Our Cover Feature for the July Issue is Buffy Sainte-Marie …

“People were more in love with the Pocahontas-with-a-guitar image,” Buffy Sainte-Marie wryly recalls.

The following features are also in this issue:

BIG DOG 3 – On Tour

The Live Reviews consist this month of the following:

Gold Heart, Joe Bonamassa, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, The Kitty Hawks, Kimmie Rhodes, Po’ Girl, Julie Felix, Rockingbirds, Gurf Morlix, Wine, Women & Song, Sarah MacDougall

Plus we have loads of CD Reviews that are split into two sections: The New Releases and The Dusty Relics. However, to make it easier to navigate we have with this issue included a one page index of every review featured in the issue. Here are just a few featured this month:

BettySoo, Bob Dylan, Colin Raye, Doyle Watson & Quicksilver, Eric Brace & Peter Cooper, Ghost Of A Dog, Gretchen Peters, Jenn Grant, Kris Miller, Luna, Lizzy Parks, Maria Taylor, Merle Travis, Randy Travis, Roy Orbison, Stephanie Lambring, The Dials, The Felice Brothers, Tift Merritt, Vanessa Peters & Ice Cream On Mondays, Walter Strauss and many more…

Purchase your copy today from www.maverick-country.com

Additional Moog

For years Billy Ray Cyrus had to live with the curse of Achy Breaky Heart hanging around his neck like some kind of albatross. Though the song made him a superstar, the overwhelming success of the tune led to resentment and disrespect from radio and even fellow artists. “I think there was a point a few years ago when I thought I would never get over that,” he admits. “I probably got a little bitter about it. You know: ‘Why did this have to happen to me?’—that kind of thing. But now I realise that I didn’t commit a sin—I had a song that made people feel good.”

Now he has another, rather more pleasing distraction to his music being taken seriously—the fact that he is possibly better known as Hannah Montana’s dad, than Billy Ray Cyrus, successful country music star. Of course, there’s no way that Billy Ray is going to complain. In many people’s eyes he was a rather lucky ‘one-hit wonder.’ The fact that he has sustained a highly successful entertainment career for the past seventeen years is rather unfairly ignored.

“I look at it all now and just give thanks to all the fans that have stuck by me through all the years,” he says, leaning back in a plush lounge chair, rather oblivious to the media melee taking place outside his hotel room on the day of the Hannah Montana London movie Premiere. “I am really thankful to my dad who had the suggestion of having a Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers kind of career. I said: ‘How do you get into that,’ and he said about getting into acting and into film.”

Billy Ray appeared in 2001’s Mulholland Drive and alongside Kim Basinger in Elvis Has Left the Building, in which he played a bit of a genius of a goofball bus driver. But it was his long-running role in the highly successful American television series Doc that sealed his acting reputation. Filmed in Canada, the series ran for six years and 88 episodes.
“I love acting as much as I love music,” Billy Ray reveals. “But I didn’t expect to. I had never been to acting school, never had an acting coach. The people on the show told me to just be myself—and that’s just what I do.”

Though Amanda Shires is a classically trained violinist, she is also a down-home Texas gal at heart who grew up on a diet of country music, western swing and real-life cowboys. For the past three or four years she’s been touring as Rod Picott’s sidekick, and this pair of music mavericks will be back in the UK this summer with another round of dates in support of Amanda’s second solo album, WEST CROSS TIMBERS, and also the delightful low-key duet album they recorded last year.

Amanda has been playing music almost as long as she can remember and has been an integral part of bands and touring for more than half her life. The twenty-something Texas beauty has really fallen in love with Britain and the British audiences with three highly successful tours under her belt

“I am enjoying the touring a lot,” she enthuses during a break from last autumn’s tour. “The crowds are great. The food is awesome, lots of Indian food. The weather is perfect, it’s a little bit cold, which is good—I prefer it a little cold. It does get really hot in Texas, I do like it when it gets hot too—I like both of the seasons. We don’t really get cold in Texas, sometimes the wind will blow and it will be cold, but it is not like England cold.” These days Amanda calls Lubbock home, when she’s not out travelling the world. Lubbock is area where such important 20^th century musical figures as Buddy Holly, Joe Ely, Sonny Curtis and Roy Orbison hailed from. It’s flat country with very little vegetation. She started playing music in a professional sense when she was thirteen. She joined Lanny Friel’s band playing a mix of popular standards and Bob Wills Texas swing. By the time she was seventeen she was a member of the Thrift Store Cowboys, an Americana band. She still plays with the Cowboys, in-between being a musician-for-hire and pursuing her own solo career.

