Hank Jr.’s Rowdy Friends Tour; The House Honors Lester Flatt; New Releases

Patty Griffin is an amazingly athletic singer and her fans will love her attempt to get next to God on “Downtown Church,” recorded at a Presbyterian one in Nashville. But there’s no growl in the gal. Praising a higher power who can’t get the electricity turned back on takes an innate quiver or twist that, like Lady Soul, Griffin just doesn’t have. Don’t know why she thought she could bring something fresh to “If I Had My Way” and “Wade In the Water.” When the Staple Singers did those songs in the ’60s, they were done. Produced by Buddy Miller as if he has too many albums and loves them all, “Downtown Church” is often divinely stirring but lacks a deep spiritual core.

Be sure to watch tonight at 7 Central as Livestream broadcasts a few live performances from Griffin.

New releases for the week of January 26, 2009 include:

• I See Hawks in L.A. – Shoulda Been Gold
  Amazon | Collector’s Choice Music | MySpace

• Kara Suzanne – Parlor Walls
  Bandcamp | MySpace

• Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
  Amazon | iTunes | MySpace

• Patty Griffin – Downtown Church
  Amazon | iTunes | MySpace

• The Only Classic Country Collection You’ll Ever Need
  Amazon | Shout! Factory

• Vince Gill – Love Songs
  Amazon ($5.99) | iTunes | MySpace

“The beauty of the Joint is that not only is it a great rock and roll room, but they’ll let us get up there and play … and play … and play.”

It’s tempting to fight cynicism with cynicism, to assume nothing good can come of the major label system and stop paying attention to it altogether. [...]

But there’s plenty of good music in Nashville, and there’s even good major label music being made by people not named Jamey or Miranda. As with anything, you just have to keep wading around long enough to find it. So, that’s what I’ll keep doing here. I can’t very easily change my tastes, and I won’t pretend to like stuff I don’t, but I can watch the show and give my own take on what’s interesting about it, in ways both good and bad.

“Music can’t be Prozac,” he says. “You can’t just sing somebody into bein’ in a good mood on the way to work. It ain’t gonna happen. I’m not sayin’ a guy that’s in a good mood don’t deserve his song, too. But what about the couple that’s goin’ through hell, and nobody knows that they have to put on a front when they’re out in public and smile and look like everything’s cool, and then they get home and throw dishes at each other ‘til they go to sleep? What about those guys? They need to be fed, too. Just to know that they’re not alone sometimes just makes ‘em a little more calm about it. You just lay back a little bit — ‘I’m not crazy. Somebody else is doin’ it, too.’”