Old Crow Medicine Show recently announced that the great Critter Fuqua (farthest to the left), one of the founding members of the group and writer of Old Crow classics like “Take ‘em Away” and “James River Blues”, is returning to the band after a few years break. The announcement, however, also included the news that Willie Watson will make his exit from the band (2nd from the left). The official statement reads:  “Old Crow Medicine Show have decided to part ways with Willie Watson. They wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Click here to view the embedded video.Old Crow Medicine Show- Wagon Wheel

It’s a very bittersweet day for Old Crow fans, but we wish Willie the best of luck and can’t wait to see what he does next. As for Old Crow Medicine Show, the band has recorded a new record that is set to be released this year via ATO Records. We’ll give you the details as we get them. Now for old times sake, here’s Critter, Willie and the band with “Wagon Wheel”.

Please take a moment to watch this video and then sign this petition (sponsored by Google, so you know it’s legit). Thanks.

The Coachella 2012 lineup has been announced, and despite some relatively heavy hitters on Saturday, the festival is surprisingly light on folk and country-tinged acts. Coachella usually boasts at least a handful of When You Awake-approved bands thrown onto each day, but this year, two days are looking rather sparse. Regardless of our disappointment due to a lack of rootsy-love, here are our picks for the festival, which for the first time, will be head over the course of two weekends on April 13-15 and April 20-22:

Friday: The Black Keys and Dawes
Saturday: The Shins, St. Vincent, The Head and the Heart, Laura Marling and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Sunday: Beirut, First Aid Kit and Lissie

In other news, Coachella’s country cousin, Stagecoach, has officially sold out. Lineup for that is after the jump.

As we bid farewell to 2011, we say hello to year-end best of lists. We’ve asked our contributors to list their top 5 favorite albums released in 2011, as well as their top 5 albums that they “discovered”, “rediscovered” or “came to fully appreciate” this year. What were your favorite releases of the year? Did we miss anything good? Let us know in the comments after the jump.

Top 5 New Albums of 2011:

Jody:
Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
Middle Brother- Middle Brother
Michael Kiwanuka- I’m Getting Ready EP
Nathaniel Rateliff- In Memory of Loss
Civil Wars- Barton Hollow

Bryan:
Hayes Carll – KMAG YOYO (& other American stories)
Jesse Sykes & The Hereafter – Marble Son
Josh T. Pearson – Last of the Country Gentlemen
Old Californio – Sundrunk Angels
Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit

Tim:
Frank Fairfield- Out On The Open West
Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Fleet Foxes- Helplessness Blues
Gillian Welch- Harvest and the Harrow
Pokey LaFarge and The South City Three- Middle of Everywhere

TAB:
Portugal. The Man – In the Mountain and the Cloud
Dawes – Nothing Is Wrong
Middle Brother – Middle Brother
Jonny Corndawg – Down on the Bikini Line
My Morning Jacket – Circuital

Kandia:
Josh T. Pearson- Last of the Country Gentlemen
Alana Amram & the Rough Gems- Snow Shadows: Songs of Vince Martin
Kentucky HeadHunters- Dixie Lullabies
Jonathan Wilson- Gentle Spirit /
The White Buffalo- The Lost & Found EP

Stian:
The Decemberists – The King is Dead
Dawes – Nothing is Wrong
Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit
Bright Eyes – The People’s Key
Wilco – The Whole Love

Nick:
Sunny Sweeney – Concrete
The Pistol Annie’s – Hell on Heels
Johnny Corndawg – Down On The Bikini Line
Glen Campbell – Ghost On The Canvas
Dale Watson – The Sun Sessions

Honorable Mentions:
Civil Wars- Barton Hollow
Robert Ellis- Photographs (New West)
Bonnie ‘Prince” Billy – Wolfroy Goes To Town
Megafaun- S/T
Fruit Bats-Tripper

Top 5 Albums That We “Discovered”, “Rediscovered” or “Came To Fully Appreciate” In 2011:

