Last week was a rotten one for the literary world: James Frey's bad-boy memoir A Million Little Pieces turned out to have more embellishments than a drag queen brandishing a sequin applicator, and J. T. Leroy may be some washed-up SF rockers, rather than a transgendered individual with AIDS. Thank heavens there are still individuals in the music world who realize that you can make great art while openly masquerading as an outlaw, rather than lying to the public.
If Michael Dean Damron has a rap sheet, it's probably for civil disobedience; the frontman for Portland rockers I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House has never shied away from politics. On his new solo album, A Perfect Day for a Funeral, Damron includes an especially haunting number, "Spit," concerning the 1998 murder of his friend, African-American antiracism activist Lin "Spit" Newborn. Elsewhere, he wraps his rusty baritone around "Blame It on the Whiskey," a frazzled before-and-after ditty about drugs and booze-fueled misadventures, and the rough-hewn blues rocker "Miss Amphetamine." John Mellencamp wishes he sounded as gritty as this character. Check him out Thursday, January 19, at the Sunset Tavern.
Merle Haggard did time in San Quentin, and has written and recorded a slew of great songs about life on the wrong side of the tracks: "Mama Tried," "Branded Man," "The Fugitive." Yet the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has never been too impressed; to date, the hugely influential country maverick has only won two measly Grammy awards (one in 1984, another in 1998). Fortunately, they finally wised up to the oversight, and on February 7—the day before the big awards show—Merle will be honored with a 2006 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Other Lifetime recipients this year include blues great Robert Johnson and folkies the Weavers, while legendary producer Owen Bradley (Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn) will get the Grammy Trustees Award.
Closer to home, the executive director of the Pacific Northwest branch of the Recording Academy, Ben London, has a new band called the Burning Rivers. In addition to members of London's previous outfit, Sanford Arms, the group also includes guitarist Joshua Medaris of the sorely missed Citizens' Utilities, prompting London—who rode out the grunge years with the trio Alcohol Funnycar—to jokingly refer to his new crew as "a footnote to flannel." Kidding aside, we look forward to hearing new music from these two stellar songwriters.
Producer Tucker Martine is too cuddly to be a bad guy, but he has been hiding out in his basement (AKA Flora Studios) laying down songs for the next record by country-folk ensemble Transmissionary Six, which features veterans from the Walkabouts and Willard Grant Conspiracy. The as-yet-untitled disc, out this summer on Film Guerrero, features studio versions of several cuts featured on their recent live album 05.21.05, including "Infrared" and "The Broker." Can't wait? The band promises to preview more new tunes when they play a free, all-ages show at Georgetown Records this Saturday, January 21 at 7:00 p.m. 
