Saturday, August 1st. Confusing? Well, WELCOME TO JEFFERSON WORLD.

Our Savannah friend and musical soul brother, the most talented Stan Ray, has booked us all a gig at Cha-Bella Restaurant in the historic district of that hauntingly, charming city. Cha-Bella is fab. They are all-organic. They even have their own farm and the employees all chip in to harvest the herbs, fruits and vegetables. If I ever have my own restaurant, we'll all be digging in the dirt together like the sweet folks at Cha-Bella.

Anyhoo, Stan is hosting a wonderful wine tasting/songwriters' show, featuring STAN THE MAN and yours truly, Cousin Jeffy, on, Friday, August 7th. The wine tasting compares 'The Old World' with 'The New World' and that is a very trendy yet much needed comparison that most wine lovers need to experience. OLD WORLD (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, and The Planet Tralfamadore, etc.) meets NEW WORLD (The U.S., Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Kix Brooks and, probably, Rush Limbaugh before long. Too bad that Michael Jackson's "JESUS JUICE" did not take off before he did.)

So, we'll be comparing, spitting };~) , slurping, etc., around 7PM on August 7th and the singing and bellering shall commence around 8-ish.

We're also shooting a video on Sunday, August 2nd, with Savannah auteur, Jim Baers...at o-dark-thirty in the morning for God's sake. Looking forward to that. I might even look my age at that hour. Stan set that up too so his bottom must be kissed. You go ahead and do that.

We're releasing a single in Ye Olde England, as aforementioned, this coming weekend...cross your fingers or speak in tongues........we'll take whatever goodness you're sending. Hugs, free t-shirts and decades out of purgatory coming your way...at a serious discount!!!!!!

What else, oh YEAH! We got another 4 star review today. Country Music People, the venerable hillbilly publication from Great Britain went fairly bonkers concerning our dear AZALEA. Buy a number of copies of their latest August issue and send them to all of your favorite grandmothers. Google those rascals and tell them that we love 'em over here in Deep Dixie.

Cheers, y'all and BOOGIE ON!

Your old cousin-

Jefferson

JEFFERSON ROSS

The Album Zone

2009-07-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

This week our album, AZALEA, will be featured on Colin Roke's The Album Zone on CMR Nashville, a 24/7 internet radio network based in England. Just go to www.cmrnashville.net or www.cmrnashville.com and check us out. There is a tab for schedule listings and just look for Colin Roke's schedule. Please remember that these are on British time so just calculate 5 hours later than Eastern time.

Plans are in the works to do a European tour next spring. I'm definitely playing the Country Music Messe in Berlin from March 12th through 14th. The Messe is the largest Country Music festival in northern Germany and it's a real honor to be asked to play there. We're also working on setting up dates for the UK and, hopefully, Holland, Ireland and/or France. Please come see us! We'd love to meet you!!!

Stateside, I'm playing a few dates in August. We'll be doing a showcase with Stan Ray at Cha-Bella restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, on August 8th, the open mic at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta on August 10th and a one man show at the Bell Buckle Cafe in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, on August 20th. Sure would like to see y'all there!

So, good things are happening. We're very excited about how far we've come in such a short time. The record is only a few months old and with no promotion or marketing budget, we've managed to get in places that we wouldn't have dreamed of a year ago.

Thank you, everyone, for your continued support and interest in AZALEA. We're having a blast with it.

Boogie on!

