Federale

Any fans of Marc Ford (The Black Crowes)? How about Luther Russell (The Freewheelers)? Bassist Fred Trujillo? Blues drummer Jimi Bott? Anyone? In the last year of the previous century these guys played in a band together. Seriously, then did. They, Federale, even recorded a demo for Interscope Records only to be passed over because the label was looking for the next Limp Bizkit. You can't make this stuff up, nobody would believe you. Oh, one could only wonder what mark this band would have made to the musical landscape had they been given a chance.

Well, wonder no more for the results of those forgotten demo sessions are available for your listening pleasure. Both Russell and Ford take turns with the vocal duties here and the results are a very strong album which if released today would likely do well and could gain some radio airplay, on satalite radio anyways.

For fans of Marc Ford some of these songs may sound familiar. "Hell or Highwater" appears on Ford's debut It's About Time, "(It'll) Be Over Soon" makes an appearance on Ford's second album Weary and Wired, whose title comes from this song, and "This Ride" was a live staple in early aughts (2000's) when he played with his backing band The Sinners. I'll take the versions here to any of those, well maybe not some of those live versions with the The Sinner's, Marc should give those guys a call, the studio versions for sure.

Federale - The Ventura Sessions - Demos
Recorded in Ventura, CA for Interscope Records
June 1999

01. Getting Bad
02. Mexican Passport
03. This Ride
04. Sandman
05. Back In Our Old Town
06. Be Over Soon
07. Way Past You
08. Kiss The Toad
09. Hell Or Highwater
10. Bajar
11. Landing Gear

Marc Ford - Guitar, Vocals
Luther Russell - Vocals, Guitar
Fred Trujillo - Bass, Vocals
Jimi Bott - Drums

MP3 Link Updated. Also flac files of these demos can be found here: T's Southern Confort Road House*
*registration required

Drive-By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

In what was to be a slow year for the Drive-By Truckers, they sure found ways of keeping busy in 2007. After band member Jason Isbell left the band in early spring to pursue a solo career the Truckers shortly departed on a tour which would carry them thru the fall playing more of an acoustic show then anyone who has seen them live before would expect. Throughout the dubbed "Dirt Underneath Tour" new songs would be debuted and worked out. These songs, when treated to some studio polish, would become the Truckers eighth album, Brighter Than Creation's Dark. Oh yeah they also recorded an album with Betty Levatte which has been nominated for a Grammy, that's all in an "off-year."

At 19 songs and 75 minutes one would assume that Brigher would be bloated with a couple filler songs but every track here is a winner and makes sense as a part of the whole album. This is a true album, not a collection of songs. Patteron Hood himself compared the album and it's length to the Rolling Stones' classic Exile on Main Street thusly: "Exile on Main Street has lots of filler, yet I would hate to part with a single note of it." While musical styles can vary greatly from song to song, from solid gold country to rock to soul, Brighter has a cohesiveness and flow few bands today even attempt and fewer still successfully accomplish.

Brighter Than Creation's Dark is a portrait of a good band becoming great. Listening to it the first time gives you the feeling of what it must have been like to listen to one of classic rock 'n' roll albums, Exile, Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti or The Band's Music From Big Pink or the like for the first time back in the late 60's/early 70's and just knowing that this will be an album that will be with you for the rest of your life.

+++HIGHLY RECOMENDED+++

Standout Track: The Righteous Path

Drive-By Truckers
MySpace
Brighter Than Creaton's Dark (stream)