The Pine Valley Cosmonauts

Yet another task offering an outlet for the skills of eternally occupied designer and musician Jon Langford (most widely known for his use the Mekons as well as the Waco Brothers), the Pine Valley Cosmonauts were conceived by Langford as a car for performing music compiled by others, having a regular membership that grows and shifts using the needs of every project, frequently featuring the cream from the Chicago alt-country and indie rock and roll community. Langford originally coined the name in 1996 to credit his support music group on Misery Loves Business: Tracks of Johnny Money, which because the name suggests was a assortment of addresses of tunes produced famous by the person in Dark; drummer Steven Goulding and bassist Tom Ray had been the tempo section, while Langford protected acoustic guitar and vocals and Tom Grain pitched in on acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin. The recording was originally released just in Germany, though a restricted American release was released by Bloodshot in 1998. An extended version from the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, having a horn section and an abundance of visitor vocalists (including Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Alejandro Escovedo, Robbie Fulks, and Neko Case) convened in 1998 to record The Pine Valley Cosmonauts Salute the Majesty of Bob Wills, an homage towards the music from the Tx master of Traditional western swing; Wills’ girl Rosetta Wills praised the recording as “the very best tribute to my father’s music I’ve have you ever heard.” Langford’s musical passions and outspoken politics ideals found a gathering place (because they frequently perform) in his following Pine Valley Cosmonauts project, 2002’s The Executioner’s Last Tracks, a assortment of tracks about death offering another stellar lineup of guest vocalists, including Steve Earle, Rosie Flores, Edith Frost, and Janet Bean; arises from the sale from the recording benefited the Illinois Coalition Contrary to the Loss of life Penalty. Reaction to The Executioner’s Last Music was strong more than enough that Langford and firm released The Executioner’s Last Music, Vol. 2 & 3 in 2003, which helped increase funds for both Illinois Coalition Contrary to the Loss of life Penalty as well as the Country wide Coalition to Abolish the Loss of life Charges, and included performances from Otis Clay, Tag Eitzel, Dave Alvin, David Yow, and so many more. The PVC also performed a small number of live schedules to aid the album’s discharge, although provided the band’s wide lineup and penchant for visitor superstars, it generally just does “special event” performances, mainly within the Chicago area.