The Love Jones "Living Room Culture" Edition

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Ardenland Presents:
Amanda Shires at Duling Hall
w/ Early James and the Latest
Doors at 6:30 pm | Show at 7:30 pm
GA Tickets : $20 advance | $25 day of show
On sale Friday, March 16 at 10 a.m.

Amanda Shires "Harmless" Video: https://youtu.be/siWazh68Uck

Artist Bio:
Amanda Shires is not an entertainer. She isn?t looking to help listeners escape their everyday lives or soundtrack celebrations. She isn?t reaching for celebrity, and she isn?t concerned with cultivating a personal brand. She is an artist in the true sense of the word, meaning she creates because she has a real need for the process of creating. That is not to say that the songs on My Piece Of Land aren?t entertaining, but that quality is a by-product. The real intention here is to relate.

Ms. Shires began her career as a teenager playing fiddle with the Texas Playboys. Since then, she?s toured and recorded with John Prine, Billy Joe Shaver, Todd Snider, Justin Townes Earle, Shovels & Rope, and most recently her husband Jason Isbell. Along the way she?s made three solo albums, each serving to document a particular period in her life while improving on the perceptive qualities of the previous record.

The songs on My Piece Of Land deal with family, with anxiety, with the phases of one young woman?s life; but the primary focus of My Piece Of Land is the concept of home. Ms. Shires addresses the similarities and differences between the home she was born into, the two homes she was eventually split between, and the home she has finally made for herself. Some of these stories are from the creator?s point of view and some most certainly are not. You?d be hard-pressed to identify which is which, though, considering the level of empathy involved in the creation of these stories. ?The concept of home, like the concept of love, is more complex than it seems,? says Ms. Shires. ?You start out with this inherited idea of home, but as you grow you realize that?s only a suggestion. You have to use that along with all the little pieces of wisdom you?ve picked up along the way to finally build your own place in the world.? Ms. Shires sometimes describes songwriting as ?solving the puzzles,? but before the songwriter even begins to arrange rhymes and melodies, she must first be acquainted with the complicated workings of the heart.

Most of this album was written after Ms. Shires had reached the seven-month point in a summertime pregnancy, and was no longer able to travel. For a woman used to touring most of the year, being stuck inside brought challenges and offered creative rewards. ?Pregnancy does weird things to you,? Amanda says. ?You walk around holding your arms over your belly, sometimes almost overcome by anxiety. I constantly wondered if I would be able to protect this child, if my marriage would last forever, if I?d learned enough about the world to be a good mother. At the same time, you?re so excited, so hopeful, and so severely physically limited.? About how the setting affected the finished product, she says ?This record turned out to be a personal record, set in our home where I had lots of time for reflection and time to face my concerns and

fears.? The listener can hear Ms. Shires unpacking those anxieties in a song like ?Slippin,?? with its ruminations on what could go wrong in a relationship that seems stable.

There?ll be a trigger, then up starts the fire, a handful of matches some faulty wiring.
You?ll say you have this hollow feeling. Something?s always been missing. Tonight could be the night you go slippin? away from me.

Her piece of land is one with a panoramic view, and she pays close attention to even the smallest details. Take, for instance, the first stanza of ?Harmless.?

A phased golden light rained down from the streetlight. It fell across your shoulder, paused just above your collar.

With this description of one fleeting moment, the writer sets an entire scene. Ms. Shires would argue that the term ?poet? should not be used to mean ?unusually perceptive songwriter,? since the roles of modern songwriter and poet are so very different. However, it isn?t hard to understand how her post-graduate education in poetry helps Ms. Shires choose which details to include. ?It?s all about precision. My time in the MFA (Master Of Fine Arts) program at Sewanee taught me a lot about different ways of writing and how they all have one thing in common: the better you are at editing, the better your work will be. Spending long hours workshopping poems and reading the classics gave me a solid standard when it came time to edit my songs.?

Ms. Shires recorded My Piece Of Land under the guidance of brilliant Nashville producer Dave Cobb at his Low Country Sound studio. Inviting Cobb to produce My Piece Of Land was an easy decision to make, considering Ms. Shires had worked with him before on Jason Isbell?s albums Southeastern and Something More Than Free. Ms. Shires knew of Dave?s propensity toward arranging the songs in-studio, rather than rehearsing or making demos beforehand. Cobb believes in the spontaneity of early takes, and with the proficient rhythm section of Paul Slivka and Paul Griffith, the studio band was able to record the album in a relatively short amount of time without sacrificing performance quality. This approach gives each song on the album emotional urgency along with a groove that?s loose and effortless.

Among other things, ?Pale Fire? is about consciously shifting one?s own priorities. There are two types of lovers: the kind we need and the kind we want. The hard part is finding someone who represents both. ?You Are My Home? is written as a gift, a token of appreciation to someone who has helped the narrator define her place in the world. ?Mineral Wells? is a song Ms. Shires wrote many years ago, after relocating to Nashville from her childhood home in Texas. It speaks to the part of us that never really leaves that original homeplace.

