Man it has been a while…Though it may not be completely true, I will blame this long wait for a new installment on the departure of Andy. He’s spread pretty thin these days and when your fun hobbies start feeling like chores it’s a good sign to reassess. This is especially true when your fun hobbies involve music. Well I guess now we know who was the host and who was the co-host, haha. Anyways, please excuse me if I ramble on a bit more than usual as I’m not used to flying solo without someone to pull the plug. I fittingly chose “private-press” and “small-press” country records as the theme for my first outing alone. These are records that were usually released in an independant fashion, sometimes even by the artists themselves. I feel in some cases, as with Peter Grudzien and Joe Cannon, you get the sense that they embraced this independance and ran with it. Of course the flip to that are the likes of Ron McFarlin and Steve Dodge, who give the feeling of aiming for stardom but falling just a bit short. Either side though gives us artists working within their means to get their songs out there to be heard. Over the years some of these records have reached cult status and have become very sought after collectibles while others are still just waiting in the bargin bins for a score. These are the kind of records that keep me diggin’ deeper and most of these selections were bought cheap as a gamble solely based upon their DIY looks. Most of the time you turn up a dud but once in a while you turn up a gem. Here are a handful of my favs…
1. Kevin Odegard – .44 (1975/”Silver Lining”)
2. Rick Neufeld – The Song Singer (1973/”Hiway Child”)
3. Peter Grudzien – White Trash Hillbilly Trick (1974/”The Unicorn”)
4. Ron McFarlin – Biden My Time (prob late 70’s/”City Cowboy”)
5. Joe Cannon – For Mama (prob mid 70’s/”City Boy’s Country Dream”)
6. Joe Cannon – Keep The Women Happy (prob mid 70’s/”City Boy’s Country Dream”)
7. Steve Honeycutt – Somewhere In Baltimore (prob late 70’s or early 80’s/”My Kind Of Country”)
8. Steve Dodge – The Way I’m Living (1980/”S/T”)
9. Back Pocket – Lonely Railroad Ties/Interlude (1977/”Buzzard Bait”)
ASTRAL MAPS 