Palo Duro Records

Channel 19-The Hoss Radio list Eleven Hundred Springs- “Country Jam” in the top 10 for Best Country Albums of 2008. For the complete list click here.

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The 9513’s 1st Annual Country Music Awards list Eleven Hundred Springs as a Nominee for Country Artist of the Year, Texas Artist of the Year, Group of the Year and Best Album Cover of the Year.

Between the CMAs, the ACMs, the Americana Music Association Awards, the International Bluegrass Music Association awards and the Folk Alliance Awards, there’s a lot of hardware being handed out to honor the best music from across the spectrum of musical styles which makes up what we here at The 9513 call country.

But none of the above bring all of those various styles together, under one big “country music” tent where they belong. That’s where we come in.

The CMAs and the ACMs are radio-based awards that honor only mainstream country, while the others exclude quality mainstream music and even quality traditional and neotraditional country.

We cover country music in all of its forms, so it only makes sense that we’ve designed awards that allow the best music from all corners of country to be honored side by side.  For the complete article, click here.

Nominees:

Country Artist of the Year:
Hayes Carll
Eleven Hundred Springs
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
Patty Loveless
Willie Nelson

Texas Artist of the Year:
Jason Boland
Hayes Carll
Eleven Hundred Springs
Reckless Kelly
Bruce Robison

Group of the Year:
Dailey & Vincent
Eleven Hundred Springs
Joey + Rory
Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson
Old Crow Medicine Show

Best Album Cover:
Bulletproof, Reckless Kelly
Burn Your Playhouse Down, George Jones
Country Jam, Eleven Hundred Springs
Meet Glen Campbell, Glen Campbell
Trouble in Mind, Hayes Carll

To vote, click here.

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The Americana Music Association released its list of the Top 100 Albums of 2008, and Palo Duro Records is  proud to have several artists in the lineup. Congratulations to these fantastic artists!

• Eleven Hundred Springs, “Country Jam”
• Darryl Lee Rush, “Live From The River Road Icehouse”
• Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros, “Diamonds In The Sun”- (This album is making its 2nd appearance in the Top 100 albums.  It was a top 100 album in 2007)

For the complete list, click here.

To purchase your copy today, click here.

To purchase your copy today, click here.

To purchase your copy today, click here.

Texas Music Chart list Eleven Hundred Springs “Every Time I Get Close to You” in the top 20 of the Top 50 Songs of 2008.

For complete list click here!

For those who are as of yet unfamiliar, Eleven Hundred Springs is quite possibly, the finest country music band in the game today and their latest album, Country Jam, finds them operating expertly within a wide variety of country music styles–from honky tonk shuffles, to Waylon-esque Texas country rock, to Rockabilly and more–while always sounding both distinct and original.

The first single from the record, “Every Time I Get Close To You,” compares favorably to songs like Rodney Crowell’s “Ain’t Living Long Like This.” It’s an incredibly engaging number that will perennially satisfy honky tonk crowds as a part of any country band’s live set; its hook is simple, as is its idea, its riff and melody are catchy and its groove is a perfect one to dance the night away.  For more reviews by The 9513, click here.

Check out the music here.

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The 9513 list Eleven Hundred Springs “Texas Afternoon” in the top 50 of the Best Country Songs of 2008.

Ladies and gentlemen, after weeks of mulling over nearly every country album released last year, we’re proud to present The 9513’s Best Country Songs of 2008.

To be eligible, a song may not have appeared on 2007’s Top 50 list, and all significant covers have been excluded. Also, please note that a song need not be released as a single in order to be eligible (album cuts are allowed). Our final list was compiled based on the votes of The 9513’s editors and writers, who each submitted their Top 75.

27. “Texas Afternoon ” - Eleven Hundred Springs

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One of the tightest bands in all of country music, and definitely one of the most talented, it’s a shame to see The Derailers making hardly any inroads on the charts despite over a decade of some of the finest Bakersfield country since Buck Owens and his Buckaroos ruled the roost. It only proves what real country fans have known for years: real country is not appreciated on country radio or in Nashville. Sure, they’ll trot out some old legend when he’s near death or when a sympathetic story is called for, but when they’re doing fine physically and there’s no need for a story let one of them release a record and it’s nothing but crickets from the powers that be.

