O Brother

What’s your favourite Coen Bothers movie? I must have seen Fargo 4 times and I have a need to see The Big Lebowski at least once a year. Over Christmas my wife and I really enjoyed No Country For Old men on the DVD. I have a strong memory of “O Brother Where Art Thou” as I was recording an album at the time and Davie Scott, my good pal, had just been to see it and recommended it to us. We went to the cinema and I’ll never forget the moment when I saw and, more importantly, heard the baptism scene for the first time. It was for that reason that we, like millions of others, went out and bought the soundtrack the next day.

It’s ten years since the movie came out and we think it’s an appropriate soundtrack to start our occasional series, “The Beginners Guide to Americana.” The soundtrack, for many people, was either a re affirmation of all they suspected about country or the first creak of a door being opened to a Narnia-like new world. The artists on the “O Brother” soundtrack read like a who’s who of Americana – Dan Tyminski, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch and of course Alison Krauss. So on Friday we celebrate 10 years of that album and commence an occasional  series that we hope might provoke a few suggestions of your own. So here’s what we’re looking for: What are the albums that, for you, defined Americana or Alt Country? Why did they make such an impact on you and where did they lead?

The “O Brother’ soundtrack led to a mini industry after the film. The artists from the soundtrack went out on tour across North America and that in turn led to a live album called “Down From The Mountain.”

Apart from that?

We have new music from Gillian Welch’s main collaborator Dave Rawlings, Laura Veirs and a new song from American Music Club’s Mark Eitzel. We’re also playing a new song from the new Vampire Weekend long-player. It’s nothing like country but we kind of like them on the show! All on at 8 – 10  Friday.