With My Piece Of Land, you get the sense that Amanda Shires has reached a personal pinnacle. This album is the creative milestone suited to accompany the recent milestones in her life: becoming a mother, developing into a true artist, and finally finding a home.

Rybolt Productions resents Lillian Axe with Jason Tuner - June 16, 2018 at Martin's Restaurant & Bar.
214 S State Jackson MS 39201
Doors 9 pm
Ages 18+
www.martinsbar39201.com
www.lillinaxe.com

Louisiana Music Hall Of fame Members
Jackson MS 2017 IKON Award Winner
Over 2 million albums sold!

The big shot producers, major label record deals, videos for MTV, quarter of a million record sales in the United States alone, New Orleans survivors Lillian Axe have persevered through the years and still to this day, record new music and tour?

From humble beginnings, the New Orleans-based hard rock act rose above the cream of the bands touring the U.S. club circuit. Within three years, the band?s live show had built a reputation that could not be denied and was becoming legendary. While performing an opening stint with Ratt, Poison and Queensryche, the guys caught the eye of MCA Records executive Irving Azoff and also Marshall Berle (nephew of Milton Berle) who, at the time, was managing rock superstars, Ratt. Irving Azoff immediately signed Lillian Axe.

Fueled by their hit single, ?True Believer? followed by their cover of the Badfinger classic, ?No Matter What? and VH1 Classic favorite video for ?Show A Little Love,?; Lillian Axe reached the upper 100 of the Billboard album charts and with True Believer hitting number 37 with a ?bullet? on radio?s R&R charts. Lillian Axe was well on their way to finally becoming a well deserved success story. In 2010, Lillian Axe was introduced to multi-platinum producer, Sylvia Massy, and a creative working relationship was formed. Sylvia Massy is best known for her work with the band Tool (?Undertow went 2x platinum and ?Opiate? went platinum). She also has gold and platinum records with Green Jelly, Powerman 5000, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sylvia has also worked with Johnny Cash, Prince, Sevendust, The Deftones, and Seven Mary Three. The single, ?47 Ways to Die?, was remixed by Sylvia Massy and was included in the film, The Hit List starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and featured during the opening credits.

Lillian Axe was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame on May 16, 2010. Lillian Axe is the first hard rock band inducted into the LAMHOF. Lillian Axe is enshrined along with music greats Fats Domino, Buddy Guy, Louis Armstrong, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Allen Toussaint to name a few.

In 2012, Lillian Axe had the honor of working again with Sylvia Massy on their eleventh release, XI: The Days Before Tomorrow. Platinum producer Sylvia Massy had this to say about the songs on XI:The Days before Tomorrow, ?Damn! These guys know how to write! I love the new songs!?

2014, is going to be a banner year for Lillian Axe. Lillian Axe released a colossal 13 CD box set, entitled Convergence on February 1, 2014 containing all of Lillian Axe?s releases from 1988-2012 with a bonus CD of highly sought after unreleased Lillian Axe songs. Convergence was sold as a limited edition release through the Lillian Axe fan club and immediately sold out. On April 15, 2014, Lillian Axe unleashes their thirteenth release entitled, ?One Night In The Temple?, a 2 CD (20 songs), DVD and Blu-Ray celebration featuring all their hits and fan favorite voted songs performed acoustically in an intimate setting housed in a Masonic Temple where Lillian Axe has recorded their last few albums. Filmed in high definition, the Blu-Ray and DVD will feature the acoustic live performance, fan question and answer session, videos for ?Caged In? and ?Death Comes Tomorrow,? live footage from their July 4, 2013 concert at the Paragon Casino and some very cool behind the scenes footage. ?One Night In The Temple? will be released both as 2 CDs and 1DVD and 2 CDS and 1 Blu-Ray on CME Records / Sony Music in the USA and Canada and on Melodic Rock Records / Cargo Distribution worldwide.

Often regarded as underrated American hard rock gem, they are consummate professionals, balancing song structure & melody with a heavy edge. The most impressive aspect of this enduring group might just be their innate ability to remain relevant while never shunning their vibrant, vintage metal heritage.

Fueled by an unstoppable work ethic and musical vocabulary that spans from face ripping metal to soulful, stratospheric, melodies?the tie that binds this together is their trademark blend of fist raising arena rock.

Lillian Axe?s studio performance is only one piece of the unique puzzle, as their music really explodes in their preferred habitat, the stages of the world. Whether headlining or sharing the bill with national heavyweights such as Alice Cooper, Sammy Hagar, Godsmack or Seether, the boys from the bayou have the presence to make any size stage their own and with their musical muscle to win over any audience within an earshot! When you get down to it, Lillian Axe is a really personal experience, offering a one-on-one connection between the fans and band members. Whether you are watching them in front of 1000 people or 10000 people: The fans are ultimately the most important aspect of the entire cycle.