Who else released new musicโข๏ธ this month? Tag em I need to fill up my mixtape for my summer road trips. New one with @maxgomezmusic out now on the ole YT channel. Cha Cha Cha check it out, play it while you mow your lawn, cook dinner, w/e.
@maxgomezmusic beat me at Dead or Alive 2 on the Dreamcast that day. I'll admit defeat. He did compensate me with some great songs, so here is a snippet. More on the ole YT page, link in bio.
Part of our new #VHSHQ series. Three tunes and a chat. I'm not an expert, but I figured if Adam Friedland can be the left's Joe Rogan, I can be the next Studs Terkel. It's Rainbow Quest but we play Dreamcast and watch VHS tapes. Idk, music interviews are usually lame so I'm trying to make it fun. I promise I won't ask what the song means.
๐1 million views for @maxgomezmusic on some recordings we made some years back. We first met in Nashville, his tour stop in my hometown. Some years later I went and visited his hometown, up in the deserts of Taos, New Mexico. We'd walk around town and everyone would stop to greet him. Someone he knew from Kindergarten, he'd explain. Practically the mayor down there.
I've always admired Max's laid back songs, his relaxed cadence and confidence. He's a IRL type of guy, and does his best work on stages in front of living breathing people. I got to experience the Red River Folk Festival he put on for awhile. A songwriter's festival, a true folkie.
I love checking in on ole pals, and tmrw we have some new songs with Max in the Gems HQ. He released a new album, Memory Mountain. Fitting name. Big thanks to everyone for watching over the years, growing and evolving with us. The road is long and full of potholes,
Your friend
Ant
@sorleythebard is on tour in the USA right now. Soon he will be playing with @mattheckler out west. So here's a throwback Thursday of us at @benjamintodmusic house in Kentucky, shooting his arsenal of Red Dead Redemption weapons.
I love hosting foreign dignitaries like Sam. The hardest part of traveling is lodging, transportation and escaping the capitalist vortex that is the tourism industry. So to be able to host someone is such a huge help, and really doesn't set you back much. Their standards are pretty low for what they consider interesting. All I had to do was bring Sam to Waffle House and he was like a newborn babe, enamored.
Sam put me up in Edinburgh and showed me what's what. I stayed in his flat for a week or more. Lived like a regular, full Scottish breakfast in the morning and curry by night. We froze together in a tiny bothy in the Highlands. The least I could do is show him that wonder of the world that is a gigantic Walmart in the country.
Musicians always ask me how to get shows overseas. The answer is pretty simple. Help out other musicians tour here, and they will return the favor. So if you see Sam on this tour, go up and shake his hand. Preferably after the show. He's a great guy. Tell him your favorite spot in town to get a fry up.
This video and a new one we released yesterday are both on my YouTube channel.
@sorleythebard is TOURING THE USA!!! Not soon, but NOW. Go check out his page to see if he has a stop near you. This is a rare opportunity to catch the banjo playing Scotsman over here. It's expensive to get here so support him if you like the tunes.
I'm releasing an old video from the first time I met Sam, in downtown historic Edinburgh, where he liked the busk. Down some cobblestone alley in the shadow of a castle he played this jaunty tune for us, off his first album. Sam is the right combination of kind and talented, I couldn't be happier for him with all the viral success he has had. He truly deserves it.
Link to this vid in the bio. Looking forward to hanging with you in Nashville big shagger, together we can burn down Kid Rock's bar.
Anthony
@kimildu is an artist's artist. I took a solo train journey South, from Seoul to Busan, to meet an artist my friend Seth Mountain told me was one of the greatest songwriters in Korea. Everyone I met spoke highly of Mr. Kim Il Du, and meeting him made the reasons obvious. His aura is effortless; his coolness brings to mind a hard boiled police detective in a Bong Joon Ho movie. He used to be in a popular punk band. When he plays his songs though, there's a softness, an honesty to the songs. One commenter on the YT said listening to his voice was like being a blade of grass swaying in a spring breeze. He ends all his emails to me with "Now here only love".
I asked him to show me something special to him. He brought me to a public park, where he had surreptitiously buried his cat and made a small grave in the bushes. When he finished his song, which he'd written about joining the cat in the grave soon, there was a silence. Like across the entire nation, a dead silence. It was a moment of silence planned by the military. A stark reminder we were in Korea, where there is a draft still, and the war never really stopped though there has been relative peace. But the weather was beautiful and the view of Busan's Dragon Tower stunning.
I really recommend Kim Il Du's bandcamp. There's a link on the YT vid, which you can find in my bio. There's an incredible breadth of work on there that I listen to regularly now.
Big thanks to @ch0ihyeok for showing me around and being my host in Busan. You are welcome in America anytime my friend!
@natmyersyall and the fellas in @dugworld breathing life into an old Blind Willie Johnson tune from hundo year ago. Or at least that's the version Nat took inspo from. We were at @shipjohn Portland hanging before our flights outta dodge. The boys had been playing this one at the last couple shows so we grabbed a quickie with some slide guitar and spoons. I like to think God DID like it.