Miami-born Malo served as their lead singer, co-wrote most of the hits, played guitar, and even produced or co-produced many of their sessions. He’s since made romantic discs, done Afro-Cuban and Mexican songs, and covered pre-rock’n’roll standards. Unlike most Nashville-based ‘country’ singers and songwriters, Malo puts equal emphasis on melody and lyrics. Too many latter day country hits have been built on a repetitive hook line and little sign of a memorable melody. What made the Mavericks such a great band was that their songs were catchy—infectious songs with lyrics that fitted neatly into the melody.

Raul Malo has continued that trend with his solo recordings, none more so than LUCKY ONE, his latest album released on the legendary Fantasy label. It’s a compelling mix of styles embracing everything musically that Malo stands for. He is very much today’s renaissance melody man.

“When putting the album together you always say: ‘Will this song fit, stylistically—

what does it do?’ And then I just thought: ‘It doesn’t really matter. I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do.’ Even in the Maverick days, I thought: ‘You make a record, you write songs, so what if they are different to all of the other songs on the record, they’re your songs.’ I can’t imagine someone telling the Beatles: ‘Give me songs like Yesterday.’ Why would we let that happen. Those songs are so beautiful. I am not using the Beatles as a reference in some comparative way—it’s just a perfect example.”

Easton Farm Park is a award-winning attraction set in the beautiful surroundings of the Deben river valley, close to the towns of Framlingham and Wickham Market and just a short distance off the main A12. Check out www.maverickfestival.co.uk

Comments from last year’s Maverick Festival
We wanted to tell you how much we all enjoyed Maverick Festival in Suffolk. The choice of artistes was incredible—especially Sam Baker, the Haleys and Special Ed & the Shortbus. A brilliant time we all had! Should you book another Maverick festival at another event we’ll all book right away! - Colin Nelson, Verity Bruce & Joe Cain and our families

The Maverick Festival, can I begin by saying a heartfelt thank you and congratulations to festival organiser and promoter Paul Spencer and his team of dedicated, hardworking and courteous helpers who helped make this event so enjoyable and smoothly run. Despite the problems encountered in organising the festival, I’m sure I can speak for everyone who attended in saying that it was a total success from beginning to end. OK, the great weather helped create a real feelgood atmosphere, but was merely the icing on the cake. A fantastic festival in every way. Let’s hope it can be repeated next year. - Little Dave, Taunton, Somerset

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and your magnificent team for putting on such a wonderful festival. Highlights for me were:
1. The weather
2. Sam Baker
3. Southern Tennant Folk Union
4. The Storys
5. Elizabeth Cook
That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy everyone else. There was not one bad act on all day. You did your magazine and Americana music in general proud.
Here’s looking forward to the next one. - David Gore

Just a quick note to say many thanks and congratulations for the excellent Maverick Festival in Suffolk at the end of last month. It was just the right setting, atmosphere and style, and a great mix of music and other fun stuff. My girlfriend and I came along with no knowledge of any of the acts except the Southern Tenants (who we’ve seen in London a few times), so to get brief but substantial sets from such a good range of excellent performers was brilliant. We especially liked Special Ed & Shortbus, and Devon Sproule, as well as both the Southern Tenants’ sets, but all the acts were well worth hearing. - Steven Jones

Highlights for me were Elizabeth Cook and the Storys on Tenderfoot, everything on the Maverick—I enjoyed Two Fingers Of Firewater and enjoying even more now their CD that they were giving away at just £5. Sam Baker was as brilliant as ever and great to see with his band for once. A strange choice to headline though—The Storys might’ve been a more natural one—but I guess it added to the feeling that this festival was a bit different and a bit special…

Organisation seemed to go like a dream—parking, friendly people, food, drink, moving between stages. I’ll be down there again next year—perhaps we’ll see Eileen Rose or Hayes Carll??—- it must be a great job putting together a list of potential artists. My thanks to everyone who made it happen. - Simon Brown

Our Cover Feature for the June Issue is Billy Ray Cyrus …

” … it just made me realise that some people get on this ride and they go so fast that they just can’t hang on and they fall off. I didn’t want to be one of those. I wanted to be a daddy to my kids—enjoy life a little bit.” Billy Ray Cyrus tells Alan Cackett.

The following features are also in this issue:

EMMA KING & THE HEARTSETS – At The Epicentre Of New Country!

