L to R: Buddy Miller, Matraca Berg, Jeff Hanna, Jim Lauderdale

Longtime friends and collaborators Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale co-host a two-hour weekly Americana journey originating from Miller’s home studio in Nashville, TN, and featuring exclusive interviews and performances from American roots artists each week.

The show will rebroadcast Sunday 10 am ET, Monday 2 am & 2 pm ET, Wednesday 12 am & 10 pm ET

Matraca’s song, “Back When We Were Beautiful,” is track #9 on this album.  To see the full track listing, click HERE.

To pre-order Old Yellow Moon, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include a print of Harris and Crowell autographed by the artists.

Matraca Berg

(Proper/Planet)

★★★★

WHEN Matraca Berg’s The Dreaming Fields came out in 2011, some 14 years after her previous solo album but well into her career as a much-covered songwriter in the country-Americana world, I found myself swept up in the quality of these songs, the depth of the storytelling and the completely beguiling voice – an impression reinforced on Love’s Truck Stop.

Berg’s sombre and elegant songs don’t traffic in either platitudes or false optimism: there’s a lot of sadness and pain, often physical but more damagingly in the hearts and souls, which can’t be erased with a prayer, a drink or, well, a country song. And there’s anger, too. But her characters struggle and push against the inevitable, not because they think they can change the world but because the world doesn’t have to change them.

While Berg’s voice hints at a turn to something dramatic and maybe overdone, it never happens and there is no wasted effort, no musical fat in songs that seem to have made no moves to enter your life but somehow have taken up residence within a few spins of the album.

If you want a final seal of confidence, Emmylou Harris duets with Berg on the heartbreaking Magdalene. That’s good enough for me.

BERNARD ZUEL

So we finished dinner and went back to Rodney’s studio to listen to the upcoming duet record he and EmmyLou just completed. It was some of the best real country music I’ve heard in ages. Then they paused, and played “Back When We Were Beautiful.” I tried hard not to cry ugly.  All the awards, the Hall of Fame, all the wonderful things I still can’t believe happened to me… this was something else. I was in that room with friends.  People I love.  I know.  My heroes.  And they recorded my song…and Guy Clark was listening.   Then Guy pulled out his new record, which is the best I’ve heard him in years. We all danced to his Texas Cornmeal Waltz song. It was pure joy. Guy is still amazing and still surprising me.

I thank God above right now for my blessings. You can’t make this shit up.

On Wednesday, December 12, 2012 two of Nashville’s leading singer/songwriters and Southern personalities Matraca Berg (Dixie Chicks, Faith HIll) and Marshall Chapman (Jimmy Buffett, Wynonna) take the stage with gal pals and prominent Southern authors Lee Smith (The Last Girls) and Jill McCorkle (Going Away Shoes). This spirited set of writers has “redefined the modern Southern woman in ‘Good Ol’ Girls,’ a Broadway musical about love, loss and laughter, celebrating childhood through old age with big hair and bigger hearts.”* The concert benefits the Center for Contemplative Justice, founded by leading community activist and fellow Nashville good ol’ girl Becca Stevens. Stevens is the founder of Magdalene/Thistle Farms, author of eight books and has been named “Nashvillian of the Year” and “Tennessean of the Year” by the Nashville Scene and The Tennessean respectively. Most recently, the White House named her one of 15 “Champions of Change.”

The mission of the Center for Contemplative Justice, Inc. (CCJ) is to foster acts of corporate justice arising from contemplation. The CCJ oversees and supports a program in San Eduardo, Ecuador that includes a school with 80 students and a medical clinic. Each year, a group travels to meet with the community, school faculty and holds a medical clinic that serves more than 900 people annually. The CCJ also works with Vanderbilt University to support Holy Cross Hospice in Botswana, which cares for patients suffering from AIDS and HIV infection. When asked why the “Good Ol’ Girls” creators agreed to support this specific cause, Marshall Chapman responded to Chapter 16, “How can you turn down something called The Center for Contemplative Justice? It just sounds like something the world needs right now. And when we found out Becca Stevens was involved, well, that pretty much sealed the deal.” “Good Ol’ Girls” – An Evening of Story & Song with Matraca Berg, Marshall Chapman, Jill McCorkle and Lee Smith will be held at the Belcourt Theatre at 2102 Belcourt Ave., Nashville, TN 37212. Showtime is 7:00pm and the doors will open at 6:00pm. All proceeds from the show will benefit the Center for Contemplative Justice. General Admission tickets are $35 each and Patron Tickets (preferred seating and special gift bag) are $100 each.

For more information about purchasing tickets, visit www.belcourt.org or stop by St. Augustine’s Episcopal Chapel on the Vanderbilt campus at 200 24th Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37212. 615.322.4783

For more information about the Center for Contemplative Justice:  www.staugustineschapel.org/ministries/centerfor-contemplative-justice

* Quoted from goodolgirls.com