Transmit Sound
First there was “Songs of Sahm,” a tribute by the Bottle Rockets recorded in 2001, a few years after Doug Sahm’s passing at age 58. Then there was “Keep Your Soul,” a 2009 various-artist tribute corralling such peers as Los Lobos, Dave Alvin, Delbert McClinton and Jimmy Vaughan. One could even make a case for including Dr. Eugene Chadbourne’s pair of “Texas Sessions” (2000 and 2002), with the caveat that they weren’t exclusively devoted to Sahm songs.
Regional
Yes, that really is a pedal steel guitar conveying sadness over the “Death of a Clown.” Even more amazing is Andrew and David Williams’ blood-harmony presentation of said song, Dave Davies’ 1967 solo debut single. But the real kicker is that this magnificent “new” album was recorded in 1995, taking more than 27 years to see the light of day.
Rebel
Peter Rowan continues distilling his mostly bluegrass essence on “Calling You From My Mountain,” his second studio release for the venerable Rebel Records label.
Dowd
This easy-rolling collaboration between two established Northern California acts — Grass Valley’s Aaron Ross and Nevada City’s Farrow and the Peach Leaves — proves that there’s musical gold in them thar foothills.
Rack ’em
When Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock — collectively, The Flatlanders — laid down bare-bones versions of these songs over the past decade or so, they thought they were doing it just for pleasure.