Jody:
Tom T. Hall- Songs of Fox Hollow
John Prine- Bruised Orange
Old Crow Medicine Show- O.C.M.S.
Nina Simone- At the Village Gate
Dr. Feelgood- Down by the Jetty

Bryan:
Barry Goldberg’s self-titled Atco album (1973), produced by Bob Dylan and Jerry Wexler
Ruthann Friedman – Constant Companion (1968) (and Hurried Life, her collection of previously unreleased demos, home recordings, and lost songs circa 1965-1970)
Wheedle’s Groove – Seattle’s Finest in Funk & Soul, 1965-1975 (Light In The Attic reissue) (the dvd is cool too!)
Andy Roberts – Homegrown (1970)
20 Great Country Recordings Of The 50′s And 60′s (70s import LP on Cascade Records - I found an old cassette I’d made of it from more than thirty years ago) – featuring great old nuggets by Willie Nelson, George Jones, Johnny Dollar, Glen Barber and many more

Tim:
Bruce Molsky- Soon Be Time
Cahalen Morrison and Eli West- The Holy Coming of the Storm
Walking In The Sunlight – Walking In The Sunlight
Doc Boggs- Doc Boggs, Smithsonian Folkway Archives
Breathe Owl Breathe- Magic Central

TAB:
Professor Longhair – Crawfish Fiesta
All of Roger Miller
Todd Snider – East Nashville Skyline
Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues
Billy Bragg and Wilco – Mermaid Avenue

Kandia:
Willie Wright- Telling the Truth
Brett Detar- Bird In the Tangle
Stone Coal White- Stone Coal White
Mickey Newbury- An American Trilogy
Neal Casal- No Wish To Reminisce

Stian:
Jeff Hanson – Son
The Tyde – Once
Cowboy – 5′ll Getcha Ten
Rick Danko – Rick Danko
Hookfoot – Good Times A Comin’

Nick:
Waylon Jennings- Dreaming My Dreams
Merle Haggard- I Got The Dixie Blues
Emmylou Harris- Elite Hotel
Ry Coder- Show Time
Leon Russell- Back To The Island

Best Concerts of 2011:

Jody: Railroad Revival Tour with Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show
Bryan: An intimate acoustic summer evening show by Mike Stinson, in Pamela Des Barres’ backyard, along with a hundred good friends
TAB: Middle Brother w/ Jonny Corndawg
Tim: Frank Fairfield impromptu show in my backyard Oakland, Ca before
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass or Gillian Welch Henry Miller Library Santa Cruz
Kandia: “Gett Off: Meshell Ndegeocello Covers Prince” @ Highline Ballroom, NYC
Stian: Bright Eyes at Debaser Medis in Stockholm February 16th 2011 with First Aid Kit as support.

Top 5 Album Covers of 2011 (chosen by Mitra)

Jonathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit

Johnny Corndawg – Down on the Bikini Line

Gillian Welch – THe Harrow and The Harvest

Iron and Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean

Laura Veirs – Tmblr Bee

A while back over on our Facebook page, we asked that if we came up with a list of tunes, aptly titled “Songs Jody Wants Country Covers Of”, would you musicians out there be willing to pull out the ol’ recording equipment and make some covers for us. The answer I received was a resounding ‘yes’ (Nicolette Rose, Pearl Charles and David Phillips…I’m looking at you). I then went off for a few weeks and have been put together a list of songs that I really, really want covered. Check out the full song list and directions for doing the covers after the jump.

If you want to do a cover, please email us at whenyouawakela at gmail dot com (subject: We All Go Twang) and tell us your top three song choices. It will be first come, first served (so if someone emails before you, you will get your second choice and so on). We will keep updating the list with songs that have already been claimed. Submissions will be due in 2 weeks on Friday, December 16th. We will then compile all of the tracks into one mixtape and release the submissions the following week as a Christmas present to all When You Awake readers.