If you were a follower of the band in the late ’90’s when they were having their albums released by Sire Records, there has been a major change within the group. Tony Villanueva, their former singer, is no longer with the band and is now a preacher in the Northwest US somewhere. At first, I mourned the loss of Villanueva, as he seemed to really understand what country music was about and was a great singer and songwriter to boot. With Villanueva gone, it was up to guitarist/songwriter/sometime singer Brian Hofeldt to decide whether the band should keep going. Thank God, he decided to keep the Derailers on the rails! Now on his third album as leader of the band, The Derailers are as strong as ever and if you listened to the Sire albums and this one, there would be few differences other than the sound of the singer’s voice. And while the sameness might be a turnoff to some, great country music is real simple stuff, though don’t confuse ’simple’ with ‘easy’. With the limited palette of country music (especially when you narrow it down even further to a traditional Bakersfield sound, say) it takes real talent to come up with something fresh, but these guys have managed to do it every album. It could be Hofeldt’s love of Mersey pop, as little Beatles touches pop up on every Derailers record since Hofeldt has taken over. It’s funny, because The Beatles covered Buck Owens’ songs on their first albums so it’s come full circle in a way. Like the album title suggests, this great hard-country CD by the best country band in the business today is guaranteed to satisfy your musical desires.  Read review here

Review by Scott Homewood

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Twang Nation list Eleven Hundred Springs “Country Jam” as the Best Country Album for 2008.

1) Eleven Hundred Springs - “Country Jam” (Palo Duro Records) - If you want a crash course in the best Texas country music over the last half-century the 2008 release from Dallas’ ESL would be a great place to start. From the hillbilly poetry of Mickey Newbury and Joe Ely to the Western Swing of Bob Wills to the pop and rock of  Doug Sahm and Buddy Holly all the influences are there.  And though the sounds are reflective of the Texas greats  ESL makes it distinctly their own on this superior homage to the Lone Star State.

2) Justin Townes Earle - “The Good Life”  (Bloodshot)
3) O’Death -  “Broken Hymns, Limbs and Skin” (Kemado)
4) Felice Brothers (Team Love)

For the complete list click here!

Check out the Music on www.myspace.com/elevenhundredsprings

To Purchase your copy today,  “Country Jam” Click here.

 2008 marks the 10 year anniversary for Dallas band 1100 springs.  That’s about 110 springs per year!  The band has recently released their latest cd, Country Jam, produced by Lloyd Maines, whose name is popping up everywhere as producer and player. The band is constantly working on its material live.  Last year included opening shows for ZZ Top and Willie Nelson, among others.  The band plays what they call a Texas brand of honky-tonk country.  Whatever it is, it’s fun. The band consists of Matt Hillyer-electric guitar and vocals; Steven F. Berg-bass; Danny Crelin- pedal steel guitar; Jordan W. Hendrix-fiddle; and Mark Reznicek on drums.  Lloyd Maines adds acoustic guitar and banjo as one of a number of guests on the disc.

The bands laid back fun style is demonstrated right out of the gate with “Texas Afternoon;” one guy’s bid to get the girl to run away with him for a Texas Afternoon.  Some nice accordion gives the tune a Tex/Mex spicing. The band picks it up for several faster tunes, including “Every Time I Get Close To You” and a great cover of “Rocket 88,” which adds some great sax and closes out the disc with a bang.

Sometimes bands try to slow things down and you wait impatiently for the next cut to start.  Not the case here. The bands slower numbers truly add to the disc here, highlighting the expressive voice of Matt Hillyer.  An especially nice slower number is “Nobody Told You About The Love.” The band pays homage to old time country with the classic sounding “Whose Heart Are You Breaking Tonight?” Great songs, great singing and playing and great production add up to a real winner!

by Don Zelazny

20th Annual Dallas Observer Music Awards

BEST BAND: Eleven Hundred Springs
BEST ALBUM: Eleven Hundred Springs, Country Jam
BEST COUNTRY/ROOTS ACT: Eleven Hundred Springs
BEST MALE VOCALIST: Matt Hillyer, Eleven Hundred Springs

By, Pete Freedman, Dallas Observer

To Listen… To Buy

To the 13 acts and artists that had the misfortune of being nominated into the same categories as Eleven Hundred Springs: Sorry. This was just Eleven Hundred Springs’ year. No hard feelings?

