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Country cousins
Willie and Amy, plus Joey Ramone

BY MATT ASHARE

The first few months of the year are rarely earmarked for priority releases by major labels — doubtless they figure that with everyone’s consumer urges by from holiday shopping, it’s only fair to give music fans a little time to rest their wallets. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a number of promising albums to look forward to over the next couple of months — not the least of them stoned country outlaw Willie Nelson’s debut for Universal’s alterna-country-leaning Lost Highway imprint. The Great Divide (due February 5) finds Willie tearing a page from the Santana handbook and teaming up with Matchbox Twenty crooner Rob Thomas and Kid Rock so as to build a bridge to a younger generation. Thomas’s cameo ("Maria") is currently planned as the second single; Lost Highway is planning to break Willie’s people in with a less challenging first single that features the voices of Lee Ann Womack and Alison Krauss.

Fans of roots music that hasn’t been Nashvillized actually have a lot to look forward to. For starters, after being unceremoniously booted from Warner Bros. last year, former Uncle Tupelo dude Jeff Tweedy and his band Wilco have inked a deal with Nonesuch, a label that’s most often affiliated with avant-guardists like Steve Reich and respected world-music artists. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot won’t hit stores until April 4. In the meantime, there’s plenty of other roots and twang to be had from a pair of gutsy women. Ryan Adams’s former Whiskeytown partner Caitlin Cary has her debut full-length, While You Weren’t Looking (Yep Roc), due on February 26. And Kasey Chambers, the Australian singer/songwriter who garnered a fair amount of critical acclaim for the genuine countrified bent of her US debut, The Captain (Warner Bros.), last year, has a sophomore disc called Barricades and Brickwalls (Warner Bros.) due on January 29. On the more raucous side, the revved-up and twangy Reverend Horton Heat has found a new home at Artemis; his first disc for that label, Lucky 7, comes out on February 26. And Seattle’s punked-up Supersuckers have set March 12 for the release of their first live disc, a recording of one of their country sets featuring a guest spot by Willie’s daughter Amy Nelson — how’s that for bringing it all back around?

In the more traditional country arena, Hank Williams III will have a new one called Lovesick, Broke and . . . Driftin’ out on Curb on January 22. Be advised: talent skipped a generation in this family. Hank III’s disc is not to be confused with the Hank Williams Jr. disc The Almeria Club & Other Select Venues that Curb will be releasing on January 8.

Last year marked the passing of punk legend Joey Ramone, who’d been busy working on a solo album since the split of the indefatigable Ramones. His efforts have been compiled on a disc titled Don’t Worry About Me that’s due early this year on Sanctuary. My bet is the label will time it to coincide with his March 18 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There’s also a Ramones tribute disc in the works at Columbia: so far Rob Zombie, Eddie Vedder, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Offspring, and Rancid have signed on. Another cool major-label project comes by way of Epic and Berklee College of Music: Shekinah is a 12-artist compilation of tracks by women artists from the local music school, including Geoff Muldaur’s daughter Clare and singer/songwriter Kyler.

More good news in the realm of punk rock: Bad Religion’s major-label experiment with Atlantic is over. The veteran SoCal punk band have returned to their rightful home at Epitaph — and better still, original guitarist/songwriter Brett Gurewitz is back on board for the new The Process of Belief, which will hit stores on January 22. Among the few bands who have managed to hold on to major-label deals: Cracker’s Virgin-released Forever is due on January 29; EelsSouljacker comes out on DreamWorks on Marck 12; and Sneaker PimpsBloodsport comes out on Tommyboy on January 22. Those not so lucky (depending upon your point of view) include Luna, whose new one Romantica comes out on Jetset on March 19; Local H, who get help from Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Josh Homme on their new Here Comes the Zoo (due in February on Palm); and Teenage Fanclub, who have a full-length called Howdy! due on January 22 on Thirsty Ear and a collaboration with Jad Fair called Words of Wisdom and Hope due on Alternative Tentacles on the 29th.

Oh, yeah, brace yourselves: Alanis Morissette claims her new Under Rug Swept will be in stores on February 26. And Chemical Brothers have retained both Beth Orton and the Verve’s Richard Ashcroft to supply vocals to their new Come with Us, which is due from Astralwerks on January 29. Apparently, Amy Nelson was already committed to the Supersuckers.

Issue Date: January 3 - 10, 2002

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