AJ Roach.
Last Saturday night I went to a house concert to see tousled haired Virginian troubadour, A.J. Roach, perform in front of
40 random music lovers who had all crowded into the fourth floor billiard room of the Albert Drive Studios, a Victorian villa turned arts venue.
My toe did not stop tapping for two hours, call it the Jungian call of Appalachia and the proddings of my ancestors past but AJ Roach gets into your bones and makes your skeleton dance.
I'm loathe to pigeon hole musicians but oh, ok then you strong armed me, had Michigan pretender Kid Rock actually been born in the South, been abducted by aliens who mixed his DNA in a Petri dish with Neil Young's it might sound a lot like this - I rarely post videos, I mean who has time? This is a tribute to his great grandfather who was a moonshiner and counterfeiter, oh to have such a colourful family tree - one of husband's lot was shipped off to Australia for whoring!
AJ Roach is going to be in Edinburgh and London next, see you there, mine's a large bourbon; be there or dwell in the moping land of disappointment.
Oh my gosh you have me intrigued. I'm going to have to switch browsers to watch this (Google Chrome won't let me watch) . Growing up on a surf beach in NZ (sunbathing rather than surfing) Neil Young was everywhere all hours of the day. Reminds me of tanner times...
ReplyDeleteBTW, I am thinking of taking my dreaded capcha (sp?) code thing. I notice you don't have one - Have you had any techy issues without it? Much spam?
DeleteMost of it is in the spam trap and I get about two a day that get through - I'd rather delete them than use that awful code.
DeleteWell I for one am a bit disappointed that this was not a tale of you and hubs rolling and smoking a big ol hog. We definitely got to get you down here in East Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteAJ likes Knoxville
DeleteThis is great - thanksTabs - had heard of him but never seen him!
ReplyDeleteOoh he's my age and a Virginian and has a beard? Awe-awe-awe-some. I will definitely be checking him out, thanks, dear Tabitha! ;)
ReplyDeleteBTW, lol at the whole "appalachia calling you." Tee hee. Here in Northern VA, I know many folks who definitely do not feel the calling of Appalachia, from whence they came.
We have a satellite radio station called "Bluegrass" and it plays, well, exactly that, featuring many Virginians, Kentuckians, and Tennesseeians (seriously, how in the world is that spelled?). You would love it. I use that station to calm me down whilst sitting in this horrid traffic. I like to pretend that I am in the hills and valleys of our great state instead of struggling to get even two freaking miles in twenty freaking minutes.
But I dither on...and on...
New header? Verra verra nice.
ReplyDeleteVery nice! Touches deep into my Scotch-Irish soul too.
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ReplyDeleteGuess you're going to be forced into utilizing captcha ...
ReplyDeleteTouche Coco!
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ReplyDeleteTabs! This is the kind of music that would make me want to pour acid into my eardrums!
ReplyDeleteSulky - I guess I'm not inviting you over to my hog roast!
DeleteBlue Booby - This year's holidays are all sort of organised but I think next year will be a tour of the south, can't wait.
GSL: He plays with his Irish fiancee who sings/plays Celtic music, so you can really hear the roots of what he does.
Don't say that - I'll wear earplugs! When I was about 15 I used to work every Sunday evening in a little Inn where all the "country folk" men used to gather for a sing song after a hard week milking their cows. Oh God. Five hours solid of them twanging on guitars and scratching on fiddles while they wailed about their woes. I wasn't old enough to drink and too young to actually kill myself, but it was depressing as Hell.
DeleteI normally loathe country music, (scottish/irish/gaelic ) but this I loved, don't worry I'll play my Slayer/Anthrax mix tape afterwards.
DeleteTabs, we've had Nuala over in our neck of the woods a few times for pan-Celtic "kitchen party" stuff. And thanks for restoring faith with mix tape.
DeleteI could imagine a night of this, his voice is amazing, better than I thought it would be. I'll be checking out the London dates
ReplyDeleteHIT THE ROAD Women problems, family ties, rough jobs, blue mountains and sour mash. Oh the cheering core themes of country, folk and bluegrass (just vary the type of whisky/ tipple.) At the moment, I prefer music that sings of happier times. But Roach is a master storyteller. And I am laughing about Preacher's lost relation.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds very interesting - I am always trying to find new music to listen to.
ReplyDeleteOff topic, but I have awarded you the "Very Inspiring Blog Award" on my blog post today. I always turn to your blog for style inspiration so it is only fitting!
