All Eyes Out For You

John Doe & The Sadies on World Cafe

Another great radio session with David Dye's World Cafe.  Features interviews and live performances.

John Doe & The Sadies on Fresh Air

Just a quick note that one of my favorite new albums - Country Club by John Doe & The Sadies - gets a really nice spotlight from Terry Gross on Fresh Air.  The 45-minute interview and performance (featuring some blistering flatpicking from Travis Good) can be heard on NPR here, downloaded in iTunes here.

John Doe and The Sadies - 'Country Club': The Ramblings Review

If, like me, you think country-punk pioneer John Doe is the fuckin' Man, then you're already excited about his new collaboration with space cowboys The Sadies (due Tuesday).  If you don't, then what is wrong with you?

Granted, John Doe's solo career has been hit or miss at times, but as a whole, his post-X body of work has more than lived up to the standards set by his former band.  He continues to mine a rich vein of American musical influences and graft them together effortlessly.  In the post-alt-country universe, that may not seem revolutionary, but few pull off the punk/country intersection as convincingly as Doe.

The song choices on Country Club (mostly covers) are audacious, to say the least.  Wiser men would steer clear of classics like "Stop The World and Let Me Off", "The Night Life" and "Help Me Make It Through The Night."  But I'll be damned if Doe and The Sadies don't find new ways to work over these standards, without really screwing around with the arrangements.  There are a surprising number of country weepers, considering that Doe is backed by one of the shit-hottest bands on the planet.  But after a few listens, even the slower numbers allow The Sadies to shine through in unique ways (check out the so-reverbed-it's-almost-psychedelic guitar work on "The Night Life").  However, if you're looking for some of that hot shit, skip straight ahead to the reactionary Haggard classic "Are The Good Times Really Over For Good" (featuring Kathleen Edwards on vocals).

Let's face it: I'm a sucker for any record that includes "Help Me Make It Through The Night."  If you can't already tell, I'm pretty much a sucker for anything that involves John Doe or The Sadies.  So you might say this is a bit of a dream collaboration from my vantage point.  Maybe in the future, they'll write some original material together, but this'll do for now.

John Doe & The Sadies - 'Country Club' (April 14)

John Doe, founding member of X, is one of those artists I've followed for years, always waiting for that great album.  He's put out plenty of great music but not quite a front-to-back great album (though his last album came pretty close).

The Sadies are the Canadian purveyors of perfect honky-tonk, courtesy of brothers Travis and Dallas Good.  They fall roughly into the same category as John Doe for me - close, but no cigar.  Their double live album In Concert - Vol. 1 is pretty fantastic though, as is their backing of Neko Case on her live record The Tigers Have Spoken (possibly her best album).

So perhaps the stars will align for the upcoming collaboration between John Doe and The Sadies called Country Club.  The album is a mix of classic country covers and originals and will be released on April 14.  In the meantime, you can listen to the whole thing below...