Song is a prohibition era tune about the drinking being scandalous. I love reading about prohibition. Some folks took it very seriously. Others not so much. I can't help but wonder if the song was tongue in cheek. Then again Sister Rosetta Tharpe had a version as well, with different lyrics somewhat. I know some folks who should probably heed the warning in these lyrics anyway. God don't like it when some of y'all drink.
Full thang in the biography of this page.
Give it some love if you wanna.
Don't if you don't.
I don't got a problem rn,
The Ant
New one with @dugworld and @natmyersyall playing together tomorrow.
I met @lorkinoreilly in 2023. I was in Ireland shooting @marywallopers and I found my way to Dublin to record one with him. For better or worse it never came out (never stick a Canon SD card into a Sony camera), but we shared a succulent Indian dinner together. We had some great conversations about music, our roots and why we do it. All in all he came off as a really down to earth dude, who done plenty of work with his hands and decided music was more fun. In the van the other day he was constantly sending off emails and replying to venues. I joked that he was a manager's dream.
Eventually he started this new band with @jonnypickett_ where they were harassing everybody on the street for money, I think they call it busking. We ended up collaborating with another incredible filmmaker @lukebrabazon to make that jubilee video. One thing led to another and it turns out folks really liked the unique sound of Dug band. The weird foot instruments really struck a chord with the fetish community, my theory. Also for some reason a lot of A&R people watch my channel and the lads got some quality attention from the big wigs.
And it makes sense. I've come to be a big fan of Conor's songwriting. He has a poetic way with words, very much zigging when everyone else zags. And Jonny, well let's just say I'm now friends with every member of the Pickett lineage. I love seeing him jump into the crowd and get an entire venue swing dancing and moshing at what is supposed to be a folk music show.
Anyway they came to America this year for some touring, and they were kind enough to fly me out to the West coast. I thought this was swell of them, since plenty of artists get what they want from me (a video on the channel) and then never talk to me again. So that was cool of them.
Anyway more later,
The Antonio
New @natmyersyall and @dugworld collab vid next week, at @shipjohn in Portland. Was recently on a little West Coast tour with them in Seattle. We arrived in town just in time to watch the Super Bowl parade. Naturally as an Irish band and two folk music nerds, I don't think any of us had much of a dog in the fight but we marveled at how cool parades are. America used to do a lot of parades. What happened to that?
Anyway, Nat told us his latest crazy stories. I don't think I've ever met anybody who has gone on as many crazy adventures as this guy. The people he meets would literally blow your mind. Just an absolute mad libs way of going about life. I really can't even talk about it, as it's his business. But when this guy writes the book, it'll be crazy. Let's just say his latest adventure made him comically privy to world changing events.
I like Nat, particularly because he is not afraid to say whatever he means. Or to apologize afterwards for saying it if he changes his mind. A lot of us live in fear of offending one party or another. I'm pretty sure Nat's first conversation with me was asking why I don't have more POC on my YouTube channel. Great way to start a conversation. He famously dropped his record label for cozying up to Kid Rock, famous butt rock DJ, during the Bud Light scandals.
Both of us lost our dad's recently, so I'm feeling a cosmic connection there. I can't relate to having cancer though. Despite his diagnosis he is fighting like hell, literally flying to shows in between chemo sessions. Bro is lusting for life. I'm trying to convince him to go to Korea with me and play the blues. I'm pretty sure that's not kosher with his doctors.
Anyway, new music next week, go follow this man and DUG too. The content of this post are from our previous work in his home town. All on YouTube.
Your favorite quarterback,
The Ant-Man
Headed to the mysterious state of Wisconsin tomorrow to hang with the realest in the game, my buddy @jasondeawest . I've never spent more than an hour in Wisconsin, his home turf, so it's always great to cross another one off this big ole map before I croak. Especially with a local yokel like Jason. @pineandfire might even be there? Double whammy.
Jason has been cool before cool was cool. He is making some real interesting music lately. He's always bucking trends, and the new stuff has me rocking out in a way I haven't in awhile. The culture needs to hear this stuff. It might be time to hang up the cowboy hats and get out the mountain dew code red. Just kidding... I think. What were we talking about again?
We recorded these back in 2019 at Uncle Pete's in Lebanon, TN. And then last year at my house on the porch with his band (@amieastelle ripping that bass). Good times. Find it on our YT.
CHEERS,
The Ant man
In an exciting move that industry experts are calling โdeeply unnecessary but kind of inevitable,โ a major record label has acquired Western AF and Gems on VHS. The merger creates a single platform where viewers can finally stop asking, โWaitโฆ which one is this again?โ
The new channel, โGems AF on Western VHSโ (O๏ฌcial), is committed to maintaining their DIY roots while serving their new major label owners.
Anthony, owner of Gems on VHS, shared his thoughts while adjusting a vintage camcorder: โThis merger just makes sense. Weโve always believed in capturing raw, authentic performancesโฆ preferably in 4:3 aspect ratio. Now we can do that while avoiding the inevitable question, you are based in Wyoming, right?โ
Mike, co-creator of Western AF, spoke with elation, โAt the end of the day, itโs about the music and also about people commenting โWestern AF vibesโ under videos that may or may not be Western AF. Now, those comments will finally be mostly correctโ.
Read more about it at the Economistโs Website.
โฆ
#westernaf #gemsonvhs #fieldrecordings #authenic #aprilfools
