The Great Western Hangover
WORKING MY WAY DOWN
“Working My Way Down” features eleven songs from Johnny Irion, Mike Stinson and their late friend and collaborator Andy Jones. The songs were written by the trio in LA in the ’90s and were recorded to analog tape on a STUDER tape machine in May of 2021. Listen to Working My Way Down, twenty five years in the making and well worth the wait.
INSIDE THE ENDLESS OM
“Inside the Endless Om” is a tribute to Ravi Shankar written by Johnny Irion and John Goodwin in celebration of his centennial. The song was recorded in quarantine with an amazing group of artists including Johnny Irion, Jeff Bridges, and members of Wilco, Stone Temple Pilots, and Dawes.
BAND TOGETHER
The Whiskey Treaty Roadshow went into the Stationery Factory in Western Massachusetts to record Band Together with a stellar cast of musicians including folk legend Arlo Guthrie and a rhythm section of Wilco’s Pat Sansone and Black Crowes co-founder Steve Gorman.
COMMON LAW
Common Law is the seventh release from singer-songwriter and bonafide troubadour Tom Vandenavond. Described as “part John Prine and a bit of Mark Twain,” Tom has carved his niche through his raw tellings of the American Experience.
IN MY BLOOD / CASINO
A new 7″ picture disc from the Grammy-winning O’Connor Band, featuring iconic fiddler Mark O’Connor. This high quality picture disc single features “In My Blood” on side A and “Casino” on side B. The record showcases the band’s Americana roots, and incredible musicianship.
DAMN GOOD DOG
Damn Good Dog is a collaborative effort from songwriter Willy Tea Taylor and The River Arkansas. Recorded live in one day at Tiny Telephone Studios in San Francisco California, Damn Good Dog captures the raw vitality of spontaneous musical arrangement and delivers dynamic and powerful performances of original heartfelt songs, including the only known recording of Willy’s “To Sam,” an ode to the great Sam Shepard.
DRIVING FRIEND
Johnny Irion’s most recent studio release, “Driving Friend”, features members of Dawes, Wilco and the Mother Hips and ranges across a wide expanse of roots genres, from blues and gospel to folk and country. Everything about it feels authentically crafted, a carving out of raw, lived American experience that goes to the heart of the Blackwing ethos. Johnny’s sharp wit, telling description and brief character studies take us to a musical hometown of his own, quite a feat for a rocker whose last record with his band US Elevator was hailed by Rolling Stone as being as “lovingly handcrafted as the jeans on the back of After The Gold Rush.”
KNUCKLEBALL PRIME
Knuckleball Prime features eleven original compositions that highlight Willy’s brilliant storytelling and heartfelt vocals. Produced by Michael Witcher, Willy’s songs are brought to life by an incredible lineup of accomplished players, including Gabe Witcher (Punch Brothers) on fiddle, Noam Pikelny (Punch Brothers) on banjo, Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek) bg vocals and Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) who plays piano on the title track.
SHOP RELEASES
Driving Friend Vinyl
Driving Friend T-Shirt
Knuckleball Prime Vinyl
ABOUT BLACKWING MUSIC
The Blackwing 602 pencil was the pencil of choice for many Grammy, Emmy, Pulitzer and Academy Award winners throughout the 20th century. In 1998, after several corporate acquisitions, it was discontinued, but not forgotten. In fact, fans began paying as much as $40 for a single out of print Blackwing pencil.
We acquired the brand and used 100+ years of family experience in the pencil industry bring back Blackwing pencils in 2010. Since then, Blackwing has grown from a single pencil into a culture that encourages and empowers creativity in all forms. Blackwing Music was launched as an independent music collective to support and spotlight emerging songwriters in the folk, roots and Americana genres through intimate live performances and studio recordings.
As with all Blackwing products, a portion of every album sold goes to the Blackwing Foundation which funds music and arts education in public schools.