Culture

Steve Earle belongs in the first rank of the great tradition of Texas singer-songwriters and he's been in great form since his two-year "vacation" in the early 1990s. The good news is that he shows no signs of slackening off: his new album, Townes, is a loving15-track tribute to his friend and mentor Townes van Zandt. And the even better news is that Earle is touring Britain (and Ireland) later this year. Hurrah! Anyway, here's a clip from way back in the day when the Hardcore Troubadour was earning his nickname The Hard Way.

You can't have a country music series without acknowledging the contribution church music has made to the genre. The thing about the gospel music that sprang from the this topsoil of the Appalachian mountains is that, for, or rather because of, all its desperation, there remains an essential glimmer of hope that, in the next world at least, things will be better and more comfortably arranged than they are in this. It's the contrast between the fatalism of the present and the promise of the future that gives it a mighty, if mournful, punch. And one of the most famous of these hymns is "I'll Fly Away" which has been recorded by Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Randy Travis and a host of others. It also featured in the soundtrack to Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.

A slight disruption to the schedule this week postponed Saturday Morning Country by 24 hours. But not to worry, here's the great Waylon Jennings in barnstorming form to make up for it all and get your sabbath off to a braw and brawlin' start. So this was recorded at  the "Lost Outlaw" concert from back in 1978 and this is Waylon singing about how I've Always Been Crazy. Ain't that the truth? But you wouldn't want it any other way, would you? Previously: Dolly, Emmylou and Townes.

First we had Dolly Parton and then last week we featured Emmylou Harris singing Pancho & Lefty so this Saturday it makes sense to put Townes van Zandt in the spotlight. This video comes from towards the end of his life by which time his voice was even more ragged than it ever was. Then again, it's not the voice that matters so much as the songwriting and the haunting, elegiac, melancholy that makes Townes van Zandt one of the great American songwriters of the past 50 years. In any genre. Here he is then, performing the classic Tecumseh Valley.

Last week it was Dolly Parton in this (newly created!) slot; this Saturday it's the turn of another great country diva, Emmylou Harris. I saw her at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow last year and, truth to say, it was probably only a 6/10 gig. I think Norm's assessment of her performance in Manchester on that tour is pretty fair. I also think you should read his album-by-album review of her fabulous career and his ranking of her albums here. Anyway, after the jump, here's the great lady singing a great song by another great artist, Townes van Zandt. Yes, this is Emmylou Harris performing Pancho and Lefty on The Old Grey Whistle Test way back in 1977. Great stuff.

Matthaüs-Passion Barbican ‘God save us...it’s just as if one were at an opera!’ a woman is quoted as saying at a performance of Bach’s Matthaüs-Passion in the 18th century. If she meant that it is hard to imagine a more intensely dramatic experience — it is other kinds of experience, too, of course — then she was right. It was fashionable 40 years or so ago to say that the St Matthew Passion is less dramatic than the St John Passion, a view argued by Britten and his acolytes. I think they were wrong: the Matthaüs-Passion is at least as dramatic as its shorter twin, but it has other elements, too.

The super-talented Lisa Hannigan and her band gather in Dick Mac's pub in Dingle, Co Kerry for a charming wee session that is just the ticket for a lovely spring weekend...

Hänsel und Gretel Royal Academy of Music Jenufa Birmingham Hippodrome Pelléas et Mélisande Sadler’s Wells Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel loses none of its charm with repeated viewings, a good thing since there are plenty of productions of it around this year in the UK, the latest being at the Royal Academy of Music. I saw the first and almost wholly excellent cast, with the two children cast more plausibly than I have ever seen them before, though both Robyn Kirk, the Gretel, and Charlotte Stephenson, the Hänsel, are in their twenties. Both their singing and acting were ideal, worthy of DVD-ing, our version of immortality.

The Foggy Dew should be busy tonight. Mind you, so should all the other pubs in Dublin. There'll be more cause than usual for singing now that one hears the sad news of Ronnie Drew's death. The Telegraph obituary puts the appeal of The Dubliners quite well: The Dubliners achieved fame and notoriety as singers of street ballads and bawdy songs, and as players of fine instrumental traditional music. Their emergence coincided with the British folk revival of the early 1960s, and they were one of the first folk bands to break into the pop charts. In Ireland their closest rivals were the Clancy Brothers.

Megan asks for suggestions for a tribute tape to the late and lamented Democratic primary race. A quick glance at my iPod suggests these tunes...

More polling! This time it's Setting the Woods on Fire who wants you to list your ten favourite country music artists. My off-the-top-of-my-head list, then, is: 1. Gram Parsons2. Waylon Jennings3. Townes van Zandt4. Johnny Cash5. Emmylou Harris 6. Hank Williams Sr 7. Dwight Yoakam8. Gillian Welch9. Lyle Lovett10. Merle Haggard Make your vote count here.

A reader asks polymathic Tyler Cowen for his country music recommendations and Tyler responds here, cautioning, mind you, that: I might add the whole list comes from someone who was initially allergic to country music, so if that is you give some of these recommendations a try.  Just think of it as White Man's Blues. Well that was me too, once upon a sad old time ago. Then I saw the light and everything's been better since. Tyler says you have to start with Hank Williams Sr and then move on to the Gram Parsons trio of: The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers and, finally, Grievous Angel. That, plus Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Dolly etc etc will see you right. All sound advice.

You don't have to be an Anglican or even especially religious to think that this Oxford Evensong set to jazz is very cool. Beautiful. (You can listen to it again for the next five days by clicking on "Choral Evensong" at the link.

Who else reckons that Mr Darling's plodding budget could have used a lively soundtrack? Well, here's my recommendation: Goody Two Shoes by Adam and the Ants. The lyrics pretty much sum up the whole sorry affair! "Put on a little makeup makeup Make sure they get your good side good side If the words unspoken Get stuck in your throat Send a treasure token token Write it on a pound note pound note Goody two goody two goody goody two shoes Goody two goody two goody goody two shoes Don't drink don't smoke - what do you do Don't drink don't smoke - what do you do Subtle innuendos follow.

Megan finally gets to see The Pogues live and, happily, it's worth the wait: Did I mention that for the actual last song, at the end of the second encore, Spider Stacy did his signature "bashing a beer tray against my head" percussion act?  I mean, it really doesn't get much better than that.