The Live Reviews consist this month of the following:

Unofficially SXSW in Austin, Texas on March 18-22

Mark Erelli, Stephanie Lambring @ Twickfolk, Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham on March 22

Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo @ The Arts Centre, Norwich on March 17

Tinderbox @ Bournemouth Folk Club on March 29

Guthrie Kennard @ The Coronation Tap, Bristol on April 12

Daniel Goodman @ The Beehive on April 16

Benji Kirkpatrick @ Twickfolk on April 19

State Of Undress @ The Beehive on April 23

Pam Tillis @ The Corn Exchange on April 25

Suwannee Springfest @ Florida on March 26-29

Plus we have loads of CD Reviews that are split into two sections: The New Releases and The Dusty Relics. However, to make it easier to navigate we have with this issue included a one page index of every review featured in the issue. Here are just a few featured this month:

Additional Moog - p66

Adrian Nation – p90

Aggieland – p66

Alex Valentine – p66

Andy Mason – p66

Angel Brothers – p61

Audie Blaylock & Redline – p68

Billy Ray Cyrus – p77

Blue Rodeo – p80

Brenda Lee – p81

Brian Kramer & The Nights Of Blue-topia – p90

Brianie – p61

Bruce Cockburn – p77

Carus Thompson – p68

Cedar Hill – p68

Charlie Dore – p78

Chris Eckman – p68

Claire Holley – p61

Clem Snide – p68

Collector’s Choice – p87

Complete Roots Series – p80

Country Boy Rolling Stone – p71

Cross Canadian Ragweed – p61

Danny Bryant’s Red Eye Band – p87

Danny O’Keefe – p61

Dave Alvin – p71

David Anderson – p62

Davie Gayle – p71

Deanna Johnston – p62

Dr Strangely Strange – p87

Dropkick – p90

Elbow Jane – p63

Eleni Mandell – p71

Eli Young Band – p62

Emma King & The Heartsets – p78

Faron Young – p82

Greenfields Of America – p72

Gurf Morlix – p78

Horsehead – p72

Hot Club Of Cowtown – p78

Ian Foster – p62

Jackie Greene – p63

JBM – p90

Jenny Wolfe – p72

Jesse Winchester – p72

JJ Cale – p72

Joe Cassady & The West End Sound– p79

Joe Croker – p74

Jon Byrne – p74

John Wesley – p74

Jon Allen – p63

Jorma Kaukonen – p74

Kimmie Rhodes – p88

Lee Patterson – p74

Louisiana Red & Little Victor’s Juke Joint – p90

Lustra – p90

Lynn Davis – p74

Martina McBride – p75

Michael Weston King – p63

Michelle Shocked – p76

Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue – p63

Moody McArdle – p90

Morgan Myles – p75

Neil Young – p71

Nell Bryden – p75

Nothin’ Fancy – p75

Peatbog Faeries – p75

Pete Wernick & Flexigrass – p76

Pumajaw – p88

Rancho Deluxe – p64

Rachel Hair – p64

Rachel Yamagata – p63

Randy Travis – p88

Red Stick Ramblers – p76

Richard Dobson – p76

Roger Chapman – p81

Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses – p79

Ryebender – p79

Sean Taylor – p76

Shannon Lyon – p64

Shooter Jennings & The 357’s – p82

Singing Through The Hard Times – p81

Slaid Cleaves – p65

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes – p88

Steff Nevers – p79

Steve Earle – p77

Steve Forbert – p77

Steve James – p64

Steve Postell – p64

Tanya Tucker – p82

Tawnya Reynolds – p65

The Dixons – p65

The Little Red Box Of Protest Songs – p88

The Low Anthem – p90

This Is Navigator – p82

Thom Landt – p65

Wayne Hancock – p66

Wes Charlton – p90

Zach Williams – p66

You’ll be pleased to know the June 2009 issue of Maverick Magazine has been successfully sent to print and will return to us this Thursday (14^th May). The magazine will be mailed out to all of our subscribers Friday 15^th and should receive their copies no later than next Wednesday 20^th May. The issue will be available from your local newsagents (WH Smith and all good independents) from Thursday 21^st May. The digital edition of the June issue is already available now from www.maverick-country.com or www.exacteditions.com. If you’re not a subscriber you can get the magazine from www.maverick-country.com today.Our Cover Feature for the June Issue is Billy Ray Cyrus …

” … it just made me realise that some people get on this ride and they go so fast that they just can’t hang on and they fall off. I didn’t want to be one of those. I wanted to be a daddy to my kids—enjoy life a little bit.” Billy Ray Cyrus tells Alan Cackett.

The following features are also in this issue:

EMMA KING & THE HEARTSETS – At The Epicentre Of New Country!

