Ronny Elliott applauded in No Depression
January 30th, 2008 by Wade Tatangelo in News
Since launching his solo career (with backing by The Nationals) a decade ago, Tampa’s Ronny Elliott has garnered glowing reviews from across the globe in publications like Billboard and Rolling Stone Germany. His 2005 release Valentine Roadkill landed in venerable British music mag Mojo’s Top 10 Americana albums of the year. The publication also profiled Elliott, noting that his “story-telling songs are as brutally honest as his attitude to his career is cavalier.”
Elliott released Jalopypaint last month and I four-starred it here in the Jan. 9 issue of Creative Loafing. Other publications have also taken notice. The album ranked No. 16 No. 5 in the year-end tally of No Depression contributing editor Joe Nick Patoski — but was removed from didn’t make the final list, probably since the disc officially came out in 2008. Or maybe No Depression founders Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock made an executive decision to ax the selection based on their past experiences with Elliott.
UPDATED Jan. 31: See Blackstock’s comment posted below.
The most widely read mag devoted to alt-country (full disclosure: I’ve written for them), its editors were famously embarrassed several years ago by Elliott’s song “South by So What.” A send-up of the annual South By Southwest music conference held in Austin, Texas, it includes the zinger: “Those jerks from No Depression are an arrogant bunch.” Elliott wrote the lyric following an unpleasant meeting with Alden and Blackstock in Austin. Robbie Fulks called it the “singularly most suicidal line” he had heard, reported Mojo.
Elliott performs Saturday at Dave’s Aqua Lounge in St. Petersburg as part of One For the Road 3. The concert will raise funds for local artists like Elliott scheduled to perform in March at Florida Bandango, a showcase organized by WMNF music director Flee that takes place in Austin the afternoon before the official start of SXSW. Chances are, Alden and Blackstock are on the guest list. An alcohol-fueled confrontation between No Depression’s editors and Elliott would be priceless.
In related news, a review of Jalopypaint ran last week in the Santa Fe New Mexican:
Here’s another ace album by one of the free world’s most unjustly overlooked songwriters. As usual, this Tampa, Florida, roots-rocker fills the disc with wonderful story songs dealing with his heroes, a few villains, and objects of his lust. There’s lots of history, a little politics, and plenty of brooding about his life and career.
Click here (and scroll down) to read the rest of the review.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:08 am
Regarding:
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Elliott released Jalopypaint last month and I four-starred it here in the Jan. 9 issue of Creative Loafing. Other publications have also taken notice. The album ranked No. 16 in the year-end tally of No Depression contributing editor Joe Nick Patoski — but was removed from the final list, probably since the disc officially came out in 2008. Or maybe No Depression founders Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock made an executive decision to ax the selection based on their past experiences with Elliott.
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Or maybe the writer of this article needs to correct his text, because he is completely wrong in his reporting when he says Jalopypaint “was removed from the final list”. Nothing was “removed” from anything whatsoever.
Apparently the writer is unfamiliar with the concept of a poll, in which it takes a certain amount of votes to rank high enough to make the “final list” (in this case, the published Top 50 that appeared in our Jan.-Feb. issue). Patoski was the sole writer among the 44 voters in our poll who listed Jalopypaint on his ballot. (By the way, Patoski ranked Jalopypaint #5 on his ballot, not #16; the “16″ was the number of points awarded for that ranking, based on the 20-19-18-etc. point-system explained at the top of the webpage that was linked above.)
The #50 record in our Top 50 received a total of 41 points from 3 voters who listed it on their ballots. Clearly Jalopyland, with 16 points from 1 voter, was far short of making the list. It was not “removed,” it simply didn’t get enough votes/points to place in the published list.
Nothing wrong with that, as I expect Jalopypaint was good work, something Mr. Elliott has repeatedly proven himself capable of (which is why we’ve reviewed two of his records and also run a short profile on him over the years). It didn’t make our overall Top 50, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t deserving of attention — which is one reason we publish our voters’ individual ballots online, so that records which may not have gained enough consensus in our poll still get a little notice.
(By the way, I also find no evidence that Jalopypaint came out in 2008; at least on Amazon.com it’s listed as a Nov. 13, 2007, release.)
January 31st, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Peter:
Thanks for the clarification on “the concept of a poll.”
When Elliott handed me a freshly minted copy of Jalopypaint in November he asked that I hold my review until the album’s official release date in January.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:53 am
Jez, forget the No Depression geeks/shitbags/etc. (whatever you want to call them) – what we have here is not a failure to communicate, but a GREAT CD entitled Jalopypaint along with many other by Ronny.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I may be bloodied but unbowed. Jalopypaint rocks and so does Ronny Elliot. His version of “Your Cheating Heart” in all minor keys is colder than cool.
And no matter what y’all think of Peter and Grant and No Depression, I thank them for giving me a place to write.