On top of that, whichever group does our favorite cover will win a banner ad on When You Awake for two whole weeks and the chance to do a Mixin’ With Mixtape.  Not bad, eh? The songs you can choose from are below. Please note: We really, really like harmonies, duets, layered vocals. Make it happen!

Songs Jody Wants Country Covers Of (or in the case of the songs that already are country…cooler, folkier versions of them…no mainstream country sounding tunes here!):

Magnetic Fields- I’m Sorry I Love You
The Association- Never my love
Dolly Parton- Here I Am
The Zombies- This Will Be Our Year
Link Wray- Fallin’ Rain
Led Zeppelin- Fool In The Rain
Righteous Brothers- You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’
Steve Miller Band- Circle of Love
Tom Petty- Damaged By Love
Built To Spill- The Weather
Chris Issak- Wicked Game
Roxy Music- More Than This
Arthur Alexander- Soldier of Love
The Cranberries- Dreams
The Only Ones- Another Girl, Another Planet
AA Bondy- I Can See The Pines Are Dancing
Laura Marling- Rambling Man
Caribou- She’s The One
Brooks + Dunn- My Maria
Lucinda Williams/ Mary Chapin Carpenter- Passionate Kisses

 I would like to take a minute to say thanks to everyone who supported When You Awake over the years. We are coming up on FOUR YEARS as a blog, and without the support of my wonderful assistant editor, Bryan Thomas, all of the contributors, the bloggers who gave their help and advice when I was just starting out, and of course you, the readers, I never could have kept it up this long. From the bottom of my whiskey-drinking, country music-blogging, cowboy boot-wearing heart, thank you.

The fine folks at the UK-based label Loose Music are currently giving away a free music sampler featuring tunes by the likes of The Felice Brothers, Dawes, Hurray For The Riff Raff, The Handsome Family and more. Head over to their website for the full tracklisting and to download the sampler. For a little taste of what you can expect, here’s Hurray For The Riff Raff with the beautiful tune “Too Much Of A Good Thing” from their self-titled debut, released earlier this year.
MP3: Hurray For The Riff Raff- Too Much Of A Good Thing

Stuck without a costume for tonight? These quick and easy outfits are made up of mostly household items (or things that can be easily acquired with a quick trek to the drugstore). First up, we have Bob Dylan circa The Rolling Thunder Revue. All you need for this look is a tan-colored hat with some bright flowers tucked into the band, jeans, a white shirt, a couple of  scarves thrown around your neck and about a pound of white makeup/paint slathered generously on your face.

Next up, we have Johnny Cash. For this look, you basically just need to look smart, grease back the hair and wear black head to toe.  A black guitar and a scarf would help too.

Lastly, we have Tom Petty circa his Mad Hatter phase. This one really only works if you have a top hat laying around, but everyone has one of those, right? To get the look, just throw on a red top hat, blazer/suit, bow tie and rectangular sunglasses and you are good to go.

New York’s The Felice Brothers recently recorded a cover of “Behind That Locked Door” for Mojo Magazine’s George Harrison covers album. The record, which was included in their October issue, features tunes by Richie Havens, Yim Yames, Emmy The Great, Jonathan Wilson featuring Graham Nash, The Webb Sisters and more. Head over to Mojo to attempt to get your hands on a copy.
MP3: The Felice Brothers- Behind That Locked Door (George Harrison cover)

Nashville (by way of NYC)’s Grant Maxwell from The Morning Pages has provided When You Awake with an exclusive solo tune called “The Liberty Bell”, inspired by the recent Occupy Movement. Give it a listen and let us know what you think in the comments after the jump.
MP3: Grant Maxwell- The Liberty Bell

Lastly, Seattle’s The Cave Singers have just announced a West Coast tour in support of their third album, No Witch (out now via Jagjaguwar). They’ll be touring with The Builders and the Butchers and are set to stop in Los Angeles on December 10th at the Troubadour. You can check out the complete tour dates here.
MP3: The Cave Singers- Black Leaf