Armed with a pure sound, a widespread appeal, a deserved respect and throngs of loyal fans, the band won every single award it was nominated for—even tangentially. Bass player Steven F. Berg also won the Best DJ award for his work under the DJ Burlap moniker, and past Eleven Hundred Springs collaborators The Tejas Brothers too managed a tie in the Best New Act category.

So, yeah. Pull weight much?

With Country Jam to hang their hat on, though, this isn’t a surprise. Now, a few months after its release to critical acclaim, the disc’s still earning heavy rotation on KZPS-FM Lone Star 92.5, proving what so many around town have known for so long: When it comes to classic country music—the good stuff, as in: country done right, country done well, country done fun (and not cheesy, for crying out loud)—Eleven Hundred Springs is the cream of the crop, local or otherwise.

And Berg, frontman Matt Hillyer, pedal steel player Danny Crelin, fiddler Jordan W. Hendrix and drummer Mark Reznicek all seem astonishingly humble about it, just happy to be playing music for their ever-loyal fans, which they do constantly.

“There’s an old adage that says you’re only as good as your last show,” says Hillyer, who also takes home this year’s award for Best Male Vocalist, “and we play a lot of shows. I try not to look forward or back.”

Thing is: Looking back is exactly what Eleven Hundred Springs’ sound inspires. There’s an honesty to it all, a realness that inspires instant nostalgia, a genuine quality that transports its listeners into a slower, easier, gentler time and a place where the moonshine is served by the bucketful and everybody line-dances like a pro.

“People respond to country music because there’s a lot of truth to it,” Hillyer says. “And it’s simple too, one of the genres of music where you don’t have to be angry all the time.”

So does this signal a return to form for a genre that’s seen better days? You bet, says Hillyer. “Country music never went away. It’s just that it makes people feel good, and right now, people seem to appreciate that.”

As far as Eleven Hundred Springs’ abilities to elicit such a response, Hillyer credits the band’s latest lineup: “We all have our heads in the same place, and we’re in it to win it,” he says, laughing, “as cheesy as it sounds.”

Cheesy? Sure.

Accurate? Best Band, Best Album, Best Country/Roots Act and Best Male Vocalist resoundingly reply “yes.”

More…

Since its last album, Bandwagon (which I reviewed in this space on 18 November 2006), the Dallas-based Eleven Hundred Springs has shed three of its five members, leaving singer/electric-guitarist/songwriter Matt Hillyer and bassist Steve Berg to carry on with three replacements. The reliable, hard-working producer Lloyd Maines (who seems to have his hand in nearly every worthwhile indie country album released these days) is at the helm, itself a virtual seal of quality.

Maines is also among those filling out the sound (on acoustic guitar and banjo), along with Tim Alexander on keyboards and conjunto-accented accordion (misspelled “accordian” in the credits). Underrated country singer Heather Myles, who has released CDs on HighTone and Rounder but not recently, returns from silence to engage in some satisfying duet singing with Hillyer on his “I’ll Be Here for You,” sounding something like George Jones and Tammy Wynette in their prime.

Speaking of Jones, one of the two non-originals, “Don’t Stop the Music,” is an obscure gem from the pen of that immortal master. Hillyer delivers it with the properly earnest intensity. Jordan Hendrix’s fiddle and Danny Crelin’s pedal steel ensure that no one will doubt the action is playing out in a lowdown, blue-collar bar where emotions, sweet or bitter, tend toward the raw.

You don’t have to scrutinize the photographic evidence to discern that Eleven Hundred Springs is an assembly of mostly young guys. Clearly, though, they’ve been around long enough, touring the Texas circuit that Chris Thomas’s Palo Duro label so ably documents in its recordings, to know precisely what they’re doing. They’ve absorbed influences from hard-core honkytonk, rockabilly, hillbilly boogie and even (though less pronounced now than heretofore) California country-rock. The band’s mission is not to reinvent anything or to push any envelopes. It’s simply to carry forward an honorable tradition of Southwestern Saturday-night good-time music.

Though there’s no shortage of honkytonk preserved on record, at its core it’s performance entertainment meant to be experienced live in the natural habitat of bar and dance hall. It doesn’t always translate successfully to disc. I’ll bet Eleven Hundred Springs knocks ‘em out on stage. But the CD Country Jam also works on its own genially unpretentious terms, assisted in no small part by Hillyer’s solid songwriting and Maines’s assured studio presence.

Written by Jerome Clark�
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