Buried deep behind the full-color Beowulf spreads in the Arts and Entertainment section of yesterday’s New York Times was an article on Cross Canadian Ragweed, the red-dirt alt-country country-rock (etc.-etc.) band originally out of Stillwater, Oklahoma. Lines that describe “a concert that was beginning to feel like Porky’s with a rootsier soundtrack” won’t do much to convert the unconvinced, but the article it does get one thing right: Ragweed is a band best appreciated live. (Though their newest album made a more-than-respectable debut at #6 on the Billboard country charts.)

Check here for details on Mission California, their latest album, and here for photos of their show at Joe’s in Chicago last winter.

Mission California, the new album from Cross Canadian Ragweed, debuted at #6 on last week’s Billboard Top Country chart and #30 on the Top 200 chart. Buy the album at Amazon or check out the first single off the album, “I Believe You” (written by Todd Snider), on iTunes.

My photos from the band’s show in Chicago last January are available here.

Mission California, the new album from Cross Canadian Ragweed, is out today. The first single off the album, “I Believe You” (cowritten by Todd Snider), is also available on iTunes.

My photos from the band’s show in Chicago last January are available here.

Photos from the Stoney LaRue concert at Joe’s in Chicago last Thursday now have a home.

“As a surrealist, I quite enjoy having dementia.”

Obituary at the New York Times. (Photo by Peter Jordan.)

As promised, some photos from the Mother Hips show at LaSalle’s in Chico on Friday night. Apologies for the crummy quality; my tiny Lumix camera is scared of the dark.