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DeleteI hit the reply button too quickly - here is the link back to my blog post here, and I also wanted to say, thank you for continuing with the blog. I remember that you had some moments of doubt about whether to continue but I am really glad you have chosen to keep going. There's no one else in the blogosphere with your style and wit!!
DeleteOh Louise, thanks and I can't wait till your less busy so that we see more of your style.
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ReplyDeleteClaire - I can only take from this that hub's great great floozy must be one of yours.
DeleteSuper super x
ReplyDeleteSorry Tabs. I'm with Sulky on this one.
ReplyDeleteThat will be two pairs of ear plugs for the Hog Roast.
Anyway. Shouldn't you be listening to 'The Big Yin' in Glasgow?
C: Cue the wellie song!
DeleteHuh. I think I would like him live better but like Louise, I am always up for a new listen...so thank you!
ReplyDeleteMy Dad's side of the family was from Appalachia--somehow the image of the women serving the men dinner and then eating in the kitchen just scratched me the wrong way...
That's pretty much how it was here in the olden days too for a certain strand of the population.
DeleteOne of the many things that I love about Scotland is that the landscapes crowding the forested lanes of Perthshire are familiar as our own Appalachian highways. A bit narrower. We have snake handlers in our mountain redoubts, faith enough to lift the vipers down in those hollers, accents chiseled into the DNA.
ReplyDeleteA friend's neighbor was caught growing pot there in his cottage in Perthshire. Caught by burning the grow-lights at night. The coppers knew no Scot would leave a light on a night. Much of country music is wrapped up in that tale or could be.
Michael - eh I think I heard about that one! Oh that's funny about leaving the light on at night, so true.
DeleteAy yi yi - my daughter had these kinds of musicians as one of the bands at her wedding, and yes, she did walk down the aisle to a song quite close to this one. It actually was a lot of fun, but thought my mother was going to fall out of her chair. Other than your denim jacket phobia, you're such an LA girl!
ReplyDeleteKathy -Did she? What fun, I'd do my wedding so differently now.
ReplyDeleteI'm already thinking of hiring him for my 50th here next year then heading off to the BHH or Paris Ritz ( it will reopen then) for a long weekend, I think it has to be LA for my 50th though, even if I get over later this year.
Yes it has to be LA. We'll do a great party!
DeleteI'll have time to listen to this later this afternoon and look forward to it. I enjoy Country music while I'm driving. I particularly like songs such as "Leaving Me Looks Good On You", "What Part of 'No' Don't You Understand?(the N or the O)", as well as most anything from The Dixie Chicks. I like Bluegrass live.
ReplyDeleteMy mother's three uncles were all colorful. One was a jockey, one owned a taxi cab company, one was a prize fighter and part-time hit man. They were all associated with the Mafia. We're a dull lot now.
JW - you have quite the connections. I have titled folk and ne'er do wells.
DeleteI'll look up those songs ASAP.
Mr J.W.'s family has lots of ne'er do wells, in addtion to a signer of our Declaration of Independence and a Civil War hero.
DeleteBetween us, we pretty much have all the angles covered.
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ReplyDeleteHe's the real deal. Was he playing with Nuala Kennedy?
ReplyDeleteyes he was Duchesse.
DeleteHe's great but I like Led Zeppelin better. You might like Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars.
ReplyDeleteBeing shipped off to Aus for whoring ain't too shabby as far as scandal goes!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you for sharing that link.
ReplyDeleteIf you like folk/blue grass type music, then I think you would enjoy an oldie goldie production of the Nity Gritty Dirt Band when they collaborated with some blue grass greats to create "Will The Circle Be Unbroken". Then there is another more recent blue grass effort called, "The Three Pickers" with Doc Watson, Alison Krauss, and Ricky Skaggs (and maybe Earl Scruggs, too, as I recall) that I actually found on PBS. I loaned it to someone, and it is still there, I think.
I have lots of crazy relatives, with some being more recent incarnations. They would make great fodder for Tennessee Williams' plays. If you'd like to borrow some of them, they're yours for the taking!
Elizabeth
I adore your eclectic sensibilities and tastes - much of my clan hail from Virginia-Tennessee-Kentucky so music like this is a background to my life - as the late great songwriter Harlan Howard said, country music is three chords and the truth! And it sprang from your neck of the woods! I'm glad you found some "country" music you enjoy. Thanks for sharing - xo
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