Joe and Billy Bragg have kicked of their 'shine a light' tour. I also received my order for the album, and I am really happy to have gotten a LP. The artwork and layout of the object in itself are really wonderful. maps, stories, pictures, liner notes....
I will leave all the reviewing of the songs to the reviews one finds ad pleases. I'll keep it short : "I adore the album !"
On the 'shine a light' website also, are all the stations open
on the interactive map. So make sure to check that out.
Last week was Americana Fest, where Joe and Billy presented their album, and performed on several occasions. Let me try to give you, Joe and Billy's run don of those days.
First of all : Billy Bragg was presented the "Spirit of Americana / 1st Amendment / Freedom of Speech award". It was given to him by Joe and Ken Paulson.
Billy, for his turn, presented the "Americana President’s Award for Woody Guthrie" to Lucinda Williams.
During award night, Joe had other knowledgeable appearances :
apparently Joe Henry came out and awkwardly vamps for four minutes to introduce The Milk Carton Kids. (source)
Joe also paid tribute to Allen Toussaint, and performed a beautiful 'Freedom for the stallion'. (With Levon Henry on sax)
see the full show at this link
Freedom for the stallion : 00:48:10
anouncing the Milk Carton Kids : 01:33:48 (keep listening to the song ! brilliant !)
Billy's award part : 01:59:37
I ain't got no home : 02:12:55
But off course, Joe and Billy played also a few shows to present the 'shine a light' album. For that, they also went on a live stream NPR Americana Alphabet show.
Gentle on my mind during a morning session entitled "Riffs on the Rails" at americanafest.
Joe also sat in, at a reading session from T Bone Burnett's biography. He also performed one of T Bone's songs.
The great @JoeHenryMusic #AmericanaFest2016 with bit of T Bone's "Shake Yourself Loose":— Larry J. Simon (@LarryJSimon) September 22, 2016
"How much rope you gonna give yourself?" pic.twitter.com/C8LQN6Chib
And after that weekend, Joe and Billy embarked on their journey to present this album to the world.
Check out their concertschedule.
A first stop was in Pittsburgh for NPR's mountain stage live radio taping.
We are starting and ending our day with @billybragg and @JoeHenryMusic. We're looking forward to seeing yinz tonight at The Byham. pic.twitter.com/aRdobpBPqy— Mountain Stage (@MountainStage) September 25, 2016
And also for NPR,
It's a mighty good road when @billybragg & @joehenrymusic come to play @nprmusic #tinydesk pic.twitter.com/izJIDNkkZh— Mary Glendinning (@mglendinning) September 27, 2016
If you don't like to know what they can play during a concert. Don't open this review. It has a setlist !
Other interesting articles :
Joe and Billy sat down to speak with Salon. great interview called ride the trails with Billy Bragg and Joe Henry !
And to end with some music introduced for you by Billy and Joe : They put together a playlist of their favorite travel songs. It was presented by the guardian. Check out their stories for each song !
If I missed other interesting news, feel free to contact me, or leave a comment with your story.
