Sunday, October 6, 2013

Billy Bragg (9/29/13)

Last week I made it down to Kent to catch the venerable Billy Bragg at the Kent Stage!!  Of course - any self-produced media is hard to generate in that venue, so here's my obligatory photo from the show.  Keep reading though, I have some other stuff that I'd been collecting to help show you why this was such a great show - and why you should be checking out his new album.  And not to be forgotten was Joe Purdy opening, who was every bit as good, funny and charming as I'd expect him to be… I can't wait for him to headline his own show at the Beachland Tavern.

Billy Bragg (9/29/13)

Here's everything else…

 

Billy Bragg, Forever the Activist But Never A Luddite | Billboard

"After releasing his first new album in five years -- 'Tooth & Nail' in June -- British troubadour Billy Bragg says he feels 're-engaged with the record industry' and anticipates we'll be hearing more from him sooner rather than later.

'I kind of spurned the record industry after my last album (2008's 'Mr. Love & Justice'),' Bragg tells Billboard. 'I was not really sure where I fit anymore. Without a major label offering me funding to make a new record, it really came down to me to get my act together myself. And when I can write a song and make it available for free download in 24 hours, the pressure to put out an album dissipates. People are coming to the gigs. I'm making a decent living touring. Did I really need to expend a huge amount of my life and my energy to make albums and do things the conventional way anymore? I wasn't sure.'

Bragg says 'Tooth & Nail' was motivated by the death of his mother in 2010 and 'a need to move on to the next thing after that.' He took up producer Joe Henry on his long-standing invitation to record at his studio in Los Angeles, figuring 'in the worst case scenario I'd be making some very expensive demos.' But 'Tooth & Nail's' focus on mostly personal matters rather than the topical fare Bragg often favors has created a new template for him to make music moving forward."

(Continued... Billy Bragg, Forever the Activist But Never A Luddite | Billboard)

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