Christine Smith’s recommendation: “Waylon Jennings’ voice kills me. The first time I heard it, I stopped dead in my tracks. At first his voice made me slightly uncomfortable and I don’t even know why, but it really speaks to me. There’s so much pain and bad ass attitude in there. Even when it’s just a two chord song, there’s so much going on, coming on like a train, and the production is outstanding. Classic. Makes me wanna drink cheap whiskey!
I was even more blown away when Dave (co-member of Marah) told me that Waylon had played bass in Buddy Holly’s band The Crickets and was supposed to be on the plane that fateful night! They were best buddies, joking around when they spoke these final words: “I hope your car crashes” said Buddy. “I hope your plane crashes” said Waylon. It wasn’t until years later that Waylon began to establish himself as a solo artist. I think it’s miraculous that he kept going. He went through so much shit and you can hear it and feel it in all his music. He is a true country hero. God rest his soul.”
New to Waylon? Christine recommends you start here: Waylon Jennings – Greatest Hits on vinyl. We have a record bar here at Marah HQ and that record is always in heavy rotation. It will put you in a trance. Standout tracks: Luckenback, Texas, I’m a Ramblin’ Man, Honky Tonk Heroes, Mamas Don’t Let your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys (sung with Willie Nelson), Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way.”
About our guest author, Christine Smith: Christine is the backing vocalist/multi-instrumentalist (go to a show to see her play keyboards, foot-tambourine and harmonica…all at once) and co-leader (Dave Bielanko clearly spells out her huge contributions here) of Marah, the Philly band whose die-hard fan base includes the likes of Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen. Dave and Christine most recently put out Life is a Problem, a self described “folked up mess of American Rock n Roll” that needs to find its way into your iTunes library. Christine also has made a fine solo record (Tomorrow Blues, described as “F***ing brilliant!” by Replacements bass player, Tommy Stinson) and right now is gearing up to hit the road with Marah and Jesse Malin for a series of Rock and Roll Christmas shows. Get in the spirit and buy a ticket! Show dates and locations are just a click away.
About our guest author, Jace Everett: Jace is a former preacher, traveling musician, and truck driver who hit the big time when music supervisor Gary Calamar picked his Bad Things cut from his first album to back the opening montage of HBO’s vampire show, True Blood (see the credit sequence here). Jace took his newly found fame and enlisted Chuck Prophet to produce and co-write his latest album, Red Revelations, a wonderful modern mix of folk, pop, and roots based music. Be sure to visit Jace’s site to sign up for his newsletter updates and check the clip below about the new song he recorded for True Blood.
Mojo Nixon’s recommendation: “Blind boys of Mississippi
The 5 Blind Boys of Mississippi
The Original 5 Blind Boys of Mississippi
Many names – all greatness
Anything recorded before the death of archie brownlee is fan fucking tastic [1960]
Gospel hard rock, the foundation of soul
The true sound of American ecstasy and pain
Do not confuse with sightless bamalamians
This will lead you to the Rev RH Harris and the Soul Stirrers and a cat named Cooke”
New to The Blind Boys of Mississippi? Mojo Nixon recommends you start here:
Mojo’s song picks: ‘I’m a Soldier’ – ‘I’m a Rolling’ – ‘I Never Heard a Man;
About the guest author, Mojo Nixon: Mojo has been making ‘psychobilly‘ records since 1985 and released a new album as recently as 2009. His songs are wound tightly with cutting commentary and driving guitar/bass/drum arrangements. Titles like ‘Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child’ (video below, starring Winona Ryder!) and ‘Don Henley Must Die’ (Henly actually surprised Nixon by joining him on the song in Austin) demonstrate Nixon’s flair for ripping into pop culture. Nixon currently hosts three Sirius radio shows: Outlaw Country (63 Sirius/12 XM) from 4-8 PM ET, Lyin’ Cocksuckers Thursdays at 8 PM ET, channel 104 Sirius/150 XM and a NASCAR show Mondays frm 10 PM -12 AM ET on 128 Sirius and XM. More on Mojo here.
