GREY DELISLE is just one of many singers who prefer the 'warmth' of old analog tape and valve microphones to the sometimes clinical sound of modern digital equipment. Not that she shuns some of the other advantages of the technological age though. Included on her ultra-hip album Iron Flowers is a wonderful 20 minute 'making of' movie that intersperses studio scenes with live gig footage. Just to watch the snippet of her performing Bohemian Rhapsody on the autoharp (Mother Maybelle Carter meets Freddie Mercury?) is a joy in itself. Trivia buffs may note that DeLisle and the band Queen also share a photographer, the aptly-named Mick Rock.

NICKEL CREEK also boast about the vintage recording equipment they employ, sometimes recording around a single microphone. Their new album Why Should The Fire Die? is indeed a sonic masterpiece and their acoustic music crosses the boundaries from country to folk to pop and back again, with style and substance. Ironically at their website, U.S. fans have been given a chance to compete for the prize of a Delphi XM MyFi, a high-tech portable satellite radio. Violinist Sara Watkins is the member of the band who currently writes their on-line journal. (Click here to view the Nickel Creek E-Card)

That same duty also falls to violinist Eamon McLoughlin of THE GREENCARDS, who has regularly posted to their site whilst they toured with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. Their new album Weather and Water is doing great business on the Americana charts and you can follow the link from their site to CMT.com to watch the video for the new single, Time.

THE GREENCARDS live Douglas Corner Cafe,
Nashville 2004. Photo: Bob Howe

Recording with her seven-piece band live in the studio and mastering via analog tape were just two of the measures DONNA BOYD took to ensure her new album, I've Got My Standards, Vol. 1, would have that authentic retro sound. At her redesigned site you can watch Donna and The Standard Band perform one of the songs live at the album launch concert.    Launch photo right by KVee

American network ABC.com have been previewing their forthcoming U.S. TV special of the CMA Music Festival with short videos they call Webisodes. These were teasers showing glimpses of many major artists who appeared at the festival, getting ready for the show and enthusing about the event. These may disappear when the special airs, but check under 'Video' at their site.

Another title from the series originally filmed for the Nashville Network's Church Street Station show, previously released here on video, and now a welcome addition on budget-priced DVD. Taken from live concerts filmed in the mid-eighties at Orlando, Florida, this volume compiles several songs each from four artists. TOM T. HALL sings three tunes including I Like Beer which seems appropriate for the honky-tonk setting. The late CHARLIE RICH also does three numbers, including Behind Closed Doors, although his tuxedo-clad big band looks ill-at-ease in the cowboy saloon setting. This would have been a rare appearance by Rich as he was in semi-retirement during the eighties.

JOHNNY TILLOTSON sparkles for the appreciative crowd with six songs here that include his county/pop chart toppers Heartaches By The Number, Send Me The Pillow and the biggest of his own compositions It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin'. Musician spotters may notice legends Buddy Emmons and the late Phil Baugh in the background, but sadly not featured. GEORGE JONES takes the lion's share of the disc with eight songs. 'The Possum' is in lively form, mugging his way through No Show Jones and The Race Is On. Some of the eighties fashion and hairstyles may bring you a smile, but if you don't shed a tear for He Stopped Loving Her Today, then you just ain't country!

MRA Entertainment D0391 - 59 Mins