January 24th 2009

2009-07-05T19:38:00.001-07:00

2009 IS GONNA SHINE!

We only have a couple of weeks until the official release of Azalea, even though we've been selling on-line for a couple of months, and we're already getting some very good press. It's an exciting time! have come in and, we think, some local
Everybody seems to comment on how good the record makes them feel and we couldn't be happier about that. That's why we made it in the first place. The making of Azalea was a labor of love and now the promotion of it feels the same way. We're making new friends daily and folks that we'd never thought would hear it are sending us comments about how much they like it.
We're being played on a number of podcasts and indie radio stations across the country. If you happen to know of any folky/rootsy stations in your area, please call them up and request Azalea. One podcast that is regularly playing us is The Acoustic Diner. Google them. It's a GREAT show!
So, let's have us a big old fun-filled year! The stock market may be down but good, homemade art and music are ours for the making and enjoying.
Peace, love and pot likker-
Jefferson

December 21st 2008

2009-07-05T19:36:00.001-07:00

Had a great time at the Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival in Florida in November. 350 writers this year!!! Many thanks to Joe Gilchrist, owner of the Flora-Bama, for hosting all of us this year. I got to play seven rounds and this was my first year. Lucky boy am I!
I couldn't have done it without my Gomer cousin, Ken "Bullit" Hart, who set me up with lodgings and laughter. He is a true buddy and I love him even if his taste in mayonnaise is weak and tame. Otherwise, he is a go-getter and salty somebody; a lover of language who likes loafing and libation. We co-habitated with the venerable and always suave, Rock Killough, who, in my mind, should be in the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. He is beloved by all who know him even though he tried to kill Dr. Ralph Stanley and many of his closest friends witnessed this near crime. Rock always carries a very sharp knife and an even sharper mind. He is the only old man I know who can sleep until noon.
Got some great oysters down there. Try Wintzell's Oyster House whenever you are in the greater Alabama area...they have several locations all over the state but the best is in downtown Mobile...the original location. Those baked things that they do with the jalapenos blow my mind. And, the fresh shucked ones are, in the words of Pat Conroy, "the sea made flesh". De-LISHHHH.
Can't wait for next November! If they'll have me back down there, I'll be thanking my lucky stars, Bullit Hart and Joe Gilchrist.
Hoo-hoo!
Love y'all!!!!
Jefferson

November 9th 2008

2009-07-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

JOURNEY TO THE LAND OF FAULKNER

Well, this past weekend, the brisk autumn breezes blew me down yonder to the Oxford, Mississippi, area (Home of Nobel Laureate William Faulkner, with whom I share a birthday, September 25th) to render up a set or two of original songs to delight the local music absorbers. At the generous invitation of fellow troubadour Ken Hart, I gladly packed up the old D-18 and, armed with nothing but a pack of pork rinds and a pint of Knob Creek, I shot out of The Music City Friday afternoon and arrived at Ken's just in time for cold PBRs and hot catfish.Before I knew how it happened we found ourselves sitting in on Nancy Apple's third set over at Taylor Grocery. Nancy is an amazing singer/songwriter and plays a wicked snare part with a set of brushes and a Dukes Of Hazard lunchbox. She really lays down the law with that thing. Luke Duke has been beaten unrecognizable, virtually erased by constant 4/4 slapping. She is also quite salty on the accordian.Don't recall our full repertoire that set but I seem to have a foggy recollection of me singing a vowel heavy rendition of "Stormy Monday Blues" while a middle aged couple was groping each other, slow dancing right in front of us, and Ole Miss debutantes were screaming like raging bats for us to play Earth, Wind and Fire. I managed to rip through an impromptu intro to Sweet Home Alabama causing my jam partners' eyeballs to roll to the backs of their heads and debs to squeal with Red State delight.The next night, Ken drove Travis Lamb and me down to Carrollton, Mississippi, to play our paying gig, The Carroll County Market. Conceived, owned and run by the stellar Cecil Abels, musician extraordinaire himself, CCM is a fine eating place and VERY vibey music venue. If you're ever down there, the steaks, pizzas and bbq are fantastic and the music is always good. Friendly staff and the customers are all home folks and lovers of good tunes.Anyway, we had a ball! Can't wait to do it again!Now I'm back in The Volunteer State for a few days before I head down to perform at The Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival on the Gulf coast. Come see us down there next week. Lots of legends will be serenading the flip flopped masses with their chestnuts of gold.Until next time this is Old Cousin Jefferson saying peace, love and cornbread. Happy Trails!