Today, we add Mike Ireland to the Show Me Country page, our continuing celebration of Missouri’s rich tradition of country and country-influenced music–classic, alt and otherwise.

I’ve written about Mike here before, have featurd a caricature of his mug as an icon in our Greatest Hits section since day one, and he’s my good friend. In fact, in 1998, I interviewed Mike for a No Depression piece that discusses Mike’s time in Kansas City’s Starkweathers, the break up of that group, his love of artists like Charlie Rich and Ray Price, and the emergence of his solo career. You can read that story, “Starting Over,” right here.

But don’t just take my word for it. While you’re at the press page of Mike’s web site, you can find review after review after review–from the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune, from No Depression, People Weekly, Billboard, Harp, Playboy, Nashville Scene, and many, many more–and pert near every last one of them isn’t just favorable but a flat-out rave.

Produced by former member of Lone Justice, Marvin Etzioni, Learning How to Live came out on Sub Pop in 1998 and is a mix of more or less straight up honky tonk (”Biggest Torch in Town” and “Cold, Cold Comfort” should be covered by George Jones, or at least George Strait, immediately), first-rate twangy roots rock (”Headed for a Fall”), the best new holiday song to come along in I don’t know how long (”Christmas Past”), and thrilling examples of what I like to call neo-countrypolitan, such as the closing “Learning How to Live” and the opening “House of Secrets.”

It’s easy to imagine the lustrous, tentatiive-but-determined title track battling for air time back in the early 70s against, say, Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman.” And “House of Secrets” has a stormy string arrangment and humid acoustic rhythm bed that would’ve fit nicely between “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and “Ode to Billie Jo” during the same period. Really, LHTL is a wonder of an album, with great and regularly self-implicating original songs, smart covers (”Banks of the Ohio” and “Cry”), and Mike’s often jaw-dropping, always emotionally present, vocals. It’s out of print, but you can get used copies at insanely cheap prices among Amazon’s marketplace sellers. (See the album link below.)

It’s easy to imagine “Welcome Back,” the opening track to Mike’s second album, Try Again, on the radio…right now. If anything, I think Try Again is a better album than its predecessor–richer (as in more complex but every bit as catchy) songs, superior sonics, and Mike had become an even more accomplished and striking singer in the intervening years. It’s one of the best album of this century, to these obviously biased ears. But again, no need to take my word for it; it’s liner notes were written by country music’s preeminent historian, Bill C. Malone.

One more thing…both of these are real albums in the old-school sense: They talk to themselves and to the tradition from track to track, add up to an emotional experience that is even more affecting than hearing individual tracks, and they tell a coherent story. In fact, each album can be heard as a chapter–first comes the anger and pain of breaking up, then comes the cautious desire to try again–in a continuing (one hopes) artistic narrative.  

Mike and his band Holler have spent the summer playing an every-second-Saturday gig at Harry’s Country Club here in Kansas City. This coming Saturday night, Sept. 9th at 8 pm, is the last of the season. See you there.

Mike Ireland & Holler “House of Secrets” from the out-of-print Learning How to Live (Sub Pop, 1998)

Mike Ireland & Holler “Welcome Back” from Try Again (Ashmont, 2002)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 at 9:43 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.