The Live Reviews consist this month of the following:

Unofficially SXSW in Austin, Texas on March 18-22

Mark Erelli, Stephanie Lambring @ Twickfolk, Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham on March 22

Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo @ The Arts Centre, Norwich on March 17

Tinderbox @ Bournemouth Folk Club on March 29

Guthrie Kennard @ The Coronation Tap, Bristol on April 12

Daniel Goodman @ The Beehive on April 16

Benji Kirkpatrick @ Twickfolk on April 19

State Of Undress @ The Beehive on April 23

Pam Tillis @ The Corn Exchange on April 25

Suwannee Springfest @ Florida on March 26-29

Plus we have loads of CD Reviews that are split into two sections: The New Releases and The Dusty Relics. However, to make it easier to navigate we have with this issue included a one page index of every review featured in the issue. Please see below to see every artist that has been included this month in the CD review section…

Additional Moog – p66

www.maverick-country.com

To ensure that you receive the magazine delivered directly to your door you should SUBSCRIBE NOW - Remember, if you are a current subscriber, you’ll automatically receive our regular news and tour updates by email. Maverick should also be available from all good newsagents including most WH Smith shops, HMV stores, Borders Bookshops and some independent record shops - if not in stock ASK! For details of how you can subscribe check the web site. If you are a current subscriber, you’ll automatically receive these news updates - it is essential that you advise us if you change your email address, so as to ensure that you continue to receive the news and tour updates.

Voice of Country offers Maverick Subscribers free and exclusive access to their online radio

Worth £30.00 a year, Maverick subscribers who have chosen a one-year subscription will be offered free access to Nashville-based Voice of Country’s online commercial-free radio stream. It entitles you to listen to this unique station through your PC 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It includes up to the minute country news, the latest releases played alongside golden oldies and star interviews. Once you’ve subscribed to Maverick you’ll be sent your username and password. Alternatively, if you are currently a subscriber you will receive your usernames and passwords over the next couple of months, but please get in touch via email giving your full name and postcode and we can set up a temporary password, whilst I try to get through all of our subscriber database.

Maverick Email Updates Eligibility

In the past few months we have gained a large new readership from those who have bought Maverick from their local newsagent, record shop or other retail outlet. We are delighted to welcome these new readers to the magazine but must re-emphasise our email news updates are sent out to current subscribers only. If you wish to receive these updates, we suggest you subscribe. Not only will you receive the magazine sooner, but you also save on the retail price as a one-year subscription works out cheaper. Plus on a regular basis there will be special offers and gifts only available to subscribers.

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Tesco to stock Maverick

Tesco stores across the UK have taken up the option to sell Maverick, although this doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to buy the magazine in any Tesco store. It is down to the individual store manager as to whether he/she takes up the option to have copies of the magazine on display and for sale. If the manager thinks there’s a demand in his area then he/she will stock it. To help create that interest and demand we ask all our readers, each time they go into a Tesco store, to ask if they stock Maverick. If they don’t then please try and persuade them to. The more copies we can get displayed in Tesco stores, the better chance we have of increasing circulation. Your help with this is much appreciated.

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Maverick’s Radio Hour, along with more country music webspaces…

www.maverick-country.com – www.myspace.com/maverick_country

With everyone going crazy for these technological advancements we have many new additions to the country music society on the web. Maverick Magazine now has it’s space on www.nessmp3.com and www.digitalrodeo.com – both of these are fantastic interactive websites where you will find many new and amazing country talents – so please join up and say hi! We have a Maverick hour on www.ukcountryradio.com with Bob Preedy in the style of the podcasts playing some of the best artists featured in this month’s Maverick. So make sure you give it a listen the fourth Friday of each month at 8.00pm. The Maverick Myspace is also still getting bigger and bigger every day so if you haven’t dropped by to say hi, please do. It’s great to hear from so many of our friendly subscribers and to hear your opinions of the magazine. We have over a 1100 friends on there now – many of them artists we feature in the magazine who’d also love to hear from you… ——————————————————————————————————-

Recommended listening: The Music Rhino Saturday midnight till 3am
www.totalrock.com www/myspace.com/barryrhino
A House Of Mercy Production presented by Barry Marshall-Everitt
Country; Americana; Roots - the best by The Mekons, Danny & Dusty, The Sadies, Ruth Minnikin, Anne McCue; Joanne Shaw Taylor; Drive By Truckers; Alison Krauss; Oh Susanna; Ray Wylie Hubbard; Tony Joe White; Vince Gill; Dale Watson and lots more cool Maverick sounds. Log-on and enjoy
—————————————————————————————————-MAVERICK DIGITAL EDITION NOW AVAILABLE…

http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/533/716

Over the past few years it has become apparent that the postage costs to send Maverick overseas has become too much for our much-loved readers from abroad to afford. We have tried everything over the past year to cut those costs, but have had no luck finding a cheaper solution, until we realised that a digital version of the magazine would cut those charges completely. We also understand that at this credit-crunching time some of our UK readers may also find it a valuable alternative to the print copy for a year or so whilst monetary problems settle. It’s also a fantastic way of reading a magazine if you only carry your laptop about place to place and makes for easy access to the music from all of the artists featured. So, for all of the reasons above, we’d like to introduce to you all the digital version of Maverick Magazine. We hope you enjoy and would appreciate any comments.