Mark Sasso’s recommendation: “A slew of bands flood into my head when I think about which band or artist have had a profound influence on me. They can range anywhere from Neil Young to Simon and Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones and The Band to present day groups like Grant Lee Buffalo, Richard Buckner, The Weakerthans, Wilco and lately Blitzen Trapper, Damien Jurado and the Avett Brothers. But one band that I feel inspired me early in my teenage years and never really seemed to get the acclaim or main stream attention they rightly deserved was The Jayhawks. The band excelled at great song writing and are one of my all time favorites. They were at their best with the song writing duo of Gary Louris and Mark Olson. Olson and Louris had a way of allowing their charm and brilliance to bleed right into their songs. Their distinctive singing style is a trademark all their own, that coupled with their soulful melodies is pure gold.”
New to The Jayhawks? Mark recommends you start here: “On Tomorrow Green Grass, their second album with American Records (their fourth studio album). This collection of songs blew me away from the first listen. I spent one summer devouring it daily and petty soon that tuned into a year. Its that special type of album that grows older with you. Still one of my all time favorites and definitely worth the listen. Best enjoyed on sunny afternoons lounging by the beach or during a car ride to the cottage and finally sitting by the campfire at the end of the day.”
Mark’s track picks are:
“Blue”
“Over my shoulder”
“See him on the Street”"
About the guest author, Mark Sasso: Sasso is the lead singer and guitarist for the alt-country/traditional outfit, Elliot BROOD (explanation of the band name here). The band’s 2005 release, Ambassador was nominated for a Juno award and their high energy show helped them secure gigs alongside the likes of Wilco and Calexico. Their 2008 release, Mountain Meadows was also nominated for 2 Juno awards was and short listed for the 2009 Polaris Prize. Canada and Europe…be sure to check their upcoming tour dates on the official Elliott BROOD website.
Editor’s note: Yeah, we know…Nick Hornby, the acclaimed author of High Fidelity and About A Boy, is not a musician…so why is he quoted here on Rocktorch.com? Well, we’re making an exception, dammit, because there’s a new Marah record coming out on June 22 that you can order now and the band is currently on tour, so let’s celebrate the band by looking back at one one of the most passionate endorsements of a band that you’ll ever read:
“…what I love about {Marah} is that I can hear everything I ever loved about rock music in their recordings and in their live shows. Indeed, in the shows you can often hear their love for the rock canon uninflected — they play covers of the Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait,” or the Jam’s “In the City,” and they usually end with a riffed-up version of the O’Jays’ “Love Train.” They play an original called “The Catfisherman” with a great big Bo Diddley beat, and they quote the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows” and the Who’s “Magic Bus.” And they do this not because they’re a bar band and people expect cover versions, but because they are unafraid of showing where their music comes from, and unafraid of the comparisons that will ensue…”
About our guest author, Christine Smith: Christine is the backing vocalist/multi-instrumentalist (go to a show to see her play keyboards, foot-tambourine and harmonica…all at once) and co-leader (Dave Bielanko clearly spells out her huge contributions here) of Marah, the Philly band whose die-hard fan base includes the likes of Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen. Dave and Christine most recently put out Life is a Problem, a self described “folked up mess of American Rock n Roll” that needs to find its way into your iTunes library. Christine also has made a fine solo record (Tomorrow Blues, described as “F***ing brilliant!” by Replacements bass player, Tommy Stinson) and right now is gearing up to hit the road with Marah and Jesse Malin for a series of Rock and Roll Christmas shows. Get in the spirit and buy a ticket! Show dates and locations are just a click away.
About our guest author, Jace Everett: Jace is a former preacher, traveling musician, and truck driver who hit the big time when music supervisor Gary Calamar picked his Bad Things cut from his first album to back the opening montage of HBO’s vampire show, True Blood (see the credit sequence here). Jace took his newly found fame and enlisted Chuck Prophet to produce and co-write his latest album, Red Revelations
About the guest author, Mojo Nixon: Mojo has been making 
, their second album with American Records (their fourth studio album). This collection of songs blew me away from the first listen. I spent one summer devouring it daily and petty soon that tuned into a year. Its that special type of album that grows older with you. Still one of my all time favorites and definitely worth the listen. Best enjoyed on sunny afternoons lounging by the beach or during a car ride to the cottage and finally sitting by the campfire at the end of the day.”
About the guest author, Mark Sasso: Sasso is the lead singer and guitarist for the alt-country/traditional outfit, Elliot BROOD (explanation of the band name 