The Lost Highway at The Alternative Escape

The Lost Highway will take place on 14th May 2009 at The Fortune Of War (157 Kings Road Arches, Brighton) and will feature flagship acts Hey Negrita, Matthew Ord and Jon Byrne alongside Two Fingers Of Firewater, The Cedars and Brighton-based Sweet Sweet Lies. The Great Escape is a festival that delineates the music that people are really listening to - well-known or otherwise. This year the prestigious event will be mutating its already outstretched arm into The Alternative Escape, a space for the bubbling broths of UK sound to spill over and stain those lucky enough to be present. 

The Lost Highway is an orphanage of sorts, a place where the wayward children of the ever-growing but often-overlooked genres of Americana, Alt/country roots, blues and folk come pick and twang on guitars, banjos, mandolins and upright basses.

It is a key player within a scene that is sweeping through the dusty corners of our towns. From the ballads of the dustbowl and the pain of the blues through to a conditioned Ghost Town of tough times, these reactionaries always spark one positive by-product; a gutsy, musical soundtrack. Cutting through the fog of mediocrity and corporate greed like the sharp edge of a broken bourbon bottle, The Lost Highway is a place for chancers, rebels and free spirits to celebrate the legacy of Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Bessie Smith and all those others who’ve “walked the talk.”

The final collaborative jam and whisky onslaught is set to barrel on to the early hours.

Leftfield Director Geoff Martin said:

“Leftfield won’t be taking place at Glastonbury this year; instead our creative energies will be used to support The Lost Highway at this years Great Escape. We are proud to associate with this stage.” 

Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart duo – no more

SPRINGBOARD

2008 The Water Callers 796873079587

***

Acoustic old-timey vocal harmony duo

Durham, North Carolina-based Jason Fagg and Bart Mathews make up the Water Callers who mix folk, gospel, bluegrass, elements of jazz and old-timey sounds, using their voices as the principal instruments. SPRINGBOARD is definitely a grower, as the superb harmonisation takes you on a journey through old-time America. Miner’s Lullaby typifies their approach taking the listener deep into the literal heart of the mining town whorehouse. Mainly up-tempo and banjo driven, the songs range from laments to lost loves, such as the almost pure country She Was The One, through to a fine version of the traditional Green Pastures. It’s a refreshing and authentic sound, which cannot really be pigeonholed, which for them just simply means more festival work, as they skilfully work the genres that they have transcended. A promising debut. Alan Taylor

www.thewatercallers.com

My Lost & Found

Buni Jam

***1/2

An aspiring singer-songwriter with a wonderful creative energy

Featuring such stellar musicians as Kenny Malone, Dennis Crouch, Dan Dugmore and Dirk Powell, alongside multi-instrumentalist Tim O’Brien, the expectation of this album by West-Virginian singer-songwriter Burge was always going to be higher than with most new releases. Though a master at creating melodic tunes and matching lyrics, he does tend to promise more than he delivers within the confines of MY LOST & FOUND.

To date he has recorded seven albums of his own and was one of the many acts from West Virginia who featured on the critically acclaimed ALWAYS LIFT HIM UP tribute to Blind Alfred Reed (Proper American). On that album he performed an impressive version of the entertaining The Telephone Girl. His own songs are simple, and often full of humour such as Move On (To Another Song). He also crafts together such succulent fare as Fearing The Reaper, the fiddle-plied I Believe This, I Believe and Not My Time To Go. The latter has Powell starring on claw-hammer banjo, and reminds me of John Hartford.

Utilising his own ability on harmonica, alongside Powell (piano), O’Brien (mandolin) and Dugmore (pedal steel) he paints a set of wistful images in pastel shades on Eloise. The rambling Buffalo Skinned By All The King’s Men—supported by banjo, fiddle and busy guitar—tells a story of sorts about the bombing of 9/11 and how America has shown its muscle power with the subsequent man hunt in Afghanistan. Regards entertainment, Baby Ray, draped in accordion, and a banjo-accompanied Our New Day, fresh from the Burge family household, shine stronger than most. If only his vocals had shown a little more passion and the music was not quite so free flowing—or is that me being over critical? Maurice Hope

www.toddburge.com